What is this?

What is the vessel that appears in the photo? A trimaran, a catamaran or a keel boat? At least two things are certain, she is motor boat and she arrived in Valencia yesterday.

Concerning last week's quiz, one of our readers posted the correct answer. It was the deck of the brand new GP42 under construction at the Décision boatyard in Switzerland.

BMW Oracle sends Justice Cahn a letter; Alinghi replies by sending another letter

PDF Documents
- BMW Oracle letter sent to Justice Cahn, on 29 January, replying to Alinghi's submission

- Alinghi letter sent to Justice Cahn, on 30 January, replying to BMW Oracle's previous letter

Just when it seemed that Monday, January 28 was the deadline for the two litigating parties to submit their documents in the NY Supreme Court, we have yet another two letters sent to Justice Cahn.

First, BMW Oracle sent Justice Cahn a letter on Tuesday, replying to Alinghi's documents submitted on Monday. Then, on Wednesday, Alinghi replies to BMW Oracle's reply by sending Justice Cahn another letter. Without going further into legal details, both letters focus once again on whether BMW Oracle's challenge is valid.

Both letters are accessible through the box at the top of this article.

We also publish, albeit belatedly, an interview Tom Ehman gave NZ Sport Radio last week, shortly after the hearing at the NY Supreme Court. Unfortunately, we only got the MP3 file of the radio interview yesterday. GGYC's spokesman talked about the hearing and the litigation and reiterated his team's commitment to hold a conventional 34th America's Cup here in Valencia in 2011, if of course they win the 33rd edition of the event. There have been increasing fears here in Valencia, especially among local politicians, that Larry Ellison, owner of the team, might use some last-minute excuse and take the Cup to San Fransisco, hometown of the Golden Gate Yacht Club.

You can listen to the 6:40 minute interview through the usual media player:

Valencia Sailing talks to Grant Simmer

Last Thursday Valencia Sailing visited the Alinghi base and talked to Grant Simmer, managing director and design coordinator of the Defender of the 33rd America's Cup. Our interest was of course the hearing that had taken place in New York 3 days earlier (January 23rd) and more specifically Alinghi's claim that "multihulls" and "keel yachts" are two incompatible types of vessels. The interview doesn't of course take into consideration the documents submitted this week. It's quite long but very interesting.

Valencia Sailing: So far during the legal battle Valencia Sailing has avoided taking any sides and tried to be as objective and neutral as possible. Still, after reading your arguments in the hearing and especially the letter from Jerome Pels (ISAF secretary general), I don’t feel convinced. I even think that Mr Pels writes that the terms "multihull" and "keel yacht" are not contradictory. Is that so?
Grant Simmer: You are wrong and I’ll tell you why. The term keel yacht or keel boat describes a type of sailing boat. Other than a lawyer trying to make an argument in New York, everybody that is involved in sailing knows what a keel yacht is and a multihull isn't a keel yacht. It's as simple as that. It's not to say that a multihull can't have a keel attached to it or that there might have been some cruising multihulls with keel attached to them but they are not keel yachts. They are vessels that have a small keel. Take for example the pictures GGYC showed, a bunch of cruising catamarans or trimarans with small keels so that they can be beached or so that they can have a tank underneath the hull. This doesn't make it a keel yacht.

Let me tell you why it's important. In the old days, when somebody challenged for the America's Cup, they had to describe the vessel they were going to challenge in. That's why you have to submit a certificate of the vessel. You tell the Defender, "we are going to challenge you in a vessel that looks like this, a yacht that looks like this". In the early days, the New York Yacht Club used to say, "you have to tell us exactly the beam of the vessel, the waterline length, what type of boat it is, is it a keel yacht or a centerboard?" Then the NY Yacht Club would either design a boat or pick one out of its fleet in order to race the challenger's vessel. That's how it was until we started having classes of boats in the America's Cup. What they have done is that they haven't described the vessel at all.

Valencia Sailing: How detailed must this description be according to the Deed of Gift?
Grant Simmer: The reason for providing the certificate is to describe the vessel, not to disguise the vessel. Even last night, Tom Ehman said on the steps of the court, "I promise you the boat will have a keel". What does this say about the boat that is going to challenge us to win the America's Cup? What does it tell us?

Valencia Sailing: It tells you it's going to have a keel. Isn't that enough?
Grant Simmer: Is it a keel yacht, is it a trimaran, a catamaran, what does this vessel actually look like? Does anybody know?

Valencia Sailing: But isn't this the challenger's prerogative? You are asking them to reveal the boat not just describe it.
Grant Simmer: It's a fundamental issue, a fundamental legal argument. We believe the challenger has to describe its boat in order for the Defender to prepare for the match. So, they have to do that when they present their challenge and give you a ten-month warning. That's how it works. If that's not true then the whole argument doesn't matter. Why submit any certificate at all? Why not just say, "see you in ten months"?

Valencia Sailing: I will come back to my previous question. How detailed must this description be according to the Deed of Gift?
Grant Simmer: If you read our argumentation you'll see that the person that wrote the Deed actually said, the reason for providing a certificate of vessel is so that the Defender understands the nature and details of the vessel the challenger is proposing to race. If you go back historically and look at it, there is a lot of arguing about how they measure the waterline, whether the boat had the correct waterline length they specified. For instance, SNG will need to measure this boat they will challenge with, to see it complies with the certificate. SNG will have to appoint measurers that will actually measure the boat to see whether it agrees with the certificate. This is what the NY Yacht Club used to do.

Valencia Sailing: Let's consider again the letter of Jerome Pels. He states that "multihulls" and "keel boats" are indeed incompatible but limits that to the Olympic classes. What we have here is the America's Cup, not the Olympics. Mr Pels doesn't explicitly say that these two terms are contradictory in the America's Cup. In my view he leaves a window wide open.
Grant Simmer: It's fundamental that when you challenge you describe your vessel and nobody, nobody, describes a multihull as a keel yacht. Why say it's a keel yacht when you meant to say it's a multihull, unless you want to be deceptive, you want to deceive the Defender on the details of the boat? Why do you say that your multihull is a keel boat? What's the point of it?

Valencia Sailing: It could be a multihull with a keel or keels.
Grant Simmer: A keel yacht is a descriptive term. I'll give you an example. I'm going yacht racing and I have a TP52. I say it's motor yacht, my TP52 is a motor boat. Would you describe a TP52 as a motor boat? It has a motor, so it's a motor boat. If you want to enter your TP52 in a regatta, would you ever say, "I'm entering a motor boat"?

Valencia Sailing: The TP52 class is an established one with a well established rule.
Grant Simmer: OK, I'm going in the Sydney Hobart race where you have a whole range of yachts and I pretend I'm entering the race in a motor boat. According to GGYC's logic I am, because I have a boat that has a motor in it. So, tell me what the difference is. If our interpretation is correct, on why you have to describe your vessel when you put a certificate of vessel, then they haven't described it, they are purposely trying to be misleading.

Let me tell you something that started their problems. Once SNG tries to measure the vessel, to see whether it complies with the certificate they are going to have some difficult issues, particularly measuring waterline beam.

Valencia Sailing: Why?
Grant Simmer: If you look at the regulations in regard to multihull yachts, the normal description is the beam of the hull.

Valencia Sailing: Do you feel confident now after the hearing?
Grant Simmer: It's a legal process, it will be ongoing, for sure. That's the unfortunate situation we are in.

Valencia Sailing: Why didn't you bring up that issue earlier? GGYC claims you had no doubts about the nature of the yacht.
Grant Simmer: Right now, we have written them a letter saying we can't accept their challenge because we have a valid challenger which is the CNEV and until we get a court order telling us not to accept the CNEV challenge we don't have to accept their challenge. At the moment, we still legally have a current challenger.

Valencia Sailing: You are right, but it's a matter of days before the CNEV is declared an invalid challenger. You will then have to accept their challenge.
Grant Simmer: You are assuming the judge is going to make that order.

Valencia Sailing: I assume it based on his decision last November, I am not making any wild speculation! Assuming his order is not different from his decision, on that particular issue, CNEV has a handful of days left as a valid challenger. You will then have to accept GGYC's challenge.
Grant Simmer: He might also order that their challenge is invalid as well. One outcome is that he might provide a court order saying that CNEV is not a valid Challenger of Record because of the timing of their annual regatta and GGYC is not the Challenger of Record either because their challenge documents are invalid. That would be a good ruling for us.

Valencia Sailing: What will happen in that case? Will Team Origin be the Challenger of Record?
Grant Simmer: It could be. There is a couple of options. We will then go ahead with a multiple-challenger America's Cup in 2011, on AC90's here in Valencia. Same thing to what the 32nd America's Cup was, with the new rules we created last year.

Valencia Sailing: What will happen if Justice Cahn orders that the CNEV is not a valid challenger but that the GGYC is a valid one?
Grant Simmer: We said last night that we would appeal that decision.

Valencia Sailing: Isn't this stalling tactics from your side just to gain more time?
Grant Simmer: Not really because the best outcome for us is to get on with a challenger that shares the same vision with us about what the next America's Cup should be. We will then go ahead and run a regatta, better than what the 32nd America's Cup was. I don't think it's in the interest of the America's Cup to watch two teams race massive multihulls. I mean it might be interesting technically and visually but the racing wouldn't be very exciting. I don't think there is a lot of people thinking this is a good solution for the America's Cup.

Valencia Sailing: In the meantime, are you going ahead with training onboard the two Extreme 40 catamarans?
Grant Simmer: Obviously, we have to prepare for that. We have to prepare ourselves for a multihull challenge. This is why we bought the Extreme 40's. This also why the design team has stopped working on the AC90 and started working on multihulls.

Valencia Sailing: You just stated that in the best interest of the America's Cup the ideal solution would be a regatta very similar to the 32nd edition here in Valencia, with the new rules you wrote last year. Why didn't you then settle with BMW Oracle early last November when they had dropped most of their initial demands and agreed to the Protocol with slight changes?
Grant Simmer: You have to look a little bit more at the history. Originally they said, "change the Protocol and we'll enter". We changed the Protocol but they didn't enter. Then they said, "change the boat and we'll enter". We changed a fundamental feature of the boat and they didn't enter. Next thing, "change the format of racing and we'll enter". We kept clarifying the solution.

Now they have 3 issues still pending. The first one is to hold the race in 2009 and not 2011. They are the only team that kept designing AC90's, they are the only team that is tank testing, they are the only team with enough money to keep going with all this uncertainty.

The second issue is two-boat testing, they want two-boat testing, and the last one is the format of racing. These are fundamental issues!

Take 2009 versus 2011. We need to raise sponsorship, the event needs to raise sponsorship, so does every other team that wants to compete. At the moment all the other teams are basically stopped because of their legal action. They are the only team that kept going, they are the only team with 40 cars parked in front of the base every day.

The next issue is two-boat testing. Why do they want that? Because it's bloody expensive and that is the way you can develop these boats, particularly a new class. So if you have the most money, you want two-boat testing for sure.

Finally, they don't want us to compete with the other challengers in the elimination series, which was fundamental to the documents we presented last summer.

Valencia Sailing: Obviously, but if you allow two-boat testing then there is no need for you to race with the challengers.
Grant Simmer: We offered all the other challengers that. We would have two-boat testing without competing in the series. Either you allow Alinghi two-boat testing and the challengers race themselves or you prohibit two-boat testing but you allow us to race through the semifinals. What you can't do is prohibit two-boat testing and keep us out of the elimination series. I'm sure BMW Oracle would want that because it would make us completely uncompetitive. The first time we would have raced an AC90 boat would be in the America's Cup match itself! It's ridiculous.

Valencia Sailing: If you could miraculously turn back the clock, is there anything you would have done differently since last June?
Grant Simmer: I think we didn't sell the protocol properly. That was seen badly and was addressed with the changes in the protocol we made in September. The CNEV had stated they would only act in the majority interest of the challengers. When we were in the meetings, Jonh Cutler (technical director of Desafío Español) would only act in the majority of challengers. They weren't trying to screw the rest of challengers, they were working in the interest of everybody else.

Valencia Sailing: If after all the legal process is through and you finally have to accept a multihull challenge from BMW Oracle when would you rather have the race?
Grant Simmer: Certainly 2009 is the best option for us. We don't want to race next October but they do since they are a long way ahead. You don't design and build one of these big boats in an instant. It's a long process. We believe they are quite well progressed with the construction of the boat which has a keel. We think they are somewhere along the line with construction or they have already built the molds. You have to ask them.

Definitely, they are ahead of us because they started last July. We were in contact with Marc Van Peteghem in July when he told us he was working for another team. There's only one other team! So, he had to be working for them which he was. We only started working on the design of the multihull in the middle of December. Up until the judgment we were pretty much convinced we were going to win the court case.

Valencia Sailing: So a race in October 2008 is your worst case scenario.
Grant Simmer: No, a race in July 2008 is even worse! The positive side is that the boats are exciting but as I said it's in nobody's interest to have an America's Cup with two teams. That's why if they are found to be invalid we can move forward and run an event in 2011. In that case they would probably appeal but the appeal could go in the background and I don't think their case would be very strong.

Alinghi submits further evidence to support its claim GGYC challenge is invalid

PDF Documents
- Affirmation of SNG attorney Barry Ostrager

- Submissions and affidavits from Nigel Irens (designer and fellow of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects), Göran Marström (founder of Marström, the company that builds the ISAF Tornado Class catamaran), Nicolas Grange (president of the Swiss Multi-hull Association), John Risley (Director and Trustee of Team NZ in 2003) as well as Jochen Schuemann

[Source: Alinghi] (New York, Monday 28 January) Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), the 33rd America’s Cup defending yacht club, submitted further evidence to the New York Supreme Court today in support of a court order declaring the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) challenge invalid.

This submission, which Justice Cahn invited on the 23 January, demonstrates through expert testimony that a “keel yacht” cannot be categorised as a multi-hull, as implied in the ambiguous and contradictory GGYC challenge certificate.

The challenge certificate is a critical document required under the Deed of Gift that provides the Defender with an accurate description of the challenging vessel, while allowing at least 10 months to design and build the defending yacht.

In its certificate, the GGYC describes its challenging vessel as a “keel yacht”, a term used in the sailing world to distinguish from multi-hulls, however the GGYC are saying that they propose to challenge in a multi-hull. Under the Deed of Gift, GGYC must race in the vessel described in its certificate. Any ambiguity or confusion means non-compliance with the Deed of Gift and therefore renders the certificate and challenge invalid.

“The level of scrutiny being applied to the GGYC certificate must be equal to the level applied to the requirements of a yacht club to become Challenger of Record as per the Deed of Gift,” says Lucien Masmejan, lead counsel for SNG. He adds: “It was the GGYC’s decision to bring and to keep this matter in court thus obliging the SNG, as trustee, to defend the integrity of the America’s Cup through all available means.”

Looking ahead to the 33rd America’s Cup, SNG and Alinghi maintain their long standing goal of holding a multi-challenge event in 2011 in Valencia along with the 12 other entered challengers who subscribe to the rules and regulations presented in November 2007.

Barcelona World Race: Close battle for third place

[Source: Barcelona World Race] The fight to get on the podium in Barcelona is intensifying as Mutua Madrileña has taken more miles out of Temenos II over the past 24 hours. At one stage overnight, the delta was down to just 20 miles, before Temenos II stretched away again.

This afternoon, just 44 miles separate the two boats after 79 days of racing. That’s close enough that just one small mistake in the variable South Atlantic weather could be the difference maker. Although they’ve left the Southern Ocean, the pressure hasn’t eased at all for these two competitors.

“We haven’t been able to relax at all,” said Michèle Paret this afternoon. “It’s been very stormy weather, very difficult for the past 24 hours. We’re manoeuvring all the time and really getting quite tired of this pace. I can’t wait to get out of here.”

Pressure is coming from behind where Mutua Madrileña is ensuring there is no time to relax: “Last night we caught up a lot to Temenos II and we woke up with them ahead by just 36 miles,” explained Javier Sansó. “They went a bit more westerly and it was a very good strategic move and now they are sailing to windward of us. He gained a bit this morning because we are going through a lot of squalls. The forecasts aren't very accurate in here but overnight we should have the wind going east and increasing to 8 to 12 knots and that should take us up to the doldrums. By this time tomorrow we should be on starboard tacking making nice progress north at 10 knots - I hope!”

The battle at the head of the fleet is much closer as well, with Hugo Boss having gained over 300 miles since Friday afternoon. The black boat is now less than 550 miles behind race leading Paprec-Virbac 2. But with the doldrums looming ahead, Hugo Boss isn’t expecting to keep up this recent pace of impressive gains.

“We'll slow up tomorrow or the next day when we hit the doldrums but I think it will still compress a bit,” Andrew Cape said today. “We've both been pretty slow and it's complex for both of us so we'll see. I think it'll get better but probably not enough.”

Complex weather is exactly what Paprec-Virbac 2 is facing. Skipper Jean-Pierre Dick said he and co-skipper Damian Foxall are still uncertain about their next move: “The situation is not easy and there are still a lot of miles to gain or lose.”

Educación sin Fronteras continues its steady pace at the back of the fleet. The fifth place boat is averaging about 10 knots, while steadily posting 240 mile days in the South Atlantic.

Day 79 – January 28, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 2660 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 546
3. TEMENOS 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 1638
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 1682
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 2931

Abandoned - VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS
Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / JONATHAN MCKEE
Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET
Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE

What is this?

Here's a short quiz for the weekend. What racing yacht is the one appearing in the photo?

Barcelona World Race: Paprec-Virbac keeps leaping ahead

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Paprec-Virbac 2's great "Trade Winds escape" continues, and the Franco-Irish duet has gained a whopping 169 miles over the past 24 hours. The situation is still tactically uncomplicated for Hugo Boss, but despite the "lovely conditions" described by Alex today, things could be a bit better as speeds stay in the lower range, while things remain unsettling on the rudder front. During the night, Temenos II made a move to the west and has reduced the lateral gap with Mutua Madrileña, but as predicted Dominique and Michèle dramatically slowed down today. The two boats fighting for third place now have to face a very unclear weather situation.

"It's always very tiring to be struggling to make progress in light airs", said Michèle Paret today, "we have to constantly trim the sails, and the fact that it's now very hot doesn't exactly help either." Obviously, the situation has radically changed for Temenos II, who yesterday was still storming along under spinnaker - but things nevertheless don't look too bad. "We followed the wind last night, and we ended up this morning north of Mutua Madrileña, which is good but not intentional, since we don't have any position reports at night, we were not trying to control them. Logically, we should be the first to come out of that high pressure zone, but the weather files are notably unreliable these days, the situation is very complicated", said Michele, echoing what Javier Bubi Sanso had previously explained.

"I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure out how it all will evolve", said the Spanish skipper, who commented on yesterday's tactical move: "We gybed to get away from the hole, it went really well and we gained more miles on Temenos II". The battle is as exciting as ever between the two crews, but today Michèle sounded very confident and positive about the outcome - it's a matter of finding a little passage to get out in first position, and Mutua Madrileña is bound to slow down in the next hours anyway... Steel nerves and tactical lucidity will be the key factors during the next 24 to 48 hours for the crews, as gaining just half a knot of boat speed proves at the same time crucial and extremely demanding when the wind does not exceed 6 to 7 knots.

Surely Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape can relate to that, as Hugo Boss is still slogging along at 7,5 knots while Paprec-Virbac 2 is roughly twice as fast. The "Men in Black", as Jean-Pierre Dick calls them, lose around 15 miles every two hours, and there simply isn't anything they can do about it. "It's a straight line job, we're at the top of the high and it's very simple", said Alex who could have added "and very frustrating". As mentioned yesterday, Hugo Boss still experiences rudder problems which do not seem to be easily fixed on board. "We repaired it again", explained the skipper, before admitting that things did not really improve - the crew faces a big challenge, considering a substantial part of the port rudder blade is missing.

In quotes, Michèle Paret, Temenos II
"I miss the south already because the life is more flat here, it is less emotional in the south all your emotions are close to the surface and everything is so exciting, more stressful it is very different. Now it is a lot less exciting, the further north I go the more I miss the south. Simply an intensity of life that you have down there and not comparable to anything else, and the more I will go to the north the 'flatter' life will get. And the south is another planet, you are far from everything – your emotions, life in general is totally different in a totally different world- and it is a lifestyle I like."

Albert Bargués, Educacion Sin Fronteras
"The only way to get to do things is based on hard work, putting in effort is what produces results in everything and not just sailing. You can be good at what you do but you have to be constant and stubborn to carry something through. It is the work of every day that pays off."

America's Cup: NY court case "factbox" 23 January 2008

For the convenience of our readers we publish today a brief "factbox" with the documents that were presented during or before yesterday's hearing in the New York Supreme Court before Justice Cahn. All these documents concern Alinghi's motion against Justic Cahn's decision, on the grounds that the certificate of the challenging boat presented by GGYC is not valid. According to Alinghi, in brief, BMW Oracle states it will challenge with a keel yacht but its dimensions correspond to a multihull. Always according to Alinghi, a keel yacht and multihull are two incompatible notions.

We first present Alinghi's documents, since they presented the motion that puts in question the validity of GGYC's challenge. Valencia Sailing makes no claim whatsoever that the list is exhaustive nor does it endorse any of these documents.

Alinghi
The Defender, in addition to the normally expected affirmations and counter arguments to GGYC's documents or claims, presented a letter from Jerome Pels, secretary general of the ISAF. In his letter, Pels gave his interpretation of the definition of keel yachts and multihulls. According to Alinghi, "SNG’s submissions will be supported by the interpretation from the International Sailing Federation which was presented to the court".

PDF Documents
- ISAF Letter
- Affirmation of SNG lawyer Jonathan K. Youngwood
- Letter to Justice Cahn, dated 18 January 2008
- Letter to Justice Cahn, dated 22 January 2008

BMW Oracle
In our opinion, the most important document the Americans presented was the affirmation of their lawyer Gina Petrocelli. In that very long document (104 pages!!!), Petrocelli argues against Alinghi's claims and presents a long list of exhibits to corroborate her arguments. In our view, the most interesting part are the 12 photos of various multihull yachts with keels (as Petrocelli claims). Since these photos were taken off various websites then printed and scanned they are of extremely bad quality in the PDF document. As a result, we reproduce the entire list of all 12 links to the original photos.

PDF Documents
- Letter to Justice Cahn, dated 22 January 2008
- Affirmation of GGYC lawyer Gina Petrocelli

Photos of multihull yachts with keels
- Photo of multihull yacht 01
- Photo of multihull yacht 02
- Photo of multihull yacht 03
- Photo of multihull yacht 04
- Photo of multihull yacht 05
- Photo of multihull yacht 06
- Photo of multihull yacht 07
- Photo of multihull yacht 08
- Photo of multihull yacht 09
- Photo of multihull yacht 10
- Photo of multihull yacht 11
- Photo of multihull yacht 12

Update from Alinghi: Judge Cahn considers SNG’s arguments on invalidity of GGYC challenge

PDF Documents

- ISAF Letter

[Source: Alinghi] (New York, 23 January 2008) New York State Supreme Court Justice Herman Cahn heard arguments today over whether the Golden Gate Yacht Club has put forth a valid Deed of Gift challenge for the 33rd America’s Cup to its current holder, the Société Nautique de Genève and its team Alinghi.

“We were glad to make our points and found the Court receptive to our arguments,” said Lucien Masmejan, lead counsel for the SNG. “We look forward to a court order properly addressing the issue of the validity of the GGYC challenge.”

Justice Cahn allowed the SNG to further examine arguments put by the GGYC and invited SNG to present additional submissions on Monday on these issues, including on the definition of a keelyacht versus a multihull. SNG’s submissions will be supported by the interpretation from the International Sailing Federation which was presented to the court (in attachment).

A result in SNG’s favour would put the 33rd America’s Cup back on track with a multi-challenge event in 2011 in Valencia, Spain. As Defender of the America’s Cup, the Deed of Gift gives Alinghi and SNG, as trustee, the serious responsibility of preserving the integrity of this world class sporting event.

GGYC Confident Court Order Will Maintain Nov. 27 Ruling

[Source: Golden Gate Yacht Club] New York, NY -- January 23, 2008: Justice Herman Cahn of the New York State Supreme Court today held oral argument on SNG/Alinghi’s plea to rethink his decision of November 27, 2007 in which he declared Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) the valid challenger pursuant to the America’s Cup Deed of Gift. GGYC argued that Justice Cahn’s decision was correct in all respects and there is no basis for the court to reconsider it.

“We remain confident that the court will maintain its earlier decision despite SNG/Alinghi’s apparent procedural attempts to delay,” Tom Ehman, GGYC’s spokesman said. “We expect that Justice Cahn will soon issue an order setting October 2008 as the dates for our match, and we look forward to getting the Cup back on the water.”

Alinghi makes its case

[Source: Alinghi] America’s Cup holder, Alinghi, presents arguments on invalidity of GGYC challenge.

(New York, 23 January 2008) New York State Supreme Court Justice Herman Cahn heard arguments today over whether the Golden Gate Yacht Club has put forth a valid Deed of Gift challenge for the 33rd America’s Cup to its current holder, Alinghi of the Société Nautique de Genève.

“We were glad to make our points and found the Court receptive to our arguments,” said Lucien Masmejan, lead counsel for the SNG. “We look forward to a court order properly addressing the issue of the validity of the GGYC challenge.”

In a letter submitted to the court, the International Sailing Federation confirmed that a keelyacht cannot be a multihull, supporting SNG’s consistent position that the GGYC challenge is invalid.

A result in SNG’s favour would put the 33rd America’s Cup back on track with a multi-challenge event in 2011 in Valencia, Spain. As Defender of the America’s Cup, the Deed of Gift gives Alinghi and SNG, as trustee, the serious responsibility of preserving the integrity of this world class sporting event

Barcelona World Race: Paprec-Virbac 2 escapes towards the North

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Conditions are getting better on the comfort front for the majority of the fleet, yet from a strategic perspective more difficulties lie ahead. It seems today that only race leader Paprec-Virbac 2 can actually look forward to tomorrow: having picked up some steady wind, Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall are leaving Hugo Boss behind, the Anglo-Australian duet fighting upwind in light airs. Further back, Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña are still neck and neck, coping with decreasing winds and having to work their way around the high pressure system on their path...

After having these past two days been caught up in storms and squalls, Jean-Pierre Dick seemed relieved to have found a more stable breeze when we spoke to him today during the video conference. "The Trades are steadier and stronger now, we're reaching in 15 to 20 knots of breeze. The sea is very blue, it's getting warmer and the conditions are great… it's like tropical sailing!", said Paprec-Virbac 2's skipper, enjoying the sight of his boat's speedometer while knowing that further back, his rivals aboard Hugo Boss were significantly slower. "They're going through what we experienced ourselves, and going upwind on the kind of boats we sail is really painful. We're going to extend our lead, but the Doldrums lie ahead, so we'd better gain as many miles a we can while we can, because Hugo Boss will come back strong at some point."

Meanwhile, if Jean-Pierre and Damian are already working hard on their weather tactics for the feared Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape try to fight their way out of a tricky area… While at the same time having to cope with yet more rudder problems, which might explain Alex's lack of enthusiasm during today's call. "We discovered our rudder is broken again today we have had to try and sort it out again, it has cost us some miles whilst we were trying to fix it. We thought the last repairs would last but they havent, we hope it will last now but are not overly hopeful at this stage", said Alex.

Hugo Boss suffer from rudder problems once again. Southern Atlantic Ocean, 23 January 2008. Photo copyright Hugo Boss

A tired Dominique Wavre answered the phone today aboard Temenos II, and explained that both him and Michèle were sensing the effects of sleep deprivation, having had to hand steer under spinnaker for the past three to four days. "We take turns on deck, two hours on, two hours off, and manage to grab an hour of sleep here and there… The fact that the wind is dropping ahead of us isn't particularly comforting, because sailing upwind in light airs is also very tiring and requires a lot of concentration." Still only 60 miles ahead of Mutua Madrileña, Temenos II must feel the pressure even though Javier Sanso explained today that they wouldn't really be able to gain more miles: "We're in the same system, Dominique and Michèle are very good and the boat is quicker (...) yet it's very interesting and a lot quicker when you have someone to race with", explained the ever-cheerful Bubi, letting on that himself and Pachi were getting a lot of sleep, the boat being stable under autopilot. This contrasts with Temenos II's situation, and could be - to a certain extent - explained by the fact that psychologically it is much more comfortable to be the one putting the pressure on that to be the one having to deal with it... But different wave directions probably enter the equation.

Finally, young Servane Escoffier aboard Educacion Sin Fronteras gave us an account of her first Cape Horn passage, which sounded absolutely delightful: "It was a great, great moment, very emotional. The black silhouette of the cape appeared beneath the heavy sky, the wind was blowing at 25 to 30 knots, the sun came out and started to make the top of the waves shine... It was simply magical (...) I wanted to thank everyone supporting and sharing our adventure, you're helping me get through this journey."

TEAMORIGIN and the Royal Thames propose a “third way”

PDF Documents

- Notice of Challenge

[Source: Team Origin] On 9th January this year TEAMORIGIN, with the Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC), lodged a Deed of Gift (DOG) Challenge with the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG). It called for a Match in 2011 in Valencia to be sailed in AC90 yachts and it outlined their willingness to consider a mutual consent match with a protocol along similar lines to the one signed in July last year.

The RTYC’s most recent challenge was lodged in anticipation of a potential vacuum occurring should the currently disputed Golden Gate Yacht Club’s (GGYC) DOG Challenge be found lacking by the New York Supreme Court’s Judge Cahn. SNG’s motion to reargue and renew points about the validity of GGYC’s DOG Challenge, part of the legal dispute that has dogged the America’s Cup since July 2007, was due to be heard on 14th January of this year, along with argument on settling the order arising from the judgment of 27th November. On 14th January however Judge Cahn further postponed the hearing to Wednesday 23rd January.

Accompanying the RTYC’s DOG Challenge documents was a covering letter from TEAMORIGIN to Ernesto Bertarelli, syndicate head of Alinghi and Pierre-Yves Firmenich, President of the SNG, signed by Sir Keith Mills, TEAMORIGIN Principal. In it he wrote:

“…we envisage discussing with you and hopefully agreeing alternative arrangements by mutual consent as contemplated in the Deed of Gift. Our intention would be to agree a Protocol and associated documents along similar lines to the ones negotiated with Challengers between July and November 2007.”

“We are in favour of your original philosophy for the 33rd America’s Cup, the pillars of which came through clearly in the July 2007 Protocol, namely a mutual consent regatta, based in Valencia, with pre-regattas and sensible cost containment…”.

The delay in Judge Cahn’s deliberations last week has opened up a second potential benefit from the RTYC’s new challenge. It could now also help secure a new trial protocol with the Swiss Defender that is sufficiently satisfactory to the GGYC for the American club to be sufficiently comfortable to drop its challenge, making way for the RTYC to become the Challenger of Record. This should result in the avoidance of the inevitable appeals threatened by both sides should they lose in the current litigation. It should also negate the need for a DOG Match some time this year or next, with the serious complications that the potential of such an event is starting to bring to light.

By following the lead proposed by TEAMORIGIN and the RTYC the GGYC and the SNG have a real opportunity to reach a successful conclusion to the current situation, stop building yachts for a DOG Match, avoid further litigation and allow stability to return to the world of the America’s Cup - something that would benefit all prospective challengers and the sport as a whole.

To ignore this opportunity would result in further untold damage and could lead to a potentially hollow victory, completely debasing the value of the America’s Cup as the pinnacle of the sport of sailing and stunting its ability to further develop in the future.

“We believe that a real window of opportunity exists to end this situation positively and quickly. And so we call on the GGYC and the SNG to take this new opportunity seriously and work with us on a new protocol for an America’s Cup in 2011 in the exciting new AC90 class,” concluded Sir Keith.

Barcelona World Race: Battling in the Atlantic

[Source: Barcelona World Race] There is a pair of battles taking place in the Barcelona World Race as the fleet moves into the South Atlantic. Currently, just Educación sin Fronteras remains in the Southern Ocean. On Sunday afternoon skippers Albert Bargués and Servane Escoffier were roaring towards the Cape at 15 knots, knocking off another 350-mile day. With the Cape less than 700 miles away, Educación sin Fronteras should join the others in the Atlantic Ocean by early Tuesday (GMT) at the latest.

The battle at the front is being fought in a give and take manner, with one and then other of the first two boats racking up a daily advantage. On Saturday, it was Paprec-Virbac 2 who was regaining some of their lead. But over the past 24 hours, despite less than ideal conditions, Hugo Boss has made up 68 miles.

“It’s a bit bumpy for us right now. We had up to about 37 knots of wind last night and now we're sailing on the other gybe in a leftover sea,” said Alex Thomson. “We're trying to keep the boat fairly slow as leaping over waves isn't very pleasant.

“We just want to get to the other side of this front and start sailing upwind in more favourable conditions,” he said. “A day or two ago we sat down and said we should do whatever we can to get through this front, no matter what the routing says, but we can't do it, so we just carry on doing what we can.”

Temenos II is doing its best to hold off Mutua Madrileña and for most of the day, Dominique Wavre’s Temenos has been the faster boat, but nonetheless, Mutua Madrileña can claim another gain of nine miles for the day. Now, the gap is just 91 miles.

“Today (Sunday) is sunny, but still cold as we’re still below 50-degrees south latitude,” said Dominique Wavre this afternoon. “The albatross are still with us but we can feel that things are getting better and better.”

Day 71 – January 20, 16:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 4354 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 546
3. TEMENOS 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2061
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 2152
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3178

Abandoned - VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS
Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / JONATHAN MCKEE
Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET
Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE

Alinghi sails Extreme 40s in Valencia

[Source: Alinghi] Alinghi took the two Extreme 40 catamarans out for a shake down sail this morning in Valencia.

These light-weight, carbon fibre multi-hulled weapons were designed by Yves Loday, Herbert Dercksen and Mitch Booth with one thing in mind: speed.

Taking turns for the ride were Alinghi designers and sailors: Pierre-Yves Jorand, Luc Dubois, Dirk Kramers, Kirst Feddersen, Mike Schreiber, Kurt Jordan, Aaron Perry, Murray Jones and Pieter van Nieuwenhuyzen.

Don't forget to check the very nice video footage from today's first sail, on the Alinghi website

Alinghi sails the Extreme 40 catamarans for the first time. Valencia, 17 January 2008. Photo copyright Ivo Rovira / Alinghi

Alinghi sails the Extreme 40 catamarans for the first time. Valencia, 17 January 2008. Photo copyright Ivo Rovira / Alinghi

Alinghi sails the Extreme 40 catamarans for the first time. Valencia, 17 January 2008. Photo copyright Ivo Rovira / Alinghi

Alinghi sails the Extreme 40 catamarans for the first time. Valencia, 17 January 2008. Photo copyright Ivo Rovira / Alinghi

Tricky conditions in the South Atlantic

[Source: Barcelona World Race] The South Atlantic isn’t giving anything away to the two boats leading the Barcelona World Race fleet as they race towards the finishing line off Barcelona. Overnight, race leading Paprec-Virbac 2 nearly held its own and then this morning, it was able to grab back some miles from the chasing boat, Hugo Boss. But the tide has turned again and this afternoon Hugo Boss was the faster boat in pursuit.

The overall effect of this has been something close to a stalemate, with Hugo Boss able to grab just 13 miles over the last 24 hours. Unfortunately for the guys on Hugo Boss, at this stage of the journey around the world, they need to grab bigger chunks if they hope to overtake Paprec-Virbac 2 before the finishing line.

“We had a busy day yesterday, with pretty strong winds, averaging 30 knots, but gusting up to 50,” Hugo Boss co-skipper Andrew Cape said. “It’s going to be a bit slower going for us for the next 48 hours. Over five to six days, we hope we can cut their lead a bit more, but we’re in vastly different situations. Paprec-Virbac 2, I think, is ahead of the front that just passed us. If she manages to stay in front of that, she’ll have regular wind. We have a bunch of (weather) obstacles in our way, so we’ll just have to hope the situation plays out the way we hope.”

The contest behind is also getting closer as Mutua Madrileña has pulled within 200 miles of Temenos II, with both boats streaking towards Cape Horn in great sailing conditions. The pair are making good about 300 miles per day, with Temenos II expected to pass Cape Horn, now 436 miles away, overnight on Friday night / Saturday morning.

“We have 20 knots and it is going to shift to be downwind from tonight to about 15 knots. I think Temenos II will probably take some miles off us,” said Javier Sanso today from Mutua Madrileña. “From tomorrow morning there should be a good Northwesterly kicking in that will take us through to Cape Horn at about 15-16 knots, and then going up to the Falklands looks like being quite fast. We can’t complain! We will soon be up into a warmer area again.”

There is a bit further to go for Educación sin Fronteras who are still some 1600 miles from the famed Cape. But Servane Escoffier and Albert Bargués have had a good day, making nearly 300 miles in the past 24 hours. Albert is projecting they will be at Cape Horn within a week.

Although it is very difficult to project a finish date this far in advance, it appears as if the leading boat will be pulling in to Barcelona around the 8th of February, plus or minus a couple of days.

Day 68 – January 17, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 4994 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 581
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2332
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 2521
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3466

Abandoned - VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS
Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / Jonathan MCKEE
Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET
Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE

In Quotes – Andrew Cape, Hugo Boss, describes the decision making process on board: “We both review the information that we get and we have to get a consensus. You can’t just dominate the tactics; we have to agree on what to do. You never want a situation where you end up saying ‘I told you so’, or something like that. But for us, it’s all working out fine, no problems at all.”

Alinghi's two training catamarans have been launched

Alinghi's two training Extreme 40 catamarans were launched today at 11am. To the best of our knowledge the white yacht (former "Basilica") was simply put on the water while the black one was taken out for her first test sail.

The two yachts will be rebranded with the Alinghi logos and training will start as soon as possible. Our apologies, but we don't have any pictures from today's launch.

Alinghi's training catamarans are getting ready

Update 5pm Valencia time: We have contacted Alinghi, concerning the information on the alleged construction of their new yacht, and the official reply is "No comment".

Two days have passed since their arrival in Valencia and Alinghi's two training Extreme 40 catamarans are getting ready to be launched. On Wednesday morning we spotted 4 men in the former China Team base. One, wearing an Alinghi uniform, was working on the hull of the black catamaran while the other three were preparing the sails of the yachts.

As far as the yacht to be used in the 33rd America's Cup match against BMW Oracle is concerned, we have unconfirmed (REPEAT, UNCONFIRMED) information that Alinghi has already started its construction (most probably at the Décision boatyard in Switzerland). The expected time of construction is 12 weeks, always according to this unconfirmed information.

One of Alinghi's two training Extreme 40 catamarans. Valencia, 16 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi's shore crew working on the two training Extreme 40 catamarans. Valencia, 16 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi's shore crew working on the two training Extreme 40 catamarans. Valencia, 16 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

One of Alinghi's two training Extreme 40 catamarans, the former "Basilica". Valencia, 16 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Barcelona World Race: Hugo Boss tears into Paprec-Vibac 2

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Hugo Boss has put on a remarkable performance over the last 24 hours, taking advantage of difficult conditions that are slowing the race leader Paprec-Virbac 2. Over the past day, second-place Hugo Boss has taken a full 179 miles out of the 800 mile lead Paprec-Virbac had painstakingly built over the first two months of the race.

“We had a great night with really favorable conditions, perfect for the boat, and up over 20 knots for quite a while. I think we averaged 18 knots for the night,” Hugo Boss co-skipper Andrew Cape told us. “It helps a lot when you’re going 120 miles in one night, that’s for sure.”

There doesn’t appear to be anything Paprec_Virbac 2 skipper Jean-Pierre Dick can do about the situation as the enormous Saint Helena high pressure system is much further west than one would normally expect and it is acting like a roadblock in front of the race leader.

“It’s very unfortunate but we are in different conditions than Hugo Boss. We are sailing upwind and tacking while they have been in strong downwind conditions which is bringing them up fast to us,” acknowledged Jean-Pierre. “We have the conditions we have and we are trying to do the best we can, but that is the nature of offshore sailing.”

While they’ve made a remarkable gain over the past 36 hours or so, it won’t be entirely smooth sailing for the chasing Hugo Boss in the coming days, as Andrew Cape says the forecast is for a deep low pressure to engulf them over the next day or so, which could bring winds as high as 50 knots.

“We’ve got a big issue with a depression coming off the coast of Argentina, so we’re probably looking at 50 knots at some point tomorrow. A bit nasty, but all in all we should make good progress all the way to the Brazilian coast so we’re hoping over the next couple of days to still close it up further,” Capey said.

While the chasing boat has the advantage at the front of the fleet, it’s the opposite situation in the Southern Ocean where Temenos II watched Mutua Madrileña pull to within 100 miles at one point a few days ago, before the Swiss boat began to stretch away again. Over the past 24 hours, Temenos II has added 97 miles and now leads the battle for third place by nearly 300 miles as the pair approach Cape Horn, now just over three days of sailing away.

Both boats are sailing in big Southern Ocean conditions, with Temenos II skipper Dominique Wavre reporting winds of up to 45 knots overnight; Mutua Madrileña’s Javier ‘Bubi’ Sansó had similar conditions, along with a problem with the mainsail to deal with yesterday when they found and repaired a tear in the sail. The repair to hours to effect – see quote below – and slowed the team down for several hours.

Trailing the fleet, Educación sin Fronteras continues its cautious approach to this second phase of the Southern Ocean. Skippers Albert Bargués and Servane Escoffier are sailing a full five-degrees of latitude to the north of the boats they are chasing, as they ensure they avoid the ice zone along with the potentially devastating winds of the Furious Fifties. As a consequence, they made good 211 miles yesterday.

Day 66 – January 15, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 5465 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 614
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2426
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 2716
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3560

Abandoned - VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS
Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / Jonathan MCKEE
Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET
Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE

Alinghi: Justice Cahn to examine validity of GGYC challenge for 33rd America’s Cup

[Source: Alinghi] (New York, January 14, 2007) Today Justice Cahn decided against issuing a settlement order until after he has examined the arguments raised by Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) with regard to the validity of the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) challenge. He scheduled a further hearing for the 23rd January.

Counsel for Société Nautique de Genève, Lucien Masmejan, commented on the days proceedings: “We are very pleased with the result of today’s court hearing. Justice Cahn has acknowledged that our arguments with regard to the invalidity of the GGYC certificate need to be examined in full and have substance. We believe that the further proceedings contemplated by Justice Cahn will bring clarity to the validity of the GGYC challenge.”

GGYC is "pleased" with today's hearing and expects court order "soon"

[Source: Golden Gate Yacht Club] New York, NY -- January 14, 2008: The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) said today it is pleased the court order giving effect to the November 27 decision in its favor is expected to be made soon.

Justice Herman Cahn of the New York State Supreme Court today heard further arguments on the order and scheduled a hearing for January 23. GGYC expects the Court will sign the order either then or shortly afterwards.

“We were very pleased with today,” Tom Ehman, the club’s spokesman said. “Justice Cahn clearly has a thorough understanding of the issues. We are confident the Court’s decision of November 27 will be enforced in the order leading to a Deed of Gift regatta in October, 2008.”

Breaking news: Alinghi's two training catamarans just arrived in Valencia

Alinghi's two training catamarans arrived in Valencia at around 4pm, on Monday, January 14. They have been deposited in the former China Team base.

According to our information, since China Team was the only syndicate from the 32nd America's Cup to have moved out, the base was available and the defender rented it. This makes sense because access to the Alinghi base has been disrupted due to the ongoing works for the Formula 1 race track.

The two Extreme 40 catamarans will be fitted out in that base, according to very reliable but unofficial sources.

Last but not least, a funny incident took place during the arrival of the two yachts. There were 4-5 men wearing Alinghi t-shirts but at the sight of the cameras they took them off!!!

Alinghi's two training catamarans just arrived in Valencia. They will be fitted out in the former China Team base. Valencia, 14 January 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi's two training catamarans just arrived in Valencia. They will be fitted out in the former China Team base. Valencia, 14 January 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi's two training catamarans just arrived in Valencia. They will be fitted out in the former China Team base. Valencia, 14 January 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi's two training catamarans just arrived in Valencia. They will be fitted out in the former China Team base. Valencia, 14 January 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The mast and gear of the former "Basilica", lying on the new Alinghi "catamaran base". Valencia, 14 January 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The new Ericsson VO70 boat is in Lanzarote

Ericsson 3, the brand new VO70 boat of Ericsson Racing Team, arrived in Lanzarote, the Swedish team's Spanish training base, last week and is now being fitted out in order for the team to start is two-boat training campaign. While Ericsson 3 is getting ready to be launched, the Nordic crew of the team is training on Ericsson 2.

The two Ericsson VO70 boats in Lanzarote. On the left, the brand new and freshly-arrived Ericsson 3 and on the right, Ericsson 2, the boat used by the Nordic crew of the team. Lanzarote, 13 January 2008

Tom Schnackenberg's barge and Monday's hearing in the NY Supreme Court

First of all, I would like to express my apologies for the short break in news coverage but I had to attend some business unrelated to sailing.

During the last couple of days some readers have posted comments and many more sent emails, criticizing me for reproducing Tom Schnackenberg's interview that first appeared on the Alinghi website. Their argument was that Schnackenberg's description of the yacht BMW Oracle will use in its challenge as a barge was "ridiculous", "stupid", "a joke" or even "ludicrous". Here's the "spy" picture of the "secret weapon" Larry Ellison will use, sent by one of our funny readers.


I would like to make a couple of clarifications on the issue. Given the importance of the legal battle between Alinghi and BMW Oracle and this website's focus on the America's Cup we will always reproduce the most important news and features that both sides publish, whether it is an official press release or other material on their respective websites. When reproducing such content I always make it clear its source and never claim to endorse it. Even when somebody might utterly disagree with one side or the other it is always useful to know where they stand on the various issues and what their opinion is.

Some other people argued that in fact Tom Schnackenberg was not serious in his comments and was only joking, in some kind of April Fool's Day hoax. I personally find it difficult to conceive such a scenario but even in the remotest possibility it were true, isn't it also interesting to know that Alinghi has the time and resources to waste on such trivial matters?

Throughout this 6-month legal battle there has been a considerable number of press releases, declarations or interviews that turned out to be erroneous or false. In hindsight it is easy to judge them and disregard them but still they provided useful information when they appeared. Take for example Ernesto Bertarelli's statement some months ago that he couldn't lose the court case because he had the best lawyers in the world. I personally would have never made such a statement (of course I'm not Bertarelli) but at that precise moment it was indeed extremely useful to reproduce it because it reflected the state of mind Alinghi's owner (and probably the whole Alinghi camp) had.

As far as Monday, January 14, is concerned, all eyes will be turned to the NY Supreme Court. Starting 9:30 am (3:30pm European time), Justice Cahn will hear the arguments of both sides in order to issue the settlement order. Undoubtedly, the thorniest issue is the date of the America's Cup match. BMW Oracle wants it to take place on the 1st, 3rd and 5th (if needed) of October 2008 while Alinghi would rather race in July 2009. Hopefully we will have some indication at least on Monday evening.

Still, we might be in for further delays. According to Gerardo Pombo, president of the Spanish Sailing Federation (RFEV), unless Justice Cahn orders the two teams to race 18 months from now, Alinghi will file an appeal against the settlement order. Pombo made that statement during a private conversation in a group of several people. Whether this turns out to be true will be known shortly but it wouldn't come as a surprise.

Barcelona World Race: Hugo Boss closing in on leader Paprec Virbac

[Source; Barcelona World Race] Hugo Boss has made great strides over the past 24 hours in chasing down the leader of the Barcelona World Race, Paprec-Virbac 2. While the leading boat made its way up inside the Falkland Islands, Hugo Boss was enjoying tremendous Southern Ocean reaching conditions and has put 422 miles behind them over the past 24 hours.

“We have had a good break with the weather,” explained co-skipper Andrew Cape. “The conditions since yesterday have been 25-30 knots and the boat was really excelling. We are now just below 20 knots wind speed and sitting on about 17 or 18 knots of boat speed. We expect it to pick up again in about ten hours as we get nearer the coast and Cape Horn. We think our ETA at the Horn is just over 24 hours - tomorrow afternoon (GMT) for sure.”

In front, Paprec-Virbac 2 opted to sail west of the Falklands to avoid winds that were forecast to be as strong as 60 knots on the outside of the Islands. Instead, the leader gybed its way between the mainland and the islands in relatively benign 25 knot winds, although waves and currents still made it a tricky proposition. While dropping just over 150 miles to Hugo Boss over the past 24 hours, Paprec-Virbac 2 still enjoys an 833 mile buffer.

At the other end of the fleet, Educación sin Fronteras has been forced to sail cautiously with a Southern Ocean gale bringing winds of upwards of 35 knots on the forecast. For the moment, it’s much more manageable with winds of 20 knots today. Servane Escoffier and Albert Bargués on deck to change some broken battens in the mainsail. Servane says they are being very cautious in these conditions and aren’t expecting to sail particularly fast.

Mutua Madrileña and Temenos II continue to sail along in lockstep towards Cape Horn with just 150 miles separating the pair. Javier Sanso, on Mutua Madrileña described the current conditions with one word: miserable!

“It is miserable,” he said laughing. “We’re reaching along, going up and down the waves and the boat is really slamming. You get thrown over the waves and the boat slams so hard your ears are buzzing. Besides that, everything is fine!”

Day 62 – January 11, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 6510 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 833
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2856
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 3007
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3609

Abandoned - VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS
Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / Jonathan MCKEE
Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET
Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE

In Quotes – Dominique Wavre, Temenos II: “Sunrise and it’s a little bit grey outside, but it’s ok. We have the low pressure behind us and a high pressure ahead and we’re sort of sandwiched between the two. It’s not too cold, there’s not a huge sea running but there is more wind coming from behind. We’re trimming a lot, but not much to do in terms of being on the wheel.”

Barcelona World Race: Paprec Virbac rounds Cape Horn

Paprec Virbac 2 officially through the Cape Horn scoring gate at 0600 GMT! Great speeds for the leading two boats overnight, both Paprec Virbac 2 and Hugo Boss averaging 17-18 knots of boat speed, although the Franco-Irish pair are now just 20 miles from the Cape Horn - due through in just a couple of hours. A little bit further north at 54ºS Alex Thomson and Andy Cape will be happy to have their black boat up to speed; the fastest boat overnight they recovered 54 miles to the Paprec Virbac 2 tandem, although are still just over a thousand miles behind.

The second battle between Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña continues to rage although both boats have been slower (10 and 11 knots average respectively) and dropped miles to the leaders, Temenos has come a little further south and the distance between the two has increased to 177 miles.

Educación sin Fronteras is finally moving a little quicker; she gained 45 miles on the Spanish boat ahead of her and is now averaging 15-16 knots on a steady 105º heading

Tom Schnackenberg talks about GGYC's challenge

[Source: Alinghi] We’ve been reading a lot about the AC90, what would your role become if Alinghi is required by law to accept the GGYC challenge as it has been lodged?

If that becomes the case, then my role would change rather, that is should ACM be consulted and be managing the defense.

The first thing I would have to do is to have a good think about the nature of the boat that is challenging, how the racing should be organized and what things would need to be put in place to ensure the racing is proper.

You’d be well qualified having had experience of unconventional challenges in the past – tell us about that?

That’s true, I was invited to Annapolis by Michael Fay back in 1987 and on the way there he opened a copy of the Deed of Gift and read out about five lines to me which basically set out the requirements for a challenge as they were in 1887 and have been ever since. Among those was the fact that the challenger would supply a certificate of the yacht including the name of the owner, the name of the yacht, the rig and the four key dimensions, being the waterline length, the waterline beam, the maximum beam and the draft. These dimensions couldn’t be exceeded, presumably they could be made a little bit smaller, but the idea would be that these would be the dimensions of the yacht.

Can you give us the in-brief of the BMW Oracle Deed of Gift challenge?

The length is 90ft, the beam at waterline is 90ft and the extreme beam is 90ft which suggests that the boat is plum sided at the extremes. The hull depth is 3ft and there is an extra mention of the draft with the boards down being 20ft. So to me, if you think of waterline length you imagine running your hand along from the bow of the boat, it goes under the water at a certain point and continues under the water until it comes up 90ft later and that’s the waterline length.

Sounds like a bit of a barge to me?

Well if you use the same process to determine the waterline beam, then you go down at one point and you continue under water until you come up at another point and that’s 90ft away, so yes I suppose ‘barge’ would probably be the best single word to describe what we are talking about.

What are the perceived advantages from the GGYC/BOR’s point of view in creating a challenge such as this?

Perhaps, if they were thinking of opening up their design space and having smaller beams, the advantage would be that they are not limiting themselves, but I think in fairness to any Defender, they would want to stick to the boat that they have described.

I talked a little bit to Rolf [Vrolijk] about it, because the Dutch are renowned for designing barges and particularly barges with leeboards which can sail quite well. Even though he is excellent and inventive, it was obvious that he had no experience in barge design and neither does Dirk [Kramers] and so they are at a little bit of a handicap.

Presumably we would have to hurry up and learn how to do this. How long do you think BMW Oracle could have been working on their boat?

It’s hard to know, months obviously and possibly years. The challenge was lodged on 11 July 2007, but obviously they thought about it a long time before and so they have a big design edge and the Alinghi guys, I think, just hoped it would go away and depending on the court action, it could be a non-starter as there is a very tight timeframe. The 10 months notice would obviously be extended by the court action and the time it takes to do that, so that period will probably only start after the court order has been handed down.

Barcelona World Race: Streaking towards Cape Horn

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Paprec-Virbac 2 is closing in on Cape Horn, as the leading boat in the Barcelona World Race has just over 500 more miles to run before reaching the great southern Cape. Cape Horn has great significance to any round-the-world sailor, and it’s no different in the Barcelona World Race. In fact, in this race, it also marks the next scoring gate in the race as well.

“It’s the gateway to the Atlantic and the exit from the Southern Ocean. The thing about the Southern Ocean is that it’s constant and it feels like it is just never-ending,” says Damian Foxall, from on board Paprec-Virbac 2. “It’s relentless, it’s always blowing, or about to blow or it’s just been blowing and there’s always a big sea – and this in the summer! It’s an amazing place, but Cape Horn marks the door to leave and we’ll be happy to leave because it means we’re heading north for the final section of the race.”

As they predicted yesterday, the guys on Hugo Boss have dropped nearly 200 miles to Paprec-Virbac 2 over the last 24 hours. The speed differential has shrunk now, but for much of the last day, Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape were a full 10 knots slower than the leader. Things have improved over the last few hours though.

“We now have 17-20 knots of wind and we are sailing pretty much hard on the wind,” Thomson said. “Hopefully in the next day the breeze will go left a little bit, which should free us up and we will go faster. We are not suddenly going to do eighteen knots but slowly our speeds should increase.”

The battle for third place is currently being won by Temenos II, who have gained 15 miles over the past 24 hours on Mutua Madrileña, with both boats making good speed and averaging near 15 knots.

That leaves Educación sin Fronteras trying to keep up. But they don’t have the conditions to make that easy and have dropped nearly 80 miles to the two boats in front.

Day 59 – January 8, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL - 0
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 1022
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2903
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 3025
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3466

Abandoned - VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS
Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / Jonathan MCKEE
Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET
Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE

In Quotes – Damian Foxall, Paprec-Virbac 2: “We’ve had a difficult Southerly breeze for the last 36 hours, really squally conditions. We’ve been reaching, so the autopilot has been able to do a lot of the work, but it’s squally enough that you’re on deck all the time, ordering the autopilot up or down depending upon how the waves are and what the wind is doing and trimming the sails all the time. It’s been very cold and that takes a lot out of you. On the upside, we’re going straight down the route, very quickly, and we have a 1000 mile lead on Hugo Boss and it’s nice to have that buffer going into the Horn.”

Paprec-Virbac racing ahead of the rest of the Barcelona World Race fleet

[Source: Barcelona World Race] There are a few tough days ahead for Hugo Boss as the race leader, Paprec-Virbac 2 has hooked into a nice Southern Ocean low and is running away, while Hugo Boss is stuck in very mild conditions – in every sense of the word. Describing their current situation, the words of Jean-Pierre Dick on Paprec-Virbac 2 and Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss couldn’t have been more different.

“There is a lot of rain and gusty winds, up to 35 knots. It’s very difficult to sail the boat,” Jean-Pierre said. “It’s very, very cold here, so just checking the sails and adjusting the sheets is torture. It’s terrible really.”

The consolation is a boat speed approaching 20 knots. Meanwhile, Hugo Boss is in the same ‘Furious Fifties’, but struggling to make 5 knots on a sunny, warm, windless day.

“Our situation hasn’t really changed for the past few days. We’re still catching up to this ridge of high pressure and sailing along with the ridge,” Alex Thomson said on the video conference today. He then switched the camera to an outside view, showing a beautiful, sunny, blue sky, the sea calm and nearly flat. It certainly looked like anything but the Southern Ocean. We asked Alex if it was frustrating.

“We’re not too fussed about it. There’s nothing we can do about it. We stopped for 48 hours in New Zealand. We could sit and complain that we’re so unlucky and he’s so lucky but the fact is we stopped and you can’t expect to be right up next to him a week after you stop,” Thomson said. “We’ll wait and see what happens after Cape Horn.”

Behind them, the rest of the fleet has picked up the pace as well. Temenos II is trying to fend off the advance of Mutua Madrileña, who has picked up 75 miles over the last 24 hours. Javier Sansó and Pachi Rivero are now just over 100 miles behind Temenos II.

Educación Sin Fronteras crossing the Cook Strait. Wellington, 6 January 2008. Photo copyright Chris Cameron

“We are quite happy to have the wind again. I think we’ve lost about three days to the high pressure,” complained Dominique Wavre, from on board Temenos II. “In a way it’s nice to have Mutua pushing us, but in a way it’s very frustrating. He gained 200 miles so easily because we had bad timing coming out of Wellington. We don’t feel there is a lot of justice in it! But it will be better in a few days.”

And Educación sin Fronteras is up to speed today again, after passing through Cook Strait yesterday and leaving New Zealand behind. Albert Bargués is happy to begin the second half of the race without having stopped, and is looking forward to Cape Horn, over 4000 miles in the distance.

“The importance of Cape Horn is that this place is a symbol for us really, of all of our hard work so far,” he said. “It’s an accumulation of all the effort by everyone associated with our team to get us this far. That’s why it will be special for us.”

Day 58 – January 7, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL - 0
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 863
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2837
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 2944
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3311

Abandoned - VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS
Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / Jonathan MCKEE
Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET
Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE

In Quotes – Alex Thomson, Hugo Boss: “Can you see the sunlight there? This is the Southern Ocean and it’s like a millpond. We haven’t had the sea this calm since that light spot before the Canary Islands. It’s pretty amazing actually. It’s like a millpond and the boat is hardly moving - it’s the Furious Fifties! This leg of the Southern Ocean for us, we’ve had maybe six hours with the wind over 22 knots and apart from that it’s been less than 20 knots, and it’s going to stay that way most of the way to Cape Horn.”

Official calendar of the GP42 2008 Cup is now final

The International GP42 Association have announced the final calendar of the their GP42 2008 Cup. The second circuit of the fast-growing GP42 class will be richer in events and even more international than the inaugural one in 2007. The GP42 2008 Cup will consist of 6 events in no less than 4 European countries.

The starting gun of the 2008 season will be fired in 4 months from now in the Italian city of Santa Margherita, on the Ligurian coast. The Yacht Club Italiano will organize the season's inaugural event, Trofeo Pirelli – Copa Carlo Negri, from the 1st till the 4th of May.

The second event event will take place in France (another premiere for 2008) again under the auspices of the Yacht Club Italiano. The famous city of Saint-Tropez will be the stage for the Giraglia Rolex Cup, from the 8th until the 11th of June.

The GP42 fleet will then move to Valencia in order to compete in the Trofeo de la Reina, from the 10th till the 13th of July.

The season's 4th event couldn't be other than Europe's most famous and prestigious regatta, the Copa del Rey. The GP42 fleet will undoubtedly steal the spotlights in Palma, Mallorca from July 25 to August 3.

After 4 events in the Mediterranean, the GP42 fleet will move to the Atlantic, racing off the coast of Portuguese city Cascais. The Trofeu Quebramar-Chrysler, from the 28th till the 30th of August, will become the stage of exciting races for a second consecutive year.

The closing event of the 2008 international season will again be on Atlantic waters, in the Spanish island of Lanzarote. After its success in 2007 as a part of the Spanish national circuit, the Trofeo Puerto Calero – César Manrique, from the 15th till the 18th of October, will see the international GP42 fleet race for the last time in 2008.

Don't forget to visit the official website for more information on the fast-growing GP42 class.

Barcelona World Race gets challenging and complicated

[Source: Barcelona World Race] It’s been a challenging weekend for the Barcelona World Race fleet. The two leaders are having uncharacteristic Southern Ocean conditions with Paprec-Virbac 2 losing miles due to light headwinds, while Hugo Boss is blocked by a ridge of high pressure in front of it that is limiting its progress towards Cape Horn.

“Right now we've got a 15 to 20 knot Northeasterly in front of a little front that's here. That should overtake us shortly and then we'll be left with a Northwesterly and we'll have to alter course or change sails to suit where we want to go,” said Andrew Cape from Hugo Boss this morning. “Conditions aren't too challenging at the moment, it's a bit chilly where we are, always a bit grey...it'll take us another day or two until we get a decent breeze over 20 knots.”

Meanwhile, Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña are suffering in light winds near New Zealand.

“We are still in very calm weather surrounded by high pressure. We are not tired and it’s not difficult sailing but it is frustrating to be so slow,” said Temenos II skipper Dominique Wavre. “We hope for more wind tomorrow.”

In an even more difficult situation is Educación sin Fronteras who has made good just over 130 miles in the past 24 hours as they’ve been nearly becalmed approaching Cook Strait. But things are looking up now as they make better speeds inside the Strait.

Day 57– January 6, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL - 0
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 768
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2733
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 2917
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3230

Abandoned - VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS
Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / JONATHAN MCKEE
Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET
Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE

Barcelona World Race: Mutua Madrileña leaves Wellington and rejoins the race

At 08:50 GMT on Saturday morning, Mutua Madrileña left the quay in Wellington to rejoin the Barcelona World Race. The Spanish sailors say they're happy with the state of the boat and ready to get back to work, chasing down Temenos II. When Mutua Madrileña left the dock, they were some 250 miles behind Temenos II.

Mutua Madrileña rejoins the Barcelona World Race after a successful pit stop. Wellington, 5 January 2008. Photo copyright Chris Cameron