| Sail-World New Zealand: February 13, 2013 |
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Welcome to Sail-World.com's New Zealand newsletter for February 13, 2013 Emirates Team New Zealand had their first sail in the first second generation AC72 to be launched in this the year of the America's Cup. Sail-World was on the water briefly to see the AC72b have her first sail, and check out the differences from the now-decommissioned platform. That is effectively what has happened, rather than a new boat being launched. The foils and wingsail have been jumped over from one platform to the other, and the development continues.
Although we saw her first go upwind, we did not remain to see her foiling later in the day. Our overall impression was of a yacht that was going through the air making less drag. The narrowness of the new hulls is quite apparent. Missing was the under platform pod designed to tidy up the airflow. Maybe the most significant item was the new foil, with a curved flipper like end. Tuesday was a very light day in the Hauraki Gulf and to be foiling in a 72ft catamaran weighting seven tonnes (that is the weight that has to be lifted by the single foil) in those conditions is a significant achievement indeed. Whether it was faster foiling than sailing in displacement mode will be something the team will be looking to learn over the next nine weeks.
In San Francisco, the two-boating continues between Oracle Team USA and Artemis Racing. Although we get treated to selected still images, there has been no video of any substance, and certainly nothing like we have seen previously from Emirates Team NZ showing sustained and continuous foiling. Staying with things America's Cup, a third New Zealand team has been announced to trial for the Red Bull Youth America's Cup. With only two teams allowed to go forward from any one country, one of the trial teams will be eliminated. But the fact that New Zealand can mount three teams in the series is a good indicator of the sailing talent available. We have full details in this edition, and reveal the make-up of the new crew.
This weekend the unofficial World 18ft Skiff Championship the JJ Giltinan Trophy, gets underway in Sydney, and runs through to the following Sunday. Seven New Zealand crews are making the trip across the Tasman to the home of 18ft skiffs - which are very much part of the Australian culture. 32 crews from around the world will contest the event, with several of the New Zealand crews in with a real shot at one of the top places. Two new boats will travel from New Zealand. We have a preview of the event and the New Zealand crew profiles in this edition of sail-World.com's newsletter. Stay tuned to our website sail-world.com for daily reports.
With the addition the new Mixed Multihull event at the 2016 Olympics, a key question will be just who will step up to the mark in this new class, plus who will compete as Mixed (male and female) crews, and how they will shake out for weight and role in the boat. The chosen boat, the Nacra 17 is not experiencing the easiest of transitions from trial selection to Olympic boat - with mast issues forcing the issuance of aluminum masts and other issues. Nacras have several boats around the Nacra 17, one of which held its own worlds, ealier this month. Two New Zealand Mixed crews competed in the Open fleet, with Brett Sellers and Vicky Francis finishing as top Mixed crew in the World event.
Finally, congratulation to Ralph Robert on becoming just the fifth New Zealander to be awarded a Gold Medal for service by the International Sailing Federation. Long time International Judge and Umpire, and now Volvo Ocean Race Director, Jack Lloyd, was awarded a Silver medal for services well rendered.
Richard Gladwell NZ Editor sailworldnzl@gmail.com Send your news and images directly to Sail-World by clicking here To subscribe a friend to Sail-World's FREE newsletter click here If you are an potential advertiser and want to understand how Sail-World can work for your company, website or product, then drop a line to Colin Preston at nzsales@sail-world.com If you wish to come off our mailing list please click the unsubscribe button on this newsletter, or drop a line to deletesailworld@gmail.com, giving the email address that appears at the top of your newsletter. Or, if you want to contact Richard Gladwell directly email: sailworldnzl@gmail.com or call (649) 489 9267 Stay up with the latest sailing news, as it happens, on our website www.sail-world.com/nz
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