SailJuice Blog

It seems the America’s Cup is heading back to court.

Again.

So SailJuice will stay away from this tedious topic until it shows signs of returning to a sailing contest.

I will just draw your attention to an open letter written by Mascalzone Latino boss Vincenzo Onorato, one of the disgruntled ‘non-Challengers’. It’s called How To Save the America’s Cup. He makes a few sensible suggestions (which admittedly are worth diddly in the strange netherworld of the 33rd AC) and he drops a few bombshells too.

You can read Vincenzo’s full text here.

Here’s a bit to whet your appetite (if you’ve got any appetite left for this legal borefest. Even John Grisham lost interest months ago):

“Following the launch of the challenge, ACM sent us an invoice for fifty thousand euros which we paid immediately.… Read the rest

Was Lijia Xu unlucky to lose the gold at the Women’s Laser Radial Worlds last week, after her disqualification from the final race due to excessive kinetics? Or should the Chinese sailor count herself lucky to hang on to silver?

It depends on how you view kinetic infringements, I suppose. It wasn’t so long ago that Paige Railey fell foul of the system on two big occasions – racking up three RR42 penalties which up until recently was sufficient to see you disqualified from the whole regatta. Railey was booted out of the 2006 Worlds and then at the Rolex Miami OCR in early 2007. You could argue that Railey got what she deserved, if the American sailor was pushing the limits to such an extent when the penalty was so harsh.

But are pumping, ooching, or other forms… Read the rest

The TP52 Strewth, which lost its keel in the early hours of Friday during the Rolex China Sea Race, arrived safely back in Hong Kong this afternoon under power. The boat was hauled out at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club where it will be inspected and the cause attempted to be determined.

Skipper Geoff Hill was obviously relieved to be safely ashore with his crew, saying, “We were very lucky. I can’t think of any other race boat that’s come back without a keel after 200 miles.” Describing the incident Hill said, “We had just gone past Ffreefire and Hi Fi. We were sailing a bit off the wind doing about 12 knots in 25 knots, sailing about 80 degrees off the breeze. I think we had a number four and the main up. We had most of the… Read the rest

TP52 Strewth’s keel and bulb have come off, less than a day into the inaugural Rolex China Sea Race from Hong Kong to the Philippines. It happened at 0400 hours local time, but fortunately all crew onboard are safe. The boat remained upright and watertight, and the crew have moved all heavy equipment down as low as possible in the bilge, and have filled their tanks with sea water to add stability. They have also unshipped the boom and stowed it below.

Strewth was 170 nautical miles east-southeast from Hong Kong and is now motoring back to Hong Kong at 3.5 knots. The Beneteau 44.7 Cloud diverted to Strewth’s position and has been standing by to offer assistance.

Meanwhile, in IRC Racing Division, the frontrunners – Ffreefire, Hi Fi, Fortis Mandrake, and Full Metal Jacket have been racing within… Read the rest

The Fireballs have just finished a stunning World Championship in Pattaya, Thailand. It was a close fight all week between a British and Aussie team (shades of what seems to happen in many Olympic contests these days). But in the penultimate race the Brits, Matt Mee and Richard Wagstaff, luffed their Aussie rivals Nathan Stockley and Sam Muirhead at the start. This put both teams back in the pack, except that Mee/Wagstaff found the fast forward button to get their way back up into the top three by the finish.

The Brits (pictured above) won the Worlds with a race to spare.

The new World Champions sat out the last race, while Stockley and Muirhead sailed the last race to defend 2nd place. However, a rare capsize put them back in the pack again, and allowed Dave Wade… Read the rest

Sarah Steyaert has won the 2008 Women’s Laser Radial World Championship in New Zealand, a great result for the French sailor whose previous best was 6th in 2006. The world title looked to be heading China’s way until series leader Lijia Xu was disqualified from the final race when an umpire gave her an on-the-water penalty for excessive body movement.

Steyaert seized her chance. “I saw her take the flag, and I knew that I had to finish in the top 14 – I knew the points. And I did it, so I knew I had the World Championship.” Xu, who won the Worlds in 2006, had to be satisfied with the silver medal, still a long way ahead of the rest despite that last-race disqualification.

If Xu was disappointed with silver, Skandia Team GBR’s Andrea Brewster was delighted… Read the rest

BMW Oracle Racing piled on the pressure this morning with the announcement of the team members for its assault on the 33rd America’s Cup. One gets the sense that Russell Coutts and the American team are good deal more prepared for a match in late 2008 than are Alinghi, who yesterday said they looked forward to a July 2009 match.

As ever, it’s hard seeing through the smoke and mirrors of the Cup world, but the man who consistently does a great job of cutting through the crap is Cory Friedman, whose razor-sharp analyses are published in Scuttlebutt.

Here’s an excerpt from Cory’s latest piece:

“Now the real news. After Justice Cahn’s decision was handed down, Ernesto Bertarelli called. He confirmed that SNG will not appeal, he wants to decide the Cup on the water, rather than in court,… Read the rest

The 33rd America’s Cup will be a straight fight between Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing in July 2009.

We think.

The Cup has been bogged down in such uncertainty these past months, but following Justice Herman Cahn’s ruling at the New York Supreme Court today that the Golden Gate Yacht Club is indeed the Challenger of Record – despite Alinghi’s protestations – it appears that the impasse has been broken with both teams now ‘resigned’ to a Deed of Gift match. Each blames the other for bringing the Cup to such a low point, after such a high last July.

This is a disaster for the challenger teams who have been waiting in the wings. July 2009 was the original timescale for the 33rd Cup, but now that none of the Shosholozas, Origins, Mascalzones or the many other potential challengers… Read the rest

Bob Merrick (is that the same Bob Merrick who won an Olympic silver medal in the 470?) sent in this report from the US Sailing Spring Meeting to SailJuice.

Good News and Bad News from the US Sailing Spring Meeting

First the Good News:

Last weekend at the US Sailing Spring meeting the US Sailing Multihull Council (MHC) introduced the following motion to the US Sailing House of Delegates.

The MHC moves that the House of Delegates recommend to the Board of Directors that the US Delegation to ISAF support one or more of the March 2008 Submissions calling for a re-vote on Olympic Events for the 2012 Games in Great Britain. The MHC contends that a re-vote on all ten events is fairer than the Submissions that call for a limited run-off vote of a partial slate.

After considerable… Read the rest

No word from ISAF as to the number of submissions it has received in relation to the Olympic Events for Weymouth 2012. SailJuice emailed the Federation at the beginning of the day to request a list of national authorities who had made formal submissions, but all quiet on the western front.

I’m not surprised we haven’t heard anything yet. I’m also quite encouraged by the fact, as word on the (moderately reliable) grapevine is that there are a few more nations, other than the ones already mentioned on this blog, who have made formal submissions.

There is another encouraging element to all this, which is that it’s not just the wealthy or the big nations kicking up a fuss. We’ve already mentioned the support from some African nations for a revote, and there is also a submission from Bermuda and… Read the rest