AC, offshore and multi-media fun—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond
by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 21 Jun 2013
34th America’s Cup - Luna Rossa and Emirates Team NZ ACEA/ Bob Grieser
http://photo.americascup.com/
In America’s Cup news, Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand have been using their pre-Louis Vuitton Cup time to speed check, develop their boats and practice their around-the-buoy moves. Oracle Team USA, meanwhile, has also been logging more practice time, honing their straight-line speed runs and refining myriad other onboard and procedural details.
Inside, be sure to check out the great image galleries of ETNZ and Luna Rossa sparing, as well as some interesting 'Am-Cam' video footage of Oracle Team USA foiling around on San Francisco Bay.
Also Cup-related, Torbjörn Törnqvist, owner of the Swedish-flagged Artemis Racing-the Challenger of Record for the 34th America’s Cup-has arrived in San Francisco to meet with the team for the second time in the last month, train, and get some on-the-water time aboard a foil-borne AC45. According to reports, Törnqvist wasted little opportunity before logging some AC45 tiller time and catching his first ride on foils.
'It has been great to be together with the team, and I am impressed with what they’ve been able to accomplish under such difficult circumstances,' said Törnqvist. 'There is clearly still a lot of work to do, but safety remains the central consideration.' Check out the multimedia report, inside this issue.
For ocean racing fans, the Volvo Ocean Race’s Media Team has put together a great multimedia presentation that offers some excellent 'sizzle-reel' imagery of the first 40 years’ worth of this storied competition. Be advised: This short film (2:39) is best watched on the biggest screen possible!
Also in offshore-racing news, double-handers Ian Gumprect and co-skipper Mark Swanson won Class C and overall first-place honors in the Founders Division of the Marion to Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race, which just concluded. Gumprect and Swanson sailed the smallest boat in the fleet ('Roust', a Sea Sprite 34), proving again that sound seamanship and sailing smarts, not sheer LOA, are the most important racecourse tools.
'We never saw any real Gulf Stream current and the water never got warmer than 72 degrees,' said Swanson. 'We think we did well because we sailed hard and fast. We kept moving all the time choosing to sail a little off a chosen course to get more speed.'
And for anyone who simply loves gawking at classic and state-of-the-art raceboats being sailed by tack-sharp crews in bucket-list venues, don’t miss the great image galleries from ace photographers Carlo Borlenghi and Ingrid Abery, showcasing the racecourse action at both the Giraglia Rolex Cup and the Superyacht Cup (respectively).
And finally, this coming Saturday (June 22) marks the annual Summer Sailstice, a worldwide series of events that strive to get people out on the water and having fun, while also celebrating the longest days of 2013. Check out their website, but more importantly, get out on the water and have some fun this weekend yourself. The days may be joyfully long now, but we all know what lurks on the other side of this now-sunny coin. Enjoy!
May the four winds blow you safely home,
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