America's Cup

I love sailing, and I'm getting pretty excited about the upcoming America's Cup sailboat races.  The 34th running of the oldest trophy in international sport will take place next year right here in San Francisco Bay.  The boats look nothing like they used to.  They are all spindly 72 foot long catamarans made of high tech composite materials with wings instead of sails that seem to fly along the water.
Generally the America's Cup is a match race, meaning two boats racing against each other, the defender vs challenger.  In this case, it is the Oracle Racing USA team (winner of America's Cup 33) that will defend the cup against the winner of a series of races called the Louis Vuitton Cup.  In the period leading up to the final race in fall of 2013, they have many races including the mass start, fleet races with many boats competing at the same time (which I think are much more exciting than the matched sprints even if they aren't quite as much of a battle of wits).  You can watch some of the fleet races here to get an idea of what they look like.

Here is how the schedule is shaping up:

America’s Cup World Series 2012-2013 (various dates and locations around the world but starting in Naples on April 11)
Louis Vuitton Cup:  04 July – 1 September 2013
America’s Cup Match (Finals):  7-22 September 2013

Learn more about the America's Cup here.