The Copa del Rey begins with many points in play

Competition is tough, with many points in play, as the battle is on to stay ahead in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit.

For the first time the 11 vessels in the Transpac 52 fleet taking part in the Breitling MEDCUP will come together in their entirety for the most emblematic regatta in the Mediterranean.

Eleven Transpac 52s will ensure a lot of excitement in the 24th Copa del rey Agua Brava, which takes place in the Real Club Naútico de Palma from the 30th of July to the 7th of August. The crème de la créme of international sailing will be present in Mallorcan waters – America’s Cup yachtsmen, RTW, World champions, and Olympic medallists will be among those taking the reins of these spectacular vessels, to race for victory in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit, and for success in the Copa del Rey. The incorporation of the brand new Transpac 52, Balearia, owned by Olympic medallist Toño Gorostegui means that the all of the eleven TP52s in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit will be competing in this event.

THE BATTLE RESUMES FOR THE BREITLING MEDCUP, IN THE COPA DEL REY

The Copa del Rey is sure to be a challenging event for all teams. In the first event of the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit victory went to Spanish team, Caixa Galicia, with Roberto Bermúdez de Castro at the helm, whilst Vasco Vascotto and crew were untouchable in the Trofeo S.M. La Reina, and New Zealanders on Lexus fought till the very end to gain a well deserved win in the Breitling Regatta last week. The Copa del Rey is the true test for all of the vessels. There are many points in play, many different types of races; windward-leeward, coastal, and offshore races, and this event could propel any of the teams into the lead of the Breitling MEDCUP.

Caixa Galicia, owned by Spaniard Vicente Tirado, already know what it feels like to win the coveted Copa del Rey, being the holders of the record of victories in the event with three wins in different categories. In this edition, the first for the new TP52 vessel, the team have a clear objective.
“Our aim is to win the Copa del Rey”, comments Vicente Tirado.
“We are not really concerned at this stage with the general rankings. There are still a lot of points to be won, and we won’t focus on the Circuit itself until after the Copa del Rey. Our philosophy is to approach the Circuit event by event.” The owner of Caixa Galicia adds, “The Copa del Rey is a very important event, but I don’t think it will be decisive in terms of the Breitling MEDCUP. The Class is very equal, and things can change at any time, as the level of competition in the Class is truly extraordinary.”

Movistar –Pisco Sour-, also know the taste of victory with Pedro Campos in 2002. The duo taking the helm of movistar, Campos-Vascotto, know the bahia de Palma very well, knowledge which they will surely use to their advantage in the different regattas in the event.

The recently incorporated Balearia, with the four times winner of this event, Toño Gorostegui, also has the local knowledge which could be key in this competition. The team are currently working to get the boat into optimum condition for the races which begin on Monday.

“I am very happy with the boat,” comments Gorostegui, “We have been training out on the race course over the past few days, and the boat seems to be responding well in light wind conditions. It’s been tough, but the boat is almost optimised to race now.”
Among the latest additions to the crews, is Balearia’s Tactician Santiago López-Vázquez, who is also a member of the Spanish Desafío Español America’s Cup team.

The other TP52s are currently in Palma training for the event and familiarising themselves with the race courses. Lexus will yet again have 3 times America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts at the helm, and is involved in intensive preparations right now, along with the Italian team Orlanda-Olympus, with Tomasso Chieffi, who are also preparing for the races in Palma. For the Greek vessel Atalanti XV, the pressure is on to race a good regatta, after a broken stay forced them to withdraw from two of the races in Puerto Portals, meaning they must work even harder to recover the points lost in the last event. Siemens, a recent addition to the fleet, also have the benefit of knowledge of the bay of Palma, and the conditions which the boats are likely to face out on the regatta course.

Bribón, owned by José Cusí, and leader in the Corinthian category, must work hard to defend their title, as they face an optimised Cristabella, with John Cook, as well as Aifos and Bambakou, who are more competitive day by day.

Desafío Español 2007 is getting ready for Malmö

The Desafío Español 2007 is making the final adjustments before the next Louis Vuitton Acts, taking place in Malmö, Sweden, from August 25 to September 4. Since July 4, the Spanish syndicate sailors have been training on a daily basis off the coast of Valencia with the two boats, ESP-65 and ESP-67.

After a week off following the Louis Vuitton Act 5, sailors resumed their training sessions with the two boats. Their main aim was to fine-tune ESP-67, improve the pre-start maneuvers as well as match-racing against ESP-65. In addition, during that period the Spanish syndicate carried out training regattas together with other teams.

On Thursday the shore crew started disassembling ESP-67 and will continue during the weekend, in addition to wrapping the speedboats, containers and all necessary equipment for the races in Sweden. The belongings of teams will be shipped to Sweden aboard a freight boat, chartered by America's Cup Management, whose departure is scheduled for August 8.


ESP-67 during this week's training sessions in Valencia. Photo provided by Desafío Español 2007

On the construction front, works on the team's permanent base have sped up during the last few weeks since they were obviously stopped during Louis Vuitton Acts 4 & 5 a month ago. Construction is being carried out at a satisfying pace and the Spanish syndicate hopes to move into its brand new base early October.

The sailing crew will continue its training during the next few days onboard ESP-65, while some sailors will then go on taking part in the match race Danish Open as well as the Mikonos Dream Race. The Danish Open will take place from August 10 till 14 and will see Jesper Radich, Jaime Arbones, Mikel Rossberg, Pablo Rosano and Hartwell Jordan, racing. The regattas in Greece will take place from August 14 till 17, and the members of Desafío Español 2007 that will participate are Santi López-Vázquez, Marcos Iglesias, Nuno Barreto and Miguel Jáuregui.

Most of the crew will arrive in Malmö on August 17 in order to carry out the final training sessions onboard ESP-67 and test the wind and weather conditions of the race course. The part of the crew that will not be racing during Louis Vuitton Acts 6 & 7 will be training in Valencia with ESP-65.

Catching up with Mascalzone Latino early in the morning

Valencia Sailing had the chance to catch up with Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team early in the morning on Tuesday. We took some pictures of the team's activities before sailing, which usually takes place at 11:30 am, wind and weather conditions allowing.

On Tuesday and Wednesday the Italians carried out their training sessions match-racing together with K-Challenge. Since the French are located approximately 70km south of Valencia, both teams had their boats towed somewhere in the middle and went ahead with their duels, a bit like an old fashioned gun fight in the wild west.

Unfortunately, my very tight work schedule did not allow me to follow any of the training sessions here in Valencia, whether of Mascalzone or any other team. All teams are winding down their training in Valencia and start packing up in order to make the move to Malmö. The boat that will carry the America's Cup yachts is scheduled to leave Valencia on August 8th.

7:30 - 8:45 Pumping iron

The team's day starts at 7:30 am in one of Valencia's central gyms, where each team member carries out his personalized muscling program, set up by Andrea Madafarri, head of the health & fitness team

Hammish Pepper, strategist of Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Pulling the rope

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Sweating hard

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

8:45 - 9:15 Stretching

After one hour of pumping iron and sweating, the team goes upstairs for approximately half an hour of stretching

They haven't passed out!! They're just relaxing

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Getting the right equilibrium is very important

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Time for some situps now

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

10:15 Team briefing

After the two-hour fitness session and a hardy breakfast at the base, the sailing team gathers at 10:15 in order to be briefed on the day's schedule. Tuesday was not an ordinary day, given the races against K-Challenge

Listening to Cameron Dunn, the team's tactician, as he explains the day's races against the French

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Team base

While sailors are getting prepared, the rest of the team is busy since early in the morning preparing the yacht. I also took some pictures of the rest of activities that usually take place, but given the importance of the races and the new material that was being tested, it was not possible to get any close pictures of the yacht, whether on land or in the water

The foundations of the future permanent base are already in place and construction will start very soon. As one can judge by the sky color, Tuesday was very cloudy in Valencia and even rained in the afternoon

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The sail shed of Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team is bustling with activity since 8:30 am, repairing, measuring and preparing all sails. The head of this essential part of the Italian syndicate is Sabina Pischedda, a seasoned sailmaker and sailor

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The shore crew readying the boat. At that time, I had to switch off the camera

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Final picture for today, the canal works as seen from the Italian syndicate's base. The canal has almost reached Port America's Cup.

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Lexus wins the Breitling Regatta

Expectations were high in the final day of the 11th Breitling Regatta, the third event of five in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit. Today the fleet were facing two races which would prove to be decisive in the general rankings of the Regatta.

In the first race of the day, with 6-7 knots of south-westerly breeze, Lexus performed a great start, showing the full acceleration capacity of the vessel. The team took the lead, ahead of the other nine TP52s, and maintained their position for the duration of the race. It was impossible for the other boats to even get close to Dean Barker and crew, and Cristabella was also unwilling to give away their second place, gained at the first mark and managed to stand their ground until the end of the race. John Cook’s Cristabella, who came second in yesterday’s race, now move into fourth place in the general rankings. Orlanda-Olympus, who left the port today in second position in the general rankings, came in third in the race, putting them into first place, thanks to Leche Pascual’s poor performance.


Lexus, winner of the Breitling Regatta. Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Medcup

The fleet faced the second race with Orlanda leading on 44 points, Lexus just one point away on 43, and Leche Pascual on 41, with Cristabella in fourth place. There was much excitement, given the fact that in these races anyone can win.

The wind had picked up to 10 knots, and Lexus delivered a great start, racing forward into first place. Only a few seconds behind, Caixa Galicia were moving in, with the rest of the fleet following. At the first windward buoy, Dean Barker’s team was in first place, followed by Caixa Galicia, Orlanda-Olympus, Bribon, Bambakou, Leche Pascual, Cristabella, Siemens, Atalanti XV and Aifos. The excitement didn’t subside in the heart stopping downwind course where Bribon managed to get ahead into third place, in front of the Italian Orlanda-Olympus team.

The level of the Transpac 52 racing is so high that even simple errors can be very costly during a regatta. As such, Lexus took the decision to move slightly more to the right than their rivals in the second upwind course, which cost them a win, against Caixa Galicia who were really fighting for a place on the podium. Bribon also got ahead of Lexus and the three boats sailed the last downward course with only a few bowlines between them. At the leeward buoy, it was HM King Juan Carlos of Spain’s boat that turned first, thanks to a well made tactical decision to gybe more leeward than their rivals.


Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Medcup

Caixa Galicia who had started the last upwind course in second place, pushed forward to pass Bribon and cross the finish line first, followed by the King of Spain’s boat, and Lexus, who had achieved victory in the general rankings in this regatta. Bambakou owned and driven by John Coumantarous came in fourth in the race, and seventh in the event. Fifth place went to Vasco Vascotto’s Leche Pascual, who were not able to keep up the winning streak they experienced in Valencia, and as such came fourth in the general classifications, drawing on points with Orlanda-Olympus who are on third place on points, thanks to their better performance in the individual races. Orlanda, who were winning at the start of the day, finished seventh.

Quotes:
Vasco Vascotto, skipper of Leche Pascual: “It’s been a very hard regatta and the conditions have been extremely hard. Today we have sailed very bad and we deserve the position we have achieved. We remain leaders at the overall ranking of the Breitling MEDCUP Tp52, although the margin with our rivals have been reduced.”

Carlos, “Charlie”, Martínez Viaña, trimmer of Caixa Galicia: “The championship has been very tight with constant changes in the leadership of each race, as it has became common. What I most like at these races is the high level of competition.”

Lorenzo Bressani, skipper of Orlanda Olympus: “The last race has been a bit peculiar, but really beautiful, although I would have preferred it wouldn’t have been raced, as we lost our leadership.”

Lexus and Caixa Galicia were unstoppable in Saturday's races

Leche Pascual positioned themselves ahead of the rest in the Breitling Regatta, the third event in the Breitling MEDCUP thanks to their consistency in performance.

Orlanda-Olympus are only 3 points behind, with Caixa Galicia four points away from them, after their best day’s racing yet. Lexus, who won the first race are paying a hefty price for their inconsistency, and have moved down into fourth place.

The extremely light winds -less than 5 knots at the end of race 2- marked an almost perfect day for Caixa Galicia, who was second and first in today’s races. Lexus, skippered by Dean Barker, was first in the first race, but got the eighth place in the second one.

Today's conditions were of a light breeze ranging between 7 and 10 knots, and varying up to 20 degrees to the East, in a first race that saw Lexus fighting hard against a strong Caixa Galicia in a battle which went on throughout the whole of the race.

A general call to all of the boats at the start, followed individual calls to no less than 4 of the vessels - Aifos, Bambakou, Leche Pascual and Atalanti XV, who were all ordered to repeat the start. This meant a considerable loss of time compared with the other group of six boats who had commenced an excellent upwind course.

Siemens, skippered by Jim Allsopp, decided to stay to the left side of the course, and thanks to the 10 degree wind shift to that side, they managed to reach the windward buoy in first place. However Allsopp’s team couldn't seem to hold on to the position and ended up giving away the lead to come in eight place. Lexus and Caixa Galicia raced fiercely against one another to win the race for the lead position that Caixa Galicia had snatched from the hands of Siemens in the first downwind course. Lexus played a better hand, and in the second upwind stretch at the second windward buoy they were winning, only a few metres away from a threatening Caixa Galicia who were by no means willing to let Lexus get away from them.


Caixa Galicia. Photo copyright Jorge Andreu - Medcup

In the end, Caixa Galicia were unable to fend off the unstoppable Lexus, who now have their second victory in the Breitling Regatta. Caixa Galicia camee in a respectable second, followed by the Italians Orlanda-Olympus, skippered by Lorenzo Bressani. Bribon, with HM King Juan Carlos at the helm, were trailing behind during the first upwind course, but made a spectacular recovery from their eighth position to finish fourth. In fifth place were the UK's Cristabella, followed by Leche Pascual, Bambakou, Siemens, Atalanti XV and Aifos who finished last in this first race of the day.

In the second race of the day the stars were the Caixa Galicia team, who lead the fleet right from the first windward mark, until the end of the race. Their advantage was such, that they managed to get over a minute ahead of the UK boat Cristabella, who came in second. The sharp changes in wind direction, with shifts to the East meant a constant change in positions for most of the fleet. Then the sudden fall in breeze forced the Race Committee to shorten the race by one leg, meaning the boats finished in an agonising downwind course.


Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Medcup

Lexus performed a fantastic start sweeping past the rest of the fleet in the first upwind course. However, an unstoppable Caixa Galicia positioned themselves ahead of the fleet as they passed the windward mark and held on to the lead throughout the race. Lexus were only half a bowline behind and it looked like they were ready to re-enact the close battle for the lead fought during the first leg. However, Dean Barker suffered after a difficult downwind course, which left them trailing in sixth place. Bribon were not quite on track either as they moved into seventh place at the third buoy, to later recover to finish sixth.

Cristabella’s fantastic performance is well worth noting, as they were eighth in the first mark and managed to finish in second place behind the Spanish Caixa Galicia team, with John Kostecki onboard as tactician.

In third place were Leche Pascual, who climbed up from sixth place. The Leche Pascual team’s consistency in performance has put them at the top of the rankings, where they have been for quite a time now, since their fantastic regatta in Valencia.

Aifos, which is skippered in this event by Luis Galnares, were among the few vessels that have sailed a fairly consistent regatta, and finished fourth in this second race. Bambakou, with owner-driver John Coumantaros, finished fifth, followed by Bribon, Atalanti XV and Lexus, who came in eighth, who, like Orlanda-Olympus, ninth, have been sailing very irregular races. They have been combining great races in leading positions with very weak performances, such as today’s.
Siemens just don’t seem to be able to optimise their boat’s performance and came in last in today's second race.

Quotes:
Tom Pollack, Executive Director of the Transpac 52 Class: “I’m thrilled to see what just took up. I’m very, very happy to see the success of the Transpac 52 fleet here, in Europe, and here in Spain. With the King of Spain being involved with the class this just went to a whole new level. It’s probably the best Grand Prix the world has ever seen in the 50 foot range.”

Paul Cayard, skipper of Atalanti about the damage suffered yesterday: “We had missed the races yesterday and we have stayed all night repairing them. We have laminated carbon fibre on the bow today we haven’t sailed too well and I don’t think is there any problem in the bow, only we haven’t sailed well.”

Orlanda-Olympus and Lexus win each of today's races

Pisco Sour-Leche Pascual, with a second and a four today, remains leader at the general ranking of the Breitling MEDCUP TP52, followed by Lexus, here skippered by Dean Barker.

Under very light conditions two races were sailed today in Puerto Portals, Mallorca, Spain on the Regatta Breitling, the third event scoring for the Breitling MEDCUP TP52. The first one was won by Orlanda Olympus, skippered by Lorenzo Bressani, the second one was won by Lexus, skippered by Emirates Team New Zealand Dean Barker.

Atalanti, skippered by Paul Cayard, had a problem with her stay and couldn’t sail today’s races.

The leader of the first regatta remained leading the flotilla as from the fist windward buoy. Orlanda-Olympus, skippered by Tommaso Chieffi, with the help of tactician Lorenzo Bresani, opted for a left lee reach which allowed them to arrive first at the fist boy. Followed was a tight compact group made up of Caixa-Galicia owned by Vicente Tirado, Leche Pascual in third skippered by Italian Vascotto, followed by a hard driven Lexus skippered by Dean Barker. The local boat, Siemens followed not far behind this group continued by Aifos who was skippered by Ricardo Maldonado. In downwind the Italians managed to keep the lead but Caixa Galicia slipped into third place being overtaken by Leche Pascual the tactician on Caixa Galicia was America´s Cup John Kostecki. Lexus was in fourth place followed by Bambakou then Critabella. The last three were Aifos, Bribon and Siemens.


Photo of Siemens, the latest boat to join the Breitling Medcup, in Friday's races. Copyright: Jorge Andreu - Medcup

Orlanda-Olympus remained leaders through the slightly varying wind direction and so the first overall, Leche Pascual had to take a very close second place followed by Lexus and Caixa Galicia. John Coumantaros’ Bambakou came in fifth position with Aifos hanging off their stern and Cristabella tightly behind. Eigth was Bribon, followed by Siemens and in tenth place was Atalanti XV with Paul Cayard who had to retire from the race.

At 14:40 the second Race commenced with winds just reaching 10knots from the South. Caixa Galicia suffered a premature start which made the remain towards the back of the group fighting hard to regain turf.

Once again Orlanda-Olympus took the first place at the first buoy, but pressure was on by a closely followed Lexus, skippered by America’s Cup 2000 winner Dean Barker, then in third place was a pleasantly surprising Bambakou, then Bribon skippered by His Majesty King Juan Carlos. Leche Pascual were in fifth place due to a not so good windward reach followed by Cristabella, then Aifos, siemens and then Caixa Galicia.

In the third leg of the race things looked pretty much the same for the first three boats: Lexus, Orlanda and Bambakou but Leche Pascual managed to over take Bribon and take fifth position. Siemens, then Cristabella, aifos and Caixa.

The final of the race saw Lexus win followed by Orlanda-Olympus and in third place was Bribon. For general classifications see below.


Orlanda-Olympus. Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Medcup

Quotes:
Kevin Hall, Lexus navigator: “Our day today has been good, specially coming after a pretty rough day yesterday with a few problems and scenarios, but today we got to act together and sail along so we are very pleased with the results.”

Tomasso Chieffi, Orlanda Olympus tactician: “It’s been a very positive day and we are very happy with today’s results, a first and a second. Therefore we are really satisfied.”

Vicente Tirado, owner of Caixa Galicia: “We did really well in the first one, fighting for the victory until the end, although finally we finished fourth. In the second one we had a premature start that made us far behind the fleet. Although we got to improve our position it wasn’t enough. We are still half way through the championship, so we hope to recover positions in the near future.”

Yet another victory by Vasco Vascotto at the Breitling MedCup

The fleet of 10 TP52 vessels opened the 11th Breitling Trophy Regatta with a coastal race on Thursday.

The 11th edition of the Breitling Regatta commenced on Thursday with a coastal race which covered a course of over 34 nautical miles, taking the fleet of 10 boats to the areas of Begana and San Juan de Dios, to then pass a marker positioned to the southwest which took them back to the start-line, in front of Puerto Portals. The winds were light, at about 8 knots, but varied in force during the entire race.

The Transpac 52 fleet witnessed after an upwind stretch of 5 miles, Aifos, the Spanish Royal Navy boat, was leading thanks to a great tactical decision, followed by Chieffi’s Orlanda-Olympus and then by Cristabella, driven by John Cook, who were enjoying the improved performance after the modifications made to the boat.

Behind this group of four, Siemens, Caixa and Bambakou were turning past the first marker in that order, followed by three of the strongest competitors, Atalanti XV with world champion Paul Cayard, and Lexus in this case skippered by emirates Team New Zealand skipper, Dean Barker. Bribon, who were leading in the Corinthian class had to make do with the tail positions in the race.


Leche Pascual. Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Medcup

Once at the Sech marker, and again later near the area of Calanova, the four leading boats maintained their positions, whilst the fifth place was Bambakou’s, to the detriment of Caixa Galicia, who couldn’t quite hold it. Caixa Galicia fought a tough battle with Coumantaros’ Bambakou and Tomasso Chieffi’s Orlanda-Olympus throughout the whole race.

At the halfway point of the race, at the San Juan de Dios marker, Vasco Vascotto’s Leche Pascual managed to snatch victory away from the hands of Aifos, who were sailing a spectacular regatta, and were ahead roughly one and a half bow-lines from their rivals as the took the lead. Cristabella owned by John Cook, and Orlanda-Olympus with the America’s Cup veteran skipper Tomasso Chieffi plus Bambakou all fought hard in the second group in the fleet, passing the marker in that order. Caixa Galicia were sixth at this point and weren’t able to pass their adversaries, followed by Atalanti, Bribon and Lexus, who, despite having a good part of Team New Zealand onboard, managed to lose a few positions due to having 4 men overboard due to a broken stanchion.

At the finish line, Leche Pascual gave us an impressive victory, with Aifos speeding behind in second place.


Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Medcup

Quotes
Vasco Vascotto, skipper of Pisco Sour Leche Pascual: “It’s been a beautiful race, we have done the whole race inside the Bay of Palma, one of my favourites, because the coastal races here are really tactical. The wind has been fantastic, although really hot, a great race. At the beginning there was no chance to pass Aifos, who was leading with a good distance, but we were happy because our direct rivals for the Breitling MEDCUP general ranking were far behind, so we were ok in that aspect, but then we got the chance to pass Aifos and luckily we could pas them and win the race.”

Tito Galnares, helmsman Aifos: “This is the first time I ever sail on a TP52, and the feeling has been absolutely new and great, it’s a superquick, superlight boat, with a speed acceleration that I still can’t believe. We decided to start on the left side of the start line and as usually happens, when you take the good side, and go with good speed, you win. We have kept the distances in the following legs, but then the wind went lighter and then Pisco Sour Leche Pascual came really fast and passed us. We have to congratulate the winner who have done a really good race.”

Coastal Race marks the start TP52 Breitling Regatta

Most teams have spent the day training

The first race of the third event in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit, the 11º Breitling Regatta, will be a coastal race with the start signal programmed for Thursday at 12:00, local time. A maximum of 7 races are planned to be raced until Sunday, the last day of the event. The coastal race will be around 38 nautical miles, with a course to be determined tomorrow depending on the conditions. The rest of the races will be windward-leeward which will be raced from Friday to Sunday.

The ten participating vessels (Atalanti XV, Bambakou, Bribón, Caixa Galicia, Leche Pascual, Lexus, Orlanda-Olympus, Aifos, Cristabella and Siemens) have spent today training after working on their boats to maximise performance in this event. Among the boats that have made modifications, is Cristabella. George Skuodas, trimmer on the boat commented on the changes:
“Valencia was great and very competitive. We based the changes we’ve made on our performance in Valencia. We’ve optimised the boat for the upwind courses and we’ve aimed for more stability. We are still learning to sail this class of boat and hope to improve race by race.”

Siemens, have recently joined the fleet participating in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 and will also be participating in the fourth regatta in the circuit, which will be the Copa del Rey, which will be held in Palma de Mallorca. Pedro Perelló, owner of the boat, has acquired Sjambock, one of the most successful vessels in the USA Transpac circuit, which is also a twin mould with Bambakou, owned by John Coumantaros. Siemens will be skippered by US yachtsman Jim Allsop, who is also world champion in Star Class.

Another new edition to the crews racing in the circuit will be Dean Barker, skipper on Emirates Team New Zealand, who will take the helm of Lexus, substituting Russell Coutts. John Kostecki will take over as tactician on Caixa Galicia, substituting Dee Smith, who has other professional obligations to attend to during this event only. Both Coutts and Smith will return to their positions for the Copa del Rey from the 30th July to 7th August, in the Real Club Nautico, Palma Mallorca. Jaime Yllera, owner of Lexus, commented on the matter following today’s training session:
“After today’s training, I can definitely say this is a star team. To have a crew onboard who have just stepped off America’s Cup boats is a real luxury, and it is a privilege to witness the fantastic team spirit they have already.”

After the impressive victory, a few weeks ago in Valencia of the Leche Pascual team, lead by their America’s Cup Skipper, Vasco Vascotto (with help from his fellow crew members from the Mascalzone Latino team) and the success of Bribón, (owned by José Cusí, and Skippered by HM King Juan Carlos of Spain) in the Corinthian Class, the competition is becoming more tough, as the fine tuning of the vessels prior to the regatta, as well as the strength of the teams are increasing greatly.

Ignacio Postigo, navigator on Vasco Vascotto’s boat, commented on this third event in the Breitling MEDCUP Circuit: “We will do our best to sail as well as we did in Valencia, if it is possible to repeat that kind of racing. We will try to sail without pressure on us, and to get the maximum out of the boat’s performance. We haven’t made any major modifications to Leche Pascual, as we think it is sailing well – perhaps it’s best not to tempt fate!”

Tranquility base

The Port America's Cup is much calmer nowadays. Gone are the days when construction crews were working round the clock, rushing to finalize construction while trucks where incessantly moving earth and debris inside the harbor. Team bases are now being built only during weekdays, with the exception of Luna Rossa, and only the canal works require weekend activity. The last old buildings still remaining inside the harbor were torn down this morning, paving the way for the canal arrival inside Port America's Cup.

I also included some photos from inside the canal, taken during the regattas last month. One can see that spectators will be very close to the race course.

As far as the teams are concerned, only the Germans have moved out of Valencia, while the New Zealanders have wrapped their boat. All other teams are in their bases, training off Valencia's coast. Next week we'll try to be as close as possible to the training seesions, capturing the exciting match races between the team boats.

A general view of the north bases and the canal works

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The immense BMWOracle base. Most of the work is now being carried out in the interior

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

From left to right, the bases of Shosholoza, +39 and Alinghi. Not much has changed since the Louis Vuitton Acts

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

A closeup of Shosholoza's base. The South African team is working on RSA83 after the unfortunate accident with the rig four days ago

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

A general view of the south bases. Emirates Team NZ have wrapped their boat. Victory Challenge, Desafío Español and Mascalzone Latino - Team Capitalia are all here in Valencia with two boats. United Internet Team Germany has already moved to Kiel and China Team is at Valencia's yacht club

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The Emirates Team NZ boat wrapped and waiting to be shipped. The team's temporary base has already been dismantled

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The Swedes working on their two boats, SWE-63 and SWE-73

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Luna Rossa's base, the only one where construction was going on. If all goes according to plan, it will be ready early next year

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The Luna Rossa base, as seen from the front.

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

A general view of the canal works

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

A closer picture. It is expected that by the end of the year the canal will have reached the inner harbor

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The canal trace is now clearly visible from inside Port America's Cup

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Tearing down the last standing building, right next to ACM's offices

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The last five pictures were taken aboard a speedboat, during the last day of Louis Vuitton Acts 4. This is the breakwater and from next year spectators will be sitting there to watch the races

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

We are now inside the canal looking towards Port America's Cup and the team bases

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

This is the current end of the canal. As one can observe from the masts, the inner harbor is very close and once the canal completed, the time needed to tow the yachts will be significantly reduced

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Inside the canal looking towards the sea. When the construction teams are not working, the canal is the best place in Valencia for wind surfing!!

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Inside the canal, looking towards the race course. Spectators will be VERY close to the races when the canal is finished. Book your flight for next year while you still have time

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The Shosholoza mast story

As we all know by now, three days ago, the America's Cup team that stole Valencia's heart had an extremely unfortunate accident with its mast, compounding the already experienced problems before Louis Vuitton Acts 4 & 5. We wish them all the best and give you the story as told by South Africans:

Tuesday afternoon, during the South African America’s Cup-Team Shosholoza’s training run off the coast of Valencia, the RSA 83 yacht’s new mast broke. At a boat speed of 9 knots, the 35 metre long carbon-fibre mast broke approx. one metre above the mast heel. The new mast was finally mounted on Monday after Shosholoza had participated in the last acts 4 & 5 in Valencia with a new boat but a used replacement mast. No one was hurt in the accident and the hull didn’t suffer any major damage.

"America’s Cup rigs are designed for very specific purposes and the margins of safety are very tight. It is not uncommon for failures to happen due to operation outside of the design parameters, or due to minor flaws in design or construction” chief designer Jason Ker comments upon the incident.

Shosholoza was the first America’s Cup 2007 team to finish a yacht in accordance with the new AC rules (V5); the mast also being the first to be designed and built for the current America’s Cup. It was a one-piece mast, entirely made of carbon fibre. At the time of the accident, the mast tube would have been experiencing a compression load of approximately 55 tonnes.

“That’s the America’s Cup, pure and simple! Just as with Formula 1, the teams will always test out the bounds of technological feasibility to be faster than their peers,“ says Salvatore Sarno, Shosholoza’s Managing Director. “We continuously run the risk of failure, but if you just want to stick with the conventional or outdated and never chance anything you might just as well withdraw from the America’s Cup. We have made important experiences for the future. To be sure, we are not pleased about the accident but I’d rather have the mast breaking during one of our tests than later during one of the acts.“

For the next America’s Cup acts in Malmö (August 24th – September 3rd 2005) Team Shosholoza will fall back upon the mast bought from Team Alinghi, which had already been used for the last two acts in Valencia. For Malmö the competition sails will be recut to fit the spare mast. Simultaneously, a replacement mast will be constructed.

The average number of masts built by each team per America’s Cup team is 3 to 4. It is not uncommon for America’s Cup teams to break masts while pushing the limits of technology. In 2003, for example, the Team New Zealand’s mast even broke during the final match. Indeed and in the same year champion Alinghi also suffered the loss of a mast.

Be that as it may, we all are very keen on showing the world our endless motivation: Pushing and pulling forward - that is Shosholoza, the soul of sailing!

United Internet Team Germany assesses Acts 4 & 5

After a well-deserved break for everybody we resume the coverage of the 32nd America's Cup from the world's sailing capital. Andreas Kling, the Communications Head of United Internet Team Germany, answers our questions and gives us his brief assessment of the performance of the first German syndicate ever.

Valencia Sailing: Are you satisfied with Valencia’s weather and wind
conditions during Acts 4 & 5?

Andreas Kling: All in all yes, of course. It was only the very first day a bit fluky and the Act 5 also with waiting for wind, but that's normal and okay.

Valencia Sailing: Can you give us a brief assessment of your team’s performance in Acts 4 & 5?

Andreas Kling: We really came to Valencia in the very last moment. Six days of boat converting to Version 5, seven days of water training. And we beat two other sydicates in both Act 4 & 5. This is an extraordinary achievement and we are very happy. In addition, our learing curve was very steep every single day. We'll be back in Malmö with a millenium rigg and more new sails and probably better prepared. So hopefully we can do even better on the water.


Jesper Bank, skipper of United Team Internet Germany, returning from racing at the end of Louis Vuitton Acts 5

Valencia Sailing: What is your view on the new scoring system? Does fleet racing gain a disproportionate weight?

Andreas Kling: NO, not at all. It was very exciting, but never dangerous and it is the typical way of sailing most public is used to already. So the qualification races (Acts) with some fleet racing is fine with us.

Holidays by the sea

Valencia Sailing is taking a break this week for summer holidays in Andalucia

Breitling Medcup

The second event in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit is taking place right now in Valencia, until Sunday July 3rd. A total of nine boats participated in Valencia, up from seven in the first event of the Circuit, last month in Punta Ala, Italy. The TP52 races took place in conjuction with the Trofeo de la Reina and as a result Valencia had more than 110 yachts racing in various classes.

The event was very interesting as it boasted the presence of two of the greatest figures in world sailing, Russell Coutts and Paul Cayard and offered fast racing with close and tight fights between the leaders. On the weekend HM the King of Spain and HRH the Prince participated, each on a different boat. Nevertheless, the "King of the Mediterranean Sea", was Vasco Vascotto at the helm of Leche Pascual. The Italian, skipper of the America's Cup team Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team, after two uneventful races earlier in the week, recovered all lost space and climbed to first position, both in Valencia and the overall ranking of the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit. At the time of writing, Russell Coutts and Paul Cayard were second and third respectively in the gerneal ranking, with only two points separating them.

We were onboard a speedboat during Saturday's races and tried to capture as closely as possible the high-performance grand-prix sailing these boats offer.

A general view of Valencia's sea off the yacht club minutes before the start of the TP52 race. There were more than 110 yachts participating in races of different boat classes

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Everybody's ready at the starting line

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

They are off. The sixth race of the Breitling Medcup in Valencia has just started

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Another picture of the start of the sixth race in Valencia of the Breitling Medcup

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Lexus racing shortly after the start

Photo taken by Valencia Sailing