Blog Page – Page 114

March 26, 2012 By Jack Griffin

Explain the distortion, win a Shosholoza blanket.

Who can explain the distortion below the tail of this F/A-18 doing a low level pass over SF Bay during Fleet Week 2007?
(Click the photo for enlargement.)

I still have a supply of Shosholoza fleece blankets from The African Queen. Best answers win one of these priceless souvenirs. Multiple winners possible.

Add your explanations to the comments below. Enter early and enter often. Contest closes 10 April 2011, noon zulu time.

All photos in this post by Bernard Zee. Prints available here.

And, just for fun, a few more photos of Fleet Week in SF. Be there for the ACWS regatta 4-7 October 2012!

And, finally, not the Blue Angels. The Red Baron perhaps? Coming in to strafe the competition?

March 26, 2012 By Jack Griffin

2 x ACWS in San Francisco in 2012. No racing in NYC.

Ear protection mandatory for AC45 sailors in October?
It looks like AC45 sailors will need ear protection during the America’s Cup World Series event in San Francisco October 4-7, 2012. Those dates overlap Fleet Week and the Blue Angels will be in town. Low level fly-bys look like they will be on the agenda, judging by this cool photo taken by the Bay Area’s Bernard Zee.

From the calendar you can see that the idea of racing in New York City in August has been dropped. It would have been great (assuming a little wind – not a sure thing in NYC in August). But you won’t have to twist my arm to make two trips to SF in 2012!

America’s Cup World Series Calendar

(Green = 2011-12 Series. Blue = 2012-13 Series.)

Naples, Italy – April 11-15, 2012

Venice, Italy – May 12-20, 2012

Newport, USA – June 23 – July 1, 2012

San Francisco – August 23-26, 2012

San Francisco – October 4.7, 2012 (Fleet Week)

Venice, Italy – April 18-21, 2013

Naples, Italy – May 16-19, 2013

March 25, 2012 By Jack Griffin

Awesome event in the perfect spot – America’s Cup in SF

Here is an excellent article about the layoffs at ACEA. Of course that was bad news, especially for those laid off. But the America’s Cup in San Francisco will still be a great event. Excerpt:

America’s Cup & Golden Gate Bridge

This may be a downsize from the original extravaganza, but it will still be an awesome event in the perfect spot. I continue to think that even people who don’t know a spinnaker from an anchor will find these races unexpectedly compelling. It will be a showcase for the city and the bay, and I will be extremely surprised if it isn’t a killer event.

There will be inevitable doomsayers as the expectations are downsized, but other than learning a good lesson about promising too much too soon, I don’t see this as a problem.

Read the full article in SF Chronicle

March 21, 2012 By Jack Griffin

The America’s Cup – a “Passion Brand?”

No one asked me what I would do to help market AC34, and I don’t have a complete set of solutions, but here is one line of action:

1. Focus on my belief that the AC has something like the attributes of “passion brands,” e.g. Apple, Harley Davidson, Ducati, Nikon, Swan…
2. Identify and reach out to the most enthusiastic members of the current “tribe” – especially sailors and yacht clubs and also people in SF who are enthusiastic about the event.
3. Communicate to the tribe via many channels: website, YouTube, newsletters and face to face “briefings.”
4. Let the most engaged members of the tribe self-identify and then provide them with “content” to spread the word. At the same time, thank and encourage them with clothing, flags and special rewards.
5. Build on this strong base to expand the audience and welcome newcomers to the tribe.

Harley Tattoo

That’s off the top of my head. I’ll prepare something a bit more thorough soon. In the meantime, for fun, a couple of pics I use in the seminar I teach on Passion Brands…

You know you have a passion brand if… people have tattoos of your logo,

And if you have a museum…

harley museum

By the way, we do have a museum, with the America’s Cup Hall of Fame…
In Bristol, RI, near the America’s Cup World Series in Newport in June 2012

herreshoff Marine Museum & America’s Cup Hall of Fame – Bristol, Rhode Island

A passion brand probably has a store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan…

NBA-store-5th-Ave-02-compressed — NBA store 5th Ave

Harley head tattoo

The most engaged members of the tribe can help your brand go viral…

Did you ever wonder why I call this site Cup Experience?

You and I are part of the tribe. What can we be doing to help this event that we enjoy so much? Comments, please!

Harley website

March 20, 2012 By Jack Griffin

Reliance Facts

Reliance_Crossing_Finish_Line

I’m a traditionalist. My favorite piece of AC tradition: the 12th America’s Cup defense.

Reliance finishing. 12th America's Cup defense, 1903

RELIANCE: largest yacht built for America’s Cup competition
Length of Hull: 149′
LWL: 89′ 6″
LOA: 201′ 9″ (from end of bowsprit to end of main boom. BTW, main boom was 115′ long)
Topmast height: 218′ (USA17 wing 223′)
Sail area: 16,160 sq ft
Mainsheet: 800′ tapered 4″ diameter manila rope
Rigging: 3.9 miles (about the length of a leg in AC32)
Bulb keel: 102 tons
Crew: 64 (58 Scandinavian fishermen + 6 afterguard, including N.G. Herreshoff & Charlie Barr, helm

Designed by N.G. Herreshoff, assisted by 4 draftsmen in preparing the drawings.
N.G. Herreshoff carved the model for RELIANCE in two evenings working at home.

Timeline: 6 months to design & build + 4 months racing trials before the Match.
7 Oct 1902: Challenge received from Royal Ulster YC (Sir Thomas Lipton built Shamrock III)
12 Apr 1903: Reliance launched. BTW, Herreshoff helmed her the first time she sailed and buried the leeward rail.
20 Aug 1903: First race of the 12th America’s Cup defense.

A few details, examples of Herreshoff’s technical skill:
– Reliance’s hollow rudder filled with water from a hole in the bottom to reduce lee helm. A foot pump on deck could force air in and the water out to change helm feel.
– Two speed winches below decks, with worm gears, disc clutches and ball bearings, wound wire sheets directly on drums, and were self-releasing.

As for the demands on the crew… how would you like to gybe this monster, with that 115′ long boom? The crew bound their fingers with spun yarn to protect them – sort of the way you would whip the end of a rope.