Day 16 - America's Cup!

Well this year has turned out to be a very even series. Alinghi won the first race and than New Zealand took two in a row and was looking very fast. Alighi than reeled off 3 straight come from behind bullets (wins) and went ahead 4-2. The seventh and possibly final race was to be run on July 1st and we were still going to be in France! I needed New Zealand to either make a big comeback or it was all going to be all over before we got to Spain. As luck would have it the race was postponed because of light and fluky winds and the race was rescheduled for July 3rd. Man I love when a plan comes together!

As you may have already read (unless you are one of my sailing friends who likely have only read this entry) we arrived in Spain on the evening of the 1st, which gave me a great day with the family in Barcelona before heading to Valencia. On the morning of the 3rd I got up about 4 am to catch the first flight to Valencia, leaving the rest of the family snoring in their beds. As soon as I arrived I checked into the hotel, dropped my bags and headed to the port base camp for the Cup. I had no tickets or plan other than to try and work my way onto a spectator boat. On my way there the person sitting next to me on the train had on an America’s Cup shirt so I started talking to her about the event. She was a college student from Australia who was working at the Cup. She proceeded to give me the bad news that every thing was likely sold out, has been for weeks, but that there we plenty of spots where you could watch from shore. Well since the race is held a couple of miles off shore, that didn’t sound to exciting to me. My new friend mentioned that she had a friend who did the booking for the main spectator boats and that when we arrived she could introduce me to her – you never no.

Once again the stars were lining up for me as one of the main spectator boats had a cancellation as a result of the rescheduling of the July 1st race. I pounced on the ticket without even asking about the boat or checking into how close they might get to the action. I figured any boat on the water was better than being on shore, and the ticket cost me less than the binoculars I would have had to purchase. Here it was, about 10:00 and I was already set up with a ticket. The boat wasn’t leaving the dock until 1:45 for a 3:00 gun (start of the race), so I decided to do a little exploring. The America’s Cup has turned into an unbelievably huge event. Every racing syndicate, there were 12 entries, had a huge compound with a building right on the port the size of an aircraft hanger that they could use as a base, and a place to park there boats when they were not racing (yes, most of them had 2-3 boats each for training). Every compound also had there marketing store selling there logo wear. Obviously Italy’s Prada syndicate had the best store where you could buy everything from shoes to underwear to sunglasses with the Prada team logo, all at Prada prices. Valencia had also built a huge building at the entrance to the port to serve as a base for the event.

About 1:30 I headed over to the spectator boat I was on, which happened to be right next to Alinghi’s base building. The port was really beginning to buzz by now. Boats from 20’ to 250’ started forming a channel from the Alinghi and New Zealand bases and began honking horns, ringing bells, and doing whatever they could to show their support. Soon the race boats began their tow out to the course and the place went crazy. It was very cool and the race hadn’t even started. Next all the private boats and other spectator boats followed the racers out of the harbor, we stayed at the dock. It seamed like all the other boats were already out of the port when we started pulling out. It was looking like we were defiantly looking at a back row seat, but hey we were on the water!
As we made our way out of the port you would not believe the number of spectator boats lining the course. It was a massive effort for the patrol boats to try and simply hold them back off the course. Think of Lake Minnetonka or Lake Union for the 4th of July fireworks.

As we nudged our way into the spectator fleet one of the patrol boats approached our boat, we were sure to tell us to hold our place. But no, they were coming to lead us to the front row on the inside of the patrol line. We were going to have the best seats in the house, topped only by the race committee boats. If you watched any footage of the race look for an ugly blue and yellow spectator boat, we are front and center in most of the shots.

The sun is out, and it’s blowing a steady 15, perfect conditions for the race. I am pulling for Alinghi to win as I have sailed with the Alinghi helmsman, Ed Baird, at a J World Race week about 20 years ago where he was the training helmsman on my J Boat. It also would be nice to see the final of the Cup and all the hoopla that goes along with crowning the champion. If New Zealand wins it could go as many as 2 more races which I would not be able to see.

I ended up sharing a few beers and the race with another avid sailor from San Francisco, John, who had brought his girlfriend along. She spent her time playing Sudoku and waiving at us every few minutes as we were either pegged to the rail or down below watching the action on the big screen. At the ten minute gun we set our watches, and waited for the action to begin. At the 5 minute gun both skippers began a dangerous dance with their multimillion dollar 60 foot yachts, jockeying for the all important favored position. Barker (NZ) had the early advantage over Baird (Alinghi) as he held starboard. The boats headed towards each other and began a dial-up, literally only feet from each other. NZ looked in perfect position to control Baird, but suddenly broke off and jibbed around. Now it was Alinghi’s turn to have the advantage. He gained leeward position on NZ and tried to push them over the line. NZ managed to break the overlap and they both headed to the line. NZ had the early lead and seemed to have both better boat speed and more pressure on the the left side. NZ had built a 2 boatlength lead and if Baird didn’t do something they were going to do a horizon job on Alinghi. About half way up the course they began a fierce tacking dual. Each time Alinghi would gain on the tack, and NZ would build back a lead working off the better pressure on the left. After about 8-9 tacks and subsequent covers by NZ, Alinghi had cut the lead down to less than a boatlength and had themselves in perfect position to control the rounding. As they approached the windward mark Baird did a masterful job of controlling the rounding and luffed NZ to a full stop right at the windward mark. As NZ stalled, Baird bore away and took a two boatlength lead around the mark.

I forgot to mention that we were right there for it all as soon after the start, our spectator boat had an escort to the windward mark so we were in perfect position to see all the action. After the rounding, back to the leeward gate to see the kites come down.

On the downwind Alinghi built on there lead until it was over 3-4 boatlengths. NZ caught a great shift right before the leeward pin and managed to round first. The next upwind was a carbon copy of the first, as NZ built a lead and Alinghi forced the tacking dual. At the windward mark Baird again was about a boatlength behind, but NZ did not have enough room to cross so Alinghi had control again. This time Barker made a great move by decoying Alinghi out past the layline and moving to duck him at the pin. Baird went head to wind and hit the brakes (not easy to do in a 60 yacht). NZ couldn’t duck fast enough and Alighi had to alter course – up went the judges protest flag! Alinghi bore away and reached around the mark ahead again. On the downwind and final leg Alinghi built a 4 boatlength lead and it all looked over as NZ still had to do a penalty turn before the finish. About 200 yards before the finish NZ noticed a major shift. They jibed, and began to put up there jib. Alinghi jibed to cover and lost control of their chute. The spinnaker pole shattered and was raining down carbon fiber on the crew. The chute went into the water and brought the boat almost to a halt. As Alinghi goes to raise there jib and bring in the spinnaker, NZ goes flying past them – but the still have a penalty turn to do! Barker waits until the absolute last second and begins to spin about a boatlength from the finish. Both boats cross the line in a photo finish – from our view it appears NZ crossed first. We rush below deck to see the replay and see that Alinghi has crossed first by less than one second! What a finish.

The spectator fleet was going crazy, the crews on both boats just seamed wiped out. As the NZ boat dropped their sails a huge roar went up for them and they made there way home through the fleet. Now Alinghi dropped their sails and a huge parade started. There were so many boats the ocean was churned up into 10’ plus waves of foam. On the way in the canal and shoreline were lined with what seamed like a 100 thousand cheering fans – unbelievable!

After we docked we made our way over to the headquarters building to see the presentation of the cup. It was a madhouse and we couldn’t get even close, but who cares, we had the front seat for the best race in America’s Cup history!

written by  pscossette on July 3, 2007 from Valencia, Spain
from the travel blog: The Cossette Family Sabbatical
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