Meanhwile in Valencia...

Valencia Sailing is back in earnest, reporting from what used to be the world's sailing capital, during a week that is probably the busiest inside Port America's Cup since a long time. We counted a total of 11 yachts either sailing off Valencia's coast or docked in one of the bases, although none of them was an America's Cup boat, in the strict sense of the word.

There are now 6 Extreme 40 yachts, 3 belonging to Alinghi, 2 to BMW Oracle and another to Holmatro. In addition, 5 TP52 teams use the existing bases and facilities in order to fit their yachts or train in view of the imminent start of the Audi MedCup.

The Defender of the 33rd America's Cup and the Challenger of Record continue their daily schedule of catamaran training, under excellent wind conditions. If only we could turn back the clock 12 months in order to enjoy the constant strong breeze of the last few weeks during the Louis Vuitton Cup last year. In addition to these 4 catamarans, another one has been purchased by Alinghi for the iShares Extreme 40 Cup while the 6th one is of Team Holmatro.

One of Alinghi's two training catamarans enters the canal while on the back, Terry Hutchinson's TP52 Quantum Racing is training under excellent conditions. The construction crews are working round the clock to finish the F1 race track. Valencia, 7 May 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Port America's Cup is also busy with the TP52 fleet. Desafío has been training since a number of days now and has been recently joined by Terry Hutchinson's Quantum Racing. Not only is the American sailor's boat sharing Desafío's facilities, Hutchinson will also helm the green boat when Paul Cayard is not avaible.

Peter de Ridder's Mean Machine is using the Emirates Team NZ base, while freshly arrived are the Platoon and Artemis TP52 yachts, in the UITG and BMW Oracle bases respectively. Mean Machine has also been sailing in Valencia for a few days; Artemis was already launched but we don't know whether it has sailed. Finally, the Platoon yacht was masted a couple of hours after we took the photos.

The Platoon TP52 boat in the United Internet Team Germany base. Valencia, 7 May 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The Platoon TP52 boat in the United Internet Team Germany base. Valencia, 7 May 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The Quantum Racing TP52 boat berthed in the Desafío base. Valencia, 7 May 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing