Fuente info Sfexaminer
City angles for Vuitton sailing series
By: Katie Worth
Examiner Staff Writer
May 9, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco could host the Louis Vuitton Trophy series in September 2011 — a $5 million event that could bring between 300,000 and 500,000 people to The City, according to Marcus Young, commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club and chairman of the Louis Vuitton Trophy San Francisco 2011 Committee.
The two-week Louis Vuitton sailing races occur four times a year in different parts of the globe. They involve 10 racing teams who race each other using the same four boats.
The last time San Francisco hosted something similar was in 2003, when the Moet Cup was raced in the Bay for a week, attracting more than 100,000 people to The City’s waterfront.
San Francisco is in the running for the race against San Diego and other cities, Young said.
The committee consists of representatives from both Golden Gate and St. Francis yacht clubs, as well as the Port of San Francisco, The City and BMW Oracle Racing, which won the America’s Cup on Golden Gate’s behalf in February.
Mayor Gavin Newsom has issued a letter of support as well, according to Kyri McClellon, a project manager in the mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
The City is hoping to host the next America’s Cup, but that decision won’t come down until the end of the year. The decision for the Louis Vuitton series will most likely come by August.
San Francisco has proposed to host the 2011 event between Sept. 17 and Oct. 1.
McClellon said bagging the Louis Vuitton could spell good things for The City.
“It would be tremendous to have this type of race here on the Bay,” she said. “It would be an opportunity to demonstrate that region can once again deliver a world-class sporting event.”
Young said the event is “definitely a moneymaker” for the cities that host them.
“People travel from all over — some come for the beginning, some for the end,” he said. “From a tourism spectator view, it’s got legs.
