Tom Ehman at LBYC on the past, present and future of America’s Cup

by Rick Roberts on 12 Nov 2011
On Thursday evening, Tom Ehman, Vice Commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco, stopped in at the Long Beach Yacht Club to talk about the past, present, and future of America’s Cup.

The Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco is the very same club that currently has possession of the America’s Cup and will defend that honor against all comers on San Francisco Bay in 2013.

Previously, he was Head of External Affairs for Oracle Racing for the past three America’s Cup (AC) campaigns, so you can see he has a bit of experience with this historic yacht racing event.

Ehman is also a past member of LBYC and good friends with many of our staff commodores and members.

'We are coming up on 160 years and the 34th edition of the America’s Cup in 2013.' Ehman said, 'and I’ve been involved in the America’s Cup since 1980, but it’s all new now and I believe we are at the pinnacle of our sport.

'It’s great to see the young sailors with us tonight. You know, they are our future for the America’s Cup.'

He talked about the history of the America’s Cup and how, in 1851, the Americans built a specially designed sailing yacht named 'America' and sailed it across the Atlantic to compete in Great Britain’s Annual Regatta around the Isle of Wight.

Ehman said the boat’s design was so revolutionary that the Americans were far ahead of the rest of the fleet during the race. When they crossed the finish line winning the race, Queen Victoria was in attendance and asked who was second, at which the famous answer was given, 'Your Majesty, there is no second.'

The cup, known then as the R.Y.S. £100Cup because it was valued at 100 British pounds, was brought back to New York Yacht Club and renamed after the winning yacht 'America.'

Ehman covered the evolution of sailboat racing and the America’s Cup over the years up to the 33rd America’s Cup campaign in 2010 in Valencia, Spain when GGYC’s trimaran 'USA-17' won a decisive victory over Société Nautique de Genève’s 'Alinghi 5' and brought the cup back home to America.

'In the 2010 America’s Cup,' Ehman said, 'with BMW Oracle’s trimaran we were going 30 plus knots in only 7-8 knots of breeze. Those boats sail about two to three times the wind speed. The live coverage and the excitement that it generated was tremendous. People all over the world were watching.

'So, for 2013 we decided we will again be sailing multihulls. We created the America’s Cup World Series which will be sailed in AC45s [catamarans]. These are all new, wing-sail boats in which all of them are identical.'

He explained that the 2013 America’s Cup will be sailed in the larger AC72 catamarans, basically the same wing-sail design as the AC45s, but larger… and faster.

'The AC45s have a crew of five,' said Ehman, 'and the AC72s have a crew of 11. It’s a lot more boat and you need the extra crew.'

He reviewed the America’s Cup World Series schedule from 2011 through 2013 saying that there may be an opportunity for Long Beach to host an event in 2013.

LBYC member John Sangmeister and Ehman were recently together in Plymouth, England for a stop on the ACWS tour and Sangmeister talked about that experience and the possible opportunity for a date for Long Beach.

'We have been working very hard to bring this to Long Beach,' Sangmeister said. 'I had the privilege of going to Plymouth and saw the most exciting racing I’ve ever seen. We want to encourage everyone to go to San Diego [Nov. 12-20] to see this series.'

Ehman added 'We have a small opportunity in their calendar. We’ve been working with the City of Long Beach and the mayor. This would be a major event!'

Ehman talked about an idea the America’s Cup World Series has been considering, 'For the kids, we have something we are thinking of. Why can’t we get a Junior America’s Cup going? Maybe we can get them time on the AC45s to experience the excitement… to motivate them in this sport.'

He then challenged the Junior Sailors in attendance to create their own America’s Cup team, to set up the organization, the boats, the team and crew.

'It’s all about getting the kids involved and keeping their interest,' said Ehman.

'We think sailboat racing is the best sport to learn good sportsmanship, to keep physically fit and learn how to be good leaders.'

Ehman ended his presentation by saying, 'We’ve got to change the sport and we’ve got to do it together.'

Long Beach Yacht Club Website