Meanwhile in Valencia... BMW Oracle getting ready

Time is flying and every minute is valuable for the 33rd America's Cup. While the construction crews at Valencia's commercial port are working flat out to finish the temporary base for BOR 90, the rest of the BMW Oracle team is not resting. During our short visit the afternoon, the shore crew was fitting out the team's two Extreme 40 yachts and four weather speedboats. The latter will certainly have a very busy month in January, given the immense race area the February match will require. The weather buoys used in the 32nd America's Cup are still stored in the operations tent but we have no idea whether they will be used for this edition or whether teams will have access to their data.

As for BOR 90, she is on a cargo ship, scheduled to arrive here in Valencia in about one week from now. It is still unclear whether she will be moored inside Port America's Cup, mainly due to the dimensions of the wing, and it will not be an exaggeration to say that the logistics of the wing are more complicated than sailing it.

Last but not least, forty days from the scheduled start of the 33rd America's Cup match we still have very scant information, if any, on all the other organizational aspects. As a result, we assume it's going to be a best-of-three match starting on February 8th but to the best of my knowledge it's still not clear who will run the event. The two sailing teams will, obviously, have to arrive some time early next month and their respective media departments will organize meetings, press conferences and interviews. We hope to have more information soon.

The two Extreme 40's and four weather speedboats getting ready. Valencia, 29 December 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The 4 weather tenders will have a busy month of January. Valencia, 29 December 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The 4 weather tenders will have a busy month of January. Valencia, 29 December 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing