There was only one sure thing when we arrived in Valencia on February 7, 2010. No matter what happened at the 33rd America’s Cup, it was guaranteed to be historic. Several years of unsuccessful negotiations and litigations had resulted in a rare Deed of Gift match between BMW Oracle (USA) and Alinghi (SUI) in a best of three race showdown in extreme monster multihulls.

The whole week seemed very surreal. We had a front row seat to watch two boats as big as football fields battle it out. Both the water and air space were tightly restricted, so this was one of the most exclusive sporting events in history!  

It was a rollercoaster of a week as the race committee was unable to get a race off on Monday or Wednesday. By Thursday, the natives were restless and many of the media left to cover the winter Olympics in Vancouver. Speculation was that Alinghi did not want to race and it was going to drag on for awhile. Despite Alinghi’s efforts to control the event, PRO Harold Bennett finally managed to get a race off on Friday. 

RACE 1 

After numerous delays, the helicopters arrived for the first time. This was a good sign, although we still had our doubts. Amazingly enough, they actually started the sequence and the moment of truth had come. Similar to watching a space shuttle launch, you hope everything goes off without a glitch. It was absolutely intense watching BOR come flying in on one hull on a collision course with Alinghi. BOR powered up much faster than Alinghi had expected and gained a penalty on them. (I would expect nothing less from Jimmy “pitbull” Spithill!) However, BOR couldn’t slow the boat down fast enough and drifted over the start line while in irons. BOR had to return back around, which gave Alinghi a huge advantage. The race was far from over though. BOR came screaming back with a vengeance, higher and faster. Words we all love to hear!  

Alinghi made some definite blunders throughout the race and didn't look like they were pushing the boat to an AC level. Even at the finish, they did their penalty turn incorrectly, and spent more than five minutes correcting this mistake! We know that BOR was being pushed hard as Jimmy Spithill later said that there are many alarms set on the boat and "alarms were ringing!" The resulting deltas were Alinghi ahead at the start by 1:27, BOR ahead at the windward mark by 3:21, and BOR winning the first race by 15:28! Although there was much reason for celebration, (which we did), the BOR team remained very focused and humble.

Best quotes after Race 1: 

Russell Coutts: "I think it is early days. I said before the series that you won't be able to draw conclusions from the first few minutes of the races...but how about that win...??" 

Larry Ellison: "Today I did say that sailing is a lot harder than running a software company."

RACE 2

After a six-hour delay and a "situation" on the committee boat, Harold Bennett should be commended for staying true to our sport and getting race 2 started only minutes before the cut off time of 4:30 p.m. Alinghi entered the start box late AND from the wrong side, giving them a penalty at the start once again. (Thanks, guys!) The triangle race proved very exciting as there were multiple lead changes. Hard to tell, just looking at the deltas, since we were leading at every mark! BOR led at the start by :24, rounded the top mark :28 ahead, had a nice lead at the jibe mark of 2:44 and finished 5:26 ahead of Alinghi, who had to do their penalty turn at the finish.  

Alinghi had a great first leg, when they chose to go right and sailed into better wind. It wasn't enough to hold off BOR though, who tacked at the port layline and passed Alinghi, who made a slow tack. After rounding the top mark, both boats were blazing at about 30 knots towards mark 2. An incredible sight! Sunday, February 14, 2010, is the day that will go down in history as BOR won the 33rd AC and brought the Cup home to San Francisco. The first American team to win the AC since 1992!

Best quotes after Race 2:   

John Kostecki: "This is huge. I have been dreaming about winning the America's Cup for 25 years and so it is a very special moment. It is a great team and this was very much a team effort. Everyone put in a lot. It was a difficult project especially with the wing sail, and there were some testing times."

Larry Ellison: "It is a fabulous experience. I am very proud to be part of this team and I am exceptionally proud to bring the America's Cup back to the United States of America for the first time in a very long time." 

Moving Forward

Congratulations to BOR and the Golden Gate Yacht Club for reclaiming the Holy Grail of sailing! There is hope now that the America's Cup will be restored to fairer rules. Many questions remain about the next AC, but there are talks of a multi-challenger event possibly in 2013. The new challenger of record is Mascalzone Latino who said, "This American victory comes after a long dispute that lasted almost three years. We at Mascalzone Latino are proud to have supported the positions of Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts right from the start. Thanks to this victory, the America's Cup will become a high profile sporting event run by fairer rules than the ones the previous Defender wanted to impose." 

Larry Ellison seems committed to the restoration of the America's Cup, starting with Independent Management for the 34th AC. The venue is still an open question with multiple options mentioned: San Francisco, San Diego, Newport, Valencia, Cascais...

As strange as this last cup was, (with only two boats and allowing unconventional rules like motors and skin friction reduction systems), it is definitely one for the history books. Almost unbelievable, except that we saw it with our own eyes! 

- Corinna Stolp & Michael Irish

Besides San Francisco, the cities of San Diego and Newport, RI, are already actively courting the Cup. 

The conduct of the Societe Nautique de Geneve race committee (‘going on strike’ - refusing to run the flags - in race 2) will be included in PRO Harold Bennett’s report to the ISAF.