AC34 in San Francisco

[KiwiJoker]

KL's latest blog post says expect an announcement sooner than later.

"We would not be this far down the road unless Mr. Ellison wanted very much to defend the America's Cup on San Francisco Bay, for any of many reasons. And yes, there are fears of a hangup here and a hangup there, but really now? Is that going to hang up Larry Ellison?"

America's Cup. The Word is "Eager"

 

[ursus]

The fact that RC is plowing the SF bay in Melges 32 this and next week could also be an indication that he wants to refresh his local knowledge?

If not, I am sure he would have better things to do, given the ambitious time plan....

AC34 will be GREAT!

 

[ursus]

The fact that RC is plowing the SF bay in Melges 32 this and next week could also be an indication that he wants to refresh his local knowledge?

If not, I am sure he would have better things to do, given the ambitious time plan....

AC34 will be GREAT!

 

[Dixie]

The fact that RC is plowing the SF bay in Melges 32 this and next week could also be an indication that he wants to refresh his local knowledge?

If not, I am sure he would have better things to do, given the ambitious time plan....

AC34 will be GREAT!

He told me at the Melges party that he loves sailing in San Francisco....let's hope he still loves it after this week

 

[bcopper]

What's not to love about sailing on the Bay ?

RC loves it, LE loves it, anyone who sails should love it.

As I understand it, the issue rests with the city's ability to sort through the issues associated with renovating the locations, and not the money needed to repair the piers. I believe the $140M has already been secured, it's the permits and schedule that are currently the issue..

 

[Stingray]

Nice if they have secured the funding! Fingers crossed on a fast permitting process..

Do we know the date of the SFBOS meeting that was referred to by Kyri above?

 

[Stingray]

In a Nod to City’s Cup Bid, San Francisco Mayor Reaches Out, Asks Napolitano to be on America’s Cup Committee

...

“To win the competition with European venues we must make ours a national effort with global exposure,” Newsom wrote. “San Francisco is launching a world-class America’s Cup Organizing Committee (ACOC), and I am inviting you to join the Honorary Committee.”

As it is currently envisioned, the ACOC will be comprised of civic and corporate leaders from across the country as well as a bi-partisan Honorary Committee of elected officials. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, House Speaker Nancy Nancy Pelosi, and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein are already on board. Similar invitations were also extended to officials in Miami and San Diego.

...

 

[Trovão]

What's not to love about sailing on the Bay ?

RC loves it, LE loves it, anyone who sails should love it.

As I understand it, the issue rests with the city's ability to sort through the issues associated with renovating the locations, and not the money needed to repair the piers. I believe the $140M has already been secured, it's the permits and schedule that are currently the issue..

excuse my ignorance, but can't the permits' process be fast-tracked?

 

[Stingray]

What's not to love about sailing on the Bay ?

RC loves it, LE loves it, anyone who sails should love it.

As I understand it, the issue rests with the city's ability to sort through the issues associated with renovating the locations, and not the money needed to repair the piers. I believe the $140M has already been secured, it's the permits and schedule that are currently the issue..

excuse my ignorance, but can't the permits' process be fast-tracked?

The fastest track would have been the CEQA exemption route but they chose to take it because that might have soiled the waters with the environmentalist groups.

Fortunately they now seem pleased at the change in direction and are pledging support on the permitting pace. Kyri expressed a hope in the possibility that, because of Pier 30/32 having already passed an EIS for it being used as a cruise ship terminal (a project that has since been dropped by the developer), that this may fall under that existing 'umbrella.'

But time is definitely tight...

 

[EaglesPDX]

But time is definitely tight...

I think Ellison is pushing for as much as he can get, playing as hard to get, but in the end he's going with SF. He's made a lot out of having AC in SF. He's said he needs no money from the taxpayers. My guess is SF has provided enough already if Ellison meant it about no taxpayer money. At $28B in middle of Great Recession lets hope he meant it. Anything he gets from SF now is gravy. Shrewd businessman he'll take it but in the end, SF, like the Cats, is too right a choice not to make.

AC cats in SF Bay is the dream of the century and Ellison seems to be there at the inception.

 

[Stingray]

You have suggested it before and I probably countered but since Le announced his intention to give 95 pct of his wealth to charity I'm starting to wonder if this could make civic sense somehow.

 

[Dixie]

SR : Good catch on that article. That's the message I've been hearing here too. We need to join forces with SD and Newport, with the big wigs of the US and with powerful players who can throw their weight around to make this happen. Is some of the doubt around SF bluster to keep SF working? Maybe. Then again there's the fear that the government agencies bluster too. Either way, SF has made a hurculean effort to bring together many many diverse groups.

Regarding time - Kyri said their presentation to the Board of Supes would be in 2-4 weeks. In the meantime they are collecting each and every letter of support sent to the Mayor to attach in the packet that goes to them. As well as watching and tracking the numbers on the Facebook page. So for those of you here who want to see it in the US, please join. (linked in my sig). And please write a letter.

Oh and if you are the CEO of a multi billion $ company or have a few $$ to give, I'm sure I can put you in touch with the right people.

 

[mo fuzz]

Not much here, except it appears SF will likely miss the proposal deadline. But TJ suggests the team may be open to extending it.

http://www.sfexamine...-103691684.html

Bid for America's Cup hits rough waters

San Francisco was asked to put together an official bid to host the America's Cup, and have it approved by the Board of Supervisors by the end of September.

That deadline won't be met because The City is still negotiating with the team over some sticky issues.

The City wants to host the event because it claims the race could eventually bring more than $1 billion to the Bay Area's economy. The decision will be made by BMW Oracle Racing team, which is associated with Golden Gate Yacht Club. That team won the America's Cup in February, and now has the right to decide the date, location, rules and boat specifications for the next race.

The team has announced the event will be held in 2013, following 13 regattas, and be held in a new class of boats that are 72 feet long and are some of the fastest that have ever sailed in the race. All that is left to resolve now is the location.

San Francisco is competing with Valencia, Spain — which has the advantage of an already-constructed infrastructure for the race — and an unnamed city in Italy.

In August, officials from the Mayor's Office said they'd been asked to complete the application by Sept. 30, and hoped to introduce the bid to the Board of Supervisors in early September. But when September came, the introduction was delayed. Every week since, the introduction has been delayed another week.

America's Cup project manager Kyri McClellan of the Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development said this is because there are still unresolved matters to be negotiated.

"We have a couple of outstanding issues we remain in discussions on," she said.

Asked what the primary hangups are, she declined to discuss it.

"It's not really to my advantage to discuss them until they're resolved," she said.

Team spokesman Tim Jeffery declined to comment on the delays because negotiations with all three locations are ongoing. But McClellan said the team has been flexible about the deadline.

"Unlike an Olympics bid or something where there's a governing body and a very rigid and structured bidding process, the team controls all of those elements and we respond," she said. "[The end of the month] was their deadline, and they understand our timeline, and they will continue to set their deadline."

Once negotiations with the team are complete, a resolution putting a stamp of approval will be introduced to the board, perhaps this coming Tuesday, though McClellan declined to promise it would happen that soon. If there were no hangups at all, the board would hold a hearing within the week, and approve it the following Tuesday board meeting.

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexamine...l#ixzz10SM8qbLX

 

[Stingray]

Ellison sells $108M in Oracle Corp. shares in one week - San Francisco Business Times

 

[Te Kooti]

Not much here, except it appears SF will likely miss the proposal deadline. But TJ suggests the team may be open to extending it.

http://www.sfexamine...-103691684.html

Bid for America's Cup hits rough waters

San Francisco was asked to put together an official bid to host the America's Cup, and have it approved by the Board of Supervisors by the end of September.

That deadline won't be met because The City is still negotiating with the team over some sticky issues.

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexamine...l#ixzz10SM8qbLX

Yea, well ... democracy is an awkward process.

But, in many cases, better than the alternatives.

 

[willsailforfood]

Ellison sells $108M in Oracle Corp. shares in one week - San Francisco Business Times

Considering LE's estimated net worth is in the $28 Billion department this is hardly big news... liquidating 3/10ths of a single percent of your stock holdings is hardly worth comment. I suspect he's just getting some cash on hand for the inevitable early campaign expenses. Besides Oracle is at a nearly 10 year high, why not dump a little now while all the pre-earnings hype is at full volume.

 

[Stingray]

Ellison sells $108M in Oracle Corp. shares in one week - San Francisco Business Times

Considering LE's estimated net worth is in the $28 Billion department this is hardly big news... liquidating 3/10ths of a single percent of your stock holdings is hardly worth comment. I suspect he's just getting some cash on hand for the inevitable early campaign expenses. Besides Oracle is at a nearly 10 year high, why not dump a little now while all the pre-earnings hype is at full volume.

True, but it is still a shit-ton of money and somehow the article is currently the 'most read' article at the newspaper's site.

Was just fantasizing about if the timing suggests it has anything to do with the 'stickiness' that SF is apparently putting him through. Hopefully not.

 

[Stingray]

--

 

Don't let America's Cup plans bog down

 

Holding the America's Cup race in San Francisco is a wonderful opportunity without a downside. It is a win-win that will bring cargo bags of cash to the Bay Area and revitalize the southern waterfront.

 

It is such a good idea that even the ever-fractious Board of Supervisors and Mayor Gavin Newsom seem united behind it.

 

"Unlike other issues typical of San Francisco," said Board President David Chiu, "my colleagues and I are extremely committed to making sure this incredible opportunity doesn't go to waste."

 

There's just one little caveat. This cannot stall because of a last-second campaign to save-the-sardine-spawning-grounds. Or concerns that migratory bird flyways will be disturbed by the glare off the boat sails. It can't get bogged down in lawsuits, environmental reviews, or fringe groups with an agenda.

 

It can't be San Francisco, in other words.

 

There just isn't time. The cup has been pushed up to 2013, and organizers would like to have things in place by 2012. And before that, Larry Ellison's team, BMW Oracle Racing, wants to know that things will go smoothly. Everyone agrees on that.

 

"Performing as anything less than a serious contender will jeopardize our chances," said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi. "Full-court press has to be exercised, even if the contest rules to host the cup keep changing."

 

But it is impossible not to notice that little beads of sweat are forming on the brows at City Hall. They insist that it means nothing that the city will not meet the Thursday deadline to submit its bid to the BMW Oracle team.

 

Kyri McClellan, who is spearheading the effort for the Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development, says it was a deadline set by the racing team and it can move it back if they want.

 

"It is absolutely their timeline," she said. "They want (the bid) to be as aggressive and as clear as possible. And we want to include everything we can possibly include."

 

That's fine. But insiders are now saying that the bid approval may not come until the middle of October or later. Meanwhile, time is ticking.

 

When the process began, there was talk of getting an exemption to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). But after those environmental exemptions were used to approve projects like a huge new football stadium in Southern California over the vociferous objections of environmentalists, "exemption" is a dirty word.

 

"We had a concern they were going to try a CEQA exemption," said Tina Andolina, legislative director for the Planning and Conservation League, a Sacramento environmental lobbying group. "That would have polluted the waters from the get-go."

 

"They said it was a bad idea and we listened," says the mayor's spokesman Tony Winnicker.

 

Instead, the city's cup team reached out to environmental groups and got their approval ahead of time. The downside is, without an exemption, San Francisco can only present a proposed blueprint to Ellison's team. They can't sign a binding lease agreement until the environmental requirements are met.

 

There isn't any question that both parties really, really want this to work. Insiders say that Ellison badly wants the event to happen in the bay, and city officials are so solicitous of his wishes that they refer to him as "Mr. Ellison."

 

The problem is, as someone pointed out, "all it takes is $35 and a piece of paper" to get a lawsuit filed on behalf of concerned seaweed activists or some such. Andolina insists that "even if some wack job comes out of the woodwork, this will go forward."

 

That's what everyone is hoping, but when a deal has this many moving pieces it can easily go wrong. Insiders say Ellison has his team working hard on the deal.

 

I just hope it isn't the same team that was working on buying the Warriors.

 

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[Stingray]

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Facebook Gen vs. Flintstones over America's Cup

It's a face-off between the Facebook generation versus the Flintstones, pro- or anti-catamaran, San Francisco or anywhere-but.

 

After the announcement Sept. 13 that 72-foot catamarans will vie for the America's Cup, observers' reactions fell squarely into two camps, but there are plenty of other events on the bay that have given folks a lot to talk about.

 

San Francisco America's Cup Organizing Committee held an impromptu news conference about the city's bid. City project manager Kyrie McClellan and committee spokesman Peter Stoneberg laid out the plan in glowing terms.

 

Their message? San Francisco can pull off an amazing America's Cup match, it wants to host a prematch World Series race in 2011 and again in 2012, and citizens can show their support by writing Mayor Gavin Newsom at gavin.new [email protected] (messages will be added to the city's bid).

 

The 162-year-old sterling silver Auld Mug itself was just a couple of miles across town with 40,000 or so Oracle OpenWorld attendees admiring it at the Moscone Center.

 

But what about racing in catamarans? BMW Oracle Racing CEO Russell Coutts said that they would offer the fastest boats to "meet the expectations of the Facebook generation, not the Flintstone generation" and capture the fans and the sailing stars of tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

contd