SF ousted for Americas cup

[Celestialsailor]

San Francisco officially out of America's Cup running - SFGate

Well thanx to SF officials, the Americas cup will be held elsewhere.

[nimblemotors]

If he is correct that it costs the city $11.5 million, why would he want to host the event, I'd fire him if he did.

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

San Francisco officially out of America's Cup running - SFGate

Well thanx to SF officials, the Americas cup will be held elsewhere.

[Celestialsailor]

Loose change for SF. The could probably take advantage and make some money off the event. I think they missed that opportunity during the last one.

[sailorchic34]

It should be noted that over $9 million of the SF costs were for permiting and enviromental. There is also another $10 Million that the Bay Conservation and Development Commission charged to the port portion of the costs. Almost $20 million just for planning, permitting and environmental. Seems slightly padded to me. Only in California.

The events brought in $320 ish million to city businesses. Plus more to other cities in the area, and employed many 1000's.

Below is a PDF of the cost report from SF for the accountants out there..

[Celestialsailor]

Cool...thanx for that

[weavis]

I remember years ago, When political conferences where held in our town . We were told how much business it would bring in.
Well my family had two businesses on the main street where politicians were staying at one of the big hotels. A T.V. repair business and a jewelers. One week before the event, they were visited by security and told that they would not be permitted to park on the premises during the 5 day event. This did not go down well.
2 days prior to the event, the road was set up with security checks in 3 places.
During the event, employees were stopped and hassled and held up for hours whilst politicians moved in and out of the area... for the entire duration of the event, there were literally no customers or business done from the T.V. shop because could not get vehicled in to deliver and take out equipment. (the jewelers closed for the event).
When remonstrating with the officials about the draconian measures taken for "security" and subsequent loss of business..... they were told to make a claim after the event.
A clain was made, and it took 2 years for it to be even acknowledged. It took a further 2 years to be awarded a small sum eroded by inflation and time.

Its a select few who benefit from large events, mainly in the food and hotel business. The rest just suffer inconvenience and irritation.

S.F. wont miss it.

[BandB]

America's Cup, Olympics, and events like that generally are not something people want to repeat anytime soon. The inconvenience the people living there tremendously. Marina space taken, roads blocked, homes blocked. Then the financial benefit rarely equals the cost.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by BandB

America's Cup, Olympics, and events like that generally are not something people want to repeat anytime soon. The inconvenience the people living there tremendously. Marina space taken, roads blocked, homes blocked. Then the financial benefit rarely equals the cost.

How about the benefit to the sport, culture and to society. Not everything is measured in dollars and cents. The AC can hardly be compared to the Olympics.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by BandB

America's Cup, Olympics, and events like that generally are not something people want to repeat anytime soon. The inconvenience the people living there tremendously. Marina space taken, roads blocked, homes blocked. Then the financial benefit rarely equals the cost.

Lets see, AC34 the event was located in industrial/commercial piers. No homes were near by and no roads were blocks. Well no more then is blocked by SF on any given day. There is tons of excess marina space on the bay.

I do agree that the expensive design of the AC72's impacted how many teams fielded a boat.

[S/V Alchemy]

Billionaire circle jerk? No thanks. If I wanted to see sailors die for nothing, I'll read USCG reports on Bounty.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

How about the benefit to the sport, culture and to society. Not everything is measured in dollars and cents. The AC can hardly be compared to the Olympics.

The majority of my post talked about the inconvenience, not the financial. I just simply stated at the end that the finances weren't generally positive either. But if I live in SF and was inconvenienced by the events, I might very well be against a repeat. I've talked to people in many cities after Olympics, Worlds Fairs, etc. and they've definitely not wanted a repeat anytime soon.

There are people trying to live there, work there, when these events take place. Boaters who want to visit SF but find no room there or no access.

You're right about not comparing to the olympics, certainly in terms of size. But both inconvenience local citizens while bringing publicity to their cities. As to the benefit of America's Cup to the sport, I don't know really how much it does. These boats have very little to do with any sport outside simply America's Cup. So the sport of sailing, I am not sure they bring much. The sport of American's Cup, yes. Culture and Society? A small group of very wealthy individuals racing some technologically advanced boats doesn't really do much of that as far as I can see. Yes, they're entertainment. A good comparison is to an automobile race. Except not one day, many days. Auto races have some positive impact, but often make things very difficult for those living near the track. Still that's just one day.

As to finances, I do think they are relevant to the local tax payer. Ultimately they determine if this is how they want to spend their money. But also finances are likely a reason they were eliminated as they didn't want to lose money again or provide free piers. Ellison is the one who then said that wouldn't work. Something about providing taxpayer's money to help Larry Ellison rubs many the wrong way.

I don't live in SF but just expressing what many there are probably thinking and what some have said directly to me plus I've read elsewhere. I'm sure others would want it there, regardless of cost or inconvenience.

[sailorchic34]

Oop's I forgot that BandB has a big boat. Yes for boaters with boats, er that is yachts in the 50-70 foot range and larger, there is a dearth of large slips in the SF area. The really rich with yachts 200-400 feet long, just anchor off Sausalito.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

Oop's I forgot that BandB has a big boat. Yes for boaters with boats, er that is yachts in the 50-70 foot range and larger, there is a dearth of large slips in the SF area. The really rich with yachts 200-400 feet long, just anchor off Sausalito.

Actually I was surprised by that fact when researching SF. Lots of space is smaller boats and long waiting lists for larger slips with very little transient slip space. Surprised some marinas haven't converted their space but imagine the permitting is a nightmare.

As a potential visitor, while land visitors would like to see the Cup, as a boater, I'd definitely plan my trip for another time, regardless of my boat size. And if I had no interest in America's Cup, I'd not want to visit by land during that period either. Nearest thing to that we have in South Florida is the boat shows where people are displaced for the show. Miami Beach land traffic too is a terrible problem during their show. We certainly avoided that area for that time.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by BandB

Actually I was surprised by that fact when researching SF. Lots of space is smaller boats and long waiting lists for larger slips with very little transient slip space. Surprised some marinas haven't converted their space but imagine the permitting is a nightmare.

As a potential visitor, while land visitors would like to see the Cup, as a boater, I'd definitely plan my trip for another time, regardless of my boat size. And if I had no interest in America's Cup, I'd not want to visit by land during that period either. Nearest thing to that we have in South Florida is the boat shows where people are displaced for the show. Miami Beach land traffic too is a terrible problem during their show. We certainly avoided that area for that time.

There are many differences between the east and west coast. In the central bay most boats are sailboats in the 28-40' range. Very few powerboats. Just the opposite from Florida.

Most transients are again sailboats in the 30-40 foot range and some to 50' too, as there are few marinas between Canada and Mexico and no intercoastal.

Permitting is of course complicated and convoluted and of a very long duration.

One odd thing, local traffic is not really effected by the local boat shows or AC34 at all. That is the traffic is terrible anyway. Another 5k to 10K visiting a boat show or 50K to the AC34 is not even noticed. SF does have good public transportation, and many expensive parking areas. Plus if it's not AC34, it's a concert or four (Hardly Strictly Bluegrass comes to mind, which has almost no bluegrass, is free, with 3-4 stages or so) or some other event or more likely multiple events, that day. SF just rolls with it. As events go AC34 was just a blip on the radar in SF.

I've found that weekend traffic here is as bad as rush hour(s) during the week, but lasts all day. Crazy. Of course I generally notice this while on the hook about the bay. The central bay and mountains and that permitting thingy really limit where roads are built and how fast they are built.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

There are many differences between the east and west coast. In the central bay most boats are sailboats in the 28-40' range. Very few powerboats. Just the opposite from Florida.

Seems to me there are at least three very distinctive boating environments on the West Coast. The PNW is a world unto itself from Oregon to Alaska. Then there is the San Francisco area. Then there is southern California. Very different boats in each area.