US 17 Relaunch

[Photoboy]

Oracle Racing to another step towards getting back on the water as they wheeled out
the rehabbed US 17 and stepped the replacement wing this AM for dock side load testing.






The operation ended just about mid day and the rig was disassembled and wheeled back into barn as they analyze the loads and ready for a return to the water.

[Tom Mc]

Nice

[Photoboy]

The Bomb Drops

Ed Lee will come clean with the dire fundraising quandry the City of SF faces as time is running out and donations are scarce...


This weekend on In Depth, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee sits down with KCBS City Hall Bureau Chief Barbara Taylor and KCBS & Chronicle Insider Phil Matier. Hear our sneak preview at 5:30am Saturday, then Sunday at 8:30am & 8:30pm on 740AM, 106.9FM and streaming live at http://bit.ly/kcbslive


Mayor Ed Lee wants to establish a permanent nonprofit organization to help San Francisco secure major sporting events, from the Super Bowl to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, he said Friday.

The idea grew out of Lee's recent effort to raise up to $20 million to help cover the city's cost for hosting the America's Cup regatta this summer after a group of civic leaders struggled with fundraising efforts to defray city costs.

Lee is in the early stages of creating the nonprofit, OneSF, to build on the regatta efforts and anticipated fundraising to host a Super Bowl. The idea is to create a permanent organization with funding from corporate and philanthropic donors to attract major national and international events.

"I want to be able to raise the money from people who want these events to come to the city successfully, and want to keep them coming," Lee told The Chronicle's editorial board Friday. "Everybody derives a huge benefit from hosting international events like this."

Creating a nonprofit would help provide a seamless transition if San Francisco is successful in its May bid to host the Super Bowl in 2016 or 2017, proponents say. The game would be played in a new 49ers stadium in Santa Clara, but city officials envision parties, pregame events and a majority of hotel guests would be in San Francisco. The city would want to defray millions of dollars in public costs for hosting the event.

With a 17,500-seat basketball and entertainment arena proposed to be built on the waterfront by 2017, the planned expansion of the Moscone Convention Center to be finished shortly after, AT&T Park and a vacant Candlestick Park in 2014 once the 49ers move, the city will be well-positioned to host events ranging from an international fencing competition to college basketball tournaments to the World Cup finals in international soccer, the mayor's administration said.
Eye on the prize

Lee has his eye on the most prestigious international sporting event.

"I suggest that a new Santa Clara stadium and a new arena on the water would add (tremendously) to the possibility of a Bay Area international athletic event that I will not name," Lee said before confirming he was talking about the Olympics.

It's unclear whether the U.S. Olympic Committee will even try to land the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad. Host city bidding will begin in 2015, with the winning city to be announced in 2017. Rome, Berlin and Paris are among the cities vying to host the 2024 Summer Games. The last time San Francisco worked to host an Olympics was in 2006 for the 2016 Olympics, which ultimately went to Rio de Janeiro.
The time is now

"We have to start thinking about it now," Lee said.

Even without an Olympic focus, the mayor said, San Francisco should have a permanent entity dedicated to attracting major sporting and similar events to sustain the work being done around the America's Cup and Super Bowl bid, rather than approaching events ad hoc.

"It's important to have corporate and philanthropic support at the beginning of the bid process," said Tony Winnicker, a policy adviser to the mayor. "This effort will seek to ensure that for future events."

Other major cities already have such entities, including San Jose, which lured the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and the 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.
New Orleans' experience

One advantage to such organizations is the ability to transition quickly between a bid committee to a host committee if selected to hold an event, said Sam Joffray, a vice president with the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation.

New Orleans has staged the Super Bowl 10 times and is already preparing a bid for the 2018 game. It also hosted the Sugar Bowl this year, the NCAA Final Four last year and is likely to get the NBA All-Star Game.

San Francisco started from scratch in its effort to host the America's Cup, international sailing's premier event, and the America's Cup Organizing Committee, the civic group tapped to fundraise, has struggled to raise $32 million to defray city costs.

Problems stemmed from a lack of understanding about the event, shifting parameters of a linked development deal that ultimately was scuttled, and the perception from some that donations were subsidizing a billionaires' boat race, those knowledgeable about the situation said.

The committee says it has donations or pledges for more than $14 million. In December the city submitted an invoice for almost $2.3 million in expenses for regatta preparation, with the committee so far covering only $700,000 of those costs.

($ 8 Million having come directly from the ACEA via Larry Ellision)


Lee takes charge

"I'm concerned enough that I am personally working on it," Lee said after making his money pitch to a group of corporate CEOs over breakfast Friday. "In fact, I'm in charge of raising $20 million for the overall $32 million that had been obligated."

Benefits for donors include civic recognition, naming rights, VIP event access and promotional packages, according to a city document.

"These are all kinds of things that we've done as one-offs to a singular event, but that we want to do on an ongoing basis as a way of recognizing the corporate philanthropy that exists in the city in a very big way," he said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/articl...#ixzz2JoF3XAP3

[fototaker]

awesome pixs. that info on the mayor's dream is interesting. will be even more interesting to see WHO he can get moving on the $$. it'll have to be big businesses and organizations.

[Charlie Tuna]

Nice work PB, do you suspect we will see both Artemis & Oracle engage some time this week?

[fototaker]

don't i wish!!! with MY luck they'll both be somewhere in the south bay! grrrrrr

[Tom Mc]

Nice work PB, do you suspect we will see both Artemis & Oracle engage some time this week?

Planned Photo Op would be cool.
Go PB

[fototaker]

it would be. it would be historic. it shouldve happened months ago BUT.....

[fototaker]

okay, dropped it in their corner via twitland

fototaker @fototakerROTA
1/2 wants to see #HISTORIC #fotoOps OF TWO #AC72s IN #SFbay. shouldve happened months ago @amcup @OracleTeamUSA @ArtemisRacing be nice IF...

fototaker @fototakerROTA
2/2 on weekend 4 MAX @AmericasCupFans enjoymt& 2 record historic mtg CLOSE 2 SHORE & near @onlyinsf Landmrks @OracleTeamUSA @ArtemisRacing

[Redsky_SF]

PHoto Boy,

Think they will put it in the water today ? I will be out in the area testing my own creation.

[Guitar]

any news?

[Guitar]

[Tom Mc]

I just spoke with PB
He says the boat is in the water and lots of media and guests milling about. As of 10 minutes ago it does not appears that she will go sailing today.
Different foils
Longer T rudders with Yanmar branding.
Wheels instead of tillers
and other interesting stuff.
Pics soon to follow.

[Photoboy]

It appears they are planning on sailing. Light wind and cold foggy conditions...

Will wait for betterer conditions later this week...

Pics uploading

[Photoboy]

AC72, US 17 Relaunch



The beast is wheeled out of the shed




Stepping the mast







The media was out in force




An army is required to launch




Mark "Tugboat" Turner overseeing the return of US17. Mark said "great relief" summed up
the finishing of US 17, but no time to slack and it was back into the shed to continue work on
the second hull





Retrieving the counterweight





Some changes from old lay out, can you spot them?





Still not committed to either design, per general manager Grant Zimmer, the team is still weighing
the pros and cons of foiling vs no foiling, given the constraints of the AC course.