Modern scientists, test pilots, designers, moulded into one.. The 34th America's Cup development team.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Coutts pushes his AC45 to a near capsize...recovers quickly! - San Francisco
Source: www.cupInfo.com
Today the two were joined in a spectacular incident that put one of ORACLE Racing’s crews within a gnat’s whisker of a chilly swim.
“It was a typical San Francisco day,” said ORACLE Racing CEO Russell Coutts, the four-time America’s Cup champion. “We came close to capsizing a couple of times. You hit the wrong wave or get a puff, you have to react quickly. It’s gonna be a handful.”
Coutts and crew Simon Daubney, Murray Jones, Matthew Mason and Simeon Tienpont buried both bows up to the front cross beam and pirouetted onto the leeward hull before the windward hull came crashing down. The crew was 12 seconds from making one long night for the shore crew.
“Mate, it was unreal,” said team skipper James Spithill, who had a front row seat as the action happened just to leeward. “Our teammates next door put it in hard and it looked awesome. It was a picture perfect day. This is exactly why we came here, it was just awesome.”
Seoul Searching in Korea Match Cup 2011
Blogged by: Micheal Burgess
4:19 PM Saturday Jun 11, 2011
If the organisers of the Rugby World Cup are looking for some suggestions on creating the ultimate fan experience, they could do worse than visit the Korean Match Cup.
The Korean Match Cup is the second stop on the world match racing tour, and recognised as one of the biggests events on the tour.
All the big guns are here this week - Peter Gilmour, 2007 and 2008 World Champion Ian Williams, French star Mathieu Richard and Australian prodigy Torvar Mirsky as well as two promising young kiwis Phil Robertson and Rueben Corbett.There is plenty of sailing action but what really makes the event stand out is the range of entertainment
options off the water.
options off the water.
There are so many choices the organisers have come up with some recommended agendas for visitors, depending on your demographic. There is the 'senior course' with the more sedate activities while the children's course features pedal cars, bumper boats and face painting. The family course has a leisure sports game, kayaking, clam digging on the foreshore and t-shirt making.
In a romantic touch, they also have a 'date course' that suggests hang gliding, sea world sailing and something called 'wish letters'. Across from the sailing marina, the main entertainment stage offers an incredible amount of international options.
There was 'Apache' (described as an North American Indian band, in full feathered regalia, though all of the members looked suspiciously Korean) as well as 'Latinos', a group from Seoul that sang South American classics in perfect spanish.
There was also a Phillipine acrobatics troupe, and another group of dancers called 'Brosgang' that thankfully bore no relation to the terrible 1980s boy band from England. There is a Russian pop band called 'Natalie Pop Band', a Korean version of the Spice Girls as well as a dazzling solo violinist called Ruche.There is no doubt that sailing remains the main event, but the overall fan experience is hard to top.
Michael Burgess will have more from the Korean Match Cup, including all the on-water action, over the next two days
- Herald on Sunday
By Michael BurgessSpithill's and Coutts' AC45s now in San Francisco
San Francisco Business Times
Date: Friday, June 10, 2011, 9:49am PDT - Last Modified: Friday, June 10, 2011, 10:04am PDT
Pressure-drop, a sailing-dedicated website, has the first pictures of the new AC45s sailing on San Francisco Bay.
San Francisco Business Times
Date: Friday, June 10, 2011, 9:49am PDT - Last Modified: Friday, June 10, 2011, 10:04am PDT
Pressure-drop, a sailing-dedicated website, has the first pictures of the new AC45s sailing on San Francisco Bay. Korea Cup, World Match Racing and Race Management Report by V Max
From a sailing forum we all love and sometimes hate. This was a post of V Max last 10 June 2011:
Thanks guys! Yes the SYD 40 was Korean owned, it's name is U2.
Many of these boats are hampered by support infrastructure. There is no sailmaker in Korea I was told and also no West Marine ;) Having a shackle pin fall overboard was literally race endangering because spares were not readily available. However I was constantly impressed with efforts of the Korean Sailing Federation to put on a world class event. They have the hospitality side absolutely nailed, that side of the event was nothing short of spectacular!
What they really have to work on is race management though. Start sequences were totally confusing and they started the entire fleet at once for all the races which was just bedlam. On the other hand maybe it was just me because the Korean guys all seemed to know approximately when the race was going to start, put RRS was pretty much out the window as everyone continually violated normal protocols.
The time deadlines were a little ridiculous for the offshore. Out of a fleet of 30 odd boats in the last offshore, only 5 finished in time. That included a Farr 44 Mod, B&C46, Taylor 47 and a Cookson 12 metre; pretty hot boats in any fleet. None of the cruising class finished and if I was one of those guys I'd have to think about whether to do this event again just based on race achievability.
But! They want to fix everything and having Americans and Canadians come in for this event will definitely help it grow and achieve recognition. The race director has asked me for a detailed report on my impressions and ways ahead for the future so that is promising. In addition these Korean folks are just fabulous hosts, I just can't say enough about that, really impressive! Their youth sailors are as good as any I've come across and their dedication is admirable. There is no question in my mind that this country means business when comes to having a future in international competition and it will be very interesting to see what happens with the Americas Cup campaign. I think they're going to surprise a few people!!!!
Today's racing at the World Match racing tour is about to start and the buzz here is incredible. The dial ups are phenomenal and the race yesterday between Bruni and Richard was just mind-blowing! On the other hand it just shows me how far I have to go in this sport to get to that level..... ;)To read other comments posted on this thread visit the link.
The Audi MedCup Circuit fleet is gathering for the 2nd regatta of the season, the Marseille Trophy
From BYM Sailing & Sports News:After a windy opening to the season of five regattas in Portugal, France, Spain and Italy, Marseille’s famous Rade Sud and Nord race courses in June are widely expected to offer a greater range of wind conditions than the blustery Portuguese season opener.
While the Marseille Trophy was officially launched today in France’s second city, on the water next week hopes will be shared between the TP52 Series where the Franco-German Audi Sailing Team powered by ALL4ONE will be looking to get on to the podium with their new Vrolijk design, skippered by Jochen Schuemann and Sebastien Col.
But in the five strong Soto 40 class there is a strong Marseille flavour aboard XXII which will be in the hands of renowned local skipper Alain Fedensieu, past Admiral’s Cup winner, Tour de France á Voile victory and three times French offshore champion. As in Portugal, the Audi MedCup Circuit organisers have made the XXII Soto 40 available to a local crew and Fedensieu has a team including Figariste Nicolas Berenger on the helm, match racer Nicolas Deberque trimming the headsails, 49er campaigner Nicolas d’Ortoli also
“We are really looking forward to having our first sail together Monday on the Soto 40.” Remarks Fedensieu. “Clearly hearing feedback from the first regatta the class is a success and the boat we have can be in the match as it was second in Cascais. And so that is a great challenge for us here. We can hopefully rely on our technique, our enthusiasm and our knowledge of our local, home water to be able to do well.”
“This is the fourth time the Audi MedCup Circuit visits Marseille and it has become the reference city in France for us. When we evaluate the venues we take into account the enthusiasm of the public, the city’s infrastructure and the racing conditions, and over all of these aspects Marseille is 10 out of 10.” Fernando Inigo, Director of the Audi MedCup Circuit said at the launch today. “In 2010 the audited impact of the Marseille Trophy amounted to almost 10 million Euros. And in Marseille this time we are anticipating seeing between eight and ten different owners who are interested in the circuit for the future.”Among the invited guests who will sail on board the eight TP52’s and five Soto 40’s over the course of the regatta will be Arnaud Boissières, skipper of the IMOCA Open 60 Akena Vérandas, who finished seventh in the 2008-9 Vendée Globe, who will sail with the Cascais Trophy and current Audi MedCup Circuit leaders Quantum Racing (USA) on Wednesday. Didier Réault (FRA), Conseiller Municipal de Marseille à la Mer, au Nautisme, et au Parc National des Calanques Conseiller Général des Boûches du Rhônes:
“Marseille is accomplished when it comes to hosting events as prestigious as the Audi MedCup Circuit and I am delighted that this Circuit will be staged from the Vieux Port again. It is an event which evolves all the time and which combines a very high level of competition and a great public access and interest with a strong shore-side entertainment and animation. Economically it is very important, deriving 3.5 million Euros of direct return for the city.”Thursday, June 09, 2011
Our New Cover Girl! - Audi Azzurra
Presenting our new cover girl from the Medeteranian Sea! She is hot, Sexy and Blue. Always has a wet bottom and likes to go fast. Meet Ms. Azzurra!
Mitsubishi Sailing Cup report from the President of Soto 40 Class
Just back from racing at the Mitsubishi Cup in Ilhabela.Incredible!!! Fourteen Soto 40s, with the highest level of competitors ever seen in South America. Francesco Bruni, Dee Smith, Cole Parada, Guille Parada, Torben Grael, etc..etc. Between all 140 sailors we had: 7 Olympic medals, 50 World titles, 11 European titles, 38 South american titles, and 164 National titles!!!!! What a line up!
Eight races in four days. Good wind, lots of current and a very complicated W/L field. 6 juries on the water to handle all protest on the water. and they had plenty of work. ISAF came in also to do all interviews for the category 1 sailors, just to keep everything honest.
Four Measurers of the class where also there; The Chief Measurer Pablo Ferrer from Spain, plus Nico Promencio from Argentina, plus the head measurer of Brazil and Chile.
At the end we came out 4th, being one of the only two boats to put 2 bullets and one of the few owner driven. But with the same token, twice we where over the line early, with a very expensive result (11th and 12th)Negra at the end won, with Francesco Bruni as tactician. the boat was definitely not faster because of Q. It was all about consistency and great boat handling , and they had plenty of. They kept outside of the tacking wars, and always had great starts. Good for Negra! Next week Negra will be flying to Marseilles to race at the medcup with the soto Patagonia that is there.
The class is getting better by the minute, it is World sailing at its finest!
Regards,
Beto
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)