Change is a difficult thing. We are creatures of habit. When you add the usual regulations of business, which we all know is often better left untouched once in place. The displaced business owners will likely survive the change but it is not unlike having a natural disaster force you out.
Another story that merits following is the rumor of a new parallel competition in monohulls.
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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — We are now getting a better idea of the potential for negative impacts when the America’s Cup yacht race comes to San Francisco Bay in 2013.
Race organizers will pay the city $55 million for the use of Piers 19 through 29. They will also lease Piers 30 and 32 for decades. Many businesses love the sound of this, but the number of businesses taking a hit continues to grow.
Up to 80 businesses now might have to relocate because of the event. At the earliest, some would have to move by the end of this year, at the latest, some by the end of next year. Even with the lengthy timeframe, there are many nervous business owners along the Embarcadero.
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From the pedi-cabs, to the soccer players in the parking lot of Piers 27 and 29, to Mr. Toad’s vintage car tours, they are all included in the list of businesses along San Francisco’s waterfront that are about to begin a wild ride.
When the America’s Cup comes to town, the Port of San Francisco says as many as 80 businesses could be forced to move to make room for the venue’s viewing areas and racing village. While Larry Ellison’s yacht race is expected to bring millions in revenue to San Francisco, some business owners say it will not be good for their bottom line.
“I absolutely would love the America’s Cup to come to San Francisco, but I think that it could be brought here without a sort of slash-and-burn approach to the waterfront,” Michael Denny says.
Denny runs American Wine Distributors in Pier 23. Moving out of his 1,400 square foot space will mean a major headache. All his business licenses are tied to his Embarcadero address
“I have about 65 licenses all over the country that are all posted to that address, and if I move, I have to move them all,” he says laughingly.
However, it is really no laughing matter. Businesses like Teatro Zinzanni and Bauer’s Limousine and Transportation are sitting on piers where Ellison’s team plans to hold a public viewing area for the regatta. San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu says they should not worry.
“The city absolutely values these businesses and we’re going to do what we need to do to assist some of these businesses in relocation,” he says.
The board is still trying to decide which businesses will get to stay and which will have to pack up and move. Many of them lease warehouse space along the Embarcadero and Chiu says that should make it easy for those types of businesses to relocate into other port properties.
AN ALTERNATIVE?
It would appear that the 34th Americas Cup as imagined by Larry Ellison has some powerful detractors, some of who call it too radical, expensive and conceived without a consensus. Whilst the Californians continue to give form to the race in 2013, there is a group of syndicates that are working behind the scenes to create a new and ambitious competition that could be capable of throwing a shadow over the oldest trophy in sport.
According to information the people behind this new rebel fleet include Sir Keith Mills of Team Origin, Ernesto Bertarelli of Alinghi, Patricio Bertelli of Luna Rossa de Prada and Grant Dalton of Team New Zealand. Others hint that the man behind the project is Mr Bertarelli, but Alinghi has consistently denied this, stating that it is a group of people who are working on a personal project.
ALTERNATIVE?
The idea is to create a new class of boat for a regatta circuit similar to the 32nd edition of the Americas Cup, and the head of the design team is Rolf Vrolijk, the Dutch designer of the previous two Alinghi boats before BMW ORACLE/Golden Gate Yacht Club started their court action in New York, who has dusted off the designs of the AC90, the class originally chosen for the 33rd Cup.
Another powerful yachting figure behind the project is Grant Simmer, who has now joined Team Origin, and is coordinating the sports and technical aspects of this new event. The project is still in its embryo stages, seeking a concrete philosophy, and finding out if it could be viable commercially, or if private capital would be required from the heads of the syndicates involved. The main point now is to finance the event, starting on the basis that no regatta has the tradition and prestige of the Americas Cup.
Several syndicates involved in the 32nd edition of the Cup have been consulted over whether they would participate on these AC90s in an effort to determine the size of the fleet. It may be envisaged that 2013 could see the birth of the new regatta, if it goes ahead, it will be in exactly the same year that the Americas Cup races take place in San Francisco. Source: The Valencia Life Network, http://www.valencialife.net
