Video: Highlights from the RC44 Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy

Highlights fromthe Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. Dubai, 27 February 2010. Video copyright RC44 Class Association

Artemis wins the RC44 Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy

[Source: Artemis Racing] It was a consistent week on the water for Torbjorn Tornqvist’s team onboard RC44 ARTEMIS at the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy in Dubai. Following on from ARTEMIS’ success in 2009, having won the fleet racing element of the RC44 Championship Tour, the team put in a solid performance in both the fleet and match racing this past week to win overall.

Having recently joined the team as helmsman, this was Terry Hutchinson’s (USA) first RC44 regatta with ARTEMIS. Hutchinson’s one design racing experience was evident as ARTEMIS lined up against eight top teams in the RC44 Class to tie for second with No Way Back (DEN) in the match racing.

Artemis to overall wins the RC44 Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. Dubai, 27 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

As the week went on and the fleet racing commenced, ARTEMIS continued to perform with owner Torbjorn Tornqvist at the helm and Hutchinson on tactics. Commenting on the conditions on day two of the fleet racing with winds gusting to 25 knots Tornqvist said: “The wind was strong but we were within the limits of the boat and I never worried. We had no failures and could concentrate entirely on our racing."

On the final day of the Al Maktoum Trophy the conditions were challenging and ARTEMIS battled with Chris Bake’s Team Aqua who won the fleet racing, while ARTEMIS placed second, translating to an overall win of the regatta for the team.

"It is a solid start to the season for Artemis. Our hope was for a podium finish so to leave Dubai at the top of the podium is an extra bonus. That said, it is a long season and we need to focus on the big picture recognizing there are great teams competing and it will be the consistent ones that prevail. For now we are happy, but will show up at the next RC44 regatta in Austria focused on improving," said Terry Hutchinson.

The crew onboard the RC44 ARTEMIS included: Torbjorn Tornqvist (Owner/Helmsman), Terry Hutchinson (Tactician), Kevin Hall (Navigator), Sean Clarkson (Main), Craig Monk (Grinder), Morgan Trubovich (Trimmer), Andrew Palfrey (Trimmer), Jared Hendersen (Pit), Andy Fethers (Bow) and Mark Newbrook (Floater).

Torbjorn Tornqvist helms Artemis to overall win in the RC44 Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. Dubai, 27 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

From Dubai, the team travels to Auckland for the Louis Vuitton Trophy where ARTEMIS will line up against seven of the world’s top teams for two weeks of match racing in America’s Cup Class boats. The next RC44 regatta for the team will be the Austria Cup from April 20 – May 4.

Video: Highlights from Day 5 of the RC44 Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy

Highlights from Day 5 of the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. Dubai, 26 February 2010. Video copyright RC44 Class Association

Artemis masters the wind of the desert and closes in on Team Aqua

[Source: RC44 Championship Tour] Chris Bake and his Team Aqua still lead the fleet race ranking of the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy RC 44; however Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis is now only two points behind ahead of the last day. Igor Lah’s Ceeref isn’t far either, currently third overall and eight points behind. The last day will be intense!

It was another very interesting day off Dubai, with a very hot wind blowing up to 25 knots and the sky covered with sand and dust from the desert. Torbjorn Tornqvist and his team enjoyed those tough conditions: they got the best results today with a second, a third and a first place and are now only two points away from the leader Team Aqua.

The first regatta of the day was the closest one, with the top five boats crossing the arrival line in less than fifteen seconds. Leading during most of the regatta, Team Aqua had to avoid Katusha – who broached brutally in front of them – at the windward mark, by crash-tacking and heading to the less favoured right hand side of the course. Ceeref, Artemis and No Way Back benefited from this incident to take the lead and cross the arrival line in this order. “We were not far from seeing two RC 44’s sink”, explained Chris Bake at the end of the day. “It was a really close one and we were all quite shaked by this incident!”

Second day of fleet racing at the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. Dubai, 26 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Team Aqua recovered well during the second regatta of the day, sailing to the left of the course before tacking at the first big left shift and extending its lead throughout the race. The second beat saw a different – and rare – scenario, with Team Sea Dubai recovering from a fairly big deficit by sailing on their own to the right and climbing up to the second place, just ahead of Artemis.

The third race gave Torbjorn Tornqvist the opportunity to close in on Team Aqua. Artemis took an excellent start whilst his main opponent struggled at the Race Committee end of the line, suffering during the beat as the wind was slowly shifting left. The boats then started heading for the windward mark, tacking one after the other over Team Aqua. “That’s the game”, commented Bake. “I would have done the same.” As a consequence, Artemis, Katusha and Team Austria started extending their lead, finally crossing the arrival line in this order after a fabulous fight. “I just can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed today”, said Torbjorn Tornqvist a few minutes later. “Those boats are really something special in those conditions. It’s just fantastic.”

Three to four more races are scheduled tomorrow weather permitting it. A bad storm is announced over Dubai tonight, and even rain is expected. A rarity in Dubai!

The results so far show that all the teams have managed to finish races in the top five whilst seven of them have achieved top threes. As for the leaders, their worse result is a sixth for Team Aqua and a fifth for Artemis. Last but not least, four different teams have managed to win races. The consistency in the top five definitely seems to be the key to victory!

Adam Minoprio talks about the RC44 class and his involvement with BMW Oracle. Dubai, 26 February 2010. Video copyright RC44 Class Association

They said:

Torbjorn Tornqvist, helmsman, Artemis: “The wind was strong but we were within the limits of this boat and I never worried. We had no failures and could concentrate entirely on our racing.”

Chris Bake, helmsman, Team Aqua: “We had a very good day and we sailed well. However, there were some little details that cost us a lot.”

Bob Little, helmsman, Katusha: “The level is very high and it is tough for me. I have made several mistakes that have cost us a lot. But it got better in our last race. It’s the first time I steer this boat with so much wind, so I need to adapt. Luckily the team was great and they helped me a lot.”

Raimondo Tonelli, helmsman, Team Sea Dubai: “I usually steer foiling Moths and I am a bowman on bigger boats, so it isn’t easy for me here, especially with this wind: the competition is very tough. But it is great and I enjoy it a lot. I am impressed how precise and sensitive the helm is.”

Spectacular racing during the second day of fleet racing at the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. Dubai, 26 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Fleet race, provisional results after seven races:
(Ranking, name of team, helmsman, results, points)

1) Team Aqua (Chris Bake), 1, 2, 1, 2, 4, 1, 6 – 17 points
2) Artemis (Torbjorn Tornqvist), 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 1 - 19 points
3) CEEREF (Igor Lah), 2, 7, 3, 3, 1, 5, 4 - 25 points
4) Team No Way Back (Pieter Heerema), 4, 1, 7, 7, 3, 4, 5 - 31 points
5) Katusha (Bob Little), 5, 5, 2, 8, 8, 7, 2 - 37 points
6) Team Sea Dubai (Raimondo Tonelli), 6, 6, 8, 4, 6, 2, 7 - 39 points
7) Team Austria (René Mangold), 8, 3, 9, 5, 9, 8, 3 - 45 points
8) Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (Daniel Calero), 7, 8, 4, 9, 5, 6, 9 - 50 points
9) BMW ORACLE Racing (Mike Perris), 9, 9, 6, 6, 7, 9, 8 - 52 points

Team Origin concludes on-water testing with Emirates Team NZ

[Source: Team Origin] TEAMORIGIN have just completed a few days on-water boat preparation and shake-down with Emirates Team New Zealand in the two race boats that will be used for the forthcoming Louis Vuitton Trophy event.

The two teams experienced awesome conditions for the testing and put the boats through their paces to make sure they were fully ready for the race event that starts on 6th March.

TEAMORIGIN now go forward and compete in the Omega Match Race event - that team is :

Ben Ainslie, Skipper & Helmsman
Iain Percy, Tactician
Mike Mottl, Trimmer
Zac Hurst, Trimmer
Matt Cornwell, Bowman

Team Origin and Emirates Team New Zealand train together. Auckland, 24 February 2010. Photo copyright Chris Cameron

Team Origin and Emirates Team New Zealand train together. Auckland, 24 February 2010. Photo copyright Chris Cameron

Team Origin and Emirates Team New Zealand train together. Auckland, 24 February 2010. Photo copyright Chris Cameron

3M Reveals Successful Collaboration with BMW Oracle for 33rd America’s Cup Match

[Source: 3M] 3M today announced its successful collaboration with BMW ORACLE Racing as an Official Supplier for the 33rd America’s Cup Match in Valencia, Spain.

Brian Winke, 3M Marine global business manager, explained that, “3M has incorporated new technology advancements into 3M Drag Reduction Riblet Film. We can now more accurately design the most appropriate riblet film for each application according to the unique fluid dynamics requirements, resulting in more efficient energy use.”

"The 3M technology makes an already fast boat even faster. Our hulls were more slippery and therefore moved more efficiently through the water than ever before".

3M Drag Reduction Riblet Film is based on the microreplication technology that 3M has utilized effectively in several industrial applications since Dennis Conner’s successful America’s Cup challenge in 1987.

“3M supported the last US team to challenge and win the America’s Cup and is proud to have supported Golden Gate Yacht Club’s victory some 23 years later,” added Winke.

Based on many published research studies, 3M says that the film can provide improvement in drag reduction in a passive manner for high speed vessels, without adding significant weight or complexity.

Manolo Ruiz de Elvira, BMW ORACLE Racing design team member, said, “The 3M technology makes an already fast boat even faster. Our hulls were more slippery and therefore moved more efficiently through the water than ever before.”

Winke adds that, “The use of 3M’s Riblet Film and other friction-reducing methods are not normally allowed under the sailing rules due to what was perceived as an unfair advantage. That position has recently been changed, enabling BMW ORACLE Racing to take full advantage of an existing and proven technology with which the sailing community is already familiar.”

3M’s Winke explains that, although riblet films are not available for sale at this time, 3M has the technology to develop and custom-manufacture specialized riblet films to achieve enhanced drag reduction performance for many product applications including marine and wind turbine blades.

Video: Highlights from Day 4 of the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy

Highlights from Day 4 of the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. Dubai, 25 February 2010. Video copyright RC44 Class Association

Check the new World Match Racing Tour website

The World Match Racing Tour, the world's premiere match racing circuit, finally gets a brand new website that does justice to itself. It has been completely reworked, it is now much easier to navigate, it has a much better look and as far as content is concerned, you couldn't ask for more.

It also comes with all the bells and whistles one would expect from modern sports website. There is an extensive video archive with feature programs from all the events since 2006 and, of course, all the "social" sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Check it at www.wmrt.com

Northsails 3Di jibs in the RC44 fleet

There isn't much of a story but the following photo caught my attention. The RC44's are currently in Dubai, racing in the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. After 3 days of match racing the 9-strong fleet started their fleet races and two of them, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero and Team CEEREF, hit the start line with brand new Northsails 3Di jibs, the very first time in that class, if I'm not mistaken. We'll make sure we have the feedback from the teams on whether such sails make a significant difference in this one-design class.

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero and Team CEEREF sail with their brand new 3Di jibs. Dubai, 25 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico MArtinez

Team Aqua is back on top in the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy RC 44

[Source: RC44 Championship Tour] Chris Bake and his Team Aqua dominated the first day of the fleet regatta with two victories and two second places. The team from the UAE sits seven points ahead of Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis and Igor Lah’s Ceeref after four races.

The conditions were absolutely fantastic today for the first day of the fleet regatta, with 15-18 knots breeze and a very warm sunshine.

Coming back to the top in style after a difficult match race, Chris Bake’s Team Aqua dominated the day and currently leads the overall ranking ahead of Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis. "It’s a relief", said Bake at the end of the day. “We had a tough time last year in the Gold Cup and earlier in the week in the match race, so it is great to be back on top. In fact we all know how to sail well. Our main issue was to understand the mistakes we did and not to repeat them. Today our boat speed was great and we sailed well; I am very happy."

Start of the RC44 fleet race. Dubai, 25 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Team Aqua started the day with a bullet, sailing conservatively in the middle of the course and extending its lead at every shift. Igor Lah’s Ceeref finished second whilst Paul Cayard’s Katusha, with Bob Little at the helm, managed to climb back up to fifth after a premature start.

Team Sea Dubai was first to reach the second race’s top mark. They immediately jibed whereas all the other teams carried on sailing on starboard tack. The punishment was immediate, and Sea Dubai rounded the bottom mark in seventh. Team No Way Back benefited from this to take the lead and win the race ahead of Team Aqua and an excellent Team Austria. It was a nice revenge for the Dutch team, unfortunate in the first race when they got a knot in their spinnaker, finishing fourth instead of fighting for victory.

The wind started to drop a little bit during the third race, becoming shiftier as the sun was going down. Katusha and Puerto Calero started at the Committee boat and immediately tacked to port whilst Team Aqua went to the left. Paul Cayard’s strategy initially seemed to pay, until a massive left shift gave the lead to Aqua. Bake then controlled his opponents, winning for the second time ahead of Katusha and a very consistent Ceeref. We improved a lot”, said the Slovenian owner and helmsman Igor Lah. “Especially in the pre-starts: our tactician Rod Davis made me work hard and it really paid off. However what I love most is the spinnaker rides, when we are surfing at full speed. It was very exciting."

The last race could have cost a lot to Chris Bake and his team. Recalled for a premature start, Team Aqua rounded the top mark a long way behind the leader Artemis, and jibed immediately instead of following the pack. Seven minutes later, Team Aqua rounded the bottom mark in third, before overtaking Team Sea Dubai and finishing second behind Artemis. A great come-back! "Team Aqua did a fantastic job and I congratulate them”, said the Swedish team’s helmsman Torbjorn Tornqvist. "I am very pleased with our day", he added. “Our team is entirely new; there’s not one guy left from last year. So we are learning to sail together, and the guys need to discover the boat. Our results so far are very good."

Indeed, Artemis is currently second overall, seven points behind Team Aqua and two points ahead of Ceeref. The fleet regatta carries on until Saturday, with eight more races on the schedule. There is still a long way to go.

Chris Bake helms Team Aqua to overall victory in the fleet races. Dubai, 25 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

They said:

Chris Bake, helmsman, Team Aqua: "We are a strong team because we can overcome bad results and stay focused as a group. Our main strength is our team spirit, our hard work and Cameron’s leadership. Our goal this year is to remain competitive."

Torbjorn Tornqvist, helmsman, Artemis: "I haven’t sailed for five months and our team is entirely new, so I am very pleased with our day. I know Terry Hutchinson from the TP 52’s, but we have never sailed together. Today was a great day. We had everything: a good wind, interesting strategic choices, a competitive fleet. It was very difficult and absolutely great."

Adam Minoprio and Mike Perris resp. tactician and helmsman, BMW ORACLE Racing: "It’s the first time we sail together, the first time Mike steers this boat, the first time we sailed with a jib, the first time… We feel that we are getting better at every race, so it is positive. But we know there is still a long way to go. The level is very good and there are only good people around; we need to practice a lot."

Igor Lah, helmsman, Ceeref: "The core of our crew is always the same, so we have a good routine on board. When it is as shifty as today, Rod Davis and Michele Ivaldi talk a lot about the stragegy. And at the end, Rod makes the decisions. It works well."

René Mangold, helmsman, Team Austria: "I am very happy and surprised by our results. We are pure amateurs, so it is difficult to find people available and our team changes from one race to the next. But we are improving a lot, our starts were good and I am happy with our speed. In the past, when we were reaching the top mark in a good position, it was total panic on board: "What shall we do now…" But now we are very relaxed about it, we just do the best we can."

First day of fleet races. Dubai, 25 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Fleet race, provisional results after four races:
(Ranking, name of team, helmsman, results, points)

1) Team Aqua (Chris Bake), 1, 2, 1, 2 – 6 points
2) Artemis (Torbjorn Tornqvist), 3, 4, 5, 1 - 13 points
3) CEEREF (Igor Lah), 2, 7, 3, 3 - 15 points
4) Team No Way Back (Pieter Heerema), 4, 1, 7, 7 - 19 points
5) Katusha (Bob Little), 5, 5, 2, 8 - 20 points
6) Team Sea Dubai (Raimondo Tonelli), 6, 6, 8, 4 - 24 points
7) Team Austria (René Mangold), 8, 3, 9, 5 - 25 points
8) Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (Daniel Calero), 7, 8, 4, 9 - 28 points
9) BMW ORACLE Racing (Mike Perris), 9, 9, 6, 6 - 30 points

Meanwhile in Valencia... Alinghi are emptying their base

That's life used to sing Frank Sinatra. You're riding high in April, shot down in May. Or better said, that's the America's Cup. One day you are the defender and two weeks later the future is uncertain. As we reported a few days ago, Alinghi are emptying their base and when we checked this morning, Alinghi 5 had already left. I suppose she was towed to the commercial port in order to be shipped to some unknown destination. Her bowsprit was also on a truck ready for transportation.

Although it is quite understandable for Alinghi to be moving somewhere else, it is puzzling to see the same activity going on at the base of the current Defender, BMW Oracle. There was plenty of activity in their base with a number of containers being taken away. Where to? San Diego, San Francisco or Newport?

Alinghi are emptying their base while the bowsprit of Alinghi 5 is ready to be shipped. Valencia, 25 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Alinghi are emptying their base. Valencia, 25 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

BMW Oracle are also emptying their base. Valencia, 25 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Video: Highlights from Race 2 of the 33rd America's Cup (extended version)

I know this is old news but so far we had only published the shorter 5-minute version of the final race's highlights. So, here you have the full 26 minutes. Enjoy it while we are waiting for any news on the 34th edition of the world's oldest sports trophy.

Highlights from Race 2 of the 33rd America's Cup (extended version). Valencia, 14 February 2010. Video copyright 33rd America's Cup

Team Sea Dubai wins match race title of the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy RC 44

[Source: RC44 Championship Tour] Markus Wieser and his team from the United Arab Emirates win the match race title of the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy RC 44, ahead of No Way Back (DEN) and Artemis (SWE).

Unbeaten after seven flights, Markus Wieser and his Team Sea Dubai only had to avoid a penalising collision today to win the match race title of the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. That’s what they did, winning in the mean time a difficult race against Puerto Calero and loosing the last one to BMW ORACLE Racing.

However the real action was behind, in a tough contest between six teams for the second and third places overall. Leader of this “secondary ranking” ahead of the last day, Terry Hutchinson’s Artemis - rejoined today by owner Torbjorn Tornqvist - started in the worse possible way by loosing the first race to Team Austria. Pushed to the right of the course during the first beat, the Austrians seemed to benefit from a better pressure: they took the lead and increased it slightly throughout the match.

Final day of the match race event. Dubai, 24 Fenruary 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

The points were particularly precious at this stage, and No Way Back went from a potentially difficult situation – loosing their start against Team Aqua – to a sudden solid option on the overall ranking’s second place when they overtook Cameron Appleton’s Team Aqua during the first downwind leg. Rod Davis (Ceeref) also won an important point against BMW ORACLE Racing, rejoining Artemis and No Way Back in the group of candidates to second overall ahead of the last race.

Sailing the last race against Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, Pieter Heerema and Ray Davies - joint helmsmen onboard No Way Back - managed to block the Spaniards on the wrong start of the Committee boat at the moment of the start. Team Aqua did the same to Katusha five minutes later. Observing this, Rod Davis obviously liked the idea and tried to inflict the same fate to Artemis; however the trick didn’t quite work and Terry Hutchinson just managed to squeeze in between the Committee boat and Ceeref’s bow whilst Davis remained stuck head to the wind during long, long seconds, finally crossing the line one minute late.

Final day of the match race event. Dubai, 24 Fenruary 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

No Way Back and Artemis finish the event on a tie, however the Danish team gets the second rank overall thanks to their victory in the direct confrontation. Ceeref finishes fourth on a tie with BMW ORACLE Racing.

Match-race, final results after nine flights:
(Ranking, name of team, helmsman, No of victories / defeats, points)

1) Team Sea Dubai (Markus Wieser), 8/1, 8 points
2) Team No Way Back (Pieter Heerema / Ray Davies), 5/3, 5 points
3) Artemis (Terry Hutchinson), 5/3, 5 points
4) CEEREF (Rod Davis), 4/5, 4 points
5) BMW ORACLE Racing (Adam Minoprio), 4/5, 4 points
6) Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (José Maria Ponce), 3/6, 3 points
7) Team Aqua (Cameron Appleton), 3/6, 3 points
8) Katusha (Paul Cayard), 3/6, 3 points
9) Team Austria (Christian Binder), 2/7, 2 points

Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland Attracts America's Cup Challenger of Record

[Source: Louis Vuitton Trophy] Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, the recently-annointed Italian Challenger of Record for the 34th America's Cup, joins seven other Cup contenders in Auckland next month to race on New Zealand's Waitemata Harbor for the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland.

Inspired by last year’s Louis Vuitton Pacific Series and sailed in former America’s Cup boats, the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland is the second of five match race regattas. In France last November the Italian team Azzurra led by Francesco Bruni won the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur, defeating the favorite Emirates Team New Zealand and its skipper Dean Barker 2-0. Both teams are part of the eight-syndicate entry for Auckland.

The only syndicate from last year, other than Emirates Team New Zealand, is Great Britain’s TEAMORIGIN, skippered by four-time Olympic medalist Ben Ainslie.

Four new teams are coming, all with familiar faces and powerful credentials. All four teams made their debuts in Nice. The French ALEPH Sailing Team is skippered by Bertrand Pacé. All4One is a combined French/German team with skipper Jochen Schümann. Artemis, from Sweden, has Paul Cayard as skipper. Russia’s Synergy Russian Sailing Team is skippered by Karol Jablonski.

Part of the Auckland Festival of Sail organized by Emirates Team New Zealand, the Louis Vuitton event will overlap with the Auckland International Boat Show. The two Cup boats will dock in the heart of the Viaduct Basin on the quayside adjacent to Aucklanders’ favourite restaurants and wine bars, providing an unprecedented opportunity for spectators to view boat preparation and the departures and arrivals of the teams each day.

Racing will follow the format established in Auckland last year and adopted for competition in Nice last November. Racing starts Tuesday, 9th March. Teams will take turns racing the two boats in four matches a day to complete a round robin seeding series before a ladder elimination culminating in the finals on Sunday, 21st March.

Preparations are well under way to host the top tier professional sailors. The two Emirates Team New Zealand yachts NZL 84 And NZL 92 have been fitted out, optimized and rigged after a year in storage. They set out yesterday on their first shake-down sail.

The Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland is organised in association with the New Zealand Government, Auckland City, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, New Zealand Tourism, New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, TVNZ, Audi New Zealand and Emirates Team New Zealand.

Indian record for Groupama 3

[Source: Cammas - Groupama] Taking just 8 days 17 hours and 39 minutes to traverse the Indian Ocean, the maxi trimaran Groupama 3 skippered by Franck Cammas has snatched the record held by Orange 2 since 2005.

It was at 2322 UTC on Tuesday 23rd February that Groupama 3 crossed the longitude of Tasmania, to the South of Australia, which marks the exit from the Indian Ocean and the entry to the Pacific Ocean.

Having rounded Cape Agulhas off South Africa 8 days and 17 hours beforehand, Franck Cammas and his nine crew participating in the Jules Verne Trophy have taken 17 hours and 25 minutes less than the crew of Bruno Peyron some five years ago.

Groupama 3 crew ready to hoist gennaker on their way to an Indian Ocean record. Indian Ocean, 23 February 2010. Video copyright Groupama

With the Indian Ocean behind them, Groupama 3 is now attacking the largest ocean in the world, the Pacific; the exit from which is marked by the much renowned Cape Horn.

Departure from Ushant: on 31st January at 1355 UTC
Passage around the Agulhas Cape: on 15th February at 0543 UTC
Passage of Tasmania: on 23rd February at 2322 UTC

Race time from the start to Tasmania: 23 days 9 hours and 27 minutes
Indian Ocean crossing time: 8 days 17 hours and 39 minutes, that is 17 hours and 25 minutes faster than Orange.

This new record for the passage across the Indian Ocean is awaiting approval by the WSSRC, the international body responsible for sailing records.

Team Sea Dubai takes a serious option on the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy RC 44 match race

[Source: RC44 Championship Tour] Only two flights could be completed today due to the lack of wind. Two teams conclude the day undefeated: Markus Wieser’s Team Sea Dubai - who hasn’t lost a single match in this event - and Paul Cayard’s Katusha, who recovers well after a bad day yesterday.

The wind was very light and fluky today for the second half of the match race event. Despite Peter "Luigi" Reggio’s attempts to close the contest, the last two flights will take place tomorrow, before the fleet race practice.

Unbeaten after seven flights, Team Sea Dubai is almost certain to win the title. Indeed, the local team’s closest rival, Artemis, sits two points behind whilst the team from the Emirates won the direct confrontation this afternoon. All they have to do is cross the line and avoid any penalising collision.

Team Sea Dubai, helmed by Markus Wieser, leads the match racing event undefeated. Dubai, 23 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

The match of the day, between Team Sea Dubai and Terry Hutchinson’s Artemis, delivered all its promises. The two boats started on split tacks at full speed and immediately engaged in a tacking dual. Just ahead of its opponent after the first cross, Hutchinson made a slight error of appreciation that allowed Team Sea Dubai to close the gap. The two teams then engaged in a dial up as they were nearing the windward mark. Markus Wieser came out of it better than Artemis and rounded the mark two boat lengths ahead. Hutchinson tried hard to come back during the rest of the race, but Wieser and his crewmembers held on tight and won the race.

"We focused on the basics", commented Hartwell Jordan, Team Sea Dubai’s mainsail trimmer and strategist. "Last night, we debriefed our first day and decided not to change anything and to carry on sailing for fun, without putting any unnecessary pressure on our shoulders. We felt comfortable with our course management and boat speed, so we didn’t feel the need to put a specific strategy in place. We just went for it as relaxed and focused as we could."

Disappointed by his results today (two losses against TSD and No Way Back), Terry Hutchinson remained as positive as he could. "The day was good", he said. "We won our two starts and managed to keep the pressure all along. Unfortunately, we did some mistakes. In the first race, we went to the wrong side of the course and our timing was slightly wrong in the second one. I have the feeling that we bet ourselves more than anything else."

BMW Oracle, helmed by Adam Minoprio, beats Katusha, helmed by Paul Cayard. Dubai, 23 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Whilst Team Sea Dubai is almost certain to win the title, the rest of the podium remains open. Artemis is currently second with four points, followed by five teams on a tie in third with three points.

Despite the winner being almost certainly known, the last two flights will definitely not be for the gallery!

They said:

Hartwell Jordan, mainsail trimmer and strategist, Team Sea Dubai: “We have changed the set up of our boat over the winter and we can feel the difference. We have also changed our mental approach: in the past, we sometimes felt intimidated by the level of our competitors. We are now more relaxed about this, and we try to manage the pressure more efficiently. We’ve also trained hard over the winter, which has allowed us to remember all the moves almost instinctively. As a consequence, we can now look out of the boat and concentrate on the regattas."

Cameron Appleton, helmsman, Team Aqua: “This hasn’t been the most rewarding event for us so far and we’ve had a tough couple of days… We didn’t train like the others over the winter, but I don’t think it would have made a difference in this light wind. Our problem was mainly linked with timing; we didn’t take good starts and weren’t in the right rhythm."

Rod Davis, helmsman, Ceeref: “It was good to win a race by one second against Team Aqua after having lost two matches by one second yesterday… It’s very strange, we are loosing against teams that we should beat (on the paper) and we are winning the toughest matches. It shows how tight the Class is. Any small team can challenge the best ones. The consequence is that we need to train harder in order to improve."

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero has shown great consistency so far. Dubai, 23 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Paul Cayard, helmsman, Katusha: “We were quite unhappy with our result yesterday, but the good thing is that the team stayed well together, and focused. We all knew that we could do a better job. We spoke about our races and decided to keep it as simple as possible and focus on getting a better result without changing anything fundamental in the way we sail. It’s just tough; the races are very close and difficult."

Match-race, provisional results after seven flights:
(Ranking, name of team, helmsman, No of victories / defeats, points)

1) Team Sea Dubai (Markus Wieser), 6/0, 6 points
2) Artemis (Terry Hutchinson), 4/2, 4 points
3) CEEREF (Rod Davis), 3/3, 3 points
3) BMW ORACLE Racing (Adam Minoprio), 3/3, 3 points
3) Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (José Maria Ponce), 3/3, 3 points
3) Team No Way Back (Pieter Heerema / Ray Davies), 3/3, 3 points
3) Katusha (Paul Cayard), 3/3, 3 points
8) Team Aqua (Cameron Appleton), 2/4, 2 points
9) Team Austria (Christian Binder), 1/6, 1 point

A preview of things to come?

Is this a preview of things to come in the 34th America's Cup? Adam Minoprio and the BlackMatch crew on BMW Oracle's B-boat? One can be assured that with the America's Cup match scheduled to take place 2-3 years from now it's never too early for the young world match racing champions to start moving in bigger boats.

Adam Minoprio and his BlackMatch crew sailing onboard BMW Oracle. Dubai, 22 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

BMW Oracle concludes California leg of ‘Victory Tour’ in San Diego.

[Source: BMW Oracle] The America’s Cup trophy will return to San Francisco and the BMW ORACLE Racing team’s patron club, the Golden Gate Yacht Club, as the team wraps up the California leg of its America’s Cup Victory Tour presented by ORACLE and BMW EfficientDynamics.

The tour ended on a high note in San Diego on Sunday in a day that started with a public ceremony hosted by Mayor Jerry Sanders on board the aircraft carrier USS Midway.

“I’d like to thank Larry and his team for bringing the America’s Cup back,” Mayor Sanders said. “This has been an epic struggle and I for one appreciate everything he and his team have done.”



Mayor Sanders then presented Larry Ellison with a proclamation declaring Sunday ‘Larry Ellison Day’ in the city of San Diego. He also presented Ellison with a key to the city.

“I’d like to thank the people of San Diego for making our team members so welcome as we trained for the America’s Cup on San Diego Bay,” Ellison responded. “The mayor has asked us to consider San Diego as a venue for the next America’s Cup.”

Following the ceremony on the Midway, the team – and trophy – were taken to the San Diego Yacht Club on a replica of the yacht America, for which the America’s Cup trophy is named. As the America pulled up to a berth in front of the club balcony, the crowd erupted in cheers.

The team mingled with club members and enjoyed a Q+A session with the crowd. In both stops on Sunday, poster and hat signing sessions with team members proved to be a popular draw. Many remarked that the club had never been so crowded.

With this leg of the ‘Victory Tour’ now complete, many team members are scattering across the globe for a well deserved break, and to spend time with family and friends. The next phase of the Tour will be announced as soon as the dates and locations are confirmed.

Further announcements regarding the next edition of the Cup will follow in due course.

Team Sea Dubai takes the lead in the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy RC 44

[Source: RC44 Championship Tour] Markus Wieser and his Team Sea Dubai were on fire today, with five bullets in as many races. The local team leads Artemis (four wins and also undefeated) and four teams on a tie in third.

The first match races of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2010 took place today, and immediately brought the confirmation that the racing will be tougher in 2010 than it ever was. Indeed, Team Austria (10th last year) won its first race against Ceeref (winner of last year’s match race ranking) whilst Sea Dubai (9th in 2009) got a bullet against Paul Cayard’s Katusha.

Pursuing their winning streak, Markus Wieser and Team Sea Dubai won the next four matches against some of the event’s favourites: Team Aqua, Katusha, No way Back and Team Austria, concluding the day undefeated. “It’s not that we sailed badly in the past”, commented Markus Wieser at the end of the day. “But we were always making one or two little mistakes and this is what made the difference between winning and finishing in the middle of the ranking. We trained hard over the winter and managed to avoid mistakes today. The result is immediate.”

Adam Minoprio and his BlackMatch crew sailing onboard BMW Oracle. Dubai, 22 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Competing for the first time in the RC 44 Class, Terry Hutchinson (Artemis) and Adam Minoprio (BMW ORACLE Racing) didn’t need much time to get into the groove. Minoprio got convincing wins against No Way Back (Pieter Heerema / Ray Davies) and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (José Maria Ponce), losing to Team Aqua and Artemis. “The boat is new to me and I need some more time to get my bearings”, explained Minoprio. “The RC 44’s are very fast and they accelerate super quickly. Normally, with this type of wind I sail at 5 knots and the accelerations are slow. But here we are immediately at 7-8 knots; it makes a big difference and requires some time to adapt.”

Used to sailing on big and fast boats, Terry Hutchinson and his Team Artemis were in a different situation. The American helmsman won four races in a row; also concluding the day undefeated – yet one point behind Team Sea Dubai. The match between Artemis and Team Sea Dubai, scheduled in Flight 7 tomorrow, will be an interesting one to look at!

Today’s races took place in a very pleasant sea breeze and a fairly choppy sea. The wind grew from 6-7 knots to 10-12 by the end of the afternoon, allowing the race committee to complete five flights. The conditions should be similar tomorrow, with a light sea breeze and a flatter sea.

They said:

Markus Wieser, helmsman, Team Sea Dubai: "We had a great training session this winter with No Way Back. Our team cohesion has definitely improved and we see the result today. We also have a new fleet race helmsman, Raimondo Tonelli, who has brought us precious advice."

Team Sea Dubai leads after the 1st of races. Dubai, 22 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Adam Minoprio, helmsman, BMW ORACLE Racing: "The racing was absolutely awesome and the boats are great to sail. Our match against Puerto Calero was great. We got a penalty in the pre-start but then managed to block them in the middle of the first beat. We stayed in a dial up during something like five minutes, before managing to escape and complete our penalty turn. We just needed to be patient. I hope we have a good day tomorrow, because we want to get Russell a good result!"

Terry Hutchinson, helmsman, Artemis: "The level of the Class is exactly as I expected it to be: very high. I’ve read all over the place how good this Class is and I am not disappointed. This is great sailing."

Pieter Heerema, owner, No Way Back: "We are starting this season from scratch, without thinking about last year and the hierarchy between the teams. There is just no way we can say that we will win this year because we won last year. Our goal this season is to finish in the top three overall.”

Paul Cayard, helmsman, Katusha: "Last week the Artemis Louis Vuitton Trophy team (17 crew members) trained on two RC 44s, Katusha and Artemis, for five days. The conditions were excellent with 8-11 knot winds almost every day and plenty of sun. Today wasn’t a good day for us. I can’t identify one specific reason why we didn’t perform although we did some mistakes. Tomorrow will hopefully be a better day."

Match-race, provisional results after five flights:
(Ranking, name of team, helmsman, No of victories / defeats, points)

1) Team Sea Dubai (Markus Wieser), 5/0, 5 points
2) Artemis (Terry Hutchinson), 4/0, 4 points
3) CEEREF (Rod Davis), 2/2, 2 points
3) BMW ORACLE Racing (Adam Minoprio), 2/2, 2 points
3) Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (José Maria Ponce), 2/2, 2 points
3) Team No Way Back (Pieter Heerema / Ray Davies), 2/2, 2 points
7) Team Aqua (Cameron Appleton), 1/3, 1 point
7) Katusha (Paul Cayard), 1/3, 1 point
7) Team Austria (Christian Binder), 1/3, 1 point

Cape Town, 1st stopover of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] The racetrack for the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race, due to start from Alicante in Spain in the autumn of 2011, is now set and the first port of call will be Cape Town, South Africa, making its eighth appearance as host to this premier ocean race. This marks the beginning of the port announcement process for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 and the rest of the course around the world will be revealed before the end of March.

The Volvo Ocean Race is the only professional sailing event that visits ports around the world and it is a delicate balance to select a track that is not only challenging to sail, but presents an attractive business case for potential sponsors and partners for both the race and the competing teams.

“We have received port bids from many different cities, each with their own cultures, specialities and challenges. We have taken our time to evaluate carefully over 80 bids from ports around the world who wanted to host the event, before making our decisions. As we continue to improve and lift the bar for our stopovers, it is great to have Cape Town onboard sharing the same vision and ambitions,” commented Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad.

Leg one at 6,500 nautical miles, which in 2008-09 took the eventual race winner Ericsson 4 21 days, 17 hours and 54 seconds to complete, is one of the longest in the race and historically, the team that wins this leg has gone on to claim the winner’s trophy.

For Cape Town, hosting the 11th Volvo Ocean Race/Whitbread will be the biggest event following its hosting of the FIFA World Cup. Over two million tickets have been snapped up for the World Cup, which takes place throughout South Africa in June this year.

The V&A Waterfront will be a perfect place for shore crews to prepare the boats for the next test in the race, and for guests to enjoy the ambience and unique atmosphere this ocean classic generates. However, the stopover will allow little time for rest. There will be a full schedule of sailing ahead of the start of leg two, including the important in-port racing, which counts points towards the overall winner’s trophy, as well as pro-am racing.

The European ports of call for the Volvo Ocean Race in 2012, including the finish port will be the next to be announced and the entire route is set to be revealed before the end of March.

Adios Valencia !! Hola San Francisco ??

With the prospects of another America's Cup being held in Valencia getting slimmer by the day, the sight of teams packing up and leaving will, unfortunately, become more common. According to reliable information we received yesterday, the first victim of the end of this Cup cycle will be the former defender and two-time winner of the event, Alinghi. It seems the Swiss team will be definitely leaving Valencia next month, something that makes sense after the latest statements from Ernesto Bertarelli. Although he tried to sound positive by saying that "Alinghi always rebounds" it's probably difficult to justify the presence in such a big base in Valencia if the team morphs into something completely different and, most probably, smaller.

As one can see from the photos there is a lot of containers at the base while Alinghi 5 is still docked there, stripped down to the bare essentials. In what reminded the infamous pictures when some of the big-name banks failed in 2009, some team members were leaving the base with all their belongings in a couple of boxes.

By the way, we also hear that some people were let go as well from the current Defender, BMW Oracle.

End of an era at the Alinghi base? Valencia, 22 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

End of an era at the Alinghi base? Valencia, 22 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

End of an era at the Alinghi base? Valencia, 22 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Video: Larry Ellison talks about the America's Cup

Larry Ellison talks about the America's Cup. San Francisco, 20 February 2010. Video copyright ABC

BMW Oracle's Victory Tour starts in San Francisco

[Source: BMW Oracle] Larry Ellison and his BMW Oracle Racing team have received the key to the city of San Francisco from Mayor Gavin Newsom.

On the first stop of the BMW Oracle Racing Americas’ Cup Victory Tour presented by Oracle and BMW EfficientDynamics, the America’s Cup trophy was available for public viewing at the San Francisco City Hall Rotunda on Saturday morning. The Mayor welcomed the Cup and team back to the United States and specifically to San Francisco, where he says he’d like to see the Cup stay.

“We’re going to do whatever it takes to support the America’s Cup staying right here in San Francisco Bay – Mayor Newsom said – We’ve got the natural amphitheatre, which is the Bay and we have the spectators. If you want to elevate this sport, come to San Francisco Bay”.

The BMW Oracle team with the America's Cup. San Francisco, 20 February 2010. Photo copyright Gilles Martin-Raget / BMW Oracle

The venue for the 34th America’s Cup hasn’t been selected, with Larry Ellison (USA) noting that his team would consult with the America’s Cup community on the next edition of the Cup before making any decisions.

“I think the most important thing is to make the right choice for the sport and all of the teams involved. That’s our number one concern – Ellison said – Having said that, our yacht club is from San Francisco. I’m from San Francisco and this is a great place to sail”.

At San Francisco’s City Hall on Saturday the sailing team signed posters and hats for the large crowd, who also had the opportunity to take photographs with the trophy.

The Cup arrived in the United States on Friday afternoon, flying in from Valencia, Spain, where BMW Oracle Racing won the 33rd America’s Cup on February 14th.

After touching down at 4 pm local time Friday, the Cup travelled with a police escort to the Golden Gate Yacht Club, where the team enjoyed a Q+A session with club members and special guests.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom with Larry Ellison. San Francisco, 20 February 2010. Photo copyright Gilles Martin-Raget / BMW Oracle

Larry Ellison, who founded the team and is a member of the afterguard in the race crew, noted it had taken 10 years, and three attempts, for him to complete his quest for the Cup: “The third time is the charm – he said – From the sailors to the design team and boat builders… Everyone’s work combined in Valencia to deliver us the 33rd America’s Cup”.

On Sunday, the Victory Tour continues with the America’s Cup heading south to San Diego, where the team operated a training base for 16 months in preparation for the competition in Valencia. At 4.00 pm the trophy will be on public display at the USS Midway museum on the city’s waterfront. Following a 5.00 pm ceremony with Mayor Jerry Sanders, the trophy and team will head to the San Diego Yacht Club on board the replica of the yacht America, for which the trophy is named. A flotilla of San Diego boats will parade along with America for a sunset sail across San Diego Bay to former Cup holder San Diego Yacht Club.

What is this?

This is, obviously, the newly modified TP52 of Emirates Team NZ in her first sea trials in Auckland. As one our readers correctly observed, this photo first appeared on the TP52 class website a week ago. That's a reminder that I should be checking the website more often. Team New Zealand's photographer Chris Cameron, also has a very nice album of the team taking NZL-380 for a sail on the Hauraki Gulf to test the new configuration for the 2010 MedCup season.

Sorry about the picture but it's the best we have. This must be a very simple quiz, isn't it?

Team Origin's TP52 program taking shape

[Source: Team Origin] TEAMORIGIN decided to build a new TP52 for the 2010 season and engaged with Juan Kouyoumdjian and his design team as the Principal Designer of the boat. Juan and his team have worked closely with the TEAMORIGIN sailing team in developing the new boat and the process they followed has reflected closely that of an AC design process for the purposes of training and testing. The boat is currently being built at Salthouse Boatbuilders in Auckland, New Zealand, and the team is very pleased with the progress to date. The boat will be shipped to Europe in March ready for the first TP52 Audi Med Cup event in May 2010.

Juan K added his thoughts on this TP52 project, “It has been a hectic and tight programme – the decision to build a new boat was made early on by the team but we had to wait for the TP52 Class to finalise some rule changes and therefore that made it quite a pressurised situation. We were able to start work on some areas ahead of schedule based on some ‘intelligent assumptions’ but only finalized the design details after we had the class rules in full.

He went on to add, “It is a new class for us to design and therefore we were playing the game of catching up and understanding as well as coming up with our own set of solutions, a process of discovery and response, which has presented its challenges but has been a really enlightening process too. We worked incredibly closely with the sailing team and we are all very much looking forward to seeing the end result of the new boat. In summary I think we all feel we have a lot to gain and little to lose in this process.”

The sailing team announced so far for the TEAMORIGIN TP52 sees many familiar squad names and promises to be an exciting team – Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy, Ian Moore, Andrew Simpson, Mike Sanderson, Tony Mutter, Christian Kamp, Chris Brittle, Julien Cressant and Matt Cornwell.

Young guns versus rock stars at the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy RC 44

[Source: RC44 Championship Tour] Invited by Russell Coutts to skipper BMW ORACLE Racing in Dubai next week, the World Match Race Tour champion 2009 Adam Minoprio gets a fantastic opportunity to test his skills against the world’s best match racers.

The first regatta of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2010 will take place next week in the United Arab Emirates. Organised by Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC), the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy RC 44 will reassemble nine world Class teams and sailors including Ray Davies, Terry Hutchinson, Cameron Appleton, Rod Davis and many more.

Unable to attend the event due to their America’s Cup post-victory commitments, Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison have decided to give the opportunity to an up & coming team to test its skills at the world’s top level. Adam Minoprio and his Black Match Racing team - the winners of the World Match Race Tour 2009 - have been chosen; they will sail onboard BMW ORACLE Racing for this event.

"The boys and I are really looking forward to sailing on an RC 44 yacht" said Adam Minoprio. "I have heard so many great things about the class, so it’s going to be really exciting to finally venture into the class with my core team from the match racing circuit. Even though it’s just for one regatta, we are still going to go out there to win. Sailing in the RC 44 class is an amazing opportunity for us as we will be racing some of the best teams in the world. We feel very fortunate to be given this opportunity from BMW Oracle and very humbled to be asked by Russell to take over and get them a good result while they are busy."

Adam Minoprio will be steering BMW ORACLE Racing during the match races on Monday and Tuesday, whilst will Mike Perris will be at the helm during the fleet regatta (Thursday – Saturday). Other members of the team include David Swete (main), Collin Orsini (grinder), Tom Powrie and Lorenzo Deflice (trim) as well as Revelin Minihane (pit) and Nick Blackman (bow). As for Russell Coutts, he will be back on his boat for the next regatta: “I will be re-joining the RC 44 circuit at the following event in Austria", he said. "After the demands of the AC, I am very much looking forward to it."

Other new faces in the circuit include Terry Hutchinson, who joins the RC 44 Class for the first time on board Artemis and Raimondo Tonelli, who will steer Team Sea Dubai in the fleet races.

The teams involved in the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy RC 44:

Team No Way Back (Pieter Heerema / Ray Davies)
Artemis (Torbjorn Tornqvist / Terry Hutchinson)
CEEREF (Igor Lah / Rod Davis)
BMW ORACLE Racing (Mike Perris / Adam Minoprio),
Team Aqua (Chris Bake / Cameron Appleton)
Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (Daniel Calero / José Maria Ponce)
Katusha (Paul Cayard)
Team Sea Dubai (Raimondo Tonelli / Markus Wieser)
Team Austria (René Mangold / Christian Binder)

ALL4One and Azzurra conclude Valencia training

It has now become customary for a number of teams that take part in the Louis Vuitton circuit to come and train in Valencia a few days or weeks before each event. This week it was the turn of Mascalzone Latino AUDI Team (brand new Challenger of Record for the 34th America's Cup), Azzurra and ALL4One to sharpen their skills in Valencia in view of next month's Louis Vuitton regatta in Auckland. It has been a bumpy seek overall, with a couple of excellent days but also a few awful ones with either too much or too little breeze.

Unfortunately, the closing session of this training week got underway under very light conditions, with an easterly breeze that barely passed 6-7 knots, and finished under heavy rain. The two teams practiced together a number of prestarts as well as a handful of windward/leeward races.

It was also an excellent opportunity to see again how the yachts that now everybody calls "dinosaurs" fare in 4 knots of breeze. It's true that once one has watched Alinghi 5 and USA zoom at 15 knots even in such light breezes the ACC yachts seem to be stuck on the water. This is something that the new America's Cup class will remedy, or at least try to. We'll have to see to what extent the new Defender incorporates in the new rule the feedback from all the current and potential teams and doesn't come out with an RC88.

ALL4One and Azzurra conclude their training for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Valencia, 18 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

ALL4One and Azzurra conclude their training for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Valencia, 18 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

ALL4One and Azzurra conclude their training for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Valencia, 18 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

ALL4One and Azzurra conclude their training for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Valencia, 18 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

ALL4One and Azzurra conclude their training for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Valencia, 18 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

ALL4One and Azzurra conclude their training for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Valencia, 18 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

ALL4One and Azzurra conclude their training for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Valencia, 18 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

ALL4One and Azzurra conclude their training for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Valencia, 18 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

ALL4One and Azzurra conclude their training for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Valencia, 18 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

ALL4One and Azzurra conclude their training for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Valencia, 18 February 2010. Video copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Top-notch lineup for the Omega Auckland Match Racing Regatta

[Source: Omega Auckland Match Racing Regatta] Some of the world’s top international match race teams are set to descend on Auckland for the Omega Auckland Match Racing Regatta in March. A mix of America’s Cup experience plus rising young talent will do battle in the invitational regatta on the Waitemata Harbour.

The regatta kicks off the Auckland Festival of Sailing, which will see a crowded calendar of thrilling yacht racing through most of March. Now that the America’s Cup is once again back in play following the recent Deed of Gift Match in Valencia, top match racing skippers are honing their skills once more in preparation for a multi-challenger event expected to take place in 2013.

The Omega Auckland Match Racing Regatta will be run by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and will take place off the Westhaven breakwater, where spectators will be able to watch the action.

Skippers who have accepted invitations to compete are:

Dean Barker (NZL – Emirates Team New Zealand)
Ben Ainslie (GBR – Team Origin)
Francesco Bruni (ITA – Azzurra Sailing Team)
Sebastian Col (FRA – ALL4One)
Karol Jablonski (POL – Synergy)
Magnus Holmberg (SWE – former Victory Challenge)
Chris Dickson (NZL – former BMW ORACLE Racing)
Bertrand Pacé (FRA – former BMW ORACLE Racing)
Adam Minoprio (NZL – BlackMatch Racing)
Torvar Mirsky (AUS – Mirsky Racing Team)

Racing will take place in identical Farr-designed MRX yachts and will comprise a double round robin, semi-final and final. Weather permitting, the semi-finals and finals will be decided by the first skipper to win three matches.

As the regatta approaches its climax on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (March 4 – 6), spectators and fans will be able to follow the action live on a dedicated radio station on 103fm organized through Live Sport. International yachtsman and commentator Peter Lester will provide expert analysis and blow by blow accounts of the racing.

The Auckland Festival of Sailing comprises a series of on and off the water events. The Omega Auckland Match Racing Regatta is followed by the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland (where five of the skippers from the Omega regatta will also compete) and by the BMW Sailing World Cup Final. Also part of the festival is the Auckland International Boat Show.

Barcelona and Cascais join the Audi MedCup Circuit

[Source: AUDI MedCup] After several years as potential candidate venues for the Audi MedCup Circuit, two of Europe's most desirable cities, Barcelona and Cascais/Lisbon, have now been confirmed on the competition schedule for 2010.

World Sailing Management and city representatives of Barcelona and Cascais have now reached agreements to ensure that these venues will be two of the five which will constitute the 2010 Audi MedCup Circuit.

“ It’s realising a dream for us in many ways. We have been wanting to go to Barcelona for a long time. In sailing it is one of the most renowned Spanish venues for every sailor, and also to Cascais, where strong wind should be assured”, said Nacho Postigo, Technical Manager of the Circuit.

Cascais, in May
The Audi MedCup Circuit 2010 schedule opens with an entirely new venue. The year's first event will take place between the 11 and the 16 of May in Cascais, Portugal.
Few cities in Europe can offer the weather conditions which the Portuguese city enjoys in spring and summer.. The reputation for strong, consistent winds was apparent when the city hosted the 2007 ISAF World Sailing Championships, and the venue is open to the Atlantic which should ensure big swells.

“ The usual race courses for the regattas held in Cascais start within the bay, where the prevailing wind can reach 10 knots, and from there, the boats sail to windward towards a mark set infront of the cape. There you can find 25 knots wind”, Postigo adds.

It could be the Estoril Circuit of sailing, potentially one of the most exciting regattas of the season, a great curtain raiser, which would have a good chance to provide images reminiscent of the ones which emerged from the big days off Cartagena, where the boats surfed spectacularly on, and through, lumpy swells several metres high.

After the Cascais Premiere, the Audi MedCup Circuit moves to Marseille, where the second trophy of the season will be disputed, between the 15th and the 20th of June.

Barcelona, in July
Barcelona will host the third event of the 2010 Audi MedCup Circuit between the 20th and the 25th of July. At this time the Catalan capital city enjoys great thermal winds of the southwest, known as Garbí.

As well as the pleasant summer weather conditions, Barcelona is the perfect showcase for the Circuit, richly endowed with the experience and infrastructure of a city which holds many sailing competitions in Spain including the 1992 Olympic Sailing Regatta. The 2010 Audi MedCup Circuit event benefits from the full participation of the city hall in the organization of the events which will ensure a lively public village while the races take place on the water. And of course as a backdrop, the major European city needs no introduction as a cultural, architectural, culinary and nightlife capital that few can rival.

With these new two additions, Nacho Postigo stresses the importance of having made it to bring the Circuit to three of Europe's big cities: “ Cascais is very much a satellite suburb of Lisbon, and we can highlight then that this year that the Audi MedCup Circuit will be held in three big European citites: Lisbon, Barcelona and Marseille.”

After Cascais, Marseille and Barcelona, for the third time the Circuit is guaranteed an enhusiastic welcome in Cartagena in Murcia, Spain (24th till 29th of August) and on the Italian island of Sardinia, Cagliari (20th to 25th of September).

New rules mean a better show.
The 2010 season will not only have new venues, but also new rules, which will make the boats faster and more spectacular. The TP52's new configuration includes a square topped mainsail, as well as bigger assymetric spinnakers on bowsprits instead of a spinnaker pole. Crew numbers are cut by two, which makes sailing more testing and more exciting. Also new is the new guest spot onboard every boat for each race.

Team Origin, in motion
Nacho Postigo was in Valencia to meet Mike Sanderson, CEO of TeamOrigin the British America's Cup syndicate, one of the new entrants to the 2010 TP52 Series of the Circuit. The Kiwi Round the World Champion and former World Sailor of the Year updated the Audi MedCup's Circuit Technical Manager on his team's status, the boat's construction schedule prior to its debut in Cascais for the first time.

Audi MedCup Circuit's Schedule 2010:

Event 1: Cascais (Portugal), 11th to 16th of May
Event 2: Marseille (France), 15th to 20th of June
Event 3: Barcelona (Spain), 20th to 25th of July
Event 4: Cartagena (Spain), 24th to 29th of August
Event 5: Cagliari (Italy), 20th to 25th of September

Ten years of Alinghi

[Source: Alinghi] Alinghi will celebrate its ten year anniversary in September 2010 and while the Swiss team lost the America’s Cup on Valentine’s Day, it has two extraordinary wins to its count and remains proud of its achievements and what they represent.

Alinghi is the culmination of Ernesto Bertarelli's passion for sailing and since the team’s inception in 2000, its people have been its strength – the sailors, the designers and the shore crew and all those that back them up in the weather team, the media and marketing departments, administration and finance.

In 2003 Alinghi was the first European team to win the America’s Cup in its 158 year history and it went on to render the most successful Cup event of all time in 2007, including three years of lead-up pre-regattas.

The 33rd America’s Cup chapter is over but Alinghi will continue. In what shape or form is yet to be decided.

Ernesto Bertarelli talks about the past and future of Alinghi. Valencia, 16 February 2010. Video copyright Alinghi

World Match Racing Tour Announces 2010 Tour Card Holders

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) today announced the names of the nine Tour Card Holders for the 2010 season.

After developing the invite policy introduced in 2009, the WMRT has allocated the Tour Cards for 2010 to:

Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch – ISAF Match Racing World Champion (2009)
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team – Finished 2nd in 2009
Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin – Finished 3rd in 2009
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Team Azzura
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team
Bertrand Pace (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team
Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar

"Last year, we had a great season. This year, we have received a tremendous response from the teams and believe that the 2010 series will be an even bigger and more significant series for the WMRT, the skippers and teams, as well as for everyone following the action on-site at the events or through the media," said Tour Director Craig Mitchell.

The Tour Invite Policy, first introduced in 2009, will guarantee the Tour Card holders invites to six of the first nine events but they can compete in more events if they are able to secure wild card invites from the individual event promoters.

For teams that did not receive a Tour Card, there are still opportunities to race on the WMRT through event wild cards or through the events that make up the Tour Qualifying Series that feed into the World Tour events.

"We see the level of professionalism amongst the skippers and teams going up each year and 2010 will be no exception. We are looking forward to another great series of events and crowning a worthy champion. It is going to be fiercely competitive from the first race in France, in April, all the way through to the last race in Malaysia, in December," Mitchell enthused.

Francesco Bruni from Team Azzura of Italy said, "I am extremely happy to be part of such an important and prestigious circuit. I am also very proud to have the opportunity to compete for the Match Race World Title wearing the Team Azzurra uniform!"

Mathieu Richard from the French Match Racing Team also shared the same excitement. "I am very glad to have a Tour card, and I am looking forward to taking part to a fantastic 2010 championship! The 2010 field is very exciting, with an interesting mixed of three generations of skippers – young guns like Adam Minoprio (NZL), and Torvar Mirsky (AUS), veterans with Peter Gilmour (AUS) and Bertrand Pace (FRA), and skippers of my generation."

Gavin Brady talks to Valencia Sailing about Mascalzone Latino, the America's Cup and Beau Geste

Valencia Sailing talked to Gavin Brady on Tuesday morning, while waiting, in vain, in the Mascalzone Latino base for the breeze to pick up. The kiwi sailor will be the Challenger of Record's skipper and helmsman in the Louis Vuitton regattas in Auckland next month and is currently with the rest of the crew in Valencia, training with the Italian team's ITA-90. Unfortunately, the combination of no breeze and huge swell with waves of over 2 meters grounded not only the Italian yacht but also Azzurra and ALL4One. If Harold Bennett hadn't fired the gun on Sunday, 5 minutes before the time limit, we would certainly be right now in a long period of delays in the 33rd America's Cup as the weather this week is awful.

Valencia Sailing: You will be the skipper and helmsman of Mascalzone Latino AUDI Team in the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Auckland next month. Is this a one-off agreement or the start of a longer term involvement with the Italian team?
Gavin Brady: Right now we are focused on the Louis Trophy in Auckland and the reason we are here in Valencia is to get ready for that regatta and as this happened we were in the middle of the America's Cup and Larry with Vicenzo agreed to work together. A lot has happened in the last 48 hours but right now the team is focused with AUDI to go down to Auckland and put a new team. Auckland is a very difficult place to race this time of the year and for us it will be like doing our first marathon and doing it in the hills. It's probably the most difficult place in the world to take a new team. Obviously, all crew has already sailed Cup boats but we are a new team and it takes time to reach the level we want.

When we get to Auckland we will be lucky if we even get two hours of sailing before the races because with only two boats you hardly get any time to practice. They allocate the boats and we get approximately a couple of hours a day but if it's too windy or without enough wind we lose the practice day. So, the reason we came to Valencia is just in case we don't get any time to prepare ourselves in Auckland. There are some things progressing towards the America's Cup but right now we entirely focused on Auckland.

Valencia Sailing: Will Mascalzone Latino take part in all the Louis Vuitton events this year?
Gavin Brady: We have committed to do the first two events. The other two events are a very long way away and for the moment our focus is on Auckland and La Maddalena. One of the advantages of the Louis Vuitton series, compared to the Acts of the 32nd America's Cup, is that logistically it's a lot easier. To do the Louis Vuitton regattas in Dubai or Hong Kong is some plane tickets, some accommodation and putting the crew together. It's very simple, so keeping flexibility right now is key. The intention is to sail those events but they are a long way away and, as I said before, a lot can happen this week in the America's Cup. We need to keep that in the back of our minds.

Valencia Sailing: One of the key points that will be decided is the new America's Cup yacht. What would you like to see if it was up to you?
Gavin Brady: I've done a lot of match racing in one design boats, I've done the match race circuit, I've been involved with the Volvo races and the America's Cup and I actually enjoy the development of a new boat, something different. The sports of sailing is progressing quite quickly at the moment with IRC. The IRC allowed people to really start experimenting while IMS was very confining. While the America's Cup have been out of action for 2-3 years, people have been out sailing boats like the one I put together, Beau Geste.

I think it needs to be a fast boat downwind because fast boats downwind create passing opportunities and exciting racing. I think the boats have to be borderline out of control, so that you see the world's best sailors controlling their boats. In the history of the America's Cup maybe just two boats have lost control. I like to see a boat that is more dynamic, faster and more exciting. A lot of people think that this doesn't produce good match racing but it's actually quite the opposite. If you took two SM40's and two Melges 32 without any doubt in my mind the most fun for the sailors and the media will be the Melges 32, because of the action.

Mascalzone Latino's ITA-90 sitting on her cradle as the bad weather won't allow any sailing. Valencia, 16 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia Sailing: What about the two giant multhulls that raced in the 33rd America's Cup two days ago. Would you envision a smaller version of them, 70-80 feet, becoming the next America's Cup class? Would you be in favor of that?
Gavin Brady: When I think about match racing in the America's Cup in multihulls it's very difficult for me right now to comprehend where the gains are and how it would be. It will be like learning to sail again. I don't know whether it's a good or bad thing because to be honest I haven't had any experience in match racing these boats. In fact nobody has because there is only two match races that have been done in these giant yachts. Some people might say it was quite interesting other might argue it was boring because once you've seen the spectacle of the speed there isn't much more.

Valencia Sailing: That's also true but they allow you to have a more than decent race with only 4-5 knots of wind which wouldn't be the case with the current ACC boats.
Gavin Brady: Yes, for sure. I think that Version 5 is done and dusted. I don't think anybody disagrees it's time to bring a new rule or even a modified Version 6. There's a lot of things you can do with those boats and I know one thing for sure. Right now, the people in control of the future have a very open mind. So whatever they come up with, it will be spectacular, even if it's monohulls. You should be able to sail with 4-5 knots of wind. If there is wind on the water you should sail.

I'm a big believer that the postponement flag should be taken off the committee boats, put into a glass cage and broken only in case of an emergency. You know, when Captain Cook sailed around the world he didn't have the opportunity to postpone races because it was too windy or too light. I believe that if a race is scheduled at 12 o'clock it should always start at 12 o'clock and if you want to consider yourself among the best sailors of the world you should be able to sail under all conditions.

Valencia Sailing: Whatever the new rule is are you in favor of having only one boat per team?
Gavin Brady: I think that trying to police new rules will create more problems. Take for example the teams that had one boat last time. One thing we've learned about carbon fiber is that you can do a heck of a lot modifications. If you look at USA-87, we made enormous modifications. Even if we could modify up to 49% of the boat, that was still a lot of modifications and the amount of man-hours spent and cost to make these modifications are extreme. It isn't much different to building a second boat.

You know, the industry and sport of sailing rely on technology and I think that inhibiting teams from innovating is counterproductive. I agreed when they came with the rule limiting the boats from five to two. Sure, you don't want the big teams to build five boats, that's crazy. I do think though that two boats is realistic. In addition, if we didn't have two boats, I wouldn't have been given my first opportunity on an America's Cup boat, because I was on AmericaOne. I started at the B boat and eventually moved to the race boat. Without that opportunity I wouldn't have made it to the 200 America's Cup. The same goes with the younger designers or boatbuilders. I don't think we should stop growth and there's a lot of growth coming from the second boat.

To be honest, any team short of money will have spares for the race boat. You have to have two of everything. You can't seriously go to the America's Cup with just one mast. So, if you are going to build two masts you might as well put the second one on the B boat. You are going to have a spare keel, a spare rudder, a spare fin, spare winches, so if you are really concerned about money you can always take parts from the second boat. The bottom line is that we are just talking about the hull and I don't think this is going to make the difference between an America's Cup team competing or not.

Valencia Sailing: One idea to reduce costs Russell Coutts mentioned in yesterday's press conference was imposing blackout periods where teams couldn't train. Do you agree with that?
Gavin Brady: You could have done that in Valencia last time pretty well but how would that have worked for Team NZ in Auckland when it's summertime there? As you know Team NZ practiced there during European wintertime. So, if you prohibit wintertime training in Valencia you could then favor Team New Zealand because they can afford to do two-boat training over there. It would be interesting to see how they write such a rule but it would be very difficult to impose blackout periods. Imagine your boat gets damaged or breaks and then it takes you about a month to repair. You then tell your sailing team to come back in a month to launch the boat and sail it. Well, what do you do if it's a blackout period?

Beau Geste sailing in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. Porto Cervo, 12 September 2009. Photo copyright ROLEX / Carlo Borlenghi

Valencia Sailing: Do you agree with the Defender racing the Challengers?
Gavin Brady: At the end of the day, if Alinghi raced in the Louis Vuitton Cup last time I think we would have learned more from them than they would have done from us. We didn't know until the 1st race that they were so fast. If you are a challenger and you get to the America's Cup then you are in the game. Whether you have raced the Defender or not that doesn't make much difference. As a challenging team I'm much more focused on the rest of the challengers rather than the defender. If you get to the America's Cup you know you are fast, you know you have a good team. But in order to get there you have to beat all other challengers and I think that a lot of teams get very focused on the defender.

Valencia Sailing: Let's now talk about Beau Geste.
Gavin Brady: Beau Geste has been an incredible experience. Karl and I chose to build a very specialized boat. I moved to Auckland and I was there from the design to the build, throughout the whole process. As a sailor, I learned so much during the build process that it will help me in the America's Cup or any other top race in the future. I believe it is essential to actually see and be part of one of those big maxi yachts being built. There is a lot of thing that you learn during build that will help you get advantages and the areas of the build that you can really explore and make big gains was a good experience. I feel now that going through that experience could be a requirement for an America's Cup skipper. If you are hands on during the build of the boat you realize how much potential there is and how much speed you can get before it even touches the water. I also think that Karl Kwok is one of the best owners in the sport. He's very involved but also gives you the freedom to go out and do what you think is right.

Valencia Sailing: Could Beau Geste be the new America's Cup boat?
Gavin Brady: Absolutely. Racing that boat is unbelievable and it sails with just 3 knots of wind. If we do a 5-mile leg downwind, we could sail it with just four people and be competitive. The reality is that it's amazing how you sail once you take the spinnaker pole off the boat and you put power winches on, how few people you need. The only issue you have with the big boats is the weight of the sails and getting those damn things down. In Beau Geste we have developed a very unique furling system and we can furl our biggest spinnaker in just 22 seconds and it's a spinnaker much bigger than an America's Cup spinnaker and go round the mark and still have it up the mast. We have been developing systems onboard Beau Geste that I think will change the way we will sail maxi boats in the future.

Valencia Sailing: Do grinders have a place in the future of America's Cup sailing?
Gavin Brady: We put the power winches onboard Beau Geste for different reasons. We are racing IRC, we are racing offshore and you are racing offshore you want to reduce weight, you want to get the crew off the boat. When you racing inshore you are not so much worried about the weight of the crew. The system we developed can also be implemented with grinders and you need for pedestals to do the things we do with power winches. Karl decided not to put the pedestal because we didn't want the extra cost of hotel rooms, flights and all the expenses related to all the people. We knew we were going to race Atlantic races, Transpac races and Bremuda races, so you don't need all those grinders onboard when you cross 3,000 miles across an ocean. The way we developed the systems on Beau Geste, like our furling system or the way we pull sails up and down, there is nothing that couldn't be done with pedestals.

I think the America's Cup will stay with the pedestals because it adds excitement to the sport of sailing and because grinders have a lot of power in match racing not just pulling the sails but the techniques and skills. they shouldn't be called grinders, they should be called second trimmers. On an America's Cup grinders do more trimming than trimmers themselves. If somebody is a good grounder, the trimmer should hardly ever talk to him. There is often an illusion that these big guys get on the boats and are told to move the handles. There is a lot of technique in grinding.

Beau Geste sailing in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. Porto Cervo, 12 September 2009. Photo copyright ROLEX / Carlo Borlenghi