{"id":29522,"date":"2013-08-30T11:27:53","date_gmt":"2013-08-30T16:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/?p=29522"},"modified":"2015-09-16T13:54:28","modified_gmt":"2015-09-16T18:54:28","slug":"strong-kiwi-showing-in-san-francisco-posted-by-todd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/strong-kiwi-showing-in-san-francisco-posted-by-todd\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong Kiwi Showing In San Francisco"},"content":{"rendered":"
This past weekend found me in San Francisco – courtesy of our builder Circa Marine of Whangarei, New Zealand \u2013 to witness the Kiwis’ very successful sail into the America\u2019s Cup, with a dominant performance against the Italians in the Challengers Louis Vuitton Cup.\u00a0I\u2019m sure most of our SetSail regulars have been watching events unfold closely. As a passionate sailor, I was very eager to attend!<\/p>\n My gracious hosts for the weekend, Circa Marine owners Bruce Farrand (left) and Logan Cripps (center), were on-hand to help promote the New Zealand yacht building industry, and to help showcase and promote Kiwi skills and capability to the US market. Joining us was Dashew Offshore teammate in New Zealand Kelly Archer (far right). The photo above documents our trek through San Francisco’s famed Chinatown.<\/p>\n If you have been paying attention, you know the Kiwis’ Emirates Team New Zealand<\/i> did a bit of a \u201chorizon job\u201d on the Italian\u2019s Luna Rossa <\/i>\u2013 with the photo above giving a glimpse of what it looked like when they were “close”. Typical wins were by over 2 minutes in match races that lasted little more than 25 minutes. That is dominance, but was not entirely unexpected with the crew of Luna Rossa <\/i>sailing a first generation Kiwi AC72 (acquired from ETNZ) against Emirates Team New Zealand\u2019s <\/i>second generation AC72.<\/p>\n Emirates Team New Zealand <\/i>is now set to take on the American defender \u2013 Oracle <\/i>\u2013 seen in this photo playing at the starting line (box) just before the Kiwis and Italians were to begin race #7 (of 8 sailed).<\/p>\n The layout of the course is shown above. We had the opportunity to watch race #7 from the St. Francis Yacht Club, located onshore (south) of the windward (west, or lefthand side) rounding gate. The previous photos were taken from the club’s shoreside view deck. The San Francisco bay is an amazing venue for such an event. The only place better suited for spectators of yacht racing would be the Match Cup races in Marstrand, Sweden.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s viewing for what became the final race of the LVC<\/i> was from the official America\u2019s Cup Park, located on Piers 27\/29. I snapped the photo above to record the celebration as Emirates Team New Zealand <\/i>did a fly-by to wave and show their appreciation to those cheering them on. There was a significant contingent of Kiwis on-hand, and all of the Americans we encountered were voicing strong support and encouragement for the Kiwis to \u201ctake the cup home\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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