Valencia Sailing turns 2 years and 30,000 photographs old

Today, March 10, marks our second birthday. Valencia Sailing started two years ago as a simple blog reporting on the construction progress in Valencia's Port America's Cup once or twice a week and has now reached, I hope, a respectable and popular niche in the sailing media.

In the following weeks we will continue improving our content and with the backing of even more big-name advertizers we will constantly strive to provide factual and credible news in an attractive way. Stay tuned.

I know few people like commercials but they are absolutely necessary for Valencia Sailing to keep bringing you tomorrow's news today. So, don't forget to handle all your hotel needs through our booking system. Whether you need one room for one person or you are looking to accomodate 10 visitors, our booking system can do that for you at competitive prices.

Even better, if you plan to stay in Valencia from April till July, check out the excellent apartment for rent 15 minutes from the port. It's a great deal. Both options are accessible through the corresponding banners on the right upper-hand corner of the website.

First picture 10 March 2005
The very first picture of Valencia Sailing doesn't seem too inspiring two years later, consisting of a few steel beams and two old cars in a derelict area of the port. At that time, it was very difficult to imagine that this piece of land would one day hold the impressive base of the world's top sailing team, Alinghi.

The very first picture on Valencia Sailing consisted of a few steel beams and two old cars in a derelict area of the port. Valencia, 10 March 2005. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Two years and 30,000 photos later
The milestone of 30,000 pictures was reached on Friday, 9 March, just a day before we turned 2 years old. They were taken during the so-called "French-South African Games" between Areva Challenge and Team Shosholoza. These "games" spanned two days and two cities, but Friday's activities took place in Valencia and consisted of two full races between the teams' America's Cup yachts, FRA-93 and RSA-83.

Despite the friendly character of the exhibition, the match races were no place to have fun and both teams fought hard to beat the other. We cannot report or comment on the outcome of the races but both were close, intense and exciting, which was to be expected given the fact both challengers are serious pretenders to the fourth place of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

We wish we could also report on all the activity taking place around us, as the north race course was crowded and busy with all the latest America's Cup yachts. Being on a Shosholoza tender I was obviously prohibited from taking any picture not related to the South African team racing the French syndicate but all I can say is that it was a very interesting sight, watching more than a dozen America's Cup yachts crisscrossing the nort race course. If we take into account the number of teams with two yachts and the fact that training is intensifying each day we get closer to the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup, one shouldn't be surprised to see almost two dozen yachts off Valencia's coast.

Shosholoza's RSA-83 disappears during the second upwind leg of the first race of the "French-South African Games". Valencia, 9 March 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Shosholoza and Areva Challenge during the pre-start of the second race of the "French-South African Games". Valencia, 9 March 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Shosholoza and Areva Challenge during the pre-start of the second race of the "French-South African Games". Valencia, 9 March 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing