Everything seems a little more special in New York. The buildings are taller, the crowds are bigger, and the sights and sounds and smells are, for better or worse, more intense. But still, I was unsure how the Louis Vuitton World Series would be received by the Manhattan sailing scene. Sure, it’s a world-class event, bringing top-notch sailing talent and high-intensity racing back to the New York area for the first time in nearly a century. But in a city where there are any number of world-class events going on at any given time, from sporting events to cultural events to whatever else you can think up, would the races bring out the crowds and live up to the hype? Simply put—you bet. The docks at Manhattan’s North Cove Marina were packed to the brim with sailors, die-hard
The docks at Manhattan’s North Cove Marina were packed to the brim with sailors, die-hard fans and casual spectators—I can’t think of a time when there have been so many people in foulies walking around the financial district. And if drumming up interest in the sport was the goal, it seems that Larry Ellison’s gamble of having the Louis Vuitton World Series come to New York paid off—everyone I ran into, from the other journalists I saw on the docks to the random security guard who asked me when the races would start (and generally what was going on), was excited about the races. New York rolled out the red carpet for the event—there was a replica of the schooner America dockside, tied up alongside the J-Boats Ranger and Topaz, bringing the race’s past front and center alongside the event’s present. It was truly a magnificent scene as generations of America’s Cup boats tacked back and forth in front of the remarkable Freedom Tower, against the backgrounds of the Manhattan and New Jersey skylines and the Statue of Liberty. And while sailing has yet to gain a ton of ground in the minds of the general public, if there is anything that can do it, it’s putting the races front and center in before the New York media. For more information on the rest of the events in the Louis Vuitton World Series, and the main event in Bermuda in 2017, go to americascup.com.
New York rolled out the red carpet for the event—there was a replica of the schooner America dockside, tied up alongside the J-Boats Ranger and Topaz, bringing the race’s past front and center alongside the event’s present. It was truly a magnificent scene as generations of America’s Cup boats tacked back and forth in front of the remarkable Freedom Tower, against the backgrounds of the Manhattan and New Jersey skylines and the Statue of Liberty. And while sailing has yet to gain a ton of ground in the minds of the general public, if there is anything that can do it, it’s putting the races front and center in before the New York media. For more information on the rest of the events in the Louis Vuitton World Series, and the main event in Bermuda in 2017, go to americascup.com.
July 2016
