HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and his crewman Chris Meeham death-roll during practice for the Men’s 35+ Tasar class sailing at Woollahra Sailing Club last week on Sydney Harbour.
The Prince did a bit of swimming, calling on his old skills as a frogman for the Danish Navy.
He should get a subscription to SailJuice.com, where he could have learned some heavy-weather boathandling tips from former Tasar World Champions, Jonathan and Libby McKee! 
Posted in Dinghy Racing
© Ingrid Abery: 470s wave jumping at Weymouth
I’ve just come back from Skandia Sail for Gold in windy Weymouth.
Got a load of interviews and videos there.
I’ll be posting bits and pieces here in the next week, but meanwhile, sign up to my free newsletter, SAILJUICE XPRESS, to get access to all the good stuff. The next newsletter’s going out tonight…
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO THE SAILJUICE FREE NEWSLETTER..
See you over at SailJuice Xpress…
© Audi MedCup: Katie Burns in front of her latest bit of military hardware
Katie Burns is sailing on board the TP52 Quantum Racing at the Audi MedCup regatta in Portugal this week.
She has never raced with Terry Hutchinson and Co. before, and she has only club level racing experience. So why’s she sailing on the reigning World Champion boat? Because the 24-year-old won Quantum Sails’ ‘Living the Dream’ contest.
Burns only recently left the US military, so she’s used to stressful conditions, but she was still nervous as she said in this piece from the official Audi MedCup website:
Any challenge by fire was not from stress or activity pressed on to Burns but from from the fierce sunshine on the relatively still waters off Praia da RochaShe signed up for military service as an 18 year old, straight from school, and saw active service in Iraq. Her winning short, pithy essay came out on top of nearly 900 entries with a high percentage of the public vote. Her account of life on the front line in Iraq was a sharp reminder of action under real pressure, and how it is still possible to raise a smile, even when you are under mortar attack.
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=119952156338&ref=mf (Katie’s Essay)
Katie (or Big Cup Katie as she’s known to her sizeable fan base in the USA) took her first baby steps on Quantum Racing on Saturday.
“ I’ve just been learning the lines, the drills and what is going to be expected of me, where I am going to be sitting.” She smiled after a gentle day sail testing off Portimao, “ So far what I think my objective is mostly to just be here and to share the experience, to come off the boat and raise awareness of the sport and the team. Obviously not everyone is ever going to get this opportunity and hope I can share it with everyone.”
“ My first impression is of the camaraderie which is evident on the team. Everyone knows each other, their families, and knows everything which is going on with each other. It builds better team cohesion, simply because they know each other so well and how every person ticks. You see that a lot in the military.”
For the rest of the Katie Burns interview, CLICK HERE…
Talking of camaraderie, Hutchinson is very big on communication and team cohesion, and we’ve done a number of interviews with Terry on the sister site to SailJuice Blog.
You can find a selection of Terry’s insights by CLICKING HERE…
Some of it is open access and some of it is members only.
If you want to search thru more than 160 articles/ videos/ audio interviews with the best sailors in the world, it’s only £4.99 per month. You can SIGN UP HERE for £4.99 and keep on paying every month for all the new content that we’re adding each week, or if you don’t think SailJuice is for you, just cancel any time in the first 30 days.
Posted in Audi MedCup, TP52 | Tags: Katie Burns
Sad news for multihull sailors today as Jaques Rogge, president of the IOC, said the Tornado catamaran would not be given a reprieve.
The Games was already running at capacity, he said. Of course, one more class (and no more competitors) in Weymouth wouldn’t have really changed anything. But I wonder if Rogge’s former life as a Finn Olympic sailor works against his old sport on occasions like this. With his strong anti-drugs campaign and his general drive to clean up the old smell of corruption that clouded the IOC for so many years, maybe he couldn’t be seen to be doing an old favour to his old sport.
A big, big shame. No doubt ISAF have tried their best in the background, but in the end, to no avail. The rumours had been good in recent weeks, that the cat would get back in, but it seems those rumours were off target.
We asked Carolijn Brouwer, Tornado President, about these issues some time back on SailJuice.com. You can read that interview here: http://www.sailjuice.com/articles/carolijn-brouwer-11th-medal
The best thing that could come out of this is for ISAF to ask itself how it allowed this mess to happen in the first place. If it is honest with itself it will agree with what SailJuice has been saying for the past two years, that having 40 decision-makers on ISAF Council is no way at all to make a decision. If ISAF President Goran Petersson wants to make real and lasting change to sailing, and leave a legacy that he can be proud of, then it will be to sweep aside the current [so-called] decision-making structure and build a modern organisation that is capable of reaching the right decision, swiftly and effectively.
As it patently failed to do on this occasion. To the detriment of multihull sailing around the world.
Here’s the official press release from ISAF in full:
IOC Confirms 10 Sailing Events For London 2012 Olympic Games [that's nice way of putting it! Ed.]
Thursday 13 August 2009 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today confirmed there will be 10 sailing events at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The Executive Board of the IOC confirmed the line up of events and disciplines for the 26 sports on the Programme for the London 2012 Olympic Games at their meeting in Berlin, Germany today. The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) had made a request to keep the number of sailing events at 11, maintaining the Open Multihull event.
The IOC President Jacques Rogge wrote today to ISAF: “Whilst the IOC Executive Board fully recognises the value that Sailing brings to the Olympic Games, it decided to maintain its decision of 2005 regarding the overall quota of sailors and medals. As a consequence, Tornado Multihull shall not be on the programme of the Games of the XXXth Olympiad in London.
The decision to reduce the number of sailing events at the 2012 Games from 11 to 10 was previously made by the IOC Executive Board in 2005, based on the recommendation from the IOC Olympic Programme Commission. ISAF was one of 17 International Sports Federations who submitted a request to modify their events at the London 2012 Olympic Games. These requests were analysed by the IOC Olympic Programme Commission, which submitted its finding to the Executive Board.
At a press conference following today’s Executive Board meeting, the IOC President said the main reason for not granting requests for additional events received by sports was because the Games has reached maximum capacity, “Most of the applications have been politely declined because all of the applications combined resulted in a potential accumulation of 720 athletes to the already 10,500 of Games. So we kindly said to the Federations, sorry but we cannot accommodate your request,” Rogge said.
The IOC President also confirmed ISAF President Göran Petersson and HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, a member of the ISAF Events Committee, are amongst six persons to be nominated by the Executive Board as IOC Members. The recommendation of the Executive Board will be made to the current IOC Members who will vote on it at the next IOC Session to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark this October.
ISAF Secretary General Jerome Pels said: “Of course we’re disappointed that our request to keep the 11th medal has not been accepted but we understand and respect the IOC’s decision. We’re sad to see the Multihull off the Olympic Programme for London 2012, but for 2016 Games there will be a new discussion on the events and equipment within ISAF with a possibility of a come back of the Multihull.
“We now look forward with great anticipation to the London 2012 Olympic Games. ISAF is working closely with the IOC and the London Organisers to ensure the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition builds on the successes achieved at Qingdao in 2008.”
The 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition will feature 380 athletes competing across the following 10 events, selected by the Council of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) in November 2007:
Men’s One Person Dinghy – Laser
Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy – Finn
Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Men’s Two Person Dinghy High Performance – 49er
Men’s Windsurfer – RS:X
Men’s Keelboat – Star
Women’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial
Women’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Women’s Keelboat Match Racing – Elliott 6m
Women’s Windsurfer – RS:XThe IOC Executive Board is the body responsible for deciding on events and disciplines at the Olympic Games. It consists of the IOC President, four Vice-Presidents and ten other members, elected at the IOC Session. The IOC Session, which brings together all IOC Members, remains responsible for the composition of sports on the Olympic programme.
QUESTION: WHERE NOW FOR HIGH-LEVEL MULTIHULL SAILING?
Posted in Olympic Classes, Tornado | Tags: IOC, Jacques Rogge
© Alinghi: Nice set-up for the Defender, looks a bit sparse on the far side
Ras al-Khaimah literally means ‘the top of the tent’ in Arabic. Never mind the top of the tent, what about any of the tent – for BMW Oracle Racing at any rate. Take a look at the graphic of the ‘America’s Cup island’ that the good people of Ras al-Khaimah are about to build. Looks pretty cool, if you’re in the Alinghi camp anyway. Nice village for the Defenders, and a few people hanging around. On the other side of the island, just a lonesome trimaran all by itself. No people, no tents. Very minimalist campaign.
It was amusing to see the list of international companies that are based in the United Arab Emirates, as listed in Alinghi’s press release. Scroll through to the bottom and read the last two. Cheeky Swiss…
» INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES PRESENT IN UAE
- ABN-Amro
- Barclays
- BNP Paribas
- Citibank
- Credit Agricole Indosuez
- HSBC
- Lloyds TSB
- Standard Chartered Bank
- IBM
- GE
- UPS
- AT&T
- Pepsi
- FedEx
- GM
- HP
- Boeing
- Kellogg’s
- Philip Morris
- MasterCard
- Oracle
- BMW
Posted in 33rd America's Cup, Ras al-Khaimah
© Carlo Borlenghi/ Alinghi: Alinghi 5 flying two hulls
This mad, bad America’s Cup does have its advantages, and today it comes in the form of another beautiful photo from Carlo Borlenghi.
Whatever else we might think about the 33rd America’s Cup, it has been a wet dream for the lawyers (boo!), and increasingly so for the lucky few photographers (hooray!) such as Carlo and his BMW Oracle Racing counterpart, Gilles Martin Raget.
We might as well make the most of these moments. They could well turn out to be among the high points of the 33rd edition of the America’s Cup.
Posted in 33rd America's Cup, Alinghi
© www.carloborlenghi.com Donner und Blitzen: Alinghi 5 has caused a storm of rage about the use of stored power
Pierre Orphanidis’s Valencia Sailing blog is becoming the favoured venue for America’s Cup cage fighting, and this time it’s Brad Butterworth who takes the gloves off for some Tom Ehman knuckle dusting. It’s an entertaining read, and also brings up that horse that has bolted (how many metaphors and clichés can a blogger cram into one paragraph by the way?) – the use of stored power on sailing boats.
Here’s one of Brad’s more measured comments before he really starts laying into Tom:
In almost 140 years of America’s Cup competition, innovation is often accompanied by whines of “illegality” or “unfair” from the other camp. Alinghi however, cannot take any innovation credit in using powered systems, and Tom Ehman’s predictable whines are again wide of the mark. Onboard powered systems have been with the top end of the sport for more than a dozen years. Just take a closer look at the yachts competing in blue ribbon events such as the Sydney-Hobart, Newport to Bermuda, Volvo Ocean Race, Transpac as well as some World Championships such as the Maxi Worlds. Are they all cheats too, Tom?
If the new self-appointed purists of the sport are upset at the use of onboard powered systems, they need to take it up with the innovators of the game, but they have not only missed the boat, they have been missing it for years.
I recommend reading the rest of Brad’s cage rage, and also the reader comments. Well, you’ve got to get your fun out of the Cup somehow, don’t you!
Brad is right to pull Tom up on any sense of morality or high-mindedness about protecting the integrity of the America’s Cup from the use of stored power and such like. BMW Oracle can’t claim any moral high ground here. But what they can be rightly upset about is how Alinghi were hoping to keep stum on whether or not Racing Rules 49-54 would apply to the Deed of Gift match. And how ISAF allegedly colluded in that being allowed to happen.
There are no knights in shining armour here. No, I’m sticking with the cage fighting cliché as the one that best describes the current behaviour in the America’s Cup.
Posted in 33rd America's Cup, Brad Butterworth | Tags: Alinghi 5
A modern sailing boat
Looks like my ‘power wenches’ exposé caused a bit of a rumpus last week! Thanks to Scuttlebutt for spreading the word to its readership, who also voted on whether or not power wenches should be permitted in the America’s Cup.
If the Scuttlebutt survey is an accurate indicator, it appears the vast majority of sailing fans believe the flagrant use of stored power in America’s Cup sailing is an outrage, and that sport’s oldest event would be the worse for it.
Formula One has long had these arguments about which driver aids to permit on top-flight racing cars and which ones to ban. This is newer territory for sailing, although the level of outrage against Alinghi is surprising when you think how much artificial power has already sneaked into grand prix racing.
Canting keels rely heavily on push-button stored power to shift the lead bulb from side to side. Yet it seems we don’t even think to question how powered keels have insinuated themselves so deeply into the racing scene.
Pierre Orphanidis puts this very point to Tom Ehman in his wide-ranging interview with Tom Ehman on his Valencia Sailing blog.
Pierre asks Tom about Volvo Open 70s which have already established the precedent for boats that rely on stored power to function properly, as indeed have the IMOCA Open 60s for more than a decade now.
Tom makes some excellent points: “Whether that is a good development or not is debatable but certainly we never had powered sailing in the America’s Cup. Even in the Volvo Ocean Race you don’t have the engines running the winches, you don’t have the engines replacing the sailors. That happened already in Formula 1. Those of us living in Europe and following Formula 1 certainly remember what happened when they had the computers running the cars instead of the drivers. It only lasted one season because it was a computer race, not a driver race.”
As Tom says, whether that is a good development or not is debatable, and yet I’ve never heard the debate. Only now with the America’s Cup is it surfacing. Where I would disagree with Tom is where he suggests in the Volvo Ocean Race “you don’t have the engines replacing the sailors”. Actually I would say they do. How is it that the sailors are excused from pedestal-grinding the keel from side to side? “Because it would be bloody hard work,” I hear them say. But philosophically I don’t understand the difference between whether you use artificial power to pull in sails or move keels from side to side.
Thinking about this issue reminds me of the windy In Port race in Cape Town four years ago when ABN Amro One creamed the VOR fleet, outgybing everyone round the short course when others like Pirates of the Caribbean were spinning out and broaching because their motor couldn’t move the keel from side to side as quick as on the ABN Amro boat. While the crew on board ABN Amro were undoubtedly the slickest and most practised team of human beings, they were also faster and safer out of tacks and gybes because they had a superior power unit attached to their keel. A better engine meant their boat didn’t fall over. Which is very interesting, but not strictly a test of sailing.
I also remember getting on the satellite to Mike Golding one morning during the Vendée Globe four years ago when he was particularly grumpy after having had to hand-crank his canting keel up to windward. It took him half an hour of dirty, sweaty work to achieve what would normally be a few seconds of pressing a button while the fossil fuels did the hard work. Because the generator wasn’t working.
So, should we just call a halt to ‘progress’ and go back to fixed-keel technology and man-powered winches? Depends what you call progress. I’d say that Francis Joyon’s fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe in a boat that made no call on fossil fuels or artificial power was one definition of progress.
What’s right and what’s wrong? I haven’t got all the answers but until now I haven’t even heard anyone raise the question. While everyone’s getting hot and bothered about the America’s Cup maybe we should be thinking about the wider implications for the sport too.
QUESTION: Is this a relevant debate? Or am I just a luddite fuddy-duddy? If there should be a debate, who should lead it? ISAF, the World Yacht Racing Forum? Who?
Posted in 33rd America's Cup
© Ian Roman/ Audi MedCup: Paul Cayard offering advice to Torbjorn Tornqvist
Interesting quote from Michele Ivaldi, the navigator on Torbjorn Tornqvist’s TP52 Artemis, about the difference between sailing with Russell Coutts and Paul Cayard, who’s Coutts’s stand-in at this week’s Audi MedCup in Cagliari.
“Paul is more analytical. He is more focussed on the numbers. We have established a good work on analysing the performance every day. Russell is a lot more instinctive. Russell’s style is very different and he talks a lot to Torbjorn, he has taught him a lot and made Torbjorn learn a lot, it is always great with Russell on board. Paul tends to let them (the crew) do the speed work themselves and talks a little less with Torbjorn.”
I’ve had some interesting chats with Cayard over the years. He has some great, simple advice. Here’s one on how to make difficult decisions quickly. A good lesson for sailing, but a good life lesson too. I’ve opened up access to this article from my membership site for just a few days only, so read it quick before it the shutters come down again:
CLICK THIS LINK FOR PAUL CAYARD’S RAPID DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
Posted in Audi MedCup | Tags: Paul Cayard, SailJuice
© Carlo Borlenghi: Alinghi 5 on her maiden voyage - but how many maidens will sail on the good ship Venus?
Now we really know what’s bothering the Americans about those dastardly Swiss folk at Alinghi. Not only are they threatening to use ‘movable ballast’ but they are also planning on making use of…. ‘POWER WENCHES’!
Line 10: "moveable ballast and power wenches".
Don’t believe me? Think this is a hoax? Above is a snap shot I took from the official transcript of yesterday’s court hearing at the New York Supreme Court. Small wonder that “Golden Gate asks for contempt”. Small wonder that Justice Shirley Kornreich was giving Alinghi’s legal eagle Barry Ostrager such a hard time. It’s morally indefensible!
I had wondered if ‘power wenches’ was a typo but it appears twice in the document, in fact three times if you include the fact that it’s listed in the index at the back of the transcript. I’d love to publish the full document as evidence, but promised I wouldn’t. However I can assure you my eyes do not deceive me.
Quite what the purpose of the wenches will be is not yet clear, but presumably the plan is for the Swiss to use them against the Americans as Weapons of Mass Distraction. I hope they know what they’re getting themselves into. This is no laughing matter. We know what Americans think of WMDs. They were the undoing of Saddam Hussein’s regime. And that Nineties power wench Monica Lewinsky proved the undoing of the Clinton administration, bringing an otherwise upright presidency to its knees.
Surely this is proof that more than ever, the America’s Cup has sunk to new depths of morality. Exploiting women of easy virtue in the defence of sailing’s greatest prize.
A power wench, with movable ballast clearly visible
The skippers of the two teams appear to be deeply divided on this issue. In an interview with the news wire AP, Alinghi’s Brad Butterworth is quoted as saying: “This is the most interesting design Cup that’s ever been, I think, because there’s just no parameters. You can do what you want.”
Well, that’s one way of putting it, Brad. His old mate Russell Coutts, skipper of BMW Oracle Racing, takes a more prurient view: “An engine [is that a euphemism for a power wench? Ed.] in an America’s Cup boat? If that’s permitted, it will change the game forever, I think, the wrong way. I don’t think I’m alone on that one.”
Well let’s find out who agrees with Russell, shall we? And who’s down with Brad? Who’s down with the wenches?
QUESTION: What say you? Should Power Wenches and Movable Ballast be permitted in the America’s Cup? Should Power Wenches be permitted under any circumstances? Shirley they can’t be serious…
Posted in 33rd America's Cup | Tags: Power Wenches
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