Curious Fans Get Small Taste of Formula One : Observers Say This Type of Sailing Could Be a Hit With Area Spectators

Throughout the weekend, customers at the Bay Beach Cafe were treated to an item off the menu.

But it was served, and gobbled up, anyway. Patrons of that bayfront restaurant were among the thousands of curious onlookers alongside San Diego Bay Friday through Sunday, catching a glimpse of the Formula One World Yachting Grand Prix Exhibition Regatta.

According to reports fed to Tom Ehman, America’s Cup Organizing Committee executive vice president, people who never had appreciated, or maybe just never understood sailing, saw an event unlike any other. And they liked what they saw.

“(British journalist) Bob Fisher was in a restaurant doing (race) commentary and he said people were screaming their heads off,” Ehman said. “When you have racing inside the bay like this, people see it and they get real excited about it.”

Nationalistic pride ran especially high Friday and Saturday, when John Bertrand-skippered Stars & Stripes won the first two days of racing, and with the victories, the U.S. series. On Sunday, Stars & Stripes led the entire race before Beck’s, a German boat, broke away from the pack on the opposite tack as they approached the weather mark and sailed to the victory.

“It’s a great format,” Bertrand said of Formula One racing. “It’s great for the sailors and the spectators. It’s got a lot of promise.”

Just give people a chance to discover it. Formula One racing is an infant in a sports surrounded by elders. The oldest Formula One yacht is two-year-old Stars & Stripes, designed by Bruce Nelson and owned by Dennis Conner.

“It’s by far the oldest,” Bertrand said. “Most of them are only a year old.”

Although Formula One boats closely resemble the new International America’s Cup Class yachts, they are about 23 feet shorter with far less sail area and require half (nine) the crew members of their IACC counterparts--at a fraction of the cost.

Where IACC boats run in the millions, Formula One boats cost between $250,000 to $350,000.

“It’s affordable,” Bertrand said. “This may not be the opportunity for Joe Blow to sail, but he can afford to become an owner.”

And he won’t be sailing for free. Prize money for this four-stop series is $300,000, scaled down considerably from the projected $1.2 million.

“Some sponsorship fell through,” said Keith Taylor, event spokesman.

Still, the four yachts entered in the series’ inaugural year are guaranteed prize money per stop starting at $50,000 for first place, $25,000 for second, $15,000 for third and $10,000 for fourth.

This year the circuit began in Germany, where Stars & Stripes was second, and went to Scotland, where Stars & Stripes won, before it stopped for an exhibition in San Diego--a last-minute replacement when Long Beach withdrew. The series ends in February in Perth, Australia. Over the next few years, according to Taylor, organizers would like to see the Formula One circuit expand.

“Next year we hope to start either in France or Spain,” Taylor said, “include our current stops, and possibly add a Pacific Rim location, either Japan or New Zealand.”

According to Noel Robins, the Australian yachtsman primarily responsible for starting the circuit, several international sailors are joining, or plan to join, the circuit.

Marc Pajot, skipper of France’s America’s Cup syndicate, already has committed to buying a Formula One yacht and he has gathered a combined French and Australian crew to race in Perth next year. Pedro Campos, skipper of Spain’s challenger, and Kiwi Chris Dickson, now skipper for Japan’s challenge, also have expressed interest in joining the circuit.

Taylor said they want to see the circuit grow, but would limit it to 10 or 12 boats.

That’s when it would really start to get exciting, Bertrand said. “Now, with just a few boats,” he said, “we knew after two days who won. But get 10 or 15 boats out there, you could have it coming down to the last day with six or seven boats capable of winning. That would be something.”

Bertrand said spectators could get hooked on this form of racing because it has short legs and the action is close to shore.

“Sailing is exciting, but you have to understand it,” he said. “If one boat is miles ahead of another one, how exciting is that, right? When you’re talking about tactics, it’s not so easy to understand. But when you have three or four boats crowded together, even if you don’t know much about sailing, you can see what they’re doing and what mistakes one crew makes that puts them behind.”

But sailors are apt to get hooked as well.

“They’re just a lot of fun,” Bertrand said. “They’re the most high performance boat around.”

IACC boats may be faster, Bertrand said, but the Formula One sloops are more maneuverable.