One by one, the TP52 teams are getting ready for the imminent start of the 2008 Audi Medcup circuit. On Sunday afternoon it was the turn of Ricardo Simoneschi’s AUDI TP52 Sailing Team powered by Q8 to hit the waters for the first time ever.

The yacht, a Vrolijk design, was built by Hakes Marine in Wellington, New Zealand and launched a month ago. After fitting her out, the team presented it in Genoa during the weekend and immediately thereafter carried out the first test sails under sunny skies and light spring winds. The AUDI TP52 Sailing Team powered by Q8 will now train onboard the “Silver Surfer” for a few more days before she is transfered to Alicante, for the inaugural event of the 2008 season, from May 12 to 18. Read the rest of this entry »

It was rumored, at least here in Valencia, that right after the end of the RC44 Cagliari Cup, Larry Ellison would drop by the city in order to meet local authorities and discuss the possibility of holding the 34th America’s Cup here, if of course BMW Oracle wins the 33rd edition against Alinghi.

If one is to believe Las Provincias, Valencia’s main newspaper, the American billionaire was indeed in Valencia on Monday and held a secret meeting with Francisco Camps, the president of the Valencia Region, and Rita Barber, the city’s mayor. The meeting was held in Camps’ office and lasted an hour and a half, always according to the newspaper. Read the rest of this entry »

Valencia Sailing is in Santa Margherita, Italy, for the inaugural event of the Quebramar GP42 Cup.

The line up is impressive, with a number of America’s Cup sailors and Olympic medalist ready to battle for the second year of racing of the up and coming GP42 class.

Among the favorites are last year’s champions, EL DESAFIO, entirely crewed by America’s Cup challenger Desafo, sailing on their modified boat.

Among the newcomers in the class are Roma 02, building upon the success of Filippo Faruffini’s first GP42 yacht, Roma. Roma 02 will be helmed by Paolo Cian, freshly arrived victorious from Brasil Sailing Cup while another start match racer, Sbastien Col, will be calling tactics. Read the rest of this entry »

[Source: RC 44] Armando Giulietti and his crew on board Team Hiroshi Citt di Milano are now seven points ahead of Patrick de Barross Banco Espirito Santo, whilst Team Sea Dubai sits in third.

After another stunning day off the coast of Cagliari, Sardinia, the boat that sails with the RC 44 championship leaders gold wheel is back at the top of the ranking. With tactician Sbastien Col and Armando Giulietti at the helm, team Hiroshi Citt di Milano had three good races today (4, 1, 3), giving it a fairly comfortable lead before the last racing day. Read the rest of this entry »

[Source:RC44] With two races to sail on the last day of the Cagliari RC 44 Cup, Armando Giuliettis Team Hiroshi Citt di Milano was sitting at an enviable position this morning, seven points ahead of Banco Espirito Santo. However, the situation was more complicated behind the leader, with four teams separated by five points.

The first race took place in a light sea breeze. Team Hiroshi, BMW ORACLE Racing and Banco Espirito Santo went straight for the left of the course whilst Team Sea Dubai (third overall until then) opted for the right. Every point was crucial and all the leading teams were impatiently waiting for the first crossing to see who was right or wrong. Well, both options seemed to pay. Hiroshi rounded the windward mark in first, just ahead of Team Sea Dubai and BMW ORACLE Racing. The same scenario took place downwind, all the leading teams going to the right except Team Sea Dubai who went to the left. The tension was seriously rising as they neared the leeward gate, which they rounded in the same position once again. The only change within the leading boats finally took place on the last downwind leg, when BMW ORACLE Racing overtook Team Sea Dubai; a point that was going to cost them the podium. Team Aqua, who was also looking for a place on the podium, finished seventh whilst Banco Espirito Santo second overall till then dropped down the ranking because of an eighth place in this race. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the fact the America’s Cup is currently in a limbo, there is increasing activity going on in Port America’s Cup. In addition to BMW Oracle and Alinghi, a score of other teams are using the existing facilities for various TP52 and GP42 projects. One of them is Vasco Vascotto’s Mutua Madrilea, whose brand new yacht arrived from Italy last Monday.

This is the third TP52 boat for the Italians sailor. Vascotto was in fact one of the founding pillars of the TP52 fleet in the Mediterranean since he sailed in its racing circuit from 2005, the year it was established. He grabbed the inaugural title of the circuit, called Breitling Medcup until last year, on Pisco Sour, a Botn & Carkeek design. In 2006 his mainly Mascalzone Latino crew took a break from the TP52 circuit in order to focus exclusively on the America’s Cup. Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry for the delay in updates today, but the Defender of the 33rd America’s Cup is making a day long presentation in Valencia. Our full report will be online late on Thursday or early morning Friday.

If we could sum up in a few words the day’s most essential news, it would be that Alinghi is in the final stages of the design process and construction of the yacht to defend the America’s Cup can start any day now. This is of course under the assumption, as the Swiss have always insisted, that the race takes place after May 2009.
Read the rest of this entry »

Alinghi, the Defender of the 33rd America’s Cup held on Thursday a media day in their base in Valencia, presenting their sailing and design teams and giving an update on the status of design and construction of their multihull yacht. Don’t hold your breath there wasn’t anything spectacular announcement, although we do know now that the start of construction is “imminent”.

Design & Construction of multihull yacht
We would have been foolish if we had expected any major revelation during Thursday’s presentation even if hearing Brad Butterworth in his opening words say that construction of the new yacht had started in Villeneuve, Switzerland was indeed a surprise. During the day, and depending one who you talked to, the stage of construction varied slightly. Rolf Vrolijk, chief designer, stated that design is in its final stages and construction could start at any moment after the decision is taken. Regardless of the exact degree of construction, it appears that Alinghi is about to start or has just started the construction process. Read the rest of this entry »

Alinghi’s media day included a very instructional experience on the water. Not only were we able to watch the team’s two Extreme 40 yachts train against each other we were also given the opportunity to hop onboard and witness the races from a privileged position.

The white boat was crewed by Ed Baird, Lorenzo Mazza, Rodney Ardern and Pieter Van Nieuwenhuyzen while on the black one by Murray Jones, Brad Butterworth, Nils Frei and Yves Detrey.

Ed Baird won all 5 of the exhibition match races but of course these results should be taken with a pinch of salt. They did in fact simulate a Deed-of-Gift match, with just one upwind and one downwind leg but the course was set very short, just 1 mile, in order to squeeze as many races as possible for the numerous guests. With such a short distance the two teams tacked and gybed once or twice in each leg, amplifying by much the importance of the start. Of course, one should always keep in mind that Baird is one of the most experienced and successful match-racers in the world, twice claiming the top position on world rankings. Read the rest of this entry »

[Source: RC44] Markus Wieser and his helmsman Joki Hellmich had a superb day on board Sea Dubai. They lead the fleet race event ahead of Team Hiroshi Citt di Milano and BMW ORACLE Racing.

Cagliari, April 25, 2008 Team Sea Dubai is the new and unexpected leader after the first three fleet races of the Cagliari RC 44 Cup. After a very good start in Dubai last month, this new team proves once again that it will be a serious opponent this season, thanks to a well managed program under the supervision of Markus Wieser. Read the rest of this entry »