Oracle Team USA has been working steadily to bring the America's Cup to the attention of the masses. One part of that strategy is to publicly display the actual cup around the U.S. And there it was, tucked into a corner of the 2015 Annapolis Sailboat show, next to the old Fawcett building. As trophies go, impressive enough, very tall and ornate.
After snapping a photo, I got a kick out of talking to one of the security contingent. He was dressed in a suit, sporting an ear bud, looking identical to the Secret Service, except for the white gloves. He was based out of San Francisco and when the America's Cup went out on the road, so did he. As security gigs go, this one didn't sound half bad.
The security guys were amazingly tolerant about letting people close enough for group photos but physically touching the cup was a big no-no.
The car behind the America's Cup was one of the fancy Tesla E-cars, Tesla being one of the sponsors of the America's Cup tour. I took a look and, compared to our known fossil fuel vehicles , the Tesla was somewhat topsy-turvy. The powertrain and batteries were well hidden, out of sight, the front hood opening up to another storage compartment. One got the impression that the Tesla ran on some magical ether it collected from the air.
The Cup (actually not a cup but a bottomless ewer) was on display in Newport a couple of years back when the AC45 racing was here. Good to see the team putting it on display so all us plebs can see it.
ReplyDeleteThose Teslas are cool aren't they? My son has one. Somehow convinced himself that the fuel savings justify the up-front cost. Maybe he factored in that he always plugs it in for a recharge at our house when he comes?
Wow! Never met a connection to someone who owns a Tesla. Does your son get a chance to test out the fabled acceleration of the Tesla every once in a while?
ReplyDeleteMaybe more in my price range might be one of the new generation of e-bikes that are coming out. My brother-in-law has one though I haven't had the opportunity to try it out. He gets a kick out of turning on the juice and passing those hard-core cyclists with their carbon bikes.