America's Cup: Richard Worth & Craig Thompson to run 34th America’s Cup

Champions League pioneers to transform America's Cup


The America's Cup trophy. Supplied image.

by Tim Jeffery

Two of the most distinguished figures in world sport will lead the regeneration of the America's Cup.

Richard Worth will be Chairman of the America's Cup Event Authority (ACEA) Management Board. He has specific responsibility for the commercial, media and television aspects in one of sports most iconic events.

Craig Thompson has been appointed CEO of ACEA and is charged with bringing his skills to the rejuvenation of the oldest trophy in international sport. He will work closely with Richard to re-position the America's Cup to attract more fans and commercial interest, while delivering the events in new and exciting formats.

The 34th America's Cup, staged in 2013, will feature the best sailors in the world on the fastest boats. Foremost amongst many innovations is a new wingsailed 72ft catamaran, a new World Series annual championship and the new Youth America's Cup.

Amongst their long list of achievements, Worth and Thompson are recognized for their pivotal roles in the phenomenal growth of the UEFA Champions League, one of the most successful properties and most watched competitions in world sport.

Each has worked closely with the governing bodies for the Olympics, soccer and athletics - the IOC, FIFA, UEFA and IAAF plus other leading sports federations and rights holders.

Worth forged an enviable partnership with Thompson at the highly regarded sport marketing agency, T.E.A.M. During their leadership as Chief Executive and Managing Director respectively, T.E.A.M. marketing developed an unrivalled model of the sales success, event delivery and partner servicing.

Prior to that, Thompson was Vice-President at another respected sports marketing agency, ISL, and Worth led the network of the ITV sports production in Britain.

Commenting on the key appointments Jérôme Valcke, Secretary-General of FIFA, soccer's world governing authority said:
"Richard brings an intimate understanding of how to balance the conflicting needs of different stakeholders to generate overall growth and success for a major event, from his history in the sports marketing industry at the top level."

Tom Liston, Managing Director T.E.A.M. Marketing commented:
"Craig Thompson, with his 11 years of experience as Managing Director of T.E.A.M. Marketing, has the necessary leadership, vision and insight to develop, add value and enhance the America's Cup as a brand and a commercial property."

The appointments were made by BMW ORACLE Racing, winners of the 33rd America's Cup. CEO Russell Coutts explained:

"We studied best practice in the world's top sporting events. Now we are fortunate to have secured two of the best practitioners."

On September 13 2010, Coutts outlined the ambition for the 34th America's Cup: an event where uncertainty has now been replaced with certainty thanks to a fair competition managed by a neutral and independent body, and a stop-start business cycle replaced by sustainability.

Australian businessman, Olympic competitor and four-time America's Cup participant Iain Murray was appointed to head the independent sporting and logistics administration, America's Cup Race Management (ACRM).

Thompson and Worth head up the counterpart commercial organisation, ACEA. A key objective is offering the best-ever fan experience with social media, on-line coverage and broadcast television integrated into innovative and compelling content.

"The America's Cup has a wonderful past, but it is the potential of its future that is exciting," said Thompson. "The unique nature of the America's Cup has allowed the current holder to take bold but sensitive steps to equip this iconic event for the future and impact all of sailing."

Worth added: "The America's Cup is one of the most recognized events in the world. The challenge is to develop the event to a commensurate level."

America's Cup

Extreme 40: The Final Showdown - ECOVER Aiming for a Podium Position

ECOVER. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/ECOVER Sailing Team.

by Lucy Harwood

Almeria marks the final event of the Extreme Sailing Series 2010. It has been an exciting series for the Ecover Sailing Team, who after a challenging circuit in 2009, are now in a very different position overall heading into the final event in 2010.

Three podium finishes at four events see Ecover placed third overall, and with just four points separating the top four boats, the battle for the overall title will go down to the wire. The teams have competed in over 100 races so far and can expect up to 30 more during the four day event in Spain this weekend. Racing is due to start on Saturday 9th and concludes on Tuesday 12th, the teams will all race today (Friday 9th) as part of a media day, which will be non-points scoring.

There are also two more additions to the line up in Spain, as Extreme 40 class co-creator Mitch Booth returns with Rumbo Almeria, and Emirates Team New Zealand make their inaugural appearance on the circuit.

After a challenging first year on the circuit in 2009, this year has seen a marked improvement for Ecover, “We set ourselves some clear goals for 2010,” commented skipper Mike Golding. “We wanted to achieve at least three podium finishes and we wanted to sail consistently, because that is something we lacked in 2009. We had some good results on the water, but the consistency across every event seem to escape us and it is clear that is key to getting results in this class. You can have an amazing day, but if you can’t keep that level up during a four, or a seven day event as we experienced in Cowes, then you won’t see results on the leaderboard. We have a great team setup, we are working well and we are showing that we have the ability to do well in all conditions, and bounce back when we need to. We have a real shot at a podium finish in Almeria and we are going into this event with the clear intention of holding onto that.”

The racing will take place both inside and outside Puerto del Almeria, the first race of each day is planned outside the harbour, the fleet will then, in true Extreme 40 style, be brought close into the shore. Racing will take place each day at approximately 1430 local time (GMT +1) with 6 – 8 races planned. A spot on the overall series podium is tantalizingly close for Ecover, “Our plan for Almeria, to win! A win at an event has eluded us so far in this competition and we have one more opportunity to try and achieve this. We have a strong team and we really need to stay focused on the job ahead of us. It would be easy to try and cover places and get involved in some tactics on the water, but we need to try and just sail our own regatta and deliver the results we know we are capable of,” Ecover helm Leigh McMillan.


ECOVER Sailing Team with their champagne from Trapani. Left to right: Mike Golding, Will Howden, Leigh McMillan and Jonathan Taylor ('Boysie'). Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/ECOVER Sailing Team.

Current forecasts for Almeria look like racing will get underway in a light 4 – 7 knots today (08/10/10), but the breeze is set to build on Saturday and over the remainder of the event. The fleet will once again face the possibility of gusty conditions in excess of 25 knots, as well as potential thunderstorms. Conditions could be similar to the previous event in Trapani, so Almeria holds the potential for yet more crash and burn sailing. “The competition has certainly been at a higher level compared to the last two years. Although I think we may have all actually experienced more collisions over the last few events, but they are were only minor compared to the ones we witnessed last year! The whole fleet came very close to some major capsizes in Trapani, but I would say the Groupama crash in Cowes was the most serious damage within the fleet to date. With the overall points at stake in Almeria, I know we (Ecover) and the other top teams will be looking for a drama free final event,“ Ecover Tactician and Trimmer Will Howden.

Current overall standings after 4 events
1 The Wave Muscat - 28
2 Groupe Edmond De Rothschild - 27
3 Ecover Sailing Team - 25
4 Oman Sail Masirah - 24
5 Red Bull Extreme Sailing - 13
6 Groupama 40 - 12
7 The Ocean Racing Club - 8
8 Team GAC Pindar - 3

ECOVER Sailing TeamExtreme Sailing Series Europe

America's Cup: Statement of Intent from ALL4ONE's CEO

by SailRaceWin

We asked ALL4ONE their position with regard to challenging for the 34th America's Cup, and have received the following statement from Stephane Kandler, CEO, ALL4ONE:

"We are happy to know more about the format and new boat. The AC was one of our goals and we wish to take part to it as the challenge will be more open than ever with the changes. We consider that building a strong team with enough common experience is the most important thing to be competitive in the AC whatever the boat is. This is what we have started to do with success since more than a year. For now we have a still have a strong sailing program at highest level with the Audi MedCup, the TP52 Worlds and the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Dubaï where we regularly face the best teams of the world and many of the future Challengers. We are currently working on our future commitments and will give more information about very soon on a concrete future program."

ALL4ONE
America's Cup

WMRT: Australia's Torvar Mirsky's Perfect 6-0 puts him in Quaterfinals at Argo Group Gold Cup

Johnnie Berntsson (SWE) qualified in second place for the quarterfinals in Mirsky's group. Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.

by Talbot Wilson

Torvar Mirsky kept his perfect score in racing Thursday morning to lead Group 3 in the 2010 Argo Group Gold Cup. His Mirsky Racing Team, ranked #3 of the World Match Racing Tour before the event, moves on to the Quarter-Finals with the best record so far. Also qualifying automatically in Group 3 was 2008 Argo Group Gold Cup Champion Johnie Berntsson of Sweden with 5 wins.

Mirsky defeated Great Britain’s 4th ranked Ian Williams and the Team GAC Pindar sponsored by Argo Group in their Flight 7 match to maintain his momentum. Williams was knocked into the repechage ‘second chance’ series by the loss to Mirsky.

But the story of the day had to be the top-flight performance of Argo Group Gold Cup newcomer Taylor Canfield from St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. He earned automatic entry into the Quarter-Finals from Group 1 with 5 wins. Canfield, a 21-year-old student at Boston College, lost only to the other Group 1 automatic qualifier Jasper Radich from Denmark. Radich won the King Edward VII Gold Cup trophy in 2002 and his Gaastra Racing Team stands in 8th place on the Tour. Radich was #1 in the group and Canfield #2.

Canfield, who is a rookie in the event, said going into the event, “I think the IODs will be very challenging as far as their responsiveness and lack of time in the boats. This is also my first world tour/grade 1 event, making it extremely stressful and nerve-racking. We are a young team with nothing to lose. We have sailed tougher for quite some time now.

Yesterday, he praised his crew for the great result so far: “They are doing a great job getting us around the course. We feel like we are comfortable in the IOD”s now.”

Canfield’s father, Bill Canfield a director of the Rolex Regatta in St. Thomas wasn’t planning on such a good result. He is leaving Friday on business and said, “ I’m pleasurably pleased. He’s a good sailor and proving it here. It is great that colleges in the United States are starting to match race. It brings a new group of young people into the sport.”

Over in Group 2, Swiss sailor Eric Monnin was alone at the top with a 5-1 record. A surprised Reuben Corbett, who was moved up 2nd in the group, joined him directly in the Quarter-Finals. Sailing into the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club marina after loosing his match today with Jakub Pawluk, Corbett thought he would have to sail the repechage to qualify. However, Ben Ainslie’s win over Adam Minoprio put both of them into the repechage and moved the young New Zealander directly into the finals.

Relaxing at Royal Bermuda YC after winning his group Monnin, who finished 4th in 2009 said, “We won the round robin and we are thrilled with that. We have had quite a good year and with the same team as last year. Everything is going well for us. We are here at the Gold Cup for the seventh time and in the sixth prior times we have been here, we have raced twice in the final rounds on Sunday so yes, being around until Sunday is a big goal for us.”

Today was great sailing for us,” he added. “We actually like the light air and since we are Swiss so we are used to the light, fluky air in the Swiss lakes. We are a light crew and so the light air is good for us. tomorrow (Friday) will be a little more challenging for us as it is meant to be a very windy day.”

World Match Racing Tour points-leader Mathieu Richard from France, who won here in 2007, had only 2.5 points and failed to make the cut. This loss is a serious threat to his hopes of winning the overall Tour Championship. He must win the Monsoon Cup in November to stand a chance.

The six teams that were third and fourth in each group will sail the ‘last chance’ repechage with the winner and runner-up filling the last two Quarter-Final slots. In Group 1, 3rd place went to Denmark’s Bjorn Hansen, #9 on the tour, and 4th place was 23-year-old Kiwi Phil Robertson. Group 2 skippers Ben Ainslie, #5 on the tour and Adam Minoprio, #2 ranker, will have another chance. Group 3 rounds out the six-team fleet with Ian Williams, Great Britain’s #4 on the Tour and Alvaro Marinho from Portugal.

The repechage group was scheduled to sail Thursday afternoon but thy only got on flight in due to lack of a breeze. Winners in the 3-5 kt drifter were Minoprio, Williams and Ainslie.

Flights 2-5 matches were postponed until 8:00 this morning. The repechage will be followed directly by the Quarter-Finals. If weather permits, the popular Pro-Am that matches sponsors and dignitaries with Gold Cup teams for shore-course fleet racing on Hamilton Harbour will be sailed as scheduled this afternoon.

With the big wind predicted today, there should be some exciting competition among this group that includes some of the top ranked sailors in the world.

Royal Bermuda Yacht club is the perfect place to watch the racing. Action continues all week with the finals of Argo Group Gold Cup and the RenRe Jr. Gold Cup and the Family Festival of Sail all scheduled for Sunday.

Argo Group Gold Cup
World Match Racing Tour

WMRT: Images from Day Three of the Argo Group Gold Cup

Pawluk (POL) vs Corbett (NZL). Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.


Macgregor (GBR) and Canfield (USVI). Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.


Eric Monnin (SUI). Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.


GBR Match Race Girls T-shirt modified as half the crew are male in Bermuda. Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.


Ben Ainslie (GBR). Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.


Ben Ainslie (GBR) leads Adam Minoprio (NZL). Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.


Ben Ainslie (GBR). Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.


Ian Williams (GBR). Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.


Sunset over the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and Hamilton Harbour. Image copyright Subzero Images/WMRT.

Argo Group Gold Cup
World Match Racing Tour

Normandy Sailing Week 2011 is Open!

M34 sailing off La Seyne-sur-Mer at the end of the Tour de France à la Voile 2010. Image copyright Archambault boats.

by Kate Jennings (in translation)

After gathering together 100 yachts ranging from 7 to 15 m and nearly 700 racersthis year, the NORMANDY SAILING WEEK, the 2nd of the name in Le Havre and the 6th edition of the Norman event, has every intention of continuing its development in 2011; thus gaining in stature from year to year in the large race meets in France and Europe.

The event will take place over 3 days from Saturday 11th June to Monday 13th June for the majority of the series, thus benefiting from the Whitsun bank holiday. The notice of race is available and registration is open from today on the website www.normandy-week.com (pay attention to this year’s deadline of 15th May before the increase in entry fees).

Sportsboats, reference one design series and IRC cruisers will do battle on the race zones of Le Havre and the Baie de Seine, which will involve tactical courses, coastal courses and a big 100 mile race for the series boats, pending official confirmation from the M34s. From 8 series in 2010 the sports line-up could well comprise 12 in 2011, the whole of the schedule for all the classes being fixed at the start of December at the Paris Boat Show.

The Sportsboatshave a special role in this progression. Indeed, as was the case in 2010, the 6.50 Class is expected to race with its fleet of Mach 6.5s, Open 6.50s and K.650s, while the Laser SB3 is in full revival mode in Normandy, with the series also set to draw in the British and North European crews. Meantime the Longtze, another highly dynamic and flourishing sportsboat, may well return to the event in which it took part in 2009. Finally the event is also due to play host to the Open 5.70s.

The main one design series will also be in attendance of course. These include the J80, which each year boosts its status as the top one design series in France with 150 crews participating in the Coupe de France (French Cup) and the Beneteau First Class 7.5, which will be the craft sailed for the Channel selections for the French Espoirs Championship, set to be held in Le Havre again in August 2011.

Equally the event is a candidate to host the all new M34 in the context of a leg of the FFVoiles’s French Crewed Championship, a stage organised every years since the event’s creation. Due to replace the Farr 30, the Joubert / Nivelt / Mercier design M34 is a 10.34m one design built by the Archambault yard. It is roomier and boasts a greater sail area than its predecessor and the first deliveries are underway to prepare for the Tour de France à la Voile 2011.

The IRC cruisersalso have considerable development potential for the NORMANDY SAILING WEEK and their numbers have continued to increase from one edition to the next (around forty in 2010). After boasting a large fleet in Le Havre this year, the crafts from the other ports of the Baie de Seine area (Dieppe / Fécamp / Honfleur / Deauville / Dives / Ouistreham / Courseulles) are called to take part in this grand race meet. They are set to be joined by the British and North European crews which give the event its international character. In fact, the gradual arrival of the large craft from across the Channel measuring 45 feet and more (Swan 45 – DK 46 – Farr 45) has led to the creation of a 4th IRC class.

Coordinated by the Ligue de Voile de Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy Sailing League), the CNPV (Paul Vatine Nautical Centre), the SRH (Le Havre Racing Society) and the SNPH (Watersports and Yachting of Le Havre) will once again be mobilising their teams to provide a top quality sports reception.

Finally, a sizeable reception programme will enable crews to get together on shore in what will be a very friendly atmosphere broken down into three special soirées, ranging from a crew supper to some festive evenings.

Normandy Sailing Week

Multiple Choice: The Rise of Cats and Tris

Supplied image.

by Janine Robinson

In 1988 Dennis Conner infamously said, “One of us was sailing a cat – the other a dog”. He was of course referring to the 1988 America’s Cup challenge in which he successfully challenged New Zealand’s KZ1, a 90 foot sloop with a 60 foot wing-sailed catamaran, crossing the finish line minutes ahead and possibly igniting the first ever public debate over the virtues of multihulls over the monohull.

Now, twelve years later, it seems the cat has come back with the recent announcement that the 2013 America’s Cup will be sailed in 22 metre catamarans.

CEO of BMW-Oracle Russell Coutts stated recently, that monohulls are for the ‘Flintsone’ generation and that Multihulls are for the ‘Facebooks’ and believes racing the America’s Cup in multihulls will make the event more exciting, gain media attention, and attract new sponsorship for the event.

The popularity of multihulls has risen within the NZ racing scene. Matthew Flynn of the NZMYC tells us that the club numbers are steadily increasing with an average of 15 boats competing regularly in harbour racing events, which includes a fleet of both 8.5m Club and open multihulls.

To qualify for membership for the 8.5m Club each boat must fit within a ‘box rule’. Simply put, as long as your boat fits within an 8.5m length, 6.6m beam max, and 12.6m airdraft (the measurement from waterline to top of mast), then you’re in for consideration.

The class has grown in popularity, particularly amongst younger boat owners, as it’s seen as having affordable entry into fast, exciting, class racing, due to the availability of boats such as GBE’s and Farriers which are easily modified into competitive 8.5m Class racers.

There are, of course, new boats being designed and built to the rule, such as Lucifer (pictured) and Borderline, both of which are providing thrills and excitement on the water for their crews and spectators alike.

Annually the HSBC Premier Coastal Classic is run by the NZMYC and multihull numbers are expected to exceed 20 entries this year. The inaugural Coastal Classic yacht race held in 1982 was won on line by a forty foot Crowther designed trimaran Krisis, the first monohull, Hawkeye a Farr 38, following some fifty minutes later, according to the Coastal Classic website.

Another boat of note in the history of the Coastal Classic, is the veteran racer, Split Enz, designed by Ron Given in 1984. Split Enz won the multihull division six times before she was sold and sailed to Noumea – rumour has it, she was sailed with an inflatable dinghy strapped to the deck for a life raft. She is currently back in New Zealand and will again be lining up at the start, Labour Weekend.

Another regular Coastal Classic competitor throughout the nineties was the Tennant designed catamaran, Afterburner, who won the race numerous times, once famously flipping after Kawau, catapulting her crew into the sea, and also onto the front page the Saturday edition of the NZ Herald. She is currently based in California where she is extensively campaigned by her current owner, Bill Gibbs.

Currently making news headlines is TeamVodafoneSailing, a sixty foot trimaran, owned by Simon Hull. Capable of speeds of up to forty knots, she is one to watch this year, as she is hunting to break the current race record, held by Alfa Romeo, of 6 hours, 43 minutes and 32 seconds, set in 2009.

Grant Dalton expressed his opinion on completing some training on A-class and F18 catamarans in a recent NZ Herald article:
"Our intention is to be in the America's Cup and after [the Louis Vuitton Trophy in] Dubai we won't be back in a mono hull for the foreseeable future," said Dalton. "We need to sail other boats as ...well - A-class cats, extreme 40s, F-18s, other boats that have relevance to transferring the skills across." With the future of the Cup in large multihulls this means that potential challengers will be looking to develop their crew roster and recruit future talent from the multihull fraternity. It is predicted that a number of sailors will be making the switch from mono hull sailing to the high speed multihulls. One of the most popular trailer able multihulls world wide is the Formula F18 (F18). Fleet racing in Auckland is based out of the Royal Akarana Yacht Club (RAYC), who run a diverse programme of around the buoys racing as well as a Harbour Blast series.

So with the passing of the crystal ball from Dennis to Russell, it’s seems the future development of multihull technology is firmly cemented. No doubt that same technology with one day filter to grass roots level and the technology once only affordable to professional sailors will be common place amongst multihulls in our own waters and beyond.

Royal Akarana Yacht Club