Coutts and Bennett signed Signature Moment of 33rd America's Cup

by Richard Gladwell on 26 Aug 2010
The 33rd America's Cup, and the first race in particular was the culmination of almost three years bitter acrimony between two billionaires, and a similar period of intense technological development by two great sailing teams.

On 12 February 2010, BMW Oracle Racing's USA-17 came head to head with Alinghi 5 in the contest for sailing's most prestigious sailing trophy, the America's Cup.

With the start almost 25nm off the Spanish coast, photography was logistically difficult. as no media boats would venture that far offshore.

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The spectacular entry of USA-17 into the starting box took everyone's breath away, and set the scene for probably the most remarkable 20 minutes in sailing history.

Sail-World.com's America's Cup Editor, Richard Gladwell, was in the Emirates Team NZ tender, close to the Committee Boat (in red jacket in video below).

He took a sequence of images of what is now regarded as a signature moment of the 33rd America's Cup, as USA-17 flew two hulls before attacking the Swiss Defender.

This image is offered for auction - in a large size print of 1200mm by 850mm, gloss finish (smaller size if requested in these proportions).



Late last week, two of the key players in the 33rd America's Cup - Principal Race Officer Harold Bennett, and CEO Of BMW Oracle Racing, Russell Coutts agreed to sign the image, creating a unique record of this iconic event in world sailing history.

Bidding is now underway, with several bids placed for the unique and distinctive image for your home, office yacht club or personal collection, signed by the photographer. The reserve was reached on the first day.

Never again will such a sailing event be seen. This super sized image recaptures the breath taking scene, as viewed on the water off Valencia.

All proceeds from the auction will to the http://manymilesformary.co.nz!ManyMilesForMary beneficiary charities. The runners in the run, from the Institute of Golf on Auckland's North Shore, achieved their goal late on Saturday afternoon running from Auckland to Wellington in just six days - all just on training runs of 15km and 14 weeks training using the CrossFit method. See their website http://manymilesformary.co.nz!ManyMilesForMary and the story in the http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/4048824/Charity-760km-run-fans-bigger-ambitions!Dominion_Post

To bid on this auction http://www.trademe.co.nz/Sports/Sports-memorabilia/Other/auction-311205537.htm!click_here

Auction closes on 26 August 2010 (NZT)


To hear Harold Bennett speaking at the TeamVodafoneSailing launch last Thursday on the start of Race 1 of the 33rd America's Cup, the 1851 Cup and the prospect of multihulls in the 34th America's Cup, click on the 10 minute audio clip below: