LV ACT 8 - Day 2 : Tough conditions

Unlike the first day, the conditions that prevailed during Friday were extremely difficult, causing many technical problems, delaying half of the midday races for almost three hours and finally forcing the organizers to postpone all afternoon races. Winds of up to 25 knots and waves of up to two meters put much stress on boats and sailors, even when they were just waiting in the northern race course for an improvement in the weather.

Despite heavy winds and high waves, five out of the six races turned out as expected, with the stronger teams beating the weaker ones. The exception and upset was Shosholoza's victory over K-Challenge. It was quite an irony for the French team that easily beat the New Zealanders on Thursday, to be beaten by one of the weakest teams on Friday. It was a broken genoa that caused the French to retire from the race, handing the victory to Shosholoza.

Luna Rossa, BMW Oracle and Alinghi keep being undefeated, with the latter piling up straight victories in match racing. They must be very close to 30 so far in 2005, but we've lost count.

Saturday will undoubtedly be the first of the "big" days, weather permitting, as Alinghi will face Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand will race against BMW Oracle.

Victory Challenge - Luna Rossa : 0 - 1

Skippered by Francesco de Angelis the Italian team did not encounter any problems in beating the Swedish Victory Challenge. With the exception of the second leg, Luna Rossa increased their advantage each time they rounded the mark and finished 1:33 minutes ahead of Victory Challenge.

Luna Rossa and Victory Challenge in the second day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Simon Palfrader - Luna Rossa Challenge

Luna Rossa and Victory Challenge in the second day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Simon Palfrader - Luna Rossa Challenge

Luna Rossa and Victory Challenge in the second day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Simon Palfrader - Luna Rossa Challenge

Luna Rossa and Victory Challenge in the second day of Louis Vuitton Act 8. Conditions were very tough on Friday and such pictures speak for themselves.

Photo copyright: Simon Palfrader - Luna Rossa Challenge

Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team - BMW Oracle : 0 - 1

It was quite an easy victory for BMW Oracle despite the broken spinnaker pole after rounding the top mark for the second time. Not only did the American team race the final leg without one but managed to increase its lead over the Italians by 22 seconds. Finally, the Defender of Record finished almost 2 minutes ahead of Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team.

BMW Oracle and Mascalzone Capitalia Team racing under difficult conditions during the second day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle racing under difficult conditions during the second day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle going up..

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

... BMW Oracle going down. Conditions were very difficult during the second day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

Quite an unusual sight but not a premiere. BMW Oracle sailing into Trapani's harbor just like Alinghi did in Valencia six months ago

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle and Mascalzone Capitalia Team racing under difficult conditions during the second day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Marco Trovati - Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team

Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team facing tough conditions in its race against BMW Oracle in the second day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Marco Trovati - Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team

Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team facing tough conditions in its race against BMW Oracle in the second day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Marco Trovati - Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team

LV ACT 8 - Day 1: Vive la France!!

L'équipe de France, France's team, K-Challenge delivered the first surprise in the opening day of Louis Vuitton Act 8, held in Trapani. Skippered by Thierry Peponnet, the French not only beat Emirates Team New Zealand they also achieved it with a comfortable advantage of 1:45 minutes. Although they rounded the first mark slightly behind the New Zealanders, during the second leg they chose to go for a major wind shift, unlike their adversaries, and built an immense advantage of 2:30 minutes. From that point it was an easy race to victory. That victory followed an earlier close win over the Italian team Mascsalzone Latino, a decisive achievement among the teams in the middle of the table.

TOP FOUR: Excluding the tough defeat of Emirates Team New Zealand, all other races turned out exactly as expected. Alinghi, BMW Oracle and Luna Rossa all won their two races of the day. The Swiss defender of the America's Cup has now reached their twenty ..... (we've lost count) straight victory in match racing. With Ed Baird at the helm for the first time, Alinghi beat the Spanish Desafío Español, despite trailing at the start of the race.

MIDDLE OF THE TABLE: The Spanish challenger, Desafío Español, disappointed today, losing both races, as did +39. Victory Challenge won both races, a gratifying performance after the difficult times in Malmö. Nevertheless, in our opinion, what really stands out is the disastrous performance by Mascalzone Latino, especially their defeat against United Internet Team Germany, where the Italians finished almost 10 minutes behind the Germans. We are not Cup historians but we have never seen such a difference before, barring any breakages or technical failures!!

BOTTOM OF THE TABLE: As mentioned above, the German victory really stood out. Both China Team and Shosholoza lost their two races.

Valencia Sailing's take: Conditions are tricky and can produce considerable surprises. Competition-wise it's nice to see such upsets, making the fight at the top and middle of the table even more interesting.

K-Challenge - Emirates Team New Zealand : 1 - 0

Without any doubt, that was the day's biggest surprise. Thierry Peponnet's ability combined with a wind vacuum, forced the New Zealanders to a defeat. Could we witness another upset tomorrow when K-Challenge faces BMW Oracle?

K-Challenge racing to victory ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand during the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Frank Socha - K-Challenge

K-Challenge and Emirates Team New Zealand racing in the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Frank Socha - K-Challenge

United Internet Team Germany - Mascalzone Latino Captialia Team : 1-0

It was not among the day's most important races but it stood out for the tremendous gap between the victorious Germans and the Italians, close to 10 minutes. United Internet Team Germany started ahead of Mascalozne Latino and had an advantage of 32 seconds at the second mark. At that point Jesper Bank decided to sail to the left while Vasco Vascotto made the wrong choice and went to the right. Unfortunately, the Italians got stuck to a windless hole, victims of the tricky wind patterns, and struggled to even advance.

This defeat will undoubtedly go down to history!!

Mascalzone Latino and United Internet Team Germany racing in the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Marco Trovati - Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team

United Internet Team Germany raced to a crushing victory over Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team

Photo copyright: Nico Krauss - United Internet Team Germany

BMW Oracle - Team Shosholoza : 1 - 0

There isn't too much to say about that race. The Challenger of Record had an easy victory over the South Africans, finishing 1:40 minutes ahead of them.

BMW Oracle and Team Shosholoza during the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle and Team Shosholoza during the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle and Team Shosholoza during the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle - United Internet Team Germany : 1 - 0

The German team did not offer us any surprise and the rsult of the race was the expected one. BMW Oracle won with and advantage of 2:12 minutes over United Internet Team Germany

BMW Oracle and United Internet Team Germany during their race in the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle and United Internet Team Germany during their race in the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle and United Internet Team Germany during their race in the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Nico Krauss - United Internet Team Germany

New clothes for USA 76

A new sponsor and a new look. BMW Oracle signed a new sponsorship agreement on Wednesday, a mere 24 hours before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 8, with Allianz, the German insurance giant.

It seems that the only American team in the America's Cup is gradually getting German, at least sponsorship-wise. The team afterwards went sailing off Trapani's coast, providing the opportunity for some excellent photos. Their race schedule on the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 8 is light, first against the "true" German team and then against Shosholoza.

BMW Oracle training in Trapani, a day before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle training in Trapani, a day before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle training in Trapani, a day before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle training in Trapani, a day before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle training in Trapani, a day before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

BMW Oracle training in Trapani, a day before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Gilles Martin-Raget - BMW Oracle Racing

Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team preparing for two weeks of racing

With just a few hours left till the start of Louis Vuitton Acts 8 & 9 in Trapani, all 12 teams have completed their training sessions off the city's coast. The last Acts to be held outside Valencia (as far as we know) promise to be breathtaking as the ranking situation will get clearer.

First of all, the ACC champion for 2005 will be crowned in Trapani. Unless some extraordianry event takes place, alinghi will be this year's ACC champion. The Swiss defender of the America's Cup will have its boat skippered by Ed Baird, the world's number one in the match racing rankings.

Nevertheless, the thrilling action will be among the Challengers. The top three of them will be fighting hard to clarify the situation as they are squeezed with BMW Oracle just a point ahead of Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand. Ten points behind them, Desafío Español will try to keep their much-coveted poistion of fifth overall. In our opinion, we could witness an interesting duel between the other two Italian challengers, tied at the fifth position in the Challenger Louis Vuitton Ranking. Valencia Sailing, as well as all America's Cup watchers, will be watching with interest Victory Challenge's performance, in view of their boat change after the disappointing regattas in Malmö.

We publish a few photos of Mascalzone Latino's training in Trapani and hope Vasco Vascotto continues the excelent performance of the TP52 races.

Vasco Vascotto, skipper of Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team, during Wednesday's skipper press conference. Will the freshly crowned champion of the Breitling Medcup TP52 deliver a surprise in America's Cup racing?

Photo copyright: Marco Trovati - Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team

Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team training off Trapani's coast, a couple of days before Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Marco Trovati - Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team

Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team training off Trapani's coast, a couple of days before Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Marco Trovati - Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team

Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team training off Trapani's coast, a couple of days before Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Marco Trovati - Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team

Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team training off Trapani's coast, a couple of days before Louis Vuitton Act 8

Photo copyright: Marco Trovati - Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team

Vasco Vascotto wins the Bretiling Medcup TP52.

A thrilling last day with Caixa Galicia and Lexus-Quantum fighting for second place in the Breitling MEDCUP

Caixa Galicia wins the Audi Cup, the fifth and final event in the Circuit. The Breitling MEDCUP now has a winner. After five events, and 38 races sailed and only 9 points between the first and second boats on the leader board, the Chilean vessel Pisco Sour owned by Emilio Cousiño, Bernardo Matte and Antonio Orlyi with Vasco Vascotto at the helm have taken a brilliant victory in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit 2005.

The forecasts were correct and even their closest rivals, Lexus with Russell Coutts and Caixa Galicia with Roberto Bermúdez de Castro couldn’t prevent these leaders since the second event in the Circuit (Valencia) from becoming the champions. Despite the fact that Lexus won the two following events (Breitling Regatta and the King’s Cup in Palma, Mallorca) they didn’t manage to gain enough points to push great Vasco Vascotto off the top. Tonight Vascotto and crew will take home the coveted Breitling MEDCUP trophy after a dinner to be given by Breitling at the Porto Rotondo Yacht Club in Sardinia, Italy. HM King Juan Carlos and his boat Bribon, take home the Corinthian Trophy for owner-driver participants, and finish the 2005 season in fourth place on the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 leader board.

The excitement was high in Saturday’s two races. The first race started with very little wind, and speeds registering at just 4 knots, meaning the search was on for an area of higher wind pressure throughout the whole racecourse. Although Pisco Sour set out with enough of a lead to sail a fairly conservative regatta, they couldn’t let their guard down. In the upwind stretch the leaders were those who managed to find higher pressure and could pick up speed, such as Sjambok, with Gavin Brady at the wheel, followed by a strong Aifos, who gave a first class performance today. Next at this point were Caixa Galicia, Orlanda, Balearia, Bribon, Pisco Sour with Patches and Lexus at the back of the fleet who were sailing an incomprehensible match race which didn’t benefit either of the vessels in the end.

After the spinnakers were hoisted the lead went to an expertly sailed Aifos, who were getting the very most out of the boat, to take the honour of crossing the finish line in first place, followed by Caixa Galicia who were 12 seconds behind, Sjambok, Pisco Sour, Orlanda-Olympus, Bribon, Lexus, Patches and Balearia.

The key to the second race was that although Vascotto and crew had already won the Trophy, Lexus and Caixa Galicia were battling for second place, both on equal points. It was clear that the similarity and close competition in the Circuit were going to make for an extremely tough fight for positions until the very end. The second race was a duel between Caixa Galicia and Coutt’s Lexus who went head to head for second place in the Circuit. The battle was won by Russell Coutts and Peter Isler on Lexus, and the team took second place in the very first Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit.

Despite not gaining second place, Caixa Galicia finished the Circuit on a high note, as they took a victory as winners of the Audi Cup, the fifth and final event in the Breitling MEDCUP Circuit. They were beat Pisco Sour, who came in second place and Bribon who finished third in the event.

Pisco Sour finishes the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 2005 Circuit on 249 points, 9 more than their closest rival Lexus. With this victory we see the close of the Breitling MEDCUP 2005 Circuit which has included five scored events placed in five different locations. In June, the first event, Punta Ala, on the Tuscan coast, was held with 7 Transpac 52s competing. The event was won outright by Caixa Galicia who gave a fantastic performance in Italian waters. Following Punta Ala, the boats went to Valencia, Spain where two new vessels joined the fleet (Aifos and Cristabella) and Vasco Vascotto swept the floor with the other TP52s, and gained the points advantage that has carried them to the top of the final classifications for the Circuit. The third event was the Breitling Regatta in Mallorca, at the beginning of July, where Lexus-Quantum took a win, this time with Dean Barker at the wheel. The result was repeated in the King’s Cup regatta, also in Mallorca, but with Russell Coutts back at the wheel, and eleven boats on the start line. So the fleet were together again to take on the last of the five events in the Circuit in Porto Rotondo, Sardinia, Italy, an event which goes to Caixa Galicia, and is the second event they have won in a Transpac 52 Circuit.

Vasco Vascotto, winner of the Breitling Medcup TP52

Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Breitling Medcup TP52

Russell Coutts at the helms of Lexus Quantum. Coutts finished second in the Breitling Medcup TP52

Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Breitling Medcup TP52

Lexus Quantum, Caixa Galicia and Orlanda-Olympus

Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Breitling Medcup TP52

Patches wins coastal race - Vasco Vascotto leads ranking

The light conditions that dominated in Sardinia today made for an agonisingly slow 24 miles of Coastal race for the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 fleet.

With victory today for the Irish newcomers Patches with Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie at the helm, and a seventh place for experienced team Lexus, with America’s Cup star Russell Coutts, it is clear that this is proving a tough Circuit for the fleet. Consistency is key, as demonstrated by Pisco Sour with Italy’s great Vasco Vascotto as Skipper who are still at the top of the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit leaderboard.

Yet again, there were nerves in the air, as the fleet took the start with light conditions and only a few points separating the top teams. It was a complicated start, as Aifos performed a premature start and Lexus seemed willing to sacrifice time in favour of a move to the opposite side of the racecourse to the rest of the fleet.

At the first windward mark the fleet were fairly dispersed around the course. The Irish vessel Patches with Ben Ainslie were first to the buoy, followed by the Italian team Orlanda-Olympus, and the US Sjambok with Gavin Brady and Dee Smith onboard. Behind them a compact group were tacking, including Caixa Galicia with john Kostecki as tactian, Spain’s Balearia and Pisco Sour with Vasco Vascotto. Lexus with Coutts, Reynolds and Isler onboard were behind the rest of the fleet at this point.

Despite using the powerful code zero sails, the next leg was an uphill struggle for the TP52 fleet, as the wind fell a poor six knots at the windward mark to even lower speeds as they headed towards the exclusive area of Cala di Volpe. Ben Ainslie’s Patches extended their lead putting themselves a minute ahead of the rest of the fleet. Orlanda-Olympus were in second place followed by Sjambok whilst both Lexus and Pisco Sour gained a position compared with the previous buoy.

At the halfway point in the Coastal race before hoisting the gennakers to head homeward, Patches were still holding a strong lead, followed by Orlanda Olympus, Caixa Galicia and Pisco Sour who overtook Sjambok who were behind an expertly sailed Bribon. Lexus were bacck in seventh place again, followed by Aifos who were suffering the consequences of the false start, and Spanish vessel Balearia who seemed lost on the racecourse, quite a distance away from the rest of the TP52 fleet.

The wind dropped to almost three knots, forcing the fleet to endure agonisingly slow speeds fairly uncommon to these fast and furious vessels. The return to port was a spectacular scene with the fleet sailing against the backdrop of the beautiful rocky Sardinian coast. Irish eyes were smiling as Patches came in with a new victory to add to their TP52 racing experience, and a fantastic one minute advantage over Orlanda-Olympus, owned by Lorenzo Bressani in second place. Caixa Galicia was third followed by a very fast Bribon with HM King Juan Carlos of Spain at the helm, who were ahead of Pisco Sour in the last leg. In fifth place were Americans Sjambok, followed fairly far behind by Lexus, Aifos and a lost Balearia.

Part of the Breitling Medcup TP52 fleet during the coastal race

Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Breitling Medcup TP52

Patches, winner of Friday's coastal race, with Ian Walker at her helms

Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Breitling Medcup TP52

Orlanda-Olympus and Caixa Galicia at the back

Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Breitling Medcup TP52

Caixa Galicia

Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Breitling Medcup TP52

Photo copyright: Breitling Medcup TP52

Food for thought (part II)

We continue with the second installment in our series of articles concerning the TV ratings of the America's Cup. These are meant to be simple tools that will further help the evolution of this great event. Just like any other media we are working towards better coverage and it is obvious the more popular it becomes the better it is for anyone involved.

Analyzing the French TV market has become tremendously easier since two days ago, but first a little background. One of the country's largest telecom groups, Iliad, provides a combined internet+telephone+TV service through an ADSL line, called Free. This combined offer has been considerably successful and a million households are now subscribers.

Since two days ago it is possible to know in real time (with only a 30-second delay) what these households are watching. Free has put up on the internet the ratings of its top 12 TV networks, updated every 30 seconds. This website can be reached here. As you can see, the top 12 TV networks are sorted in a descending order according to their ratings at the moment. To our knowledge, it is the first time such a tool exists.

By clicking on a TV network, one gets extremely useful graphs on the viewership trends during different periods of times. As a result it is very easy to see if a particular show created more interest than the regular watching patterns. The network carrying the America's Cup in France is CANAL+ and by using the one-week graph during the Louis Vuitton Acts in Trapani one will get a quite acurrate overview.

Caveat emptor: The sample is not representative of the whole French population. It consists of 1 million households, almost entirely in urban areas, but it can give an interesting reading. Do the urban, more affluent French viewers change their viewing patterns during the America's Cup?

Recapitulation: Link to the Italian TV ratings, with a one-day delay. Link to real-time TV ratings of 1 million French households.

Victories for Pisco Sour and Caixa Galicia in the second day of the Breitling Medcup TP52

Pisco Sour consolidate their lead with a 9 points advantage in the general rankings.

Spirits were slightly dampened at the start of the second day’s racing in the last event in the Breitling MEDCUP, as persistent showers and a distinct lack of breeze took over the Sardinian Emerald Coast. The atmosphere on the quay of the Porto Rotondo Yacht Club left no doubt that despite the bad conditions there were still plenty of nerves for the nine teams competing, as the crews prepared themselves to fight hard for those final positions in the Breitling MEDCUP 2005 rankings.

Light unstable winds dominated in a heart-stopping day of racing for the TP 52 Class. The winner of the day was Pisco Sour, who were fast and furious against the rest. The Chilean vessel is owned by Cousiño, Matte and Orlyi and has Italian Vasco Vascotto at the helm, and the team are currently leading in the general rankings of the Circuit. Caixa Galicia, with John Kostecki as tactician, gave a great performance to win the second race with over one minute advantage over Pisco Sour.
Following their performance in both races today Pisco Sour reinforces their lead in the Breitling MEDCUP Circuit 2005. Bribon confirm her position as leader in the Corinthian Class for owner-drivers.

CHILEAN PROWESS IN SARDINIAN WATER

After a postponement of almost one hour, the fleet took the start line of the first windward-leeward race of the day. Tensions were high from the very start of the race, as Lexus, with America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts, and Pisco Sour, with Vasco Vascotto went head to head in a battle for the lead. There were two boats that stood out at the start - on the one hand Lexus for their determination, whilst closely marking the leaders in the Breitling MEDCUP, Pisco Sour, and on the other hand the US boat Sjambok, with Gavin Brady as Skipper and Dee Smith as tactician, for other reasons who performed a false start which positioned them at the back of the fleet for the rest of the race.
Vascotto and Coutts match racing experience was clearly a deciding factor in the first upwind leg, reflected in the head to head race between the two vessels who took the first mark in first (Pisco) and third (Lexus-Quantum) place, with Caixa Galicia pushing themselves cleverly in between the two to take the mark in second place. In fourth place was the Irish vessel Patches, who have Olympic and America’s Cup (Emirates Team New Zealand) star Ben Ainslie at the helm, followed in fifth place by a superbly driven Aifos.

In the next leg, the Chilean vessel Pisco Sour reinforced their lead, and Lexus overtook the Spanish team Caixa Galicia who fell back a position following a good tactical call by Patches. Aifos were in fifth place at this point, ahead of Bribon who had HM King Juan Carlos I at the helm. As the boats were setting course for the second upwind stretch a sudden change in wind direction which allowed the TPs at the head of the fleet were hoisting their spinnakers, forced the Race Committee to declare the race finished. In this first windward-leeward race, Pisco Sour took a great win after a tough attack from Russell Coutts and team who finished in second place, followed by Caixa Galicia, Bribon, Patches, Aifos, Orlanda-Olympus, Sjambok who gained a position, and Balearia in last place.

Caixa Galicia takes a fantastic win

In the second race of the day things took a sharp change, as Caixa Galicia made all the right decisions to take the first mark in first place with an amazing one minute advantage over Sjambok, Pisco Sour, and Bribon, whereas Lexus seemed to not quite able to get the tactics right and put themselves in last place at this point. Surprise struck in the third buoy as Coutts gave all an example of his magic touch, by getting up into fourth position behind Pisco Sour, and the USA’s Sjambok. Bribon finished in fifth place, followed by Ireland’s Patches, then Aifos, Orlanda and Balearia. After plenty of position changes at the back of the fleet the three leaders crossed the finish line with Spain’s Caixa Galicia in first place followed by Pisco Sour.

Pisco Sour, skippered by Vasco Vascotto, is the leader in the Audi Cup as well as the general Breitling Medcup ranking

Photo copyright: Jorge Andreu - Breitling Medcup TP52

A nice aerial view of Pisco Sour

Photo copyright: Francesco Nonnoi

Food for thought (part I)

With just a handful of days left till the Louis Vuitton Acts in Trapani and amid a controversy over the popularity of the "new" America's Cup, Valencia Sailing sheds some light on the TV audience measurements in Italy, the home country of the Trapani Acts, the last for 2005. We never make public any rumors or speculations but always try to present objective and irrefutable data and facts.

The company that measures TV audience in Italy is called AudiTel (www.auditel.it) and is one of the very few entities to provide free access to a general set of data, updated every day and covering the latest seven days. The direct link to the data page is http://www.auditel.it/dati/index_data.html

Data can be viewed in three different modes, "AUDIENCE", "SHARE" and "PENETRAZIONE". The first option gives the number of viewers, in thousands, per network and time period. The second option provides the share of each network, that is what percentage of TV viewers tuned into that particular network. Finally, the third options gives the percentage of the total Italian population (55,695,000 people) that watched each network. By clicking on each button, one gets the corresponding mode.

A drawback these figures have is that it is impossible to deduce the exact viewership numbers of a particular show. In addition, some of the time periods span through many hours, such as the 10:30pm to 2am. Nevertheless, one can see the exact popularity of each network at certain time periods and through some fair assumptions make a considerably accurate guess of the viewership during narrower time periods.

The network carrying the Louis Vuitton Acts in Italy is LA7 (www.la7.it), the smallest of the seven nationwide TV networks, with a TV share of approximately 2.7%. As of today, we are not in a position to know the programming of the network during the Trapani regattas, but once the schedule is published, it will be extremely easy to assess the popularity of the first ever America's Cup sailing in Italian waters .

Obviously, AudiTel provides exact TV ratings for each show, at a fee. This table though, is the best freely-available data and with just one day of delay. It is certainly not a panacea but it will input data on the discussion concerning the popularity of the America's Cup. In our humble opinion, reality lies in the middle of the two opposite views, being neither black nor rosy. The America's Cup is more popular than it used to be twenty years ago but is also far from being a popular sport. Let's wait one week and see whether Italian viewers embrace the new vision of the America's Cup in their own country. Let the numbers speak for themselves.

Tomorrow, we'll cover the French TV market, where a new revolutionary tool presented yesterday provides a real-time overview of TV ratings (30-second delay) as well as some feedback from the Nordic countries.

The 'Moquini' Mystery

As the end of the Mauritius to Durban yacht race draws to a close with the last three boats due to finish in the next 24 hours, there’s a very sombre mood at the Royal Natal Yacht Club as family and friends of the missing yacht MOQUINI wait anxiously for news of their loved ones.

MOQUINI was declared missing last Friday (16 September) after complete communications were lost with the yacht, and a very brief signal from her EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) was received indicating that she may be in some sort of distress.

The Maritime Rescue Co-Ordination Centre (MRCC) in Cape Town assessed the situation last Friday Morning and decided to begin a search for the vessel, or the crew of the yacht who may have taken to their life raft. A South African Air force C130 long range reconnaissance aircraft was dispatched from Pretoria on Friday afternoon, and has been combing the area around the last known position of the yacht since then.

The worst-case scenario is that MOQUINI has suffered some catastrophic mishap, and the crew have taken to the life raft.

The best-case scenario is that the yacht has suffered damage which has caused the yacht to be nursed home at slow speed - and that it may arrive within the next few days.

However, as there has been no communication from the yacht for a week, these are educated summations of what might have occurred.

The race organisers are fully aware that the Maritime search and rescue authorities cannot search forever, and today (Tuesday) gathered a group of yachtsmen to strategise and come up with a ‘battle plan’ for the continued search of the MOQUINI crew.

Professional yachtsman Matthew Thomas, himself a competitor in the race aboard POLO SPORT GUMPTION, has agreed to head this challenging task, and within hours of meeting, the assistance and support of people throughout the country and around the world has been phenomenal.

Air Charter companies have offered aeroplanes, fuel has been offered, and basically anyone who has expertise, knowledge or equipment needed have made very generous offers of assistance.

Actions that have been taken include the following:

* Investec Bank has offered one of their aeroplanes for the search.

* The ‘MOQUINI’ Rescue Fund has been launched through the Royal Natal Yacht Club to solicit funds to continue the search as long as possible.

* The MRCC has agreed to continue the search as long as possible, although they will re-evaluate it every day.

* The South African Weather Service is giving input.

* The South African Navy has a vessel in the area, and it is hoped that they will join the search.

* The South African Airforce will continue to man their C130 aircraft.

* The Royal navy and French navy have both offered assistance.

“It’s at times like these when the chips are down that one is continually amazed at how responsive, generous and concerned mankind really is” said Matthew Thomas.

A team of yachting experts spent the day working with a sophisticated sailing routing computer programme to determine a possible position of ‘MOQUINI’s’ liferaft should her crew have had to abandon ship and take to the life raft. This area is further west of the area, which has already been searched, and south west of the bottom tip of Madagascar. This programme, which takes the prevailing currents, sea conditions and wind into account in real time, is used aboard all the top racing yachts in the world.

“We sincerely hope that this exercise will bring the results we, and the ‘MOQUINI’ families, are waiting for” said Matthew Thomas. “But, we are searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.”

Should the crew have taken to the life raft, it is estimated that they could have enough water to survive for more than twenty days - and that’s assuming that they do not collect any rain water. While not comfortable, yachtsmen have survived for well over 100 days in a life raft.

How and why ‘MOQUINI’s’ EPIRB was activated, and transmitted for such a short time, is a mystery to everyone, and is a question which cannot be answered at this point.

‘MOQUINI’ is a modern yacht which was only launched earlier this year, and was equipped with all the most up-to-date safety and survival equipment required for a race of this nature. Her crew have everything they require to survive just about any situation thrown at them at sea.

Her designer is Cape Town based Alex Simonis who competed in the race aboard ‘UNLEASHED’, a new boat from his drawing board. MOQUINI is one of four identical yachts in the race, and is known as a Fast 42. She was built at the Fast yachts factory in Pinetown, Durban.

The crew of six are:

* Graham Cochrane - skipper
* Neil Tocknell
* Sheldon Dickerson
* Mark Dickerson
* Kurt Ostendorf
* Michael Goolam

The yacht was sailed to Durban to Mauritius by a crew of four, three of whom are on board for the race to Durban. They are Graham Cochrane; Kurt Ostendorf and Michael Goolam.

With the nerve centre of the rescue effort to find the crew of MOQUINI abuzz with activity, it is hoped that all the input of everyone concerned will be rewarded when the crew are reunited with their families.

For more information on the search for ‘Moquini’ and details of the ‘Moquini’ Rescue Fund visit www.mauritiustodurban.com.

Andrew Heathcote