Preparations for the spectacle of the 2013 America's Cup race got underway in San Francisco with Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and Mayor Edwin Lee's visit to Pier 80, the home base for the America's Cup event, last Saturday.
ORACLE Racing, Team USA for the 34th America’s Cup, welcomed local VIP guests at its San Francisco base on Saturday: Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. Onshore boss Mark Turner and Team Coordinator Ian Burns guided Pelosi, Lee and other guests around the base.
"It was fantastic to share a behind-the-scenes look at the tremendous effort going towards the 34th America's Cup and our preparation to defend it," said Burns. Larry Ellison, billionaire CEO of Oracle Software, is the impetus for this world-class event being held at San Francisco, the first time the Cup race will be held in American waters in many decades.
Over the past two years, the base at Pier 80 has already undergone a $2 million refurbishing. The ORACLE Racing team generously funded repairs that have turned the massive, disused warehouse from a leaky sieve with a damaged roof and layers of soot into a spacious, modernized facility complete with computers and high-tech tools that will support ORACLE Racing's effort to defend their world title in the 34th America's Cup to be held in San Francisco Bay in 2013.
Visitors were dwarfed by the gigantic scale of Pier 80, where Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, has lodged the USA 17's 223-foot wingsail. After winning the last America's Cup, this super-sized sailcraft is back at home base with the team that led her to victory. From now and up to the race for the America's Cup in September 2013, Pier 80 will house a number of America's Cup functions and activities including Race Management, Event Authority and visiting teams.
The Port of San Francisco will pay host to the 34th America’s Cup race, but preliminary races are already underway, with the next one to be held in Naples, Italy and another in Rhode Island in June, 2012. Metro Ports has been involved with America’s Cup logistics for the USA-17 at the ports of Anacortes, Washington and San Diego, where Team USA won the latest race in November, 2011. Metro Ports is the terminal operator for all services at the Port of San Francisco’s Pier 80.
Speaker of the House Pelosi and Mayor Lee's guided tour gave them the opportunity to see this world-class event's inside workings. With millions of dollars in local and state funding to be poured into this once in a lifetime undertaking, along with refurbishing the entire South Beach waterfront, it's critical that local officials have direct oversight of this exciting event that will place the spotlight of the international racing community on San Francisco.
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