Tuypan Caixanova Men leads Platu 25 Worlds after 4 races
[Source: Platu 25] Today, the competition entered the second day of the Platu 25 World Championship. Ninety three crews run three regattas off with a weak and very unsettled wind – no more then 6-8 knots – that forced the crew to continuous sail regulations and complex tactical strategies.
After three regattas, today for many crews was the occasion to show their real talent, gaining positions and points in the general ranking list. So, there were many surprises that changed deeply the partial results of yesterday.
The only confirmation was for the Spanish “Tuypan Caixanova Men” of Marcos Perez and Roy Alonso (Rcn Vigo) who – after a 5-3-2 in the three regattas of today, conquered the top of the general ranking list. Today “Tuypan” was in the Group B, the Blue one; yesterday in the yellow one it arrived third.
Tuypan Caixanova Men, overall leaders after 4 races. Punta Ala, 30 September 2009. Photo copyright Jesús Renedo / sailingstock.com
The division between Group A and B was maintained but, calculating every day different scores, all the crews will change group and will be able to confront with all the adversaries until next Saturday.
The Italian “Vis” of Francesco Vallicelli is second in the overall leaderboard followed by another Italian crew, “Brera Hotels” of Emanuele Vitrano, with Alberto Wolleb at the helm and Sandro Montefusco as a tactician.
The German team “Kyra” of Herman Muller, that yesterday dominated in the Yellow Fleet - is now 4th in the general ranking list. The Spanish of the “Invincible Armada” confirmed their talent with “La Revoltosa” of Jaime Pont and “Iberconsa” of Fernando Morillo, 5th and 6th in the general ranking list. A very good position also for “Menef 8” of Marco Gambardella with Pablo Soldano on board; they are 7th in the general ranking list.
As every body expected, “Central Lechera Asturiana” of Natalia Via Dufresne emerged with a very good performance; she gained a first place in the Yellow fleet and now she is 8th in the general ranking list. “Profumo” of Michele Valiante is 9th and “Niente Paura” of Gino Angelini is 10th in the general ranking list.
In the Yellow group, big return for the Japanese “Bros” of Nafumi Kamei (3th in the second and in the third regattas) and for the German “Flexi” of Bogdhan (4 in the first regatta). Great confirm for the Italians too, with “Parco Cinque Terre – Breakwind” of Giovanni Bocelli, with Ugo Giordano at the helm (Lni Procida) who, in the third regattas of today, arrived first.
In the Group B of the Blue Fleet, very good performance for the Spanish Bribon- Movistar” of José Cusì and “Iberconsa” of Fernando Lago, the President of the Spanish class who yesterday managed very well. In the second regatta, good result for “Iberdrola” of Manuel Weiler, World Champion in Vigo in 2006.
Brera Hotels are now sitting 3rd overall. Punta Ala, 30 September 2009. Photo copyright Jesús Renedo / sailingstock.com
Protagonist in the third regatta, in the Group B, is the Italian crew “Amici Miei” of Giacomo Bufalini who conquered the first place followed by “Tuypan CAixanova Men” of Marcos Perez and Roy Alonso.
Tomorrow the crews will face the adversaries in the third day of regattas. Protests today were pretty numerous: that confirms that the level of the competition and the agonistic tension are very high.
Platu25 World Championship 2009 Overall leaderboard after 4 races (Top ten) 1. TUYPAN CAIXANOVA MEN 3,5,3,2=13 2. VIS 6,2,5,5=18 3. BRERA HOTELS 5,6,1,10=22 4. KYRA 1,7,14,9=31 5. LA REVOLTOSA 10,5,8,8=31 6. IBERCONSA 2,11,15,4=32 7. MENEF 8 4,9,10,12=35 8. CENTRAL LECHERA ASTURIANA 19,1,4,14=38 9. PROFUMO 3,14,2,21=40 10.NIENTE PAURA 14,17,11,6=48
Manu Weiller, Spain's number 1 match racer, got a black flag in the 4th race and dropped to 19th overall. Punta Ala, 30 September 2009. Photo copyright Jesús Renedo / sailingstock.com
[Source: Golden Gate Yacht Club] In our continuing fight for fair rules, and to stop SNG from trying to disqualify our challenge vessel even before it races, GGYC has served our reply brief and exhibits on SNG. Our latest filing is a point by point rebuttal of SNG's opposition papers to our motion asking the the Court to reconsider its previous decisions concerning racing and measurement rules governing AC33.
Paul Cayard and his new team Katusha win the Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup match race
[Source: RC44 Class Association] The American sailor won the best of three final series against Karol Jablonski’s Organika. Ray Davies and Pieter Heerema finish third onboard No Way Back.
Paul Cayard and his new team Katusha surprised everyone – and himself – in the Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup match race series, dominating the event and winning the best of three final against Karol Jablonski’s Organika. Katusha is the latest RC 44 (number 22), just out of the Pauger boatyard. The team is also brand new and had never sailed together under Cayard’s leadership. No Way Back (Ray Davies & Pieter Heerema) finishes third ahead of Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (Jose Maria Ponce), Artemis (Dean Barker) and Team Aqua (Cameron Appleton).
Video highlights from the 2nd day of Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup. Portoroz, 30 September 2009. Video copyright RC44 Class Association
The day started with a “dead or alive" match between the local team Modri Gaj and Team Austria. At the helm of Modri Gaj, Gasper Vincec managed to close the door at the start, kicking the Austrians out and taking control of the race to win it.
The other semi-finals saw today’s most spectacular matches, including an aggressive fight between Dean Barker’s Artemis and Sébastien Col’s Ceeref. Both teams arrived together at the top mark and engaged in an endless dial up. Stuck on windward, Seb Col tried to regain control of the situation by jibing the top mark. Both teams soon after arrived together – but on opposite tacks - by the arrival line. They luffed each other until they faced the wind, their spinnakers flapping in the wind and twisting around the headstays. Artemis got a penalty and actually benefited from it, pursuing its turn, untangling its spinnaker and crossing the line a few meters ahead of a very disappointed team Ceeref.
Five groups of two teams came out of the semi-finals, with Katusha and Organika on top, followed by Islas Canarias Puerto Calero and No Way Back.
Both Katusha and No Way Back managed to win their first match but then lost the second, hence maintaining the suspense. Cayard and Jablonski started the decisive race on split tacks, with Cayard going to the right and Jablonski forced to the left of the course. The first crossing confirmed that Cayard’s choice was the right one: Katusha was comfortably leading the race and sailed to victory without being threatened.
No Way Back also had a fairly comfortable last race against the Spaniards, controlling the entire race to grab the third place of the podium.
The fleet regatta starts tomorrow. It promises to be intense: the teams that were usually in the middle of the pack are now at the top whilst the newcomers have proved how good they are. As for the favourites of the event, who haven’t obtained the results that they wanted in the match race, they know what to do in the coming days…
Paul Cayard wins the match race part of the regatta. Portoroz, 30 September 2009. Photo copyright Ales Fevzer / RC44 Class Association
They said:
Paul Cayard, helmsman, Katusha: “It is obviously a great day for our new team Katusha; we certainly didn’t expect such a good result and it is a perfect way to start in this class. This victory is a tribute to the work done by the people who have prepared the boat over the past weeks. They have done it with a great attention to detail. We also adapted our sailing style to the fact that we are a new team, and avoided getting too involved in close match racing. When the situation allowed, we just did our route without always controlling the opposition. It is risky but it paid off well."
Karol Jablonski, helmsman, Organika: “I am extremely happy, we are getting there and this second place is excellent for us. When I started with this team in Lanzarote, I knew that it would take some time. Cayard obviously did a great job; he positioned his boat well and managed to go to the most favourable places on the course. For sure, I am sad that we didn’t win. But in a way it’s good: it leaves us some margin for improvement ahead of the Gold Cup."
Jose Maria Ponce, helmsman, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero: “This is the beginning of a new era for us. We have been fighting all along and all the matches have been very close. We have proved that we can beat the best teams; it is a great confidence boost for us."
Mike Reardon, Modri Gaj: “I am delighted, this is great fun. Obviously, we are beginners in this Class and we are learning a lot. This morning, Paul Cayard gave us some advice and this proved very helpful today. He has been very good to us."
Match-race, final results: (Ranking, name of team, helmsman)
1) Team Katusha, Paul Cayard 2) Organika, Karol Jablonski 3) No Way Back, Ray Davies, Pieter Heerema 4) Puerto Calero Islas Canarias, José Maria Ponce 5) Artemis, Dean Barker 6) Team Aqua, Cameron Appleton 7) Ceeref, Sébastien Col 8) BMW ORACLE Racing, Russell Coutts 9) Team Sea Dubai, Markus Wieser 10) Modri Gaj, Gasper Vincec 11) Team Austria, Christian Binder
One month exactly separates us from the start of the newly-created Louis Vuitton World Series and the Mascalzone Latino shore crew launched earlier today in Valencia the first of the Italian team's yacht that will be used in the circuit's opening event in Nice, and probably in all other Mediterranean venues. The two Italian boats being so similar we don't know whether it was ITA-90 or ITA-99.
Mascalzone Latino shore crew preparing one of the team's ACC yachts. The second one is still in the shed. Valencia, 30 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
Mascalzone Latino shore crew preparing one of the team's ACC yachts. The second one is still in the shed. Valencia, 30 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
Mascalzone Latino shore crew launch the first yacht for the LV World Series. Valencia, 30 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
As for the other pair of boats that will be raced in Nice, both Bruno Troublé and Grant Dalton had stated in the Paris presentation on the 8th of September that an agreement had been reached with Desafío in order to use the Spanish team's yachts, ESP-88 and ESP-97. Yet according to an article by The Independent's Stuart Alexander it seems that that agreement didn't materialize and as a result, Team Origin and BMW Oracle will provide their yachts, GBR-75 and USA-76, respectively. Both of them are 2003 yachts, updated to Version 5. The former is the ex SUI-75, Alinghi's trial yacht in the 31st America's Cup in Auckland, that also raced in the 2006 Louis Vuitton Acts in Valencia.
This must explain the recent activity in the BMW Oracle base and the arrival of various trucks yesterday noon, one of them with an ACC bulb, probably of the British yacht. I'm not sure whether the hull of GBR-75 is already in Valencia. We'll have more updates tomorrow.
The BMW Oracle base with obvious signs of activity. Valencia, 30 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
Team Origin's GBR-75 sails for the first time. Valencia, 14 July 2007. Photo copyright Nico Martinez.
First day of Platu25 Worlds goes to Bribón and Kyra
[Source: Platu25 Class] After a long wait until late afternoon, the 2009 Platu 25 World Championship started officially at 17 p.m. In Punta Ala there were 93 teams coming from all over the World. With a very weak wind – no more then 6-7 Knots – the crews could complete just one regatta.
They were divided in two groups: the blue fleet started before, followed just five minutes later, by the yellow one.
Between the blue fleet, today the Spanish crews were absolutely the best. The first place is for “Bribon-Movistar” of Josι Cusi, with Marc de Antonio at the helm (Real Club Nautico de Barcelona): they confirmed the most optimistic forecasts. We should remind that “Bribon” last year, during the 2008 Platu 25 World Championship in Greece, conquered the third place, and this year they managed very well during the Spanish Championship.
Bribón-Movistar, leaders of the blue fleet. Punta Ala, 29 September 2009. Photo copyright Jesús Renedo / sailingstock.com
At second place there is “Iberconsa” of Fernando Lago (YC Argentino Club Maritimo Ca), the President of the Spanish class, followed by “Tuypan Caixanova” of Alberto Garcia (Rcn Vigo). The Greeks of “Modus Vivendi – 3 Alfa Kostas” – they were 2008 Platu 25 World Champions – conquered the 7th place, showing to be highly competitive.
Between the Italians, the best team in the Blue fleet is “Menef 8” of Marco Gambardella (Ccrl) that obtained the 4th position, followed by “Jhaplin 007” of Novi Boglione Chalp Scarabosio (Yc Italiano).
In the yellow ranking list, the first is the German “Kyra” of Herman Muller (Byc) followed by the Larian crew of “A Sail 1Ma” of Dulio Bassani, with Roberto Spata, a very talented tactitian, on board (Lni Mandello del Lario). In this case a team of “sweet water” yachtsmen showed, in the very thirst day, all its own competitive potential.
The third place is for “Profumo” of Michele Valiante (Crv Italia) and 4th is for the German “Randale 3” of Ingo Lochman and Christian Maedel. Very good position for the Italian “Brera Hotels” of Emanuele Vitrano, with Alberto Wolleb at the helm and Paolo Montefusco as a tactician: it concluded 5th.
Kura, leaders of the yellow fleet. Punta Ala, 29 September 2009. Photo copyright Jesús Renedo / sailingstock.com
Between the favourites, there is Nanuk” of Gianrocco Catalano, with Luigi Ravioli at the helm that arrived 7th in the yellow ranking list. “Bros”, the Japanese team – an other favourite boat on the eve of the Platu 25 World Championhip – had a Ocs (early start) and now it lies on the bottom of the yellow ranking list
Tomorrow, if the wind allows, the competition will really start: there should be at least three regattas. That’s enough to mess the ranking lists up.
The 93 crews coming from three continents will keep on compete under the careful eyes of the International Panel, formed by the President Luciano Giacomi and by the members Manuel Sales Grade, Costas Tsantilis, Bruno Tamburini, Jean Pierre Grosgogeat, Maria Torrido. The Jury Committee, chaired by Giuseppe Masini, is composed by da Emanuele Sacripanti, Giovanni Capitani, Sergio Agresti and Nicola Cirella.
Start of the day's one and only race. Punta Ala, 29 September 2009. Photo copyright Jesús Renedo / sailingstock.com
Platu25 Worlds 2009 - Leaderboard on day 1 (Top ten)
Blue Group 1. BRIBON - MOVISTAR 2. IBERCONSA 3. TUYPAN CAIXANOVA 4. MENEF 8 5. JHAPLIN 007 6. VIS 7. MODUS VIVENDI - 3 ALFA 8. MISSTRESS 9. JERRY SPEED 10.LA REVOLTOSA
Major upsets on day one of Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup
[Source: RC44 Class Association] Seven flights took place on day one of the Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup match race event. Karol Jablonski, Jose Maria Ponce, Ray Davies and Paul Cayard came out best of the light and tricky conditions.
With four victories out of five races, Karol Jablonski and his team Organika look smart at the end of day one of the Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup. Not only did they win more races than anyone else: they also managed to beat some of the best teams in the RC 44 Class, including Sébastien Col's Ceeref, Cameron Appleton's Team Aqua and Paul Cayard's Katusha.
Also on great form today, Jose Maria Ponce (Islas Canarias Puerto Calero) managed to win three races and take the lead in his group ahead of No Way Back (Pieter Heerema and Ray Davies, who share helming duties).
Video highlights from the opening day of the Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup. Portoroz, 29 September 2009. Video copyright RC44 Class Association
The seven flights completed today took place in a light sea breeze. Due to the increasing number of boats involved in the Class, it is not possible anymore to complete a full round robin and the organisers have decided to split the fleet in two, with five boats in Group Alpha and six in group Bravo. Puerto Calero leads the first one ahead of No Way Back whilst Organika is on top of the other ahead of Katusha.
Tomorrow’s format will depend on the wind conditions, which are forecast light by PredictWind. If this proves right, a best of three series will determine the winners whilst a more complex system will be used if the conditions are good. In the latter case, the first and second of each groups will sail against each other before competing in conventional semi-finals and final.
Whilst some new teams made it to the top of the provisional match race ranking today, others logically didn’t obtain the results they expected. Slightly rusty, Team Aqua started the day with two premature starts, loosing precious points against Organika and Katusha. Usually dominant, Dean Barker and his Team Artemis suffered two losses against No Way Back and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, ending up third in its group. With two victories out of four races, Russell Coutts’ BMW ORACLE Racing isn’t looking as good as he would like to either, currently in the fourth place of Group Alpha.
Two teams made their debuts in the RC 44 Class today. Paul Cayard and his team Katusha showed a strong performance, finishing second of their group despite sailing on a brand new boat, with a new group and having only had five days to practice. Modri Gaj, the new local team didn’t have such a good day. With Gasper Vincec at the helm, the Slovenian team had a moment of glory when they beat Organika in a very clean race; an achievement that will give them some good memories after a disastrous first race that saw them miss the entry, incur two penalties before the start, round the wrong windward mark and miss the arrival line. As the RC 44 co-designer and crewmember onboard Modri Gaj Andrej Justin summarised after the regatta: “Match racing can be tough!”
Excellent day for Islas Canarias Puerto Calero. Portoroz, 29 September 2009. Photo copyright Ales Fevzer / RC44 Class Association
They said:
Karol Jablonski, helmsman, Organika: “We have done a very good job and I am very happy. Sometimes we were behind and we managed to come back. We did a great move against Cayard: we were just behind at the top mark and decided to go for a jibe set. It was important to keep it secret and to make sure that they didn’t see what we were preparing. It worked out well, the crew did a great job and we won the race. The fighting spirit on board is really excellent.”
Jose Maria Ponce, helmsman, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero: “We’ve had a very good day. Our starts were excellent, we were fast and the manoeuvres went well. We haven’t done any match race since Malcesine, so it’s a nice surprise. But there is a major difference in our team: we sail with Luis Doreste. He helps me a lot. He looks out of the boat and concentrates on the tactics. It helps me to focus on the speed.”
Paul Cayard, helmsman, Katusha: “It has been a very good day for us. We won three races and lost two, but the positive thing is that we didn’t get beaten square: we gave those two races away. We need to better the positions on board, and my steering also needs to improve. The conditions were very light and it is hard to keep the speed. We need to be very smooth and this is what we didn’t do well enough.”
Markus Wieser, helmsman, Team Sea Dubai: “It was very close all along, but our lack of practice cost us a lot today. We haven’t sailed any match since Malcesine and we felt it. We will definitely train more before the Gold Cup. I will compete in Berlin match race and we will train in Dubai beforehand.”
Andrej Justin, crewmember, Team Modri Gaj: “There are no match racers on our boat, so it was tough. At some stages we got penalised and we didn’t even know why! But that’s life: match racing is a fight and we are not ready for this. The good thing is it’s an excellent practice for the fleet regatta.”
Match-race, provisional results: (Name of team, helmsman, No of victories / defeats, points)
Group Alpha: 1) Puerto Calero Islas Canarias, José Maria Ponce, 3/1, 3 points 2) No Way Back, Ray Davies, 3/1, 3 points 3) Artemis, Dean Barker, 2/2, 2 points 4) BMW ORACLE Racing, Russell Coutts, 2/2, 2 points 5) Team Austria, Christian Binder, 0/4, 0 point
Group Bravo: 1) Organika, Karol Jablonski 4/1, 4 points 2) Team Katusha, Paul Cayard, 3/2, 3 points 3) Team Aqua, Cameron Appleton 3/2, 3 points 4) Ceeref, Sébastien Col, 2/3, 2 points 5) Team Sea Dubai, Markus Wieser, 2/3, 2 points 6) Modri Gaj, Gasper Vincec, 1/4, 1 point
SNG writes to GGYC regarding BMW Oracle’s arrival in Ras al-Khaimah
[Source: Alinghi] Société Nautique de Genève, in its role as trustee of the America’s Cup and event organising authority, is working with Ras al-Khaimah, UAE, on fitting out the area for the 33rd edition of the America's Cup and on developing the teams’ area on Al Hamra Island. The defending yacht club writes to Golden Gate YC to enquire about the arrival of BMW Oracle in order to prepare their team area in good time.
Brad Butterworth talks to Valencia Sailing about Alinghi and the 33rd America's Cup
Brad Butterworth, Alinghi's skipper, talked to Valencia Sailing about his team and the 33rd America's Cup. Alinghi's catamaran, Alinghi 5, is now on her way to Ras Al-Khaimah, the venue picked by the Swiss, and the entire team will follow her later on in order to carry out the last modifications and resume their training.
Valencia Sailing: Your catamaran Alinghi 5 is now being shipped to Ras Al-Khaimah after a period of sea trials in Genoa, Italy. Can you talk about the results of those trials? Brad Butterworth: I think the boat is certainly exciting, very fast and exciting to sail with but there is still a lot of work to be done in order to optimize her to race against Oracle. We are going to do that work in Ras Al-Khaimah trying to get her to a good enough level so that we can beat them in February.
Valencia Sailing: What type of conditions did you experience in Genoa? Brad Butterworth: We had a lot of different conditions, we had sometimes too much wind and, obviously, sometimes not enough wind but overall we sailed the boat in good breezes, we had pretty high speeds, we learned a lot about the boat but as I said we still have a lot to do.
Valencia Sailing: What do you mean by "high speeds"? What speed did you reach? Brad Butterworth: Well, we went into the high 20's.
Valencia Sailing: Did you have any breakages? Did you suffer from any serious structural damage? Brad Butterworth: That's wishful thinking. For sure we broke some stuff, not daily, but at the end we were amazed how little we broke. We did have several breakages when we were in Genoa and one of them was obvious because it was near one of the back frames but it wasn't serious structural damage. We fixed it overnight and repeated it on the other side because you want to fix these parts as fine as you can and then went to sail after that and had no problems at all.
Brad Butterworth during Alinghi 5's first sail on sea water. Genoa, 15 August 2009. Photo copyright Guido Trombetta / Alinghi
Valencia Sailing: Have you taken any decision on the number of crew on the boat? Brad Butterworth: No, we haven't and it's one of those things we have really been trying to do as much testing on the boat as we can to try to find out what we can do to optimize her. We don't have a hell a lot of time and there is a hell of a lot to optimize her. The decisions we make, for example whether we want to change different parts of the boat have to be made quickly and there isn't much time. There isn't a hell of a lot of time left until we start sailing in RAK.
Valencia Sailing: What is the expected time of arrival of the boat at the venue? Brad Butterworth: I'm not sure but I think it will at the beginning of October.
Valencia Sailing: What are Alinghi's short-term plans after that? Are you personally already in RAK? Brad Butterworth: I'm still in Geneva but I will go there the next week or so. We will first have to do some work on the boat when she arrives and then go sailing as soon as we can.
Valencia Sailing: That means that the infrastructure there must be ready. At what stage are the construction works? Brad Butterworth: We are working very hard, the emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah is also working very hard to get things done. We have some of the buildings already erected and, obviously, the footprint for where we will take the boat each day has been done. This has been done for both teams. The work on the island is pushing ahead quite quickly and you know these guys are spending good money to host both teams.
Valencia Sailing: What about BMW Oracle? It has been reported they sent a delegation to the venue in order to study it. Have you received any feedback on their impressions? Brad Butterworth: No, we haven't received any feedback and they still have their people down there. They will also have the same problems we have to struggle to get organized. I don't know when they are going to arrive there or what plans they have but we are pushing on.
Valencia Sailing: I suppose that from what you understand, they do have the intention to go there. Brad Butterworth: Well, I think that's a question you should be asking them. We haven't heard anything back from them. Nobody said to us they are not coming, so it's a good question you should ask them. The venue is known for two months now and there hasn't been any challenge so far. It would be such a ridiculous situation if they challenged it now. Our boat is on ship going to the venue and they know that because they used to follow us each day. If that's how they want to win the Cup it's just going to delay us and that is not good for anybody.
Valencia Sailing: What about the longer term? Assuming the whole thing goes ahead as planned and supposing again that you win, what are Alinghi's plans for the 34th America's Cup? Brad Butterworth: At the moment we don't have any plan. You know, last time we had organized a plan and after all their moaning and grinning we had a pretty good relationship with 19 teams ended. This time I don't know what's going to happen at the end of it. It's totally up in the air and right now we don't have any plan.
Valencia Sailing: While the legal struggle goes on in the America's Cup, Louis Vuitton announced the creation of the Louis Vuitton World Series. You raced last February in Auckland but you are absent this time. Why? Brad Butterworth: Because we have work to do on our own, to get the boat sorted out. As you said we did the regatta in Auckland in order to get rid of the lawsuit with Team New Zealand. The regatta is sailed in old boats and, personally, I want to move on and I'd rather sail in newer and more exciting boats. This is more of a regatta for Louis Vuitton rather than anybody else, I think.
One of Alinghi 5's last sea trials before going to Ras Al-Khaimah. Genoa, 11 August 2009. Photo copyright Bruno Coccozza / Alinghi
Valencia Sailing: Turning back to the current issues in the 33rd America's Cup, one point of dispute is the measurement of BMW Oracle's challenging yacht. SNG has just submitted opposition papers on this subject. Do you think the BOR boat measures? Brad Butterworth: No, I don't think it measures. It doesn't look like it measures to me, even under the certificate that they gave us, they don't seem to be sure very sure about that themselves and also they are not interested in getting the boat measured. In the end, the boat is not even 90 by 90 and that's what we are after. They had plenty of time to go over the rules of the measurement, they know what they've got to do. They can obviously change it any way they feel like it, show up and race the race and this is what I look forward to.
Valencia Sailing: Why do you include the rudders in the measurement of the Load Waterline Length (LWL)? Brad Butterworth: Because it's part of the vessel.
Valencia Sailing: Are the rudders always included in the measurement of multihulls? Brad Butterworth: Well, this is the America's Cup and it's part of the vessel. The New York court says that it is. Every time that we do something we are taken back to court but it's the New York court, it's in the US. The court says it's part of the vessel and I think they have changed it since then. So, I don't see any problem there.
Valencia Sailing: The NY court has also upheld your right to freely set the rules. I won't argue whether this is fair or not but my question concerns your agreement with ISAF over the Rules of Sailing. Why did it have to be secret to begin with? Brad Butterworth: It's just a commercial agreement between a yacht club and ISAF. It's just an agreement to use their rules, it's a service agreement for them to provide their people and help us run the regatta in a fair way for everyone. That was done also in the past and you have never seen any of the agreements of other regattas being made public. It's just a nonsense.
Valencia Sailing: Why did you then decide to make it public at a later stage? Brad Butterworth: It's not such a big deal. Obviously the Americans got their knickers in a twist over and so it was made public. You can now see it, everybody can now see what it is. It's actually a lot better in terms of the agreements that have been done in the past with ISAF. It's a hell lot better agreement for ISAF and sailing that has been made in the past. It's just a lot of bullshit being put around about it that doesn't amount to much.
Valencia Sailing: The document you made public was the original version signed with ISAF or was it amended and/or modified? Brad Butterworth: It's the original version and there was also a letter accompanying it to give BMW Oracle a sense of comfort over the way the regatta was going to be run. Let me make it clear again, the agreement was never amended.
Valencia Sailing: Is there anything you might want to add? Brad Butterworth: You know, in the end, these 2 boats will have to come together and race and regardless of who wins or loses, that should be the end of it and the Cup should move on. It would seem ridiculous to me that the loser of the race went to court afterwards. No matter who wins, the court case should end there. These 2 boats have to come together and they need to race in Ras Al-Khaimah in February.
After a 16-year hiatus, Italy is back in the round-the-world race with a team headed by Giovanni Soldini. Known as Italia 70, the team will race under the il tricolore with an all-Italian crew for the next two editions of the race and the promo video couldn't make it any clearer. The team is mentioned as the national sailing team of Italy, the "squadra azzura" of sailing.
Artemis and Dean Barker on top form in the Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup practice race
[Source: RC44] Dean Barker and his Team Artemis confirmed their great form today, leading the Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup ahead of Team Aqua (Cameron Appleton) and Paul Cayard’s new Team Katusha.
With eleven top level teams on the water, the RC 44 fleet is probably at its best ever. Speaking during this morning’s press conference in Portoroz (Slovenia), Russell Coutts – co-designer of the RC 44 and founder of the Class – confirmed that "the level is incredibly high. We have eleven strict one-design boats led by some of the world’s best sailors, and we are all united in a wonderful sailing arena. It doesn’t get much better than this."
Practice race for the Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup. Portoroz, 28 September 2009. Photo copyright Ales Fevzer / RC44 Class Association
The results of today’s practice race speak by themselves: all the teams crossed the arrival line within less than two minutes after an extremely close race. The RC 44 regattas are obviously a team effort; however, the team’s helmsmen are worth a special mention: Dean Barker finished first (although he chose not to cross the arrival line), ahead of Cameron Appleton, Paul Cayard, Sébastien Col, Ray Davies, Michael Reardon, Russell Coutts, Karol Jablonski and the rest of the pack; an extraordinary line-up of famous skippers that clearly confirms the world level status of the RC 44 Class.
The event starts tomorrow morning with a full match race round-robin. The fleet regatta will take place from Thursday to Saturday.
PredictWind’s weather forecast announces light to moderate winds decreasing throughout the week.
The teams involved: (Name of team, owner or fleet race helmsman, match race helmsman)
Team Aqua, Chris Bake / Cameron Appleton Team Ceeref, Igor Lah / Sébastien Col Sea Dubai, Yousef Lahej, DIMC / Markus Wieser BMW ORACLE Racing, Ian Vickers / Russell Coutts Team Organika, Maciej Nawrocki / Karol Jablonski Puerto Calero Islas Canarias, José Juan Calero / José Maria Ponce Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist / Dean Barker No Way Back, Pieter Heerema / Ray Davies Team Austria, René Mangold / Christian Binder Team Katusha, Pieter Taselaar / Paul Cayard Team Blue Grove Miss Slovenia, Michael Reardon / Gasper Vincec
A major shift appears to be taking place in US college sailing. College/University sailing in the US will likely be making a change next year, scrapping its sloops/keel boat championship and switching to match racing. The philosophy behind the change is that match racing ia big part of the future of sailing and it is the one aspect of the sport where US colleges do not produce experts straight out of school.
The ICSA (Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association of North America) produces just about all elite US sailors, including Ed Baird, Terry Hutchinson, and Anna Tunnicliffe,as well as the last several world team racing champions. If this change is made, one can expect the caliber of US produced match racers to grow rapidly.
In the ICSA board meeting that took place last January in Park City, Utah it was decided that a "Sloops Working Party" be created in order to investigate the future of college sloops, specifically looking at match racing. In the following meeting in San Francisco last May, Stanford University Coach John Vandemoer (husband of US Olympic Match Racing sailor Molly Vandemoer, who finished 3rd last week at Sail for Gold in the UK) presented his "Report of the Sloops Working Party". The minutes of the ICSA board meetings can be accessed here.
Where this gets bigger is that the ICSA would like to work with US Sailing, to automatically get the winner of the new college match racing championship a berth to the US Match Racing Championship, as well as other Grade 2 or 1 events in the US. The ICSA hopes its sailors could rapidly overtake the current fleet of US Match Racers, since they already team race so well. The weakness for college sailors will be keel boat teamwork and boat handling skill, but that has not been hard to learn for other ex-college sailors.
Without any question this should help grow the sport. The US is about to really start focusing on match racing, which generally played a secondary role in the past. The fleets will get more competitive and more teams will be trying to get into events.
Terry Hutchinson, here at the helm of Quantum Racing, was College Sailor of the Year in 1989 and 1990. Cartagena, 14 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing
Gitana Win iShares Cup Amsterdam, Masirah Keep Overall Lead
[Source: iShares Cup] The best breeze of the day filled in for the final three races today producing some extreme racing - close calls, collisions, penalties and a nail-biting, final double-points race - entertaining the 10,000 strong crowd lining the IJ-Haven. There were seven different race winners in this penultimate event, that was more about tactics than boat handling. Gitana Extreme sailed brilliantly under pressure to win the penultimate iShares Cup Amsterdam event ahead of Oman Sail Renaissance, whilst Groupama fought back to win the final race and fill the last spot on the podium in third. Overall series leaders, Oman Sail Masirah, put their day 1 disaster behind them, finishing 5th in Amsterdam to retain their overall lead, ahead of Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild and Oman Sail Renaissance, going into the final iShares Cup event in Almeria only two weeks away…
The nine-boat Extreme 40 fleet saved the best till last at the iShares Cup Amsterdam event today to produce a thrilling three-lap finale that had the 10,000-strong crowd of spectators cheering the boats home all the way. The penultimate round of the six-stage European iShares Cup series, held on the confined IJ-Haven canal in Amsterdam, saw predominantly light airs but finally this afternoon, a good 8 knot breeze filled in to see the 40-foot catamarans lifting their hulls. It was perfect catamaran sailing - the excitement levels going into fifth gear for both sailors and spectators. As the breeze increased the size of the IJ-Haven racecourse seemed to decrease! The boats accelerating faster round the tiny racecourse and, not surprisingly, a number of collisions ensued.
For Oman Sail Masirah skipper, Pete Cumming, the team did the job they needed to do to keep the overall series lead, despite the unsettling experience of being seriously holed on the first day: "That was a good day for us, we won the first and the fourth race and had average results in the three others. We have been up and down during the all events but I have to say that it's hard to keep positive and motivated after the big crash we had on Friday. Our shore team did an amazing job to fix the boat. Tonight we are on equal points with Gitana in the overall series which keeps the pressure on for the last event in Almeria. The conditions will be very different to here, more like Cowes or Kiel and it's what we like. It's going to be a fantastic battle for the overall iShares Cup!"
The stage was set for the showdown between Gitana Extreme skipper, Yann Guichard, and Oman Sail Renaissance supremo, Loick Peyron, with Guichard coming out on top. "Since the first start today we were in the game and we sailed well despite the pressure of those last races. Once again, our teamwork was key to our success. That final race was under a lot of pressure, we knew that we could not let Loïck put more than two boats between us, and we finished right behind him! It was an ideal scenario, and we're really happy with that new victory. As we foresaw, everything will unfold in Almeria. We really wanted to win in Amsterdam not to regret anything, and to fight for victory, The top three boats are now one point apart, and the fight between Masirah, Renaissance and ourselves will be amazing. I also wanted to congratulate the Oman Sail Masirah team, who came back strong despite their incident."
It wasn't just a battle for the top spot, the Dutch team of Holmatro, skippered by Mitch Booth, were in with a chance of the third podium place. But for the home team it was a case of a pantomime-style ‘behind you’ as Franck Cammas’ Groupama pulled a final win out of the bag to snatch third place from them. But Cammas’ fight was not without incident and he got off lightly in a port/starboard collision with Shirley Robertson’s Team iShares in the penultimate race. Cammas immediately performed a voluntary penalty and post-race the race committee disqualified Robertson for not take evading action - that ultimately put her out of contention for 4th place and Team iShares finished 6th overall.
Erik Maris’ crew on LUNA showed flashes of brilliance during round 5 scoring a race win and a second place that left them in 7th place; whilst Nick Moloney’s BT team struggled with boat speed and had to settle for 8th. Britain’s Mike Golding, who is gaining confidence in this extremely aggressive class, thrilled his supporters with a second place in the final race – Fraser Brown leaping to his feet rousing the crowd to cheer more! It was a great finish for this team who had such a traumatic time in round 4 in Kiel suffering an aggressive capsize that left their regular crew Bruno Dubois with a serious head injury.
The final round of the 2009 iShares Cup is only two weeks away, taking place in the Andalucian city of Almeria over the 10th-12th October. The finale promises to be best yet.
Oman Sail Masirah and Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild are on equal points (43), Masirah in pole position based on winning three of the rounds so far compared to Gitana Extreme’s two victories, but Oman Sail Renaissance are just 1 point behind them and Groupama 10 points behind the leader. And there will be a big fight over the middle-ground with less than 3 points separating BT, Team iShares, Holmatro and LUNA. Don’t miss it!
Gitana Extreme Excel in the Light Airs of Day 2 of iShares Cup Amsterdam
[Source: iShares Cup] Light conditions dominated day 2, at times a bit of a lottery with 4 different winners in as many races today - not a day for brawn but brains. Overall series leaders Oman Sail Masirah made it back in the water in time but they wallow in sixth place on the event leaderboard after their redress. It was Gitana Extreme - Groupe LCF Rothschild who excelled in the light airs, although Loick Peyron tried everything to keep Oman Sail Renaissance in control, but ultimately had to concede the event lead, setting the stage for a French head to head going into the final day tomorrow. Mitch Booth took the home team of Holmatro into third place: "Not spectacular racing but more a game of chess..." Although the 8,500-strong crowd didn't seem to mind as the boats passed within inches of the canal walls, cheering the Dutch team every time.
On day 2 of the iShares Cup Amsterdam the breeze barely exceeded 5 knots, occasionally rippling the surface of the IJ-Haven. It was downwind starts in a pre-dominantly easterly breeze but it was also incredibly shifty: “It's tricky here - the breeze is coming and going and it's a case of picking which building to gybe in front of! The positions can change right up until the finish - not spectacular racing but more a game of chess,” said Holmatro skipper Mitch Booth. “In these conditions we are generally looking around for new breeze, searching for little 'cat's paws' on the water, looking at the flags on the shore or barges which are always good indicators, then applying that to what we've got on board."
Overall iShares Cup series leaders were craned back into the water with 30 minutes to spare, following the overnight repairs, and were given redress but, frustratingly for the pre-race favourites, they find themselves in an unfamiliar sixth place on the event leaderboard: “It’s been unsettling for the guys and I’m pretty confident we would have had better results than a bunch of fifths that we’ve got from redress but that’s the way the rules are written – that’s gutting because it’s out of our control. But tomorrow is within our control as we’ll just sail the best we can.”
Yann Guichard and his crew on Gitana Extreme – Group LCF Rothschild profited the most in these conditions and won the last race to overtake Oman Sail Renaissance on the event leaderboard: “We had good tactics, it was very quiet on board, and Yann did a great job,” said trimmer, Hervé Cunningham: “Hopefully tomorrow we will have more breeze and also we will not just be Saturday’s champions but overall champions as well!”
The light conditions affected every team in one way or another today, many running out of time to finish a race within the time limit which was the case for Loick Peyron in the last race that ultimately cost him the lead. Nevertheless, the fight is far from over… It looks likely that Peyron and Guichard will be going head to head tomorrow, but any of the top six teams are within reach of the iShares Cup Amsterdam title as ‘local hero’ Mitch Booth pointed out: “It’s been a tough day – some passing lanes and a lot of losing lanes as well. We’re just happy that we could hang in there and gain one more place and still within striking distance of the leader but anything can happen here. It’s so tight on points and looking at the scoreboard, right now any of the top six boats are still capable of winning this event.”
Glenn Ashby, BMW Oracle sailing coach, on his team's preparation
[Source: BMW Oracle] With the BOR 90 being handed back to the designers and boatbuilders this week for some planned modifications, Glenn Ashby, the team's sailing coach, took time out to talk about how the sailors are preparing for what is sure to be a unique episode in the long history of the America's Cup.
The 33rd edition will see, for the first time, two enormous multihulls engage in battle in a 'back to the future' type of competition. By that we mean that this edition of the Cup is a nod back towards the early days of the America's Cup, in the sense that the match will be held under the terms of the 'Deed of Gift', between just the two teams - Challenger and Defender.
But while the governing rules for the event may be over 120 years old, the boats each team has built couldn't be more cutting-edge and futuristic. BMW ORACLE Racing has been testing and trialing BOR 90, an enormous, 90-foot trimaran, off the coast of San Diego, under the watchful eye of Ashby, a multiple world champion and Olympic silver medalist in multihulls.
Testing on BOR90 continues. Video copyright BMW Oracle
Ashby has been working hard with the sailing team to translate their talent and experience in more traditional America's Cup monohulls, into the skills needed to succeed on board a lightning-quick trimaran, a process he calls ‘taming the beast’. So how fast are his charges learning their lessons?
"Surprisingly quickly," Ashby says with enthusiasm. "It's been a short, sharp learning curve, but they've all taken it on extremely well and now they're mixing it up and beating many of the best multihull sailors in the world."
Indeed they are. Earlier this year, Ashby won his sixth A-Class catamaran world championship in Australia. But James Spithill, the man charged with helming aboard BOR 90, finished in a remarkable sixth place (out of 94 starters), an impressive result for a relative newcomer to the multihull discipline.
"They are very good sailors on this team and a good sailor on any boat will be able to turn their hand to a lot of different styles and techniques of sailing. It doesn't come overnight, but they've been prepared to put in the time sailing the smaller multihulls to get their hand in it and that makes a huge difference."
In the BOR 90, the team is dealing with a boat that is being designed and built on the limits of materials and technology, so testing and development are a big focus. But Ashby has been called on to focus on the team's sailing techniques, to ensure that refining the team’s sailing skills doesn't get sacrificed in the push to develop the fastest boat possible. He thinks finding the right balance between the two is a key to overall success.
BOR during her summer sailing tests. San Diego, 17 August 2009. Photo copyright Gilles Martin-Raget. BMW Oracle
"The development of the boat never stops," Ashby says. "In this case, there are two giant multihulls preparing to go head to head, so the performance side, the boat speed side, is naturally, and rightly, very high on the priority list.
“But at the same time, teamwork, co-ordination of the trimming and steering, is still important. That's where I've been very proactive, in terms of keeping the guys focused on the actual sailing of the boat itself rather than it just being a technology race. At the end of the day, it's all well and good having the best tools in the world, but if you don't use them correctly, you're wasting a lot of energy. So I've been very passionate about keeping the guys focused on the correct trim of the boat and pushing the boat really hard. That's how we're going to sail fast."
While the focus will remain on testing the boat when it returns to the water next month, the sailors will soon have to think about how to sail a match race between two monstrous multihulls. The difference between approaching the start line in the races in February, compared to previous America’s Cups, is like comparing chalk and cheese. How does Ashby see it happening?
“Hopefully very carefully,” he says, laughing. “I think both teams will be very sensible in their approach to the safety side of things. To be honest, I think the maneuverability of both of the boats is going to be such that the boat-on-boat, traditional match racing pre-start stuff isn't going to be as tactical as what it has been in the past.
“However, as always it will be critical to get off the starting line in good shape and without any penalties. So I think the first part of the pre-start might not be so exciting but I think the final minute before the start will be something that's absolutely incredible, with both boats coming in at very high speed, side-by-side, very close to each other. There could be some very interesting situations. But it's not going to be traditional match racing, as we usually see in the America's Cup.”
The sailing team for BMW ORACLE Racing, under Ashby’s tutelage, will return to the waters off San Diego in October, as the countdown to the 33rd America’s Cup continues.
"Lola", the Argentinean version of the 2011 TP52 rule
Guillermo Parada, Matador's helmsman, had told us last week that his team would be launching a brand new 52-foot yacht that would follow the 2011 TP52 rule, giving them a headstart in the design race. In fact, the Argentineans will take advantage of the Southern Hemisphere summer that has just started and test their latest yacht.
Thanks to our friend and Spanish-language sailing-media-supremo Juanpa Cadario, we saw that "Lola" was launched on Thursday on the waters of the Yacht Club Argentino in Buenos Aires. Guillermo Parada, project manager and skipper of Lola, and the rest of the crew will make the first test sail in the following days.
Lola, the Argentinean version of the 2011 TP52 Rule. Buenos Aires 24, September 2009. Photo copyright Ale Bottino / Juanpa Cadario
Lola, the Argentinean version of the 2011 TP52 Rule. Buenos Aires 24, September 2009. Photo copyright Ale Bottino / Juanpa Cadario
They are young and they are, very, successful so a little promotion is not bad at all. We are talking about BlackMatch Racing, the young kiwi team that currently holds the 2nd position in the World Match Racing Tour and whose helmsman, Adam Minoprio, currently sits at the top of the ISAF match racing ranking at the age of 24.
BlackMatch Racing are Adam Minoprio (helm), Daniel Mclean (main), David Swete (trim), Nick Blackman (bow) and Tom Powrie (trim).
Last Friday, September 18th, Alinghi filed a series of opposition documents to GGYC, requesting the court to deny GGYC's latest motion and reaffirming that the SNG is entitled under the Deed of Gift to set the rules for the 33rd America's Cup.
The Defender of the 33rd America's Cup published these documents today, so here they are, if you are interested in the legal intricacies.
Italia 70, first official entry for the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race
[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] Italy is back in the world’s premier ocean race for the first time since Brooksfield entered the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1993-94. Italy’s Giovanni Soldini (43) has been named as the skipper of the Italia 70 team, which will race under the Italian flag with a fully Italian crew. Soldini has completed two single handed round the world races, and has made over 30 Atlantic crossings.
The objective of the project is to bring together a group of companies, which will be prepared to support Italia 70 throughout its entry in the next two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Italia 70 has already acquired the Volvo Open 70 Ericsson 3, winner of leg five of the 2008-09 event, which, at 12,300 nautical miles, was the longest leg to date in the 36-year history of the event. The decision to opt for a tried and tested boat means the team can begin training immediately and be as prepared as possible for the start in Alicante, Spain, in the autumn of 2011.
From left, John Elkann (FIAT Vice President), Carlo Croce (F.I.V. President) and Giovanni Soldini present ITALIA 70, a new Italian team for the 2011 Volvo Ocean Race. Genoa, 24 September 2009. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi
In order to create and consolidate a new generation of ocean sailors, Italia 70 will draw on Italian yachtsmen and women to build an Italian national offshore racing team, which will showcase Italian sailing talent and skill around the world as the race progresses. The Italian Sailing Federation, together with Giovanni Soldini, will develop the first Italian ocean sailing school in parallel with the Volvo Ocean Race.
Italia 70 wants to take a fresh approach to sport based on respect for the environment. Together with a pool of contributing companies, the team will develop relationships with national universities and research centres, which will help them to test environmentally friendly solutions ranging from energy management to waste disposal.
The Volvo Ocean Race (formerly The Whitbread Round the World Race), has always held enormous appeal for Italian yachtsmen. The first race, back in 1973-74 had three Italian entries: Guia skippered by Giorgio Falck, CSeRB skippered by Doi Malingri and Tauranga skippered by Eric Pascoli.
The last fully Italian entry was Brooksfield skippered by Guido Maisto in 1993-94. Italy’s Leonardo Ferragamo entered two boats in the 2001-02 event, the first run under the new name of Volvo Ocean Race, but both Amer Sports One and Amer Sports Too were made up of international crews.
The next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will start from Alicante in 2011. The class of boat to be raced will be the Volvo Open 70, currently the fastest monohull racer in the world. The Notice of Race and Class Rules will be published later this autumn and the course will be confirmed next year.
[Source: Groupama] After spending seven weeks at the Multiplast yard, Groupama 3 is back in her home port of Lorient, Brittany. Serviced from top to bottom after 15,000 miles of sailing in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, the maxi trimaran skippered by Franck Cammas will now be training off Lorient, in the build-up to the next record attempt. Indeed, from 1st November, the crew will be awaiting the right weather window to set off on their latest Jules Verne Trophy attempt, an award which has been in the hands of Bruno Peyron since 2005 with a time of 50 days and 16 hours.
If it's the early bird that catches the worm, the Groupama team won't be going hungry. Following the orders of Yann Mérour then Loïc Le Mignon, Boat Captain, the mast, which culminates at 41 metres, is positioned onto a tiny titanium ball upon which it will pivot around the world. Next up, the shrouds are fixed onto each of the floats where Gaël de Kerangat, a member of the team since 1999, has taken up position.
Now, as the Breton sunshine directs its glare at the units that form the old submarine base of Lorient, Groupama 3 heads off to the "Course au Large" pontoon where, for the next three days, various members of team will come and kit her up for the next sailing sessions: "Today Groupama 3 is at her best. I form part of the last dinosaurs who are both préparateurs and sailors. The benefit of that is that I know every inch of the boat. As such I regularly give her a thorough check-up to ensure that everything's alright. The only drawback is that I don't get an awful lot of time to myself" says Loïc Le Mignon. He goes on to say: "I'm going to need some quality time to prepare myself psychologically and physically as a circumnavigation of the globe under sail isn't something to be sniffed at. I also have a family to think about, which you have to devote time to".
Though calm and serene, the 1,90m Loïc cannot hide his desire to get going. The gold earring he wears in his left ear is that of a Cape Horner, something which you have to earn. For him, the accolade came whilst he was sailing aboard Innovation Explorer with Peyron who, in reference to a third Loïck, one with the surname Fougeron, added a K to his forename.
Today, the captain of Groupama 3 is keen to head out to sea again. This will become a reality this coming Monday as he participates in three days of trials and training so as to ensure himself of the soundness of the latest improvements, notably to the appendages.
Following on from this, there will be another three days in the open ocean, this time with the full crew for the Jules Verne Trophy.
Peter Gilmour talks to Valencia Sailing about the World Match Racing Tour
The World Match Racing Tour, the world's top-level professional match-racing circuit, announced yesterday that a group of Asian investors bought a stake in it and has ambitious plans for further development and expansion. Peter Gilmour, the legendary Australian match racer, is one of those investors and currently acting president of the Tour. Valencia Sailing talked to him about the current situation of the Tour, the plans for the future as well as the situation with the newly-created Louis Vuitton Series.
Valencia Sailing: Why did Regal Faith Ltd decide to buy into the WMRT? What business opportunity does it see? Peter Gilmour: I think, importantly, the opportunity of the Tour is tremendous with 9 great events around the world that can grow from strength to strength. The new events that have been added to the Tour in the last 4 years, if you look at Korea, the most recent addition, and before that the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia have been very significant events that really make a mark. So, for the Tour to expand will need to create bigger and more prominent events.
Valencia Sailing: In the press release you refer to “Regal Faith Ltd and its consortium of investors based in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Australia”. Can you tell us who they are? Are you personally involved? Peter Gilmour: Yes, I am personally involved and I have a financial stake. One of the other investors is Patrick Lim [the Malaysian businessman that founded the Monsoon Cup] and there are several others that have asked to remain private. Basically, they are very substantial individuals with significant businesses around the world.
Valencia Sailing: Can you tell us the price Regal Faith paid for its stake? Peter Gilmour: No, I can't, it's confidential.
Valencia Sailing: All these investors are Asian. Does that reflect a shift of the Tour's focus towards that continent? Peter Gilmour: There are several growth areas in match racing at the moment. Obviously Europe is very, very strong and we still see considerable growth there. More recently we have seen a little bit of growth occur in Asia but one of the biggest areas of opportunity in growth right now is the United States. They are, obviously, clearly struggling from economic difficulties, but if you look at the Grade 2 and 3 level there is quite an interest for an event there and just today we were contacted by a group that has an interest in doing something. I think that's the most exciting area for us.
Valencia Sailing: How does the current economic climate affect you? Has the 2-year legal battle in the America’s Cup also affected the WMRT? Peter Gilmour: The only real negative effect on the Tour is probably the shift into the catamaran. For example Ed Baird was actively taking part in the Tour but had to drop out in order to fully concentrate on the Alinghi catamaran project. For sure this is not positive but the reality is that the entire situation of the America's Cup allowed this investment to occur. If we weren't in the current situation I don't think the consortium would have made the same investment. They are excited because we are currently into a light and quiet period.
Valencia Sailing: Sure but what will happen if the America's Cup dead end is finally solved in February and the next Defender, whether it's Alinghi or BMW Oracle, rolls on to a conventional multi-team event as soon as possible? Will that be a problem for the Tour? Peter Gilmour: I don't think it will because the World Match Racing Tour has always been recognized as the source of America's Cup sailing talent. In addition, in the period of time between now and then it will give us the opportunity to get our house in order, to get things move on. From that perspective, even if for the general public the current America's Cup situation is viewed as very negative we view it as very positive.
Valencia Sailing: What are the short-term plans of the new owners? Peter Gilmour: The plan is to understand what the business of the World Match Racing Tour is, to go around in the various events and encourage them to keep going. Once the Tour is completed, we will have a Tour Summit with all event organizers right after the World Yacht Racing Forum in December.
Valencia Sailing: Do you plan to change the number of events per year? Peter Gilmour: The Tour currently consists of 9 events and we are looking into increasing that. I think there is a possibility of adding another 2 or 3 events and I don't think the calendar will be a great challenge. There are lots of events in fleet racing and all levels but this has always been the same.
Valencia Sailing: What will your personal role be in the new organization? Peter Gilmour: My own role will, hopefully, simply be of a competing sailor. We are currently doing a global search for president and CEO, commercial director, director of operations, media director, all sorts of positions that we need to have filled. We are starting rather flat-footed in that respect and it's going to take us a little bit of time to put the team together, so if anyone reading this interview is interested in a job, they can send us their resume through the World Match Racing Tour.
Peter Gilmour wins the 2009 Match Cup Sweden. Marstrand, 5 July 2009. Photo copyright Dan Ljungsvik
Valencia Sailing: You definitely have ambitious goals about the future. Do you think that match racing can become a mainstream sport? How can you make it more accessible to the general, non-sailing public? Peter Gilmour: I do think it can be more popular. First of all, it will require a deep and committed investment to enhance the product of what we already have. You need to build a franchise of the World Match Racing Tour into something of significant value to each of the franchisees, to each of the events. If we can build that up, over time it will become significantly more mainstream. Take for example the America's Cup. In 1983 it was just a small regatta off Newport, Rhode Island and it grew to a point that it charged tens of millions of dollars for television rights, sponsorship and so forth in 2007 in Valencia. Nobody would have believed that 25 years ago and I think it just needs a little bit of that same style of thinking. This is the second level down, the second main event of match racing in the world and certainly has a great opportunity to grow and expand itself.
Valencia Sailing: This is, more or less, the same message Louis Vuitton and the World Sailing Team Association wanted to convey in their presentation in Paris 2 weeks ago. They want to build a top-tier professional match-racing series around the world. They call it the LV World Series and even the format is quite similar, since teams race in boats provided by the organization. Can you comment on that? Peter Gilmour: The situation with the LV Series is, in our opinion, very clear. Essentially, the exclusive rights to use the word "World" and be the premier match racing series or tour in the world, outside of the America's Cup, have been given to ProMatch Tour Ltd. This is very clear and unequivocal. Obviously, the LV proposed series got going without consideration for that and they didn't even talk to ISAF beforehand. I understand ISAF has written and asked them not to proceed using the words "World Series" and they haven't received any approval. We plan to meet with Louis Vuitton and the WSTA people in about a week's time and it really comes down to our right to sanction them, if we so wish. That's really pretty much where the situation is. We haven't received anything from them, no information whatsoever. Right now it's wait and see.
Valencia Sailing: There is one difference though, the proposed LV series will be raced in the current ACC boats. Do you envision having bigger boats in the World Match Racing Tour? Peter Gilmour: When I started match racing as a 20-something year old we were sailing in boats around the 22-25ft size. In my 30's we were sailing in 32 to 34-foot boats and then up to 44 feet. In a lot of the venues they consider that the boats are still too small and we need to go to something bigger. For example Rusell Coutts' boats, the RC4's, are 44 feet long, there are also a lot of 45-foot boats and we could possibly sail in even bigger boats. Of course, you can also go all the way up to as big as 70 feet, similar to the America's Cup Class. We are pretty open minded and we look and consider any proposals.
Valencia Sailing: Have you considered having one single boat for the entire Tour, for all events? Peter Gilmour: This has been considered in the past and this is essentially what the SM40 is. In my view, the success of that was probably moderate to lukewarm at best. I think one of the skills all great match racers have, portrayed by people like Russell Coutts, Ed Baird and the like, is the ability to go from one venue and one size boats to another venue and another class of boats and perform equally well. I actually think rather than trying to go to a fixed class, make it like a one-design concept, there is a tremendous beauty in the current format.
Valencia Sailing: Let's consider even bigger yachts. What kind of match racing should we expect from the two giant multihulls in the America's Cup next February? As one of the world's most prominent match sailors do you look forward to it? Peter Gilmour: I think that at a technical level I certainly do look forward to it. I see two very well organized, very focused teams approaching the best technical output they can, at every level. As far as racing is concerned, I think that the situation will be similar to the 1988 America's Cup. We will see, probably, 5 to 10 knots of speed difference between the two boats, at times. I wouldn't be surprised if we see just two races and a very clear outcome. The most interesting thing for me is what French colleagues comment me, sailors that did the World Match Racing Tour and have great connections in the multihull world. They say that it's still too close to call. They argue over the benefits of the catamaran or the trimaran but even if we only see two races it's going to be interesting.
A lot of people argue this is the end of the America's Cup, this is dreadful, bad and all of that but I'm convinced it's going to be like 1988. It's only a blimp in a very colorful history of one of the world's greatest sports competitions.
Valencia Sailing: What about sailing the Tour in catamarans, let's say the Extreme 40's or something similar? Is that something you would consider? Peter Gilmour: No, this is not something we would consider. We stick to monohulls.
Custom House Registry: Court Rules in Favor of GGYC
[Source: BMW Oracle] SNG’s motion to disqualify GGYC is denied. Challenger is free to modify its yacht
The Golden Gate Yacht Club’s (GGYC)position with regard to supplying the Custom House Registry (CHR) document has been vindicated by Justice Shirley Kornreich in the New York Supreme Court.
Justice Kornreich says, in her decision of September 18, 2009 and issued today, that the CHR (or “COD” as it is now known) for GGYC’s yacht challenging for the 33rd America’s Cup need only be provided at least two weeks ahead of next February’s match.
Her decision also states that the Deed of Gift does not compel the challenger to obtain the COD within a specific period of time, and that a challenger may continue to make modifications even after a CHR has been issued.
“Issuance of the COD does not freeze the vessel in time,” Justice Kornreich wrote. GGYC spokesman Tom Ehman said, “The Swiss defender, Société Nautique de Genève, has failed to understand the simple reality that a vessel is not complete upon its launch but when sea trials have been completed and it is ready for hand-over to its owner.”
This, Justice Kornreich said in her decision, was explained clearly in evidence to the court submitted by Thomas L Willis, Director of the USCG’s National Vessel Documentation Center. She wrote, “The vessel of an America’s Cup challenger is by nature a yacht undergoing intense technological development.”
GGYC’s racing team, BMW ORACLE Racing, currently has its yacht (known as the BOR90) out of the water and undergoing further modifications in San Diego as part of its continuing development process.
“Under these circumstances the Court agrees that the vessel is not completed for the purposes of COD,” Justice Kornreich said.
“Super light construction and huge sail area mean that the BOR90 is one of, if not, the most extreme and powerful yachts to sail in 158-year history the America’s Cup. We are looking forward to February’s match with huge anticipation,” Ehman added.
Tuypan Caixanova Men, overall leaders after 4 races. Punta Ala, 30 September 2009. Photo copyright Jesús Renedo / sailingstock.com
Brera Hotels are now sitting 3rd overall. Punta Ala, 30 September 2009. Photo copyright Jesús Renedo / sailingstock.com
Manu Weiller, Spain's number 1 match racer, got a black flag in the 4th race and dropped to 19th overall. Punta Ala, 30 September 2009. Photo copyright Jesús Renedo / sailingstock.com
