America's Cup - September in France

I heard from my friend Olivier. He is based where the America's Cup will be held. How cool is that?!? He said: "Wishing to inform you that a race of America's cup will be in the bay of Toulon this year. The bay of Toulon is the place where I live"

Following are the details for those fortunate enough to go. And don't forget to take lots of pictures. Thanks! J.

America’s Cup :

[ The fifth Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series event for 2016 will be held in Toulon, between Marseille and St Tropez, in September this year. Toulon will be the third European city to host a race event,

“Toulon will be the third European city to host the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series, and is the only stop on the Mediterranean,” confirmed Harvey Schiller, the Commercial Commissioner of the America’s Cup. “We are expecting a passionate reception for Franck Cammas and Groupama Team France, and indeed all the competitors, as the series builds towards the 2017 America’s Cup racing in Bermuda.”

“It is tremendous to have a chance to demonstrate to French fans what this new America’s Cup racing is all about,” said Franck Cammas, the skipper of Groupama Team France. “French sailors and fans are passionate about multihulls and speed, and it is only recently, with the shift to foiling catamarans, that the America’s Cup has reflected this excitement. We can’t wait to bring the racing to Toulon and to compete in front of a home crowd.”

Hubert Falco, the Mayor of Toulon and president of ‘Toulon Provence Méditerranée’ said: “The Greater Toulon council is very proud to host the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series. This will give global exposure to our port and harbor, which is among the most beautiful in Europe as well as allowing us to demonstrate our ability to organize and accommodate such an important event.”

“It is going to be fantastic to hold one of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series events here in France,” said Bruno Dubois, the general manager of Groupama Team France. “We will be able to share with the public, our partners and the media a new dimension of our project. This follows the excitement generated earlier this month at the Paris Boat Show where our AC45 boat was on display. Now everyone can come and see it in action, flying over the bay of Toulon.”

Following the announcement of the France event, two additional events are expected to complete the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series. One will be in Asia in November 2016, and all six competitors have now unanimously agreed to add an additional Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series regatta in the first quarter of 2017. ]

We attended the Louis Vuitton series in San Francisco in Oct 2012. These races occurred concurrently with the Fleet Week activities on SF Bay, including the Blue Angels Flight Demo Team. They were also racing the smaller 45s, but this year the 45s are on foils, so it should be much faster. This warm-up series was fun to watch with the competing teams getting into their groove, but it wasn't the BIG 2013 America's Cup race. The big race for the America's Cup will be held in Bermuda in 2017.

you don't see a left handed, conventional reel everyday

Gdavid said:

you don't see a left handed, conventional reel everyday

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Good eye, Gdavid!

That's true and if I ever replace that one, you won't see another on my boat either! That's from my early days fishing for bass and stripers. I figured since I cast with my right hand, I'd prefer to reel with my left hand, eliminating the need to switch the rod from right to left to reel in. That was fine with smaller low profile levelwinds used in bass fishing, but as I transitioned into bigger species and bigger reels, it severely limited my reel choices.

My current fleet of reels are Shimano Tekota Linecounter 500s. They cast a country mile, then I set my rod in a balancer or rodholder and watch for the hit. It's much more my style now...relaxing and more civilized without excessive casting.

I may not catch big numbers of fish anymore, but they're now big enough that I remember just about every one. Sometimes my muscles remember them for days later!!

Wonderful pictures Al... thanks!

And a cool shirt too. Were you part of the official race watchers? Just wondered as we were on a boat for the offshore power boat race... We verified as each team made it around our marker.

I remember Baby (who is now over 30, and no, I have no idea where the years went) ... afterwards we were heading back to the main boat and she had a bow line wrapped around her hand saying "hot damn" when we'd fly off a wave. She had a blast. She was only two or three at the time.

Son had stayed on the main boat (a wooden 50'er) that was eventually donated to a college. It was one of the "smaller" Presidential-type yachts with gorgeous brass everywhere.

The thing I thought (and Son too) that was neatest was the one-armed clock he had in his main salon. Ir was old and just so far beyond cool as to be in its own category.

Enough reminiscing from me. Congratulations to all who can go to the events. I'm sure there's a good time to be had.

Gosh I hope Olivier has a wonderful time. I cannot wait to see the pictures.

Thanks, Janice!! Perla, Mark Pierce's lovely SO, had the shirts made in the Philippines and brought them back for us! We loved them. I'm also wearing a Carquinez Coot hat they presented us.

Mark and Perla joined us for a day trip out of Sausalito. Not on any team, but after a couple days of practice, I learned how to anchor close to show center. We had several AC45s cruising slowly around us while at anchor before the race. Also, while cruising around, we had a couple pass us while relatively close to us. It was the first time I had fun watching sailboats!!

The next day, my college-aged daughter came aboard with her professional camera and a very expensive telephoto lens we rented for the event. We watched the race from the boat while the TV broadcast the special effects which made it all crystal clear from our prospective just SW of Alcatraz. Her best 400 out of 1976 pictures are breathtaking! It was her first outdoor action event on her way to becoming a professional photographer. I've got more pics if you want to see 'em...

Nothing new here, but it did remind me of how exciting the last race was.

The tech helping Sir Ben's 'flying' boat go even faster - BBC News

janice142 said:

I heard from my friend Olivier.

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What a coincidence. I have a friend named Olivier who lives in that area. He was just here in the US to drive his restored WWII Jeep in two parades on July 4th.

He's quite the boater over there. Owns a VERY nice trawler that I just beautiful.

Small world, isn't it!

Hi Janice

Let it be said, let it be done.

Many thanks for your very nice PM about my come back, I sent you an email back.

Olivier

Hi Olivier and others, yes this series is indeed interesting, and I can't wait for the main event in Bermuda next year. It is a great pity we don't have an Australian team entered, so I must once again fall back on my NZ origins to have a team to support, although we are still gutted at how they managed to lose the cup last time. It appeared the sky and sea gods just decided against them winning, and that was that. Emirates Team NZ seems to be shaping up well under their new skipper, Glen Ashby, and helmsman, Peter Burling, who won a medal or two at the recent Olympics, so was not at the helm of the Team boat at the last couple of AC 45 events, but from here on, "he's back", so that will indeed be interesting. Just a pity the winds off Toulon were so fickle the racing there was a bit of a lottery.

Cheers,