By Sharael Feist
May 30, 2002
Braving 26-knot winds, crew members sporting foul weather gear cut through the cold fog last weekend during the Sausalito Cup, a race for vintage America’s Cup yachts.
With Oracle chief executive officer Larry Ellison at the helm, USA 49 sailed to victory in the three-day event and was awarded with the perpetual silver trophy, which will be engraved and housed at the Sausalito Yacht Club.
John Sweeney and Tina Kleinjan’s interest in restoring and preserving vintage America’s Cup yachts led them to create America’s Cup Media, which manages the International America’s Cup Class (IACC) fleet.
“There are over 75 international America’s Cup yachts and nothing to do with them,” said Sweeney, who had sunburned cheeks from hours of sailing on the bay. “Most of them don’t sail again. Stars and Stripes was just sitting in storage in St. Thomas. The amount of money it costs to repair them is massive.”
Sweeney purchased Stars and Stripes, also know as USA 11, which was formerly owned by America’s Cup veteran Dennis Conner. Sweeney also purchased three other vintage yachts from the 1992 America’s Cup: Il Moro (Italy 1), New Zealand Challenge (NZL 14) and NZL 20–all of which competed in the Sausalito Cup. The fifth yacht to participate was USA 49, which was the former AmericaOne yacht that raced in the 2000 America’s Cup.
The race format included a one-buoy race Friday evening, a long bay race Saturday and a one-buoy race Sunday. Racing the older yachts proved to be a challenge because of the fragile equipment. Stars and Stripes, skippered by Sweeney, broke its main halyard line twice.
“The boats go through teething problems after we restore them,” Sweeney said. “You don’t know how the yacht’s going to hold up or what’s going to break until you get out on the water.”
Another problem, surprisingly, was the wind, which averaged 18-26 knots. It caused the Sunday race to be cancelled for fear of further damage to the yachts. The four yachts from the 1992 America’s Cup were built withstand up to 12 knots of wind–typical conditions for San Diego. USA 49 was built for the heavier winds of New Zealand, home of the 2000 America’s Cup. These days the IACC has rules in place to make sure all the yachts have an equal chance of winning.
The 75-foot yachts drew attention of spectators as they sliced through the water. The colorful fleet could be seen from several vantage points around the bay, including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sauasalito waterfront, the San Francisco shoreline and Angel Island.
The IACC fleet will compete in four regattas per year on the bay. The next one will take place on July 27-28. For more information, visit the America’s Cup Media Web site: www.iaccsf.com.