Alinghi hires Franck Proffit, French multi-hull sailor
[Source: Alinghi] Franck Proffit, well-known and highly experienced French multi-hull sailor, joins Alinghi, the Defender of the 33rd America’s Cup, to assist towards a possible multi-hull Deed of Gift Match.
Alinghi team skipper Brad Butterworth comments on the new appointment: “We welcome Franck to the team and look forward to working with him on developing our multi-hull skills towards the 33rd America’s Cup both on the water and in the design office. His depth of knowledge will complement that of Alain Gautier, Nigel Irens and Benoit Cabaret, and add to the already very strong design and sailing pool we have at Alinghi.”
The Swiss team, while drawing from its current team members, is also applying the knowledge of several multi-hull specialists consulting to both the design and sailing team in preparation for the next Cup. Nigel Irens and Benoit Cabaret are involved with the former while Alain Gautier sails regularly with Alinghi crew on the ORMA60 Foncia in Lorient.
Alinghi training on board of ORMA60 Foncia and Banque Populaire. Lorient, 30 June 2008. Photo copyright George Johns/Alinghi
The 45 year-old Frenchman, with over 100,000nm of multi-hull racing to his name, brings decades of multi-hull experience to the team; he is a two-time Transat Jacques Vabre winner, four-time Tour de l’Europe winner, winner of The Race and was most recently watch leader, helmsman, sails inventory and operational manager for Groupama 3 during its record breaking 2007-08 season which included a Miami-New York record, North Atlantic record in under 100hours and the 24hour record with 794 miles on the clock.
“Franck brings big multi-hull sailing knowledge and we need to draw from that and apply it to the possible America’s Cup Deed of Gift Match that we face,” concludes Brad.
Franck adds a word on his involvement with Alinghi for a multi-hull campaign: “It's a great opportunity. I am very happy to join Alinghi and with the next America's Cup likely to be held on multi-hulls it's the perfect occasion to put my 20 years of multi-hull experience to good use. I am delighted to work in the America's Cup which is the summit of international sailing. Being part of the design and sailing team is something exceptional. It's a great adventure.
“There is a huge amount of work to do and time is short. It took us more than two years to build Groupama3 and here we have to build a giant multi-hull in a very short lapse of time. We have to optimise very quickly. This is a great team though; I feel closer to Alinghi's values than those of the other teams!” he said.
The new Telefonica Blue VOR70 boat leaves Valencia boatyard
The brand new "Telefonica Blue" VOR70 boat has left the boatyard in Valencia and is now on its way to the team's base in Alicante. She is expected to arrive later in the afternoon and if all goes according to plan, Equipo Telefonica plans to launch her as soon as possible and start their two-boat training sessions already on Thursday.
The Farr-designed yacht is a twin of "Telefonica Black", built by Southern Ocean Marine in New Zealand. She arrived in Alicante three weeks ago and has been sailing since the 12th of June.
The brand new Telefonica Blue leaves the Valencia boatyard. Valencia, 30 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
The brand new Telefonica Blue leaves the Valencia boatyard. Valencia, 30 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
The brand new Telefonica Blue leaves the Valencia boatyard. Valencia, 30 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
The brand new Telefonica Blue leaves the Valencia boatyard. Valencia, 30 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
The brand new Telefonica Blue leaves the Valencia boatyard. Valencia, 30 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
>The brand new Telefonica Blue leaves the Valencia boatyard. Valencia, 30 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
The brand new Telefonica Blue leaves the Valencia boatyard. Valencia, 30 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
The brand new Telefonica Blue leaves the Valencia boatyard. Valencia, 30 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
America's Cup legal uncertainty forces AC Management to end Host City contract with Valencia
[Source: America's Cup Management] As a consequence of the continued uncertainty around the 33rd America's Cup caused by the Golden Gate Yacht Club's legal manoeuvres, AC Management and the Spanish institutions (Central State, Valencia Region and Valencia Municipality) have been left with no option but to revise the terms of their relationship, ending the contract signed in July 2007 that named Valencia the Host City for a multi-challenge 33rd America's Cup in 2009.
The two parties have entered into a new agreement that concludes months of discussions trying to adapt the contract signed after the success of the 32nd America's Cup to the current legal context. Under the new agreement, the organisation and exploitation of the Port America's Cup facilities will be managed by the Spanish institutions from 1 July; the 33rd America's Cup teams retain the opportunity to continue using their bases and the majority of administrative benefits for teams and personnel remain in force until the end of 2008.
Michel Hodara, Chief Executive Officer of AC Management, the company organising the 33rd America's Cup on behalf of the defending yacht club, Société Nautique de Genève, explains: "Too many issues, such as the dates and participants, remain unresolved until the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court publishes its decision; meaning the July 2007 contract is no longer appropriate. The Spanish authorities understand the situation and we are pleased that we have come to a new agreement adapted to the current context, in the best possible spirit. We thank them for extending the use of the bases and the administrative benefits to the teams.
"This does not mean that we are leaving Valencia. The choice of the venue for the 33rd America's Cup will mainly be based on competitive factors and if Valencia is considered the best place, then a second America's Cup Match will take place here."
You have to see it to believe it or as the Chinese say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Natalia Vía-Dufresne and Laia Tutzó, the Spanish Olympic Women 470 duo, is currently in Qingdao in order to start their intensive training preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games, to be held in the Chinese coastal city in less than 2 months from now.
The two Spanish sailors wanted to start the training today (Friday) but had to face an unexpected and very tough situation. A thick carpet of algae covered tens of square kilometers of the bay, making it virtually impossible for their small yachts to navigate. According to the UK newspaper Telegraph, this is "the worst algae blight in living memory".
Natalia, jokingly, stated that "it wasn't a sailing race course, it was a golf course. It's not funny at all constantly trying to keep the algae off your rudder".
The photo tells the story, as the two Spanish women try to break through the algae on a windless day. At least they are laughing.
Alinghi starts two-boat training with ORMA60 multi-hulls in Lorient
[Source: Alinghi] Alinghi, Defender of the 33rd America’s Cup, begins the next phase of training towards a possible multi-hull Deed of Gift Match in 2009 and steps up a gear to two-boat training with the ORMA60s Foncia and Banque Populaire IV in Lorient, France, from 30 June until 5 July.
The Swiss team intends to continue its big boat and multi-hull development through this platform: “We now need to hone our boat handling skills, manoeuvres and mark approaches by matching up to another boat,” says Alinghi team skipper and tactician Brad Butterworth. “Having crew on both ORMA60s will increase our learning curve exponentially and marks the beginning of our two-boat training programme towards a multi-hull America’s Cup.”
The sailing team has been multi-hull training for several months racing the eXtreme40s and the Décision35s respectively in the iShares Cup and in the Lake Geneva based Julius Baer Challenge and it now looks forward to training alongside such an accomplished sailing team.
“We are very pleased to have such high calibre boats to train with; both Foncia and Banque Populaire IV are accomplished race boats and we look forward to a summer of two-boat training and to gaining as much crewing and big boat experience as possible before getting on to our multi-hull sometime at the end of the year. We are looking forward to working with the Banque Populaire team and hope the training will be mutually beneficial to both sailing teams,” adds Butterworth.
Alinghi was in Lorient in March sailing Foncia with skipper Alain Gautier and will return again in July and throughout the summer to match up against Banque Populaire IV, skippered by Pascal Bidégorry.
Green Team gets Chinese sponsorship; to be named Green Dragon Team
[Source: Green Team] The Green Team has officially been re-named after securing title sponsorship from a syndicate of Chinese companies.
The team will now be officially known as The Green Dragon Team for the 2008-09 race. The team livery will be unveiled over the coming weeks.
The team already holds strong Chinese links with construction of the boat taking place at McConaghy Boats in Zhuhai. It is the first Volvo Open 70 boat to be built in China.
“We are delighted to be able to finally announce our title sponsorship,” said Jamie Boag, CEO of The Green Dragon Team, at the official announcement in Beijing.
“Having built the boat in China we have developed a close relationship with a number of companies who were interested in being involved in the Volvo Ocean Race. The exposure that this sponsorship will bring the team, and our current and potential sponsors within the Chinese and Asian markets is enormous.”
The boat will be skippered by double Olympic medallist, Britain’s Ian Walker. Following the Green Dragon sponsorship announcement the search is now on for a Chinese crewmember to join Walker’s squad.
The team will be co-ordinating the search and Walker has outlined what he is looking for in the Chinese crewmember. “We would like to see Chinese sailors who are competing at this summer’s Olympics applying along with members of Team China America’s Cup syndicate,” he said.
“However this does not preclude any sailor who is not already established from applying for the position if they feel they have what it takes. We will bring up to 5 potential Chinese crewmembers to Ireland in August to train with the team; from there we will select the final crewmember.”
The build of the Green Dragon Volvo Open 70 was financed through a syndicate of private Irish investors, who remain in place with the project.
“For the syndicate who have financed the construction of the boat, it is the culmination of two years of support and commitment,” said Eamon Conneely, Sailing Director and Syndicate member. “The boat itself sailed for the first time last week and we are thrilled with the results of our first sea trials,”
The team will now head to Ireland in early July for two months of training before leaving at the end of August for Alicante and the race start.
[Source: Ericsson Racing Team] Ericsson Racing Team has today presented the final piece of the puzzle for the Volvo Ocean Race. Ericsson 4 was officially unveiled to an invited audience of Ericsson employees and guests, at the team’s boatyard next to the Global Headquarters in Kista, Stockholm.
The day was doubly significant in that it marks 100 days to the opening race in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008/09 on October 4, 2008.
Ericsson Racing Team created a bespoke boat yard right next to Ericsson’s global head office to build the two new boats, Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4.
Ericsson 3 was launched last year and today’s event marks the culmination of the build program for Ericsson 4. International crew skipper, Torben Grael and Nordic crew skipper, Anders Lewander were present to see the final handover of the boat from the build team.
“This marks the true start of race mode for the international crew’s campaign for the Volvo Ocean Race and we are really excited about getting out and sailing the boat in early July. We have got a great crew and good team, and we now have the boat. Killian [Bushe] and his team here in Kista have done a fantastic job. And for me this will be, I hope, the perfect boat,” commented Grael.
The build of the boats, which were designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian, has been managed by Killian Bushe, who has been at the forefront of composite boat building since the early 1980’s, including most recently the boats for ABN AMRO.
“Most of the other teams this time around have built their boats at an existing boat yard, so in that respect we are different in that we have created our own bespoke build facility from a blank canvas. At times there has been a team of up to 32 guys working on the boats and when we had the overlap period of some two months, we were able to fit in three 70’ elements in the yard – Ericsson 3 in the oven, the plug for Ericsson 4 and then the deck mould, commented Bushe.
“It is incredible that you can find a boatyard right here, in the middle of a capital city and next door to Ericsson’s global head office,” added Juan Kouyoumdjian, the boat’s designer. “This is a state-of-the-art facility and the boats are amongst the most technologically advanced that I have been involved with, which was, of course, one of the initial objectives of the campaign.”
Some 17,400 visitors have come to visit the boatyard since the build started, giving both Ericsson colleagues and customers the opportunity to interact with the build team and see, first hand, how a technologically advanced racing yacht is constructed.
The yard was based in a building owned by Klövern, a real estate company that has hosted the team offices and boat yard during the build phase. Their commitment to the team formed part of their activities to market Kista as an attractive area for business.
Ericsson 4 is due to leave the boatyard at Kista on 5th July for sea trials off the coast at Nynäshamn. In mid July both Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4 will begin two boat testing and will return back to the training base at Lanzarote.
[Source: BMW Oracle] Working with experts at North Sails in the USA, BMW ORACLE Racing's sail design and production team are now well underway in developing the huge new sails required for the 33rd America's Cup.
The sail design team is headed by BMW ORACLE Racing sail trimmer Ross Halcrow (NZL), and includes designers Laurent Delage (FRA), Robert Hook (AUS), and Juan Meseguer (ESP). Delage brings valuable multihull experience from North Sails France. Hook, another North Sails veteran, was with Emirates Team New Zealand in the last America's Cup. Meseguer, who runs the North loft in Valencia, returns to the team from the 32nd campaign.
"It is a massive challenge, as with all aspects of the multihull everything is on a larger scale," said Halcrow. "The sail plan for the multihull has huge dimensions yet we must keep weight to a minimum. While we are working with many of the same methods and materials as in the last America's Cup, the designs are quite different. We also are looking at a wider range of sails since we won't know the venue for the Match until six months in advance."
The team's other sail trimmers are also contributing to the sail design program, including Dirk de Ridder (NED), Noel Drennan (IRL), Daniel Fong (NZL), and Joe Newton (AUS).
JB Braun (USA) coordinates the "aero program," integrating the rig and sail package, and held a similar role with BMW ORACLE Racing's last campaign. Craig Phillips (AUS) is managing production.
As required by the America's Cup Deed of Gift, the sails and other components of the boat must be built in the country the team represents.
[Source: Groupama] For want of quantity, the quality was very much in evidence at the Trophy SNSM with the two leaders of the ORMA series, namely Banque Populaire and Groupama. Accompanied by some excellent crew members, Franck Cammas and Pascal Bidégorry relished the fifty hours or so over a course unanimously agreed to be "superb". Winner of the 2007 edition, the Basque skipper of the blue boat didn't manage to double his stake, preceded by 6 minutes over the finish line in Saint Nazaire by Groupama 2.
In the lock leading to the competitors' basin, Groupama 2 was wisely waiting for the gates to open. On the quay, the crew was all smiles, not simply because they'd completed the 560 mile course but rather because they managed to catch up with their rival and then get past them after trailing by up to 14 miles at the midway mark.
Groupama arrives victorious at the Trophy SNSM. Saint Malo, 25 June 2008. Video copyright Groupama
A bowl of pasta in one hand, a fork in the other, Franck Cammas is savouring this new victory: "We made some mistakes, but we never gave up. Up against a high class adversary in the form of Banque Populaire, we really had to fight, especially after getting stuck for 3 hours at Ushant during the climb up towards St Malo. I am proud of my crew. We didn't sleep much and didn't eat much, but we won and that's why we came here".
His face reddened by the sun, Jean-Baptiste Levaillant adds: "It's a really fine course. Not only were we able to admire the Breton coast, but we also appreciated the highly technical and very tactical nature of the course. In the end it was very open too as, despite the slight errors we made, we managed to get back with Banque Pop". From one of the greatest racers in metropolitan France, it's quite a compliment.
Never far away and always highly enthusiastic, navigator Stève Ravussin confirms this: "Even for a specialist of Lake Geneva, the light airs weren't easy to handle as there's considerable current here. At Ushant, we weren't making any more headway. After battling for two hours, we ended up in the same spot. That's very rare on a multihull" humbling adding: "During the return trip back to Saint Nazaire, Franck took control of the navigation", as if to suggest the skipper was better. His bowl of pasta empty but still in his hand, the skipper of Groupama explains: "Banque Populaire was ahead but we knew he was going to stall prior to us with the current on the nose. This enabled us to close on them and then attack".
Intriguingly, it was at Ushant that Groupama 2 managed to catch up with Banque Populaire before going on to overtake them in virtually no wind in the Mer d'Iroise off Brest.
From then on the pace of the race picked up markedly in a breeze of around fifteen knots, which enabled the two trimarans to sail at between 20 and 30 knots and cross the finish in the superb sunset light.
Side by side under gennaker, the two crews were able to power their all too rare racing machines right up. The central hulls just at the surface of the water, perfectly balanced, the performance totally pure.
Team French Spirit builds two 1/4 scale models of the future AC 90
[Source: Team French Spirit] Team French Spirit begins an intensive optimisation programme of its numerical simulation methods
- Performing numerical simulation methods for the Jury of the Designer’s Contest. - The H2X yard in La Ciotat is milling two 7 m. long models.
To build an America’s Cup Team able to compete with the best, Team French Spirit is taking into account the various components required for a great team : resources in terms of men, material, finances as well as making the best use of the time available. In view of the 34th America’s Cup, the designer’s contest’s is a major component of this strategy.
Team French Spirit has now realised two 1/4 scale models of the future AC 90 (as per the currently known data). These models will be tank tested from July 7th at the testing facilities of the DGA in Val de Reuil. “The purpose of these tests– explains Yann Roux, aerodynamics & coordinator of the Jury – is to validate a methodology based on numerical simulation. By testing two radically different hull shapes, we will be able to compare the tank-testing results with the numerical results, as these will be one of the selection criteria among the various projects submitted to our Jury.”
Based in Saint-Tropez, Team French Spirit makes the best use of local qualifications. Jacques and Nicolas Fauroux – they drew the lines of the two models – are located in Cannes while Franck de Rivoyre – structural engineer – and Yann Roux, have their offices in Sophia Antipolis, near Nice.
From left to right, Marc Pajot, Président and Team Manager Team French Spirit, Nicolas Fauroux, Naval Architect, Sébastien Grall, CEO H2X Yachts & Ships yard. Nice, 23 June 2008. Photo copyright Thierry Seray / Team French Spirit
Spithill wins Jaeger-Lecoultre Just the Best Trophy
[Source: BMW Oracle] Spithill and Co. earn top prize at catamaran match race event. After three days of closely fought match racing in X40 catamarans off Italy’s east coast, James Spithill and his BMW ORACLE Racing crew took home the Jaeger-Lecoultre Just the Best Trophy.
In doing so, Spithill defeated his teammate and skipper Russell Coutts who was calling tactics for Pete Melvin, an American leading multihull sailor and coach for the team. In the three-day, 11-race series in Cattolica on the Adriatic Coast, the face-off between Coutts and Spithill came down to the final day.
”It was extremely close racing,” Spithill said. “In the first day, Pete and Russ dominated. We were able to pull off a couple of wins and then it really came down to the final day. Russ and his guys pushed us all the way.”
Sailing with Coutts on the “White Team” was Simeon Tienpont (NED), Max Sirena (ITA), and USA multihull coach Pete Melvin. Spithill’s “Blue Team” included John Kostecki (USA), Dirk de Ridder (NED) and Alan Smith (NZL).
James Spithill and Russell Coutts race in the final day of the Jaeger-Lecoultre Just the Best Trophy. Cattolica, 22 June 2008
For the final three races on Sunday, there were plenty of spectators and 12-14 knots of breeze and brilliant sunshine. “It was a picture-perfect day in Italy,” Spithill said.
The regatta was organized by BMW ORACLE Racing’s Max Sirena. Spithill complimented the event organization and expects it will trigger more match racing events in multihulls.
“This could be a bit of the future of match racing. There was a lot of interest here. It was a fantastic event.”
The winners of the Jaeger-Lecoultre Just the Best Trophy. From left, Dirk de Ridder, John Kostecki, James Spithill and Alan Smith. Cattolica, 22 June 2008
SPEEDBOAT finishes the Newport to Bermuda Race with line honours
[Source: Team Origin] Well the goal at the first meeting to frame the concept of what the New "Speedboat"was going to be, and its objectives was always quite clearly defined as to a line honors win in the 2008 Newport Bermuda race, at just after 8 am this morning local Time we cruised across the line enabling us to tick that goal off, a 250 mile beat in between 7 and 10 knots of wind meant that the record was long gone, but as I mentioned yesterday the time to be able to test and play around with different modes upwind has been priceless.
The boat has been faultless, a full credit to the big team back in Spain at Juan Yacht design that designed her, as well as the many thousands of hours that where put into her by the team here on Speedboat, Tom Faire and the guys at Cookson Boats, Matt Smeaton and his team at North sails NZ, Steve Wilson and the team at Southern Spars, Greg Waters and the crew at Central coast hydraulics as well as many other smaller teams and individuals that have all contributed so heavily to the speedboat program, it has been a pretty hectic 18 months since the trigger was pulled to go ahead.
How we end up in the race on Handicap is now out of our hands, she was never designed with a handicap place in mind, but we will take any good results in that game when they come along, it will prove to be a race for the smaller boats I am pretty sure, from the forecasts it looks like there is a good chance that the fifty footers will come reaching in at pretty high speed, but only time will tell how that all works out.
Now that we are here in one piece and the boat is all working well we can now firmly set our sights on being ready for a Trans Atlantic record attempt in July, let’s hope that the wind gods shine favourably on us and we get a chance to have a crack, I have no doubt that should we get a reasonable window that we have the hardware to give it a great shot.
So that's it for now from the 2008 Speedboat Newport to Bermuda race, it has been a great race to spend some quality race time on the yacht, a great race and opportunity to get 12 of the TEAMORIGIN team sailing together, but most importantly it has been a great couple of weeks building the Speedboat team, the feel on board is fantastic, all in all a great bunch of guys, but then I guess it was always going to be, Alex, Jane and the Jackson Girls are a lovely family to be around, what they have done here is so very cool, and I have no doubt that it will go from strength to strength.
[Source: Team Origin] Mike Sanderson onboard SPEEDBOAT in the Newport to Bermuda Race :
Position as at 2222 EDT time on Sunday 22 June, 80.2 miles to go doing 10.8 knots in 9.1 knots of wind; Il Mostro (PUMA) 45 miles behind and Rambler 14 miles behind them
If a race record is surprisingly slow there is often a very good reason for it.... it usually means that the race is sailed in a pretty tricky piece of water rather than the fact that not fast boats have competed in the race previously.
Once again the 2008 Newport to Bermuda race is showing why this record is one of the toughest ones to nail. A distance of 630 miles one day is a number that we hope we can boast about as being a daily run on Speedboat, and so to be settling into day three with still 150 miles to go just doesn't seem right for such a speed machine, considering the fact that we have never totally parked up.
In fact I am sure that the averages through the water will not be too bad, the big problem has been the fact that the weather just hasn't let us spend very long pointing at the mark! In saying all that though we are all really happy, the boat is performing really well on its targets, it’s all in one piece with no damage ( he says touching the lovely piece of wood mounted in the nav station at Stan and my request...) and so what else can we ask for, this thing is going to be a machine when reaching.
It will just be a matter of pointing and shooting, and so to have the time now to play around with sail combinations and sailing modes in lighter airs with the luxury of having the designer Juan Kouyoumdjian on board is priceless. In fact it will be a shame to reach Bermuda as that will bring an end to a couple of amazing weeks pre race and race of sorting this cool yacht out.
Fingers crossed that we get a weather window soon so that we can get back out here and have a shot at the Trans-Atlantic record.
In the meantime its back to the 7 knot beat...
From all of us out here that make up the crew of Speedboat, thanks for checking in on us.
Spithill scores four bullets in second day of Jaeger-LeCoultre JUST THE BEST
Saturday was the second day of Jaeger-LeCoultre JUST THE BEST and James Spithill clearly took revenge of his BMW Oracle boss, Russell Coutts, after winning all four races. Unfortunately, we barely have any information on the races, given the extremely laconic press release in Italian.
Weather conditions were "ideal", according to the press release, with sunny skies and a breeze between 10 and 12 knots throughout the day. Racing started at 3pm and Spithill "dominated the emotional duels", pocketing 4 points. He is now now leading the overall score table 5 to 3.
Four more races will be held on Sunday.
Russell Coutts and James Spithill race in the second day of the Jaeger-LeCoultre JUST THE BEST race. Cattolica, 21 June 2008
Coutts leads Spithill 3-1 after first day of Jaeger-LeCoultre JUST THE BEST match race
Russell Coutts, CEO and skipper of BMW Oracle, is leading James Spithill, helsman of the same team, 3 to 1 after the first day of the Jaeger-LeCoultre JUST THE BEST match race, an event held in Cattolica, on the northern Adriatic coast of Italy, and organized by their Italian teammate Max Sirena.
Still, in order to be exact, Coutts only helmed in two of the day's four races, alternating with Pete Malvin, the American multihull expert BMW Oracle has hired in order to prepare for the upcoming 33rd America's Cup against Alinghi.
The conditions that prevailed during the opening day of the event were quite enjoyable and the two star sailors battled out in front of the new Cattolica marina in a truly summer, sunny day, with the local Scirocco breeze blowing between 6 and 10 knots. Without any doubt, these are excellent conditions for the millions of tourists that will flock the Italian Adriatic coast but hardly the stuff to bring the "beast" out of the Extreme 40 catamarans.
The first race started at around 2pm and it was Pete Melvin that took the helm on Coutts' boat. After a tense prestart the American gained a small advantage over the young Australian sailor. Spithill tried hard but was unable to prevent Melvin from crossing the finish line first.
In the prestart procedure of the second race Spithill showed his legendary aggressive match racing tactics and managed to force Coutts into receiving two penalties. It was obviously game over for the BMW Oracle boss who was unable to recover after offloading his penalties and the score was tied at one point.
It was Pete Melvin's turn to take helm in the third race and the American once again crossed the starting line ahead of Spithill. In a repeat of the first race, Melvin stayed ahead of Spithill, pocketing another point for the Coutts boat.
The fourth and final race of the day was more equal and the two boats crossed the starting line simultaneously but it was Coutts than prevailed in the race.
Spithill is now trailing his boss by two points and will certainly try to catch up on Saturday. Nothing is lost because each victory will now count for two points.
James Spithill and Russell Coutts in the opening day of the Jaeger-LeCoultre JUST THE BEST match race. Cattolica, 20 June 2008.
At this stage, it shouldn't come as a surprise to any reader of Valencia Sailing but the influential Spanish journalist Jaume Soler reminded us that the Vuelta de España a Vela (Spain Sailing Tour) should have ended today, according to the official calendar, but it hasn't even started, let alone there isn't any indication it is about to start in the near future.
The Vuelta de España was one of the three "annual" regattas the CNEV (Club Nautico Español de Vela) was allegedly organizing in order to fulfill the requirements set by the Deed of Gift, according to what Manuel Chirivella, its president and vice-president of the Spanish Sailing Federation (RFEV), stated last year, in an email sent to Valencia Sailing.
Not only that, when the RFEV presented in February the official 2008 calendar, the Vuelta de España was scheduled to take place from May 24th to June 20th. Nevertheless, in a new and modified calendar, published on June 3rd, the Vuelta had disappeared. So, a regatta that cost, according to the figures presented by the Spanish Sailing Federation in its annual general meeting, approximately 160 thousand euros had a very short life.
Still, always according to the new calendar, the 2nd edition of the "Trofeo Desafío Español" will take place in Valencia on the 8th and 9th of November.
This website has tried to be as impartial as possible in the current legal fight between Alinghi and BMW Oracle and has equally criticized both parties, or at least it tried. Nevertheless, one can only laugh with this farcical situation.
With yet another nail in the coffin of the CNEV, Alinghi should finally admit it was a fantasy arrangement, a "legal adjustment" according to Chirivella, that didn't work. Imagine a yacht club that schedules a race three months ahead and then halfway through the supposed regatta it publishes another calendar where that race has disappeared.
The winners of the Alicante-Valencia leg receive their award from the Vice-President of the RFEV (Spanish sailing Federation). Valencia, 18 September 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
James Spithill and Russell Coutts practice on the eve of "Just the best" regatta
James Spithill and Russell Coutts, helmsman and CEO of BMW Oracle respectively, warmed up in practice races yesterday, on the eve of the "Just the best" exhibition regatta they start later today. The two star sailors race on Extreme 40 catamarans, in two teams named "Blue" and "White".
Here's a short and rather mediocre video from the practice race or better said, a 30-second glimpse of the two catamarans sailing in straight line, filmed from 500 meters away. They could have done better than that!!!
TEAMORIGIN team aboard 100ft Supermaxi ‘Speedboat’ prepare for the Newport to Bermuda Race
[Source: Team Origin] Well only one day to go now before the start of the Newport to Bermuda race and the 100ft supermaxi ‘Speedboat’s’ inaugural race debut. SPEEDBOAT is owned by Alex Jackson, designed by Juan K, skippered by Mike Sanderson (also Team Director of TEAMORIGIN) and has a number of the TEAMORIGIN America’s Cup sailing squad onboard. If the wind plays ball, it is hoped that SPEEDBOAT will achieve line honours and may also have a shot at the unofficial race record set by Hasso Platner’s ‘Morning Glory’ in 2004 of 48 hours, 28 minutes and 31 seconds.
The team aboard Speedboat have been in Newport for a week or so and managed to do some training by competing in the New York Yacht Club regatta last week-end and doing one overnight offshore.
Mike Sanderson, Skipper, commented “We have now sailed the boat for all of seven days, and in those few days we even managed to get some racing in!! This just highlights the amazing job that the guys designing, building and preparing the boat have done. For the New York Yacht Club annual regatta last weekend it was just about trying to get to know the boat, and what better way then to put a supermaxi through a 2 mile Windward leeward race series!!! There is no doubt by us battling through that experience that we will be better off for our ultimate goal for the Newport to Bermuda race. Our overnight trip on Tuesday night further tested the boat, especially when we had a 47 knot gust! The couple of days since are being used to get her ready for what can be a very tough ocean race.”
TEAMORIGIN team members sailing aboard SPEEDBOAT include Mike Sanderson, Stan Honey, Robbie Naismith, Neal MacDonald, Julian Cressant, Robert Greenhalgh, Mike Mottl, Chris Brittle, Justin Slattery, Nick Bice and Pawel Bielecki.
[Source: Green Team] The boat was lifted in to the water on Monday 16th June and then went for its inaugural sail yesterday Tuesday. The Reichel Pugh designed boat, built by McConaghy Boats in China has been based in Gosport, UK since its arrival from China. The team including 15 shore crew, boat builders and the race crew have worked solidly for the last 10 days to prepare the boat for its first sail ahead of schedule.
The boat is a truly international affair; the build has been funded privately by Irish investors, and the build was in China with a US design. To complete the jigsaw a number of key components have flown in from around the world: the mast was made by Southern Spars New Zealand and flown to the UK via Alicante, the sails from North Sails UK; rudders and dagger boards from McConaghy Australia; keel bulb from Irons Brothers UK and the keel fin built in the USA. Last week the Green Team announced their crew which is also an international affair with crew from Ireland, UK, Australia and New Zealand although the Irish feature strongly including top Irish ocean sailors Damian Foxall and Justin Slattery.
After yesterday’s sail Ian walker skipper commented: “We sailed today for five hours in perfect conditions. Starting in no wind we slowly loaded the boat up and quickly got sailing with full cant on the keel in 15 knots of wind. As always with new boats there were some glitches and we already have some modifications to make but it was overwhelmingly positive. The boat feels beautifully balanced, the keel system is working well and the mast and sails set up nicely. It is a fantastic feeling to be out on the water with her after so much hard work by everyone concerned. I was particularly pleased we got out sailing for Tom Braidwood who project managed the build for us in China and who had to return to Australia immediately after sailing yesterday for the birth of his second child”
The team will be based in Endeavour Quay, Gosport until the end of June when they will head to Ireland to setup a training camp, before the final move to Alicante at the end of August.
Grant Dalton, managing director of Emirates Team New Zealand, talked to Bloomberg television's Night Talk program on Monday night. The legendary kiwi sailor mainly focused on the lawsuit his team has filed against Alinghi. The interview comes into three parts.
Dalton mentions an interesting number concerning the 32nd edition of the America's Cup in Valencia, that is his team's budget. According to him, Emirates Team New Zealand had a total budget of around 60 million euros, going on to state that they were about the 5th most funded team, out of 12. If these numbers are indeed true, they were by far the most efficient and achieved the best expenses to results ratio.
[Source: Team Russia] Team Russia put the seal to a weekend of celebrations in an official naming ceremony of its Volvo Open 70 yacht Kosatka, (Russian for Orca, Killer Whale) in a christening at Gunwharf Quays Marina, Portsmouth (UK) on Monday 16th June.
Birgitta Westerberg, co-founder with Oleg Zherebtsov of the Solntse (Sun) Foundation charity for sick and underprivileged children in St Petersburg was asked to be godmother to the boat. She named Kosatka in honour of the speed, power and exemplary teamwork shown by Orcas. Breaking slightly with tradition a bottle of champagne was sprayed over the bow of the VO70 while the audience toasted the boat with a shot of Nemiroff vodka.
With a contingent of over 100 Russian guests, including friends and business associates of Team Russia’s principle Oleg Zherebtsov, spectators were treated to a pyrotechnic display and unveiling of the environmental message the boat will take around the globe while competing in the Volvo Ocean Race, the premiere round the world yacht race that starts in Alicante this October. The event covers over 37,000 nautical miles and visits 11 ports, culminating in a finish in St Petersburg, Russia in June 2009.
Team Russia christen their brand new VOR70 boat. Portsmouth, 16 June 2008. Photo copyright Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race
We Sail For the Whale
Team Russia and the WDCS, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, have formed a partnership to highlight the urgent need for better protection for the world’s whales and dolphins. The logo ‘We Sail For The Whale’ will head its campaign to call for the creation of twelve new marine protected areas – for whales and dolphins by 2012.
The route of the Volvo Ocean Race will cross many areas important to whales and dolphins. Starting in Alicante, Spain in October 2008 and finishing in St Petersburg, Russia in June 2009, the Race will visit 11 ports around the World over a 10-month period.
Innovative Design
Since its unveiling Team Russia’s Volvo Open 70, designed by Rob Humphreys and built by Green Marine, has provoked a great deal of interest and intrigue. Using two spray rails at the front of the boat to provide ‘lift’ downwind and less blue water over the deck, the Team expect to see advantages in this avant-garde design. “We are planning to take the boat offshore over the next week to really put her through her paces,” explains skipper Andreas Hanakamp. “The proof of the effectiveness will then become apparent. However, we do expect to see some good results based on the positive effects we observed during tank testing.”
Team Russia will move down to Portland, Dorset (UK) over the next few weeks where it will set up its training camp during the build up to the start of the Race. However, Kosatka will be back in The Solent at the end of the month for the JPM Morgan Round The Island Race.
BMW Oracle completes second session of multihull training
[Source: BMW Oracle] BMW ORACLE Racing enjoyed a productive week of sailing on Groupama 2 in Lorient last week, with sunshine and light to moderate breeze along the beautiful Brittany coast.
Helmsman James Spithill took the opportunity to log more hours driving the high performance multihull while the session also gave some design team members the chance to sail the 60-foot trimaran.
Groupama’s Franck Cammas and Bruno Laurent led the session to continue the team’s multihull learning.
And with flat seas and moderate breeze, sailing team coordinator Julien di Biase (SUI) reports: “It was good fun and a max 33 knots reaching!”
Franck Cammas and Julien di Biase comment on the second training session with BMW Oracle. Lorient, 13 June 2008. Video copyright Groupama
James Spithill and Russell Coutts to match race in Extreme 40's
A new event was presented last Friday in Milan, Italy. It will take place in Cattolica, on the Italian Adriatic coast, from Thursday till Sunday and will see James Spithill and Russell Coutts, respectively helmsman and CEO of BMW Oracle, face off in a series of match races.
The two sailors will participate in this exhibition regatta, organized by their Italian teammate Max Sirena, aboard the now-famous Extreme 40 catamarans in what will probably be a training session for the upcoming 33rd America's Cup Match, presumably to be held some time between October 2008 and July 2009.
According to Sirena, the event is open to all interested match racers. For the inaugural event only Spithill and Coutts will take part but from next year, the best sailors of the world will have the opportunity to join. Obviously, by that time next year the 33rd America's Cup might be over and depending on its result there might be no interest at all in match racing Extreme 40's.
The event, named "JAEGER-LECOULTRE JUST THE BEST MATCH RACE 1ST", will consist of traditional windward/leeward match races and was initially planned to be raced in RC44's but given the recent developments, Sirena stated they thought it would be more appropriate to use the Extreme 40 catamarans. According to Sirena, it will be a "challenger cup", meaning that its winner, every year, will have to accept challengers, in what appears to be very similar to the America's Cup.
In the first boat James Spithill will sail together with John Kostecki, Dirk de Ridder and Alan Smith. The crew of the second boat will consist of Russell Coutts, Max Sirena, Simeon Tienpont and Pete Melvin, the US multihull specialist.
For those interested, here is the video from the presentation:
Alinghi finishes 3rd in the Bol D'Or; Franck Cammas grabs victory
Valencia Sailing was in Geneva this weekend in order to assist for the first time ever in the Mirabaud Bol d'Or, one the most famous European races that take place in a lake. More than a competitive race, the Bol d'Or is a sailing party, a place for everyone to share the lake, from the Sunday sailor to the America's Cup winners.
In this year's edition, more than 600 boats took part, including some innovative designs, since many see the race as a laboratory, a life-sized towing tank.
The concept of the Mirabaud Bol d'Or is very simple. All participating boats start sailing in Geneva and head north east, towards the city of Le Bouveret, situated at the other end of the lake. There are no restrictions on the course a boat might choose, with the exception of the multihulls that have to round an offset mark 3 miles from the starting line.
From that point, they are free to choose their strategy in order to reach the buoy at Le Bouveret. After rounding it they are once again completely free to devise their best strategy in order to return to Geneva and cross the finish line, off the Société Nautique de Genève. The shortest distance between Geneva and Le Bouveret buoy is 66.5 nautical miles.
Up to 2 years ago, all yachts shared the same starting line but the increase in the number and competitive level of the multihul fleet forced the organization to create two different starting lines, 400 meters apart. As a result, the much faster multihulls are not obstructed by the much more crowded monohull fleet.
Our interest was obviously focused on two D35 boats, Alinghi and Zebra 7. The former doesn't ned any introduction and the latter was helmed by Franck Cammas, the French multihull specialist and consultant to BMW Oracle.
Unfortunately, Saturday's conditions were far from perfect and when the starting gun was fired at 9am, there were probably 1 or maximum 2 knots of wind. Both Alinghi and Zebra 7 had a very difficult and painful start, getting stuck in a windless trap. The first half of the race was indeed tough for both of the teams as they struggled to find win near the French coast, on the southern side of the lake.
Zebra 7 rounded the Bouveret buoy 5th, 7 minutes behind leader Zen Too, while Alinghi was 9th, a whopping 28 minutes behind Zen Too. The winning strategy in the second half of the race was to go as close as possible to the Swiss coast, on the northern side of the lake. Although there are no general wind patterns in the region, a nice breeze, reaching 11 knots, picked up after 5pm and paid off handsomely for the two America's Cup rivals, especially for Cammas.
Zebra 7 crossed the finish line after nine and a half hours of racing, holding a 29-minute advantage over Alinghi. The America's Cup defender's catamaran was 2nd in the D35 class and third overall.
Cammas was sailing together with Julien di Biase (BMW Oracle sailing coordinator), Loïc Forestier, Yannick Preitner, Nicolas Groux and Robert Graham.
Alinghi's crew consisted of Ernesto Bertarelli (helmsman), Murray Jones (helmsman/tactician), Pierre-Yves Jorand (mainsail trimmer), Yves Detrey (bowman), Nils Frei (trimmer) and Christian Wahl (strategist).
The 33rd America's Cup As far as the America's Cup is concerned, all Alinghi crew were tight-lipped and with hardly any exception, "maybe" and "who knows?" were the most frequent answers to our questions. Construction of the multihull that will face BMW Oracle is going ahead as planned, in the team's boat yard in Villeneuve.
One of the thorniest issues the team might face is after the boat has been built. How does one transport a 90ft by 90 ft multihull from a mountainous and landlocked region to the open sea? Villeneuve might be a beautiful, picturesque Swiss city but it is surrounded by the Alps and the closest coastal city is Genoa in Italy, 250km away. It is difficult to see how the yacht can be airlifted over the Alps in such a distance. All we know is that Alinghi is working on ways to resolve this problem but, obviously, we weren't given any further information.
Zebra 7 (SUI-7) and Alinghi (SUI-1), side by side on the multihull starting line. Geneva, 14 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
Part of the multihull starting line. Geneva, 14 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
Out of the hundreds of spectator boats of all types, we spotted Grant Dalton, managing director of Emirates Team New Zealand. Geneva, 14 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
The Mirabud LX hydrofoil, the first ever sailing boat with no hull. Geneva, 14 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
Alinghi has rounded the offset mark and embarks on the 60-mile long race under painstakingly light conditions. Geneva, 14 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
From left, Murray Jones, Pierre-Yves Jorand and Ernesto Bertarelli. Geneva, 14 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
My apologies for the lack of updates since almost a week but I was extremely busy at the Giraglia Rolex Cup, the 2nd event of the Quebramar GP42 Cup. With the exception of the Quebramar-Chrysler Trophy in Cascais, the GP42 fleet has always shared the same race area with dozens of other boats of all sizes and classes.
In Saint-Tropez the GP42 class made a qualitative leap. Not only did the 8-strong fleet had its own race area and committee, we enjoyed quite good wind conditions. A little bit more breeze would have been excellent but considering the fact that the remaining 200 boats struggled further offshore to find the weakest puff of breeze during 2 days, nobody is complaining. In addition, racing was so close, that overall leadership changed three times in three hours in the closing day of the event. AIRIS, the Italian boat helmed by Sandro Montefusco, started the day 4th and was crowned winner in the afternoon.
The official GP42 site has a wealth of information on the class and the Quebramar GP42 Cup. You'd better like it because I built it and I'm in charge of it!!!
Next stop for Valencia Sailing is Geneva and the Bol d'Or Mirabaud. As one would expect, my main interest will be the D35 fleet. Murray Jones will be helming the Alinghi catamaran, with Ernesto Bertarelli onboard.
AIRIS, the Italian newcomer, won the event by winning the 9th and last race. Saint-Tropez, 8 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Quebramar GP42 Cup
Near-Miss, the Swiss boat representing the Société Nautique de Genève, started the last day having a slim 2-point advantage. Halfway up the first leg they ran aground and of course lost all chances of winning the event. Among its America's Cup pedigree crew there is Bertrand Pacé (helm), Tangy Cariou (tactics) and Tom Schnackenberg (navigator). Saint-Tropez, 8 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Quebramar GP42 Cup
So close yet so far. Canarias Puerto Calero, the Spanish team from the Canary islands, needed at worst a 4th place in the last race in order to guarantee victory in the event. The trophey slipped out of their hands after finishing 6th. Saint-Tropez, 8 June 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Quebramar GP42 Cup
New Talent shines in day 2 of Korea Match Racing Cupa
[World Match Racing Tour] Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea – After a day spent trouncing many of their elder rivals, it appears that some relative newcomers to the World Match Racing Tour are now well on their way to securing berths in the next Quarter Final stage of the Korea Match Cup. Adam Minoprio (NZL) and his Emirates Team New Zealand/Black Match Racing has amassed eight points thus far in the Round Robin, second only on a tie-break to Jesper Radich (DEN) and his Rudy Project Sailing Team, while Torvar Mirsky (AUS) and his Mirsky Racing Team currently lie in third.
Radich secures his spot in the next round on his impressive 8-3 record, but said this about the young talent he faces in this competition: “I know it wasn’t too long ago that I was the ‘young guy’ in the field, but I know that’s not true anymore, because I got my butt kicked by another young guy today.” He was referring to Mirsky, who at 22 is indeed the youngest competitor at this event, but has also this year been active at many others on the Tour. Besides Radich, Mirsky dispensed today with two other past Tour champions and recent America’s Cup veterans, Magnus Holmberg (SWE) of Victory Challenge and Paolo Cian (ITA) of Team Shosholoza.
For his part, Minoprio said modestly that he was just glad to “have enjoyed a mistake-free day.” Even Wataru Sakamoto (JPN) and his Siesta Team, with only three wins on their scorecard, felled a giant too, defeating reigning World Champion Ian Williams (GBR) and his Team Pindar.
The match race action started slowly today, as a weak westerly seabreeze gave PRO David Tallis and his race management team fits until after lunch when the shift went right and the breeze built to a perfect 12 knots. With the pre-start area here in the Jeongok Marina only metres away from the spectator viewing area, it was no surprise that all day long there was a continuous stream of hundreds of spectators on hand to watch the teams battle it out in the speedy Bakewell-White-designed KM 36’s built here especially for this event. As part of the Korea International Boat Show, it is expected that the total number of visitors will surpass 100,000, making it the most populous event yet on the World Tour.
Besides seeing some of the younger talent achieve some upsets on the race course, these spectators were also treated to seeing some of the world’s most seasoned match racers display their skills in close, hard-fought battles against one another. One of these is the wily veteran Peter Gilmour (AUS) and his Team PST, who lived up to his reputation as a cunning and aggressive sailor, always taking the game to his opponent and never giving up even when trailing his competition. This aggressive style makes for fabulous spectating, but got Gilly in foul trouble today with the umpires, with match-losing penalties assessed him in three matches. And his loss to Mirsky was due to having missed a course change signal and rounded the wrong mark while ahead of his younger fellow Aussie.
But Gilly was not the only veteran to make this mistake, as Holmberg did the same in his last match of the day against Minoprio, handing the young Kiwi one of his eight matches for not having sailed the right course.
“We all agreed the mark was to be black at the start, but somehow we all then agreed it was red when we got to the top of the leg, so we rounded the red one,” said the former Tour champion. With only two wins scored and only three matches left to race, Holmberg’s chances to advance seem slim, but he remains upbeat: “There’s still a chance, so we’ll give it everything tomorrow.”
Stage One round robin racing concludes tomorrow morning, followed by the start of Stage Two in the Quarter Final knockout series.
Scores after 16 (of 22) flights: Jesper Radich (DEN) Rudy Project Sailing Team 8-3 Adam Minoprio (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch Racing 7-3 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 5-1 Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar 5-2 Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Shosholoza 4-4 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Alandia Sailing Team 3-2 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 3-2 Sébastien Col (FRA) K Challenge/French Match Racing Team 3-2 Wataru Sakamoto (JPN) Siesta Team 3-4 Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge 2-6 Peter Gilmour (AUS) Team PST 2-5 Seung Chul Lim (KOR) Korea Gyeonman Team 0-11
Consistency pays off for Canarias Puerto Calero on opening day of Giraglia Rolex Cup
Saint-Tropez, 08 June 2008: The Spanish GP42 team from the Canary Islands might have the youngest tactician of the whole fleet, 24-year old Rayco Tabares, but their consistency in today’s three opening races of the Giraglia Rolex Cup paid off and with three second places they are now at the top of the score table, 2 points ahead of Desafío. Once again, the old adage of consistency holds true. The fleet is so close that each and every errors costs dearly and one claim that errors are not permitted. Second-placed Desafío can easily testify to that.
The Saint-Tropez bay was the perfect host for the first day of the Giraglia Rolex Cup. The first race started right on time and conditions were sure to guarantee exciting and close racing. With the starting line a few hundred meters from the coast, not only was the backdrop stunning but scores of beachgoers were also able to enjoy watching the GP42 fleet.
The starting gun was fired with a nice constant breeze of around 10 knots and even if the 8-strong fleet was evenly spread over the starting line, Near Miss and MADRID were early over the line. The fleet was split with no apparent favoured side. Canarias Puerto Calero and Seawonder 007 chose the right while Desafío and Roma GP42.2 the left. The Canarians together with Seawonder 007 were leading during the first half of the race, closely followed by AIRIS and Desafío. Unfortunately, luck was not on the side of Seawonder 007 when halfway up the second beat, the Italian boat went aground after trying to get better breeze close to the coast.
The second half of the race turned into a match race between Canarias Puerto Calero and Desafío. The all-America’s Cup green team showed once again their strength and overtook the Canarians a few hundred meters from the finish line, with AIRIS closely behind them.
The second race started with slightly lighter conditions after the racing committee had shortened the leg length to 1 mile. All boats had a clear start at the committee boat end of the line. Desafío and MADRID lead the fleet from the start, once again closely followed by Near Miss who had chosen to stay in the middle of the race area. The three leading positions were hardly changed till the last leg when Canarias Puerto Calero once again anticipated the wind shifts to the right part of the course, overtook MADRID and Near Miss.
The race committee had to wait for half an hour before firing the gun as the wind kept shifting. The third and last day of the race would prove to be the trickiest but also the tripping point for Desafío that literally threw away their leadership by committing an unforgivable error at the start. With the committee end being the favored one, the Spanish boat got squeezed and crossed the line well behind the rest.
Given the shifty conditions, tacticians were split over what side to choose. Near Miss, MADRID, Canarias Puerto Calero and Seawonder 007 went to the left while the rest chose the right. The Swiss boat built a big lead and rounded the top mark clearly ahead of the rest. They never felt threatened by any of the trailing boats but the real fight took place for second and third place. Roma GP42.1, the fleet’s oldest boat, was not able to hold on to second place. Once again, Canarias Puerto Calero made an incredible recovery through the fleet, finishing second, in front of MADRID.
Quotes
José Maria Ponce – Helmsman Canarias Puerto Calero: It was a good day for us. With three second places we showed good consistency, because it was a tricky situation with many wind shifts but we are able to anticipate them. The crew was all right, I guess we still have margin for improvement and we can win some races. We are very satisfied, we were lucky and we sailed well and it’s a good base for the coming days. I believe that Desafio can be considered as the number one competitor, they’re experienced and trained, but we’ll do our best to keep them at bay.
Tom Schnackenberg – Navigator Near Miss: I’m very impressed with the racing, with the Race Committee, they were on time and kept us informed, set good courses in a very difficult set of conditions. We had three quite good races, the whole fleet and we’re pleased. So far this venue is good. The fleet is very close, you can see a boat winning one race and come sixth in another, so if you choose well you’ve got a good chance to win, conversely if you find yourself in the wrong place in the first or the second beat you can loose places very quickly. It’s a nice tight little fleet and we’re going to have nice racing, if this continues like today.
As for Near Miss it’s true we’re improving, we’re learning the boat but the others are doing it too. We had a bad first race because we had to restart, a good second one and we won the third one, we were lucky. I think that being in front is a huge advantage, whoever is in front has an easy race.
Quebramar GP42 Cup - Giraglia Rolex Cup - Provisional standings after 3 races
Telefonica's Black boat sound and safe in the Alicante base
After a trip that lasted 3 days aboard an Antonov cargo plane, Telefonica Negro, the Spanish VOR team's black boat, is now sound and safe in her base in Alicante. The Farr-designed Volvo Ocean Race boat arrived at the airport early in the morning on Thursday and after another odyssey that lasted almost 10 hours she was unwrapped in the team base in the afternoon.
The Telefonica shore crew is now working at full speed on fitting her out and, if all goes according to plan, she will make her maiden outing in the sea in approximately one week.
[Source: Golden Gate Yacht Club] The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) said it was very pleased with today’s hearing before the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court and looked forward to an expedited decision that would enable the next America’s Cup match to be held as soon as possible.
“Like nearly everyone in the sailing community we look forward to the court process now being resolved quickly, hopefully before the end of June, and having the next America’s Cup match as soon as possible,” Tom Ehman, the club’s spokesman said. Ehman said the Court clearly had a good grasp of the issues, and had tough questions for Société Nautique de Genève (SNG’s) counsel. GGYC welcomed the Court’s questions about the key points at stake.
Today’s hearing was held after the Cup defender, SNG/Alinghi, lodged an appeal to overturn the decisions by Justice Herman Cahn in the New York State Supreme Court that declared GGYC the valid challenger for the Cup.
SNG/Alinghi also appealed against Justice Cahn’s ruling that the match should go ahead in March 2009, asking for more delay.
Under the Cup’s rules the defender is entitled to ten months notice. SNG/Alinghi are seeking more than 22 months notice since GGYC’s challenge was filed in July 2007.
“The arguments put forward by SNG/Alinghi today were no different than the ones put before Justice Cahn, which he rejected,” Ehman said. “We are confident in our position as Challenger of Record, and we look forward to going racing without any further delay.”
Société Nautique de Genève puts case to Appellate Division and looks forward to resolution
[Source: Alinghi] The Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), the America’s Cup Defender, today put its case to the five judges sitting in the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court. The Swiss yacht club successfully consolidated its appeal from Justice Cahn’s 12 May 2008 order with the previously expedited 14 April 2008 appeal. Now it continues to wish for a speedy resolution and to conclude the litigation initiated by the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) almost a year ago.
Justices David Saxe, Eugene Nardelli, Karla Moskowitz, Rolando Acosta and Leland DeGrasse granted approx 30 minutes for the oral arguments from both SNG and GGYC. This was the last opportunity for either party to present their merits to the Court and a ruling is expected in a reasonably short time.
Lucien Masmejan, SNG lead counsel, comments: “We were pleased to have our arguments heard by the Appellate Court regarding the validity of the GGYC Challenge while simultaneously seeking clarification on the date and venue for the 33rd America’s Cup. Justice Cahn’s orders left several issues unresolved and we hope that our position can now be sustained by the Appellate Court. The Justices presiding over the case seemed receptive and we look forward to receiving their judgment. We are hopeful that by consolidating our appeals and achieving the expedited status, unnecessary delays will be minimised. We are looking forward to finally putting an end to the disruption brought to the America’s Cup by BMW Oracle Racing’s opportunistic legal strategy.”
[Source: AUDI Medcup] Platoon powered by Team Germany, steered by triple Olympic gold medallist and double America's Cup Winner Jochen Schuemann (GER) emerged unscathed from a dramatic and exciting coastal race to take the best of the points available, winning both sections of the 39 miles passage to Cassis and back, on the third day of racing at the City of Marseille Trophy, the second regatta of the Audi MedCup Circuit.
It was the first ever winning gun for the German boat which is owned by Harm Muller-Spreer (GER) and helmed by Schuemann with Rod Dawson (NZL) calling the tactics. Only swift avoiding action by the helm, who saw at the last minute what was happening, saved Platoon from becoming involved in a nasty series of crashes and near-collisions when the leading pack converged at speed at the first windward mark.
A big wind shift accelerated the arrival and suddenly favored a pack coming from the left at the buoy, while those with right of way on starboard tack slowed and struggled momentarily. Lightning quick reactions and bold decisions were required from the line up of port tack boats. Sadly Matador (ARG), CxG Caixa Galicia (ESP) and Mutua Madrileña (CHI) all sustained damage and had to retire.
Desafío loses the spinnaker but also first place in the coastal race. Marseille, 5 June 2008. Photo copyright Ian Roman / AUDI Medcup
There were six protests from the incidents, all three boats are seeking redress, but CxG Caixa Galicia’s owner Vicente Tirado confirmed this evening that the damage to the bow of their boat is such that he is presently looking for a suitable replacement boat to continue the Audi MedCup season with.
Caixa Galicia’s bow was badly smashed after they hit Mutua Madrileña which sustained a one metre gash in her hull side just below deck level, while in a related crash Mean Machine(MON) hit Matador, who have much of their aft port quarter crumpled.
“I think these things happen sometimes because the boats are so evenly matched for speed but Mean Machine crushed Matador’s stern right in front of us and I had to do something quickly or we would have done the same thing.” recalled Schuemann,
“For us as a team it is great got get a win under our belt. The first coastal race we have won for a long time and the first Audi MedCup Circuit race for me and my crew so that feels pretty nice! We are happy after some problems yesterday, we were glad to get a win in! We made it around the top mark well in second and closed in to the Spanish team El Desafío who were leading. We had a long fight and stretched out there. Russell Coutts came close on USA-17 with very good boat speed but we kept them at bay and got a good lead, never risking our win. The learning has been big. Today we have made good decisions and we feel we are really moving up.”
Excellence performance by Platoon, winners of the coastal race's both legs. Marseille, 5 June 2008. Photo copyright Ian Roman / AUDI Medcup
The 39-miles course offered a good selection of points of sail to contest, with a short two miles beat up to the Islands of Ratoneau and Grand Salaman before a long, exciting sleigh ride, peppered with an array of wind shifts to make gains and losses on, down to the scoring gate, 26 miles into the race.
From the turning mark off the entrance to the beautiful bay of Cassis, there was a tough beat back up along the coast, the TP52’s dwarfed at times by the 200 metre high cliffs, which accelerated the Mistral winds to over 22 knots.
Platoon was ahead after about 12 miles when the spinnakers were set, passing early leader El Desafío (ESP). After a poor start USA-17, the regatta leaders, steadily picked their way through the fleet. As the leaders squeezed through the narrow gap between the Ile Jaire and the mainland, tacking only 15 metres or so off the rocky coast, and with the hard hiking crew regularly able to see the sea bed beneath their keels, USA-17 used the shifts and wind bends to get back to within a few boat lengths of the German crew. But Schuemann and his crew extended again to win by 37 seconds from USA-17, who left their Swedish sistership Artemis to pick up third place three minutes behind.
The Reichel/Pugh-designed sisterships, built to the same design from different moulds, shared the seconds and third places between them, ensuring that USA-17 still lead by four points ahead of Artemis going into the penultimate day of racing.
Russell Coutts (NZL), tactician on USA-17 : “Conditions here are fantastic today the boat is going very well. We have some tuning to do in the lighter winds but in the stronger stuff it all fits together pretty nicely. We have got a pretty experienced team on board and that makes a huge difference especially in these very windy conditions.”
“The first part of the race was important that was how Platoon got the jump, but then the long downward leg was pretty key, and there were some gains and losses with some pretty big wind shifts and big wave surfing conditions. If you had good boatspeed that was a big factor. Coming upwind it was very tricky, puffy, shifty, and a lot of sail trimming – that was great! There is a lot of good banter going between us and Artemis but it is all fun – and obviously we have members of the team on both boats so it is good for both of us to be doing well.”
Guillermo Parada (ARG), Matador’s skipper and helm: “Approaching the weather mark on starboard a couple of boats came in on port including Mean Machine who overstood. So they were reaching a little bit and by the time they approached us, they must have had a gust and were not able to come down enough and hit us in the aft port quarter of the boat, causing serious damage. “
“We lost the spinnaker sheet system, three stanchions, structural damage in the bulkhead side, lost the traveller, there is a crack on the deck and obviously the whole port side is completely destroyed. In the middle of the boat there is internal damage and many other things we're still exploring but we are trying our best to get it fixed and be back racing as soon as possible. We are flying people and materials here.”
Nacho Postigo (ESP), navigator on Mutua Madrileña: “1.8 miles after the start on the first beat and approaching on port tack and trying to duck the boats arriving in starboard tack we had Caixa behind us and to weather. We bore away hard to avoid Quantum and found a gap behind them ahead of Bribón and behind Audi Q8. CXG had the intention to go behind us. But he suddenly found the Russain boat to leeward of them on port and although they had been shouting at them to avoid the fleet the Russian boat luffed and tried to tack, which forced them to hit CXG and then CXG hit us badly in the middle of the hull.”
“Luckily it was not a high speed collision and nobody was hurt. Vasco Vascotto, steering the boat, was a little injured, but not too seriously as he took about a four metre flight through the air. The boat has a crack in the outside skin, the Nomex is broken along with the inner skin in the panel between two bulkheads. It is possibly a one-week job to repair.”
“Another incident took place at the same buoy between Matador and Mean Machine where MM (similarly to us ) bore away to get behind Matador. Suddenly a big puff came along and they lost control whilst trying to bear away they hit the last few metres of the stern of Matador, but in this case the conditions fully influenced the situation.”
Marseille Trophy - AUDI Medcup / Standings after 6 races
Alinghi training on board of ORMA60 Foncia and Banque Populaire. Lorient, 30 June 2008. Photo copyright George Johns/Alinghi 
