In preparation for the 2011 America’s Cup World Series, which kicks off this August in Cascais, Portugal and features stops in Plymouth, UK and San Diego, event organizers will stage on and off the water dress rehearsals in Auckland April 26-29 and May 2-6.
Bay Area resident Stan Honey (USA), a two-time Emmy Winner for Technical Innovations in Sports TV Broadcast and the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year for 2010, has been appointed Director of Technology for the 34th America’s Cup by the America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA).
For the first time in its 160-year history, a challenge has been made by a South Korean Yacht Club for the America’s Cup, the oldest trophy in international sports. The Sail Korea Yacht Club, represented by Team Korea, has been officially accepted as a challenger for the 34th America’s Cup.
Entries for the 34th America’s Cup accelerated with a flurry of last-minute activity on deadline day last week, March 31, resulted in 15 teams from 12 nations entering the competition set for the 2011 and 2012 World Series events and the Louis Vuitton Cup and America’s Cup Finals set for San Francisco in the summer of 2013.
The coastal town of Cascais will play host to the first America’s Cup World Series event, scheduled Aug. 6-14. Cascais, about 30 kilometers west of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, has hosted many world championship sailing events and now it’ll host the first event of the ACWS.