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ORACLE TEAM USA Stages Massive Comeback to Win 34th America's Cup
Photo by Erik Simonson, www.pressure-drop.us. Click on image to enlarge.
ORACLE TEAM USA won the 34th America's Cup in a winner-take-all 19th race, defeating challenger Emirates Team New Zealand by 44 seconds in today's clincher. Led by 35-year-old skipper Jimmy Spithill, ORACLE TEAM USA won by the score of 9-8.
This is the second America's Cup win for ORACLE TEAM USA and Spithill, which won the 162-year-old trophy in Valencia, Spain, in February 2010. Then 30 years of age, Spithill became the youngest to ever skipper a Cup winning team.
In the past week ORACLE TEAM USA has steadily improved its boatspeed to the point where it could hydrofoil upwind at 30-32 knots, incredible performance never seen before in the America's Cup.
ORACLE TEAM USA's victory marks one of the most improbable comebacks in the history of sport. The team won 11 races to score the 9 points required for victory due to a penalty imposed by the International Jury. Just last Wednesday, Sept. 18, ORACLE TEAM USA trailed the series 8-1. With the challenger on match point, the defender closed out the series with eight consecutive victories.
This was the third time in the history of the America's Cup with a winner-take-all final race. Previously, the defender won in 1920 and the challenger won in 1983. Both times the winner rallied from a multi-race deficit, but never anything amounting to eight straight wins.
Race 19 Performance Data
- Course: 5 Legs/10.07 nautical miles
- Elapsed Time: OTUSA - 23:24, ETNZ - 24:08
- Delta: OTUSA +:44
- Total distance sailed: OTUSA - 11.9 NM, ETNZ - 12.2 NM
- Average Speed: OTUSA - 30.55 knots (35 mph), ETNZ - 30.55 knots (35 mph)
- Top Speed: OTUSA - 44.33 knots (51 mph), ETNZ - 45.72 knots (53 mph)
- Windspeed: Average - 18.2 knots, Peak - 21.3 knots
- Number of Tacks/Jibes: OTUSA - 9/7, ETNZ - 9/7
Will America's Cup Come Back To S.F.? Ellison Is Unsure
Under rules of the America's Cup competition, the winner of the Cup gets to decide where and when to hold the next competition.
The City of San Francisco is obligated under the host and venue agreement it signed in 2010 with the America's Cup Event Authority to begin negotiations to host yet another America's Cup.
It is too early to tell what kind of offer the city will make - or how receptive Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison will be to returning once the sheen of victory has worn off.
Ellison was encouraging but noncommittal immediately after the race, saying that "I'd love to come back to San Francisco" but "it's going to be a group decision... San Francisco is a great place. We'll sit down and talk with officials in San Francisco and see if we can come back." -- Eric Young, San Francisco Business Times
www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/
Dalton Leaving Team NZ After Loss?
Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton is set to end his involvement with the syndicate and doubts whether they will have the resources to mount another America's Cup campaign.
Dalton, 56, has been the face of Team NZ since being called in to restructure and revitalise them after losing the America's Cup in 2003.
A failed campaign in Valencia six years ago has been followed by a gut-wrenching 9-8 loss to holders Oracle in San Francisco.
Ocean racing veteran Dalton says keeping Team NZ together for another challenge will be an enormous task and, even if they do, he is unlikely to be involved.
"I always felt that it would be difficult for the team to stay together, particularly financially. There's probably will there but I have probably done my time," he said.
The New Zealand government funnelled $36 million of funding into the San Francisco campaign. It has not committed to funding another challenge at this stage.
Visit Gottifredi Maffioli at Monaco Yacht Show - Stand QS33 - Darse Sud
From 25th to 28th September Gottifredi Maffioli will be exhibiting at Monaco Yacht Show presenting the new Mega Yacht line. The know-how and the technologies developed in many years of experience in world class racing and record breaking maxi multihulls are now available to the sophisticated and demanding market of luxury mega yachts.
A great example of Gottifredi Maffioli approach designing new products is the captive winch line. The brand new CAPTIVIA78 is available in three different options to better fit the type of hardware on your boat.
Captivia78 STD is the first rope to be specifically designed for the use on captive winches, it features a very solid construction which is optimized to avoid cover milking and deliver excellent abrasion resistance, while remaining flexible.
Captivia78 XT-GRIP and Captivia78 XTR. These two version of Captivia78 are the reference in the captive winch lines offer. The use of the Dyneema® SK78 XBO fiber brings the concept of the Captivia78 to a higher level of performance. Specifically designed for high-load captive winch applications on maxi yachts, this two lines deliver superior fatigue resistance and durability. Each of the two types is optimized for the use on a specific model of captive winch.
www.gottifredimaffioli.com/eng/index.php
ISAF Match Race Rankings
Taylor Canfield (ISV) maintains his World #1 spot in the Open Rankings for the second successive release. Canfield took in the Knickerbocker Cup in Manhasset Bay, USA finishing sixth but the result doesn't affect his points total and he remains 234 points clear of World #2 Ian Williams (GBR).
There are no changes in the top five of the ISAF Women's Match Race Rankings as Lucy Macgregor (GBR) holds a healthy advantage over Camilla Ulrikkeholm (DEN), Ekaterina Skudina (RUS), Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen (DEN) and Anna Kjellberg (SWE).
With a handful of Women's Match Racing events to go in 2013 potential shake ups throughout the rankings are possible.
Open rankings - top ten
1. Taylor Canfield, ISV
2. Ian Williams, GBR
3. Keith Swinton, AUS
4. Bjorn Hansen, SWE
5. Mathieu Richard, FRA
6. Philip Robertson, NZL
7. Johnie Berntsson, SWE
8. Nicolai Sehested, DEN
9. Simone Ferrarese, ITA
10. William Tiller, NZL
Women's rankings, top ten
1. Lucy Macgregor, GBR
2. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN
3. Ekaterina Skudina, RUS
4. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN
5. Anna Kjellberg, SWE
6. Stephanie Roble, USA
7. Claire Leroy, FRA
8. Tamara Echegoyen, ESP
9. Alexz Bezel, SUI
10. Julie Bossard, FRA
Complete rankings: www.sailing.org/rankings/match/
First Volvo Ocean 65 Comes Through Pull-Down Test
Photo by Rick Tomlinson / Team SCA. Click on image to enlarge.
The first of the new one-design Volvo Ocean 65 racing boats has come safely through a rigorous round of testing - including a heart-stopping pull-down test putting the boat at an angle of 50 degrees - and is on track to be declared "ready to sail" by the end of the week.
The new Volvo Ocean 65s mark the first use of a one-design boat in the 40-year history of the Volvo Ocean Race.
The new 65-foot yacht was designed by Farr Yacht Design in the United States and built by a consortium of boatyards in the UK, France, Italy and Switzerland.
The fleet of new boats will be used for the first time in the 12th edition of the round-the-world race starting in just over a year's time on October 4 2014 in Alicante and will be tough enough to be used again in 2017-18.
The new boat left the Green Marine boatyard in southern England on Monday and touched the water for the first time that evening. It has since undergone extensive testing, overseen by class manager James Dadd, and it should be taken out for its first sail on Thursday before being given the green light and handed over to Team SCA at the end of the week.
The new boat was heeled to 50 degrees while the keel was canted fully to the same side as an extreme way of testing the automatic keel centring mechanism.
Other tests have included a structural integrity bend test to check how much deflection is in the hull, an engine test and a cooling, oil and fuel system test.
ALL4ONE Racing Team Return to Extreme Sailing Series
The French-flagged ALL4ONE Racing Team is set to return to the Extreme Sailing Series as the invitational team at the penultimate Act of the year in Nice, 3-6 October, presented by Land Rover.
Jean-Christophe Mourniac will be the man in the driving seat and brings a mass of multihull experience ranging from the Tornado, F18, Open 60 and Extreme 40 racing.
Multihull expert Stephane Christidis, the French London 2012 Olympic representative in the 49er whose hometown is Nice, will be the mainsail trimmer while Arnaud Jarlegan, a Nacra 17 sailor who was part of Energy Team in the America's Cup World Series, will trim the headsail. Julien Cressant an experienced Open 60 and Extreme 40 sailor, who also hails from Nice, will be on the bow while Romain Petit will bring valuable Extreme 40 experience to the tactician's role having sailed with Groupe Edmond de Rothschild in 2012 who won the Act in Nice last year. View the full crew profiles here.
The fleet of eight Extreme 40 catamarans will race on the Bay of Angels in front of the world famous Promenade des Anglais for the penultimate Act of the year.
Follow the racing on the live reporting everyday or on the live video stream at www.extremesailingseries.com
Marinepool - Clothing Partner of the Extreme Sailing Series
Marinepool is widely regarded as one of the leading sailing clothing and maritime lifestyle brands and is the "Official Clothing Partner" of the Extreme Sailing Series™.
We have built a reputation for outstanding quality, excellent service and quick and reliable deliveries. These are only a few of the reasons why no less than 3 out of 8 teams in the Extreme Sailing Series™, among them 2012 Champions The Wave, Muscat, are racing in Marinepool kit.
Using only the best materials and state of the art production technologies, no detail is omitted to ensure every product is optimized before it reaches the market. More than 22 years of experience and design excellence, plus the invaluable input of the world class athletes proudly wearing Marinepool garments, guarantee the products are at the cutting edge of technology.
Uncompromising, highly functional and extremely light weight; Tested and approved by many of the world's finest sailors.
As a group of companies with German roots and head quarters, operating in 43 countries, with product lines ranging from performance sailing clothing and a test winning life jacket range to maritime fashion, Marinepool is uniquely qualified and the perfect match for the clothing requirements of YOUR sailing team or company.
Purchase the Extreme Sailing Series Collection by Marinepool directly from the official online store: www.extreme-sailing-series-store.com or contact us for your customized team wear.
HPR National Championship Starts Thursday
San Francisco, California: Now that San Francisco Bay is cleared of AC 72's from the America's Cup, the stage is set for the next big competition on the Bay: the St Francis YC's Rolex Big Boat Series, site of the inaugural HPR National Championship. Eight teams will be racing in the HPR class starting Thursday, September 26th through Sunday, September 29th in what promises to be one of the most hotly-contested handicap classes in the event.
The reigning champion from last year's event is here to defend his title and try to win the new national trophy, but it won't be easy, as six of the eight teams in the class are within only 5 sec/mi in rated performance.
"Last year we did a lot of practicing, and were ready to race on Thursday, while most of the other teams were not yet up to speed," said Peter Krueger, owner/skipper of his J/125 Double Trouble. "But this year we think the competition will be tougher, so we've spent four days practicing and preparing for this with some new sails and some new members of the team."
This week Krueger has Finn Silver medalist Brian Ledbetter on board as tactician.
While today the wind peaked to a healthy 22 knots, the long term forecast is for somewhat lighter winds, which combined with the flood tides may mean some long upwind legs and some interesting tactical sailing. The first start tomorrow is scheduled for 1100 Pacific Daylight Time.
For more information on the Rolex Big Boat Series, visit www.rolexbigboatseries.com, and for more details on race details and results, visit the Yacht Scoring event webpage at www.yachtscoring.com.
And for more information about HPR, visit www.hprsailing.org
Fireball Worlds
A lot could have changed on the final day of the 2013 Fireball World Championship in Portoroz, Slovenia as Tom Gillard and Simon Potts ventured into the final day with a slender lead.
Finally, after more than two hours of waiting, the conditions were regular again and starting procedure was on, but cancelled with the AP up just 30 seconds before the start of race nine, due to another major wind shift and a huge drop of wind to less than 5 knots.
It was at 14:40 after which no warning signal could be given on this last day of racing and further waiting didn't offer any prospects of a fair start of the last race, and the race officer sent the fleet back.
Whilst the leader board could have changed it was not to be as Gillard and Potts took the gold medal on 25 points followed by Christian Birrell and Sam Brearey on 27 points and 2013 European champions Matt Burge and Richard Wagstaff, who finished third with 34 points.
Final top five:
1. Tom Gillard / Simon Pots, GBR, 25
2. Christian Birrell / Sam Brearey, GBR, 27
3. Matt Burge / Richard Wagstaff, GBR, 34
4. Dave Wade / Tim Hartley, GBR, 39
5. Nathan Batchelor / James Clark, GBR, 46
Full results: https://app.box.com/s/k8ogjcwd3osezpgzzjw0
Event site: www.gosailing.si/?page_id=1951
Industry News
The 36th Festival de la Plaisance de Cannes, held from September 10-15 in bright and sunny weather conditions, ended on an optimistic note. "We are definitely upbeat," said Jean-François Fountaine, president of FIN, the French Nautical Federation that runs the boat show. The feeling was echoed by show manager Sylvie Ernoult, who told IBI: "The season has started well and our boat show has accomplished all that we wanted."
There was good feedback from the professionals who exhibited 550 boats, 150 of them new.
This year 85 per cent of boats exhibited and over 50 per cent of the 50,000 visitors (up seven per cent on the previous year) were foreigners.
The next Festival de la Plaisance at Cannes will be held from September 9-14, 2014.
IBI Newa: https://plus.ibinews.com
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The French sailmaker Incidences Sails has acquired D4® Technology, owned by the German manufacturer Dimension POLYANT. Then Incidences Technologies has been created to support the manufacture of D4® on one side, and also to develop future membranes for the entire Group.
As of January 1st, 2014, Incidences Technologies takes up D4® manufacturing, as its intellectual property owned since 2004 by Dimension-POLYANT (Kempen, Germany).
To enable the best technology and skills' transfer, each employee will be required to attend a training in its respective position at Dimension POLYANT. The period of the transfer of production tools and skills spread over November and December, after the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre and before the resumption of the 2014 season.
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Dutch mast and rigging specialist Rondal is extending its composite workshop in Vollenhove to a length of 78m (256ft). The move, says Rondal, is part of its long-term investment in one-piece mast production.
According to a company statement, the extension will be equipped with the same optimised heating equipment that has been proven over more than 16 years of "out of autoclave" production using the Gurit SE84LV pre-preg system.
The new facility can be extended to accommodate a maximum length of 100m (328ft) by connecting additional sections to the workshop.
Superyacht Business www.ibinews.com
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A tree has to be pretty tough to weather torrential monsoons of Southeast Asia's dense forests. And teak trees happen to be the toughest - so tough, in fact, that they've long been coveted by makers of luxury boats (the Titanic's decks were teak) and of upscale outdoor furniture. It's scarce though. Natural teak forests grow only in four countries on the planet - Myanmar, India, Laos and Thailand.
That's made it expensive - and it's about to get way more expensive. Starting April 1, 2014, the Myanmar government will ban the export of virgin teak.
That will deal a big blow to global supply; around 75% of the world's teak market originates from Myanmar forests. The country has long dominated the market despite import bans that the US and the European Union instituted in the early 2000s. Teak traders have evaded sanctions by shipping Myanmar logs to neighboring countries, which process the teak and sell it to the luxury boat industry and other luxury wood-working industries in Western countries. India is by far the biggest market, followed by China, Thailand and Vietnam.
Since the US and EU have dropped their bans on teak, pent-up demand has sent already high prices climbing. Now stockpiling among teak suppliers in anticipation of the ban is now causing prices to surge even more. Those implied profits may promise good things for Burma's infant teak milling industry. But if short supply encourages still more illegal logging, Myanmar's protectionism could turn out to be in vain.
2013 ISAF ANNUAL CONFERENCE MEETING PAPERS PUBLISHED ONLINE
The agendas, supporting papers and submissions which will be discussed at the 2013 ISAF Annual Conference in Muscat, Oman this November have been published online on the ISAF Meetings microsite.
The 2013 ISAF Annual Conference takes place from 9-16 November 2013
Over 100 Submissions - proposals to either change an existing ISAF policy or introduce a new policy in the sport - have been received from ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs), ISAF Classes, Committee Chairmen and the Executive Committee covering many aspects of the sport. These will be debated alongside the other items addressed on each Committee's Agenda at the meetings in November.
For ease, there are various options by which you can download papers - by a specific Committee, by Submission, by Agenda, by Supporting Paper - and the papers can be downloaded individually or as a bulk download, which is provided by a zip file download.
The meeting papers are available to access here: www.sailing.org/meetings/2013-Conference.php
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The Last Word
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