It was a great evening at the Golden Gate Yacht Club on Friday night. The Club is now just the third US yacht club in 159 years of America's Cup history to hold the Cup, joining the New York Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club.
Moderator Tom Ehman introduced skipper Jimmy Spithill as the youngest winning skipper in the history of the Cup.
"Thanks, but it did take me four tries to do it!" Spithill said. "For the sailors we have the best job on the water. I think we've proved its the fastest boat in the world but it's also the coolest boat in the world and I can tell you that from experience. All you want to do is get back on it and go sailing...
"There's few guys I'd like to mention. Mark Turner and Tim Smyth and Wolfgang and all the boat builders. We - especially me - used to go out and break the thing, and they'd be the ones who would fix it make sure we could get out there and race."
John Kostecki (USA) was introduced by moderator Tom Ehman as the winner of sailing's 'Triple Crown'. Kostecki is now an Olympic medallist, a winner of the Volvo Ocean Race, and now, the winner of the America's Cup. To our knowledge, he's the only sailor in the sport who can claim that trifecta. He's also a local boy, having grown up sailing on the Bay.
"It's a very special moment for me to bring the Cup back here to San Francisco and I'm very fortunate to have won this 'triple crown'. There is one thing in common between all three instances - having a great team. Here, it was the people behind the team who made it possible. So a big thanks to our team. This has been a great experience and hopefully we can repeat it."
Mike Drummond, design director, was asked what the top speed of the USA would be. He said while it would be hard to get to 50 knots, he would expect in perfect conditions, you could approach that number. The fastest the USA has been sailed by the team is 42 knots, in about 15 knots of wind.
Moderator Tom Ehman introduced skipper Jimmy Spithill as the youngest winning skipper in the history of the Cup.
"Thanks, but it did take me four tries to do it!" Spithill said. "For the sailors we have the best job on the water. I think we've proved its the fastest boat in the world but it's also the coolest boat in the world and I can tell you that from experience. All you want to do is get back on it and go sailing...
"There's few guys I'd like to mention. Mark Turner and Tim Smyth and Wolfgang and all the boat builders. We - especially me - used to go out and break the thing, and they'd be the ones who would fix it make sure we could get out there and race."
John Kostecki (USA) was introduced by moderator Tom Ehman as the winner of sailing's 'Triple Crown'. Kostecki is now an Olympic medallist, a winner of the Volvo Ocean Race, and now, the winner of the America's Cup. To our knowledge, he's the only sailor in the sport who can claim that trifecta. He's also a local boy, having grown up sailing on the Bay.
"It's a very special moment for me to bring the Cup back here to San Francisco and I'm very fortunate to have won this 'triple crown'. There is one thing in common between all three instances - having a great team. Here, it was the people behind the team who made it possible. So a big thanks to our team. This has been a great experience and hopefully we can repeat it."
