BUSY WEEKEND
Got plans for Columbus Day weekend? The annual anniversary of Christopher
Columbus’s arrival in the Americas, which occurred on October 12, 1492, is
always the second Monday in October. As it’s also a federal holiday in the
U.S., you may be looking at options for a three day vacation. If you are
thinking of San Francisco, rest assured, you are not alone:
October 4-8: A tradition since 1981, Fleet Week is the most anticipated
Fall event in San Francisco. With an estimated audience of 1 million,
spectators are drawn every year to the city’s northern waterfront to be
awed by a parade of Navy ships, along with a spectacular aerial show that
includes the Navy Blue Angels. Also on hand are a variety of other
nighttime entertainment venues that kick off just as the sun sets over San
Francisco Bay.
October 5-7: The 12th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is one of the
largest (and free-est) music festivals in the U.S. Held in Golden Gate
Park, three quarters of a million people are expected for the likes of
Patty Griffin, Les Claypool, Cowboy Junkies, Emmylou Harris, Chuck Prophet,
Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Elvis Costello, Dwight Yoakam, Lloyd Cole,
Patti Smith, Steve Earle, Vince Gill, Nick Lowe and more.
October 2-7: The second event of the 2012-13 America’s Cup World Series
will be sharing the City with the iconic events above. The first America’s
Cup event in San Francisco in August attracted over 150,000 fans to the
Marina Green and nearly 500 spectator boats to witness 11 of the best
sailing crews in the world battle just yards from the shoreline. In
October, the 11 AC45 will return to the Bay in hopes of attracting the
attention of the holiday crowds. Full details:
http://media.americascup.com/pressreleases/?id=928
CHANGES AT TEAM KOREA
(September 20, 2012) – The revolving door marked skipper at America’s Cup
challenger Team Korea is spinning again as Australian Olympic gold medalist
Nathan Outteridge departs after just seven months, about the same tenure as
his predecessor Chris Draper, an Olympic bronze medalist.
Outteridge, who, with crew Iain Jensen, blitzed the 49er fleet in the London
2012 regatta last month, is expected to join one of the three confirmed
challengers for next year’s 34 America’s Cup with the Swedish-based Artemis
as the front runner. Draper is with Italy’s Prada-backed Luna Rosa
challenge. The third is Emirates Team New Zealand.
The imminent official announcement by Korea team boss Dong-Young Kim, which
will name Outteridge’s successor, may also be coupled with final
confirmation that Team Korea is putting its current Cup challenge on hold,
though it has paid the $200,000 entry fee, and aiming at AC35.
But the cost of mounting a viable challenge in the new class of 72-foot
wing-powered catamarans is upwards of $100m. So far Team Korea, which also
has links with English premier league soccer club Sunderland, has failed to
announce that it has raised any significant budget. Among the Team Korea
crew in Naples, Venice, Newport, Rhode Island, and San Francisco this year
have been three top British talents, Giles Scott, Mark Bulkily, and Matt
Cornwell.
Announcing a new skipper implies that Team Korea will race at the America’s
Cup World Series regatta in San Francisco early next month. If so, the crew
will then need to be confirmed. — Full story at: http://tinyurl.com/d92zz36
The ACWS race schedule has had to work around the Fleet Week activities.
The Cup Experience website provides some clarity on how the events will
merge: http://tinyurl.com/CE-091912
