San Francisco to host America's Cup

San Francisco has been selected as the host venue for the 34th America's Cup . The finals and the Challenger Selection Series for the Louis Vuitton Cup will be held there in 2013, as well as an America's Cup World Series event in 2012. This will be the first time the America's Cup has been hosted in the United States since 1995.

Racing will be held on the San Francisco Cityfront and be visible from locations such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Marin Headlands, Crissy Field, the Embarcadero and Fisherman's Wharf.

"My support for San Francisco hosting the America's Cup goes beyond the opportunity to see our team competing on home waters," said Russell Coutts, CEO, ORACLE Racing, the current America's Cup defending team. "We are excited to sail for our sport's greatest trophy, on a stretch of water legendary among sailors worldwide."

AC72 wing-sail catamarans will be used for the America's Cup races and the AC45 class, a scaled-down one-design version of the AC72 will be used for the preliminary training and racing until boats built to the AC72 rules become available. The AC72 yachts are expected to sail upwind at 1.2 times the speed of the true wind, and downwind at 1.6 times the speed of the true wind.

There will be an America’s Cup World Series of races in 2011, 2012, and 2013. The winner of each annual series will be declared the America’s Cup World Champion for that year. There will be three regattas in 2011, seven in 2012, and three in 2013. Each regatta will have approximately nine days of racing. Each AC World Series regatta will be a combination of match and fleet racing. Unless sea conditions are too rough, races can take place when the approximate average true wind speed is between 3 and 33 knots. AC45 one-design catamarans will initially be used for each World Series regatta. After 30 March 2012 catamarans conforming to the AC72 rule will be used.