America's Cup

In case you're unaware, the pinnacle of competitive yachting season is upon us.  Oh, yes!  In fact, today was the 19th and final race of the America's Cup.  A matchup for the ages: Oracle (USA) vs Emirates (New Zealand).  It was only a few days ago that the Kiwi held a 8-1 lead over the Americans.  Since then, Team Oracle has battled back to tie the score and force one final, winner takes all, rubber match.

Being on sabbatical and all...I couldn't pass up the opportunity to attend.  I was expecting a raucous crowd and the San Franciscans were happy to oblige!  Actually, I kid.  Yes, there was a surprisingly huge number of spectators but wow...except for the families that had pulled their kids out of school to attend the event (really?), the crowds were very well behaved.

I had an excellent view of the start.  Here's the first 65 seconds of the race.  I don't know very much about yachting - go fast was never my area of expertise - but I was sure that Oracle has D.O.N.E. at the 23rd second of the video.

San Francisco Bay offers loads of photo opportunities from all angles.  The combination of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz ensured that each picture had something special in the background.  This was my favorite pic.

San Francisco is rather proud of it's bridges.  I showed up early enough that I could get-in a run from Crissy Field, across the Golden Gate Bridge and back.  It was really cool - the views were as great as could possibly be expected on a clear day.  Up next is the (new) east span of the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge.