America's Cup: Defender Alinghi open to discussions for 33rd America's Cup in February 2010

by Daphne Morgan Barnicoat

Lucien Masmejan, Société Nautique de Genève legal counsel, commented following today's hearing before Justice Kornreich of the New York Supreme Court:

“Today's hearing before Justice Kornreich was productive. Our yacht club, the Société Nautique de Genève, the America's Cup Defender and the Golden Gate Yacht Club, the challenger, have agreed to meet in New York over the weekend to discuss the venue for the 33rd America's Cup. We are due to report back to Justice Kornreich on Monday and are hopeful an agreement can be reached.”

Société Nautique de Genève

America's Cup: Golden Gate Yacht Club Statement

by Tom Ehman

Friday's hearing at the New York Supreme Court was productive. Both sides - Golden Gate Yacht Club and the America's Cup defender Société Nautique de Genève - have agreed to meet on the venue and timing issues over the weekend and report back to Justice Kornreich on Monday. We are hopeful an agreement can be reached.

Golden Gate Yacht Club

LVT: BMW ORACLE Racing Gears Up for the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice

BMW ORACLE Racing in Nice. Image copyright BMW ORACLE Racing.

by Peter Rusch

While the American challenger for the 33rd America's Cup is in San Diego, preparing for the Match in February, in Europe the team is getting ready to take on the Louis Vuitton Trophy - Nice, the first in a number of regattas organised by Louis Vuitton and the new World Sailing Teams Association. The eight competing teams will match-race equalised ACC boats in the regatta.

BMW ORACLE Racing will be represented in Nice by an all-star line-up, led by team skipper and CEO, Russell Coutts (NZL), who is hoping to sail with the team in the early stages of the regatta.

"I'm certainly looking forward to getting on board and doing some racing," Coutts said. "The Louis Vuitton Trophy is a fantastic idea and it will be great for us to compete against some of the best sailing teams in the world."

The team will get off to a fast start in the regatta, sailing immediately, having been matched against the new Italian team, Azzurra, in the first Match, of the first Flight of racing in Round Robin One. The American squad is scheduled to face the winner of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, Emirates Team New Zealand in Flight 12, in what should be a highlight match.

BMW ORACLE Racing will have a deep pool of talent from which to select its afterguard, including team owner Larry Ellison (USA), Gavin Brady (NZL), Hamish Pepper (NZL), and Michele Ivaldi (ITA).

The rest of the BMW ORACLE Racing team in Nice is loaded with experience as well:

Alberto 'Albi' Barovier (ITA) - Mid-bow
Gavin Brady (NZL) - Afterguard
Russell Coutts (NZL) - BMW ORACLE Racing skipper and CEO
Cameron Dunn (NZL) - Traveller
Larry Ellison (USA) - Afterguard
Shannon Falcome (ANT) - Mast
Daniel Fong (NZL) - Trimmer
Jamie Gale (NZL) - Pit
Michele Ivaldi (ITA) - Afterguard
Jono MacBeth (NZL) - Runner
Brian MacInnes (CAN) - Grinder
Hamish Pepper (NZL) - Tactician
Rob Salthouse (NZL) - Trimmer
Alan Smith (NZL) - Bow
Joe Spooner (NZL) - Grinder
Andrew Taylor (NZL) - Grinder
Paul Westlake (AUS) - Trimmer
Hamish Willcox (NZL) - Strategist/Meteo
Kazuhiko 'Fuku' Sofuku (JPN) - Spare
Andrew Palfrey (AUS) - Coach/Chase boat
Joel Rewa-Morgan (NZL) - Physio

Competition is sure to be fierce with the defending Louis Vuitton Cup holder, Emirates Team New Zealand, among the favourites. The line-up also includes several teams new to Cup-style racing, but each can boast of having experienced match racers on board, making for an intriguing line-up.

Racing in the Louis Vuitton Trophy - Nice is scheduled to start on 7th November. The eight teams will initially race two Round Robins, before the strongest teams advance to the final stages of the event, culminating in a 'first to two points' Final between the top two teams.

BMW ORACLE Racing
Louis Vuitton Trophy

Jules Verne Trophy: Already off Spain

Groupama 3 en route. Image copyright Yvann Zedda.

by Vincent Borde and Caroline Muller

Groupama 3 had reached Cape Finisterre this Friday lunchtime. As such Franck Cammas and his nine crew were set to rack up over 500 miles in 24 hours midway through the afternoon, which remains a good average speed for this first day in predominantly beam winds and close-hauled conditions. The downwind conditions along the Portuguese coast should enable them to quickly make up their deficit in relation to the reference time.

In 2005, Bruno Peyron and his crew set out from Ushant on their successful Jules Verne Trophy campaign with some highly favourable conditions to escape the Bay of Biscay and benefit from the Portuguese tradewinds. In this way, the giant catamaran was able to cover nearly 600 miles on its first day. This won't be the case for Groupama 3, but this was already part of the plan on leaving Brest. Indeed, by setting out in a strong NW'ly breeze and, most strikingly, pitted against big, highly chaotic seas with waves in excess of 6 metres, the giant trimaran didn't have a hope of reaching an average of more than twenty knots.

"The wind frequently switched direction on this first night at sea, which meant that we weren't constantly able to carry the optimum amount of sail area on Groupama 3. We thought we were free of this phenomenon this morning, but right now the wind still has a tendency to shift 40°... The true NW'ly wind should return soon at which point we'll be able to pick up speed over the course of the afternoon. In any case, we couldn't take any risks with the start and for the time being all's well! We've just broken a helmsman's helmet, but it's already been repaired..." indicated Franck Cammas during the radio link-up this Friday lunchtime.

Iberian acceleration


Groupama 3 crew for the Jules Verne Trophy. Image copyright Yvann Zedda.

The giant trimaran had regained a more favourable pace this afternoon, with the return of a more stable and better established NW'ly wind, with the sea becoming increasingly regulated. With the arrival of a cold front tonight, the wind is set to clock round to the N and then the NE as it builds. As a result Franck Cammas and his crew will have to put in a gybe over the coming hours, probably offshore of Lisbon.

"Since daybreak, we've been passing a lot of cargo ships and fishing boats, but as we're sailing a course which is parallel to the shipping lanes, this isn't complicating manoeuvres. Everyone is into their stride now: we began the watch system two hours out of Ushant. It wasn't easy to sleep last night though as the boat was really getting shaken about with a residual swell preventing us from slipping along smoothly. Yesterday evening it wasn't easy to prepare something to eat so we snacked on sandwiches..." explained the skipper of Groupama 3.

With downwind breezes, the gennaker will enable the boat to make the most of the waves to pick up speed and the 115 mile deficit in relation to the reference time should be recovered by noon on Saturday... "The first eighteen hours were the hardest in this first week at sea using this weather window..." confirmed Sylvain Mondon from Météo France. Moreover, with this considerable improvement in the sailing conditions, Groupama 3 is still in a position to envisage a switch of hemispheres in less than a week...

Cammas - Groupama

Bitter End Yacht Club, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands - Final Report

Paul Cayard sailing at Bitter End Yacht Club. Supplied image.

by Paul Cayard

We had three races Thursday morning to finish off the round robin part of the Pro Am. Ken Read and I were tied this morning on 5 wins each. We got to 6 wins each and it boiled down to the last race. He and his crew did a better job and won the round robin 7 to 6 over us. Anna Tunnicliffe had a good morning winning a couple of points and so she finished up third. Since I have to fly to Nice tomorrow, Anna will race Ken in the finals.

I went snorkeling this afternoon with a nice group of people. We had a great captain whom I have known for a few years down here, his name is Kinto. We hit three good spots including Richard Branson's Necker Island. I love to see all the little blue and yellow fish. It makes me want to have a salt water tank in my house.
The photo of the day is me launching off the beach here before the beer can race last night.

I am out of here at 0645 Friday so I will take it easy tonight and get some sleep. I have a long treck to Nice (France) tomorrow and when I get there I have to be "on". I land at 1000 Saturday and I am racing with the Artemis team in the afternoon. We, Artemis, are competing in the Louis Vuitton Trophy. The Louis Vuitton Trophy is a match racing regatta using the 2007 America's Cup boats. There are 8 teams competing including BMW Oracle and Emirates Team New Zealand. The event lasts two weeks and I will write updates each day.

Signing off from the Bitter End. Sad to do so but all good things come to an end. Thanks so much to the Bitter End staff and the great crews I have had the pleasure of sailing with this week.

Cayard Sailing
Bitter End Yacht Club

Jules Verne Trophy: They're Off!

Groupama 3 crew ready for the Jules Verne trophy. Image copyright Yvann Zedda.

by Vincent Borde and Caroline Muller

15h 50' 22'': Groupama 3 set off from off the Créac'h lighthouse (Ushant Finistère) in a good NW'ly breeze and big seas. Franck Cammas and his nine crew will have to be back from their circumnavigation of the globe spanning over 24,000 miles, prior to the morning of 26th December...

A granulated sky, gusts, intermittent showers, setting sun, big Atlantic swell, squalls, breaking waves: here we have the setting for this latest departure to gain a new reference time in the Jules Verne Trophy, the round the world record held by Bruno Peyron and his crew since 2005 (50d 16h 20m). Groupama 3 left the pontoon of the port of Le Château in Brest, NW France this Thursday 5th November at 1300 hours before a warm crowd of locals and the crew's families, which came out as far as the Petit Minou lighthouse to bid them farewell. Under two-reefed mainsail and a small jib, Groupama 3 then released her tow at 1400 hours and headed out to sea in a building swell... As such the giant trimaran had to put in a few tacks to get to the North of Ushant before setting the clock running at 15h 50' 22'' UT.

A muscly introduction

The NW'ly wind associated with the low, which passed over Brittany on Wednesday, was still very active: the stormy sky with its cumulonimbus was generating a twenty to twenty-five knot breeze, gusting to over thirty-five knots... Above all though, the seas were hard at the exit from the English Channel with waves of nearly seven metres offshore! As such conditions weren't ideal for the start, but the next stage in the programme is highly favourable, once the crew reaches the Portuguese coast. As a result, for half a day, Franck Cammas and his nine crew are likely to be tackling beam winds and may even have to sail close-hauled for a few hours...

"We're going to set off under reduced sail to get free of the continental shelf. After that this NW'ly wind will shift round to the West for three hours at which point we'll have to sail close-hauled. It's not the ideal scenario for starting out, however the weather window is pretty favourable after that. In fact, from tomorrow lunchtime, Friday, Groupama 3 should already be sailing along the coast of Portugal. At that stage we'll hit some N'ly and then NE'ly winds, which are set to accompany us to the archipelago of Cape Verde" indicated Franck Cammas a few minutes after leaving the pontoon.

The crew didn't appear to be concerned about this choppy introduction to proceedings: being in a position to head out early in the season, not to have to hang around waiting for a favourable "firing window", just after a preparation session in the mountains at the end of October, and knowing that the aim of the record is for the crew to be back before Christmas, all makes for a serene departure."We're going to be shaken about at the exit from the English Channel because the seas are big, but that makes for a good introduction before we slip southwards. It'll be hot from this weekend, we'll be at the equator in the middle of next week and the Southern Atlantic appears to be willing to enable us a swift passage"> explained Lionel Lemonchois.

As such Groupama 3 must cross the finish line off Ushant before 26th December at 08h 09' 26'' (UT)...


Groupama 3 leaves Brest. Image copyright Yvann Zedda.

A tour of the weather

"Groupama 3 is setting off as the NW'ly wind is easing slightly to 25 knots with gusts at 35 knots and a reduction in the number of squalls: the storms have dissipated. Nevertheless, it is important to remain prudent as the big seas are set to last for a few more hours yet, due largely to a big NW'ly swell. The crew will have to deal with these tricky conditions right the way across the Bay of Biscay, because although the wind will continue to ease and it will be less gusty, there will still be big seas until Friday morning. As such the exit from the Bay of Biscay will be all the trickier as a result of a cold front moving in from the West, which will come face to face with Franck Cammas and his crew in the second part of the night. The approach of this front will cause the wind to shift round to the West as it becomes less steady, before clocking back round to the NW again on Friday morning. The main reason that Franck Cammas and his crew have opted to tackle such conditions is in order to be in a position to exploit some much more favourable conditions further along the track, in particular those level with the NE'ly tradewinds off Portugal and further to the South". Sylvain Mondon from Météo France

Cammas-Groupama

TJV: Lining Up in Le Havre

Dee Caffari on board Aviva. Image copyright Marcel Mochet/AFP.

by Régis Lerat

For some it's the first big chance to restore pride and confidence after the brutal last edition of the Vendée Globe, to others it is simply the next big challenge on the competition itinerary, but the 2009 edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre, which starts from Le Havre this weekend has drawn a remarkably strong fleet of 14 IMOCA Open 60's and a fleet of six Multi50 class multihulls which includes three brand new build boats.

With two days to go before the start the atmosphere, if anything, is slightly restrained. The pressures of the global economic downturn has perhaps eliminated some of the adventurers and those who might normally be taking their first steps on the ladder with this biennial classic race.

That means that the IMOCA Open 60 fleet, seven months after the finish of the Vendée Globe, has been pared back to serious teams which are all well funded, highly professional and prepared to approximately the same high level. Meeting their respective international press contingents today both Michel Desjoyeaux, who is out to defend his win in the 2007 edition of this race, and Hugo Boss skipper Alex Thomson individually observed that the fleet of IMOCA Open 60's for this race contains neither weak boats, nor weak crews.

The area around the Paul Vatine basin where the huge crowds will gather this weekend to send off the fleet, has all been substantially redeveloped, part of Le Havre's ongoing regeneration. The huge warehouses on the east side of the dock now contain dozens of smart restaurants and shops, a supermarket and a cinema where today more than 500 local schoolchildren were given a colourful insight into ocean racing and the Transat Jacques Vabre race itself by 14 of the race skippers.

Eight of the 28 IMOCA Open 60 skippers here did not finish their Vendée Globe, from the unfortunate Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel), Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) and Marc Thiercelin (DCNS) who were among the victims of the first big storm, Jérémie Beyou (who races on Foncia with Michel Desjoyeaux) to Sebastien Josse (BT), Vincent Riou (PRB)now Akena Verandas with Arnaud Boissieres), Mike Golding (Ecover, now Mike Golding Yacht Racing) and Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) who was the last who was soloist who was forced to retire whilst lying second. All are back here, racing this new course to Puerto Limon,Costa Rica. “The whole fleet is quite homogeneous here, quite the same, and there are no bad boats and also no bad crews, so it will be much more difficult.” Cautions Foncia skipper Desjoyeaux, who won the 2007 Transat Jacques Vabre with co-skipper Manu Le Borgne.

“The fleet is going to be tough, for sure. There just are no bad boats. There are no older boats here. But also, looking at the Multi 50 class, that looks exciting and very much more achievable in many ways.” Says Alex Thomson, skipper of one of the four British boats, Hugo Boss, “For us this race is going to depend on what the weather does. If we get some good reaching conditions then we could do well, with some good breeze but if there is a lot of VMG running then we could struggle".

French sailing legend Yves Parlier returns to the IMOCA Open 60 fleet, sailing on the Spanish flagged 1876 partnering Spain's Pacchi Rivero. Parlier is a past winner, in 1997 with the late Eric Tabarly, which he still describes as the highlight of his sailing career, and last competed in 1999 with Ellen MacArthur.

British female skippers Sam Davies and Dee Caffari are back in the fray too. Davies is sailing Artemis with Sidney Gavignet, while Caffari is joined on Aviva by Brian Thompson whose third Transat Jacques Vabre this is. While Caffari's confidence after the Vendée Globe and an all girl Round Britain record attempt on Aviva in the summer, is at all time high, Davies, along with Gavignet is just getting to grips with the very powerful Rogers designed Artemis.

“The level is just so high that it is very hard to judge how we might do. I really just want to finish feeling proud of ourselves and the course we have taken, the way we have sailed. So much will be down to the weather and who does what, but I want to feel we have sailed as close to 100% as we can.” Says Davies, “Really, my mission is just to keep learning the Artemis and to continue the evolution of the boat.”

Dee Caffari, sailing Aviva, is looking to her and Brian Thompson's combined experience and a boat she now knows very well, to bring them a strong result: “We are both really up for it. Traditionally perhaps I have always been the conservative one, but now, after sailing with the girls in the summer, I have so much more confidence and in this final race with the sponsor I really want to do well. It would be a good thing for the future.”

Transat Jacques Vabre