Join The Amercia’s Cup Excitement Shore Concerts And Other Activities Accompany This May’s More Public Cup ‘95 Races

The sun is shining brightly, a stiff breeze is blowing, the ocean is tipped with whitecaps and sightseers are congregating early to watch as San Diego’s heroes - and heroines - set sail for another day of competition.

Those who want a close-up view of the preliminaries that will end in May in the America’s Cup ‘95 race are boarding spectator boats headed out of San Diego Harbor to anchor 50 to 100 yards from the oval racecourse, three miles offshore, where the sea battles are being played out.

“It’s exciting to watch,” said Jackie Kreisler, whose Dan Diego Harbor Excursions has been ferrying spectators to the race site since January. “And it’s picking up as the races get down to the wire.”

Even onshore, there’s a hubbub around the trio of compounds where the racing teams store their yachts, plan their strategies and rub elbows with visitors. There, the atmosphere is electric - the World Series, the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras rolled into one, with a bit of salt spray and colorful banners thrown in for good measure.

The America’s Cup ‘95 yacht race and its preliminaries are expected to draw 100,000 visitors to San Diego before the races end in May. A special attraction this year was the America3 team, the first all-female crew (for a time, anyway) to compete in the race’s 154-year history. And a series of mishaps - a U.S. Navy ship sailing into the middle of the racecourse in a heavy fog, the sinking of the French team’s new boat, the breaking up and capsizing of an Australian team’s boat - has focused even more attention on the races.

The America’s Cup ‘95 race, pitting the winning San Diego team against the winning foreign team, will begin May 6 and run through May 10, or possibly longer, until one team wins five races.

For years, the public took little notice of the races, which took place on the high seas between competing countries and competing yacht clubs.

But this year, for the first time, the America’s Cup committee is working to open the race and the activities that surround it to the public. Once the cup races begin in May, nightly concerts are planned at the seaside Embarcadero overlooking San Diego Bay and Humphrey’s restaurant on Shelter Island also plans outside concerts, said Reint Reinders, president of the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Humphrey’s concerts, scheduled through May 13, will feature artists that include Pam Tillis, the Pointer Sisters, the Four Tops, Smokey Robinson, Neal McCoy, Tower of Power and others. For tickets for the Humphrey’s concerts, which range in price from $23 to $38, call (619) 220-8497.

The racing teams have opened their compounds to the public twice on recent weekends, and the racing committee has worked with nearly a dozen local excursion boat companies to provide sightseeing boats, assuring those who buy tickets a good view of the oceangoing competition.

“We don’t want this to be a private thing, like it was for years,” said Jane Eagleson, America’s Cup spokeswoman. “We want to get the public involved.”

The America’s Cup is the world’s oldest international sports trophy, first awarded in 1851 when the schooner America, built and sailed by American boatbuilders and sailors, bested 15 British schooners in a race around the Isle of Wight.

The trophy - a 27-inch-tall bottomless ewer made of 134 ounces of silver by a British silversmith - became known as the America’s Cup and remained in the hands of American yachtsmen for 132 years. The New York Yacht Club successfully defended against 24 challenges.

But an Australian team won the cup in 1983, ending the longest winning streak in history, and San Diego yachtsman Dennis Conner gained nationwide acclaim in 1987 when he won the coveted trophy back from the Australians and brought it home to the San Diego Yacht Club. Conner successfully turned back challenges in 1988 and 1992, but the club must continue to defend its title at least every three years.

“The races start in January and the excitement builds as the climax gets closer and closer,” said Eagleson. “There’s certainly energy in the air.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: If you go Visitors to San Diego who want to see the America’s Cup faceoff will have to take to the seas. The races are conducted on an 18.55-mile course about three miles west of Point Loma, too far away to see from land. Private craft are not allowed to approach the race course, so the only way to see the races is to buy a ticket on one of several Coast Guard-regulated official spectator boats that anchor at key positions along the course or to charter a Coast Guard-approved spectator boat. Tickets, ranging in price from $35 to $75 for the preliminary races and from $100 to $150 for the final cup races, can be purchased from: Fisherman’s Landing, (619) 221-8500; H&M Landing, (619) 222-1144; Hornblower Invader Cruises, (619) 686-8700; Point Loma Landing, (619) 223-1627; and San Diego Harbor Excursions, (800) 442-7847. Companies available for private charter to watch the races include: Charter Connection, (619) 437-8877; Interpac Yachts, (619) 222-0327; Fish N’ Cruise Charter Association, (619) 224-2464; San Diego Yacht Charters, (800) 456-0222; and Set Sail, (800) 553-7245. Trips run about seven hours. All boats have restrooms and food service. For information on the race and other events, call the America’s Cup ‘95 information line at (619) 221-1212 or the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau at (619) 236-1212.