[Source: Team Russia] Team Russias new Volvo Open 70 yacht made a spectacular entrance into the world today. Its 23 metre long racing hull appeared in public for the first time hovering high over the boat sheds of builders Green Marine Lymington (UK). On a day that started extremely wet and blustery, a break in the weather around high water enabled the hull to be safely lowered by a massive 200 Tonnes crane into the Lymington River.

Team Russia will take part in the Volvo Ocean Race, the premiere round the world yacht race that starts in Alicante this October. The event covers over 37,000 nautical miles and visits 11 ports, culminating in a finish in St Petersburg, Russia in June 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

Given the impasse the 33rd America’s Cup has found itself, everybody, except BMW Oracle and Alinghi, has to improvise and find alternatives to the lack of activity in order to keep the team alive and, most importantly, find sponsors that will guarantee its survival.

Desafo, having guaranteed 60 million euros from Iberdrola, is not in a dire situation but the rest of potential challengers are in a much more delicate financial state and have either shut down completely or scaled down considerably. A clear example of that situation is Victory Challenge, the 32nd America’s Cup challenger from Sweden, that has now reappeared in Port America’s Cup. Read the rest of this entry »

[Source: RC44] They may be the best sailors in the world; they still have a lot to discover in the world of sailing. With its exceptional scenery, snow capped mountains and lovely thermal breeze, Lake Traunsee certainly delivers on this respect, to the delight of all the sailors involved in the RC 44 Austria Cup.

Will the lake conditions reshuffle the cards? The question raised last weeks is still open but the first practice brings initial clews. Indeed, the winner is Team Beecom, from Japan; a team that often got very good results in light and flat conditions during the first RC 44 Championship Tour. Sailing with a genoa unlike the other teams who opted for a jib, Beecom benefited from some light wind patches to make it to the top. Read the rest of this entry »

[Source: iShares Cup] This brand new Extreme 40 team is backed by the Sultanate of Oman as part of a larger project to promote the country as a world-class sailing destination. The crew will begin the series made up of international pro sailors, but with an increasing presence of Omani nationals as the campaign progresses.

The Oman Sail Team should get off to a flying start in the 2008 iShares Cup, with a talented crew of professional British sailors opening the series. The Extreme 40 will be skippered by Pete Cumming, who relished the chance to take over the reins of fellow iShares Cup entry Holmatro for a couple of races at the recent training regatta in Valencia. Pete and his crew jumped into the catamaran and made a great early impression, getting the best start of the fleet in their first ever Extreme 40 race. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Wednesday, one of BMW Oracle’s Extreme 40 catamarans capsized while the 33rd America’s Cup challenger were carrying out one of their usual two-boat training sessions. British journalist Tim Jeffrey was onboard the boat when it capsized and filed this report about the incident. Still, what is more impressive is the sequence of the capsize, captured by the lens of the team’s photographer Gilles Martin-Raget.

BMW Oracle’s Extreme 40 catamaran capsizes. Valencia, 21 May 2008. Photo copyright Gilles Martin - Raget Read the rest of this entry »

[Source: BlackMatch Racing] Today was the final day of racing in the Open Match Cup. We completed our final three races of the round robin today in again, near perfect match racing conditions and managed to win all three. Our final races were against Rafal Sawicki from Poland, last year’s champion Eric Monnin from Switzerland and Mads Elber from Denmark.

We qualified 1st equal at the end of the round robin, tied with Jure Orel from Slovenia and it was decided that we were to race America’s Cup Helmsman and world #12 Ian Ainslie, in a best of 3 semi final while Jure Orel from Slovenia would take on Marek Stancyk from Poland. Read the rest of this entry »

Published: Thu May 22, 2008 2:00 AM MDT

Updated: Fri May 23, 2008 12:01 PM MDT

Marshall Greene and Sarah Max, both of Bend, won the famous Pole Pedal Paddle in the men's and women's elite fields, respectively. The event, which has been held since 1976, consists of five different sports - an alpine ski down Mt. Bachelor, an 8km Nordic, a 22 mile road bike, a 10km run, 1.5 mile canoe/kayak and a final 1/3 of a mile sprint on foot to the finish line.

Alpina/Madshus' Green won his third consecutive PPP, completing the challenging course on a hot day in a time of 1:45:04. Zach Violett (Fischer/Craft) recovered from a fall on the Nordic leg to finish second, 2:34 behind Greene. Violett closed to 1:25 back after the run, but Green was able to pull away again during the paddle. Professional adventure racer Dan Weiland of Vail, Colorado finished third, with another Bend resident and Alpina/Madshus skier Brayton Osgood taking fourth.

In the women's race, Sarah Max (Madshus) captured her first crown in her fifth time racing the event. She had spent the past several years chasing after five-time women's champion and Olympian Suzanne King. But with King on the sidelines, Max led most of the race, cruising to a six-minute victory over Amy Peterson-Bond. She dealt her competition the final blow during the run - where she extended her 2 minute lead to an unbeatable margin.

Taylor Leach took third, less than a minute out of second.

It was a good day for Nordic skiers, with Greene, Violett and Osgood placing 1,2 and 4 in the men's race and the top three women, XC-Oregon dominated the field.

Olympians Beckie Scott (Canada) and Justin Wadsworth (USA) formed a husband-wife team to capture the 35-44 coed division.

Excellent race coverage, including quotes, details, photos, and results from the Bend Bulletin can be found here