Monday, August 31, 2009

Rolex Swan 45 World Championship





Photo by: Rolex / Bruno Cocozza
THREE RACES, EARLYBIRD PROVISIONALLY IN THE LEAD
August 31, 2009 - Cala Galera, Argentario, Italy

An optimal start to the Rolex Swan 45 World Championships in Cala Galera (Argentario) organised by the Yacht Club Italiano and the Circolo Nautico e della Vela dell'Argentario (CNVA) in partnership with Rolex.
The day got off to a good start with the skippers' briefing at 0900 on the terrace at the CNVA and just before midday the 17 teams participating, from eight nations, headed out into Gulf of Argentario. The first start was at 1300 with 5-6 knot winds from the south. It was the Finnish team of Tea Ekengren-Sauren onboard Blue Nights who were first at the top mark, closely followed by 2008 World Champions Earlybird (GER) who quickly took the lead followed by Fever (GBR) and Carlo Perrone's Atlantica Racing, the first Italian team.
At the leeward mark it was Nico Poons' team onboard Charisma (NED), with tactician Ray Davies (Team New Zealand) who moved into first place for the rest of the race, while Earlybird and Fever finished second and third respectively. As the afternoon progressed, the wind shifted to the West and built to eight knots in time for the start of the second race at 1450. Grant Gordon and Klaus Diederich's FEVER, winners of IRC-1 at the Giraglia Rolex Cup, were strong off the start line and led the entire race. In second place and Ishida's Yasha (JPN), followed by Earlybird.
At 1625, the wind unexpectedly picked up to 10 knots and it was possible for the Race Committee to get in a third race. World Champions Earlybird were once again the team to beat and it was the Dutch on No Limits, helmed by owner RW Bol in second at the first windward mark. Earlybird kept the lead and won the race followed by No Limits, Ulika and Atlantica Racing.
The Rolex Swan 45 World Championship continues tomorrow with the second day of racing and the Owners' Dinner at Il Pellicano. - http://www.regattanews.com

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Knickerbocker Cup by Anna Tunnicliffe


Photo: Andrea Watson August 30, 2009 Port Washington
Racing wrapped up today at the 2009 Knickerbocker Cup hosted by Manhasset Bay YC in Port Washington, NY. We had one race of the quarter finals to complete before racing for the finals started. Our team had a shot at making the semi’s, but unfortunately we needed a couple of things to happen. They didn’t happen, and we ended up being eliminated and finishing 6th overall.

Our one race today was sailed in breeze that started in about 3-4kts and died to about 0-1kt. We were racing Rick Fornander from Sweden. We had a great start and headed to the left like we had planned. As we went up the beat, the wind died and went right. Unfortunately, we were on the left, but caught up on the downwind leg to be about two boat lengths back, but the wind shifted left on the next beat. The hard part of a two-boat race is when the left is favoured and you are behind, it's hard to get to the left of someone. The second downwind leg was a bit of a guess as to what the breeze was doing. We had a puff, then they had a puff, but we didn’t get enough of a puff to pass.

We lost the race, and ended up loosing the tie to Rick in the overall rankings. We ended up 6th out of 12 teams. We are happy with the result considering that we haven’t sailed match racing for a long time, but we are hungry for more. We learned a lot and made some silly mistakes that cost us too.

The semi’s are still going on right now, so we don’t know the results, but you can check the overall results at the event website.

Our next event is the Detroit Cup that starts on Wednesday at Bayview YC in Detroit, MI. The Detroit Cup is also a ISAF Grade 2 Open event, very similar to the Knickerbocker Cup. We will be seeing a lot of the same competition in Detroit, so we know it will be good competition.
I would like to thank Carmeuse and Gill for sponsoring us at this event.

Sail hard,
Anna

Melges 17 Nationals Turn Up The Heat



Photos by Andy Burdick
Melges 17 Nationals Turn Up The Heat – Four Races With Ideal Wind

The best part of day two was the perfect wind condition for the Melges 17. Ideal breeze, 10-18 mph greeted the fleet in the morning and they were psyched. We won’t mention the cool temperatures and forecast for rain showers. "As long as we have wind, we will be fine," said super crew Meg Six.

Meg sails with Coye Harrett, both from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The fleet had wind and fantastic racing today ahead as four races werer planned overall for this fleet.
Brian McMurray and his wife Deb port tacked the fleet and took off in race one and rounded the first mark in first. It was a tight race between the McMurray's, Sean and Tiffany Fidler, Coye Harrett and Derek Packard.
The McMurray's won which started them on a great day of racing. Jamie Jones the PRO fired up another race right away. The Race Committee adjusted the mark left as a slight shift came through. The second race of the day and fifth race in the championship series, was a battle between local hero Jim Hilgard and now overall leader Fidler. Mike Dow had another good race going but the real race was between Fidler and Hilgard. Fidler held off Hilgard for another race win and now has a good lead in the regatta as Ward and Dow dropped back a bit.

A big rain squall came through as the PRO sent the fleet in for lunch. Good move as the lake had some waterspouts which were quite spectacular. Very heavy rain continued through lunch but it did not bother the fleet as they were inside Glen Lake Yacht Club warm and dry. A major fire was in the fireplace there and the sailors huddled around getting dry.

"I did not realize that on my regatta inventory list I needed a ton of firewood, heck it is August," said Brad Sprouse the event chairman. Sure enough – the fleet needed firewood and some heat!
The rain cleared a bit and the wind shifted way right so a new racecourse was set and races 3 and 4 kicked off.

Sean Fidler said at lunch that they raked their mast back a few inches (from 26'10" to 26'8") and it seemed to settle the boat down in the breeze – makes sense. He then tightened his uppers and lowers 3 full turns. He had good speed but most important was his good boat handling. He and his wife Tiffany sailed the boat very well today. They escaped with a win in race 6 of the series. Rob Terry and Coye Harrett were close and they tried to track him down but could not.

In race 7 of the series and the 4th and final race of day, Coye Harrett and Meg Six put on a display of great sailing, boat handling and boat speed. Harrett tightened up their rig 6 full turns on the uppers and 4 on the lowers. Their mast rake was at base (26'10") but the increased rig tension certainly helped their overall speed as they took off and won the race big. Harrett ended his day with a 3,1 and now in third overall for the regatta. Derek Packard finished 2nd in the race and Brian McMurray finished off a great day getting 3rd in this race.

No question the fleet was tired and ready for some relaxing. Four races in one day, great breeze though and some tremendous rides downwind. It was a perfect day of Melges 17 Racing.
The GLYC put on a fantastic party tonight. Great food, a band and lots of interested members came out to meet and greet this exciting new fleet. The Melges 17 has a lot of people at this yacht club excited about fast, one-design racing.

TOP TEN RESULTS1.) Sean Fidler - 122.) Mike Dow - 233.) Coye Harrett - 254.) Brian McMurray - 285.) Mary Anne Ward - 296.) Rob Terry - 357.) Lesa Gutenkunst - 398.) Tom Munroe - 489.) Derek Packard - 5010.) Jim Hilgard - 50
View Photo Gallery

Paul Cayard on 505 Worlds

SAP 505 World Championship

Wow! That was a blast! I know I will wake up tomorrow sad. No need to slip into the trapeze harness. Bummer.

We had a great last day...up at the front all day, finished 6th but just 6 seconds from 4th.
SF turned it back on for the final day so everyone will be left with the right memories...big breeze and rippin fun.

Mike Martin and Jeff Nelson walked away with the race and the event. Mike Holt and Carl Schmidt gave it there all and made it a good race finishing fourth today and second overall. My friend and crew mate from the 2002 Volvo Ocean Race, Chris Nicholson and his crew Casey Smith were third. My hat is off to these guys and really all the competitors. The 505 is a challenging boat, but it is extra challenging in San Francisco.

I am so happy Howie asked me to do this. I feel like I am 20 again. Being a pro sailor drives you away from these really cool boats that we used to sail as kids. These are the boats that taught us how to sail, how to have the sensitivity to make any boat go fast. Now I will look for other opportunities to sail in the 505, maybe the Worlds at Hamilton Island in 2011 with my son Danny at the helm. That is the beauty of this, more open doors.

That's it for now. Rolex Big Boat Series September 10th will be next.

For complete results go to www.505sapworldchampionship2009.com

Cayard Sailing Website

Friday, August 28, 2009

Ishares X40

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Breezy day for Snipe Jr. World Championship



San Diego orders up a beautiful, breezy day for Snipe Jr. World Championship sailors on Day 3

San Diego, CA (August 26, 2009) – Racing in San Diego in August is usually tough because of abundant kelp and light breeze. Snipe junior sailors vying for the 20th biennial Snipe Jr. World Champion title are enjoying nothing of the sort, as today offered clear skies with steady wind speed. San Diego Yacht Club, the host of 21 international teams representing 11 countries, has taken advantage of the unseasonal conditions by running 2 more races today, bringing the race count to 8 of the 11 scheduled.

Races 7 and 8 both started clean in 12 – 14 knots of breeze from a West/Northwest direction. The 7th race saw yesterday’s regatta leaders finish at the top with Brazilian skipper Mario Tinoco and crew Matheus Gonçalves winning, followed by the Japanese team of skipper Norihiko Kiyama and crew Kenichi Inada. At the finish of the 7th race, the America’s Cup team BMW/Oracle, whose compound is near downtown San Diego, came by the windward end of the course giving spectators a peak as they headed in from practice.

The tight competition is exciting, and though the top two are extending their lead, third through sixth places are within 7 points of each other. With no room for mistakes, the American team of skipper Tyler Sinks and crew Shone Bowman took race 8, keeping them in 3rd place for the regatta, with 3 more races to go. - http://www.snipeworlds2009.com/

Keel Surfing!


Photo Mark Lloyd

Photo Mark Lloyd
Having already tried his hand at foiling, last week Alex went keel walking on his IMOCA Open 60 HUGO BOSS in the Solent. Alex said; “I’ve wanted to stand on the keel while sailing for a couple of years, and last week in 17-20 knots of breeze I stood on the keel whilst sailing wearing a HUGO BOSS suit. It was pretty dangerous but a real buzz.” - http://www.alexthomsonracing.com

The Knickerbocker

Manhasset, NY - By Anna Tunnicliffe

Yesterday I arrived in Manhasset, NY from Canada for the Knickerbocker Cup. The Knickerbocker is a ISAF Grade 2 open match racing event, and a qualifier for the Match Race World Tour. This is the 27th year of event, and we (my team and I) are very excited to be competing. This is our first open event ever, but we have a great team and are looking forward to competing at a top level. There are twelve teams total from seven countries; two of the teams are all-women.

Today was the first day of the event during which we registered, weighed in and had an opportunity to practice. We are sailing Colgate 26’s, a boat we have never sailed before, but my crew did a fantastic job figuring out the boat's systems. As an all-women crew, we are allowed to sail with five people, so it is a little crowded, but very useful having the extra pair of hands. My team for the event is Liz Bower, Molly Vandemoer, Alice Manard, and Debbie Capozzi. I’m very happy with my team. They are a lot of fun to be around, but on top of that, they are all fantastic sailors and so, make my job that much easier at the back of the boat.

Racing starts tomorrow at 9:30 am. We are the first race of the day, so we are right into the action, which is good for me. I will write updates every night to keep you abreast of our progress. You can also follow along at the event website.

I would like to thank Carmeuse and Gill for their support of us for this event.
Sail Hard,
Anna

Day Seven - Final Results Laser Worlds


There’s a new Laser World Champion. Olympic gold medalist Paul Goodison of Great Britain hung on in the final day of competition to take first place at the 2009 Nautel Laser World Championships on St. Margaret’s Bay in Nova Scotia.

Coming into the competition, the chief rival of 32-year-old Goodison was 21-year-old Australian Tom Slingsby who won the 2007 and 2008 Worlds. Slingsby came in 17th.

Michael Bullot of New Zealand took second, with Goodison’s country-mate Nick Thompson in third in the gold fleet. Argentinean Julio Alsogaray took fourth. Top Canadians were David Wright in 6th, and Michael Leigh in 10th.

"The final race was classic with Goodison and Bullot hunting each other at the start," said event manager Duncan Enman. "It was a mesmerizing dance along the start line as each athlete tried to outplay the other. Amazing sailing, amazing sport, as one would expect at a World championship."

Registration for the Masters begins Thursday morning with racing beginning on Sunday.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

470 Worlds take on a new dimension



Click on images to enlarge!


Photos by Jürg Kaufmann http://www.go4image.com/
by: Sailing Intelligence
Off Rungsted, Denmark racing at the 470 Worlds, held by the Royal Danish Yacht Club, today took on a very different perspective. It was the first day the Class were split into gold, silver and bronze division but crucially the wind had veered by around 90 degrees, into the west. Gone was the stable southerly of the first three days of the regatta, replaced by a highly unstable shifty, patchy offshore breeze to challenge the 304 sailors from 29 countries competing.
With the race course having shifted, counter-current up the beat was not an issue today, but this, combined with some start of Men’s Gold fleet racing over-enthusiasm, saw an impressive 10 boats - one third of the fleet - disqualified under black flag starting orders in their first race. This race only successfully got away on its fifth attempt. Those black flagged included several top names – the third placed Swiss, Matias Bühler and Felix Steiger, Sailing World Cup leaders from the US, Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl, and Israeli 470 veterans, Gidi Kliger and Udi Gal. A particular blow to Skandia Team GBR was double Olympic silver medallist Nick Rogers and his new crew Pom Green, being black flagged too, following on from double World Champions Nic Asher and Elliot Willis’ OCS yesterday. Asher and Willis were clear today, but suffered a broken spinnaker halyard at the end of the first race and ended the day a lowly 16th.

Many boats at the back of the Men’s gold fleet came out the winners, partly due to the OCSes, but it was also the challenging conditions. Second going into today Austrian, Mattias Schmid put it: “The gold fleet is much much harder than the qualification, but also the wind was really unpredictable with much much bigger shifts. Before it was quite clear to us what we wanted to do, we did it and we were right. Today it was not so clear.”

According to Schmid, this struck hardest at the start of the first race. “All the field wanted to go left. We wanted to go left, but in the end the right was SO much better. They weren’t a little in front, they were like half a mile in front and we lost contact and there was no way back. It was really really extreme. But the good people can make a medium result out of a bad position. Today we very often had a very bad position and we got out of it.” Schmid was therefore okay with his and crewman Florian Reichstaedter’s pair of 17th finishes that have dropped them to ninth overall. - read more

SAP 505 World Championship

SAP 505 World Championship
Paul Cayard
Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Before we got going today, Howie and I had to deal with something from yesterday. It was a complicated issue that has to do with Gate Starts. I will try to explain. If you are out of patience for today better close this email now.

To try to make it simple, we were first disqualified by the Race Committee for a rule that prohibits boats from "interfering" with the "Rabbit" or the "Guard Boat". In a "Gate Start" one of the racing boats starts at the single starting buoy, at the designated start time, on port tack sailing upwind. A "Guard Boat" follows about 2 boat lengths behind. All racing boats have to pass behind the Guard boat in order to start.

Once we came ashore, the race committee notified us we would be disqualified from the race because we made contact with the Guard Boat and therefore "interfered". The contact was apparently a piece of clothing brushing the tube of the guard boat. We did not think we had made contact but in any case, we did not believe we interfered with any part of this operation as we did not cause either of them to alter course or speed. So we requested redress and were reinstated in 6th place which was our finishing position. Then a German team protested us saying that we hit the guard boat 2 feet from the stern. This surely did not happen as we would have stopped dead in the water. But that protest was dismissed before the hearing as the Germans, who started right just to windward of us, never informed us that they were protesting us which is a requirement for a protest to be valid.

The thing that was odd to me was that through it all, no one ever asked if we performed a 360 penalty turn for hitting a mark. Of course we would not have because we did not know we had made contact. So I started to think that the Guard boat was not a mark. I mean the last "Gate Start" I was in was in 1979. Can't really remember and Howie is not a great one for rules. He just likes to go fast... a skiff sailor at heart. He never protests and never goes to the room.

So we were back in and left the club for the night. When I got home, something wasn't sitting right in my stomach. I reread the S.I.'s, Notice of Race, 505 Class Guidelines etc. trying to figure it out. I came to the conclusion that the Guard boat IS a mark and we should have performed a 360 penalty turn.

This issue never got vetted as the Germans protest was dismissed. Still, Howie and I agreed this morning that we had fouled. So we withdrew from Race number 3 when we got down to the club.

With that behind us, we headed out to the double header (two races). In the first one was good, finishing 7th or so. We were deep again at the top mark, probably 25th, and we ground our way back. In the second one, we got to the top mark in our usual 25th and started to grind people. Somewhere after the first lap, the gasket that seals the center board case from the water at the bottom of the hull, got inverted and we had a mini Fountain of Youth going into our boat for the remainder of the race. The fountain was beautiful but it is slow as there is a lot of drag associated. We then broke our port pole launcher so that hurt as well. Anyway we finished about 12th.

Mike Martin and Jeff Nelson got two bullets and not by just a little. 2 minutes over second place was about the average lead they had. These guys are in another league in 20+ knot of wind.

Lay day tomorrow. That is good as I need to go to Longs and get another pallet of Advil and four massages.

It is a blast out there. The boats just rip and I so glad I am revisiting this great class!

Teeing it up again on Thursday through Saturday.

Cayard Sailing Website

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Alinghi announces Hublot as a sponsor


(Photo credit: Guido Trombetta/Alinghi)
Alinghi announces Hublot as a sponsor. Left: Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi team president and right: Jean-Claude Biver, Hublot CEO
Alinghi, Defender of the 33rd America’s Cup, is proud to announce Hublot, the Swiss luxury watchmaker, as a team sponsor for the 33rd America’s Cup. Alinghi president Ernesto Bertarelli and Hublot CEO Jean-Claude Biver held a joint presentation at the Alinghi base in Genoa, Italy, this afternoon to announce this union of Swiss expertise. The two brands share many common values, be it their constant pursuit of precision and excellence, or their approach to technology – developing it to a maximum for greater performance.

“I am often asked ‘what is more important the technology or the people?’ and I always say that there is no technology without people and the partnership that we are announcing today symbolises exactly this sentiment. Welcoming Hublot – and more importantly Jean-Claude [Biver] – to the team as a Sponsor is a tribute to the fact that technology is about the people; those that understand what it means. I welcome them into the Alinghi family and onboard for the 33rd America’s Cup,” said Ernesto Bertarelli of the alliance. - http://www.alinghi.com/

470 Worlds: Westerhof and Berkhout break free...



Westerhof and Berkhout break free
24. Aug. 2009 Time 22:35:50 by: Sailing Intelligence

Competitors at the 470 World Championships were blessed with another day of unbeatable weather off Rungsted, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Blazing sunshine plus a stable southeasterly breeze that started at 8 knots and ended up closer to 20, allowed the race organisers at the Royal Danish Yacht Club to cash in on the conditions, holding three races for the five fleets, rather the scheduled two.

After five races a discard has come into play. Two teams remain tied at the top of the Men’s Division where the Netherland’s Sven and Calle Coster and Croats Šime Fantela and Igor Marenić are on seven points, having both discarded eighth places.

Fantela and Marenić, who usually sail out of Zadar, won the first two races today in the Men’s pink group, the first narrowly ahead of Israel’s Gidi Kliger and Udi Gal, the second in front of New Zealand’s Geoffrey Woolley and Mark Overington.

“It was really good, we are really satisfied,” said Fantela. “Conditions were specific in the first race because of the strong current, so everyone was trying to start at the committee boat and tack towards shore. We made two good starts and were on the right side and it was a fight between five boats with the rest a long way behind.” On the final race they went the wrong way up the first beat, rounding the top mark 14th, but managed to claw their way back up to sixth.

“The venue is great,” continued Fantela, a former Optimist World Champion, who this year won the 470 Europeans. “We have been here for 20 days and there hasn’t been a day without wind. It is not so cold - it is really good. And the organisation is great. The guys with our trolleys, the people in the tent are working really good and the GPS system is great. In Croatia they know the results sooner than us and after the race we can check our race on the tracker on the internet.” - Read more

Wind! Then no wind...


First too much, then too little.

For the second day in a row there was no racing at the 2009 Nautel Laser Worlds taking placed on St. Margaret’s Bay in Nova Scotia.

A brush with Hurricane Bill on Sunday forced organizers to store 196 Laser hulls inside two buildings at the St. Margaret Sailing Club. The boats were unpacked quickly on Monday morning in anticipation of a great day of racing, but St. Margaret’s Bay did not live up to its reputation of steady afternoon sea breezes.

Instead the fleet floated around the race committee boat waiting for the wind to fill in. It never did. At one point in disgust, athletes began hitting the hulls of their boats with their tiller extensions, the drum beat echoing across the water, almost calling to the wind.

"It’s disappointing to lose two days of racing," said event manager Duncan Enman. "It happens sometimes and just means we will try to get in more races in the next two days. Having a day without wind on St. Margaret’s Bay, this time of year, is almost unheard of."

While athletes were disappointed with the lack of racing, they also recognize there’s not much that can be done. The forecast for Tuesday calls for winds 10 to 15 knots (20 to 32 kilometres per hour).

Estonian coach Rein Ottoson, who runs a top-notch racing school in Tallinn said, "I have been to many World sailing events and there was usually a major problem or two with racing and organization. Not here; both the organizing and race committees have been excellent."

Major sponsor Nautel of Nova Scotia, which sells broadcast equipment in over 170 countries, has taken the very unusual step of setting up a temporary FM radio station (106.3) under a special licence. The media, hundreds of volunteers ashore, spectators and the general public all enjoy commentary and interviews during these World Championships. One veteran international journalist commented, "It's a great idea because we can listen when often required to stay ashore to write stories to send home." - First too much, then too little.

For the second day in a row there was no racing at the 2009 Nautel Laser Worlds taking placed on St. Margaret’s Bay in Nova Scotia.

A brush with Hurricane Bill on Sunday forced organizers to store 196 Laser hulls inside two buildings at the St. Margaret Sailing Club. The boats were unpacked quickly on Monday morning in anticipation of a great day of racing, but St. Margaret’s Bay did not live up to its reputation of steady afternoon sea breezes.

Instead the fleet floated around the race committee boat waiting for the wind to fill in. It never did. At one point in disgust, athletes began hitting the hulls of their boats with their tiller extensions, the drum beat echoing across the water, almost calling to the wind.

"It’s disappointing to lose two days of racing," said event manager Duncan Enman. "It happens sometimes and just means we will try to get in more races in the next two days. Having a day without wind on St. Margaret’s Bay, this time of year, is almost unheard of."

While athletes were disappointed with the lack of racing, they also recognize there’s not much that can be done. The forecast for Tuesday calls for winds 10 to 15 knots (20 to 32 kilometres per hour).

Estonian coach Rein Ottoson, who runs a top-notch racing school in Tallinn said, "I have been to many World sailing events and there was usually a major problem or two with racing and organization. Not here; both the organizing and race committees have been excellent."

Major sponsor Nautel of Nova Scotia, which sells broadcast equipment in over 170 countries, has taken the very unusual step of setting up a temporary FM radio station (106.3) under a special licence. The media, hundreds of volunteers ashore, spectators and the general public all enjoy commentary and interviews during these World Championships. One veteran international journalist commented, "It's a great idea because we can listen when often required to stay ashore to write stories to send home." First too much, then too little.

For the second day in a row there was no racing at the 2009 Nautel Laser Worlds taking placed on St. Margaret’s Bay in Nova Scotia.

A brush with Hurricane Bill on Sunday forced organizers to store 196 Laser hulls inside two buildings at the St. Margaret Sailing Club. The boats were unpacked quickly on Monday morning in anticipation of a great day of racing, but St. Margaret’s Bay did not live up to its reputation of steady afternoon sea breezes.

Instead the fleet floated around the race committee boat waiting for the wind to fill in. It never did. At one point in disgust, athletes began hitting the hulls of their boats with their tiller extensions, the drum beat echoing across the water, almost calling to the wind.

"It’s disappointing to lose two days of racing," said event manager Duncan Enman. "It happens sometimes and just means we will try to get in more races in the next two days. Having a day without wind on St. Margaret’s Bay, this time of year, is almost unheard of."

While athletes were disappointed with the lack of racing, they also recognize there’s not much that can be done. The forecast for Tuesday calls for winds 10 to 15 knots (20 to 32 kilometres per hour).

Estonian coach Rein Ottoson, who runs a top-notch racing school in Tallinn said, "I have been to many World sailing events and there was usually a major problem or two with racing and organization. Not here; both the organizing and race committees have been excellent."

Major sponsor Nautel of Nova Scotia, which sells broadcast equipment in over 170 countries, has taken the very unusual step of setting up a temporary FM radio station (106.3) under a special licence. The media, hundreds of volunteers ashore, spectators and the general public all enjoy commentary and interviews during these World Championships. One veteran international journalist commented, "It's a great idea because we can listen when often required to stay ashore to write stories to send home." - http://can09.laserinternational.org/

Monday, August 24, 2009

2009 Snipe Junior Worlds Day 1


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
Photos courtesy of Brian Stanford.
2009 Snipe Junior World Championship Offers Close and
Competitive Racing after Day 1


San Diego, CA (August 24, 2009) – San Diego Yacht Club, the host of the 2009 Snipe Junior World Championship, ordered up a beautiful day for 21 competing teams, representing 11 countries on day one of this biennial event. 42 sailors under the age of 22 competed in the ocean course off the coast of Coronado, outside San Diego Bay, where sailors were greeted with a cloudless, blue sky and the expectation of a building breeze.

The race committee ran 3 smooth races in a steady breeze peaking for the day at 12 – 15 knots. Mario Tinoco (BRA) and his crew Mateus Gonçalves dominated the first race, getting their week off to a good start. Tinoco has won the previous two Snipe Jr. World Championships, so his victory in race one was a sweet one. What is impressive about this win for Tinoco and Gonçalves is they were over early, and came back to re-start giving their competitors an instant lead. The Puerto Rican team of Marco Teixidor and Ricardo Latimer suffered a broken jib sheet in race 2, but were able to come back with a 2nd place finish in race 3.

The competition is close with no single team dominating the event, offering some exciting racing for all. Tomorrow should be a good day for both weather and competition as we add more races to the mix, defining the direction of this World Championship.

See the Results& Photos

Alinghi Sailing Video

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Three in a row...


Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
Emirates Team New Zealand became the first team ever to win three consecutive MedCup Circuit regattas when they clinched the Portugal Trophy for the TP52 Series today off Portimao, winning by just 1.5 points from Torbjorn Tornqvist's Artemis.

Jr. Snipe Worlds Opening Ceremonies Video

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Quotes of the day


Richard Walch/Audi MedCup

TP52 MedCup Portimao: Day of no wind no race, but the sailors have something to say...

Paul Cayard (USA), tactician on Artemis (SWE):
" Mathematically it is a good thing for us because the odds of winning improve but it is always a shame when we are all here to race and it doesn’t happen. That is one of the realities of dealing with mother nature.
Now that we have had six good races we would rather stay ashore rather than tainting a good regatta with crazy races. I think the race committee keeps that in mind. It is not a matter of trying to run four more races, it is a matter of running good races."

Ray Davies (NZL), tactician Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
" It's mixed blessings really. Overall we don't want to start losing any more points on the lead, we want a keep a nice healthy overall lead overall in the Circuit, but we also want to win this regatta too, so I think we'd like to get out there and race, I hope there's enough wind tomorrow for at least one race, but it never feels good to have a race decided with no final actual race so it would be good to get out there and finish it on the water. If there's only one more race it's going to be exciting. We'll keep them awake all night in New Zealand."

Javier Goizueta (ESP), owner of Caser-Endesa (ESP):
“To win a championship, in any sport, you have to compete, so in that sense it's not good not to race, since if you have a nice boat, and a nice crew, you have more opportunities to win. But a day like today, with such changing and light conditions, you risk a lot - it's like a lottery – so I'd rather not risk anything today and then go out tomorrow and play the game till the end.”

Rotor Wash...


Swedes Martin Strandberg and Johan Örtendahl won Archipelago Raid 2009.
Photo by Oskar Kihlborg - www.kihlborg.se

Friday, August 21, 2009

DAY 1 LASER WORLD CHAMPS


Halifax – St. Margaret’s Bay didn’t disappoint on the first day of racing at the Laser World Championships. Conditions were ‘Laser’ perfect with clear skies and winds ranging from 18 to 20 knots (35 to 39 kilometres per hour) and water temperatures at 19 Celsius.
The Bay gave the world’s top sailors a small taste of what’s to come over the next seven days of racing. Hot, hazy conditions, with smooth two to three foot seas, provided absolutely perfect racing for the 169 athletes from 51 countries competing at the 2009 Nautel Laser World Championships. Top finishers after the first day of racing are Tonci Stipanovic from Croatia in top spot, Nick Thompson of Great Britain in second, American Clayton Johnson in third, Bruno Fontes from Brazil in fourth and German Philipp Buhl in fifth. Full results are available at http://www.2009laserworlds.org/.
The day was not without its problems. There were four general recalls in the first race – and at least four gear failures. One failure included Olympic gold medalist Paul Goodison from Great Britain. It put him in sixth place in his fleet, 16th overall, after the first race. He took a second in the second race to finish sixth overall for the day. Canada has four sailors in the top 25 after the first day. They are Christopher Dold in 15th, Michale Leigh in 18th, Bernard Luttmer in 23rd and David Wright in 25th. One experienced, but retired Laser sailor said, “It was absolutely thrilling to watch these top athletes snap those small dinghies around race marks with such practiced perfection.”
St. Margaret’s Bay lived up to its superb reputation for steady winds during the first round of the 2009 Laser Worlds, and the many top athletes gathered here hope that the predicted track of Hurricane Bill will not spoil these ideal conditions. With US and Canadian Hurricane Centres currently predicting Hurricane Bill brushing the Nova Scotia coast on Sunday, the Race Committee has moved the first race of the day on Friday to noon. The early start may help accommodate an extra race to get ahead of schedule in case a day of racing is cancelled by storm conditions.
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Thursday, August 20, 2009

TP52

TP52 - Audi MedCup - Portimao
Paul Cayard
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Another good day on the Artemis today! Finishes of 2, 4, 2 has us tied for first with Team New Zealand on 15 points. Quantum is third with 17.
The first raced was very tricky because we started in a wind direction of 245 and finished in a wind direction of 305. In the middle, the wind went light and then banged right as predicted.
We were in good shape up the first windward leg rounding the top mark 5th. Down the run, the transition happened and the fleet bunched up. We made a gybe away from the group that paid us well and we rounded the gate fourth.
We held fourth up the 2nd windward leg in a tough fight with Sunergy and Quantum. Bigimist the local boat had the race won and Team New Zealand was comfortably in second.
Down the final run, Team New Zealand gybe set while we and Bigimist bore away and went offshore. We had 4 knots more wind out in that corner and came back to cross TNZ by one length to steal second place from them. Quantum ended up 8th!
The second race was started in 20 knots from 310. We had an ok start but Bigimist was over early. We got tacked on by Team New Zealand off the line and that set us back a bit. So we were on the back foot as we came up to the top mark but managed to get around in 5th with some tight work on Audi Q8. Down the run we moved up to 4th and that is pretty much where we stayed for the rest of the race. Team New Zealand had the good lane off the start and was very fast upwind and went on to win that one. Synergy had a good race in second and Quantum was just un front of us in third.
So all in all, another solid performance for us on Artemis. Very consistent and steady. Tomorrow is the coastal race.
For complete results go to 2009.medcup.org
Cayard Sailing Website

Final Days Before Snipe Junior World Championship

San Diego, CA (August 18, 2009) - While most visitors in San Diego are concluding their vacations during these final days of summer, the ocean course off San Diego Bay will find 21 elite teams competing in the International Snipe Class Junior World Championship, hosted by San Diego Yacht Club.

Representing 11 countries, sailors under 22 years of age will be arriving this week to begin their training, with a practice race scheduled for this Sunday and the 11-race series planned for Monday, August 24th through Friday, August 28th.

Among the leading contenders for this biennial event is defending champions Mario Tinoco and Matheus Gonçalves from Brazil. Tinoco first won the Junior Worlds as crew in 2005, and if he and Gonçalves repeat in San Diego, Tinoco would become the first 3-time champion in class history.

Standing in the way of Tinoco is a slew of U.S. National Champions that include current winner Raul Rios and Antonio Sifre (PUR), 2008 winner Nick Voss and Enrique Quintero (Miami, FL), and 2007 winner Tyler Sinks and Shone Bowman (San Diego, CA). It was Sinks and Voss that finished third and fourth, respectively, at the 2007 Worlds, and have been training locally to improve on that performance.

Measurement and registration occur this weekend, with Opening Ceremonies scheduled for Sunday, August 23rd at 1800. - http://www.snipeworlds2009.com/index.htm

5O5 North American Championships


By C. Scott Marx
5O5 NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP - DAY 2
Race Three and Four of the 5O5 North American Championships began with cloudy skies and 12-14 knot winds out on the San Francisco’s Olympic Circle. Following Race Three and Four, yesterday’s overall leader Mike Martin/Jeff Nelson USA (2-1-1-1, 3.0 pts) continues to dominate while Mike Holt/Carl Smit (6-2-2-2, 6.0 pts.)USA, winners of Race Two yesterday, are close on their heels. In third place following today’s racing are Nick Adamson/Steve Bourdow USA (3-79/DNS-5-3, 11), followed by Jens Findel/Johannes Tellen GER (5-6-3-79/DNS, 14) finishing fourth and Tyler Moore/Geoff Ewenson USA(1-79/DNS-6-11, 18).

“We’ve been looking forward to these races for a long time,” said Mike Martin. “The Bay is a great place to compete – heavy winds and strong currents make for an ideal setting. The St. Francis Yacht Club, as always , has done a great job on the course – it’s the right length, square to the wind and the reaches are on the right angles.”

While winds abated somewhat from Races One and Two, continued choppy seas provided for exciting racing out on the bay. First off the start in Race Three were Carter Jackson/Peter Holden USA who finished 11th. Mike Martin/Jeff Nelson continued their overall lead overall throughout the majority of the race, while Mike Holt/Carl Smit kept hold on the second spot as in Race Two yesterday. Jens Findel/Johannes Tellen were third.

“I felt like George Foreman in the ring with Muhammad Ali,” said Mike Holt. “The conditions today were challenging.”

In Race Four, Katherine Long/Stephen Long USA led off the start while finishing 20th. Mike Martin/Jeff Nelson and Mike Holt/Carl Smit continued their strong performance as first and second, while the reigning champions of Nick Adamson/Steve Bourdow USA were back for another third in the series in Race Four.

“Today’s races showed clear dominance by a couple of the most experienced teams,” said 2009 5O5 North American Regatta Chair, Peter Szasz. “Our current leaders Mike Martin and Jeff Nelson have been sailing together for a long time and they just don’t make many mistakes. With the final day of North Americans tomorrow and Worlds right on the horizon for next week, we’re expecting a strong finish out on the Circle.”

Go to http://www.505sapworldchampionship2009.com/ for more information, including the latest news, updates and official standings.

Something fishy


Mark O'Brien / Alinghi
BMW Oracle spying RIB nearly hits fisherman in Genoa .

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

TP52 - Audi MedCup - Portimao


Paul Cayard
Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Good day on the Artemis today! Finishes of 3, 4, 2 has us in second place overall after three races. Quantum is leading with 1, 1, 4.

The first race did not get off until 1400. The forecast had the wind in the southwest for the early part of the day but an eminent shift to the northwest was surely coming. Would it come during the race? Would it turn the race upside down?

Well, we got the first one in completely in the southwest wind. We had a good start, in the smooth water and 13 knots of wind. It was a matter of inches that made the difference at the top mark. We rounded third and then passed one boat on the run by choosing the proper gate. Held second up the second beat but Quantum tacked on us twice so we both lost ground to Team New Zealand and we ended up overstood. Down the run, Team New Zealand gybed on us three times and passed us while the both of us almost lost Matador.

The wind then died and quickly shifted to the northwest at about 16 knots. We had two races in this direction with the wind topping out at 22. So the boats were planing downwind and it was a lot of fun. Usually, it is all about the right in this direction but today there were gains to be had on the left especially downwind and fortunately we got most of it correct.

At the start of the second race we fouled Matador. So, after our penalty turn, we were dead last. But we kept chipping away and sailed heads up to finish fourth. This was a great come-back and probably the most important part of the day, definitely something that will stay with us for a while.

Then in the last race, we had a decent start, managed the first windward leg ok, but it was a decision to stay on starboard out of the windward mark on the run that got us to more pressure and we rounded the gate in 2nd to Bigimist (the locals). From there it was just about course management and we finished second. Quantum had a bad start in that one and did well to get back to fourth while Team New Zealand led at the first windward mark but gybed set and lost 6 places.

So we are pretty happy with that day and will sleep well tonight at least.
For complete results go to 2009.medcup.org

Cayard Sailing Website

BMW ORACLE Racing - New Modification



Photos by Sailkarma.com
A new modification to team BMW ORACLE’S trimaran….an addition of an aerodynamic wing attachment to the rear beam. If you look close (click on images to enlarge) you can see the white triangle shaped attachment to the beam. It is covered with telltales to show wind flow. We do not think this is where the engine will go. We think that is a test to see if they can reduce drag coming off the rear beam.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

TP52 - Audi MedCup - Portimao




Paul Cayard
Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Today was a much better day in terms of wind. There were 7-11 knots from the southwest. We left the dock on time at 1100 and went through our normal routine of tuning up with Matador before the start which was on time at 1300. As it is the practice race today, meaning that the race committee runs two starts and then on the third start, we continue on and race.
We had a good start but went left, kind of forced that way by Team New Zealand who had us pinned on starboard. The right was good and we were 7th or 8th at the top mark. We got the right coming out of the leeward mark after the run but by then the wind went left so we were wrong again.

We also did not seem very fast upwind and we had been trying some different set ups.
Down the final run we passed one or two boats and finished 7th. Not a great day results wise but it did not count either. Quantum, who hit the right hard on the first windward leg, won the practice race.

After the race we re-tuned our rig and then tested with Matador for about 40 minutes. We seemed to have improved our performance and we were fairly even with Matador.
Working with Matador each morning before the start has been really good for both of us.
Tomorrow's forecast is for winds similar to what we had today. Start time is 1300 and we could have as many as three races.

Paul
Cayard Sailing Website - http://2009.medcup.org

Monday, August 17, 2009

Lastest Alinghi Sailing Photos






ALINGHI/Carlo Borlenghi- Guido Trombetta

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Verve Cup - Sunday Race Report


Convexity wins Overall Verve Cup Trophy
By Christie Denson on August 16, 2009 at 6:17pm

Sunday, August 16, 2009 (CHICAGO) -- The word of the day is carnage. Thankfully all competitors and race committee are accounted for after a wet and wild day on the lake, complete with blown spinnakers, broaches, man-overboards, and even a capsized race committee boat.

Testing the boat handling skills of the crews, the morning winds were the strongest of the regatta, blowing about 15-20 knots. Mains were reefed, and some boats were on the run without spinnakers. But it was the afternoon storm cell that really shook up the regatta, as puffs up to 30 knots forced a number of boats to retire, Circle C to abandon their second race of the day, and drew the Coast Guard out to aid in the rescue of an injured crew member aboard Sociable and the Marine Police to aid three crew on board the capsized race committee whaler.

The big boats on Circle A were flying downwind in these conditions, with boat speeds up in the high teens. Among the Farr 40s, Hotlips lost a spinnaker forcing them to withdraw, which is just one example of the aftermath of today’s storm. Convexity pulled out a close win over Flash Gordon, taking first by one point.

“It was great and exciting racing.” said Don Wilson owner of Convexity. “Race committee lined up the races well, one after the other…boom, boom, boom.”

In PHRF 1 trouble for Pinball Wizard forced them to withdraw during the final race. “A big breeze came in and we lost control of steering,” explained Pepe, crew on Wizard who was leading into the final race. Their “DNF” helped Bill Dooley and crew on Mirage, who also sailed a consistently strong regatta, to secure the top spot.

Stan Bailey high-fived his crew of Raven after seeing the cumulative results posted that they pulled out the overall win in PHRF 2. Stripes, owned by Bill Martin won the GL70s. Stripes has now swept the CYC races in his class winning the 2009 Chicago NOOD, Chicago Race to Mackinac and now Verve Cup.

“We have an experienced crew who’ve been sailing together for a long time,” Stripes tactician Bruce Nelson said about their success this summer. “We also got new sails.”

On Circle B, Beneteau 40.7 Turning Point had to rescue two crew who went overboard, which forced them to retire from the regatta. During the final race, almost half the fleet withdrew and called it a regatta. Spanker, skippered by Jim MacDonnell, pulled out the overall win in this section, as well as the overall for the 40.7 North American Championships.

Among the extremely competitive J105 section, Vytis was able to pull out the win above John Weglarz’s The Asylum. Vytis was one a few boats awarded redress for their aid in to Sociable, who had a crew member injured and taken to the hospital for treatment. In PHRF 4, only three boats completed the last race of the day and Obsession, of Elk Grove Village, pulled out the win.

The other section racing for a North American Championship was the 14 boat J 109 fleet. Storm, skippered by Rick Lyall of Connecticut sailed a great regatta, winning the section and the championship with a score of 24, a 16 point lead ahead of second place finisher Surprise/Team Hamburg of Texas.

“It was an intense day of racing,” said Ryan crew of Storm. “Overall the Verve was a great event. The race committee did a great job. They treated us out of town boats really well, and it was a solid weekend of racing.

Dan and Peter Wright on Maggie May won the 36.7 section after a tie-breaker with Tried and True. Bob Foley and crew on T&T had a disappointing day on the course following a collision that forced them to withdraw from racing.

On Circle C, the fleet was only able to complete one race today.

“We were disappointed to have to abandon the last race of day because we were winning, but Race committee did a really great job.” commented Pierce Hasler, foredeck on Skidmarks. Despite the abandonment, Skidmarks pulled out the overall win among the 33 boat T-10 section.
In PHRF 5, Falcon won overall. In PHRF 6, Twisted Fish, sailed an amazing regatta having bullets in every race, except the final race where they placed 7th. And finally, congratulations to Bill and Vivianne Smith on Awesome, who took first in PHRF 7.

Stay tuned for more on the Overall Verve Cup Trophy winner and the Lake Michigan PHRF Champion. For complete results, CLICK HERE.

TP52 - Audi MedCup - Portimão

By Paul Cayard

Just finished our first day of training over here in Portugal. Very light wind made it difficult to get much done. We checked our masthead genoa and a few light jibs and tuned the rig.
We are onto our weight checks too. It is fairly hot here, 30C, so you don't want to have to dehydrate the crew on a race day if we get checked by the measurers.

The racing starts on Wednesday so we have three more days of training. Same crew as in Cagliari. We are making some small changes to or sails, rig and the way we set them, in an effort to make a small improvement in our performance.

The forecast for the next few days is light the decent wind on Wednesday. That will be perfect if it pans out.

Portimao is a nice small resort town on the south coast of Portugal. This is my third time here and I really like it. It is not as hot as Spain and Italy which is pleasant. The fresh fish is excellent. It is mid August in Europe so plenty of people here on vacation and at the beach. Might have to go for a look (I mean swim) later.

Cayard Sailing Website

Baltic Match Tour



www.kihlborg.se
Baltic Match Tour – new match racing series in the Baltic attracts top international sailors. Björn Hansen is one of the top Swedish match racing sailors. He now takes the initiative to a new international match racing series, Baltic Match Tour, the first match racing tour in the Baltic Region. Baltic Match Tour has a new and unique concept and consists of three ISAF grade 2 regattas sailed “back-to-back” during nine days in three different countries. The Tour turns to the international match racing elite with focus on Scandinavian sailors. - http://balticmatchtour.wordpress.com/

You got to see it to believe it!

Living The Dream - Katie Burns

First saltwater sail for Alinghi 5


Guido Trombetta/Alinghi
Alinghi 5 docked out of its temporary base in Genoa, Italy, this afternoon for its first hours of saltwater sailing. Conditions for the first outing were ideal: a light southwesterly breeze and flat seas. “Today was the first day in saltwater for Alinghi 5 and even though conditions were light; everything was good. We are happy to be in Italy for this period of our training programme; it’s a place where everyone would like to live!

We have received a great welcome from Genoa and huge support from the Amico yard and the Yacht Club Italiano and we look forward to some more sailing next Monday with a little more breeze,” said team skipper Brad Butterworth.

The 33rd America’s Cup Defender transported its giant catamaran, the first step in the development process towards the America’s Cup Match in February 2010, by helicopter from its base on Lake Geneva to the north Mediterranean port on 7 August. Training will continue in Genoa before the boat is transported to the 33rd America’s Cup Venue in Ras al-Khaimah, UAE.
Sailing will continue on Monday. - http://www.alinghi.com

Friday, August 14, 2009

Knighthood...


Mark O'Brien / Alinghi

Thursday, August 13, 2009

RAN 2 FASTNET


RAN 2 CONFIRMED OVERALL WINNER OF THE 2009 ROLEX FASTNET RACE
August 13, 2009

This afternoon the Royal Ocean Racing Club, organisers of the biennial British 608-mile classic offshore race, confirmed that Niklas Zennström's Ran 2 is the overall handicap winner of the 2009 Rolex Fastnet Race.

Zennström's Judel-Vrolijk designed 72-footer finished the race in an elapsed time of 63 hours, 1 minute and 33 seconds, which corrected out to 2 hours, 19 minutes ahead of the second-placed Italian America's Cup team Luna Rossa on board their STP65.

"It is fantastic, we are very excited about it," commented Zennström. "But it was also a gradual thing, because as we crossed the finish line we knew we had a good result. We had monitored some of the boats behind us, most notably Luna Rossa and Rosebud, which we thought were always going to be the closest competitors to us. And after we came in we spent the morning and actually the whole day yesterday monitoring the updates on the RORC's OC Tracker and made our own calculations about the likelihoods for the other boats to catch up with us."

Having failed to complete the last Rolex Fastnet Race, in 2007, the victory for Ran 2 was unfinished business. That race, sailed on board Zennström's Marten 49, had been the first occasion that the present Ran crew had sailed together. Led by Volvo Ocean Race veteran Tim Powell, the all-star line-up includes seasoned race boat navigator Steve Hayles and America's Cup sailors such as Adrian Stead and Emirates Team New Zealand's Andy Hemmings, Richard Bouzaid and Richard Meacham.

Zennström launched his new 72-footer earlier this year, raced it at several events in the Mediterranean, including the Giraglia Rolex Cup, before it was shipped back to the UK, to compete in the Rolex Fastnet Race. "One of the key objectives when we were building Ran 2 was to be able to do offshore races, and the most obvious race we put on the calendar was the Rolex Fastnet Race. So it is great we have done so well in it." Zennström explains.

This year they have also won the Swedish equivalent of the Rolex Fastnet Race, the Gotland Runt, aboard their previous Ran, a modified TP52. Read more...

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Harrison Ford goes overboard?!?!


Photo Gilles Martin-Raget
Better Zip Up That Lifejacket Harrison!
From the Rummor Mill:
It has been reported that grinder Shannon Falcone went overboard when Oracle’s net broke while the yacht was sailing in front of the public yesterday off San Diego. But from what we have heard that was not the case…instead of Shannon rumor has it that it was Harrison Ford that lost his footing and went overboard. Believe it or not…but Shannon Falcone is a seasoned sailor and I highly doubt he went in the water!

BTW - the new main for mast #3 is $650,000.00!

FIRST ARRIVALS


Photo credit: Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi

Property developer Mike Slade's ICAP Leopard secured a second consecutive line honours victory in the Rolex Fastnet Race in the early hours of this morning. With the mixed conditions the 100ft super-maxi was considerably behind the course record she set two years ago. Arriving at the Plymouth breakwater finish line at 00:09:36 GMT, her elapsed time on this occasion was 2 days 11 hours 9 minutes and 36 seconds, compared to 1 day 20 hours 18 minutes and 53 seconds in 2007.

" It was a great race ,"commented Slade. " It is always nice to have a race where there are no breakages or damage. We didn't get into any difficult situations. We just wanted to get around fast and competently. All in all we are delighted to be here, second time running, back to back victories in this great race. A huge thanks to the RORC, our sponsors ICAP and Rolex for yet again taking an interest in yachting." Read more...

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

BMW ORACLE PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO


James Spithill and Russell Coutts talk about the boat and America's Cup during their press conference in San Diego. See more of the Special Event @ http://www.livestream.com/sailkarma - this video is on a loop.

Old Vs New


Photo by Gilles Martin-Raget
BOR90 vs America.

Harrison Ford in San Diego


Photo Sailkarma.com
Harrison Ford was in San Diego for the BMW Oracle America's Cup Team Special Event along side with Larry Ellison.

More Photos from Today B M W Oracle

More Photos