The RC 44 class made its debut in American waters  in conditions that make Miami a renowned racing venue: a northwesterly breeze gusting over 20 knots and the boats planing around the racecourse north of Government Cut at speeds of 17 to 20 knots.

The ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami commenced today with the 14-boat fleet split into two groups of seven for preliminary match racing. If time permits by mid-Thursday, semifinals and a final will be held for the top two from each group.

Wintertime racing off the southeast coast of Florida has long been a sailor’s playground. The sun is brilliant, the water is warm and the conditions usually challenge the best of crews.

Although the Northern Hemisphere winter is still officially two weeks away, chilly temperatures this morning had the sailors thinking it came early. The passing of a cold front helped stir up the strong northwesterlies, and the fleet completed eight flights of five matches for 40 races in total.

 

In Group Alpha, Cameron Appleton has Chris Bake’s Team Aqua tops in the group with a 5-1 record, followed by Harm Müller-Spreer and Markus Wieser in Team Sea Dubai. Sea Dubai actually posted a 6-0 record, but had penalty points applied by the umpires.

In Group Bravo, Terry Hutchinson guided Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis to the top of the group with a 5-1 record. Vincenzo Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino enjoyed its best day since returning to the class and is second at 4-1 with one flight to complete the round. BMW ORACLE Racing, with Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts, is third at 4-2.

The conditions taxed many of the crews, who were sore from being thrown about the light-displacement yachts, but none other than Daniel Calero’s crew aboard Islas Canarias Puerto Calero. The Spanish crew from the Canary Islands was forced out of action with a broken mast before morning had turned to afternoon.

Islas Canarias had just completed a jibe in its Flight 1 race when the mast broke about five feet above the gooseneck, where the boom attaches to the mast, and the spar went over the port side.
“We had just completed our jibe when we heard a big crunch,” said Calero. “There wasn’t much we could do to save the mast.”

Crewman Carlos Hernandez jumped into the warm Atlantic Ocean to help the crew recover some of the sails and disassemble the rigging so the mast could be brought back aboard the yacht for the motor to the harbor.

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero returned to shore where the crew began stepping a spare mast that the RC 44 Class Association has available at each regatta for just such an incident.
“This is the good side of this class, there’s a mast ready to go and we’ll be ready to race tomorrow,” said Calero. “We were enjoying the great conditions today and can’t wait to get back out tomorrow.”
ORACLE RC44 Cup Miami Day 1 Quotes

Cameron Appleton, Team Aqua: “We came off the water with one loss and that was good on a day like today. It was very shifty. Wind started out with puffs up to 28 knots or more, we saw the first rig come down in the class, and everyone seemed to be handling the conditions in different ways. It was a good test for the crews. A really good crew was rewarded today by sailing the boats well. Today was tricky because of a little cross swell and change in pressure. It kept us all on our toes.

Francesco Bruni, Mascalzone Latino: “We’re very happy, obviously. We had four good starts. We’re making big progress from Valencia to here and are now starting to win some races. We’re learning the boat more and more. It’s normal to struggle in the beginning, but now we’re learning again. We had 20 knots, sunny and breezy. It was puffy, shifty, a very nice challenge. It was just a bit too cold, but everything else was brilliant.”

Pieter Heerema, No Way Back: “Today was exciting, a beautiful wind but tough. Lots of people had problems in boathandling. That makes the sailing exciting. We had an up and down day. We sailed well, no problems with the boathandling, but we didn’t always grab the opportunities we created for ourselves. At a certain point you just have to nail it.”

Terry Hutchinson, Artemis: “It was an incredibly difficult day. Our guys sailed very well. This was our first regatta since Dubai where we had any training prior to the first day of racing and it showed. Sailing north of Government Cut (the channel leading to Miami Harbor) was pretty good. The course gave options for both sides to work.”

Harm Mueller-Spreer, Team Sea Dubai: “We had six wins, good boatspeed and very good starts. We had a bit of bad luck in the second to last race because we hit the Russians (Synergy Russian Sailing Team). But our boathandling is good, the maneuvering is good and the feeling for the pre-start is good. I feel very comfortable. First off we had not so much wind and then it increased to 25 knots or more and slowly decreased all afternoon.”

Ian Williams, Ironbound: “The boat’s fantastic. The best thing is that you only have eight guys and lots to do. Everybody needs to pull their weight and be aware of what’s going on, doing right things at the right time. It makes it a great challenge as a team to do well.”
ORACLE RC44 Cup Miami Provisional Results
(Through 8 flights)
Group Alpha
1. Team Aqua (UAE) Chris Bake/Cameron Appleton – 5-1, 5 points
2. Team Sea Dubai (UAE) Harm Müller-Spreer/Markus Wieser – 6-0, 4 points*
3. Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) Maxim Logutenko/Evgeniy Neugodnikov – 2-3, 2 points
3. No Way Back (NED) Pieter Heerema/Ray Davies – 4-2, 2 points*
3. Katusha (RUS) Guennadi Timtchenko/Paul Cayard – 2-4, 2 points
6. Peninsula Petroleum (ESP) John Bassadone/Inaki Castaner – 1-4, 1 point
7. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) Daniel Calero/Jose Maria Ponce – 0-6, 0 points
(* penalty points applied)

Group Bravo
1. Artemis (SWE) Torbjorn Tornqvist/Terry Hutchinson – 5-1
2. Mascalzone Latino (ITA) Vincenzo Onorato/Francesco Bruni – 4-1
3. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) Larry Ellison/Russell Coutts – 4-2
4. 17 (USA) William Douglass/Jimmy Spithill – 4-2
5. Ceeref (SLO) Igor Lah/Rod Davis – 2-4
6. Ironbound (USA) David Murphy/Ian Williams – 1-4
7. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team (AUT) René Mangold/Christian Binder – 0-6

Share on Facebook

After wishing for more boatspeed following the match racing portion of the RC 44 Valencia Cup, Anders Myralf of Denmark guided James Spithill and the 17 crew to three first place finishes today to wrest control of the fleet racing portion of the regatta.

The 17 crew won the first, third and fourth races, and placed fourth in Race 2. Their low score, however, is 8 points due to a 1 point penalty imposed by the International Jury.

Second place is held by Chris Bake and Team Aqua, winners of the match racing portion of the week-long event, with 14 points on finishes of 2-3-5-4.

Third place is held by Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis at 20 points (5-7-2-6).

“It’s incredible to come down here from Copenhagen and jump into a boat that is so organized and well sailed,? said Myralf, an amateur sailor who races aboard the Farr 40 Nanooq with the Prince of Denmark. “I’ve never seen such a good crew. I’ve got the easiest job on the boat.?

The southeasterly sea breeze that marked the match racing didn’t materialize today until the fourth race, but it lacked its typical punch. Instead, the fleet sailed in mostly an easterly wind between 8 and 10 knots. Only in Race 4 did it shift to the southeast and increase to 12 knots.

The new conditions made consistency hard to achieve. Instead of trusting the right side of the racecourse, some found the left side of the course favorable. Aside from the top two, the rest of the fleet had at least one, if not two finishes out of the top five.

“We were able to stay in the top five, and in this fleet that’s saying something,? said Bake of Team Aqua. “The field was fairly mixed up.?

Another marked difference from the match racing portion are the amateur helmsmen, as required by class rules. In most cases that is the owner driving the light-displacement yacht.

Completing the top five are a pair of Russians: Guennadi Timtchenko and Katusha, placed fourth with 20 points on finishes of 9-1-8-3, followed by Maxim Logutenko aboard BMW ORACLE Racing with Russell Coutts at 22 points (finishes of 10-6-4-2).

For Timtchenko, this is just his third regatta. Ever. He’d never raced before joining the RC 44 Class, but got into it due to Tornqvist, a friend and business associate.

“I raced with Torbjorn aboard one of his boats,? said the 57-year-old Timtchenko. “The RC 44 is the right class for me. It’s an interesting boat, fast and maneuverable. I make a lot of mistakes, but my crew gets me out of trouble.?

Marring an otherwise great day, 17 was penalized 1 point by the jury after a protest from Islas Canarias Puerto Calero and owner Daniel Calero.

At the start of Race 4, Puerto Calero was the windward yacht with 17 overlapped to leeward. Puerto Calero alleged that Spithill, the professional helmsman, took the helm. Class rules state that the professional may take the helm only on safety grounds.

Puerto Calero maintains that Spithill took the helm to help push them over the line early. Puerto Calero was on the course side at the start.

According to International Jury chairman Bill Edgerton, Spithill said in the protest hearing that he had a hand on the wheel, but only to help turn the yacht down to avoid potentially hitting Puerto Calero.

“We didn’t want to have them disqualified, but we wanted to raise the issue that it is against the rules,? said Daniel Calero.

RC 44 VALENCIA CUP

(Fleet racing provisional results)
1. 17 / Anders Myralf (USA) 1-4-1-1, 8 points*
2. Team Aqua / Chris Bake (UAE) 2-3-5-4, 14 points
3. Artemis / Torbjorn Tornqvist (SWE) 5-7-2-6, 20 points
4. Katusha / Guennadi Timtchenko (RUS) 9-1-8-3, 21 points
5. BMW ORACLE Racing / Maxim Logutenko (USA) 10-6-4-2, 22 points
6. No Way Back / Pieter Heerema (NED) 8-2-7-5, 22 points
7. Ceeref / Igor Lah (SLO) 6-11-3-7, 27 points
8. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero / Daniel Calero (ESP) 3-9-9-10, 31 points
9. AEZ RC44 Sailing Team / Rene Mangold (AUT) 4-10-10-8, 32 points
10. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team / Vincenzo Onorato (ITA) 11-5-6-11, 33 points
11. Team Sea Dubai / Harm Mueller-Speer (UAE) 7-8-11-9, 35 points
 (* includes 1 point penalty by International Jury)

 

Share on Facebook

Small jibs and loose boom vangs were the order of the day as the RC 44 Valencia Cup got underway here in a pumping sea breeze that topped out at 20 knots.

Despite the strong wind off Malvarrosa Beach, the professional crews threw the light-displacement boats around with seeming ease.

In a day that saw seven flights and 28 match races completed, three crews made it through the first five flights undefeated. But only Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis escaped unscathed.

“We started well enough today and the boat was going well through the water,? said Artemis skipper Terry Hutchinson, who finished the day at 6-0. “We had our best day boathandling, and we needed it today.?

Three other teams finished the day with 4-1 records including Russell Coutts and the BMW ORACLE Racing team, Cameron Appleton’s Team Aqua and James Spithill’s 17. Rounding out the top five is Igor Lah’s Ceeref at 3-1 with Rod Davis as skipper.

“We had a good day considering we weren’t able to practice yesterday,? said Davis, who suffered a slight injury when the mainsheet grazed his head. “We went in loose and are quite happy. The boys have been on the boat a long time and that was helpful today.?

The day started mild with an east/southeasterly wind around 12 knots. But with the temperature inland topping out at 90 degrees, it quickly turned wild when the wind shifted to the southeast and built to 16 to 18 knots, with gusts up to 20 knots.

The race committee ordered the small jibs for the fourth flight of races, and VIP spectators were no longer allowed aboard to avoid the risk of injury during transfer from chase boat to race boat.

Corresponding with the increase in wind strength was an increase of incidents. Upwards of eight penalties were issued, three spinnakers ripped, one jib battered and one steering system damaged.

A couple of crews were forced to retire from races due to the damage, but for those who finished you would think the day was a walk in the park.

“This was one of the windiest days we’ve had match racing, but they’re spectacular boats. They come alive downwind,? Hutchinson said.

“My guys did a great job getting me out of trouble today,? said Appleton. “I was the one causing the trouble.?

The match racing portion of the RC 44 Valencia Cup continues tomorrow with another seven flights planned. Thursday is a scheduled practice day for the fleet racing portion of the regatta, which runs Friday through Sunday.

 

RC 44 VALENCIA CUP
(Match racing, after seven of 14 flights)
1. Artemis / Terry Hutchinson (SWE) 6-0
2. BMW ORACLE Racing / Russell Coutts (USA) 4-1
2. Team Aqua / Cameron Appleton (UAE) 4-1
2. 17 / James Spithill (USA) 4-1
5. Ceeref / Rod Davis (SLO) 3-1
6. No Way Back / Pieter Heerema and Ray Davies (NED) 3-3
7. Team Sea Dubai / Markus Weiser (UAE) 2-4
8. Katusha / Paul Cayard (RUS) 1-3
9. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team / Tommaso Chieffi (ITA) 1-4
10. AEZ RC44 Sailing Team / Christian Binder (AUT) 0-5
10. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero / José Maria Ponce (ESP) 0-5

Share on Facebook

 

A hard-fought battle between Emirates Team New Zealand’s Dean Barker and BMW Oracle Racing’s James Spithill at the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena today went the Kiwis’ way when the American team lost a penalty call in an aggressive luffing match approaching the second weather mark.
“It was close, just half a metre between the boats, as close as you’d ever want to be,” said Barker, describing the incident . “You could lean across and shake hands if you wanted to.”

Sailed in the blustery 18 to 20 knot winds of a building mistral, the match was the only one sailed today as the wind continued to increase in intensity.  Racing was canceled for the day as crews prepared for a second race between the Kiwi boat and Sweden’s Artemis.

Race officials later cancelled all racing on Monday when the heavy winds of the mistral are forecast to make conditions impossible for competition. They plan to resume on Tuesday and complete the remaining races of the round robin on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Today, the umpires penalized Oracle when Team New Zealand luffed their opponent, forcing them up head-to-wind, as the boats raced side-by-side towards the weather mark on port tack.

“They made a gain to the left approaching the top mark,” Barker said. “They were in a position where they probably would have led us around if we didn’t make something happen, so we did a couple of luffs.  The first one, we were required to give them room to get clear but they didn’t take the room straight away and make an attempt to keep clear so we luffed a second time and could easily have made contact with them if we hadn’t avoided. The umpires saw it the same way and penalized them.”

The confrontation momentarily cost the New Zealanders the lead and gave the advantage to Oracle, so the umpires added a red flag calling for an immediate penalty turn. The American boat circled before rounding the mark but was judged not to have completed a full turn. The umpires called for a second circle before clearing Oracle.

“It was a good hard race for us.  We back our crew work against any team and we came out on the right side of that one,” Barker said. “It’s hard because the emphasis has got to be on keeping the boats apart. We can’t afford any more damage here with one pair of boats already out of action.”

Provisional win-loss leaderboard after Sunday racing

  =1.  Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 5-4, 5 points
  =1.  Artemis, 5-2, 5 points
  =1.  Emirates Team New Zealand, 5-2, 5 points?
  =4.  TEAMORIGIN, 4-3, 4 points
  =4.  All4One, 4-3, 4 points?
  =6.  Azzurra, 3-4, 3 points?
  =6.  Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 4-1, 3 points *?
  =8.  Luna Rossa, 2-6, 2 points
  =9.  BMW Oracle Racing Team, 1-6, 1 point
=10.  ALEPH Sailing Team, 2-4, -2 points *

Share on Facebook

Azzura and Artemis (Photo by Paul Todd/outsideimages.co.nz/Louis Vuitton Trophy)

 

Just one point separates the top five boats at the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena after an eventful program of five races sailed today in fresh breezes.

Russia’s SYNERGY Racing Team and the Swedish team Artemis share the top of the point’s table, each with five points. Emirates Team New Zealand, Britain’s TEAMORIGIN and the French/German team All4One are all equal third on four points.

With two days’ competition remaining in the round robin, the pressure began to tell in strong winds this afternoon as Sweden’s Artemis broke a gennaker pole and shredded a gennaker, and a jib began to self-destruct on Emirates Team New Zealand. Both top teams lost their respective races.

The Artemis breakdown was self-inflicted. The Swedish boat skippered by Paul Cayard was pushing to overtake the Russian boat when the pole went overboard, triggering a sequence that saw it trip and explode into pieces before dragging the sail under the boat. Artemis retired. On the Team New Zealand boat, racing All4One, the hapless Kiwis could only watch as the head of their jib began to split in 20 knot winds.

The Kiwis had more success off the water, at least temporarily when the Race Committee gave them a reprieve by ordering a resail of their race yesterday against BMW Oracle Racing. In another twist, the Jury tonight will hear an appeal by Oracle against the resail decision.

The dispute hinges on a safety order issued yesterday telling teams to maintain tension on forestays during spinnaker runs. After an umpires’ protest and a jury decision denied Team New Zealand any chance of a win in their match against Oracle, the organizers relented today, withdrew the safety order and ordered the resail.

Flight Seventeen, Race Two: TEAMORIGIN def. Luna Rossa, 00:37 – They started at speed on starboard with Britain’s TEAMORIGIN bow-out in the leeward berth. Ed Baird steering Luna Rossa was forced away early on port as Ben Ainslie on ORIGIN sailed into more pressure and continued to pull ahead.

Flight Six, Race Two: Azzurra def. SYNERGY Russian Sailing Team, 00:15 – Italy’s Francesco Bruni pulled off a breathtakingly close port cross on the first leg to defeat SYNERGY Russian Sailing Team. On the second beat there were 17 punishing tacks up the 1.2-mile leg but Synergy skipper Karol Jablonski, on the right, could never gain enough ground to get past Bruni.

Flight Twentythree, Race One: Artemis def. Azzurra, 00:15 – Saddled with a penalty in the pre-start Francesco Bruni and his Italian Azzurra team stayed on the attack and took the fight to the Swedish team Artemis around all four legs as the lead changed multiple times. However the Italians were trailing Terry Hutchinson and Artemis by 100 metres at the finish and they were still carrying the penalty.

Flight Eighteen, Race One: SYNERGY Russian Sailing Team def. Artemis, retired – A spinnaker pole overboard at the end of the second run dragged Artemis to oblivion, breaking the pole and shredding the Swedish boat’s spinnaker.

Flight Twenty, Race Two: All4One def. Emirates Team New Zealand, 00:21 – The French/German boat started ahead in the middle of the line on starboard,  just ahead of the Kiwis on their weather hip.  All4One helmsman Sébastien Col gradually inched ahead and his lead increased as the jib on ETNZ began to self-destruct.

Provisional win-loss leaderboard after Saturday racing:

  =1.  Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 5-4, 5 points
  =1.  Artemis, 5-2, 5 points
  =3.  Emirates Team New Zealand, 4-2, 4 points

  =3.  TEAMORIGIN, 4-3, 4 points
  =3.  All4One, 4-3, 4 points

  =6.  Azzurra, 3-4, 3 points

  =6.  Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 4-1, 3 points *

  =8.  Luna Rossa, 2-6, 2 points
  =9.  BMW Oracle Racing Team, 1-5, 1 point
=10.  ALEPH Sailing Team, 2-4, -2 points *

Share on Facebook

Ten international sailing teams, including three from the host nation Italy, will gather on the waterfront at the Porto Arsenale in La Maddalena this evening for the opening ceremony of the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena.

The Mediterranean’s famous mistral has eased and the ceremony will take place in soft, warm evening breezes after a hot, sunny, cloudless day.  The now-traditional press conference will follow on the adjacent stage that is set below the outdoor jumbo television for public viewing.

The teams will race on four equalised America’s Cup Class boats supplied by the event – ITA 90, ITA 99, USA 87 and USA 98.  Two of the boats, flying event flags and banners, were moored at docks flanking the flag-raising ceremony.

Eight countries are represented amongst the ten competing teams.  The teams are:

Aleph, FRA, skipper Bertrand Pace
All4One, FRA/GER, skipper Jochen Schümann
Artemis, SWE, skipper Paul Cayard
Azzurra, ITA, skipper Francesco Bruni
BMW ORACLE Racing, USA, skipper James Spithill
Emirates Team New Zealand, NZL, skipper Dean Barker
Luna Rossa, ITA, skipper Ed Baird
Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, ITA, skipper Gavin Brady
Synergy, RUS, skipper Karol Jablonski
TEAMORIGIN, GBR, skipper Ben Ainslie

Mrs Liliana Lorettu will welcome the sailors and the sponsors on behalf of the region. Admiral Spagnuolo of the Italian navy will speak, as will Yves Carcelle, president of Louis Vuitton.

Speaking before the ceremony, Vincenzo Onorato, Chairman of Mascalzone Latino Team, said with a smile: “To host the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena was my idea and, standing here today, for once in my life I must say I was right. I’ve known this area well, since I was a kid and when I saw the new Arsenale I was pleasantly aware it is the best place possible to host a Louis Vuitton Trophy. We can expect light winds this weekend but after that, anything can happen.”

Paul Cayard, Chairman of the World Sailing Teams Association and skipper of the Swedish boat ARTEMIS, paid special tribute to the Italian teams. “Italy is passionate about sailing and the America’s Cup,” Cayard said. “As evidence of this interest, three Italian teams are racing here; Luna Rossa, AZZURRA and Mascalzone Latino Audi Team.  Sardinia is an iconic Italian venue for sailing and I am confident that the Louis Vuitton Trophy will be a spectacular event.”

Emirates Team New Zealand won the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland but skipper Dean Barker was cautious about his team’s chances, despite a victory last week at the Audi MedCup in Cascais, Portugal. “La Maddalena is an interesting venue,” Barker said. “Race courses will be laid inside a number of islands so we are expecting conditions to be tricky. We will be racing in two Mascalzone Latino and two BMW Oracle Racing boats. For the past two days we have spent some time learning how to sail them. Conditions have ranged from extremely light to heavy; bright sunshine to thunder, lightning and heavy rain.?The challenge for us is to discover in a short space of time just what makes these boats go . . . and what they don’t like.”

American Ed Baird, sailing for a new team as skipper of the Italian team Luna Rossa, said: “These boats are great.  They make for close racing and it’s going to be exciting competition. We have a real blend of people sailing on our team this week and it’s going to be fun to learn some new styles. We know there are a few teams that are on top of the heap right now. Emirates Team New Zealand is very strong.  The BMW Oracle guys are very good.  Mascalzone Latino had a good event in Auckland. Azzurra is sailing very well this year. We have a big hill to climb to catch up to those guys in a short amount of time.”

Francesco Bruni, skipper and helmsman of Azzurra, said: “We just completed three great days of training, with variable wind conditions, including some violent thunderstorms which caught us head on! We noticed that all the teams went into these training sessions with great determination, pushing to the limit and taking many risks, which confirms the great level of experience of all the crews. The scenery in La Maddalena, as expected, is absolutely stunning. The mood of Team Azzurra is high. We are confident that we did all we could to be prepared for this event and we are eager to start racing. The guys are excited, the group is strong and we have just the right amount of adrenalin to start.”

Racing is scheduled to start each day with a warning signal at 10:00 local time (GMT+2).

Share on Facebook

 

The most hard fought and closely matched circuit featuring the cutting edge TP52 and GP42 Series will compete between the 11th and the 16th of May, for the Portugal Trophy at the first Audi MedCup Circuit of 2010.

After three very successful years in the Algarve, the Portuguese stage of the Audi MedCup Circuit visits Cascais.

The only Audi MedCup event on the waters of the Atlantic will take place at a world class sailing venue, which has hosted many World and European Championships including the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships

2010ís OPENING EVENT: AN EXTRA INCENTIVE
The Portugal Trophy will be the first of the five events which comprise the Audi MedCup Circuit this season.  As the curtain raiser for  for the 2010 season, Cascais will be the first venue to feature the modified TP52, which has undergone key changes which were designed to enhance the performance of this already exciting, demanding class.

Emirates Team New Zealand (TP52) and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero ( GP42), the Audi MedCup 2009 winners, will try to carry on their winning momentum into the new season, starting in Cascais:

Nacho Postigo (ESP) Audi MedCup Circuit director commented: “We are seeing a rise in the level of the competition and the quality this year, particularly due to the three new America’s Cup entries.  Cascais is getting the sailors nervous, many know the race area from previous events and realise that they will need to very agile to control the boat.  The boats are more powerful with the modifications that have been introduced since last year.  The changes have made the boats faster and that is what you have to control with one less crew member. It is guaranteed to be quite a spectacle and I encourage all the people in the region of Lisbon to come and enjoy all this in Cascais.”

“Last year’s fleet was difficult to beat. The teams improved race by race. In 2010, three new teams, TeamORIGIN, ALL4ONE and Luna Rossa,will make things even more difficult for us. We didn’t have much time to train on our modified NZL380 and we are looking forward to coming to Cascais, so that we can test our performance level with the rest of the fleet”, says Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand.

Ten TP52 and five GP42 have registered for the Portugal Trophy, among them a total of two America’s Cup crews new to the Audi MedCup Circuit:Britain’s TeamORIGIN and Italy’s Luna Rossa, which has Brasilians Torben Grael and Robert Scheidt on board, two of the world’s most important sailors, who have a very good knowledge of the race area of Cascais.

The host nation Portugal will be represented by Bigamist 7, of Pedro Mendonça. The Portuguese TP52 was the circuit’s revelation in 2009, after eight race wins and climbing on to the podium in the last event, Cartagena.

In the Audi MedCup 2010, after being modified, she is expected to improve last year’s performance and be fighting for the final success.

SUPPORT OF INSTITUTIONS
Beyond the cut and thrust of the action on the water, the Portugal Trophy has been consistently acclaimed for the organization, infrastructure and glamour ashore. Such values are keynote to the Lagos Sports brand, the event organizer together with the Clube Naval of Cascais, the Marina of Cascais, and World Sailing Management with the support of Turismo de Portugal and Turismo Estoril/C?mara Municipal of Cascais.

BAY OF CASCAIS: THE SHOW GOES ON
The Portuguese event of the Audi MedCup 2010 starts competition on the Tuesday 11th of May and runs until the Sunday the 16th. Each day up to three races will be held, as well as a spectacular coastal race scheduled for Saturday, the 15th: the fleet starts from Cascais heading to Cabo da Roca towards Cabo Espichel, and heads back to Lisbon where it turns at Ponte 25 of Abril to reach the finish off Cascais.

The competition will be based in the Marina of Cascais and includes a Race Village, a Press Room, the Race Office of Clube Nacional of Cascais and an area in the Bay of Cascais which will allow visitors a live and exciting experience of the event, with a big screen which will relay racing with live images enhanced by the virtual tracking system, as well as leisure activities, a merchandising area and food and beverage options.

Share on Facebook

The Louis Vuitton Trophy is coming to Sardinia in May, with 10 elite sailing teams set to race for two weeks on the sparkling waters of the Mediterranean Sea off La Maddalena.

 

© Paul Todd/outsideimages.co.nz | Louis Vuitton Trophy

With just one month to go before racing begins on May 22nd, the host team, Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, is eager to extend a warm welcome to teams, sponsors and guests alike.

“La Maddalena is among the best places in the world to sail,” said Vincenzo Onorato, the team principal of Mascalzone Latino Audi Team. “The waters are warm, the wind conditions are very good and the people of La Maddalena will be gracious hosts. I want to welcome all of my sailing friends and fans of the sport to join us here in May.”

The Louis Vuitton Trophy – La Maddalena follows two successful regattas in Auckland (February 2010) and Nice (November 2009) over the past six months. Further events are planned in Dubai in November and Hong Kong in January of 2011.

For La Maddalena, two additional teams will join the eight who competed in Auckland, and both are world-class sailing squads. BMW ORACLE Racing, who won the America’s Cup Match in February, rejoins the Louis Vuitton Trophy after it missed the Auckland regatta due to its Cup commitments.

Luna Rossa, which has competed for the America’s Cup three times, winning the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000, will race for the Louis Vuitton Trophy for the very first time, after sailing in a precursor event, the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in 2009. Luna Rossa has assembled an impressive crew, including skipper Ed Baird, winner of the 32nd America’s Cup with Alinghi and tactician Torben Grael, who skippered Ericsson to a win in the last Volvo Ocean Race.

The addition of Luna Rossa will make for three Italian teams in La Maddalena, including Azzurra, the winning team in the Nice event. Also on the start list is the champion from Auckland, Emirates Team New Zealand. The full line-up for La Maddalena is 10 teams, representing eight countries:

Aleph, FRA, skipper Bertrand Pacé
All4One, FRA/GER, skipper Jochen Schümann
Artemis, SWE, skipper Paul Cayard
Azzurra, ITA, skipper Francesco Bruni
BMW ORACLE Racing, USA, skipper James Spithill
Emirates Team New Zealand, NZL, skipper Dean Barker
Luna Rossa, ITA, skipper Ed Baird
Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, ITA, skipper Gavin Brady
Synergy, RUS, skipper Karol Jablonski
TEAMORIGIN, GBR, skipper Ben Ainslie
In the Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas, the teams match-race equalised America’s Cup Class boats. For La Maddalena, the boats will be supplied by BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 87 and USA 98) and Mascalzone Latino Audi Team (ITA 90 and ITA 99).

La Maddalena is small town (population near 12 000) on an island with the same name that sits just one nautical mile off the Northeast coast of Sardinia. It is renowned for its beaches and its pink, rocky terrain and like Sardinia itself, offers up some of the most stunning backdrops for sailing in the Mediterranean.

The race village itself is set up about one kilometre to the east of the centre of town, near the southeast corner of the island. The heart of the race village will feature a big screen broadcasting all of the action from the race course. Crews will be in the race village interacting with the crowds during photo sessions, autograph signings and public press conferences. Food and beverage as well as team merchandise is also available, and the Louis Vuitton Junior Trophy will be contested by local junior sailors.

The easiest way to get to La Maddalena is to fly into Olbia’s Costa Smeralda airport (many flights transfer through Rome) and then transfer by road to Palau, approximately 40 kilometres to the north of Olbia. From Palau, there is a short ferry to La Maddalena. Alternatively, there are ferries into Palau from Corsica as well as Genoa and Napoli.

Racing is scheduled from the 22nd May through the 6th June. But teams will start official training sessions on the 18th May.

Share on Facebook