Velux 5 Oceans Update

The Defending Champion and runaway leader in The Ultimate Solo Challenge, Bernard Stamm, is currently expected to arrive in the finish port of Bilbao between 12:00 and 14:00 local time (10:00 - 12:00 GMT). The Swiss skipper, who has sailed an exceptional race and looks guaranteed to retain his title in this classic event, continues to lead the fleet towards the end of their dramatic circumnavigation of the planet following the start of Leg Three in Norfolk, Virginia (USA) on April 18.

Bernard will be met by hundreds of friends, family, sponsors and media, and will be cheered on by the expectant people of Bilbao, celebrating a public holiday on Monday. Quotes, photographs and TV images will be available following the arrival.

Second place Kojiro Shiraishi is only 81 miles behind Stamm and is expected to follow the skipper into Bilbao on Monday evening.

Boat Positions at 10:20 UTC April 29

1. Cheminees Poujoulat, Bernard Stamm, 285 nm to finish

2. Spirit of Yukoh, Kojiro Shiraishi, 81 nm to leader

3. SAGA Insurance, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, 671

4. PAKEA, Unai Basurko, 954

5. A Southern Man-AGD, Graham Dalton, 2970

India in Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race has moved forward with its plans to bring the 2008-09 event to India and it now looks likely that the major southwestern port of Kochi will be the stopover on the new race route through the Middle East and Asia.

Race organisers signed a Letter of Intent with Kochi on 26 April as a major first step in ongoing negotiations towards a full port agreement to host the world’s premier offshore ocean marathon which starts in Alicante, Spain, in mid-October 2008. Kochi was among a number of Indian ports in recent discussions with organisers. The Kochi Port Trust, which will be responsible for organising the stopover, with the full backing of the Kerala Tourism Department, welcomed the signing of the Letter of Intent and were confident that the stopover would give the port great exposure.

“India has never hosted such a prestigious sailing event and we are very excited that the Volvo Ocean Race is considering Kochi as a serious candidate for the competition,” said the Chairman of the Kochi Port Trust, Mr N. Ramachandran.

The booming shipping port on the Malabar Coast is now one of India’s foremost tourist destinations and the race stopover is sure to bring thousands of additional visitors to both Kochi and the State of Kerala.

The Kerala State Tourism Department, a principal stakeholder in the exercise, envisages the event would bring significant visibility as well as economic benefit to the region.

“Kerala Tourism sees this as an opportunity to project Kochi as an exciting destination, and we will be happy to extend all support to the Kochi Port Trust to bring the event to the State,” said Dr Venu, Secretary, Kerala Tourism.

The Yachting Association of India (YAI), an active advocate of the race coming to India, sees the hosting of a stopover as an important boost to India’s ongoing campaign to establish itself as a venue for hosting major sporting events following its successful bid to stage the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010.

“Hosting one of the world's top three sailing events will obviously boost any future bid to host major sailing as well as other sports events in India," said Commander Ajay Narang, Honorary Joint Secretary-General, YAI. “It will also be a tremendous fillip for local sailing,” he added.

Volvo Ocean Race CEO Glenn Bourke also greeted the Letter of Intent with Kochi as a significant step forward after months of discussions. “India has hundreds of millions of enthusiastic sports fans and we know they will enjoy this challenging race, with its passion, teamwork, adventure and excitement.”

Round Robin 2, Flight 1

A large spectator fleet on the north race course saw the first Flight of action in Round Robin Two of the Louis Vuitton Cup on Sunday 29 April. A close battle between Shosholoza and Victory Challenge was the highlight of the day, although China Team had some surprises for Luna Rossa early in that match as well.

On the south race course, racing was postponed less than a minute before the start, when a large wind shift rolled over the race course. Unfortunately, the shift signalled a dying breeze, and racing had to be postponed for the day.

The top two teams at the conclusion of Round Robin One picked up where they left off as both BMW ORACLE Racing and Luna Rossa Challenge earned relatively straightforward wins on the day.

FLIGHT 1

In Flight One of Round Robin 2, BMW Oracle Racing and Luna Rossa had what were billed as routine races against the two bottom teams United Internet Team Germany and China Team. BMW Oracle got ahead early on the first beat and pulled away to finish 3:17 ahead.

However, Luna Rossa starting nearly 30 seconds behind the Chinese. Luna Rossa slowly dragged past China Team up the beat.

In the much closer battle between Victory Challenge and Team Shosholoza, after an early advantage to the Swedes, Shosholoza pulled ahead to round 31 seconds ahead at the weather mark. After swapping the lead twice on the run, Team Shosholoza was ahead coming into the leeward gate. That's when the end of their spinnaker pole broke. The South Africans managed to stay ahead on the third leg, but their 16 second lead at the weather mark was not enough. With Shosholoza unable to use a spinnaker pole, Victory Challenge was able to overhaul them on the final run to win by 52 seconds.

The remaining Flight One matches on Juliet Course were postponed due to a lack of wind and will be held after Flight 2 on Monday.

The Spanish Beat BMW ORACLE

The remaining races of Round Robin One were sailed on Saturday at the Louis Vuitton Cup and BMW ORACLE Racing split its matches on the day to stay at the top of the table. The home team, Desafío Español, beat the American team in Flight 10, handing BMW ORACLE Racing its first loss of the round. But skipper Chris Dickson and his crew recovered to beat Emirates Team New Zealand, securing first place.

Luna Rossa Challenge won both its matches on the day, to finish clear in second place, with the Kiwi team dropping to third. Desafío Español rode its victory over BMW ORACLE Racing to a fourth place finish in Round Robin One.

Conditions were excellent for racing with a 10 knot Northeasterly breeze on the race area set up just outside Port America's Cup. A large spectator fleet enjoyed the sunny Saturday weather along with some excellent Louis Vuitton Cup match racing. All of the matches featured fierce pre-starts followed by some classic match racing, as befits racing among the top six challengers.

Round Robin Two begins on Sunday with Flight One scheduled to begin with a warning signal at 14:05.

+39 Challenge Scores First Points

It was challenging day for the Race Committee at the Louis Vuitton Cup on Friday, when the gradient Easterly breeze flirted around the seven knot lower limit for racing for much of the afternoon. On the northern most course racing started on time in nine knots of wind and the two scheduled matches in both Flights 10 and 11 were completed.

It was a different story for the matches scheduled on the southern race area, where the wind was never suitable for racing. The race officials brought the Juliet race course up to the north race area, but the wind was no better and Matches 4, 5 and 6 were postponed for the day. The remaining matches in Flight 10 and Flight 11 are now scheduled for Saturday.

That means the top six teams on the leaderboard all have critical matches left to sail to complete Round Robin One. The matches that were raced on Friday were important for the bottom teams on the ranking, and no less exciting for that. +39 Challenge had a great day, earning its first four points of the regatta, while the French Areva Challenge suffered a heartbreaking setback in its match against Shosholoza, the Umpires judging it didn't execute its penalty turn properly at the finishing line, allowing the South Africans to win the race.

http://www.robby.gr Robby - Ελληνικός Κατάλογος

http://www.robby.gr/ - Ελληνικός Κατάλογος

Barcelona World Race

The Barcelona World Race is a new two-handed non-stop round the world yacht race starting November 2007, to be held every 4 years. For the first time, this race will see the world’s best professional sailors from both worlds of solo and fully crewed disciplines, competing against each other in teams of two. Racing 25,000 miles over 3 months across the planet’s most hostile and challenging oceans in high performance IMOCA Open 60 monohulls. Providing a high-level of competition and adventure communicated by pioneering technology to a global audience.

On Thursday April 26 in Paris, two days from his 43rd birthday, French skipper Roland Jourdain officially confirmed his participation in the non-stop Barcelona World Race, onboard his Open 60 which has been renamed Veolia after signing a new title sponsorship deal with Veolia Environnement.

Jourdain (also known with some affection as Bilou) brings the total number of high quality entries to seven, and is the 13th skipper to add his name to the roll call alongside many of the world’s leading solo and crewed professional sailors. Between these 13 sailors so far they have 38 circumnavigations between them. Jourdain has three to his name - competing twice in the Whitbread Round the World Race (now the Volvo Ocean Race) in 1985 and 1989 and the Vendée Globe in 2000/01. Unfortunately, keel failure forced him out of the 2004/05 Vendée Globe.

Jourdain’s desire to compete in this new double-handed race has been no secret. However, a sequence of events including concluding a new title sponsorship deal with Veolia Environnement meant that it wasn’t until today that he could 100% confirm his participation.

Roland Jourdain will race his IMOCA Open 60 under the new colours of Veolia Environnement having announced a new three-year partnership today. Veolia Environnement is a world leader in environmental services with more than 300,000 employees worldwide providing solutions to water, waste and energy management and freight and passenger transportation with a 2006 turnover of 28.6 billion euros.

Jourdain will be racing his existing IMOCA Open 60 in the Barcelona World Race. Designed by Marc Lombard, and built at the JMV yard in Cherbourg, the boat was launched in April 2004 in time for The Transat and the Vendée Globe. Initial fin problems prevented him from starting The Transat and although he started the 2004/05 Vendée Globe as one of the firm favourites, having finished the previous edition in 3rd place, Jourdain suffered structural keel failure five weeks into the non-stop solo race when he was lying in third. However, Jourdain was able to put this disappointment behind him when he won the IMOCA 60 division of the 2006 solo Route du Rhum. Since then his boat has undergone a major refit over the winter, working with both the original designers, but also Volvo Ocean Race winning designer Juan Kouyoumdjian, and will be re-launched this coming June.

Entries so far:

Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA) & Damian Foxall (IRE) / Paprec-Virbac

Vincent Riou (FRA) & Sébastien Josse (FRA) / PRB

Dominique Wavre (SUI) & Michèle Paret (FRA) / Temenos

Alex Thomson (GBR) & Andrew Cape (AUS) / Hugo Boss

Jérémie Beyou (FRA) & Sidney Gavignet (FRA) / Delta Dore

Guillermo Altadill (ESP) & Brian Thompson (GBR) / Boat name tbc

Roland Jourdain (FRA) / co-skipper tbc / Veolia

A Great Day in Valencia

Desafío Español won both its races on Thursday to climb higher up the leaderboard, while BMW ORACLE Racing remains undefeated at the Louis Vuitton Cup. Near the top of the table, Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge beat Emirates Team New Zealand to remain in the top three on the points table.

Racing conditions were excellent with an Easterly wind of 10 knots blowing across the race areas. The conditions were gusty and shifty, leaving plenty of passing lanes for the tacticians to discover. And the Umpires were busy on Thursday as well, with penalties the deciding factor in a number of races.

The first match of flight 8 saw United Internet Team Germany against Desafío Español pick up an unexpected penalty. Areva Challenge and Victory Challenge provided dramatic action in their match. Magnus Holmberg outgunned the French and was just able to carry out a penalty turn in time to squeeze across the finishing line ahead of the French. The duel between Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team and Team Shosholoza was no less tense. Just out from the finish, Shosholoza ripped another spinnaker and could only watch as Mascalzone Latino sailed on to victory. +39 failed to threaten BMW Oracle Racing and China Team did not start its match against Emirates Team New Zealand, after returning to shore with technical difficulties.

In flight 9, on the final run, Emirates Team New Zealand edged ahead of Luna Rossa, but their margin wasn't large enough to complete a penalty turn, so they finished 48 seconds astern. BMW ORACLE overtook the Italians, showing their greater horsepower with a 1:38 win. With no wins in Round Robin One, +39 Challenge put up a strong showing against Team Shosholoza but were ultimately unable to get past Shosholoza who won by 26 seconds. Victory Challenge led Desafío Español out of the start, but was outpaced by the Spanish who put two more points on the board winning by 35 seconds.

Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin One - Provisional Leaderboard

01 BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 98)

02 Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92)

03 Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94)

03 Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97)

05 Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99)

06 Victory Challenge (SWE 96)

07 Team Shosholoza (RSA 83)

08 Areva Challenge (FRA 93)

09 United Internet Team Germany (GER 89)

10 +39 Challenge (ITA 85)

11 China Team (CHN 95)

Virtual Skipper 5 - 32nd America's Cup

'32nd America's Cup - The Game, Virtual Skipper 5' has been released to the gaming community worldwide. The video game is a remarkably life-like simulation of America's Cup racing in Valencia and includes a campaign based on the 32nd America's Cup. The city of Valencia and Port America's Cup is faithfully reproduced, as are the boats of all 12 competing teams. Take the helm of your own Cup boat and try to win the Louis Vuitton Cup, and earn the right to face Alinghi for the America's Cup.

"We're very excited to have this product," said Gavin Brown, the licensing manager for the 32nd America's Cup. "The reviews are rating this as a top 5 game and it's great to have a sailing game make this kind of impact. This is a significant product for us and an important addition to the suite of new media services provided by Alcatel-Lucent through www.americascupanywhere.com."

The game allows users to race in a variety of venues, including Marseille, Trapani, Malmö-Skåne and Valencia. In the 'America's Cup campaign' part of the game, you will skipper one of the 11 challengers through the Louis Vuitton Cup. Once you win the challenger selection series, you can advance to race against Alinghi, the Defender, for the America's Cup.

"We've worked very hard to faithfully simulate the race conditions in Valencia and the America's Cup boats," said Florent Castelnérac, the director of the game' for the company Nadeo. "It really feels like you're at the helm of your own Cup boat when you play the game."

By having such faithful reproductions of the city, Port America's Cup and the competing boats, the game also serves as a fully functioning model and memento of the 32nd America's Cup that can be enjoyed for years to come.

"I'm a new media guy. You could even call me a computer geek, and I'm amazed at what's been achieved with this game," said Scott Robinson, General Manager - New Media Projects, of Alcatel-Lucent. "We're proud to be able to complete our offering of new media services, including Live Sailing for PC and mobile phones, and internet TV with the addition of this game."

Additional features are tutorials which teach the racing rules of sailing and a movie-making function which enables players to record moments from the game and share them with the larger gaming community through a networking capability.

'32nd America's Cup - The Game' is available in seven languages and can be downloaded through www.americascup.com, and in games outlets around the world.

Velux 5 Oceans

At 06:57 GMT on Wednesday April 25, solo sailor Graham Dalton finally arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, 102 days after leaving Fremantle, Western Australia. Having now finished leg two of the Velux 5 Oceans, he will not be able to complete leg three within race rules and will therefore be classed 'Did Not Start Leg 3'. Dalton will not be classed as a finisher in the Velux 5 Oceans 2006-07. However, after a journey that has captured the imagination of sailing fans and people from all over the world, the determined skipper will still sail back to Bilbao to complete his own personal journey and a monumental solo circumnavigation that is a testament to his character and conviction.

Race rules state that a competitor must spend a mandatory 72 hours in Norfolk and start leg three within one week of the start gun firing. The remaining competitors left Norfolk at 12:20 on Wednesday April 18. This meant that in order to respect the 72 hour rule, Dalton needed to arrive in the Virginian city by 12:20 on Sunday April 15. Although he will now not officially complete the race, he has in fact already completed a solo circumnavigation of the planet, as his qualification for the Velux 5 Oceans was a solo navigation from Norfolk to Bilbao, so his arrival in Norfolk will complete the circle he started in September 2005.

Round Robin 1 Flight 7

For the second consecutive day, good racing conditions blessed the waters off Port America's Cup in Valencia and two full flights of racing were completed. Conditions were ideal for America's Cup racing with winds up to 13 knots on the south race course and between six and 10 knots on the north race area.

BMW ORACLE Racing remains the only team to be undefeated at the Louis Vuitton Cup, today securing a win over Areva Challenge in Flight 7. The Americans are at the top of the table, one point ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand.

It was also a big day for the home team of Desafío Español who earned two wins to climb the leaderboard. The Spanish side made a nice passing move over Shosholoza in the last match of the day, diving inside the South African team around the windward mark to eke out a small advantage. The Spanish extended to win the race and move into fifth place overall.

Flights 8 and 9 of Round Robin One are scheduled on Thursday when a frontal system is expected to bring cloudy skies, the possibility of rain and an Easterly 10 knot breeze.

Ranking after Round Robin 1 Flight 7:

1. BMW ORACLE Racing, 15 points

2. Emirates Team New Zealand, 14

3. Luna Rossa Challenge, 13

4. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team, 12

5. Desafio Espanol, 11

6. Victory Challenge, 10

7. Team Shosholoza, 8

8. Areva Challenge, 5

9. United Internet Team Germany, 3

10. +39 Challenge, 2

11. China Team, 1

Dee Caffari - Aviva Ocean Racing

Dee Caffari of Aviva Ocean Racing started training onboard her Open 60 Aviva in the English Channel. The Aviva Ocean Racing campaign is planned to culminate with her entry into the 2008/9 Vendee Globe. This race is contested by ocean racing's elite, is regarded as one of the world's most gruelling sailing races. Caffari's campaign will include a series of IMOCA (International Monohull Open Class Association) Open 60 races throughout 2007/8 in preparation for her entry into the 2008/9 Vendee Globe. The new purpose built race boat for the 2008 Vendee Globe entry is under construction.

Groupama III enroute to Discovery Route

The new Groupama III multihull crossed the start line at Cadiz Tuesday at 7:47:17 local time enroute to San Salvador on its first record attempt, the Discovery Route. Named after the historical track taken by Christopher Columbus, Cammas and his team are gunning for the record currently held by Steve Fossett and his maxi-catamaran Playstation: 9 days, 13 hours, 30 minutes and 18 seconds. To achieve a new record, Groupama III will need to arrive at the finish line by May 3 at 21:17:35.

For this first record attempt on the Columbus Route, Franck Cammas and Franck Proffit brought eight talented sailors on board Groupama 3. In spite of different backgrounds - from Olympic multihull to oceanic trimaran and from America's Cup to Volvo Ocean Race - the maxi trimaran crew is a homogeneous and harmonious group.

The sailing crew is divided in a three watch system. On each watch, three men are on duty on deck; three are standing by, ready to help if a manoeuvre is necessary; and three are off duty, resting completely. This system is organized around three watch captains: Franck Cammas, as well as Franck Proffit and Steve Ravussin, two well-known sailors by the Groupama trimarans skipper for having sailed double-handed with both of them on board his 60'.

Then, each watch is also composed by a bowman and a second helmsman. To fill theses positions on the Columbus Route record, Franck chose as second helmsman: Loic Le Mignon, permanent member of Team Groupama, Sebastien Audigane and Frederic Le Peutrec. Former dinghy sailors, the three men have a sensibility at the helm essential to the good performances of the maxi trimaran.

The Dutch Marcel Van Triest will also be part of the team. During records, Marcel will be the navigator and thus "off watch". Responsible for receiving the weather reports and analyzing them, he is completely dedicated to routing, trying to find the most efficient route for Groupama 3.

Louis Vuitton Cup, Day 9

Sea breeze conditions returned to Valencia on Tuesday allowing two full flights of races to be completed at the Louis Vuitton Cup. There was plenty of action on the race course where the South African Team Shosholoza earned an impressive victory over Luna Rossa Challenge. The Shosholoza match upstaged what many assumed would be the fight of the day between Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team and Desafío Español. The Italian Luna Rossa team began the day undefeated, but eventually lost both races of the day, dropping their second match of the afternoon to BMW ORACLE Racing. The best match of Flight 5 took place between Luna Rossa Challenge and BMW ORACLE Racing. This was previewed as a battle between undefeated teams, but by the time this second match of the afternoon for both teams started, Luna Rossa had already fallen to Shosholoza. By the end of racing on Tuesday, it was the American boat that would be at the top of the table, undefeated in five matches. As expected, the battle to be included in the top four challengers is fierce. Only the top four will qualify to advance to the Semi Finals and three teams currently occupy that spot, with Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, Victory Challenge and Shosholoza all on 8 points from 3 Louis Vuitton Cup victories. The home team, Desafío Español 2007, sits one point further back.

TP52 Season Started

While the challengers mostly drifted aimlessly off Valencia, the TP52 fleet had a full series of warm up races in the Bay of Palma with winds between 6 and 28 knots. Ten TP52's entered, nine turned up on the start line for the annual regatta.

A number of leading sailors were otherwise engaged in Valencia, so substitutes were called in.

Mean Machine-Valle Romano TP52 team had a strong start to the new Transpac 52 European season. The team that won the 2006 Medcup Circuit finished the Hublot Palmavela regatta with an 8 point lead ahead of second place Cristabella, and 11 points on third place Anonimo Q8.

This Sunday saw the fleet compete in one windward – leeward race only, with a breeze that tipped over the 10 knot mark. Mean Machine-Valle Romano hit the water with confidence in the knowledge that 7 points separated them from Cristabella, who were more eager to defend their second place against fellow Britons Stay Calm.

The team started the race among the fleet leaders, taking the first windward mark in third position. They steadily moved ahead, overtaking the fleet to achieve overall victory in this sixth and final race in the Hublot Palmavela Trophy, followed by a powerful Cristabella.

Consistency is still key in this class. With results of 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd and 1st in this event the team sponsored by the Valle Romano resort near Estepona, Southern Spain, has shown it’s in fine form for the competitive Mediterranean TP52 Circuit ahead. This year promises to be even more spectacular than the previous edition.

This event was the first race meeting of this season for the Transpac 52 fleet. 9 TP52’s were present in Palma de Mallorca, among them a recently launched addition to the fleet, American boat Glory, owned by John Buchan.

Alongside Mean Machine-Valle Romano on the starting line were British teams Stay Calm and Cristabella, who were the center of a fierce battle for the coveted second place on the podium, the Italians Anonimo Q8, US team Bambakou and the Spanish team Aifos, among others.

Both the onboard crew and shore crew of Peter de Ridder’s team have worked very hard during tis competition. De Ridder’s firm command of the wheel had excellent guidance and support from expert tactician Tom Dodson and trimmers Dirk de Ridder, Jono Swain and Jon Gundersen. The latter three, along with Liam Newman have also developed a new sail programme for the boat.

Breitling MedCup Event Programme

Alicante Trophy (12-17/6)

13th Regatta Breitling (18-22/7)

Copa Del Rey (30/7-4/8)

Portugal Trophy (20-25/8)

Hyeres Trophy (10-15/9)

Velux Suffers Lack of Wind Too

After four or five days of sailing in head-banging conditions as hard into the wind as possible, Leg 3 is entering a new tactical phase. The two leaders, Bernard Stamm and Kojiro Shiraishi, have been sailing the shortest course possible up to now, holding as north as possible without tacking. Progress has been hard in the strong adverse winds and washing-machine seas kicked up by the Gulf Stream.

However, they have now moved into a ridge of high pressure, which for the time being has knocked the wind out of their sails and a frustrated Stamm will be trapped in the light airs he foresaw prior to leaving Norfolk. Forty miles astern of Cheminees-Poujoulat, Shiraishi has yet to let Stamm break away or to experience drifting conditions, although the Japanese skipper can already detect a significant change in the weather.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston is also experiencing calmer conditions and has managed to bail 41 buckets of water from his bow. He will be reassured to know that Stamm and Shiraishi share his thinking over getting as north as possible in this first week of Leg 3. While the late morning position report revealed that Saga Insurance had yielded further miles to third-placed PAKEA - now almost 200 miles ahead - RKJ is sticking to his guns in the belief that his more northerly route will come good when the new westerly winds arrive.

Sir Robin needs to make up a deficit of 2 days and 9 hours on Unai Basurko from their combined times in Legs 1 & 2 - so he is gambling that this will pay off for him in the long run.

And Yet Another Day Off

Race officers Harold Bennett and Peter Reggio were forced to call off racing yet again yesterday.

In the last eight days, only two days have permitted racing: Friday, when two series of matches were run, and on Sunday when only one was possible.

Instead of Round One being concluded it has scarcely started. Instead of last night and today being the day when the 11 teams would have re-moded their boats, making subtle changes to the wings on their bulb keels, rudder sizes, using new sails and so forth, having built a better picture of where their own boat's performance sat relative to their rivals, there will be a mad scramble to do this in just hours when this round is concluded.

Tension between the challenger camp and defender is nothing new in the America's Cup. It is a winner-takes-all, adversarial competition. But there has long been a feeling that the Swiss defenders, Alinghi, set the timetable for the trials in a way that was going hinder the development of a strong team emerging victorious from the selection process.

"If you use the conspiracy theory, you believe that Alinghi are trying to cook half the teams and the semi-finalists in the first two rounds," said Emirates Team New Zealand's boss Grant Dalton. "You're not given much time in the semis and the finals then you race the defender. So that could mean you're fried by the time you race Alinghi."

The Louis Vuitton Non-Cup

Light conditions continue over the waters off Valencia and on Monday, racing was postponed in Flights 4 and 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

It was a clear, bright and sunny day, but the sunshine generated a weak sea breeze that battled the Northeasterly gradient wind to a stalemate. At altitude, the gradient wind was blowing onshore at up to 15 knots, but this only suppressed the circulation so vital to developing a strong sea breeze.

On the day, winds never exceeded the seven knot threshold that would allow fair racing on either race course and at 16:10 the Race Committee postponed racing for the day. Under the revised schedule for the Louis Vuitton Cup, the postponed flights of racing are rescheduled to Tuesday.

Hosting America's Cup

Hosting America's Cup races are a fair deal. Research commissioned by the New Zealand Minister of Tourism showed the America’s Cup brought $523 million into Auckland and the rest of the country, creating a total of 9,360 years of full-time work. Several different factors contributed to this amount, one of the most important being the sale of services to the many mega yachts which came to watch the competition. That alone yielded $155 million. Valencia beat Marseilles, Porto and Naples to host this year's America’s Cup and undertook to invest a billion Euro ίn the city's infrastructure to do so. Of this figure, 600 million euro should be earned back by the city council thanks to the services it is providing to the consortia. The rest should be generated by luxury tourism.

Τhanks in no small part to a strong Euro, edition ίn fact brought revenues of around $529 million. And that was in 2003. Four years of the same story is repeating itself but this time analysts are predicting revenues of 5 billion Euro. Α study carried out by IVIE (Instituto Valenciano de lnvestigaciones Economicas) calculated that they generated around 70,000 new jobs. Valencia is also pulling out all the stops in a creative ferment that will yield some new architecture. Property prices are soaring. Last year the number of passengers coming through its airport doubled. In 2003, it had three five star hotels but now it has 15. Huge investments have been made in modernising the city's infrastructure too and it is expected that the Cup will bring in 70 million Euro to the tourist trade.

Nothing wrong at all with this scenario if you consider that it's all happening against an already rosy backdrop. Tourism in Spain is on a roll and accounts for 11% of the GDP and 12% of jobs.

Sunday Good Racing at the Louis Vuitton Cup

The light conditions prevailing at the Louis Vuitton Cup continued on Sunday but the gradient breeze proved just strong and stable enough for fair racing. One flight of racing was completed in front of a large spectator fleet eager to see America's Cup action.

Flight 3 started after a brief postponement in 8 knots of Northeasterly breeze. This flight should have been routine for most of the bigger teams over their smaller rivals, but this was not the case in many of the matches.

Most surprising was China Team which led Magnus Holmberg's powerful Victory Challenge team for two thirds of the first beat. They were then overhauled by the Swedes who proceeded to extend, scoring the highest finish delta (3:50) of the five races.

There was more upset for BMW ORACLE Racing when Team Shosholoza led the American boat off the start, again claiming the favourable right side. Paolo Cian and his young Shosholoza crew did a superb job fending off Chris Dickson's vastly experienced team and led them around the first lap of the race course, despite dropping their spinnaker in the water at the leeward gate. But in the closing stages of the second beat the South Africans were finally overhauled and Dickson then prudently covered Shosholoza to preserve the win.

United Internet Team Germany also looked strong on the right of the first beat against Luna Rossa. Behind the wheel of the Italian boat James Spithill engaged the German team's Jesper Bank in a tacking duel in the latter stages of the first beat to take control. While Luna Rossa led for the rest of the race it was by no means a walk over for the Italian team, who won by just 50 seconds.

On the south course, there was further upset in the match between Areva Challenge and Desafío Español when the French underdogs led off the line. They were eventually overtaken by the Spanish team who led round the top mark. But disaster struck on the Spanish boat when, during their first gybe, the end of their spinnaker pole broke. Although Karol Jablonski and his Spanish team caught up on the second beat, they were crippled by their broken pole on the run to the finish and Sebastien Col and has French team went on to secure an important win.

In the final match on the south course +39 Challenge gained the right at the start, but were unable to match the pace of Emirates Team New Zealand who scored a large win against Iain Percy's team.

With the wind going soft in the late afternoon, Flight 4 was postponed until Monday, when Flights 4 and 5 are now scheduled.

Louis Vuitton Cup Rescheduled

On Sunday morning, the event organisers for the 32nd America's Cup and the Louis Vuitton Cup announced a change to the schedule for the Louis Vuitton Cup. The changes mean that there will be no 'off day' between Round Robin One and Round Robin Two. All full flights of racing will be sailed in order. There are two reserve days (May 8 and May 9) at the end of Round Robin Two. If needed, Round Robin Two may include two races per day. The date of the start of the Semi Finals is unchanged, with racing scheduled to begin on May 14.

And Yet Another Day Off...

Friday was the only day of the week that the challengers enjoyed some wind. On the first scheduled weekend of racing at the Louis Vuitton Cup a large spectator fleet assembled on a sunny and warm Saturday to watch the action, but once again the wind didn't cooperate, and there was no racing. It's the fifth day to have racing postponed due to a lack of wind.

The challengers have agreed to amend the racing schedule to allow for the disruption caused by the postponements. Each of the Round Robin One flights will now be conducted in order and Round Robin One will be completed before Round Robin Two begins.

Fortunately, the forecast for Sunday is more promising. A stronger Easterly gradient wind should allow racing in Flights 3 and 4, on what is forecast to be a mainly clear Sunday.

5th Day of Louis Vuitton Cup

On the fifth day, they raced. Following four difficult days where racing was postponed due to a lack of wind, the Louis Vuitton Cup started on Friday with Flights 1 and 2. The Italian Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team were the early heroes, beating the top ranked challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand in Flight 1. The Italians won their second match as well, to vault up the leaderboard.

Racing took place in light conditions with winds between six and 10 knots. Before racing, the challengers agreed to change the schedule for the remainder of the Louis Vuitton Cup in order to make up for the lost days. Flights in Round Robin One will be sailed in order, and completed, before the beginning of Round Robin Two. Thus, Friday will see Flights 3 and 4 on the schedule.

Transat 2008 Confirmed

It was officially announced today that there will be a 2008 edition of The Transat, formerly the OSTAR, the first ever single-handed ocean race that began in 1960.

This will be the 13th edition of the race and although the sport of sailing has come a long way since 1960, the oceanic challenge remains the same. The race has always generated great deal of media and public interest but it is the sailors themselves who have become the legends. In 1960 only five boats started the race and Sir Francis Chichester won in just over 40 days. Four years later, it was Frenchman Eric Tabarly who stole the line honours, instantly becoming a national hero and awarded the Légion d'Honneur by General de Gaulle.

The Transat 2008 will run from a UK port to a North American port, in May 2008. A number of city bids are under consideration, and in particular in the UK the shortlist has been narrowed down to two - including Plymouth, the city from which the race has started ever since Sir Winston Churchill agreed to host the race as Commodore of the Royal Western Yacht Club. “We have been very pleased with the response to our tender document. The quality of city bids returned has been excellent and as a result we have had to extend the decision date for the host start city but a decision will be made before the 1st May to allow us complete the evaluation work,” commented John McKenna, Commercial Director from OC Events.

The Transat is known for its demands on both the skipper and their boats as they race against the prevailing winds across the North Atlantic which, even in early summer, can propel huge storms and gale force winds into the paths of the competing boats. Then as the fleet close on the Newfoundland coast, the threat of icebergs becomes a reality making the final section of this 2,800-mile race a stressful one for the skippers who are already in a state of mental and physical exhaustion.

As it has always done, The Transat 2008 will see the very best of the worlds ocean racing skippers competing. The Notice of Race will be published in May, defining the other invited classes, exact course, dates and conditions. The Transat was 'saved' by OC Events in 2004, but in 2008 is set to be restored to its former glory as 'the' original transatlantic race, the toughest of them all - the North Atlantic Alone.

Thursday Races Postponed

Conditions proved unsuitable for racing again at the Louis Vuitton Cup in Valencia. Four full days of racing have now had to be postponed due to the wind never having been strong and stable enough to start a match.

On Thursday, there were moments in the afternoon when it appeared as if the wind gods would smile on the competitors and provide enough of a sea breeze for racing. But conditions were never stable across the race areas for a long enough time to start a race. In fact, measurements from the race course areas rarely showed the wind breaking through the 7 knot barrier.

For teams, fans and race organisers alike, it has been a frustrating week: "As event organisers, we are obviously very disappointed with the current situation," acknowledged Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of the organising authority for the 32nd America's Cup. "Four days of racing have been lost due to the unusual weather circumstances across Southern Europe. A situation like this couldn't be anticipated. None of the historical weather data recorded for this period of the year in Valencia showed the possibility of four consecutive non-sailable days. In fact, for the eight Louis Vuitton Acts that took place here only two full days of racing were lost.

"This situation clearly affects the running order of the competition and we are currently in discussion with the Regatta Director and the Challenger Commission to determine what, if anything, should be done as far as the racing schedule for the next few days is concerned."

Despite the frustration at not having suitable conditions, the competitors supported the decision not to race: "The Race Committee did the right thing," said BMW ORACLE Racing strategist Eric Doyle. "We would rather have no racing than bad racing. Everybody understands that this sort of thing happens."

Flights 1 to 8 of Round Robin One have now all been pushed onto reserve days or deeper into the schedule. On Friday, the first reserve day of Round Robin One, Flights 1 and 2, which were lost on Monday, are scheduled to be raced.

Velux 5 Oceans Just Started

The third and final leg final leg of the VELUX 5 Oceans from Norfolk, Virginia, USA to Bilbao, Basque Region, Spain just started. The wind as expected was enough to take the boats quickly and spectacularly off the port. The VELUX 5 Oceans is the longest and toughest event, for any individual in any sport. In 2006, the event gets tougher. The legs between ports get longer. The stopovers are fewer and more compact - with a shorter window of preparation for the next leg. And, by the end of it the skippers will have sailed 30,000 miles of ocean alone, facing all the extremes that nature can throw at them.

Light Conditions Continue

Light conditions continue to disrupt the schedule at the Louis Vuitton Cup in Valencia. After three scheduled race days, no matches have been sailed in Round Robin One.

On Wednesday, race officials and the 11 teams returned to the race course area to the North and South of Port America's Cup, but conditions were similar to the two earlier days this week: plenty of sunshine and clear skies, but still not warm enough to drive the sea breeze.

At 16:05, Principal Race Officers Peter Reggio and Harold Bennett postponed racing for the afternoon for the third consecutive day. The postponed flights are now scheduled next week.

Flight 5 will be the second flight of racing on the reserve day on Monday. Flight 6 is bumped to the first day of Round Robin Two, where normally, just one flight of races is scheduled. (The scheduling of one flight per day in Round Robin Two allows for such an eventuality). With the postponement today, the first day of Round Robin Two, Wednesday, 25th April, will now also include Flight 6 from Round Robin One.

Representatives from the Race Committee spoke with the media late Wednesday afternoon saying the conditions posed a challenge to sailors, organisers and America's Cup fans alike.

Scheduled matches on Thursday:

FLIGHT 7

1. BMW ORACLE Racing vs. AREVA Challenge
2. Luna Rossa Challenge vs. +39 Challenge
4. United Internet Team Germany vs. Emirates Team New Zealand
5. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team vs. China Team
6. Desafío Español 2007 vs. Team Shosholoza

Bye - Victory Challenge

FLIGHT 8

1. Victory Challenge vs. AREVA Challenge
2. BMW ORACLE Racing vs. +39 Challenge
4. Desafío Español 2007 vs. United Internet Team Germany
5. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team vs. Team Shosholoza
6. China Team vs. Emirates Team New Zealand

Bye - Luna Rossa Challenge

Louis Vuitton 3rd Day Races Cancelled

Due to lack of wind all racing was abandoned for the third consecutive day at the Louis Vuitton Cup. There goes the big match between Luna Rossa and BMW - Oracle Racing. The weather forecast is not very encouraging but it was better than the previous days, so with a slight increase in wind strength, the Race Comittee will start a race.

China Signs up for Volvo Ocean Race

China has been officially confirmed as a stopover for the 2008-09 race as part of the event’s expansion into new territories.

A number of Chinese coastal cities will now vie for the right to be selected as host port when the race visits Chinese waters in February 2009.

Glenn Bourke, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, was joined by representatives of the China Water Sports Administration Center (CWSA) and the China Yachting Association (CYA) in making the announcement in Beijing.

The race organizers and the CYA have also entered into a co-operation agreement to promote sailing in China. The deal will include a Chinese entry in the race.

Bourke said: “We are grateful for China’s support in providing us an opportunity to bring the world’s premier ocean race to this region. China is a strong sports country with long coastline and millions of sports fans. We believe the race will heighten the interest and participation in sailing in China and Asia.”

Mr. Wei Di, the director of CWSA, said he was delighted that the race would be coming to China. “It is a professional international sailing event, and the arrival of the Volvo Ocean Race will accelerate the development of water sports in China.”

The fleet will arrive in China at the time of the local spring festival in 2009. The stopover will include an in-port race. A number of events are planned for the three-week duration of the stopover.

The agreement is the culmination of months of negotiations with the Chinese authorities to bring the race to Asia. Further talks are continuing with government and port representatives in India and the Middle East with further announcements expected in the coming months.