Oracle Racing hosts Nancy Pelosi and San Francisco mayor at Pier 80
by Tim Jeffery on 7 Feb 2012
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mayor Ed Lee visiting Pier 80 Ron Sellers / Oracle Racing
Challenger of the 34th America's Cup, Oracle Racing, hosted two distinguished guests at its San Francisco base on Saturday, 4 February, which were Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee.
Shore boss Mark Turner and Team Coordinator Ian Burns guided Pelosi, Lee and other guests around the base.
'It was fantastic to share a behind-the-scenes look at the tremendous effort going towards the 34th America's Cup and our preparation to defend it,' said Burns.
Over the past two years, the base at Pier 80 has gone through a $2 million refurbishment financed by Oracle Racing that has turned the container warehouse from an 'ugly duckling' with leaking roof and decades of grime to a facility that's the nerve center of Oracle Racing's defense of the 34th America's Cup.
Such is the scale of Pier 80 that USA 17's 223-foot wingsail, which powered the team to victory in the 33rd America’s Cup two years ago, is dwarfed inside the shed. Through the Cup in September 2013, the enormous building will house other Cup-related activities including Race Management, Event Authority and other teams.
Speaker Pelosi, who was the first woman speaker of the House, and Mayor Lee ran overtime on their visit. Tactician John Kostecki gave a hands-on view of what it's like racing the AC45 high-speed, wingsailed multihulls. Kurt Jordan and Scott Ferguson of the Design Team provided a sneak-peak inside the team's 'skunk works,' the secret design and engineering work being carried out on the team’s next-generation AC72 catamarans.
'We gave a run through of some of the sophisticated design tools we use,' said Ferguson. 'And we were asked some pretty detailed questions by our visitors.'
Regatta Director Iain Murray and Chief Commercial Officer Tom Huston talked about the vision for the 34th America's Cup from their viewpoints from the America's Cup Race Management and Event Authority.
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