Carlo Cup Legacys

Ran-Azzurra incident - 52 Worlds 2013

Swans Loose in Virgin Gorda

@ ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

ROLEX SWAN CUP CARIBBEAN KICKS OFF IN STYLE

Virgin Gorda, BVI. 12 March 2013. With warm Caribbean breezes, turquoise waters and brilliant sunshine, the stage was set for the first day of racing at the Rolex Swan Cup Caribbean hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in Virgin Gorda. In Class A it was Swan 80 Selene who dominated, while Swan 53 Music was first in Class B.

Story Jennifer Hall /rolex 

@ ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

The Race Committee, under the direction of PRO Peter Craig, took advantage of the conditions with a gently building breeze from the East to set the racing divisions off around Virgin Gorda.  Starting off the entrance to North Sound, the 25nm course was straight forward - Necker Island to starboard, Round Rock on the Southern tip of Virgin Gorda to port before turning North, back up Drakes Passage to leave the Dog Islands to port, finishing in front of the entrance to North Sound. 

@ ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

Having had their appetite whetted for competition at the yesterday evening's opening reception at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda where Luca Lucheschi, Commercial Director of Nautor's Swan, unveiled the latest addition to the exclusive silverware collection, the bespoke handcrafted Rolex Swan Cup Caribbean, competition on the start line was fierce.  

@ ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

The Swan 601 Stark Raving Mad placed second overall at the Rolex Swan Cup in Porto Cervo last September and had a second place finish today in the Maxi Class.  The American team onboard is focused on improving upon their results in Porto Cervo this week.  Tactician Tony Rey commented, "We came into the last run of the last race at the Rolex Swan Cup and we broke a spinnaker while we were in the winning position, so were not able to recover in time.  Likewise we're out for blood and hoping to win this one."

@ ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

"The Race Committee had a tough challenge because the wind was very shifty before the start.  We took a shot that the left was going to be ok on the starting line and a big right shift came in so we were on the back foot from there. To be honest the Selene crew on the Swan 80 sailed really well, they rounded first and were gone very quickly," added Rey.  "The BVI is an absolutely spectacular place, a stunning place to sail.  The wind in the Caribbean is always shifty and today was no exception.  It was a fantastic day even if we weren't able to win."

@ ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

Swan 53 Music of South Africa enjoyed a dominant win of five minutes on corrected time over second placed Swan 56 White Rhino in Class B IRC.  Owner and helmsman, James Blakemore commented, "We had a very good start but there were few Maxis we had to keep out of the way of.  We were the first in our Class to round the windward mark, which was very satisfactory.   We then struggled a bit on the downwind run and a couple of boats made up ground on us, but we had a really fantastic beat up past Spanish Town towards the finish.  It's a wonderful achievement to get a first today."

@ ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

The cruising division enjoyed a shorter course of 14nm from the start off North Sound, round the Dog Islands to starboard and back to the finish off North Sound to bring them back to the dock ahead of the racing divisions.

@ ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

Hosted by Oil Nut Bay, the social programme for the Swan owners and their crew moves for the evening to the stunning resort the fleet raced past earlier in the day.  Caribbean chic is the theme for the Oil Nut Bay Beach Party and with live entertainment revelries are due to continue well into the night, a spectacular way to conclude an epic first day at the inaugural Rolex Swan Cup Caribbean

@ ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

Racing continues for all three divisions on Wednesday 13th March, with the first start scheduled for 1100.

Up to date Results here 

Emirates Team New Zealand AC72 doing 39 knots

52 Worlds : Rán Racing stay cool

Miami, March 9th, 2013 Rán Racing stay cool in the Miami heat to lift Gaastra 52 World Championship title Niklas Zennström and the Rán Racing team secured the Gaastra 52 World Championship title on the final run of the last race of the series after a thrilling showdown off Miami’s South Beach up against 52 SUPER SERIES champions and former world champions Azzurra. Although Rán Racing started the three race finale with a lead of four points and increased that to six points after they placed second in the first contest of the day with Azzurra fourth, Zennström’s team then had what he later described as a ‘shocker’. Early in the penultimate race they missed the key windshift and could only manage seventh as the Azzurra team sailed to a relatively comfortable win. That left the pair tied on points going in to the final race. Head to head, the odds were perhaps stacked in favour of the Azzurra team with slightly more match racing experience. Sure enough when the start gun went Azzurra had hounded Rán out to the extreme left side of the line, almost into the spectator fleet. But the Swedish owner and his crew kept cool heads and did a great job of damage limitation. Azzurra retained control of Rán around the course but Zennström’s crew kept pushing and, in sixth and seventh place at the final top mark, the team which has lead the championship for longest were in a position to pounce. As a small gust hit Azzurra appeared to broach and lose control allowing Rán to slide past only centimetres to windward. Reports as to what actually happened differ. Rán believe their rivals were trying to luff and force a penalty. Azzurra’s skipper Guillermo Parada later explained that it was a combination of small errors of timing which caused their costly broach. Rán Racing’s coolness paid off and they held on to cross the line just ahead of Azzurra to clinch the title by one single point. Owner Doug DeVos steered Quantum Racing to win the tenth and final race of the regatta, in so doing narrowing their points deficit in third place to finish only one point behind Azzurra and two off new world champions Rán Racing. As was forecast at the beginning of the five day regatta, Miami dealt up a great range of different wind conditions and so Zennström and his team can be considered very worthy champions. They become the third team in the history of the event to win the world title after Quantum Racing. The tall Swedish owner-driver admitted later it was ‘one of the most stressful days of my life’. “It is fantastic.” He said. “ I am relieved after one of the most stressful days of my life I think. We went into the day with a six points lead but we knew that anything could happen. We started with a very good second place and gained a few more points. Then in the second race it was a shocker. It came down to the last race and whoever would win between. In the pre-start Azzurra had their match racing helmsman on the start and they took advantage of that and they did a bit of a match racing trick on us. We don’t do match racing on our boats. But we managed to stay close and in a position to attack. They tried to luff is and broached out and we could just sail past them. They tried to trick us and force a penalty situation but they broached.” For tactician Adrian Stead it is his third 52 World title as tactician: “ It was a brilliant team effort from everyone in Rán Racing. We showed what we are made of. We kept fighting and came back from some tough positions. Coming out as world champions is just awesome. I love sailing here in Miami. We are only in early March in the season and we have won our first regatta of the year and it happens to be a world championship. We are ecstatic.” Azzurra win the US 52 SUPER SERIES overall, the results aggregated between January’s Quantum Key West 2013 regatta and these Gaastra 52 World Championships where they finish runners-up. Gaastra 52 World Championships, Results after 10 races. 1 Rán Racing (Zennström, SWE)  32pts (7,1,1,1,4,2,1,7,6) 2 Azzurra (Roemmers, ITA) 33 pts (1,2,3,5,2,5,3,4,1,7) 3 Quantum Racing (DeVos, USA) 34pts (3,4,2,3,3,4,6,3,5,1) 4 Vesper (Swartz, USA) 39pts (5,5,7,2,6,1,4,1,4,4) 5 Gladiator (Langley, GBR) 43pts (2,6,5,4,1,3,8,6,3,5) 6 Interlodge (Fragomen, USA) 49pts (4,7,4,7,5,8,2,8,2,2) 7 Rio (Moshayedi, USA) 61pts (8,3,8,6,8,7,7,5,6,3) 8 Gaastra-Pro (Blees, NED) 69pts (6,8,6,8,7,6,5,7,8,8) US 52 SUPER SERIES final after Quantum Key West 2013 and Gaastra 52 World Championships 1 Azzurra 57pts 2 Rán Racing 63 pts 3 Quantum Racing 66pts 4 Interlodge 78pts 5 Gladiator 85pts 6 Rio 112 pts Best Owner driver Niklas Zennström Quotes: Niklas Zennström (SWE) owner-driver Rán Racing (SWE): “It is fantastic. I am relieved after one of the most stressful days of my life I think. We went into the day with a six points lead but we knew that anything could happen. We started with a very good second place and gained a few more points. Then in the second race it was a shocker. It came down to the last race and whoever would win between. In the pre-start Azzurra had their match racing helmsman on the start and they took advantage of that and they did a bit of a match racing trick on us. We don’t do match racing on our boats. But we managed to stay close and in a position to attack. They tried to luff is and broached out and we could just sail past them. They tried to trick us and force a penalty situation but they broached. This is what our objective was for the US leg of the circuit. It is fantastic we have done the job we came here to do and so we are very, very pleased.” Adrian Stead (GBR) tactician Rán Racing (SWE): “We probably made it a little hard for ourselves today. That meant it was all square going into the last race and it was who beat who. We probably squandered our lead on the middle race when we missed out on the left shift and we did not really get back into the game. On the start of the last race Azzurra came looking for us and we tried to minimise the damage. We managed to close them down and were on their transom on the gate. They did not manage to put any distance on us on the beat so we were in contention down the run. We had a good set. The guys did an amazing Indian gybe set which put us in a strong position to roll them. They tried to luff and we kept clear and we sailed away. It was proper seat of the pants stuff. It was a brilliant team effort from everyone in Rán Racing. We showed what we are made of. We kept fighting and came back from some tough positions. Coming out as world champions is just awesome. I love sailing here in Miami. We are only in early March in the season and we have won our first regatta of the year and it happens to be a world championship. We are ecstatic.” Guillermo Parada (ARG) skipper Azzurra (ITA); “It is sport. We would liked to have won but the final positions are what they are and are fair. Rán had a great week overall and are fair winners. We kept pushing as much as we could and got close. When you are not in your perfect week and you get into the fight for the title that is good. And we won the US 52 SUPER SERIES and are leading overall going to Europe. We have some homework to do but we are in good shape. It has not been an ideal week for us but we hung in there but congratulations to Rán, they sailed a great week and it was great fun. We called for the manoeuvre a little bit late. It was a gybe set on the offset as we were hoisting the kite. We were a little bit late rotating the spinnaker, getting the tack in position and the backstay on and so we had people off the rail. We did have the back stay fully on and the tack of the spinnaker was a little too high and we were hit by a gust and we were not ready and so we broached. We were very close to Rán but they were able to squeeze to windward of us by centimetres. The 52 SUPER SERIES is in great health with eight boats here with very tight racing, boats on equal points and everything decided on the last race, you cannot ask for more than that. Ed Reynolds (USA) project director Quantum Racing (USA): “It was great to just see how close these great boats are. And to see two great crews like Azzurra and Rán Racing, when everything is on the line and it is a battle all the way around. There is nothing like having your best race when it means the most and so my hat is off to Rán Racing for the job they did. It was amazing. We are third for the event. We always look at the season and come out of the two Florida events 10 points off first. We are third overall and like where we are at. We would like to be leading but there are some things with the boat we are really excited about and are really looking forwards to the European legs of the 52 SUPER SERIES. A lot of it here was us not committing hard enough when we needed to. We thought we were going very well. But we probably took 60 % of the shifts when we needed 80%. And it is more difficult out there than people thought. And if you are going the wrong way more often than not, but when we went the right way we did well. It was great to finish with a win. There is nobody loves sailing more than Doug DeVos and we had hoped to do better for him, but finishing with a win was really good.” 52 SUPER SERIES 2013 Event Calendar: Quantum Key West Race Week, Key West, Florida, January 20 – 25, 5 day WL racing, dual scoring IRC & 52 Super Series. 52 World Championship, Miami, Florida, March 5 - 9, 5 day WL racing, TP52s and IRC52s. Trofeo Conde de Godo, Barcelona, May 23 - 26, 4  day WL racing, IRC52s invited. Royal Cup, Ibiza, July 2 - 6, 4 day WL & 1 day Coastal, TP52s and IRC52s. Copa del Rey, Palma, July 29 - August 3, 6 day WL racing, dual scoring IRC & 52 Super Series. AUDI Week Of The Straits, Porto Cervo, September 10 – 14, 3 day WL & 2 day Coastal, TP52s and IRC52s.

Oracle Team USA's Joe Newton on foiling - AC UNCUT

Extreme Sailing Series Act 1 Muscat - The Podium Players

Red Bull Sailing Team's double Olympic champion skipper on the teams pot...

Bacardi Sailing Week 2013 Promo Video

Miami Sailing Week and the 86thBACARDI Cup

Grael and Lagoa Retain Lead At

86th BACARDI Cup

MIAMI, FLA. (March 5, 2013) -- Breeze just into the double digits made the second day of racing for the 86^th BACARDI Cup a test of experience and persistence for the 56 Star teams racing on Biscayne Bay.  Two races were completed as the sunshine warmed temperatures into the low 70s, and, with three races scored a drop race now comes into play.  While Lars Grael and Mario Lagoa (BRA) remain first overall with two points net after adding today’s finishes of 12-1 to their win of yesterday’s lone race, less than 12 points separate the top-five teams.  

Lars Grael and Mario Lagoa (hull 74) are the standings leaders after two days of racing for the 86^th BACARDI Cup
(Photo Credit BMSW/Cory Silken) 
Available to download in high resolution by clicking the photo above

"Races were similar to yesterday although the second race overall was more gentle,” said Grael.  “On the first race today we did a wrong jibe and we rounded the mark fifth, closed the downwind leg 25th and finished 12th; it was a difficult race for us.  Second race of the day started well, we rounded the mark first and protected the position.  While fighting with Xavier Rohart we managed to keep a good gap with the rest of the field.  Overall we're happy because competition is tough and we're competing against Augie Diaz who is a local sailor and I believe has the home advantage.”

Diaz, with crew Arnis Baltins, is just three points out of first place and knows winning this championship will come down to more than local knowledge. 

"The first race was difficult, but we managed to do well,” said Diaz of the win of today’s first race. “We had better opportunities and with a little bit of luck we were able to round the weather mark third and then take the lead to the end. Second race of the day was more challenging because we decided to go on the right side of the course while the wind went left; I'm therefore happy with a 10th place. I have a lot of respect for Lars because he is very good in all conditions and in all venues.  I don’t think I have a big edge by being local; really not as big an edge as he might think I have.”

Third overall are the defending champions Xavier Rohart and Pierre Alexis Ponsot (FRA), who placed 6-2 today, a strong recovery from yesterday’s finish of 25.  They carry eight points and are followed in fourth by the Italian team of Diego Negri and Frithjof Kleen whose scoreline of 13-3-9 totals 12 points. Rounding out fifth in the standings is Irish Olympian Peter O’Leary and Rodney Hagebols who have 13.5 points after finishes of 2.5-36-11. 

The Italian team of Diego Negri and Frithjof Kleen are fourth overall with three races scored.
(Photo Credit BMSW/Cory Silken) 
Available to download in high resolution by clicking the photo above

Racing for the Star class resumes tomorrow, Wednesday, March 6.  Starting on Thursday, March 7, the Stars will be joined on Biscayne Bay by sailors in the Viper 640, Audi Melges 20, and Melges 24 classes, along with the J/70 class which makes its event debut.  Racing, for all classes, will conclude on Saturday, March 9.

During the event sailors will enjoy the hospitality lounge, BACARDI Rum tastings, as well as the daily prize giving for the top-three finishers and the final awards dinner.  A special exhibit of America’s Cup history and memorabilia will feature the work of Rhode Island-based photographer Cory Silken in the North Hall of the Coconut Grove Convention Center.  The exhibits will be open to the public from noon to 7:00PM daily and are free of charge. The prestigious Coral Reef Yacht Club will coordinate on-water activities in collaboration with Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and Coconut Grove Sailing Club. The U.S. Sailing Center and Shake-A-Leg Miami will also support the event. Racing will be held on three separate courses approximately two miles out on Biscayne Bay. 

More information on the BACARDI Miami Sailing Week and the 86^thBACARDI Cup is available at www.MiamiSailingWeek.com andwww.BacardiCup.com.

Gaastra 52 World Championships,: Miami day one Azzurra leads day one VID

Photo by Xaume Olleros / 52 Super Series © 2013 Xaume Olleros Photography. All rights reserved.

Azzurra and Ran dominate light air first day racing At the 52 Super series Racing was canceled rest of the day due to light winds . Second race was shortened to finish , Quantum not showing the spped they thought may come with there new blade but made great comeback in second race . To take forth . for the last race day .And second overal

Miami, March 5th, 2013 Azzurra re opening day stars After triumphing with a consistent display in Key West in January, Azzurra seemed to have continued in their winning ways today when they made the strongest opening to the Gaastra 52 World Championships in light and very challenging conditions off Miami Beach. Photo by Xaume Olleros / 52 Super Series © 2013 Xaume Olleros Photography. All rights reserved. Azzurra’s effervescent tactician Vasco Vascotto is on something of a winning run, backing up that 52 SUPER SERIES win in Key West with an overall world title win on Pisco Sour in the Soto 40 class the following week in Chile and then a Melges 32 regatta win in the Caribbean. His form held firm across two very difficult races today, contested in light SE’ly winds which saw big shifts in direction as well as pressure, especially in the second race. Photo by Xaume Olleros / 52 Super Series © 2013 Xaume Olleros Photography. All rights reserved. In Race 1 Azzurra, with owner Alberto Roemmers Jr steering, were able to get the better of the close scrap with Tony Langley’s Gladiator on the second beat, holding on to take the first winning gun of the five day regatta. And while Gladiator were clearly the best starters of the day, they were unfortunate to find a big hole in the light breeze early in the second race. Vascotto was able to engineer an escape route from the same sticky light patch which had snared four unlucky 52’s, only just allowing the Italian flagged team to give chase after Niklas Zennström’s Rán Racing which had built an early lead on the right side of the course. Rán Racing went on to win the Race 2 with Azzurra second. With what is forecast to be the lightest day now completed, Azzurra holds a lead of four points ahead of the three times world champions Quantum Racing. The American crew’s starting was less than perfect today but their talent and determination showed as they ground out a couple of decent scores – 3,4 for the day – to keep themselves in contention. Ed Reynolds, the team’s project manager rounded up their day: “ We were incredibly average today but we came away with a third and fourth and that keeps us in the hunt. We will be able to get out of this. But it was really scary out there, big holes and puffs, really shifty. Azzurra did a great job today, their starting ability is good but the rest of us were all over the board.”  In the second race Manouch Moshayedi’s Rio team sailed a great beat and were able to round second just ahead of Azzurra and Quantum Racing, but Azzurra’s gybe set into better wind pressure ensured they were able to pass before the leeward gate. Third place for Rio in Race 2 gives the mainly semi-pro and amateur team a fillip at their first 52 World Championships, their second regatta with the boat which was formerly Synergy. Rán Racing lie third overall but Zennström’s team will be looking to more regular results through subsequent days after they opened with a seventh place before bouncing back with that win in Race 2. Gaastra 52 World Championships, Results after 2 races. 1 Azzurra (ITA) 3 pts (1,2) 2 Quantum Racing (USA) 7pts (3,4) 3 Rán Racing (SWE)  8pts (7,1) 4 Gladiator (GBR) 8pts (2,6) 5 Vesper (USA) 10pts (5,5) 6 Rio (USA) 11pts (8, 3) 7 Interlodge (USA) 11pts (4,7) 8 Gaastra-Pro (NED) 14pts (6,8) Quotes: Michele Ivaldi (ITA) navigator Gladiator (GBR): “ It was a really, really tricky day today because the wind was up and down in pressure and with big shifts, more than 45 degrees of shifts and from six knots to 11knots and really, really hard to read on the water. But we had two very good starts Photo by Xaume Olleros / 52 Super Series © 2013 Xaume Olleros Photography. All rights reserved.  only really in the second race did we miss out on the first pressure in the second race and we could not get back from there. Overall we sailed a nice first race but the good thing on the Gladiator is that we are improving all the time.” Ed Reynolds (USA) project manager Quantum Racing (USA): “ Today it was very tough conditions but we were incredibly average today but we came away with a third and fourth today, it keeps us in the hunt. We will be able to get out of this. But it was really scary out there, big holes and puffs, really shifty. Azzurra did a great job today, their starting ability is good and the rest of us were all over the board. Coming out of the day with a 3,4 we are fine with that. I have never seen spread out like that before in this fleet. We rounded the last run with Gladiator maybe five boat lengths ahead and beat them by probably 40 and that was not a skilful thing, that just gets dictated to you by the weather gods.” +Keith Brash  Vasco Vascotto (ITA), tactician Azzurra (ITA): “ The key was to stay in phase with the wind shifts today, but it was quite crazy at times. I am really tired after that long day, but we are really happy with our results. We are aware that it could have easily been a lot, lot worse, you could easily have made two sixth places. We are really happy. It was quite good that we understood what the average breeze was and were able to see what was happening on the water. Staying in phase really just means trying to sail the shortest distance on the water and we seemed to be able to do that. In this light wind it is easy to have a bad result, so we are happy that the lightest day should be behind us. When there is more wind if you are sailing nightly you can have bad results but the sailing is more logical. Now we have a nice risotto tonight, some nice beer tonight and forget as soon as we can the results today because that feeling does not give you the opportunity to think what you can do better.”

Louis Vuitton cup news : Sailing Team Frisbee Workout

Blood and shins at Artemis Racing

MUSCATS IN MUSCAT DAY ONE EXSS

ALL IMAGES © Vincent Curutchet/Dark Frame/Lloyd Images AND Lloyd images 

Extreme 40s have their hands full on 2013 Series opener

Read the full article online

Champagne sailing conditions kick-started a glamour first day for the 2013 Extreme Sailing Series at The Wave, Muscat, Oman today in what was a baptism of fire for the new teams who thrived on the Extreme 40 race course. After scoring first blood in the first race, Leigh McMillan and his crew on The Wave, Muscat start the 2013 Series where they left off in 2012 at the top of the leaderboard, but with new and existing teams stepping up to mark, the competition it set to be one of the closest and unpredictable in the history of the Series.

Sailing conditions were perfect; a building sea breeze that hit 17 knots for the final two races, and the open-water format with long downwind legs allowed the Extreme 40s to really stretch their legs meaning plenty of bow-down, hull flying and water-spraying action.

Roman Hagara and his men on the energy-fueled Red Bull Sailing Team certainly seemed to have wings today, scoring two bullets and getting their 2013 campaign off to a flying start, finishing the day just one point shy of The Wave, Muscat. Hagara, who in this morning’s press conference to the Omani national and international media made it clear this year nothing but the podium would suffice, said: “It was perfect today, I mean we had good conditions, we had good boat handling and the team were doing a really good job on the course. I will be taking it day by day now, the hardest thing will be staying in the top, I think tomorrow it will change because we’re inside and it’s a completely different game, but still we always try to be on the top.”

While Oman Air may not be back this year, their skipper Morgan Larson is and came out firing on all cylinders as tactician on Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi. Despite problems furling the spinnaker in race three which quickly saw them fall from first to last, the Swiss-flagged entry didn’t let it break their stride, finishing the day in third. On sailing with a new team, Californian Larson commented:“Alinghi are a polished team, they’ve been doing it for a very long time so they don’t need to talk, they just sail the boat, so the hardest part for them is probably working me into the equation! I made a boat handling mistake that cost us, but as a team we sailed well and I think we should be happy with today’s performance. The level of racing was excellent – we have gained some new boat’s this year who are pushing hard so I think all and all its very competitive.”

Robert Greenhalgh showed he has lost none of his edge as skipper of Team Duqm Oman, the invitational team in Muscat. Winner of the inaugural Extreme Sailing Series, Greenhalgh turned it on today, finishing tied on points with Alinghi.

Realteam, a completely new entry for 2013, relished the breezy conditions, and skipper Jerome Clerc, a champion in the D35 class showed some of that winning multihull form today, sailing to victory in race two. “This is very different to all our training and it’s completely different to how it looks in the videos!” commented Clerc. “Considering it was our first day it was quite good for us and tomorrow will bring its own challenges in the stadium. There will definitely be more wins for our team this week – I hope!”

William Tiller also made his debut today as skipper of GAC Pindar and while he has some experience of big catamaran sailing from the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, today was their first taste of real Extreme 40 racing. “It was pretty different out there, but a lot of fun though! These boats are awesome, and with that much breeze we had quite a bit on.” When asked what their focus is on tomorrow: “Pretty much everywhere! I mean I felt we were OK speed wise and we had a few races where we were in the mix. The last one we were second and then given a penalty which dropped us right back to last – so I am pretty gutted about that! Other than that, it’s feeling more comfortable around the boat, it’s been about a week sailing on these so just about improving as much as we can.” Team Korea, another new squad for 2013 and one of the pre-season form guide favourites with Olympic silver medallist Peter Burling at the helm found out just how challenging the Extreme 40 race course can be, finishing the day eighth.

It is far too early and the leaderboard far too close to make a call on who will come out swinging at the end of Act 1 and tomorrow the game changes as the eight boat Extreme 40 fleet move into stadium mode inside the breakwater. Fans online can watch all the racing live online on the official event website from 1300 CET – you don’t want to miss iT.

Extreme Sailing Series 2013 Act 1, Muscat, Oman standings after Day 1, 7 races (5.3.13)
Position / Team / Points
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Ed Smyth, Pete Greenhalgh, Musab Al Hadi, Hashim Al Rashdi 62 points.
2nd Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Matthew Adams, Pierre Le Clainche, Graeme Spence 61 points.
3rd Alinghi (SUI) Ernesto Bertarelli, Morgan Larson, Pierre Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 47 points.
4th Team Duqm Oman (OMA) Robert Greenhalgh, Bleddyn Mon, Will Howden, Andrew Walsh, Nasser Al Mashari 47 points.
5th Realteam (SUI) Jérome Clerc, Bryan Mettraux, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Cédric Schmidt, Thierry Wasem 43 points.
6th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Kostner, Pete Cumming, Mikkel Røssberg, Nicolai Sehested 40 points.
7th GAC Pindar (NZL) Will Tiller, Brad Farrand, Stewart Dodson, Harry Thurston, Shaun Mason 34 points.
8th Team Korea (KOR) Peter Burling, Blair Tuke, Mark Bulkeley, Sungwok Kim, Matt Cornwell 30 points.

Allways fun doing interviews with Vasco Vascotto

86th BACARDI Cup Underway on Biscayne Bay

86th BACARDI Cup Underway on Biscayne Bay

March 4, 2013 (Miami, Fla.) – For most residents of the Northern Hemisphere, 63 degrees and sunshine would be a welcome change after months of cold, wintry weather.  However, for the 56 Star teams that headed out on Biscayne Bay for the 86th BACARDI Cup, the light air that accompanied the chillier than usual temperatures allowed only one of two planned races to be held on the first day of competition.  Anxious to get racing, the talent heavy fleet pushed the line which resulted in seven teams collecting OCS points as the headline event of the fourth annual BACARDI Miami Sailing Week (BMSW) presented by EFG Bank got underway in six knots of breeze. 

"Today's conditions were very tough, difficult to predict due to light wind and very shifty,” said Lars Grael, Brazil’s two-time (’88, ’96) Tornado Olympic Medalist, after he and crew Mario Logos won the day’s lone race.  “The RC did its best to get a good start. We were able to round the first mark in first and then able to get a good lead at the end of the downwind leg. The RC shortened the course and we managed to keep the lead until the end. Good competition out there against the Irish [skipper Peter O’Leary] and Augie Diaz (Miami, Fla.). Overall, [it was] a difficult day as it was very hard to predict the wind."

Lars Grael leds the fleet on day one of the 86^th BACARDI Cup
(Photo Credit BMSW/Cory  Silken) 

O'Leary, who crossed the finish line in second with crew Rodney Hagebols (AUS), concurred with Grael’s assessment.  "Second in today's conditions is not bad at all. We had a good start but after the first mark we never thought we could catch Lars. We will try to keep going strong and get single digit results and we might have a chance to finish first.”

Local Miami sailing star Augie Diaz, the 2003 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, was happy with the third-place finish he earned with crew Arnis Baltins.  "A top-10 is hard to get at the Bacardi Cup! Except for Lars, who was leading with a good margin, everyone else in the top 10 was racing competitively. Too early to say who will win the Cup, but Lars and Peter will be tough to beat.  It’s no accident they are first and second today, I think they are the favorites."

Opening BACARDI Miami Sailing Week was the inaugural PRO-Am Charity Regatta which featured Diaz and Grael, along with defending Bacardi Cup Champion Xavier Rohart, 2009 Star World Champion George Szabo (San Diego, Calif.) and Melges 32 National Champion Jeff Ecklund at the helm of five Sonars on loan from Team Paradise.  Sixteen people made donations to be aboard as crew for the day, with Sailing Heals, Shake-A-Leg Miami and Team Paradise coming out the winners as proceeds from the event went to benefit those organizations.

During BACARDI Miami Sailing Week sailors will enjoy the hospitality lounge, BACARDI Rum tastings, as well as the daily prize giving for the top-three finishers and the final awards dinner.  A special exhibit of America’s Cup history and memorabilia will feature the work of Rhode Island-based photographer Cory Silken in the North Hall of the Coconut Grove Convention Center.  The exhibits will be open to the public from noon to 7:00PM daily and are free of charge. The prestigious Coral Reef Yacht Club will coordinate on-water activities in collaboration with Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and Coconut Grove Sailing Club. The U.S. Sailing Center and Shake-A-Leg Miami will also support the event. Racing will be held on three separate courses approximately two miles out on Biscayne Bay. 

More information on the BACARDI Miami Sailing Week and the 86th BACARDI Cup is available atwww.MiamiSailingWeek.com and www.BacardiCup.com.

Simeon Tienpont on life at the sharp end of an AC45

Published on Mar 4, 2013
Simeon Tienpont, who has raced with both ORACLE TEAM USA and J.P. Morgan BAR during the America's Cup World Series, tells us what he likes about sailing the AC45s. A good reminder as the teams prepare for racing in Naples.

Quantum iQ Technology

52 Worlds : Miami ready for the gun

Miami, March 04th, 2013 Miami should deliver a true 52 World Champion team Tony Langley and the crew of the British flagged Gladiator proved that even though they have made technical changes to improve the all-round performance of their boat in stronger winds they still have the pace to win in very light winds when they ghosted to victory in today’s practice race which is the prelude to the Gaastra 52 World Championships which start Tuesday off Miami Beach, Florida.  The eight teams competing are fully expecting Miami to deliver a broad range of wind conditions over the five scheduled days of racing but they will be hoping that the breezes have a little more punch and are more settled in direction than today’s offering. Langley’s crew, with Chris Larson calling tactics, were quickest off the start line, knitting together the patchy breeze to build a very big early lead. Defending 52 SUPER SERIES champions Azzurra crossed the finish line second with the Austin and Gwen Fragomen’s quietly consistent Interlodge – runners up in Key West last month chasing Azzurra to finish third. The eight boat Gaastra 52 World Championship fleet is split evenly with four from the USA and four from Europe. Newcomers to the fleet since Quantum Key West 2013’s 52 SUPER SERIES are Jim Swartz’s USA based Vesper which has Gavin Brady on tactics and the Dutch all-star team on Gaastra which is skippered by Finn and Star sailor Marc Blees. Both 52’s showed good form at times today and during informal practice have been up with the established crews. Gladiator’s tactician Larson confirms that each day here looks like it might be different, suggesting that the team which collects the world title trophy on Saturday evening will be deserved winners: “We will see a little bit of everything. Tomorrow will be light, Wednesday will be in the mid-teens with really nice sailing conditions and then there will be a front coming through and we will see what happens with that, it will be breezy NW 15-20kts on Thursday and then it will be windy and wavy from NE on Friday.”  “Things are going well. We are going better in the breeze but when it is light and crazy light today then anything can happen. I am superstitious about a lot of things but winning the practice race is not one of them. Winning the practice race has always been a good omen for me.” Larson concludes. “I think we will see everything this week. That should be the most extreme light we will see but the forecast shows a bit of everything.” Also affirms Adrian Stead, the tactician of Rán Racing who has won the world title twice as tactician with Quantum Racing. “It should be good over the five days. It is a world championship to be won and we are definitely capable of winning.  We see this a good opportunity to put together a solid series with the added motivation that there is a world title at the end of it. And certainly it is a good focus for us. I have won it twice and want to win it a third time!”  One particular feature of the 52 World Championship is that it is strictly owner-driver, perhaps giving a small advantage to those owners who steer regularly through their season – like Langley, Rán Racing’s Niklas Zennström, Fragomen on Interlodge and Jim Swartz on Vesper. Doug De Vos steered Quantum Racing in Key West whilst Alberto Roemmers JR has had a longer break since he last steered Azzurra, but showed no sign of that when he brought the blue hulled 52 home second today. The Gaastra 52 World Championships are complemented by the HPR 40 class Midwinter Championship. The HPR entries are not defined tightly by a box rule, but can range in size and style, relying on the new HPR rating system to equalize them under handicap. HPR was devised to fairly rate high-performance, offshore-capable boats. There are two design types on show here the Carkeek 40 and the Farr 400 with two of each – Stephen Murray’s New Orleans-based team on Decision won the HPR class in Key West along with Steve and Heidi Benjamin’s Spookie which is the newest boat in the fleet. George Collins’s Chessie Racing finished as the top Farr 400 in Key West, and so may be considered a strong favorite here in Miami but will have strong competition from Team Premier lead by Dee Smith. Quotes: Doug DeVos (USA) skipper-helm Quantum Racing (USA): “We’re looking forward to a great week. Eight boats means the competition will be intense. We did a small change in the keel blade after Key West to make it a little faster, but it's a very small change and today was so light I did not feel any difference. We’ll know more throughout the week.”  Keith Kilpatrick (USA), project manager Rio (USA): “We are having some hydraulic problems now, but will get them sorted. The boat was new to us in the last event, and we’re still learning, but we’re looking to build on what we learned in Key West and improve here in Miami.”  52 SUPER SERIES 2013 Event Calendar: Quantum Key West Race Week, Key West, Florida, January 20 – 25, 5 day WL racing, dual scoring IRC & 52 Super Series. 52 World Championship, Miami, Florida, March 5 - 9, 5 day WL racing, TP52s and IRC52s. Trofeo Conde de Godo, Barcelona, May 23 - 26, 4  day WL racing, IRC52s invited. Royal Cup, Ibiza, July 2 - 6, 4 day WL & 1 day Coastal, TP52s and IRC52s. Copa del Rey, Palma, July 29 - August 3, 6 day WL racing, dual scoring IRC & 52 Super Series. AUDI Week Of The Straits, Porto Cervo, September 10 – 14, 3 day WL & 2 day Coastal, TP52s and IRC52s.