Rockstar Crew

OnEditon

PUMA Ocean Racing has announced a crew line-up and management team studded with star names and unrivalled experience.

As the team gathered for official training in Newport, Rhode Island, skipper Ken Read unveiled the key players who will be at his side for the campaign.

The crew list has sailors from six countries with 21 Whitbread/Volvo races on their CVs. In keeping with the team’s star quality, PUMA’s challenger for the race will be christened next week.

The sailing team members are: Andrew Cape (Aus, navigator), Rick Deppe (US, media specialist), Justin Ferris (NZ, trimmer/driver), Sidney Gavignet (Fr, watch captain), Jerry Kirby (US, bowman), Jonathan McKee (US, trimmer/driver), Michael Mueller (Ger, bowman/trimmer), Chris Nicholson (Aus, watch captain), Rob Salthouse (NZ, trimmer/driver) and Casey Smith (Aus, bowman).

Key shore team management duties are filled by Kimo Worthington (US, general manager), and Neil Cox (Aus, shore team manager).

Cumulatively, the team boasts a level of success difficult to match with five Volvo/Whitbread wins, 20 America’s Cup campaigns and five wins, along with four Olympic Games entries and two medals.

“A top programme is only as good as the people that manage it and drive it, and we are extremely fortunate to have such a diverse group of the world’s best sailors signed on to help sail PUMA’s Volvo Open 70 around the world as fast as possible,” said Read.

“On the shore side, we have two first-class Volvo veterans managing the intricate logistics and support structure necessary for this race. All of these individuals combined with PUMA’s commitment to the race and the strength of the brand are powerful elements that shape this team and will hopefully lead it to victory.” - Website

Telefónica backs Spanish Team in Volvo Ocean Race

Photo onEdition

At a press conference in Madrid today, it was confirmed that Spain'stwo-boat assault on the Volvo Ocean Race will be backed by TelefÛnica, theSpanish telecommunications giant and parent company of movistar. Thecampaign is also supported by a raft of additional sponsors and is backed bythe Valencian government and the Spanish Sailing Federation.

The campaign will again be spearheaded by Pedro Campos as CEO, while BouweBekking, skipper of the Spanish entry movistar in the previous race, returnsas Sports and Technical Director. Spanish Olympians, Iker MartÌnez andFernando Ech·varri among the principal members of the sailing team, whichwill be based in the start port of Alicante.

Both boats, designed under an exclusive deal with Farr Yacht Design, will bedifferentiated by hull colour and named TelefÛnica Blue and TelefÛnicaBlack. Read more...

Crash Test

Wot Rocket being lowered into the water for the first evacuation drill. Photo by Christophe Launay/Wot Rocket
Wot Rocket is put to the test...

Today was the day Wot Rocket creator Sean Langman was dreading. Having to exit Wot Rocket's pod as it quickly filled with salt water was proving nightmare material and when the pod was dropped almost three metres into the water off Woolwich Dock to test its strength as well as that of its crew, Langman was out the door within seconds.

The force of the impact revealed a weakness that could have proven disastrous had it not been discovered. The Perspex covers didn’t withstand the impact of the drop and shattered in a number of places which means less flexible polycarbonate canopies will be installed before next Tuesday’s first test sail on Botany Bay.

Deasfio launched

By Audi MedCup media

Deasfio launched in Valencia after several days of training. Terry Hutchinson will sail with Desafio in Alicante.

After starting their sailing season with a triumph in the GP42 class Desafio are looking to repeat that level of success as they embark on their first season on the AUDI MedCup Circuit. Having had the longest time on the water of the new 2008 build boats the Valencia based team are well up to speed with their boat which will be skippered by Paul Cayard, and only for the City of Alicante Trophy will have Terry Hutchinson on board.

The new Rolf Vrolijk design, which was built in house in Valencia, was launched officially at Desafio’s Port America’s Cup base by Milagrosa Perez, President of the Valencian local government.

Desafio’s director Agustin Zulueta paid a warm tribute to his team who have done a great job building the boat, emphasizing that they hope to fly the flag for Valencia around the AUDI MedCup Circuit and to continue in their winning ways. -http://2008.medcup.org/news/index.php?id=73

Team Aqua sails for charity

When Team Aqua compete in the iShares Cup this year, they will be raising funds for the World Land Trust, which promotes ecological sustainability around the world. Already involved in the RC 44 Class, Team Aqua will use the two sailing platforms to raise money for the organisation.

After a successful first season in the RC 44 Class, Team Aqua has announced that it is moving up to a new level. The winner of the first RC 44 Championship Tour will also compete in the iShares Cup Sailing Series on board Extreme 40 catamarans. Team Aqua’s objective is to provide a great platform to its international sponsors whilst sailing under the umbrella of the World Land Trust http://www.worldlandtrust.org/

The World Land Trust is an international conservation organisation that takes direct action to save rainforest and other biologically important lands.“Our goal is to have a professional sailing team that competes internationally on some of the worlds most competitive sailing leagues”, said Team Aqua owner Chris Bake. “This structure will give a good visibility to our partners whilst associating them with our values. We are passionate about sailing and we want to obtain good results; but our goal is also to promote ecological sustainability around the world and raise funds for the World Land Trust. We will also be sailing flying the Carbon Balanced Logo (http://www.carbonbalanced.org/) as we plan to offset the carbon footprint of our sailing campaign through the Carbon Balanced program run by the World Land Trust.

“This is a very exciting project”, added skipper Cameron Appleton (NZL). “We want to improve our level of sailing by competing in classes that are both very different from each other and challenging. Team Aqua gives us the opportunity to sail against some of the world’s best sailors in different platforms. Obviously, we will have to put a lot of effort into our team to build the areas we are new in. We feel our team structure and the people involved can produce some great results.” - Read more...

Finn European Championships

Photos by James Taylor (CNS)

Slovenian Gasper Vincec and Dutch Pieter-Jan Postma win race 3 and race 4 on the second day of racing The second day of racing at La Marina di Scarlino today. The first race of the day went to Gasper Vincec (SLO 5), followed by French Guillame Florent (FRA 73) and by Canadian Christopher Cook (CAN 41) in third position. The second race was won by Dutch Pieter-Jan Postma,(NED 842), followed by Christopher Cook (CAN 41) and by Slovenian Gasper Vincec (SLO 5).

The first race kicked off around 4 p.m. after three general recalls, one abandoned race and a long postponement due to the strong rotation and instability of the wind. The Race Committee presided by Carlo Tosi therefore decided to wait for the thermal breeze to kick in and stabilize before firing the gun. Over 80 athletes from 30 nations cut the starting line under sunny skies, calm seas and a 6 to 8 knot westerly wind. The Island of Elba, Montecristo and Corsica served as a spectacular backdrop. first upwind leg with many shifts and pressure changes on the race course. Read more...

Count down...

Photos by onEdition

The Omega Official Timekeeper counts down to the start of the Artemis Transat.Organised by OC Events, the 13th edition of The Transat, now known as The Artemis Transat will start 11th May, 2008 from Sutton Harbour, Plymouth (UK), and finish in Boston, USA.

Two monohull classes are confirmed as IMOCA 60 and Class 40 - a mix of pre-eminent ocean racing IMOCA skippers with a class that contains aspiring ocean racing professionals and accomplished amateurs. - http://www.thetransat.com/

Busy sailing season for BMW ORACLE Racing.

[BMW Oracle] Following the season-opening regatta in RC 44s in Italy, the sailing team gears up this month for a very full program competing in RC 44s, TP 52s and Extreme 40 catamarans in Spain, Austria and France.
“We are racing across a range of classes and against some great competitors this season,” said BMW ORACLE Racing helmsman James Spithill. “Right now we are placing more priority on multihulls and match racing in preparation for the 33rd America’s Cup.” This includes an in-house match racing series in Extreme 40s in Valencia later this month and a 60-foot multihull training session in France in June.

Next week, nine BMW ORACLE Racing team members will join Torbjorn Tornqvist on board Artemis in the season opener of the TP 52 Med Cup circuit in Alicante, Spain May 13-17. John Kostecki will call tactics and will be joined by eight other BMW ORACLE team members. BMW ORACLE Racing will enter a new TP 52, USA 17, later in the season with an afterguard that will include Spithill as well as team owner Larry Ellison and skipper Russell Coutts.

In Valencia, an in-house regatta May 20-22 will pit two Extreme 40s head-to-head for team bragging rights in the high-performance catamarans. Many of the core sailing team will compete including Coutts, Spithill and Kostecki and multihull consultant Franck Cammas. The team also plans to return to France next month for its second training session with Cammas on the 60-foot multihull Groupama 2. In other multihull sailing, Kostecki and Cammas teamed up last weekend in Geneva at the Grand Prix Chopard D35, placing sixth overall.

The team will return to the RC 44 circuit with a BMW ORACLE Racing entry for the Austria Cup on Lake Traunsee May 28-June 1. As in Cagliari, Italy last month,12 BMW ORACLE Racing crew will compete across three entries. After winning the match racing event at Cagliari and placing second in the fleet racing, Larry Ellison is planning to be at the helm again for the BMW ORACLE Racing entry in Austria.

“Racing in the RC 44s is a great chance to get out and compete against some of the top guys, and we can continue to develop our match racing techniques,” Spithill said. “We are enjoying the match racing so this circuit will continue to be a priority for us. In both the RC 44 and the TP 52 classes, we have our crew across different teams so we compete against each other as well. With all of this racing, we are learning from each other and our competitors.”

The team’s Valencia base is also serving as the Med training camp for Olympic Star class contenders Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams who will represent New Zealand at the Games in China in August.

BMW ORACLE Racing is preparing for the 33rd America’s Cup in a Deed of Gift challenge expected later this year. -BMW Oracle

Green Team Photos

Photos by onEdition

Open 60's arrive in Sutton Harbour

Photo credit: onEdition/OC Events

The Open 60 racing yachts arrive in Sutton Harbour prior to the start of the Artemis Transat. Organised by OC Events, the 13th edition of The Transat, now known as The Artemis Transat will start 11th May, 2008 from Sutton Harbour, Plymouth (UK), and finish in Boston, USA.

Created in 1960 by Sir Francis Chichester and Blondie Hasler, and often known until 2004 as the OSTAR, the oldest solo race in history has created many legends over the last four decades.

The 2008 edition will be a monohull only race for the first time since multihulls were introduced in 1964. Two monohull classes are confirmed as IMOCA 60 and Class 40 - a mix of pre-eminent ocean racing IMOCA skippers with a class that contains aspiring ocean racing professionals and accomplished amateurs.

-For full information on the Race and programme of events, please visit the website http://www.theartemistransat.com/

BMW Oracle announce design team...

Photo Gilles Martin-Raget / BMW ORACLE Racing
Caption : from left to right : Vincent Lauriot Prevost, Marc Van Peteghem, Russell Coutts, Mike Drummond, Mick Kermarec

BMW ORACLE Racing partners with VPLP in design of AC Multihull.
The leading French multihull design firm of Van Peteghem / Lauriot Prévost (VPLP) are working with BMW ORACLE Racing’s design team in developing its new mulithull boat for the America’s Cup Deed of Gift match, the team confirmed today.

Firm principals Vincent Lauriot Prévost and Marc Van Peteghem are integrated with the BMW ORACLE Racing core design team for the project. VPLP are the lead designers in conjunction with the BMW ORACLE Racing team, led by design coordinator Mike Drummond.

BMW ORACLE Racing’s Michel Kermarec heads up the performance prediction and appendage design. Read more...

D35 regatta on Lake Geneva

(Photo credit: Loris von Siebenthal - myimage)

(Photo credit: Loris von Siebenthal - myimage)

(Photo credit: Loris von Siebenthal - myimage)

(Photo credit: Loris von Siebenthal - myimage)

(Photo credit: Loris von Siebenthal - myimage)

(Photo credit: Loris von Siebenthal - myimage)

Checkout more photos at Myimage - Philippe Schiller & Loris von Siebenthal

There is also some great video on Alinghi's website of the racing.

[Alinghi.com] Alinghi scored two victories today – the final day of the first D35 regatta on Lake Geneva – putting the team one point behind Okalys in second place after three days of racing.

Ernesto Bertarelli, helmsman, comments on the overall result:"We are happy with the result. I think Okalys (owned by Nicolas Grange) deserves to win as they were more constant during the three days of the Grand Prix, but we are only one point behind so I think it's a good result given the fact that we only started sailing together four days ago. It's the first time that Murray [Jones, tactician] is on this boat, Yves [Detrey, bowman] hasn't sailed on a multi-hull for nearly five years now – he was one of the core sailors in the early days – and this is the first time on the helm for me this year. We are happy; I think we have the potential to improve but I definitely think that it was a good start to the season. I am particularly happy for my sister's results. They've had a great day today with two seconds!"

Murray Jones, tactician, comments on both races of the day:
"We were over at the start line for race one, so had a bit of trouble fighting our way out of the back of the fleet. On the last leg we could see the conditions were getting light so we went for the left hand side of the course looking to stay in the breeze and Ernesto [Bertarelli, helmsman] and Nils [Frei, trimmer] did a great job of sailing the boat through and keeping the momentum. That's really what won us the race. There was good crew work but we were quite lucky, we don't deny that... That makes up for the first day when we were quite unlucky!

For the second race we set up at the start line with more room to leeward. We were a little crammed in with the other boats but we managed to get ourselves a nice slot below them and accelerated pretty quickly to get into a situation where we could tack. From then we sailed the puffs as we saw them. The crew did really well and the boat sailed fast."

What's your personal view and experience after this Grand Prix?
"The boats are fantastic. They are really challenging to sail. If you sail them well, you go fast and you can't afford to make mistakes as you pay dearly for them. They are great boats, really quick: today, there was a little bit of breeze on the lake and we came into the finish line at 18 knots and there was probably 10 knots of breeze – good fun!” - Alinghi.com