Editorial- Keels Revealed!

by nzeditor@sail-world.com on 2 Apr 2007 Welcome to the Unveiling Day special of Sail-World.Com/NZ’s newsletter

All was revealed overnight in Valencia as the 12 team competing for the 32nd Anerica’s Cup were required to drop their hull skirts and reveal all to the media and the fans.

Unlike the last event in Auckland in 2003, there were few surprises and nothing of the ilk of the Hula wildcard.

As our correspondent, in Valencia. Bob Fisher says 'For anyone expecting a shattering revelation, it must have been an anticlimax'.

That being the case we can assume that most designers are now well into the same corner of the rule, that there will not be marked differences in boat speed, and the 32nd America’s Cup will be a sailors regatta.

Alingi designer Rolf Vrolijk made the interesting comment, that he was surprised at the diversity in the configurations, indicating that in Alinghi's view there was not a lot of design options open, and really the Class of 2007 would be noted for design refinement rather than revolution.

That said, two of the teams feature bowsprits and there are two forward sloping bows – a first for the America’s Cup.

In this edition we have tried to give you a taste of Sail-World’s coverage for the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup. Much of the material and images are from the teams themselves and America’s Cup media. However the images are taken by some of the top photographers in the sailing world, and are excellent shots. You can view these in our wide screen format, if you wish.

Top international yachting journalist Bob Fisher will be providing a daily commentary on his view of the proceedings and putting an independent perspective. Bob is both a yachtsman and journalist having sailed in most of the major events in the sailing world. He has been a yachting correspondent since 1968 and has covered the whole gambit of sailing media and events over the past 40 years.

Bob has a great eye for the sport, and at Sail-World we are thrilled that he is working with us for the Cup.

If you wish to receive Sail-World’s free daily America’s Cup newsletter, please sign up now off our website www.sail-world.com

Don't forget to order your copy of the DVD of the Louis Vuitton Acts 1-12 - as we have said before, it's the best America's Cup DVD we've yet seen. See our special fundraising offer.

Good sailing!

Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor

PS Our next newsletter will be out on Wednesday with the weekend sailing news and updates from the international scene. In the meantime stay up to date with the reports we are posting on the website www.sail-world.com/nz