Stop One -- Standing Room Only.


NYC, 05:15 Tuesday

Last evening the spiritual home of the America's Cup -- the "Model Room" of the New York Yacht Club in midtown Manhattan -- was overflowing for the first stop on our USA Yacht Club Tour. 200+ guests, largely NYYC members, arrived early and stayed late. The enthusiasm was infectious.

Some had driven or trained in from as far away as Annapolis and Newport. Most had made their way from their NYC offices through the cool, rainy rush-hour in time for a glass or two of Moet before the 18:30 start. Gary "Jobbo" Jobson (USA), Cup-winning tactician with Ted Turner on Courageous in 1977 and long-time AC television commentator on the ESPN, opened our 75-minute presentation with a rousing review of Cup developments past and present. Gary's intro was highlighted by a six-minute video he produced just last week especially for our Club Tour.

(If you are thinking about joining us at any of the other seven Tour stops, Gary's video will be shown at each. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a good video is worth a million. In a word, the video is awesome. )

After a warm welcome to all from NYYC Commodore George Hinman (bowman on the winning defender Intrepid in the '67 Cup), Dicko was at the top of his shore-side game in delivering a spirited 15-minute talk on what managing and racing in the 32nd AC is all about. In a nutshell, Chris said the Cup is alive and well and living in Europe. With the advent of the 13 pre-regattas ("Acts") and more racing, the most number of nations ever, mulitple venues, a number of other strong teams, and other developments, to be involved is more fascinating and challenging than ever. To win it, Chris said, is an even bigger ask than in the past, but there is no team with a better chance than the USA's only challenger, BMW ORACLE Racing.

Following Dicko, I took the attentive audience through a ten-minute powerpoint presentation (prepared by our team's resident .ppt king, Mirko Groeschner) explaining "What's New for Thirty-Two." Building on Chris's "alive and well" theme, we highlighted the five most significant new features that together the Defender and Challenger of Record have wrought:

+ Central Organizing Committee.
+ Bidding out the venue.
+ "Boxing" the boat.
+ Simplified rules.
+ More and better racing.

Gary then moderated a Q&A. Dicko and I were peppered with questions. We would have encroached on everyone's dinner plans had Gary not politely wrapped things up after 15 minutes of lively back and forth.

The purpose of the Club tour is simple. With the Cup in Europe and OLN's coverage yet to get underway in a significant way, so far AC 32 has been a bit "out of sight and out of mind" in the USA. So we are here to inform and entertain at these prestigious clubs -- to boost awareness for the Cup, our team and sponsors at the heart of the USA sailing community. More importantly, we hope to show and share the passion that Larry, Chris and every one of our 130+ BMW ORACLE colleagues has for the Cup, and our commitment to winning it.

As Gary said last evening, support of hometown fans gives a boost to every professional sports team. Our "hometown" is the USA, and we are the only American challenger. And as good as the Cup is and will be in Europe, wouldn't it be even better to bring it back to the USA and San Francisco Bay -- perhaps with pre-regattas not only in cities like Marseille and Trapani, but in more USA venues such as Newport, Annapolis, Miami, Chicago, San Diego, LA and Seattle?

Stop Two is Annapolis Thursday evening. Speaking of hometowns, it's not only Gary's (who will be with us again at AYC), but also the stomping grounds of Bruce Farr and his FYD colleagues, many of whom are intimately involved in our campaign. We hear another packed house is in store.

¡Vamos!


The 44th St clubhouse. Click here for the official
NYYC website.


The magnificent Model Room. Copyrighted photo
courtesy of Walter Dufresne. For more pictures of the
architecturally significant 44th St clubhouse, click here
for Mr Dufresne's site.

Apropos the Model Room -- Commodore Hinman receiving a
BMWOR half-model from Dicko in appreciation for the warm
welcome we received last evening at NYYC.

Stop Two: Thursday evening in
Annapolis, Maryland, just outside
Washington, DC.