When Larry Ellison won the America's Cup in 2010 and chose San Francisco to host this year's race, he predicted the event would bring more than $1 billion to the city.
That prediction looks to have been wildly optimistic.
This year's race has only four teams able to compete against Ellison's expensive new boats. Along with lawsuits, crashes, cheating, disgruntled sponsors and the death of a well respected sailor — the crowds are not arriving as hoped.
The city may actually be forced to pay more $20 million for additional security and beefed up infrastructure, and anti-Cup protesters don't feel they should pay for something so few people enjoy.
None of that changes the fact these boats are changing the way people travel across the water, and technology like this is what Silicon Valley is famous for.
Regardless of the choppy controversy surrounding Team Oracle and the America's Cup this year we wanted to get up-close and personal, and that's exactly what we did when we spent a day with Ellison's sailing team watching how they operate their incredible boats.
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