Californian AC plans

John Sweeney's ACC heritage outfit announce a new race and a possible site for dry sailing 10 ACC boats

America's Cup Media LLC, the Californian company who run racing for old ACC boats are to stage another event. The Il Moro Trophy regatta will be held on 26-28 July on San Francisco Bay and will be hosted by the Sausalito Yacht Club.

The Il Moro Trophy celebrates the first yacht ever built to the IACC (now the America's Cup Class or ACC) rules, Il Moro di Venezia; sail number ITA-1. Both the Grand Prix 2000-current generation yachts and Vintage 1992-1995 generation yacht classes will vie for this perpetual trophy.

Yachts at the start line will include previous IACCSF regatta winner Oracle (USA-49), as well as NZL 14, NZL 20, Stars and Stripes (USA-11), and Il Moro (ITA-1). The 17th Man position aboard Il Moro in the regatta will be the premier auction prize at San Francisco Magazine's 'Best of the Bay Area' Awards on Thursday evening, July 11, with proceeds donated to Glide Memorial. For more information call Nick Thomson at America's Cup Media LLC on 415-289-0401 ext. 206.

The format for the weekend's racing includes a one buoy race starting at 2pm on Friday, 26 July, two buoy races starting at 10:30am on Saturday, 27 July, and a distance race starting at 10:30am on Sunday July 28, with an Awards Ceremony at the Sausalito Yacht Club at 4pm. The schedule is subject to change depending on weather conditions.

With a full schedule of regattas planned for 2003, IACCSF recently presented a proposal to the City of Sausalito for a working America's Cup Museum located in downtown Sausalito to house the ten IACC yachts that will compete in the 2003 season on San Francisco Bay. If approved, a permanent boatyard will be created for the fleet with facilities to hold up to twenty dry sailed IACC yachts on the Sausalito waterfront. The plan will be the first of its kind in the USA and a clear return to Sausalito's heritage as a maritime port. Like Newport, RI, Sausalito will become home to the Vintage IACC yachts from around the world.