Yes; scary stuff!
With the 2nd edition of the Desafo Trophy starting in 2 days, all four participating teams spent the day training on Valencia’s waters. Given the fact Team Origin, the UK America’s Cup challenger, will be racing ESP-88, Desafo’s second boat, the two teams decided to train against each other. The day started very slowly, with the breeze barely reaching 4 knots but after 3 pm a nice northeasterly of 9-10 knots kicked in and gave the two America’s Cup challengers the opportunity to carry out a couple of windward-leeward practice races.
Although the entire sailing crew of Team Origin is not in Valencia, this was a first opportunity for them to get the team together and practice after many months of inactivity, at least as far as the America’s Cup is concerned. The yacht was helmed by 3-time Olympic gold medalist Ben Ainslie while another Olympic champion, Iain Percy, was calling tactics. On the Spanish side there was no change from yesterday, Paul Cayard is in the British Virgin Islands and Laureano Wizner took over the helm. Read the rest of this entry »
After the end of a long day of training with Desafo, we talked to Mike Sanderson, Team Origin Director, about the British challenger and the Americas Cup in general.
Valencia Sailing: How was the day? It must be a nice feeling sailing an AC yacht after more than a year.
Mike Sanderson: We are very pleased, it is the first day we sail all together the Americas Cup boat, tacks and gybes, things went well. It is an amazing feeling to have all the guys together here. It was an excellent day, cool and fun. We had a team meeting this morning about sailing again, which is so positive. It was great to be able to talk about it and then go out and do it. Read the rest of this entry »
[Source: Louis Vuitton] At the New Zealand Embassy in Paris today, Louis Vuitton announced the names of the 12 teams from 11 countries which will compete in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland, New Zealand next February.
The New Zealand Ambassador, Her Excellency Mrs Sarah Dennis, joined Mr Yves Carcelle, Chairman & CEO of Louis Vuitton, in welcoming the participation of all the teams.
The aim of the regatta is to allow all former Louis Vuitton Cup competitors to get back on the water and compete in a friendly match race series. When the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series was announced last September, 23 teams expressed their interest. Read the rest of this entry »
[Source: Italia Challenge] Ten questions to Vasco Vascotto and Franceso Bruni, heads of the newly-formed Italia Challenge
1. Whats the name of your team?
“Italia”.
2. Why did you chose that name?
“Its a name that certainly gives us a strong sense of responsibility but we actually chose it because we believe unconditionally in the potential of Italian sailing”. Read the rest of this entry »
[Note: My apologies for this late report but I’ve had problems with the mp3 file from the press conference. Some users might be unable to listen to it but the most important parts are found in the article]
The second edition of the Desafo Trohpy was presented this morning in Valencia, in the Desafo base. The regatta is organized by the Club Nutico Espaol de Vela (CNEV) and will take place from tomorrow Friday until next Sunday, off Valencia’s coast. There are around 70 cruising boat already registered and for the first time, 4 America’s Cup teams will also race. Desafo, Alinghi, Team Origin and Luna Rossa will hit the start line in the well known Malvarosa race area after more than 15 months of virtual inactivity, as far as the America’s Cup is concerned. Read the rest of this entry »
It seems to be a lie but it’s true. Valencia Sailing will be covering actual AC racing… in Valencia.
Two fleet races are scheduled today and the starting gun will be fired at 1pm local time, weather allowing of course. This week has been cold but sunny and hopefully by the time the 4 yachts hit the starting line the breeze will be strong enough.
The full report from the opening day of the 2nd Desafo Trophy should be online later on.
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What a difference a day makes. While Port America’s Cup looked haunted yesterday afternoon, it was buzzing with activity on Monday. All 4 teams that were officially announced, or rumored, to take part in the 2nd edition of the Desafo Trophy were very busy preparing their yachts.
AlinghiThe Defender stepped the mast on SUI-100, the 32nd America’s Cup winner, on Monday morning. The first sail should be on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The Alinghi base with SUI-100 already masted. Valencia, 3 November 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing Read the rest of this entry »
[Source: Mascalzone Latino] With reference to the last meeting held on October 30th in Geneva among the Socit Nautique de Geneve, Alinghi and the challengers to the 33 Americas Cup, Mascalzone Latino apologizes for not having attended due to previous commitments and confirms its participation to the next meeting scheduled on November 11th.
It further occurs to me to say that, even if we would have attended last week meeting, we would have not signed the letter with the request to the Golden Gate Yacht Club to withdraw the case before the New York appeal Court. As we have said several times, Mascalzone Latino agrees with Oracles goal to organize an event with fair rules in order to give all challengers a chance to win. The most simple solution, in order to put and end to this dispute, is to go back to the 32nd Americas Cup Protocol. Read the rest of this entry »