Not Woman Enough

[Note: After contacting the Alinghi media office we were informed that apparently Team Germany couldn’t attend as they are re-organising themselves while Mascalzone refused to sign the confidentiality agreement, signed by all teams participating in the Competitor Meetings, and as a result was not admitted to the meeting]

[Source: Alinghi] A large majority of the teams entered in the 33rd Americas Cup today achieved another milestone in the process of getting the event back on the water during a second Competitor Meeting at the Socit Nautique de Genve in Switzerland. Read the rest of this entry »

[Source: Mascalzone Latino] Reale Yacht Club Canottieri Savoia (R.Y.C.C.S.) and Mascalzone Latino accepted the invitation by America’s Cup Management to participate to the November 11th 2008 meeting at Socit Nautique de Genve (S.N.G.) in Geneva.

At the meeting the team representatives were requested to sign a non-disclosure agreement in order to keep the discussion strictly confidential among only the participants.

Mascalzone Latino’s representative to the meeting, Alessandra Pandarese, expressed the team’s firm view that in the current circumstances discussion should be open to all interested parties, including Golden Gate Yacht Club (G.G.Y.C.), as one of the disputing parties. Read the rest of this entry »

The following competitors have been confirmed for the upcoming NZ Match Racing Championships:

Dean Barker
Josh Junior
Laurie Jury
Adam Minoprio
Ben Ainslie
Jessica Smyth
Rueben Corbett
Jonathan Rankine
Jan Dawson
Adrian Short
Rod Davis
Phil Robertson

The NZ Match Racing Championships are running in Auckland 26 30 November 2008.

The event is managed by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

Quick Facts about the NZ Match Racing Championships:
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[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] Leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race begins on Saturday when the crews will race to Asia for the first time in the 35-year history of the race. Cochin, India is the finish port and the leg represents a sea change for the race.

The start of leg two is scheduled for 1300, local time (1100 GMT), on Table Bay, just outside the V+A Waterfront that has played host to the fleet since they arrived less than two weeks ago.

With just three days until the start, the teams are preparing for the challenges of leg two. Traditionally, southern ocean storms, towering seas, horrendous cold and icebergs have been the principal challenges of the leg out of Cape Town. This time, there will be a brief dive into the Roaring Forties (below 40-degrees latitude), before the fleet turns north towards India. Read the rest of this entry »

[Source: Hugo Boss] At 05h00 this morning Alex Thomson arrived back where he had started the Vendee Globe some 61 hours previously . The team had to wait until 10h30 for the tide to enter the canal into Les Sables d’Olonne. By 14h00 the mast was taken out and at 15h30 HUGO BOSS was lifted from the water.

Waiting for the arrival were the Alex Thomson Racing shore team, Paolo Manganelli, from Gurit who was responsible for the structural design of HUGO BOSS and Pascal Finot from Finot Conq, the boats’ designer.

The true extent of the damage could not be assessed until the boat was lifted out of the water. Harry McGougan, Alex Thomson Racing’s Operations Director explained what they saw when the boat was lifted. “There is a transverse crack that runs through the outer and inner skin of the boat. Having now lifted the boat out of the water we can see the underneath of the boat and the full extent of the damage. The crack extends 5 metres to almost the centreline. The unidirectional fibres that make up the outside layer of the boat have peeled off from the start of the crack to the back of the boat.” Read the rest of this entry »

[Source: Team Russia] Just one crew change for Team Russia has been announced for Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race. Owner Oleg Zherebtsov (RUS) is on board for his first Volvo leg, as Kosatka begins its race to Cochin, India on Saturday 15 November. Boat captain Nick Bubb (UK) has taken up Guillermo Altadills position of watch leader on the boat.

Team Russias line up for Leg 2 is as follows:

Andreas Hanakamp, (AUT) Skipper
Wouter Verbraak, (NED) Navigator
Stig Westergaard, (DEN) Watch leader
Nick Bubb, (GBR) Watch leader and boat captain Read the rest of this entry »

STATEMENT OF TOM EHMAN
Spokesman, Golden Gate Yacht Club
12 November 2008
[Source: BMW Oracle] Its unfortunate that we and Mascalzone Latino were excluded from the meeting hosted by Alinghi in Geneva yesterday to discuss proposed rules for AC33, but we are heartened by some positive things that came out of the meeting.

For example, we applaud their decision to have the Americas Cup Race Officials, the Technical Director and Umpires be selected from ISAF officials. This is an excellent step in the right direction. Read the rest of this entry »

[Source: Green Dragon] 10 days after finishing Leg 1, Green Dragon were the first boat to get out sailing in Table Bay, Cape Town.

Whilst sailing upwind in 30 knot conditions, the J4 lock strop broke, this was the same issue the crew experienced in Alicante prior to the start. This caused the head swivel on the sail to break away and come down, damaging the tip of the third starboard spreader.

It was great that we got to get out on the water and test the boat, it is better to have an issue here then a thousand miles out to sea. We tested other systems onboard and I am pleased that we have no others problems. We are assessing the damage at the present time, but we see no reason why we would not be on the start line on Saturday. We maybe able to fix the existing spreader, otherwise we have a spare spreader en route from Holland, Green Dragon Skipper, Ian Walker
Originaly from Source

[Source: Hugo Boss] Alex Thomson has officially retired from the Vendee Globe race today. The damage sustained to his IMOCA Open 60 yacht HUGO BOSS on Monday night is not repairable by next Wednesday’s restart deadline. It is thought the damage was sustained by a collision with a submerged object.

There is a transverse crack that runs through the outer and inner skin of the boat. The crack extends 5 metres to almost the centreline. The unidirectional fibres that make up the outside layer of the boat have peeled off from the start of the crack to the back of the boat. There is also a 10cm x 10cm compression to the hull which has pushed the core in and a deflection inside the hull.
Read the rest of this entry »