Richmonders have a unique opportunity to view America's Cup boats up close and personal along the Bay Trail in Richmond at the KKMI boatyard on Cutting Boulevard.  The Swiss boat, Alinghi, which currently owns the America's Cup, and Larry Ellison's Oracle boats are sailing out of KKMI as they practice for the Moet (as in champagne) Cup races to be held Sept. 15 - 20 off the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco.

The KKMI boatyard is located at 530 West Cutting Blvd. about a block east of Canal Blvd.  The best way to get there is by bicycle or foot.  The large crews and support staff for these boats take up all available parking nearby and even are parking in the bike lane on the north side of Cutting.  While this is an exciting opportunity, I have to say that I am not too happy about Richmond City Officials surreptitiously meeting with KKMI and agreeing to remove “no parking” signs and suspend enforcement of illegal parking on the Bay Trail route. The City Manager has not responded to my request for information on the matter. All of my information on this comes from TRAC member Bruce Beyaert. Under the circumstances, this should have been brought to the attention of the City Council, and we probably would have authorized some temporary measures. This Bay Trail segment was built with a grant from ABAG, and the City, in my opinion, had no right to summarily close it.

If you make the pilgrimage to KKMI, enter the boatyard via a gate on the left side of the office building via a BCDC-required "Public Shoreline" access painted on the pavement as a blue walkway.  This walkway meanders thru the KKMI yard to an attractive dock with picnic tables, etc. along the Santa Fe Channel.  For your safety, please be sure to stay on the blue pathway and avoid walking elsewhere in this working boatyard.

Before the Sept. 15 start of the Moet Cup races, the best time to see these boats might be around 4 PM when they usually come back from practicing and are hoisted into the yard using the big "Herb Crane" and the "William Randolph Hoist".