Watch Thursday's America's Cup races on San Francisco Bay...
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This week's America's Cup World Series may or may not be drawing excited crowds. It depends on whose coverage you're following.
Reporting on Wednesday's races, the San Francisco Examiner said the "Yacht races are hardly flooded with spectators." That coverage led SFist to put this headline on a post: "Nobody's watching the America's Cup preliminary regatta."
SFGate, meanwhile, reported that "The subdued but enthusiastic crowd that filled the main spectator area chose to peer through binoculars and admire the 45-foot catamarans streaking across San Francisco Bay rather than cheer or go along with the announcers’ suggestion that they start 'the wave.'"
ABC7 was more enthusiastic:
The Marina Green was packed with spectators watching the races -- a warm reception by racing enthusiasts on a seasonably chilly summer day.
The World Series is a preliminary event for the 2013 America's Cup, which is set to be held on the Bay. The city of San Francisco has high hopes that the cup will be a success, as noted by SiliconValley.com.
In a news conference at Marina Green on Tuesday, Mayor Ed Lee still promised that the Cup will create 8,000 jobs and bring $1 billion in tourism and infrastructure to the city. While the city expects to pay out some $32 million in costs for the environmental review, traffic control and security measures, an America's Cup Organizing Committee was created to raise private money to pay the city back. So far, they're on track, according to Jane Sullivan, the city's liaison with the America's Cup.
It remains to be seen if the enthusiasm levels will increase as this week's competition continues into the weekend. Today's quarterfinals start at 2 p.m., with the finals set for 11:45 a.m. Sunday.
There also are lots of tweets at #americascup.
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