Valencia is Final

In a letter written today to New York Supreme Court Justice Kornreich following the unsuccessful discussions with the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), the America's Cup Defender, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), has confirmed that it will conduct a Deed of Gift Match with GGYC in February 2010 in Valencia, which is the date and venue repeatedly requested by GGYC and previously ordered by the Court. SNG has also expressed its intention to publish the 33rd America's Cup Notice of Race with immediate effect.

When SNG's first choice of venue, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, was declared invalid by the New York Supreme Court, the Swiss Defender proposed two alternative Southern Hemisphere venues: Proserpine/Airlie Beach and Townsville in Australia, where the weather conditions are suitable in February.

GGYC's reaction has been to try to delay the Cup and to continue to try and gain competitive advantage while SNG attended the meetings in good faith with the objective of finding a settlement.

While SNG confirms Valencia as the venue for the 33rd America's Cup in February 2010, the offer to GGYC of an Australian venue for the same date remains on the table until 13 November 2009 provided GGYC agrees to withdraw all legal actions.

Valencia Hosts AC Pre-Regattas

The 33rd America's Cup event authority, AC Management, today signed a Host Venue agreement with the Valencian Municipality and Regional Government for the Spanish city of Valencia to hold two America's Cup pre-regattas, the first from the 10-19 July and the second in October.
Should the pending litigation concerning the future of the 33rd America's Cup be resolved in favour of the multi-challenger event as proposed by the Defender, Alinghi and the Challenger of Record, Club Náutico Español de Vela, these two regattas will be part of the 33rd America's Cup, with the Match scheduled for 2010.

The Defender and the Challengers will meet off Malvarrosa Beach with the ACC Version 5.0 yachts in just three months time for a combination of fleet and match racing much like the highly successful Acts held in the lead up to the 32nd America's Cup.

Alinghi and Club Náutico Español de Vela held the sixth Competitor Meeting yesterday in Valencia with the entered teams and discussions centered on base allocation and plans for Version 5.0 yacht allocation during the two 33rd America's Cup pre-regattas, the first of which begins on 10 July in Valencia. The group of teams, having worked on the document for the past months, decided to publish the Competition Regulations for the 33rd America's Cup this week.
The next 33rd America's Cup Competitor Meeting is on 28 April.

Valencia Released

As a consequence of the continued uncertainty around the 33rd America's Cup caused by the Golden Gate Yacht Club's legal manoeuvres, AC Management and the Spanish institutions (Central State, Valencia Region and Valencia Municipality) have been left with no option but to revise the terms of their relationship, ending the contract signed in July 2007 that named Valencia the Host City for a multi-challenge 33rd America's Cup in 2009.

The two parties have entered into a new agreement that concludes months of discussions trying to adapt the contract signed after the success of the 32nd America's Cup to the current legal context. Under the new agreement, the organisation and exploitation of the Port America's Cup facilities will be managed by the Spanish institutions from 1 July; the 33rd America's Cup teams retain the opportunity to continue using their bases and the majority of administrative benefits for teams and personnel remain in force until the end of 2008.

Audi MedCup Part 2

After winning the opening regatta of the Audi MedCup Circuit two weeks ago in Alicante today’s warm-up contest, raced in 8-10 knots of Southerly breeze amidst a spectacular Mediterranean amphitheatre bound to the east by L’Ile Maire and the Montagne de Marseille Veire, signaled a clear warning that De Ridder’s team will be the crew to beat here.

Platoon powered by Team Germany, skippered by three times Olympic gold medallist Jochen Schuemann proved that their hard work in Valencia, tuning their new Rolf Vroijk designed boat and a hard week of crew training, may reveal a dividend this week. They were quickest off the start line and made the best tactical call to lead the race all the way until the last 400 metres, but showed very good speed, especially downwind.

The maiden race outing for USA-17 saw Larry Ellison enjoy his first sail on the TP52. With Russell Coutts (NZL) and James Spit hill (AUS) orchestrating the tactical decisions at the back of the boat, USA-17 was seventh at the first windward mark, four seconds behind sister-ship Artemis, and finished ninth.

While it was a gentle introduction for Ellison, Coutts and co to their new boat and the rest of the 14 boat fleet, local forecasters and team navigators are predicting at least 20 knots of Mistral breeze for tomorrow’s opening races.

Desafio Espanol

From Valencia Sailing blog:

Wednesday morning finally saw some America's Cup activity in Valencia, not related to the infamous legal case in New York, even if one could argue about its relation to the world's oldest sports event.

Desafio Espanol, the now-invalidated Challenge of Record of the 33rd America's Cup, summoned the press in its base in order to present the team's TP52 and GP42 campaigns for the summer as well as give the current state of affairs in the challenger. Present where Agustin Zulueta, general manager, John Cutler, technical director and in charge of the TP52 campaign, and Laureano Wizner, helsman and skipper of the GP42 campaign.

The most important announcement was that finally, Desafio Espanol had chosen to represent a new yacht club, bringing the relation with the CNEV to an end. More precisely, from now on the Spanish team will represent the Real Club Maritimo del Abra, located in Bilbao, in northern Spain.

One obvious question was why didn't Desafio Espanol choose to represent Valencia's yacht club, given the physical proximity and of course the fact both Alinghi and BMW Oracle have stated that the 34th America's Cup will also take place in Valencia, regardless of the outcome of the 33rd edition. Zulueta's answer was odd and even if it sounded credible it caused lots of smiles from the journalists in the conference room.

Desafio Espanol's general manager declared that the decision was very simple and purely "alphabetical"!!! He had received a letter, dated 11 December 2007, from the association of Spanish yacht clubs where they stated that given the CNEV fiasco, each and every yacht club in the country was offering itself to let Desafio Espanol race its colors.

What was Zulueta's solution to the problem? In order to avoid the acrimonious Spanish regional disputes by choosing Valencia over Barcelona or vice versa, he took the list of all clubs ranked alphabetically and chose the first one, "Abra", or more precisely "Real Club Maritimo del Abra". It's credible but is it a coincidence the yacht club is located a few kilometers down the road from Iberdrola's headquarters?

Whatever the reasons, at least they learned their lesson and chose a serious, well-established club, more than a century old, having organized and organizing dozens of truly annual regattas. Yet, journalists jokingly asked whether the club had telephone and fax numbers or a functioning website. -- Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing.

America's Cup

With the agrement of Groupama, Franck Cammas, the skipper of Groupama 2, has been enlisted by the BMW ORACLE Racing team as consultant for the bulk of the America's Cup campaign in multihulls. Among the pit members enlisted this week in Lorient are Russell Coutts (NZL), John Kostecki (USA) and James Spithill (AUS). Moreover, some familiar members of Franck Cammas' crew will complete the crew, such as Thierry Fouchier (FRA) and Bruno Laurent (FRA). During the second week of training, the team will race against another 60 foot multihull and thus amass experience on these high performance multihulls.

America's Cup

The US syndicate Oracle could challenge Swiss champion Alinghi for the America's Cup at a southern hemisphere venue during the next winter season, the Americans said on Saturday.

That, however, would be conditional on the two resolving their long-running wrangle over when their court-ordered, multihull duel for the trophy should be held.

Alinghi has offered to race Oracle in July 2009 for the 33rd America's Cup, but the US team is insisting on October 2008, the Swiss syndicate said Friday.

"However, if for some reason an agreement is reached for January, 2009, Oracle does not exclude racing in the southern hemisphere," he added.

The Deed of Gift that governs America's Cup racing stipulates that any regatta scheduled between November 1 and April 31 be held in southern hemisphere waters.

If that was the case, it would be up to Alinghi to decide on the venue.

If no agreement is reached at their meeting next week, the matter will return to the New York court which made the ruling for the multihull race to go ahead.

America's Cup

During the past months, AC Management (ACM), the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) and the Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV), in conjunction with the competing Challengers, have worked hand in hand to develop the rules and regulations for an event in 2009. These rules and regulations were agreed by all competitors and supported by the most recent entrants bringing the number of registered syndicates to eight, with an additional two currently filing entry documents.

The ongoing uncertainty around the conclusion of the New York court case brought by BMW Oracle Racing (BOR) leaves the organisers no choice but to delay the event, as many indicators demonstrate a lack of viability to stage the event in 2009 to the same standards as the 32nd America's Cup.

The competitors' entry deadline of 15 December remains valid and for now, ACM, SNG and CNEV await the outcome of the legal process. If the New York Supreme Court rules that CNEV is valid and BOR chooses not to appeal the decision, ACM will endeavour to work with the competitors to adapt the existing rules and regulations and put in place a new framework for an event to take place at a later stage in Valencia.

Should the US Courts rule against CNEV, SNG will accept the Golden Gate Yacht Club Deed of Gift Challenge and meet them in a vessel, possibly a multihull, in accordance with the terms of the Deed of Gift.

America's Cup

Two new teams have challenged for the next America's Cup, whose scheduled running in 2009 is mired by so much uncertainty.

They are the familiar 'Latin Rascals', the Mascalzone Latino team owned by Naples shipping operator Vincenzo Onorato who participated in Auckland 2003 and Valencia 2007, and a new entity from Spain, the Real Club Nautico de Denia.

Denia are part of the Valencian Communitat, who together with the Spanish government agreed a 75 million GBP hosting-rights deal with Swiss Cup holder Ernesto Bertarelli.

Onorato's entry is the more interesting one. At the start of the summer he was an active supporter of the legal action in the New York Supreme Court, brought by Larry Ellison's Golden Gate YC over the validity of another Valencian yacht club, the CNEV, with whom Bertarelli had created a skewed set of rules for the next Cup.

Yet last Thursday Mascalzone Latino conspicuously did not join three other teams - Britain's Origin, Team New Zealand and South Africa's Shosholoza - whose challenges were already accepted by the Swiss in signing the compromise settlement offered by the Americans, only to be rejected by Bertarelli.

33rd AC in Valencia?

As a consequence of the uncertainty and the delays arising from the Golden Gate Yacht Club Law suit in New York, AC Management (ACM) is concerned that the feasibility of organising the next America's Cup in Valencia in 2009 has been effectively compromised. ACM will in the coming days engage in consultations with the Defender, the Challenger of Record, the Competitors and the Spanish Authorities on this specific matter. ACM is considering all options, including the possibility of postponing the event to a later date. In the meantime, ACM understands that SNG continues to try to find a resolution of the dispute pending with Golden Gate Yacht Club in New York.

America's Cup

With the United Internet AG continuing its commitment in sport sponsoring and the gain of new partners like Audi AG and Porsche Consulting, the whole concept of the campaign is now resting on many pillars. AUDI AG is supporting the rearranged United Internet Team Germany campaign and is therefore enlarging its sportive engagement in the sailing sport. The participation of the premium manufacturer can be noticed at first sight because of the four rings, which will be exclusively printed on the spinnaker and, together with the brand name 1&1, on the main sail. Porsche Consulting takes over the yacht construction and provides coordinator of Technique The Porsche Consulting GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Porsche AG, will be responsible for the concentration of all technological competence. Porsche Consulting is now handed over all responsibilities for the developing process of the boat and the coordination of all involved companies - ranging from designers over contractors to boat builders. The German team was able to purchase 'SUI 91', one of the most recent yachts of Cup winner Alinghi. In the next weeks SUI 91 will change sites from the Swiss to the German base in Valencia. The German team is one of the first challengers to start training for the 33rd America's Cup.

Valencia it Will Be

Just 22 days after the magnificent outcome of the 32nd America's Cup, with Alinghi's victory in Valencia, the Swiss Defender led by Ernesto Bertarelli, together with the Société Nautique de Genève and ACM, have made public most of the details for the 33rd edition of the oldest trophy in the world of sport. Following a new agreement with the Spanish state, the Valencia Regional Government and the Valencia Municipality, the Host City for the 33rd America's Cup will be Valencia. The event will take place in 2009, between May and July, with two pre-regattas to be held in 2008. One of them will be in Valencia in July and the other one in another European country in the autumn. They will be raced on the existing America´s Cup Class (Version 5) boats. Challenges for the 33rd America's Cup have been accepted from four yacht clubs to date, the first one being the Spanish Challenger of Record, Club Náutico Español de Vela, represented by Desafío Español. This was followed last week by another veteran from the 32nd campaign, the South African Team Shosholoza, representing the Royal Cape Yacht Club, and early this week by the British newcomer TEAMORIGIN, flying the flag of the Royal Thames Yacht Club. Today, the latest challenger to be accepted is the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Team New Zealand. It was also announced that the Class Rule, the technical definition of the boats for the 33rd America's Cup, will be published on October 31st. The Competition Rules, with the precise format of the different racing phases, and the Event Regulations will also be published on October 31st.

Rita Barberá, Mayoress of Valencia, said: "As the President of the Consortium that has worked with ACM to make the 32nd America's Cup the best ever, I would like to invite Larry Ellison and his team to withdraw his legal action and come back to Valencia and join us. We would welcome him with open arms to join all the other challengers in the 33rd America's Cup."

America's Cup News

Russell Coutts was appointed yesterday (Tuesday 24 July) by Larry Ellison to be CEO and skipper of the BMW Oracle Racing team for the next America's Cup. Coutts, who parted from Alinghi with animosity, will be delighted to race his old team. "We will build on what this team had last time to produce a winner," he predicted.

But where and when that will take place is something of a mystery as Ellison's club, the Golden Gate YC of San Francisco, has an outstanding court action against the Cup's holder, the Societe Nautique de Geneve that questions the validity of a challenge lodged by a Spanish club. GGYC holds that the Spanish club that the Swiss has appointed as Challenger of Record is improperly constituted and does not meet the requirements of the Deed of Gift, the 1887 trust document under which the America's Cup is raced. In addition, it objects to the draconian Protocol that the Swiss has imposed in which it can dismiss any challenger at any time without reason or warning.

AC news

The Golden Gate Yacht Club has counter challenged the Spanish Challenge of Record, claiming the Club Nautico Espanol de Vela’s challenge to Alinghi is illegal. French luxury goods giant Louis Vuitton is ending its sponsorship of the America's Cup, citing concerns that the sailing event has become too commercial. America's Cup Management chief operating officer called these claims an "exaggeration." Rumor has it that Rolex is interested in taking the place of Louis Vuitton.

33rd America's Cup

The Protocol for the 33rd America’s Cup was revealed on Thursday afternoon, detailing the broad outlines of the next event. Among the highlights was the introduction of a new class of boat, to be 90 feet in length overall, sailed by a crew of around 20 sailors. The final design rule for the new class will be issued on or before 31 December 2007. The 33rd America's Cup will take place no earlier than 2009 and no later than 2011. It will consist of pre-regattas (potentially to be used as qualifying for the main event), along with the 'main event', comprising Trials, Challenger Selection, and the America's Cup Match. This schedule will be confirmed on or before 31 December 2007. In the pre- regattas, teams will compete in the existing America’s Cup Class boats. There will be at least 18 months between the publication of the new Class Rule and the first race in that class.

The Challenger of Record is the Club Náutico Español de Vela which has agreed on the Protocol for the 33rd America’s Cup with the Defending Yacht Club, the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG).

The venue for the 33rd America’s Cup has not been announced. But it was acknowledged that there is an existing relationship with Valencia and a host city agreement with the city is being pursued. The selection of Valencia, or an alternative European venue, will be made and announced on or before 31December 2007.

The Protocol was announced at a press conference in Port America’s Cup on Thursday at noon, by Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of the event organisers, Brad Butterworth, the skipper of

ETNZ Wins Second Match

With the score even at one win apiece, both Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand will be eager to grab the series lead today. Every America's Cup Match in history (bar 1871), that has required three or more races, has seen the winner of Race Three go on to win the Match.

Today, the race was breath-taking. Alinghi had a better start, but later on ETNZ slept in front. The difference went even to 360 metres. On the downwind leg, ETNZ bowman slept and almost found himself swiming in the waters of Valencia. He managed to climb back onboard but created a mess with the spinnaker sheets. The spinnaker could not come down so the difference between the two boats came down to 30 metres. A very clever tack form Brad Butterworth brought alinghi in front for the first time. In the second downwind leg alinghi weather conditions were very tricky and the two boats were changing places all the time. Finally, it was ETNZ that managed to cross the finish line first, scoring a 2-1, just a few meters in front of alinghi.

ETNZ Scores One!

Emirates Team New Zealand have won Race Two of the America's Cup Match, coming from behind on the second lap of the course to beat Alinghi by 28 seconds. It's the first win for Kiwi skipper Dean Barker over former team mate Brad Butterworth in seven races. Up the second beat, Alinghi were giving Emirates Team New Zealand a bit of leverage, allowing them to close up. Near the top of the course, the right hand side is often very powerful in these conditions. So as the boats converged, in a left hand phase shift, Alinghi on starboard tack were mindful of keeping the right hand side of the course for strategical as well as tactical reasons. Race Three is on Tuesday, with a 15:00 start time.

Alinghi Wins 1st Match

Switzerland's Alinghi team, the Defender of the America's Cup, won the first race of the 32nd America's Cup Match on Saturday afternoon in front of an enormous spectator fleet on the waters off Valencia. Conditions were perfect for racing, with a stable 12 knot sea breeze on the race course.

Alinghi trailed very early in this race, with Emirates Team New Zealand looking strong off the starting line. But the Swiss showed good pace, eventually forcing the Kiwis to tack off, and when the boats came together for a first cross, it was SUI 100 that was ahead.

Alinghi was able to convert that small advantage into a 13 second lead at the top mark. The Swiss made gains on both runs, while the Kiwis were able to close the gap a little bit on the second leg to windward.

By the finish it was Alinghi winning by 35 seconds. The Swiss take a 1-0 lead in the 'first to five' America's Cup Match.

Baird to Helm SUI-100

Alinghi, the Swiss team built by Ernesto Bertarelli, will start its defence of the America's Cup on Saturday afternoon. Alinghi faces the Challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand, in the America's Cup Matchby Louis Vuitton on the waters off Valencia, Spain. Racing is scheduled to start with a warning signal at 14:50 local time. The forecast is for sea breeze conditions with winds in the range of 12 to 15 knots.

Today Friday 22 June, the Swiss Defender of the Cup revealed its sailing team. The helmsman will be the American sailor Ed Baird, who has been tasked with steering SUI 100 to victory. He'll be up against a motivated Challenger in Emirates Team New Zealand. The Kiwis, skippered by Dean Barker, were humbled by Alinghi in 2003, when Bertarelli's team swept the America's Cup Match, bringing the competition for the Auld Mug to Europe for the first time.

We Have a Challenger

Another immaculate start from James Spithill in todays race, that started after a short delay due to lack of wind. From the dialup in the pre-start, Dean Barker bear away but Spithill managed to get a better position off the committee boat in the windward position of the line. The boats remained close for most of the time of the upwind leg, when eventually both went outside the layline. But it was the ETNZ boat that passed the weathermark 20 seconds ahead, the same delta that retained in the second mark and again in the third. In the final leg the Italians tried to fight back, reducing the difference to just 30 meters, but Barker was cool enough to cross the line first, with a 22 seconds delta. For the first time the Newzealnders looked happy and cheered each other. Prada Luna Rossa challenge did an excellent match and a great appearance throughout the Louis Vuitton Cup.