Brad Butterworth with Dean Stanley at the RPNYC in Wellington. Image copyright Mark Hill.
by Mark Hill
On Thursday, 12th November, Brad Butterworth, Alinghi's Skipper, visited the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club in Wellington as guest lunch speaker.
Butterworth commented that although the legal issues are still being discussed, both BMW ORACLE Racing and Alinghi had started designing their multihulls for the 33rd America's Cup back in 2007. The whole of Alinghi 5 is full of hydraulics, and sensors which change colour according to the loads. The bowsprit has a 32 tonne threshold on it, and if it goes over 32 tonnes, there's an alarm that goes off in the back of the boat. The width of the boat gives it a huge righting moment. The winches on the boat are the biggest winches that could be obtained.
Brad Butterworth addressed a large audience at RPNYC on 12th November. Image copyright Mark Hill.
In about 7.5 knots of breeze, Alinghi 5 is doing 28 knots. When Alinghi 5 is doing over 30 knots, this means that the chase boats can't keep up and they are over the horizon pretty quickly!
Butterworth dismissed the suggestion that an organisation like FIFA should be instituted for the America's Cup. He said he felt that the Cup should be left alone and one should be able to go to a body like the world Court for Arbitration in Sport to resolve issues. [Note from SailRaceWin: The Deed of Gift specifies that the New York courts be used to resolve issues with the America's Cup. Whereas it could be argued that the Court for Arbitration in Sport, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, did not exist at the time that the Deed was written, in practice the Court for Arbitration in Sport mainly deals with issues such as drug use by athletes. SailRaceWin applauds Justice Kornreich's use of a sailor advisory panel to assist the Court with technical decisions under the Deed of Gift.]
Brad Butterworth said that he was looking forward to racing in the 33rd America's Cup in February.
Spirit of Wellington initiative
Dean Stanley, Wellington Yachting Association. Image copyright Mark Hill.
by SailRaceWin
Dean Stanley also made a brief presentation re. The Wellington Yachting Talent Development Programme. Its aims are:
* Sailors from Wellington consistently achieving podium finishes in the Asia/Pacific youth match racing circuit
* Sailors from Wellington consistently gaining 10% of the places in the New Zealand youth squad and the New Zealand youth team and going on to compete and achieve internationally
* Sailors from Wellington consistently gaining 10% of the top ten percent of places at the National Championships of the youth classes supported by the programme
There is a more general plan for the Wellington Spirit Yacht Racing team, which includes the highly ambitious aim of development of a New Zealand Match Racing Cup as one of the events on the World Match Racing Tour. Further information on this is available.
Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club. Image copyright Mark Hill.
Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club
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