May Day! May Day! Carrier Invades America’s Cup Course

In one of the strangest postponements in the 144-year history of America’s Cup competition, organizers stopped the countdown to the start of a race on the challenger course Saturday when the 94,000-ton Abraham Lincoln made a surprise entry from a heavy sea fog onto the race course.

The Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that had been involved in training exercises off San Clemente Island, was looking for a clearing in the fog to air-lift passengers to San Diego.

OneAustralia and Japan’s Nippon Challenge were beginning their pre-start maneuvers for the second race of the day when the huge ship appeared out of the fog in front of them. Sirens blasted, horns sounded, and the Abraham Lincoln came to a dead halt about 200 yards from the America’s Cup yachts and a spectator fleet.

The Nimitz Class carrier, one of the largest ships in the U.S. Navy at 1,092 feet in length, dwarfed the 75-foot America’s Cup boats.

By the time the Abraham Lincoln was out of sight, the fog had moved in and blanketed the course. Other races were canceled, but Team New Zealand defeated France 3 by 1 minute 16 seconds.