September is the 5th anniversary of Oracle Team USA’s amazing comeback to win the 34th America’s Cup! To commemorate this historic event we have decided to hold an impromptu trivia contest.

I will ask one question (or a couple of interrelated questions) for each race. The questions will either relate to the race itself or to the contest in general. The questions will be posted on the days the races occurred in 2013 which means that some days you will see two questions and on others you will only see one (if a race was postponed or canceled). The first two questions (Races 1 and 2) are at the bottom of today’s post and the remaining questions will be posted on September 8th (Races 3 and 4); 10th (Race 5); 12th (Races 6 and 7); 14th (Race 8); 15th (Races 9 and 10); 18th (Race 11); 19th (Race 12); 20th (Race 13); 22nd (Races 14 and 15); 23rd (Race 16); 24th (Races 17 and 18); and 25th (Race 19). I will come up with a few extra questions just in case we have more than one winner and need a tie breaker.

How to Participate:

The questions will be posted on the Museum’s blog page under a post titled “34th America’s Cup Trivia Contest” (followed by a race number) or on my Museum Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/jeanne.willozegnor. The Museum’s marketing department may also share the questions on the Museum’s Facebook page or through Twitter.

You can send me your answers using several methods:

Simply comment on the blog or Facebook post (just make sure your name/username and the race number accompanies your answer).

OR

Send me an email: [email protected] (again, just make sure I have a name/username and race number).

I will post all of the questions and answers at the end of the contest.

There will be a prize!

The Museum shop is putting together a selection of America’s Cup/Oracle Team USA/Mariners’ Museum and Park related items.

Prize value: $75.00

I will give the winner my full attention for one day. Want a up close and personal tour of all the Oracle Team USA items in our collection? Done. Want to stick your head inside an AC45 wingsail or slice a kiwi on an AC45 rudder? Done. Want a tour of the storage areas? Done. Want to get face-to-face with Steers’ presentation model of the yacht America. Done. Just keep it reasonable folks–we won’t be assembling the AC45S and taking it for a spin on the lake if that’s the first thing that popped into your head. I will let you stand in one of the hulls and hold BMW’s kickass steering wheel though!

Prize value: It’s a full day of my time which makes it PRICELESS!

You will have full bragging rights as the winner–especially if you can answer all of the questions correctly.

Jeanne’s one rule for the contest:

If you are already an expert–you’re excluded! You know who you are and you already know the answers which makes it unfair for everyone else. But PLEASE follow along in case I manage to generate a question that even you don’t know the answer to (highly unlikely!) or if I get the answer to a question wrong.

Questions for September 7th:

Race 1:

Why do the names of most of Oracle Team USA’s racing boats include the number “17”?

Race 2:

In the start of Race 2, OTUSA’s skipper Jimmy Spithill had excellent positioning and even managed to “hook” ETNZ, which forced Dean Barker to turn high into the wind to avoid contact, and yet, Barker still made it first to the starting line. Why?