America's Cup: NEWSFLASH - 2 Hour Delay to Sunday's Race Start

by America's Cup media

The warning signal for Race 2 will not be made before 11.54 (CET) on Sunday, 14th February 2010 [23.54 New Zealand time].

33rd America's Cup

America's Cup: Race One Pre-Start Images

Starting area. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.


Pre-start entry #1. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.


Pre-start entry #2. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.


Pre-start #3 - USA holds course on starboard. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.


Pre-start #4 - the dial-up commences as both boats take avoiding action. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.


Pre-start #5 - the dial-up. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.


Pre-start #6 - the dial-up. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.


Pre-start #7 - the dial-up. Image copyright Guilain Grenier/BMW ORACLE Racing.


Pre-start #8 - the dial-up. Image copyright Guilain Grenier/BMW ORACLE Racing.


Pre-start #9 - the dial-up. Image copyright Guilain Grenier/BMW ORACLE Racing.


Both boats try to get going again after the dial-up. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.


Alinghi 5 circles around the pin to start, while USA remains stalled above the line. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.


Alinghi 5 starts and passes behind USA (still above the line). Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.


USA sets off in pursuit of Alinghi 5. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.

BMW ORACLE Racing
Gilles Martin-Raget

JVT: A Crazy Day... on Groupama 3

Fred Le Peutrec helming, Lionel Lemonchois and Ronan Le Goff on board Groupama 3. Image copyright Team Groupama.

by Vincent Borde and Caroline Muller

Having covered nearly 720 miles over the past 24 hours, Groupama 3 is tracing an impressively straight wake at an average speed in excess of 30 knots... This ticking off of the miles bodes well for the crew's bid to make up part of their deficit on the Jules Verne Trophy reference time as they round the Cape of Good Hope.

Indeed it's a studious and concentrated atmosphere which marked the start to the weekend to the South of Tristan de Cunha: in a matter of hours the situation has changed radically aboard Groupama 3, since the tricky exit from the Saint Helena High at the end of the week, has now given way to breakneck speeds ahead of a cold front, which is trucking along at 35 knots... The astounding average speeds that Franck Cammas and his nine crew are making are, of course, the result of a stable wind, though the fairly slight, well organised seas are an added bonus. Such conditions are down to the crew remaining ahead of the cold front, which they will have to continue to do for as long as possible, in order to maintain this perfectly straight trajectory and this exceptionally fast tempo...


Loïc Le Mignon on board Groupama 3. Image copyright Team Groupama.

"Since this morning, we've been sailing with two reefs in the mainsail and solent in a NW'ly wind of between 28 and 30 knots, but with very slight seas... Right now we're clocking up an average speed of 35 knots! The atmosphere has got much damper: it's grey, it's wet, but it's not cold yet" indicated Bruno Jeanjean at the 1130 UTC radio link-up with Groupama's Race HQ in Paris.

Unfinished business

The longitude of the Cape of Good Hope is around just 800 miles ahead of the giant trimaran now. At this pace, she will have passed the Greenwich meridian between 2100 and 2300 hours UTC this Saturday. Following on from that she may even succeed in crossing the longitude of the first cape of this round the world by sunset on Sunday!

"I don't take the helm in conditions like the ones we have today. There were times on the descent of the Atlantic where I had the opportunity on flat seas with very nice conditions. The allotted helmsmen are driving her along admirably... I am incredibly happy to be aboard because the shore crew have done a superb job to ensure we were able to set off again. The whole crew has remained particularly motivated and we know we have unfinished business down here now, which we're keen to resolve!"

By way of comparison with the Jules Verne Trophy reference time, Groupama 3 has had a excellent day with 719 miles on the speedo, while Orange 2, which was in one of her fastest phases of the round the world, `only' pulled back 680 miles in relation to the optimum course! As such the deficit has dropped by forty miles over the past 24 hours... And despite even more impressive average speeds than those of the Americans and Swiss in Valencia on Friday afternoon, the crew was paying close attention to how the first race of the Cup was panning out.

"For the first match of the America's Cup yesterday, the organisation onboard didn't change. However, we did have one ear a little more open to what was going on in the cabin: certain bits of news came in which led us to believe that something was going to happen, but we quickly understood that the result of the match was decided pretty quickly..."

Groupama 3's log (departure on 31st January at 13h 55' 53'' UTC)
Day 1 (1st February 1400 UTC): 500 miles (deficit = 94 miles)
Day 2 (2nd February 1400 UTC): 560 miles (lead = 3.5 miles)
Day 3 (3rd February 1400 UTC): 535 miles (lead = 170 miles)
Day 4 (4th February 1400 UTC): 565 miles (lead = 245 miles)
Day 5 (5th February 1400 UTC): 656 miles (lead = 562 miles)
Day 6 (6th February 1400 UTC): 456 miles (lead = 620 miles)
Day 7 (7th February 1400 UTC): 430 miles (lead = 539 miles)
Day 8 (8th February 1400 UTC): 305 miles (lead = 456 miles)
Day 9 (9th February 1400 UTC): 436 miles (lead = 393 miles)
Day 10 (10th February 1400 UTC): 355 miles (lead = 272 miles)
Day 11 (11th February 1400 UTC): 267 miles (deficit = 30 miles)
Day 12 (12th February 1400 UTC): 247 miles (deficit = 385 miles)
Day 13 (13th February 1400 UTC): 719 miles (deficit = 347 miles)

Best passage time to the equator from Ushant
Groupama 3: 5d 15h 23' (November 2009)

Jules Verne Trophy reference time to the equator
Orange 2: 7d 02h 56' (January 2005)

Cammas - Groupama

Aussie 18 Foot Skiffs: Giltinan Championship - Race 1

Heading for the Harbour Bridge. Image copyright Frank Quealey.

by Frank Quealey

The poor racing conditions which plagued yesterday’s Invitation Race on Sydney Harbour were little better today as the fleet lined up for Race 1 of the Giltinan Championship.

While the racing was unbearably slow due to the lack of wind, the result was terrific for anybody who likes to see the underdog defeat the champs.

Marcus Ashley-Jones, Stewart Wells and Bert Schandevyl, all having their first season in 18ft skiffs, stunned the crowd when they took the honours in Club Marine after leading around every mark.


The crew of Club Marine congratulate each other as they take the win. Image copyright Frank Quealey.

For each of the trio, it was their first 18 Footer win.

The final winning margin was 2m15s from Michael Coxon, Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas in Thurlow Fisher Lawyers, with Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and Tom Clout third, a further 3m 21s back in Gotta Love It 7.

With the easterly breeze never getting above five knots the race took 2h12m11s to sail and the fleet were left to complete the course in near darkness.

Club Marine took the wind on the first windward leg of the course from Robertson Point to Rose Bay, where they held a lead of 45s over New Zealand’s Scott Kennedy in Yamaha.


Gotta Love It 7 and Thurlow Fisher Lawyers finished second and third. Image copyright Frank Quealey.

Gotta Love It 7 was a further 15s back, followed by Thurlow Fisher Lawyers, appliancesonline.com.au (John Winning Jr), Yandoo (John Winning), Gill (Dave Alexander), Fisher & Paykel (Trevor Barnabas) and Coldwell Banker New Homes (Mark Kennedy).

Former champions John Harris (Rag & Famish Hotel) and Rob Greenhalgh (Benny/PSP Aust-Asia) were back in 13th and 14th places respectively.

Ashley-Jones extended Club Marine’s lead to 2m15s at the end of the spinnaker run to Kurraba Point where Gotta Love It 7 had moved into second place ahead of Yamaha and Thurlow Fisher Lawyers.

Gotta Love It 7 lost out when Jarvin sailed to the RHS of the course while Yamaha and Thurlow Fisher Lawyers went left. When they met, Thurlow was just ahead of 7 and Coxon immediately tacked to cover his arch rival.

It was obvious that Coxon was prepared to cover Jarvin rather than chase the leader at that stage.


Close racing upwind. Image copyright Frank Quealey.

As the conditions became even lighter over the latter half of the course, Ashley-Jones and his crew sailed beautifully to cover every move put on them by the chasers.

Michael Coxon’s experience gave him a hard fought second placing ahead of Seve Jarvin, who managed to relegate Scott Kennedy’s young kiwi crew back to fourth place over the last 100 metres of the course.

Race 2 of the championship will be sailed tomorrow (14 February) with the midweek races on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Results from Race 1

Finish Placings - Recall # - Boat Name - Finish Time - Elapsed Time - Handicap - Corrected Time - Handicap Position

1 27 Club Marine 18:36:11 2:12:11 8 2:04:11 1
2 2 Thurlow Fisher Lawyers 18:38:26 2:14:26 0 2:14:26 3
3 1 Gotta Love It 7 18:41:47 2:17:47 0 2:17:47 4
4 16 Yamaha 18:42:12 2:18:12 6 2:12:12 2
5 6 Yandoo 18:47:23 2:23:23 3 2:20:23 5
6 8 Benny/PSP Aust-Asia 19:10:19 2:46:19 2 2:44:19 6
7 11 Project Racing 19:15:48 2:51:48 4 2:47:48 7
8 21 Fisher & Paykel 19:20:48 2:56:48 6 2:50:48 9
9 5 Slam 19:23:01 2:59:01 4 2:55:01 12
10 25 Boatmate Shipwrights 19:24:13 3:00:13 10 2:50:13 8
11 22 Coldwell Banker New Homes 19:24:31 3:00:31 8 2:52:31 10
12 7 appliancesonline.com.au 19:25:50 3:01:50 4 2:57:50 13
13 15 Gill 19:27:42 3:03:42 9 2:54:42 11
14 12 Asko Appliances 19:31:03 3:07:03 6 3:01:03 14
15 18 Team Gill Sweden 19:34:54 3:10:54 7 3:03:54 15
16 10 Pure Blonde 19:36:08 3:12:08 6 3:06:08 16

Aussie 18 Footers League

Royal Port Nicholson Regatta: Day Two - The Breeze is Up

Images from racing on Day One


Georgia on the wind at the RPNYC regatta. Image copyright Chris Coad.


Racing off the entrance to Evans Bay. Image copyright Chris Coad.


Georgia is just a bit bigger than her rivals... Image copyright Chris Coad.


A good fleet event. Image copyright Chris Coad.


Chris Dickson doing tactics on Georgia. Image copyright Chris Coad.


Georgia. Image copyright Chris Coad.


Breeze on! Image copyright Chris Coad.


Young lads having some fun. Image copyright Chris Coad.


Oops! Image copyright Chris Coad.


Sun and breeze. Image copyright Chris Coad.


Close racing at the RPNYC regatta. Image copyright Chris Coad.

by Mandy Burt

The weather is 30knts gusting 54knts. There will be no racing today. AP over A was displayed at 1430hrs.

The Regatta Rage is on tonight - Happy Hour, dinner and live band "Deaf Lemon".

The scheduled time for the warning signal for the first race on Sunday 14th February is 0855hrs. Four races are scheduled.

Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club

OK Worlds: Final Score

The New Zealand team at the OK Worlds 2010 in Wellington. Supplied image.

by Mandy Burt

The party is over. Prizegiving is done. Office packed up. Sailors going home. Results in full below...

2010 OK Dinghy Worlds - Overall results
Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club
Races this series: 10 Series completed, 1 discarded
Low Point scoring system, ISAF Rule A4.2 applies
Fleet race, 71 entries

Place Hull Sail Skipper Race 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points

1 93 NZL531 Karl PURDIE NZL 6 4 (dsq) 1 1 18 2 3 4 10 49
2 22 AUS730 Michael WILLIAMS AUS 7 2 4 5 2 13 13 (32) 12 4 62
3 84 NZL519 Matt STEVEN NZL 13 3 8 3 3 6 11 (28) 2 19 68
4 82 NZL517 Paul RHODES NZL 3 1 5 2 8 (29) 23 1 22 6 71
5 35 GBR2134 Nick CRAIG GBR 9 11 2 4 11 16 (24) 17 1 2 73
6 66 NZL539 Brad DOUGLAS NZL 17 7 7 13 (18) 7 3 11 6 8 79
7 45 SWE100 Tomas HANSSON-MILD SW 4 (ocs) 14 18 10 20 1 4 7 3 81
8 89 NZL525 Steve McDOWELL NZL 5 18 10 7 5 2 9 18 (30) 9 83
9 21 AUS729 Andre BLASSE AUS (26) 10 1 11 16 1 5 13 17 11 85
10 92 NZL530 Ben MORRISON NZL 1 9 17 6 7 11 16 9 (20) 18 94
11 12 AUS678 Roger BLASSE AUS 8 8 3 24 4 (31) 7 19 10 13 96
12 86 NZL522 Greg WILCOX NZL (23) 19 20 17 9 8 8 10 5 1 97
13 90 NZL526 Russell PAGE-WOOD NZL 2 5 6 8 6 27 20 6 (35) 17 97
14 80 NZL511 Luke O'CONNELL NZL 10 13 13 19 12 3 14 (20) 15 7 106
15 91 NZL528 Andrew PERDINGTON NZL 15 6 9 10 19 19 6 21 16 (22) 121
16 62 NZL538 Alistair DEAVES NZL 18 16 11 9 14 26 (30) 8 8 14 124
17 32 GBR2118 Terry CURTIS GBR 14 25 15 15 25 4 (32) 2 24 23 147
18 63 NZL536 Nigel MANNERING NZL (41) 37 18 12 22 12 12 16 21 5 155
19 58 GER690 Soenke BEHRENS GER 22 23 25 23 26 (50) 4 23 9 15 170
20 78 NZL504 Adrian MANNERING NZL 16 22 26 25 23 5 18 15 (bfd) 20 170 21 74 NZL478 Daniel BUSH NZL 11 15 27 14 17 (43) 27 31 23 12 177
22 47 DEN3 Joergen SVENDSEN DEN 29 20 16 20 13 (ocs) 15 7 41 24 185
23 95 NZL535 Mike WILDE NZL 33 17 12 (dnf) 20 44 25 5 18 25 199
24 65 NZL470 Ben LUTZ NZL 28 32 22 43 37 10 10 26 (50) 27 235
25 73 NZL475 Greg WRIGHT NZL 36 39 23 37 (40) 25 19 14 11 31 235
26 85 NZL521 David HOOGENBOON NZL 19 (44) 28 16 34 30 29 34 14 41 245 27 75 NZL479 Kagan WEEKS NZL 47 33 40 27 (48) 47 28 12 3 16 253
28 54 GER718 Peter SCHEUERL GER 40 12 24 39 35 15 (46) 43 13 39 260
29 71 NZL469 Owen ANDERSON NZL 27 31 33 38 15 (49) 21 27 44 30 266
30 37 GBR2136 Jono FISH GBR 20 36 21 22 29 (dnf) 51 22 29 45 275
31 41 POL1 Tomasz GAJ POL 25 27 19 (ocs) 31 21 34 41 39 40 277
32 76 NZL498 Jono CLOUGH NZL (54) 30 42 32 33 9 37 42 19 34 278
33 31 GBR2084 Keith BYERS GBR 52 21 32 (63) 27 35 17 36 40 26 286
34 13 AUS719 Glenn WILLIAMS AUS 24 43 31 21 21 24 44 (52) 42 46 296
35 79 NZL509 Marty WEEKS NZL 21 26 37 28 24 (56) 40 44 38 43 301
36 69 NZL474 Darren HUNT NZL 30 41 36 41 46 22 35 (49) 37 21 309
37 33 GBR2121 Anthony RICH GBR 39 48 43 48 (53) 40 41 24 31 37 351
38 94 NZL533 Rob HENGST NZL (50) 34 44 44 39 46 42 38 34 32 353
39 20 AUS726 Peter LYNCH AUS 51 35 29 33 43 17 49 (57) 43 56 356
40 57 GER765 Rainer POSPIECH GER 55 (64) 55 57 38 41 26 33 26 28 359
41 50 GER666 Jan HARTMANN GER 60 (dnc) 51 31 44 32 36 45 25 36 360
42 44 POL44 Radoslav DROZDZIK POL 57 52 (62) 34 49 23 31 35 32 49 362
43 83 NZL502 Chris DEVINE NZL 32 24 46 36 51 33 (57) 55 48 44 369
44 42 POL5 Kras DAREK POL 42 38 47 30 52 38 38 (54) 52 35 372
45 25 AUS738 Brent WILLIAMS AUS 31 46 35 51 28 53 47 (ocs) 46 38 375
46 24 AUS736 Peter ROBINSON AUS 53 56 30 45 36 14 (63) 47 36 59 376
47 49 DEN1375 Christian HEDLUND DEN 43 40 41 35 30 36 22 (dnf) dnc dnc 391
48 27 AUS741 Gary LOKUM AUS 34 28 39 49 32 52 53 46 (63) 62 395
49 34 GBR2124 Tony WOODS GBR 49 57 56 47 42 48 33 (58) 28 51 411
50 36 GBR2135 Alex SCOLES GBR 62 60 (63) 29 54 37 48 48 27 53 418
51 18 AUS716 Peter WALLACE AUS 46 50 49 46 (67) 28 60 37 54 50 420
52 23 AUS734 Edward O'DONNELL AUS 37 29 34 26 (dnc) dnc dnc dnc 51 29 422
53 26 AUS739 Mark ROBERTS AUS 44 42 54 53 41 58 58 29 61 (dnf) 440
54 19 AUS721 Justin BARR AUS 35 51 (dnc) dnc 55 51 52 30 53 47 446
55 16 AUS695 David O'DONNELL AUS 48 45 45 40 63 (dnc) 50 39 60 60 450
56 56 GER735 Dirk GERICKE GER 38 (63) 53 62 50 55 56 53 45 52 464
57 72 NZL472 Adrian COULTHARD NZL (65) 55 48 60 64 60 45 56 33 54 475
58 15 AUS694 Richard FURNEAUX AUS (64) 59 52 50 57 57 39 40 64 63 481
59 52 GER767 Juliane HOFMANN GER 45 58 60 42 60 45 54 (ocs) 55 64 483
60 14 AUS692 Bill TYLER AUS 61 53 (65) 59 45 34 65 62 47 58 484
61 10 AUS668 Don WILLIAMS AUS 58 49 58 52 47 61 (dnf) dnc 58 33 488
62 11 AUS673 Daen DORAZIO AUS 56 (62) 61 58 61 42 55 50 56 55 494
63 51 GER680 Jan-Dietmar DELLAS GER 66 47 38 55 (dnc) dnc 59 51 65 57 510
64 17 AUS744 Andrew BAKER AUS 63 (dnf) 50 dnf 56 54 62 25 57 dnf 511
65 81 NZL516 Julian BISHOP NZL 59 54 59 (61) 59 59 61 59 59 48 517
66 48 DEN1265 Erik Malte PEDERSEN DEN (dnf) 61 64 54 58 39 43 60 dnc dnc 523
67 88 NZL524 Matt STECHMANN NZL 12 14 (dnc) dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc 530
68 61 NZL508 Max SCHLINK NZL (69) 65 57 56 66 62 64 61 62 61 554
69 53 GER695 Erik BORK GER (dnc) dnc dnc dnc 62 dnc dnc dnc 49 42 585
70 40 POL40 Robert SWIECKI POL 68 (dnf) 66 64 65 63 dnc dnc dnc dnc 614
71 55 GER724 Marina DELLAS GER 67 (dnc) dnf dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc 643

Junior Overall Results
Races this series: 10 Series completed, 1 discarded
Low Point scoring system, ISAF Rule A4.2 applies
Fleet race, 4 entries

Place Hull Sail Skipper Race 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points

1 84 NZL519 Matt STEVEN NZL 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 (3) 1 2 11
2 65 NZL470 Ben LUTZ NZL 2 2 2 (4) 2 2 1 2 3 3 19
3 75 NZL479 Kagan WEEKS NZL (3) 3 3 2 3 3 3 1 2 1 21
4 16 AUS695 David O'DONNELL AUS 4 4 4 3 4 (dnc) 4 4 4 4 35

Veteran Overall Results
Races this series: 10 Series completed, 1 discarded
Low Point scoring system, ISAF Rule A4.2 applies
Fleet race, 42 entries

Place Hull Sail Skipper Race 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points

1 93 NZL531 Karl PURDIE NZL 2 2 (dsq) 1 1 9 1 3 1 4 24
2 82 NZL517 Paul RHODES NZL 1 1 3 2 3 (16) 13 1 12 3 39
3 21 AUS729 Andre BLASSE AUS (13) 4 1 4 8 1 3 8 9 5 43
4 86 NZL522 Greg WILCOX NZL 10 8 (dnf) 8 4 4 5 7 2 1 49
5 12 AUS678 Roger BLASSE AUS 3 3 2 12 2 (18) 4 12 5 6 49
6 62 NZL538 Alistair DEAVES NZL 6 6 4 3 6 14 (17) 6 3 7 55
7 32 GBR2118 Terry CURTIS GBR 4 14 6 6 14 2 (19) 2 13 10 71
8 63 NZL536 Nigel MANNERING NZL (25) 22 8 5 11 5 6 11 11 2 81
9 78 NZL504 Adrian MANNERING NZL 5 11 14 13 12 3 9 10 (bfd) 9 86
10 58 GER690 Soenke BEHRENS GER 9 12 13 11 15 (30) 2 13 4 8 87
11 47 DEN3 Joergen SVENDSEN DEN 15 9 7 9 5 (ocs) 7 5 22 11 90
12 95 NZL535 Mike WILDE NZL 18 7 5 (dnf) 9 26 14 4 10 12 105
13 85 NZL521 David HOOGENBOON NZL 7 (27) 15 7 21 17 16 17 8 23 131
14 73 NZL475 Greg WRIGHT NZL 21 24 11 21 (26) 13 10 9 6 17 132
15 54 GER718 Peter SCHEUERL GER 24 5 12 23 22 7 (28) 24 7 21 145
16 71 NZL469 Owen ANDERSON NZL 14 19 20 22 7 (29) 11 14 25 16 148
17 41 POL1 Tomasz GAJ POL 12 16 9 (ocs) 19 10 21 23 20 22 152
18 31 GBR2084 Keith BYERS GBR 32 10 19 (37) 16 21 8 19 21 13 159
19 13 AUS719 Glenn WILLIAMS AUS 11 26 18 10 10 12 27 (29) 23 26 163
20 79 NZL509 Marty WEEKS NZL 8 15 23 15 13 (35) 24 25 19 24 166
21 94 NZL533 Rob HENGST NZL (30) 20 27 24 25 27 25 21 17 18 204
22 44 POL44 Radoslav DROZDZIK POL 35 32 (36) 18 30 11 18 18 16 29 207 23 20 AUS726 Peter LYNCH AUS 31 21 16 17 28 8 30 (33) 24 33 208
24 57 GER765 Rainer POSPIECH GER 34 (40) 33 33 24 25 15 16 14 14 208
25 42 POL5 Kras DAREK POL 26 23 29 16 (33) 23 22 31 31 19 220
26 83 NZL502 Chris DEVINE NZL 17 13 (dnc) 20 32 19 34 32 29 25 221
27 25 AUS738 Brent WILLIAMS AUS 16 28 22 30 17 33 29 (ocs) 27 20 222
28 27 AUS741 Gary LOKUM AUS 19 17 25 28 20 32 32 26 35 (37) 234
29 49 DEN1375 Christian HEDLUND DEN 27 25 26 19 18 22 12 (dnf) dnc dnc 235
30 24 AUS736 Peter ROBINSON AUS 33 35 (dnc) 25 23 6 38 27 18 36 241
31 34 GBR2124 Tony WOODS GBR 29 (36) 34 27 27 28 20 34 15 31 245
32 18 AUS716 Peter WALLACE AUS 28 30 30 26 (39) 15 36 20 33 30 248
33 23 AUS734 Edward O'DONNELL AUS 22 18 21 14 (dnc) dnc dnc dnc 30 15 249
34 19 AUS721 Justin BARR AUS 20 31 (dnc) dnc 34 31 31 15 32 27 264
35 56 GER735 Dirk GERICKE GER 23 (39) 32 36 31 34 33 30 26 32 277
36 15 AUS694 Richard FURNEAUX AUS (38) 37 31 29 35 36 23 22 36 38 287
37 14 AUS692 Bill TYLER AUS 37 33 38 34 29 20 (39) 37 28 35 291
38 51 GER680 Jan-Dietmar DELLAS GER 39 29 24 32 (dnc) dnc 35 28 37 34 301
39 81 NZL516 Julian BISHOP NZL 36 34 35 35 (37) 37 37 35 34 28 311
40 48 DEN1265 Erik Malte PEDERSEN DEN (dnf) 38 37 31 36 24 26 36 dnc dnc 314
41 40 POL40 Robert SWIECKI POL 41 (dnf) 39 38 38 38 dnc dnc dnc dnc 366
42 55 GER724 Marina DELLAS GER 40 (dnc) dnf dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc 384

OK Worlds 2010

America's Cup: Race 1 from Valencia by Paul Cayard

by Paul Cayard

Well, we finally got some racing and it was completely different than all of us thought. At least upwind.

The start was exciting...we had a dial up and a penalty! We had it all! I have to say that was worth waiting for. These boats are spectacular!

After dial up and skillfully controlling much of the prestart, BMW Oracle looked like they got stuck head to wind with 30 seconds to go while Alinghi did a nice job to escape and win the start by more than a minute.

From there the two boats stayed on the port tack and were much more similar in speed than predicted. It looked to me like BMW Oracle had a bit of both....closer and faster.... upwind.

The Americans rounded the top mark in what looked like 8 knots of wind with a 3:21 lead. I think everyone was waiting for Alinghi to come roaring up from behind but the opposite happened and BMW stretched out to a comfortable win for race 1.

Alinghi's back is against the wall now. They are slower in "their" conditions and on the windward leeward course. On Sunday, the boats will race the triangle course which will be more to the Americans liking than today's course.

So it could be a pretty sweet Valentines Day for Mr. Ellison. But as they say, it is never over 'til it's over and these boats are at the cutting edge of technology. Reliability is something the Americans will be increasing anyway they can in the next 40 hours.

I am off to Dubai for some RC 44 sailing with Artemis and Katusha and my Eurosport buddies are off to Vancouver. Two big Sundays in a row this February...Super Bowl and the America's Cup.

Cayard Sailing