Valencia Sailing talks to Murray Jones

We are in Le Bouveret, the temporary base of Alinghi, the 33rd America's Cup defender, situated on the easternmost point of lake Geneva. Alinghi 5, the team's brand new catamaran, has now been undergoing the first sailing trials and tests for 11 consecutive days and on the eve of her "parade" to Geneva we talked to Murray Jones, strategist of the team in the 32nd America's Cup and now coordinator of these tests.

Valencia Sailing: How have the first 11 days of testing been?

Murray Jones: They have been very well. We have been working through a brand new boat and totally new systems and concepts. Working through all these aspects and debugging has been our main priority and it has been going quite well. We could have done with a little bit more wind, we were lucky in the first few days but then it got lighter. We have had from 0 to probably 11 knots and we could do with a little bit more than that to press up the boat a little bit harder. It would be nice to have some breeze between 10 and 15 knots.

Valencia Sailing: How steep has the learning curve been for you so far?

Murray Jones: In one way it was steep but in another it wasn't. I didn't have any experience on big multihulls beforehand but being involved with the conception of the design and every step of the design the rig and the entire boat all the way through in the last 18 months I know this yacht inside out. Now it is about applying these things on the water and there haven't been too many things that were surprising.

Valencia Sailing: So, could you say that what you've seen so far is what you were expecting a month ago?

Murray Jones: Yes. When you look at the design and the loads everything appears huge but when you sail on that yacht you don't quite appreciate the loads that are there and I think this is one of the dangers of sailing such a yacht, underestimating the power of the boat.

Valencia Sailing: How dangerous will it be racing on these yachts?

Murray Jones: I think it will be dangerous because you never know what could break and there are hundreds of things that could break. As a result, we warn the guys onboard to look after themselves and be in a position so that they can look around themselves, not be in a fine line of a block look what is loaded and not be in the way if something broke.

Valencia Sailing: Have you come close to a situation during these tests that could even be dangerous?

Murray Jones: No and we didn't break anything important. We just broke a halyard but that was due to a slight crew error. That was the only thing that broke and we are pretty satisfied with that.

Valencia Sailing: How far have you pushed the yacht in these tests?

Murray Jones: We pushed her as far as we could possibly do with the wind speeds we had. Our top speed was in the twenties and as I said before we just need more need to push her harder.

Murray Jones is coordinating the first test sails of Alinghi 5. Le Bouveret, 30 July 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia Sailing: Do you feel like a kid in a candy store sailing on Alinghi 5?

Murray Jones: Absolutely, but not just sailing. It's a fantastic project to be associated with. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to be involved with such a new project where there are no rules and you are free to do whatever you like. There are obviously budget limitations for us, just like in any project.

Valencia Sailing: Was your budget the only limitation you had?

Murray Jones: Yes, basically it was time and budget. We obviously had a limited time, the Cup will take place in February and in addition there were a few moments in the last 18 months that it could have been earlier. There were some projects we would have liked to take on but we decided we wouldn't because there was not enough time to fully develop them. There were time limitations and budget as well. We haven't gone overboard since there were financial limits.

Valencia Sailing: Having no limitations other than time and budget is there anything on the yacht that could be considered revolutionary?

Murray Jones: I think the S-foils are quite revolutionary. It's a pretty clever idea for a catamaran, a nice solution to the problem of sailing upwind and trying to optimize downwind as well.

Valencia Sailing: Are there any advances that will eventually trickle down to monohull racing yachts like conventional America's Cup boats or the TP52's for example?

Murray Jones: There are many, many things that will trickle down to yacht racing. I'm sure that in the next few years we will see lots of them, the rigging being one of them. It's incredibly strong, light and low windage. There are a lot of smaller things where extensive research has been made and that will be adopted by other classes of yachts.

Valencia Sailing: Are these yachts more physically demanding for the crew, compared to the ones used in the last Cup?

Murray Jones: No I wouldn't say that. The sails, the gennaker are quite bigger but this is not an aspect of high priority in a Deed-of-Gift match. In such a race the chances are you might put the gennaker up only once and that will be it. You might not even have to drop it until you get to the finish line. The boat handling aspect of the project hasn't been a high priority for us; we concentrated on speed and how to trim the boat for speed rather than handling the boat.

The engine of Alinghi 5. Le Bouveret, 31 July 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia Sailing: One aspect that certainly changes from the past is the engine for the hydraulic systems. Putting any legal issues apart, was it a gamble? Have you had any problem so far?

Murray Jones: We've had some problems as the engine, like the entire yacht, has been specifically developed for that purpose but they will be tuned as we go. It's a much more sophisticated system that just a simple engine, it's controlled by a computer and there is some very high-level technology in it, the way it operates relatively to the loads that get applied. There will be a continuous tuning during the next few months.

Valencia Sailing: Would you, as a sailor, like to see it implemented in the future America's Cup class?

Murray Jones: I'm not sure, it depends on the size of the boats that you will sail, let's say 100 feet long.

Valencia Sailing: Would you have included it in the AC90 for example?

Murray Jones: You could but I don't think you would because it's still a manageable size of boat. In the AC90 the jibs weren't that big and I don't think it would be necessary but on a monohull over 100 feet long then you could consider it. It's definitely an improvement for trimming the boat and you get more out of the boat speedwise because you can trim the sails much quicker than you would manually, using pedestals and grinders. In that aspect it's more interesting for the trimmers because there is much more you can do to get the speed out of the boat but obviously the grinding aspect and the physical side are big parts of the sport of sailing.

Valencia Sailing: Shorter term, you have the "boat parade" on Saturday and then what is your schedule?

Murray Jones: Just a few more days of sailing and then we will pack up and move to the Mediterranean.

Valencia Sailing: Is it going to be a logistical nightmare to move the yacht over there?

Murray Jones: We surely hope it's not. It's pretty scary to see the big boat being airlifted by the helicopter. When we brought her from the boatyard to the lake everybody in the team were holding their breath, especially when she was put down on the water. Obviously taking the boat from here and flying her all the way across the Alps is not child's play. We obviously don't expect any problems, but then there is the mast and lots of stuff we will have to take with us in Genoa and set up again over there. It's been great sailing here in Switzerland and it served its purpose by being close to the boatyard in order to carry out all modification we wanted to do.

Valencia Sailing: Have you carried out any modifications yet?

Murray Jones: It's an ongoing process and there will be modifications done between now and when we sail in Genoa. We have found that sailing on the light is quite light air and the lake can get quite small for this size of boat. It will be nice to have more room and be able to sail in one direction for quite longer time. It's difficult to simulate a 20-mile leg of the Deed-of-Gift match on the lake. You can have 3 different wind directions in 20 miles.

Valencia Sailing: Why didn't you then fly directly from the boatyard to Genoa?

Murray Jones: Because we wanted to shake out and sort out the systems close to the boatyard where she was built. There are thousands of components on the yachts and we can have them built the same day or the next day, if required. We are finetuning the boat here rather than doing performance analysis but when we get on the Mediterranean we will have more space and that's when we will start looking at the performance. That's when we will have more space to go in one direction and in a steadier breeze.

Valencia Sailing: Has the boat been optimized for a light-air venue?

Murray Jones: We have obviously thought about the wind range we designed the boat around but it's not a narrow band, not at all. When we designed her we didn't have a venue at all. We will be equally competitive in 15 knots of breeze.

Tom Ehman: We believe this is a sad day for the America's Cup

[Source: BMW Oracle] We are very pleased that today’s Court decision gives
us clarity regarding the design rules that will govern AC33. It is now crystal clear that racing rules 49 through 54 will not apply.

However, without racing rules 49-54, SNG is breaking with the longstanding history and tradition in yacht racing that prohibited the use of non-manual power. For the first time in the Cup’s history, engines will be permitted to trim the sails, and computers can be used to control and steer the yachts. This, we believe, is a sad day for the America’s Cup.

While we are pleased with the design-rule certainty, we are disappointed that the Court has said that SNG can change the other racing rules at any time up to the start of the Match. We do not believe this is what the Deed says, nor what the donors intended, and are currently reviewing our options in this regard.

We are pleased that Justice Kornreich has ordered SNG to provide us the secret agreement SNG entered into with ISAF.

We look forward to the hearing on August 10th to clear the air on the CHR matter. We are confident we can demonstrate to the Court when it “would be practicable for [GGYC] to provide a CHR.”

Statement from Fred Meyer, Société Nautique de Genève Vice-Commodore

[Source: Alinghi] Fred Meyer comments following the Supreme Court of New York's latest Order

Statement from Fred Meyer, 33rd America's Cup defending yacht club, Société Nautique de Genève Vice-Commodore, following the New York Supreme Court decision published today: “We are very pleased with today's ruling by Justice Kornreich. This decision reflects her clear understanding of the Defender's rights under the Deed of Gift, which makes it the duty of Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) to set the rules for the upcoming 33rd America's Cup. The judge's order also validates the agreement entered into by SNG with the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), demonstrating that SNG is committed to returning the competition to the water where it belongs. We look forward to the 10 August hearing and to receiving the Golden Gate Yacht Club's Custom House Registry, which will enable Alinghi to properly prepare for its defence.”

Justice Kornreich: Alinghi can modify rules at will; hearing for Aug 10

Related PDF files

- Justice Kornreich Order, dated 29 July 2009

Justice Kornreich's latest order (see file in top box) couldn't be any clearer. The Deed of Gift gives Alinghi, the Defender of the 33rd America's Cup, the "very advantage" to modify the rules at will, "unfortunately for GGYC". As a result, the confidential agreement between Alinghi and the ISAF is deemed to be entirely legal and, consequently, there is nothing inherently illegal with Alinghi 5 since its design doesn't violate the Deed of Gift.

According to Justice Kornereich, the only "blatant example of a design feature that would violate the Deed is an engine to propel that yacht". In the case of Alinghi 5 the engine doesn't, obviously, propel her and is permitted since not "prohibited by the language of the Deed". This is, without any doubt, a major point in favor of Alinghi.

The engine is perfectly legal according to Justice Kornreich's decision. Le Bouveret, 30 July 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

As for the appointment of a jury for the race, Justice Kornreich finds, again, that there is nothing in the confidential agreement between Alinghi and ISAF that is inconsistent with the Deed of Gift. Alinghi, however must give BMW Oracle a copy of the said agreement.

Finally, regarding the issue of BMW Oracle's boat, Justice Kornereich will hold a hearing on August 10th, where BMW Oracle will have to show "when it's practicable" to provide a Customs House Registry, as asked by Alinghi. Each party will have an incredible 6 hours to present their case!!

Positive start for BlackMatch in International de France Match Race

Greetings from BlackMatch,

After a 3 week break from the match racing scene, we were back in action today, competing in the International de France Grade 1 event. This event is held in the Brittany region in the town Pornichet and has a very impressive line up, which of course includes the four French teams that are ranked in the ISAF top 10.

We are glad to be back in the J-80 boats which we sailed to victory in Marseille earlier this year, however this feels like a long time ago and it was great to get off to a positive start today with 4 wins from our 6 races.

While our 4 wins today were pretty convincing, our losses came against Sebastian Col and World number 12 Mads Ebler from Denmark, in extremely close fashion. The wind was very shifty today which made it tactically very difficult and although we arguably had the better start against Col, he got the better of us up the first beat and never looked back to take a narrow win. Our closest race was against Ebler who won the start after a wind shift when the start gun went meant we started at the un-favored ‘boat end’ of the line. The Danish sailor did a great job throughout the race and although we felt like we were always gaining on him, he defended very well to take a well deserved victory. We threw everything we had at him on the final run to the finish, ‘tossing’ the boats around in a fierce gybing duel, but they hung on well and won by a boat length.

Valencia Sailing goes to Le Bouveret

Valencia Sailing is now in Le Bouveret, Switzerland in order to get a closer look at Alinghi 5, yacht of the America's Cup Defender. Here's a short selection of photos and a couple of videos of the yacht being towed out for another day of testing on Lake Geneva. We will have more feature in the following days and we will follow the yacht on her "boat parade" on Saturday from Lausanne to Geneva.

Alinghi 5 getting ready for another day of trials. Le Bouveret, 30 July 2009. Video copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi 5 getting ready for another day of trials. Le Bouveret, 30 July 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi 5 getting ready for another day of trials. Le Bouveret, 30 July 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi 5 getting ready for another day of trials. Le Bouveret, 30 July 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi 5 getting ready for another day of trials. Le Bouveret, 30 July 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi 5 getting ready for another day of trials. Le Bouveret, 30 July 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi 5 getting ready for another day of trials. Le Bouveret, 30 July 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi 5 getting ready for another day of trials. Le Bouveret, 30 July 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Groupama 3: Onward to the front!

[Source: Groupama] Franck Cammas and his nine crew are perfectly positioned on the transatlantic record route. At noon this Thursday after fourteen hours at sea, Groupama 3 was situated between Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Sable Island, maintaining an average speed since the start of over 32 knots. To reach Lizard Point in under 4 days 03 hours 57 minutes 54 seconds remains totally within their grasp...

Franck Cammas was in fine fettle this Thursday noon for the first radio link-up organised with the shore-based HQ in Lorient, at which point the green trimaran had already covered over 450 miles since setting out from New York on Wednesday at 20h 12' 16'' UT: "We're sailing downwind on flat seas with 20 to 25 knots of breeze.

Franck Cammas and Groupama 3 in their attempt to break the North Atlantic crossing record. Video copyright Groupama

We've had to make a few sail changes since leaving the Ambrose Light, hoisting more sail aloft this morning as we set the gennaker. We're trying to go fast by heading up to accelerate. The crew is well aware of the score during such record attempts and the conditions aren't overly difficult: we've been able to rest whilst maintaining a high average speed.

Our watch system is in place at the moment (0930 hours UT) Fred Le Peutrec, Lionel Lemonchois and Ronan Le Goff are on deck; Steve Ravussin, Bernard Stamm and Olivier Mainguy are on stand-by; myself, Loïc Le Mignon and Bruno Jeanjean are resting. As for Stan Honey, he is off-watch so he can take up position at the chart table and help us on deck during maneuvers.

The trajectory as far as Lizard Point isn't as clear as all that: after Newfoundland we're going to have to choose between a route which sees us heading up a bit or bearing away a little, which has repercussions on the sail configuration. We're going to take that decision after Cap Race... The crux of the matter still centers on the end of the course as the front looks to want to drag its heels as we approach the goal."

GGYC sends SNG letter on the issue of the 33rd America's Cup venue

Related PDF files

- Letter from GGYC to SNG, dated 28 July 2009

Mr. Fred Meyer
Vice-Commodore
Chairman, SNG America’s Cup Commitee
Société Nautique de Genève
Port Noir
CH-1223 Colgny
Switzerland

Dear Vice Commodore Meyer,

We note that Mr Ostrager's most recent letter to the court is published on your website.

The purpose of this letter is to put you on notice, yet again, that if you unilaterally select a Northern Hemisphere venue other than Valencia we intend to defend our rights under the Deed and the Order and Judgment of the Court of Appeals. This position has been consistently reiterated to you through correspondence (as recently as July 8, 2009) and public statements. A copy of our July 8th letter, which sets out the substantive basis for our position, is attached to this letter for your reference.

Appropriately, Justice Kornreich's May decision did no more than enforce the Court of Appeals Order and Judgment and Deed which when read together can only mean that consent by GGYC is required for any Northern Hemisphere venue other than Valencia, for a February race. Any other reading of the Deed and Order would result in incongruous and absurd consequences.

It is ironic that just two months ago in your May 11th court papers you agreed with our position, stating that "The Deed of Gift unambiguously prohibits sailing a match between November 1 and May 1 in the Northern Hemisphere... There is nothing in the Order that suggests that a race should be held in contravention of the terms of the Deed of Gift."

You may of course choose a Southern Hemisphere venue of your choosing for a February race.

If you would like to choose an alternative Northern Hemisphere venue, we are more than willing to discuss proposed venues with you. Absent that, we look forward to your announcement on August 6th of either a Southern Hemisphere venue or Valencia as the venue for the 33rd America's Cup.

Sincerely,

GOLDEN GATE YACHT CLUB
Marcus Young
Commodore

cc: Ernesto Bertarelli, Team Alinghi
Brad Butterworth, Team Alinghi
Russell Coutts, BMW Oracle Racing
Tom Ehman, BMW Oracle Racing
Larry Ellison, BMW Oracle Racing

What is this?

Our apologies for the patchy updates in the last 48 hours but Valencia Sailing is not in Valencia. Stay tuned for exclusive content in the following 2 days.

In the meantime can you guess what boat is that?

Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Response to Tom Ehman in Valencia Sailing - letter from Brad Butterworth

“Tom Ehman’s interview in Valencia Sailing deserves an appropriate response:

In almost 140 years of America’s Cup competition, innovation is often accompanied by whines of “illegality” or “unfair” from the other camp. Alinghi however, cannot take any innovation credit in using powered systems, and Tom Ehman’s predictable whines are again wide of the mark. Onboard powered systems have been with the top end of the sport for more than a dozen years. Just take a closer look at the yachts competing in blue ribbon events such as the Sydney-Hobart, Newport to Bermuda, Volvo Ocean Race, Transpac as well as some World Championships such as the Maxi Worlds. Are they all cheats too, Tom?

If the new self-appointed purists of the sport are upset at the use of onboard powered systems, they need to take it up with the innovators of the game, but they have not only missed the boat, they have been missing it for years.

Can anyone fairly criticise Alinghi for using the best technology in what is an open design competition? Anyone reading the Mercury Bay judgements can read in simple black and white terms that there are no design rules except the broad dimensions specified in the Deed, and within these the challenger is free to commit to the dimensions of their yacht when making its challenge and the defender is free to respond. You can be sure the BMW Oracle designers are not thrilled to hear someone on their side might have put them wrong on the rules.

Now Tom Ehman is trying to sell us Mercury Bay and the 27th Match in 1988 as some kind of Californian “love-in”. That will come as a big surprise to those who lead and bankrolled the Mercury Bay Challenge and the three years of litigation it involved. Eight court hearings up and down the New York court system was just a bit of fun? No, mutual consent was as short on the ground then as it is now. The litigation might have been fun for Tom back in 1988 just as it seems to be to him now, but no one else is smiling Tom. The business of the Cup is in ruins but the Deed must prevail. Make no mistake; the Mercury Bay Boating Club contested the rules of the 27th Match produced by Tom Ehman right up to the very end. The measure of a man is how he takes his own medicine.

Next Tom Ehman wants to litigate the venue selection. He has flipped-flopped on this as well. He publicly announced last year after the Court’s order was made, that the Defender could choose a venue anywhere it wished, in either hemisphere. Only two months ago in May they issued press statements critical of Alinghi for what they said was defying the Court’s order in respect of the dates of the Match, which conflicted with the terms of the Deed of Gift. Now Ehman wants Alinghi to ignore the same Court order (and the Court’s subsequent directions), and follow the Deed in selecting the venue. How does he lie in bed straight?

Ehman is signaling he wants to start yet another round of litigation, this time over construction in country. Ehman’s no holds barred Cup philosophy hasn’t changed much since 1991 when he ran the Cup Organisation into near bankruptcy needing a massive bailout when he said:

“The challengers will do everything they can do to try to weaken us financially and operationally," said ACOC General Manager Tom Ehman. ”It is part of the battle, unfortunately, that carries over from the water onto the land. It's a little bit unfair."

Regrettably, the years don’t seem to have brought any maturity and wisdom.

Alinghi 5 has been constructed in Switzerland as required by the Deed and is now sailing in Switzerland. Despite Ehman’s rhetoric painting their challenge as an American product, it is hardly the “All American” challenge he would have us believe. Tom is careful not mention the overwhelming presence of Kiwis, Australians, Canadians, Irish, Brits, Dutch, French, Italians” - and that’s just the sailors, and it is not much different in other parts of the team including those who constructed their boat.

It is all but forgotten that it was another Californian yacht club that had the dubious distinction of being the very first to commence litigation over the Cup competition when the San Diego Yacht Club sought an injunction against the Royal Perth Yacht Club in 1985 (NYSC Index Number 22320/85) before the 26th America’s Cup in Fremantle over the rules of the regatta. That may have been 24 years ago, but some things just don’t change.

Ehman has signaled BMW Oracle will be desperately continuing to throw the dice in court for a while longer, and blaming the other side for their actions. The rest of the sport is thoroughly bored with their legal antics and increasingly ludicrous PR spin, and just wants us to get on with a race on the water.

Is anyone willing to bet they will not litigate again if they lose in February? I mean losing is just so unfair, eh Tom.”

Brad Butterworth, Alinghi team skipper.

Banque Populaire V to sail on Wedndesday night for North Atlantic record

After its passage to code green yesterday, Maxi Banque Populaire V and her crew have been in the starting blocks. They will start tonight in the conquest of the legendary North Atlantic crossing record, held by Franck Cammas on Groupama 3 in 4 days 3 hours 57 minutes and 54 seconds, that are also on stand by in New York.

The huge trimaran should cross the starting line during the evening in New York (Ambrose), which should be in the middle of the night from Wednesday to Thursday in Europe.

Golden Gate Yacht Club replies to CVG

Related PDF files

- GGYC writes to CVG, dated 28 July 2009

July 28, 2009

Mr. Lorenzo Rizzardi
President
Circolo Vela Gargnano
Via C.A. Bettoni, 23
25080 Bogliaco (BS)
Italy

Dear Mr. Rizzardi:

We are in receipt of your letter of July 20, 2009. As you know the only trustee for the America's Cup Deed of Gift is Société Nautique de Genève (SNG). We are not a fiduciary as a Challenger, despite your claims to the contrary. Please address any complaints that you have regarding fiduciary duties under the America's Cup Deed of Gift to SNG, the Trustee.

We know of no "pre-requisites" or "conditions" to which you refer in paragraph 6 of your letter. You should not assume that we share any opinions with you regarding that.

Our consistent position on your request has been set forth in our prior letter to you of May 26, 2009. To make it perfectly clear, our position is that we are not willing to hold an elimination series unless SNG agrees to a mutually consent protocol and all parties, including the Defender, are subject to the same rules. SNG is unwilling to do that, and without mutual consent we cannot go further with this.

As you would know from its press reports, SNG has declined to engage in a mutual consent process with us, and rather continues to assert that it has the right to promulgate rules for the upcoming event. Therefore, any actions which you decide to take in preparing for an event will continue to be at your own risk.

Sincerely,

GOLDEN GATE YACHT CLUB

Marcus Young
Commodore

CC: Ernesto Bertarelli
Brad Butterworth
Russell Coutts
Tom Ehman
Larry Ellison

Video: Highlights from the AUDI Medcup Cagliari Trophy

Highlights from the AUDI Medcup Cagliari Trophy. Video copyright AUDI Medcup

Green code for Franck Cammas and Groupama

All systems are go for the French trimaran on standby in New York for the attempt to break the North Atlantic crossing record. Departure is possible within the next 24 to 48 hours and the crew will now be on stand-by on site, ready to leave within the next 24 hours.

Groupama is the holder of this record since 23rd July 2007 with a time of 4 days, 3 hours and 57 minutes, the maxi trimaran skippered by Franck Cammas has been given until 18th August to find the weather conditions. The aim is obviously an improvement on their own reference time and hopefully one that sees them complete the course in under four days.

Lifting The Lid Of the TP52 Box...

[Source: TP52 Class] The 2011 TP52 Rule will transform the TP52 to an even faster, leaner and meaner allround offshore racing machine.

It will produce a boat that can be raced in IRC regattas without any modification and vice versa, so if you build to the TP52 Rule with the intention to race IRC events you may join the occasional TP52 event, like the TP52 Worlds or one or more of the MedCup events, without modifications.

Furthermore the 2011 TP52 Rule aims to curb the construction options that mainly result in extra cost without any or very little return in performance, like the use of ultra high modulus carbon and kevlar nomex cores.

With the switch to the ISO scantling standard as required by ISAF from July this year and setting a few of our own TP52 standards on top of that, plus selecting the high quality services of Germanischer Lloyd as the Class Authorized Body, we aim to work towards safer as well as more even in terms of weight and weight distribution engineered boats.

We expect the build cost for a TP52 to come down by 5 to 10%.

By going for a deeper keel, a steel fin and a substantially heavier bulb, as well as a bowsprit, we will be able to reduce crewweight in a dramatic way. The final choice will be set on 1050 or 1100kg, aiming for 12 crew. Reducing the current number by 3. This will result in quite some cost saving and exciting sailing.

From 2010 a TP52 will have a bowsprit and twin backstays. The Code-0 is abandoned to the museum. Same for the spipoles, the aftguys, the ingenious jockey poles and all that comes with that. This allows us to introduce a square headed mainsail and bigger kites.

Sail numbers on board again will be reduced to 4 jibs and 4 spinnakers, 1 main, 1 heavy weather jib, stormjib and trysail. This will allow a typicly 5 event regatta circuit like MedCup to further reduce the sail limit to 15 or 16 sails. With one set of sails required to train and do other regattas this will the total amount of sails required for one year to about 25. Still a big number, but for the size of boat and the level of sailing this is very acceptable. Two years ago the top teams were used to look at a number of around 50 new sails each year.

For the 2011 TP52 Rule IMS based VCG limit disappears, resulting in simpler and easier to conduct measurement procedures. Less hassle, less cost.

The 2011 TP52 BOX (indicated are the major changes from 2009):

DISPLACEMENT: 7300KG (was 7484)
CREWWEIGHT: 1050KG (was 1274)
DRAFT: 3.35M (was 3.2)
BULBWEIGHT: 3800KG (was around 3000)
TPS: 8.3M (a bowsprit putting the spi tack more forward by about 1.1m)
MSA: 92.5M2 (mainsail area up by 1m2)
HSA: 65M2 (headsailarea up by about 1m2)
SPA: 260M2 (spi area up by about 13m2)

The full 2011 TP52 Rule, blessed by the TP52 Annual Member Meeting, will be available from mid October 2009. Earlier non-sanctioned versions will be availble upon request from the Class Manager. The time between now and October will be spent by the technical committee to fine tune the numbers and the rule on basis of further advice by experts and suppliers.

There is nothing stopping you from building a new boat to the 2011 TP52 Rule to race IRC events from the moment your boat is launched. Only for the 2010 MedCup and the 2010 TP52 Worlds there will be some restrictions, basically aimed at accommodating the existing fleet racing these events to be 100% competative versus new boats without resulting in major costs for the existing fleet.

This means that for the 2010 MedCup and the 2010 TP52 Worlds we keep inclining the participating boats to bring them all to the same VCG, as well as that we keep the sailing displacement (boat plus crew) near to that of 2009. It will be a boat however that allready sports the bowsprit and the twin backstays.

The TP52 Class feels that by introducing the 2011 TP52 Rule it has done all it can do to bring you to the top of our sport at substantially reduced budget without giving away on quality. In the contrairy, we have stepped up towards an even more reliable offshore racer suiting racing and winning the world's most reknown events. Whether you choose handicap or real time racing or a mixture, this is the rule that will open up the world for you.

There are over 50 TP52's actively racing as a result of the first decade of the TP52 Class, we aim to add at least another 50 in the years to come.

The TP52 is the ideal vehicle for international competition, whether based on WL racing, major offshores or a mixture. This year IRC modified TP52's won offshores like the Sydney Hobart and the Transpac as well as lots of WL or short courses all over the world. The TP52 Class will support any initiative, anywhere in the world. It welcomes fair comments and will try to accommodate good ideas and initiatives. The TP52 Rule will evolve with our sport, it aims to help making a succes of and protect your investment in a TP52. The best way we can do that is by steering for quality and proper controls of boats where ever they race. So far we have done this quite well, a healthy second hand market proves our boats are not 6 months fancies.

Contact Rob Weiland: robswei@attglobal.net

Denis Horeau, Race Director of the Barcelona World Race

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Denis Horeau is to be the new race director of the the Barcelona World Race. Horeau is one of the greatest experts in the management of offshore and round the world racing. He will be responsible for the intensive planning and preparation involved for the double-handed round the world race, which starts on December 31, 2010.

Horeau was born in Nantes, France, in 1951, and his appointment by the Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB), organisers of the Barcelona World Race, follows the publication of the pre-Notice of Race on June 14, this year.

Horeau takes on the role of race management for the Barcelona World Race with an outstanding track record. He has three times been race director of the Vendée Globe (1989, 2004 and 2008) and nine times for the Solitaire du Figaro (1996-2004) as well as for other outstanding races such as the New York - San Francisco round Cape Horn and The Race It was during The Race, a non-stop ‘no limits’ competition to mark the new millennium in 2001, and which also started in Barcelona, that Horeau, working closely with the Catalan Sailing Federation (FCV), began his association with the city. It proved to be the foundation for his involvement now on this second edition of what has become a global oceanic event based in Barcelona.

As race director, Horeau will have full responsibility for the sports management of the Barcelona World Race. Onshore he will be in charge of the structure of the race management team, with two assistant managers, and a race monitoring office. He will ensure the application of regulations and the Notice of Race both in the lead-up and throughout the competition, and for the duration of the race, will oversee the round-the-clock monitoring of the boats’ progress at sea, as well as the application of the sailing communication protocol.

The professional profile required to take overall responsibility, plus a wide technical and logistical experience, and an in-depth knowledge of offshore racing and its participants, is ideally suited to Horeau.

He takes over from Sylvie Viant, a compatriot also known worldwide in race management. She was race director of the Barcelona World Race 2007/08 (the first edition of the regatta) and her work is recognised as being of fundamental importance and reference for the new team.

The new race director has already joined the Barcelona World Race team and is involved in an intense schedule of planning.

Horeau is enthusiastic about his new role. “The Barcelona World Race is heading for its second start and we have great potential to develop and grow. Its format as a double-handed race is a unique asset, which has great scope for international development,” he said

Tom Ehman: There are indications Alinghi aren't building all of the yacht's major parts in Switzerland

With less than two weeks left until Alinghi officially unveil the venue of the 33rd America's Cup we talked to Tom Ehman, spokesman of GGYC, the Challenger of Record. Our conversation touched the issues of last Tuesday's court hearing, the venue of the match as well as a revelation that, according to Ehman, there are indications that Alinghi are not building all of their yacht's major parts in Switzerland, something that would be against the requirements of the Deed of Gift. Although he hopes there will not be any further litigation, Ehman states that Alinghi "just can't disregard the Deed of Gift time, after time, after time and expect not to have any consequences."

Valencia Sailing: Can you give us a brief update on last Tuesday's court hearing? In your press statement you say you are "pleased" but one could think that Alinghi scored a victory on the issue of racing rules.

Tom Ehman: The reason we are pleased is that we have certainty on the rules. We haven't seen Justice Kornreich's decision yet and those of us that were in court would expect the assurances their lawyer has given the court, at the court and afterwards, they will waive, they will not try to put in Racing Rules 49 to 54. My great fear was that they could use the rules to their own purposes, cherry pick the rules and use the ones that were good for them and waive the ones that were bad for them. Their lawyer was told pretty firmly by the court, Justice Kornreich said "Mr Ostrager you are going to waive those rules, right?" and he said "Yes, we will." That means that none of these rules will apply, 49 to 54.

As a result, we now have certainty as to what the other rules are, the so-called other rules of sailing, part of the racing rules. So far Alinghi was saying, "Oh, we will tell you what the rules are when we get around to it and we will even change them as we feel like it going forward", something that is totally unfair, totally outside the Deed of Gift. To that extent we were very happy with the court's decision.

We were not happy, assuming she rules in favor of the engine, although we don't know for sure she will, she might come back and have a different theory. If she says that the engine is legal because in her view there are no court rules that can prohibit it, then we see what Mr Bertarelli's vision for the America's Cup is, to take the sailors off the boats and have engines running anything on the boat, including the possibility for computers to run the steering. This is push-button sailing, it's joystick sailing and I don't think that's what the Deed of Gift, what the America's Cup is about or should be about.

Valencia Sailing: Don't you think this is too radical a statement you make?

Tom Ehman: I don't think it's a radical statement, I think it's a radical step to have an engine on an America's Cup boat for the first time in the history of the event, and if that comes to pass, but we'll first wait to see if that happens, if Justice Kornreich decides the racing rules of sailing do not apply, this is what we're going to have. We will at least have certainty with her decision, something way better than what we were going to have because Alinghi kept saying they could put whatever rules they wanted and then amend them as they saw fit going forward. That's why I was happy.

If Alinghi gets the engine, if that's the decision of the court, we will certainly not be happy and it's going to be very sad situation to have engine power running America's Cup sailing boats.

The Racing Rules of Sailing, since way before any of us was involved, going back hundreds of years, have never committed non manual power except in certain classes where the owners got together and allowed non-manual power for kanting keels.

Part of Alinghi 5, Alinghi's new catamaran, under construction. According to BMW Oracle there are indications Alinghi aren't building all of her major parts in Switzerland. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Alinghi

Valencia Sailing: The VOR70 yachts have such kind of systems. Why couldn't the America's Cup boats have them as well?

Tom Ehman: The VOR70 yachts have such systems because all the teams agreed it was something they should do. Whether that is a good development or not is debatable but certainly we never had powered sailing in the America's Cup. Even in the Volvo Ocean Race you don't have the engines running the winches, you don't have the engines replacing the sailors. That happened already in Formula 1. Those of us living in Europe and following Formula 1 certainly remember what happened when they had the computers running the cars instead of the drivers. It only lasted one season because it was a computer race, not a driver race.

That's what will happen in the America's Cup if that's what the decision of Justice Kornreich says. We will obviously respect her decision. Again, we have certainty about what the rules are and it's a fairer playing field.

Valencia Sailing: Still, in a letter you sent Michael Fary, almost 22 years ago, being the COO of the then Defender you had stated...

Tom Ehman: Yes, I know what the question will be. That was in December of 1987, right after the court hearing that said that the challenge from the Mercury Bay Club was legal. We immediately afterwards went into mutual consent discussions and we all agreed that the normal rules of sailing should apply, which the yacht club had used in all their annual regattas and which SNG used at least up to 2007, and including their 2007 regatta used the standard sailing rules. These are the rules under which we challenged, these are the rules which it was widely believed, not just by us but by everybody, should apply.

In 1988 there was no contention about the rules, there were no discussions other than mutual-consent discussions and that letter was completely appropriate. We never tried to use the rules for our own purposes and that certainly is bore out by there not being a single contention, a single letter, a single anything anywhere. Trying to say that letter is relevant to today's situation is apples and oranges.

The next big issue is the venue of the match and their lawyer wrote the court again after Tuesday's hearing, saying that they would be announcing a northern hemisphere venue. This shows yet again, as far as we Golden Gate Yacht Club is concerned, SNG's reckless disregard for the Deed of Gift. They seem to have no respect for the Deed of Gift whatsoever. The Deed says that the venue must be suitable for yachts of 22 ft draft, free of headland AND in February it's got to be in the southern hemisphere.

For a year and a half, Alinghi argued, both in their court papers AND their PR, that if the race was to be in February it would have to be in the southern hemisphere. Absolutely nothing has changed, not the court order, because it is the same one. The order says that the race can be in Valencia or any other location, obviously meaning any Deed-compliant location. A Deed-compliant location includes the hemisphere and if they want to run it in the northern hemisphere they must get our mutual consent.

Valencia Sailing: In less than 2 weeks they will announce the venue. What will happen if it's in the northern hemisphere and it's NOT Valencia?

Tom Ehman: If it's not Valencia and they do not seek our mutual consent we will not sit idly by and let them show reckless disregard for the Deed and the court's decision. I don't know what we will do but we are certainly thinking about it now because there seems to be another indication they will violate the court's order and choose a northern hemisphere venue.

Valencia Sailing: Have you had any talks with Alinghi on the issue of the venue?

Tom Ehman: Yes we have but only to the extent they say they will choose a northern hemisphere venue.

Valencia Sailing: Have they indicated any possible venue in order to seek your consent?

Tom Ehman: No. As you know, we feel strongly there is absolutely nothing wrong about Valencia, it is a perfect venue year around and we have all trained here. Alinghi trained last January for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland. There is no reason why it can't be Valencia. It has all the infrastructure and as far as we are concerned it is the only location in the northern hemisphere that the match can be held in February, unless we reach a mutual agreement on another location.

Valencia Sailing: Does that mean you are willing to consider other northern venues?

Tom Ehman: Yes, and we have always said that. Russell and I said that in the press conference in our base a few weeks ago. We have always said we are completely in favor of mutual consent on ALL topics. The America's Cup works because of mutual consent. That's the beauty and the magic of the Deed of Gift. It's as simple as sitting down and proposing a venue.

We are not going to give them carte blanche, telling them "Oh, we would like you to choose a venue in Greece, Turkey, Italy, the UAE and 15 other countries". We will certainly not give them carte blanche but if they come to us and propose one northern hemisphere venue that makes sense logistically, from a sailing standpoint, financially and so on we will certainly hold discussions. We are very open to holding such discussions, we always have been and we will always be.

Valencia Sailing: It is obvious Valencia Sailing strongly supports Valencia as a venue for the 33rd America's Cup, more than anyone else and we would be stupid not to do so. But what problem does BMW Oracle have in racing the match in Greece, Italy, Dubai or Abu Dhabi, to name the places you mentioned?

Tom Ehman: There is no problem, provided as I said the venue is suitable, has excellent sailing conditions as well as infrastructure, all the things Valencia has proven to have. If there is another venue Mr Bertarelli thinks is, for some reason, better or as good, and is not just a matter of trying to choose a venue to put money in his pocket or that suits particularly their boat. Remember, in the past, the yacht club hosting the Cup always ran it at the venue where they ran their annual regatta. This is not a requirement of the Deed of Gift but they ran it at the venue where they traditionally ran their races.

Last time, with our support, they put the venue out to bid. We could have actually consented to run it on Lake Geneva but I don't think anybody would have thought running in shallow waters not free of headlands was a good idea. Putting the venue out to bid was a good idea and it wasn't put out to bid for furthering their own competitive or financial interest. It was something that helped everybody, at least on surface. That's the way the venue should be chosen, not to support the competitive aspects of a particular boat or team or for the financial benefit of one of the two parties who happens to be the Trustee and is supposed to be looking out for all the beneficiaries of the Deed.

According to BMW Oracle all sails of Alinghi's yacht must be made in Switzerland. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Alinghi

Valencia Sailing: Talking about giving their boat an advantage what is your first impression of their catamaran?

Tom Ehman: Well, it's too early for us to tell. Certainly, we have watched the boat sailing, we have been looking at all the nice photos and videos and studying it carefully. It's a little hard to tell because they haven't had many sailing days due to the poor weather on Lake Geneva. Once they get it to Genoa I think we will all have a better idea of what their boat is like. Obviously, it's a big, impressive, fantastic-looking boat and the idea of these two boats going at it in a match next February is very exciting but again, the saddest part of that is that we are going to use engines that replace the sailors. That's fly by wire, joystick sailing and it's completely against the tradition and the history of the Cup and in our view the general sailing community is strongly against it.

The other thing about the boat that baffles the mind is that, by all records, Alinghi are showing again reckless disregard for what we call the constructed-in-country rule, or CIC. The Deed of Gift says that the vessel shall be constructed in the country of the club it represents. The idea that you can build sails or other custom pieces in other countries flies completely in the face of the Deed. The idea that you can take bits and pieces from various places, including Switzerland, and then assemble them in another country again flies completely in the face of the Deed. If this is what Alinghi is attempting to do, and there are many indications from what we hear within the industry that that's not only what they attempt to do but what they are doing, this again will create another furor, another huge dispute because it flies again totally in the face of the Deed.

We probably won't know for sure until they show up on the day of the first race what they have, what yacht they are using because they are not required to tell us, although they will have to get it measured at some point they way we will.

Valencia Sailing: Let's be more specific on that point. Do you claim that Alinghi's yacht has not been entirely constructed in Switzerland?

Tom Ehman: No, I don't claim that. I draw the attention, your attention, to what we call the CIC rule, constructed-in-country. It is a long-standing well-understood rule that can only be modified by mutual consent which started to happen in the late 1970's. There was mutual consent and last time it was the most liberal, loosest interpretation, again by mutual consent, where you basically had to build just the hull in your country.

Still, the rule goes beyond that. The Deed is quite clear that the vessel, and that means the mast, the sails, the entire vessel and any of the custom bits have to be built in the country of the club it represents. There are indications within the marine industry, and as you know it's a small world and there are only so many sailmakers, so many winch makers and so many hydraulic pump manufacturers and these people all talk. We, BMW Oracle, have taken a very straight stance from day one on CIC, constructed-in-country, and will continue to do so and if SNG/Alinghi do not, and there are indications they are not building all of the major parts in Switzerland, then there is going to be another problem.

They just can't disregard the Deed of Gift time, after time, after time and expect not to have any consequences. They found out that when we won 6-0 in the Court of Appeals.

I honestly hope there won't be any further litigation. As you know, we will go back to mediation, I have done business with Lucien Masmejean, I respect him and I hope we cut an agreement as we did in the last Cup. Basically, Lucien and I wrote the 32nd America's Cup protocol after a long negotiation and we can avoid court, we should avoid court this time and the only way to do it is sit down and talk turkey on all these topics just like we did in 1988. There was no contention over the rules back then and all of that blatter by their lawyers last Tuesday was just that. They tried to compare apples and oranges.

Emirates Team NZ win TP52 series in Cagliari; Puerto Calero sweeps GP42 series

[Source: AUDI MedCup] Emirates Team New Zealand add the Region of Sardinia Trophy to the Marseille Trophy after a composed final day of racing in a building Mistral breeze, while Islas Canarias Puerto Calero win the GP42 Series Regatta.

Emirates Team New Zealand’s boss and mast-man Grant Dalton (NZL) had his wish today as the Mistral breeze returned to present a final crescendo as the Kiwi team sailed cleanly through three final races to secure the Region of Sardinia Trophy, their second successive regatta title after also winning last month in Marseille, France.

Dalton spoke this morning of hoping for a decent wind-strength for the final day of racing, declaring his team were just trying to ‘hang on’ after Friday’s changeable sea-breeze conditions.

Highlights from the final day of the Cagliari Trophy. Cagliari, 25 July 2009. Video copyright AUDI Medcup

Not only did the New Zealand crew ‘hang on’, they sailed with exceptional patience and composure while their two principal rivals – Matador (ARG) and Artemis (SWE) – suffered their own, largely self inflicted problems.

In the GP42 Series Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) won four of the final five races to take the Region of Sardinia Trophy, needing only to finish in the final race to be sure of their first regatta win this season.

Artemis (SWE) made infringements in both the first and second races, while Matador blotted an otherwise strong day when they tacked too close to Emirates Team New Zealand and had also to take a penalty, then spectacularly hooked the windward mark and could not release it until 100 metres down the final run.

In contrast Emirates Team New Zealand sailed with precision across their races to score a third, a first and, as a final flourish in the 22 knot Mistral, a second place which ensured they topped the final standings by 14.5 points ahead of Matador. Artemis who started the day in second slipped to third place ifor the regatta.

After arriving in Cagliari with a lead of 16 points last week, the Emirates Team New Zealand’s second regatta triumph ensures they head for Portimao for next month’s Portugal Trophy having more than doubled their lead, whilst Matador have climbed to second overall at the expense of Quantum Racing (USA). The current Audi MedCup champions best race finish came today with a second in the second contest, but they ended the regatta in seventh place.

Racing for the first time at this regatta in the NW’ly breeze, the Mistral direction, with the windward turn less than one mile from the weather shore, at the top of the U-shaped Bay of Cagliari, the course offered a rich choice of gusts and shifts for the tacticians to work their magic.

Emirates Team NZ and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, respective winners of the TP52 and GP42 series. Cagliari, 25 July 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

TP52 Series Race 9: Matador won the first race when they recognised the small gain to the right of the first beat which they hooked into after an excellent start, to chase Valars 3 around the first windward turn. Emirates Team New Zealand took third, while Artemis’ frustrations were enhanced after taking a penalty for fouling Audi Q8 (ITA), when they partially dropped their gennaker on the final run.

TP52 Series Race 10: In response to his afterguard’s call for the right side on the first beat of the second race helm Dean Barker responded with a swift, neatly timed port tack departure which ensured they could dictate terms to the fleet. Whilst Matador kept the pressure on their Kiwi rivals with a fourth, Artemis fouled Audi Q8 (ITA) and had to take a penalty turn.

TP52 Series Race 11: Bigamist (POR) won the final race when Bribón could not set their jib at the leeward gate, rounding bare-headed in 23 knots of breeze, whilst Emirates Team New Zealand, fighting to the end stole third place from Synergy (RUS). Artemis took a second successive penalty, this time on the final run, close to the finish.

GP42 Race 9: After a general recall Islas Canarias Puerto Calero fought back to win after being one of two boats which were individually recalled. At the leeward gate as Caser Endesa (ESP) and Airis (ITA) tussled, they chose the opposite mark and were able to extend in to clear air and clinch the regatta title.

GP42 Race 10: Caser Endesa won the final race after being first to earn the dividend presented by extra wind pressure on the right of the first beat, enough to take second by two points from third placed Airis.

Audi MedCup Circuit 2009 - Region of Sardinia Trophy

TP52 Series - Final standings after 11 races
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 1+1+1+5+4+3+5+2+3+1+2= 28 points
2. Matador (ARG), 3+3+4+1+2+7,5+2+5+1+4+10= 42,5 points
3. Artemis (SWE), 2+2+7+3+3+1,5+1+7+9+8+6= 49.5 points
4. Bigamist (POR), 6+5+9+6+1+9+4+1+6+9+1= 57 points
5. Synergy (RUS), 4+8+2+2+5+15+7+6+2+3+3= 57 points
...

GP42 Series - Final standings after 10 races
1. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 3+2+3+4+4+1+1+1+1+3= 23 points
2. Caser Endesa (ESP), 4+4+2+2+1+3+2+3+4+1= 26 points
3. Airis (ITA), 1+1+4+3+5+2+4+4+2+2= 28 points
4. Roma (ITA), 2+5+1+1+3+4+3+2+5+4= 30 points
5. Turismo Madrid (ESP), 5+3+5+5+2+5+5+5+3+5= 43 points
...


Audi MedCup Circuit 2009 - Overall after Alicante, Marseille and Cagliari

TP52 Series
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 38+27.5+28= 93.5 points
2. Matador (ARG), 36+47.5+42.5= 126 points
3. Quantum Racing (USA), 40+41.5+65= 146.5 points
4. Artemis (SWE), 37+62.5+52.5= 149 points
5. Bigamist (POR), 46+55.5+56= 158.5 points
...

GP42 Series
1. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 20+23+23= 66 points
2. Roma (ITA), 22+17+30= 69 points
3. Caser-Endesa (ESP), 33+27+26= 86 points
4. Airis (ITA), 21+38+28= 87 points
5. Turismo Madrid (ESP), 35+35+43= 113 points

Quotes of the day:

Grant Dalton (NZL), CEO and mast-man Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL): "We did not sail that well, we started badly once and just with the breeze and so on…. but we sailed with composure too, we managed to not crack under pressure while people were cracking around us, but that is just the way we sail. Credit to the guys, though just having been sailing together for a while. The points flatter us a bit, as they did in Marseille in the end, Artemis were right there, but it certainly did not feel like that after the first race this morning. The second race did not hurt. But I thought our best race was our last race. We knew what had to be done. Matador helped by getting their penalty, but we were sailing ourselves out of the course but we got right back into when the breeze came on."

Guillermo Parada (ARG) skipper-helm Matador (ARG): "When we look back now, second is OK, it’s good. We obviously took some risks in the last races and they did not come off. But we are happy with our boat speed and we sailed pretty well, so we are looking forward to the next two events."

Emirates Team NZ leads TP52 series in Cagliari; Puerto Calero leads GP42 series

[Source: AUDI MedCup] Four and a half points separate regatta leaders Emirates Team New Zealand from Artemis going in to the final day’s racing of the Region of Sardinia Trophy after two very different and challenging windward-leeward contests off Cagliari.

Fortunes ebbed and flowed between the two top teams. ETNZ’s Grant Dalton summarised it as ‘winning ugly’ after emerging in second place from a mentally bruising second race which saw Artemis recover from 10th to steal three places at the bottom of the final run.

Paul Cayard, Artemis’ tactician may have been frustrated by the sudden 50 degree windshift at the first weather mark and the private hole in the breeze, a windless no man’s land which swallowed them and Quantum Racing, but he arrived ashore to express his admiration at how the crack Artemis team had ‘hung tough’ together, battling to the finish to regain some of their lost places.

Highlights from the fourth day of the Cagliari Trophy. Cagliari, 24 July 2009. Video copyright AUDI Medcup

Emirates Team New Zealand scored a fifth in the first race which was won clearly and conclusively by Artemis who lead from the start line and proved once again how quick they are in the 8-10 knots of sea breeze conditions, ahead of Matador (ARG).

TP 52 Series Race 7: For Artemis, winning Race 7 of the series was the perfect way to continue after victory in yesterday’s coastal race. Cayard and strategist Hamish Pepper (NZL) combined to make a strong start and Artemis were able to extend first to the favoured left side early in the first beat, timing perfectly their cross to the right to gain again and lead Portugal’s Bigamist and Spain’s Bríbon around the first turning mark.

Both the second and third placed boats then made the mistake of gybe-setting, duelling briefly as they emerged from the turn to let Matador slip by to their right. While the Argentine flagged winners of the Alicante Trophy went on to second and Bríbon third, Emirates Team New Zealand only just ran out of race track, challenging Bigamist on the finish line for the fourth place which would have kept them on top of the standings.

TP52 Race 8: After a long delay awaiting for enough of a settled breeze for a second race, the contest got under way in what appeared to be a decent, but slightly unexpected Easterly direction. But at the windward mark a significant left shift, as the underlying Mistral influence made a brief appearance, regatta leaders Artemis and Quantum Racing were stranded on the edge of the breeze. Artemis tried a jib for a short time in the headed breeze before the wind lifted progressively again to allow them to re-set a spinnaker. But it proved an expensive experience for they reached the leeward turn in tenth, going on to recover to seventh.


GP42 Race 7: Islas Canarias Puerto Calero won the first race of the day ahead of Roma Mk 2 with Caser-Endesa in third.

GP42 Race 8: was affected by the same big windshift, lifting the fleet on their first leg which became extremely one sided for a period. But Islas Canarias were able to hold on to record their third successive win.

Emirates Team New Zealand go into the final day, which is likely to yield two races at most, with a slender lead over Artemis. The forecast suggests another difficult set of wind conditions. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero lead the GP42 Series by two clear points ahead of the Italian duo Roma Mk 2 and Airis who have 21 points each.

Audi MedCup Circuit 2009 -Region of Sardinia Trophy

TP52 Series - Overall - Day 4
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 1+1+1+5+4+3+5+2= 22 points
2. Artemis (SWE), 2+2+7+3+3+1,5+1+7= 26,5 points
3. Matador (ARG), 3+3+4+1+2+7,5+2+5= 27,5 points
4. Bribón (ESP), 5+6+3+7+8+4,5+3+3= 39,5 points
5. Bigamist (POR), 6+5+9+6+1+9+4+1= 41 points
...

GP42 Series - Overall - Day 3
1. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 3+2+3+4+4+1+1+1= 19 points
2. Roma (ITA), 2+5+1+1+3+4+3+2= 21 points
3. Caser Endesa (ESP), 4+4+2+2+1+3+2+3= 21 points
4. Airis (ITA), 1+1+4+3+5+2+4+4= 24 points
5. Turismo Madrid (ESP), 5+3+5+5+2+5+5+5= 35 points
...


Grant Dalton (NZL), CEO and Mastman on Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
On today “For a Kiwi it is comparing it with the test match which is just ugly, you are just winning ugly, trying to win. That was the story of today, everything was ugly. The sailing wasn’t good, the wind was light, the shifts were everywhere, so I think the thing with this team is that it just keeps its composure. We win some, we lose some, and today we end up further ahead than when we went out, but it doesn’t mean anything if tomorrow is going to be another day like today.”
“ I think that in this regatta now there are three players left, Artemis, ourselves and the Argentinians, and they are trying to gain more points for the season so they are trying to lay all over us and we end up letting Artemis get away this morning, so we end up screwing each other, so it is really difficult.”

On possible strategy for final day – go for wins or stay with opposition?:
“ If it is shifty and you try to play the opposition you end up stuffing yourself up. So the forecast is a little bit like today, it’ll be up and down, and so you just have to wait for what comes.”

Impressed by Artemis improvement since Marseille?
“ They had a really good regatta in Alicante, they were fast and sometimes you just have really bad regattas. Look at Quantum, they are having a shocker, and next one can be a good. And so I am just longing for those days when you get 20 knots of breeze, it’s not too shifty and you can get out and have a decent sail, but at the moment its is trying to win ugly”

Paul Cayard (USA) tactician Artemis(SWE):
“We always knew that that second one was going to be a strange race. There was no forecast that anyone had for a wind coming from 090 degrees. So it was going to be marginal. Before the start we really felt that the left was going to be strong, that there was a lot more pressure in that bay, and we had a beautiful start second boat from the end, we were going really well to the left.”
“ I know everybody else felt the same way, because Emirates Team New Zealand who did not have a good start had to tack out and tacked right back, so everybody wanted left. And the breeze went 15 right, that’s sailboat racing. And then we had that strange situation at the weather mark, we tried to gybe set. With the wind 15 degrees right the gybe set made sense but there was some strange hole, the guys in front got a massive header and I thought it was a wholesale change in the wind going to the north, but actually five minutes later it was back to ninety again.”
“ We found ourselves in a tough spot, for sure, but I told the guys on the way in that today wasn’t even about winning the first race, but how we hung tough in the second race, kept in a clear lane, played a few shifts on the second beat, closed it up massively on the four or five boats in front of us, and then were opportunistic on the final run. We beat three boats and that is three very valuable points for tomorrow.”

What is this?

It's been quite some time that we haven't had a quiz on Valencia Sailing. What boat is this?

Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Emirates Team NZ leads TP52 series in Cagliari; Triple tie in GP42 series

[Source: AUDI MedCup] As the Audi MedCup Circuit 2009 reaches its theoretical mid-point Artemis win the Coastal race and only one point separates the top four GP42 Series teams after today's three races.

On a blistering hot day on the Gulf of Cagliari, 2007 Audi MedCup Champion Torbjorn Tornqvist (SWE) and the crew of Artemis kept their cool to execute a clinical victory in today’s 29.2 miles coastal race and leap-frog Matador (ARG) for second place in the overall standings for the TP52 Series’ Region of Sardinia Trophy regatta.

In the GP42 Series, where three races were completed in variable sea breeze conditions, a 3,5,2 scoreline for the day sees Airis lead the overall series from Roma Mk 2, their Italian compatriots also sharing the same 16 points tally as third placed Caser Endesa.

It could scarcely be closer after three different boats, Roma Mk 2, Caser-Endesa and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero won successive contests today. And the young fourth placed Canarian team are still only one point off the lead on 17 points.

Highlights from the third day of the Cagliari Trophy. Cagliari, 23 July 2009. Video copyright AUDI Medcup

TP52 Coastal

Second place on the passage down to picturesque Poetta, the next bay to the south east of the Sardinian capital, and back was enough to ensure Emirates Team New Zealand extend their regatta leading margin again to three points.
With tactician Paul Cayard joining Artemis for this regatta, the Swedish flagged boat has been furiously consistent so far. Other than a weighty seventh in final race of Tuesday’s three, Artemis have never been off the podium .

Cayard’s analytical, numerical style may differ slightly from the more intuitive, instinctive approach of three times America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts (NZL), for whom the American is standing in for, but the crew consider that the 2009 Judel-Vrolijk design is also very much more optimised for these prevailing lighter Mediterranean conditions, such as were encountered in May in Alicante when they finished second, only one point behind Matador.

After a strong first beat and good run Artemis were well placed to capitalise when early leader Matador erred too close to the bluff line of cliffs at the Cape St Elia. In a matter of a few painful minutes all the good work of the Matador crew, a lead of nearly 100 metres evaporated. They were no more than four or five boat lengths inshore of the line taken by their pursuers, but Matador nearly halted when they were all but starved of wind, emerging at the Poetta turning mark after dropping to sixth.

As per the ethos of the Audi MedCup Circuit, the finish line for the Coastal Race was set right inside the inner harbour, some 350 metres from the vibrant Audi MedCup regatta village giving spectators a grandstand view as skipper-helm Tornqvist brought Artemis home first, gliding gracefully through the line under gennaker.

The early light sea-breeze picked up nicely to 12-13 knots on the long beat from put from Poetta where Bribon (ESP) managed to overhaul Bigamist (POR) to score third place which elevated them to fourth place on the overall standings.


GP 42 Race 4: Was raced in nine knots of sea breeze with Roma Mk 2 leading from the first mark ahead of Caser Endesa and Airis. The order remained to the finish.

GP42 Race 5: The breeze peaked at 11-12 knots Caser Endesa were forced right early by the fleet and were able to capitalise on the right hand shift to lead all the way around the course.

GP42 Race 6: The sea breeze dropped back to eight to nine knots as Islas Puerto Canarias profited on the first run to recover from fourth to second. They gained on the second beat and were able to hold on to win from Airis.

Audi MedCup Circuit 2009 - Region of Sardinia Trophy

TP52 Series - Overall after Day 3
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 1 1 1 5 4 3= 15 points
2. Artemis (SWE), 2 2 7 3 3 1,5= 18,5 points
3. Matador (ARG), 3 3 4 1 2 7,5= 20,5 points
4. Bribón (ESP), 5 6 3 7 8 4,5= 33,5 points
5. Quantum Racing (USA), 7 4 8 4 6 6= 35 points
...

GP42 Series - Overall after Day 2
1. Airis (ITA), 1 1 4 3 5 2= 16 points
2. Roma (ITA), 2 5 1 1 3 4= 16 points
3. Caser Endesa (ESP), 4 4 2 2 1 3= 16 points
4. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 3 2 3 4 4 1= 17 points
5. Turismo Madrid (ESP), 5 3 5 5 2 5= 25 points
...


Quotes:

Michele Ivaldi (ITA) navigator Artemis (SWE): “These are the typical conditions that we designed the boat for. The boat is exactly the same as Marseille, we have a couple of new sails. Here a matter of a metre or a metre and half at the windward mark can make all the difference, you can be second or you can be ninth.”
“Paul is more analytical. He is more focussed on the numbers. We have established a good work on analysing the performance every day. Russell is a lot more instinctive.
Rusell’s style is very different and he talks a lot to Torbjorn, he has taught him a lot and made Torbjorn learn a lot, it is always great with Russell on board. Paul tends to let them (the crew) do the speed work themselves and talks a little less with Torbjorn.”
“Today, keeping it simple was the call. Key was a good first beat, and we were able to pass to leeward of Bigamist when they gybed on us. After that it was a horse track.”
“For the mid point of the season Team New Zealand is really, really strong. They have great starts all the time and so they almost have probability to be in the top five at each top mark. Really strong in tactics, and really good boat handling. But today is the mid-point of the season and so nothing is over and we won’t be giving up any points.”
“We feel great. We had a good analysis and de-brief after Marseille, we worked on the weaknesses and it seems to have worked.”

Ray Davies (NZL), tactician Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL): "We had a great day, we are very happy with how the day went. There was a bit of fortune involved as well but we sailed well as well, so it was a bit of both. We had a very good first downwind leg and passed a couple of boats at the bottom of the run and that set us up well for the soldier’s course after that. And Matador were launched but they got a bit close to the headland. They were probably five lengths closer to the headland. Obviously once we saw them getting very soft we were able to sail higher. They had hardly wind and we still had eight knots. We caught up to within a boat length at the mid race gate windward mark and then they slipped away again on the long downwind. It was a bit of leader’s race. We have extended on our overall position and Artemis are through into second, and we are putting more points on Matador and Quantum on that race. It is a balance between the long game but it’s nice to win regattas along the way and that’s what we are aiming to do here.

Steve Hayles (GBR), navigator Matador (ARG): “We messed it up. We had a really good start and then just got too close to the headland. A little bit, you can argue we were the victims of being in the lead, but we did mess it up.”

Alinghi 5: "A tribute to the team"

Related PDF document

- Letter from SNG to Justice Kornreich, 22 July 2009

[Source: Alinghi] Alinghi, the Defender of the 33rd America's Cup, held a press conference today in Le Bouveret, Switzerland, to present Alinghi 5, the Swiss team's giant catamaran.

The boat was held ashore for the day as the weather turned foul on Lake Geneva, but the first trials held earlier this week were extremely successful: “Being able to sail Alinghi 5 on the Lake for the very first time and seeing it perform so well on its first day out is a real tribute to the team; first and foremost the designers – who have drawn from the multihull heritage and technology here in Switzerland as well as their own depth – but also the boat builders and the sailors who are now completely focused on making the boat go as fast as possible. Our first day out, flying a hull was, if not the best, certainly one of the best days of my life,” said team president, Ernesto Bertarelli.

Sailing and testing will continue apace over the coming days culminating in a public celebration on Lake Geneva on 1 August which will include a team presentation before a parade of sail from Lausanne to the defender's club, Société Nautique de Genève. The boat will then be prepared for the heli-lift to Genoa, Italy, where training will continue.

“This project has been, and continues to be, about putting people in a position where they can socially and intellectually experience things that are unique. It's not about who is winning in court; it's about which is going to be the fastest boat on the water with the strongest team and the best technology. That is why we are here and we are proud of it,” concluded Bertarelli.

Ernesto Bertarelli was flanked by Grant Simmer, design team coordinator; Murray Jones, member of the sailing team who has been running the early trials and Patrick Aebischer, president of EPFL, Alinghi's scientific advisor.

General views from the Alinghi press conference. Le Bourevet, 23 July 2009. Video copyright Alinghi

Alinghi press conference in Le Bouveret - Replay

Alinghi held a press conference earlier this morning in Le Bouveret, where Ernesto Bertarelli, Grant Simmer and Murray Jones talked about Alinghi 5. As one would have expected, all three of them refrained from revealing anything we didn't already know. Alinghi will announce on the 6th of August the venue of the 33rd America's Cup and will airlift Alinghi 5 to Genoa, Italy for her first sea trials.

If you haven't been able to watch it, here's the replay. Unfortunately, sound quality is quite poor.

Alinghi press conference. Le Bouveret, 23 July 2009. Video copyright Alinghi