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Monday, 2/8/10 - XS is on the scene in Valencia - check out this diary from Pau Gol who is on the front lines in Valencia in his Reynolds 33.
Saturday, at 10 p.m. we arrived to Valencia alter covering the 160 nautical miles that separate Barcelona with Valencia. A wonderful sailing journey, done in two legs: Barcelona - Delta del Ebro (80 miles) and later Delta del Ebro - Valencia (80 miles).
During the two day trip many things happened - most of them very rewarding, including sailing with dolphins, averaging speeds of 17 knots at times, sailing in flat waters under a starry night with the full moon rising, and unfortunately, breaking a daggerboard while approaching Valencia.
Yesterday we started sailing at 11 a.m. after doing some repairs on our R33 Catamaran, named Didgeridoo. Our harbour is 6 miles away from the America's Cup headquarters and we wanted to arrive before Alinghi 5 left the harbour. We knew that the BMW-Oracle tri was at sea very early in the morning and we could see the gigantic racer sailing from more than 15 miles away.
We were sailing with 5 knots of wind with the help of both main sail and the engine. We managed to reach the AC harbor right at the moment the Alinghi cat was leaving. Together with other boats we followed Alinghi for a while. Since we are a racing catamaran as well, they allowed us to get very close to them. Being able to sail so close to Alinghi was the first reward of the day.
Then the tremendous catamaran raised the mainsail and unfurled a screacher and with only 5-6 knots of wind started flying a hull and reaching speeds of 12-knots. We where sailing with main and screacher - with the help of our engine we could sail at 10 knots - not enough to follow the giant cat.
We spent some time watching Alinghi practicing - tacking and jibing but since we were unable to follow them, we decided to try to catch up with the BMW-Oracle Trimaran that could be seen in the distance sailing back to the harbor.
Again with the help the engine and the main sail and the jib we could do 10-knots in breezes of 5-6 but, wasn't enough to catch up. BMW-Oracle entered the Valencia Commercial Harbor bearing their base. We decide to lower the main and try to get close to the trimaran inside the harbour. First we were stopped by the coast guard who would not allow any unauthorized boats to approach the trimaran base, but we told them that we were from XSSailing and after calling the guys from BWM-Oracle they allowed us to get closer to take some photos.
Even having seen hundred's of photos and videos of this trimaran, it's difficult to describe how impressive this boat and the wing sail really is.
The we left the BWM-Oracle base and sailed back to the Alinghi base in order to wait for their return. After a while we saw Alinghi approaching us, sailing in almost no wind and with one hull up. They rewarded us with a very close fly-by near where we were. And we could follow them for a while, both boats with main and screacher, although our boat with an additional help of an outboard 15-hp engine.
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Monday, 2/8/10 - VALENCIA, Spain (8 February 2010) - From Alinghi:
Today's scheduled Race 1 of the 33rd America's Cup Match was postponed due to light and unstable winds on the Mediterranean Sea.
The Alinghi team was looking forward to racing the 90ft catamaran Alinghi 5 after seven months of testing and trialling, but now they'll have to wait until Wednesday for the next opportunity.
"It was very light," said navigator Juan Vila. "We had some puffs up to 6 knots but they didn't last long. The direction also was random, mostly from the west but not enough for a fair race. The forecast didn't look promising once the wind got variable, so I think it was a good decision not to race today."
Alinghi's weather team predicted winds around 10 knots today, but showers from a passing cold front disrupted the forecast.
"Ahead of the cold front was a weak southerly gradient with lots of clouds and some showers," said Jack Katzfey, team meteorologist. "The mountains in Valencia disrupted the winds and killed any chance of a flow developing. It was supposed to get lighter, but it got a lot lighter."
The day was officially called at 13:50, after the Alinghi sailors had been on the water for more than seven hours. They departed the team base in the Port America's Cup this morning at 06:30 engulfed in darkness, with temporary running lights affixed on the hulls and aft cross beam for the tow to the start line.
Today would've marked the 13th race in an America's Cup Match for Alinghi dating back to 2003. Instead, it was the eighth postponement experienced by the Defender from the Société Nautique de Genève.
"We knew the conditions would be like this here. We can't count on every day being perfect to have a race," Vila said. "Today, unfortunately, wasn't, but I'm pretty sure we'll find another day to have a fair race. It's important that when the starting gun goes off it's a fair race for everyone."
Race 1 of the 33rd America's Cup is scheduled for Wednesday, weather permitting. Photo Carlo Borlenghi/Alinghi
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Monday, 2/8/10 - Writer Casey Mulligan made mention of XS Racing's upcoming Border Run Race in the New York Times in an article entitled "The Economics of the America's Cup". Mulligan said:
"...businessman Bob Long and the multi-hull designer Randy Reynolds, started their own racing organization and "Border Run" race from Newport Beach to San Diego. The race welcomes all kinds of boats, implementing new safety and distress rules to manage both insurance costs and the variety of challenges that the diverse armada might encounter. The racing organization has a system for handicapping member boats, which include multi-hulls.
A bold idea is not the same as a successful product, but so far the Border Run has passed the market test: More than 100 raced in 2009 and organizers have already received 140 entries for the April 2010 race. So the mono vs. multi-hull dispute was settled in Southern California without legislation, judge or jury."
Check out the entire story here.
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Monday, 2/8/10 - The position of the Saint Helena High isn't favoring progress towards the Cape of Good Hope and Groupama 3 has been forced to pick out a course to the SSW before slowly straightening out her trajectory to the South this afternoon. As a result her lead over the reference time is diminishing in the attempt to becoming the fastest boat to circle the planet. Check out more here.
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Monday, 2/8/10 - With 580 days until the start of the Global Ocean Race 2011-12, entry #12 for the double-handed circumnavigation is from New Zealand. In common with three other confirmed entries from the UK, USA and Europe, the Kiwi skipper has chosen to keep his powder dry and wishes to remain anonymous until his campaign is fully formulated. The young and rising pro-sailor - a university graduate with crucial, shorthanded offshore racing experience - intends to announce further details shortly. Read more here.
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MOVING PICTURES
Monday, 2/8/10 - While we, in this hemisphere suffer with the cold, the Aussies are racing 18-foot skiffs in Sydney Harbour.
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MOVING PICTURES
Monday, 2/8/10 - Here's a bootleg interview with BMW's Jimmy Spithill, discussing the weather and what he was expecting before he headed out to the AC course.
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MOVING PICTURES
Monday, 2/8/10 - Before the news that the weather wouldn't do for the first day of the 33rd America's Cup, the crews were preparing for the race of their lives. Here's a vid of some interviews with some of the Alinghi team as they look towards a big day.
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MOVING PICTURES
Monday, 2/8/10 - With the AC going on and winter time keeping a lot of sailors off the water, here is a good way to keep your racing skills up. Or if you have never skippered a boat in a regatta, a great way to learn racing without ever being on the water or having to worry about T-boning you're competitor.
Samson Vasquez, Sailing Director of Gulfport Yacht Club demonstrates how to login to sailx.com and sail a race on a GYC Facebook Friday. Enlarge to full screen to better view the details and tactics of this cool sailboat racing simulator.
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MOVING PICTURES
Monday, 2/8/10 - As we all waited for Race 1 of the 33rd AC to begin, Dimitri Despierres, a wing sail engineer for the BMW-Oracle sailing team, talked about this year's America's Cup competition and the technology behind his team's yacht - painting broad strokes for the uninitiated. Despierres talks with Bloomberg's Linzie Janis while both teams waited for wind that never came.
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MOVING PICTURES
Monday, 2/8/10 - Check out the last day of the Extreme Sailing Series in Asia. It seems the fleet had taken a bit of a hit since iShares checked out, but big fast colorful cats are always cool in our book.
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Friday, 2/5/10 - First European champions, now Oman Sail Masirah is crowned champion of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia. This event was billed locally as 'Oman Sail versus The World' and they came out on top in style. It was a great victory on their home soil and it went to the wire with Masirah winning the final race of the Muscat event to clinch both the regatta title and take the Extreme Sailing Series Asia crown. The Wave, Muscat and China Team completed the podium in 2nd and 3rd also for the regatta and overall.
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Friday, 2/5/10 - Franck Cammas and his nine crew have had an excellent day before a weekend where a rather quick passage across the Doldrums is forecast. The team is looking for a switch in hemisphere as early as Saturday morning. Averaging more than 22-knots along the direct course since leaving Ushant, Groupama 3 already has more than a day's lead over the reference time in an attempt to become the fastest boat to circle the globe. Check out the full story here.
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Friday, 2/5/10 - Hong Kong Harbour with its unique skyline and 'always busy' waterways is one of the most iconic maritime settings in the world. The 14-day long Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta, scheduled for 9th to 23rd January 2011, will take place on this perfect natural arena. Click here for more.
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Friday, 2/5/10 - Auckland, New Zealand boasts one of the best fleets of classic yachts in the world. The Mahurangi Regatta is one of their principal racing events. Sail-World was there on Saturday to witness the occasion of these classic yachts dating back into the 1800's and beautifully restored, being raced hard. Sail World has the full story. Photo by Richard Gladwell
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MOVING PICTURES
Friday, 2/5/10 - Check out this profile of BMW Oracle Navigator Matteo Plazzi. This includes some nice onboard and helicopter footage of the mighty DoGzilla underway.
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MOVING PICTURES
Friday, 2/5/10 - Here's some great footage of the boys from Groupama 3 starting their Jules Verne Trophy record attempt. Might be better if French is your first or second language, but if not, watching the boat move along and seeing everyone interact on board is still really cool.
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MOVING PICTURES
Friday, 2/5/10 - Alinghi boss Ernesto Bertarelli takes questions from the press. He says he's ready and that he's always stuck to his values. Probably best to watch this vid lying on your side...you'll see why.
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MOVING PICTURES
Friday, 2/5/10 - Thousands gathered on the beach yesterday to see the six teams race in the biggest breeze so far at the Extreme Sailing Series. The big cats were powered up and blasting through the chop - there's even a capsize thrown in for good measure.
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Thursday, 2/4/10 - The New York Supreme Court has now set a date of February 25 to hear the "constructed in country" case over the American made sails to be used by Alinghi 5.
Team Alinghi is the Société Nautique de Geneve's defender for the 33rd America's Cup against GGYC's team BMW ORACLE Racing for the Match starting in Valencia on Monday.
"We would have preferred that the question mark over Alinghi's sails had not become a question mark hanging over the result of the 33rd Match," commented GGYC spokesman Tom Ehman.
The Deed of Gift, the ruling document of the America's Cup, requires the competing yachts to be powered by sails and constructed in the country they represent.
"Since we have been unable to get them to sign the agreement negotiated in Singapore, the best way to resolve this issue is for our yacht USA to beat Alinghi 5 on the water," added Ehman.
"Race 1 is imminent. With normal sailing breezes, we like our chances in the coming Match."
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