San Francisco Closer to Hosting America's Cup

BMW Oracle Racing, the reigning champion in the America's Cup regatta, has announced that San Francisco is the only American city it is considering to host the next series of yacht races.

That means that Newport Beach, Rhode Island and San Diego are out of the running.

However, the team -- which gets to pick the format and location of the next challenge -- is still considering Italy and Spain.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who owns the team, has expressed interest in holding it in San Francisco, and Mayor Gavin Newsom has personally lobbied him to host it on his home waters and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi sponsoring a resolution asking for the race to take place on the bay.

The races would likely take place in the area east of the Golden Gate and west of Alcatraz, a popular location for smaller-scale sailing races and in view of the Golden Gate Yacht Club, which is the sponsor club for the team.

The big questions are where to dock the boats, with a number of locations on the City's eastern waterfront being considered, and whether the city can get any necessary environmental impact reports turned into the state in time.

Jackson West figures his dad might finally come down to visit for this.