America’s Cup: Let the venue debate begin

Now that America’s Cup defender Oracle Team USA has stated how the venue for the 35th America’s Cup will not be confirmed until summer, which is enough time to get distracted by debate, we got curious about the travel costs to the five venues that have been indicated to be under review.

We selected Chicago as our point of departure, and used Expecia.com to find the cheapest airline price for a week’s stay in early August:

Chicago to Honolulu – $1075 roundtrip*
Chicago to Long Beach – $408 roundtrip**
Chicago to San Diego – $428 roundtrip
Chicago to San Francisco – $422 roundtrip
Chicago to Newport – $349 roundtrip***
*Not confirmed which island
**Fly into Los Angeles, CA
*** Fly into Providence, RI

Here are some Facebook comments on the options….

Phillip Davis: The Hawaii option reinforces its allure to the rich and well-heeled. Me? I could give a sh#it after paying 1000s this summer to watch the LVC be sailed, one boat at a time against one another in a rich man’s pissing contest.

Tina Lundh: There is no infrastructure on the island of Lanai to support an event of this size – two Four Seasons and a tiny hotel in town. The point is to get people watching on TV, not live shoreside. That was what was so amazing on Ess Eff Bay: the entire Cityfront was packed, Alcatraz packed, and on the water packed with spectators. And the City of SF got an even bigger influx of tourism $.

Michael McCarthy: Having been to all of those places, San Diego is the only place I would return to willingly.

Matthew Talty: For every new viewer gained during SF, the AC will lose three or four in San Diego with the poor wind conditions. Take the AC back to Newport and have the races on Narragansett Bay.

Susan Ruhne: Hawaii is lovely, but – wind limits? Wave/ swells? This is open ocean, not a protected bay! Where/ how do you set up bases? Where do you watch from? Sea Life? There was panic about one whale in SF bay – there are pods of them around the islands!

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