Sailing Terrapin

One of the advantages of being out west while Terrapin is being repaired is that Salt Lake City is, what seems like, 10 hours from anywhere.

I took off work early Friday and we headed to San Francisco for the finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup. Here is a quick history of the America's Cup, for your reading pleasure. Basically, whoever wins the Louis Vuitton Cup (New Zealand vs Italy) will challenge Oracle (the Defender), to claim the Americas Cup. Oracle, being the Defender got to pick the type of boat to be raced and the location of the race. Larry Ellison chose high performance catamarans racing in San Francisco bay. These boats are incredible and have top speeds over 55mph!

The technology of this boat design and crew is amazing. These 72-foot catamarans not only "foil" downwind, but have also been flying on water upwind as well. Anyone who has been in a boat on water understands the magnitude of that type of speed on a boat that large. Here is a GREAT video about how foiling occurs. We have this video at the bottom of the page too. Well worth 4 minutes.

Originally two races were scheduled between NZ (Emirates) and Italy (Luna Rossa) on Saturday, but due to high winds in the afternoon, the last race was postponed until Sunday - when NZ finally claimed their victory of the 2013 Louis Vuitton Cup. We took that opportunity to get a beer(s) and explore the America's Cup park. Larry Ellison and billionaire friends moored their boats along the dock and we played the game and chose the one we would like if money were no object. Oh, Adele...

The experience of watching the AC72s was well worth the trip to San Francisco and depending on when Terrapin will be repaired, we may be back for the America's Cup finals...