| USA. San Diego man pays $7000 to sail on BMW Oracle America's Cup yacht |
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| Saturday, 23 September 2006 | |
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Jane Eagleson: Bennet Greenwald from San Diego, California, was the proverbial kid in the candy store today as the avid amateur racing sailor spent the day with the BMW ORACLE Racing crew on board USA 87 during an in-house racing session. Greenwald was the high bidder at the San Diego Yacht Club stop of the team’s USA Yacht Club Tour last autumn. He bid $7,000 for the chance to sail as 18th man and said it was worth every cent. The money raised benefited the San Diego YC junior sailing program and Gulf coast junior programmes destroyed by last year’s Hurricane Katrina. Greenwald is no stranger to sailboats owning both a Pacific Class 31.5-foot classic sloop and the J/105 Perseverance. But today was his first time on board an America’s Cup Class yacht. “What impressed me was the power of it,” he said once back at the team base. While he was impressed with the professional quality and focus of the team, he was most struck by the friendly and welcome reception he received on board. “They actually gave me the wheel!” Greenwald enjoyed sailing on board with one of his hometown’s most well-known sailors, BMW ORACLE Racing navigator Peter Isler. Having lived in San Diego during the America’s Cup Defences staged there in 1988, 1992 and 1995, Greenwald also noted how the event has grown and entered a new era. “This is the future of professional sailing. To see it and be around it is very exciting. There is no comparison.” http://bmworacleracing.com/ |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 23 September 2006 ) |
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