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Race Arena Unveiled

As the America's Cup starts to jump through the many hoops required to host the event in San Francisco Bay, an early look at the race arena offers a bit of insight as to the future of the competition for sailing's top trophy.
Sailing World

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A preliminary look at the race arena for the 34th America’s Cup, including the location of the shipping lanes and spectator boats. Courtesy America’s Cup Event Authority

While Oracle Racing and the America’s Cup Event Authority haven’t offered many hints on the course for the 34th America’s Cup, a just-released image of the race arena all but confirms that for now, what is being considered is a departure from the normal windward-leeward course that has been the recent standard for match racing.

One note: A source familiar with commerical traffic in San Francisco Bay noted that while this image accurate shows one of the shipping lanes, it doesn’t show the one running south of Alcatraz, with is heavily used by boats going to the Port of Oakland.

Here’s the press release from ACEA that accompanied the image

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On Wednesday Feb. 8 in San Francisco, the Notice of Preparation (NOP) of an Environmental Impact Report to meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in relation to the 34th America’s Cup was posted. The NOP is the kick-off of the important public comment and information process that analyzes the environmental impacts of the facilities and plans incorporated into the program of events for the America’s Cup. Per the Host City Agreement, the America’s Cup Event Authority, the City and County of San Francisco and the America’s Cup Organizing Committee propose improvements and services to several facilities and locations to support the 34th America’s Cup events and the AC World Series in 2012.

_Included in the NOP is a map of the proposed race area. We’ve attached the graphic below for your information. This map reflects the information contained in Regatta Notice 2011/04. _

To read the NOP, click here.”

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