Friday's Allianz Cup racing was streamed live on the internet on Sail.TV (www.sail.tv). This was not the first time for a WMRT event, but we are told reliably that it was the first-ever live airing -- internet or otherwise -- of a yacht racing event from San Francisco Bay.

And a glorious day it was! Close racing, light but reasonably steady breeze, that wonderful SF Bay vista, a nice crowd of spectators shoreside, and a number of spectator boats including the stunning replica of the schooner yacht America that started it all in 1851.

Saturday the quarter-finals begin at 1000 and will continue into the afternoon -- a tennis-ladder (head-to-head racing) of four pairs, including our own Chris Dickson & Co. racing against Alinghi's Ed Baird. First in each pair to win three matches will advance to the semis, slated to begin Saturday afternoon. The finals and consolation are on Sunday, also first to win three matches.

Follow all the action live on www.sail.tv from roughly 1000-1800 Pacific Time on Saturday; 1000 to 1500 on Sunday. Western Europe is nine hours ahead of San Francisco, so your starting time is 1900 (7pm) both days. Kiwis in New Zealand will have to figure out the time, as Saturday night here in the USA we go off Daylight Savings (Summer) Time -- and I am not sure if New Zealand is, or will be, 19, 20 or 21 hours ahead of San Francisco.




P.S. Below is a quick preview of what you can expect to see -- this video clip is from Day 2 (Thursday).



And there is a video clip with the full story of Friday's action over on the always-informative Valencia Sailing site run by Pierre Orphanidis. Even more audio and video coverage on the WMRT site.