Inshore

The right to publish without influence. The right to have one’s say. Freedom of expression. Freedom of the press. All are cliché’d terms yet have relevance in the run up to the 34th America’s Cup.

The America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA) has made great progress with setting up the next event of the oldest sporting event on the planet. They have tried to ensure that the event will be held on boats that should all be on a similar level competitively. They have sorted out some of the rules that allowed mavericks to win the Cup in a courtroom. They have even taken into account that some teams will be coming to the cup with marginal budgets. And, this is where the problem starts.

“We sought a venue that fulfills our promise – to showcase the best sailors in the world competing on the fastest boats,” said Richard Worth, Chairman, America’s Cup Event Authority. “And hosting the America’s Cup in San Francisco will realize that promise.”

San Francisco has been told it will lose the right to host the next America's Cup unless a deal is signed by Friday.

The warning came in a letter the Golden Gate Yacht Club sent to Mayor Gavin Newsom and other officials on Saturday.

On the White Group start line the Laser SB3 class got away cleanly after a 10-minute postponement. The adverse tide favoured the inner end of the line, but in light wind there were big holes close inshore. 10 minutes later it was very soft for the Longtze class, with only one boat on the line and the back-markers were barely clear a couple of minutes before the scheduled Etchells start time.

This year's first start saw the nine Extreme 40s competing in the Extreme Sailing Series at Cowes on the Royal Yacht Squadron line for their first long-distance race. In light airs, with insufficient wind for these high-adrenaline machines to fly a hull, and a building flood tide, the fleet lined up heading inshore on starboard tack 20 seconds before the gun. However, three were over the line early and the inshore boat had to tack for depth almost immediately after the gun, forcing the remainder of the fleet to tack offshore.