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Bundock challenging for lead at A Class
event
ORACLE Racing sailor Darren Bundock holds second place at the Australian A
Class Nationals after the first day of racing in winds between 14 and 18 knots
on Lake Macquarie, New South Wales.
Bundock, who helmed ORACLE Racing Coutts to the fastest ever AC45 500-meter
speed run at the ACWS San Diego last November, scored 3-2 in today’s opening
races and trails series leader Glenn Ashby by 3 points. Ashby, of Emirates Team
New Zealand, won both races.
ORACLE Racing is well represented at the nationals with five members of the
sailing team among the 70 entrants. Also racing are skipper Jimmy Spithill,
tactician John Kostecki, wingsail trimmer Dirk de Ridder and Tom Slingsby, who
was tactician aboard ORACLE Racing Coutts at ACWS San Diego.
Spithill holds ninth with 19 points, Slingsby is 10th with 20.5 points, de
Ridder is 28th and Kostecki is 48th after not finishing Race 1.
Link to full article: Bundock
challenging for lead at A Class event
Related articles:
Ashby,
Bundock on top at A Class Catamaran Nationals
A
Cat king starts Australian Championship with two bullets
Link
to Results
Photos:
Copyright Andrea Francolini
Standings (after 2 of 9 scheduled races)
1. Glenn Ashby
1-1 – 2 points
2. Darren Bundock 2-3 –
5
3. Steve Brewin 3-4 – 7
4. Nathan
Outteridge 6-2 – 8
5. Simon McKeon 4-5 –
9
6. Andrew Landenberger 7-6 – 13
7.
Brad Collett 8-8 – 16
8. Scott Anderson 10-7 –
17
9. James Spithill 9-10 – 19
10. Tom
Slingsby 5-15.5 – 20.5
28. Dirk de Ridder 25-35 –
60
48. John Kostecki 71 (DNF)-27 – 98
Spithill talks made-for-TV
sailing
Australia’s James Spithill, the winning helmsman from the 2010 America’s Cup
and skipper of ORACLE Racing, has been back “down under” for the Southern
Hemisphere summer.
Spithill headed to Perth 2011 to help coach his sister Katie’s women’s match
racing team and now he is at the John Cootes Furniture A Class Catamaran
Australian Championships with four of his teammate and a bunch of Aussie sailing
mates.
James was one of the first AC sailors to get into the A-Cats. He came sixth
at the 2009 A-Cat Worlds on Lake Macquarie (Australia).
“It’s good to be on your own and it’s good to go out there and try the trial
and error method,” Spithill said of sailing A Class cats. “The skills are great
for use on the AC45. I found that when I did the Worlds a few years ago, a time
when I think Nathan did them as well, I picked up a lot of skills that helped in
the bigger boats.
“Obviously the AC45 has a rigid wing, which is a bit different, but the
principles of making the boat go fast and the maneuvering are the same. The A
Cats have curved foils and on the AC72s we will have curved foils.
“The A-Cat was one of the first to go for the curved foils, I think and Ben
Hall did the first wing for the A cats. The C Class guys have been doing the
wings for a long time and it’s a cool class in that they have been leading to
the forefront. There is a guy here with a T rudder. You can see them develop
every year.
“We bought the A Class wing before we did the trimaran wing for USA
17, just to see what it was like. The hard thing with these smaller boats
is that the wing is logistically a bit of a pain. It’s much easier just to pull
your sail up and down.
“However, I found at a certain scale it does get easier with the wing. For
instance we use the top section of our A Class wing. Mike Drummond put it on an
Optimist in New Zealand and it was like a beach umbrella, just a post straight
into the boat and that's it. It spins around 360 degrees on the shore.
“That was actually easier to rig up that the regular Optimist and the kid
went out and he was off.
“I think the wings won’t go full mainstream because it is logistically a
hassle to drive them around, but for an Optimist size or thereabouts it is no
problem.”
Link to full article: James
Spithill sailing A-Cats in Australia talks Made for TV
sailing
Photo above: Jimmy Spithill (center) races A
Class Catamarans on Lake Macquarie (copyright Andrea Francolini).
Legends like the
Revolution
America's Cup legends such as Malin Burnham, Bill Ficker and Bill Koch all
visited the ACWS San Diego and came away impressed with the transformed
America's Cup.
Watch the video: Legends
like the Revolution
Top 3 of 2011: No.
1
We asked our lead photographer, Guilain Grenier, and videographer, George
Johns, to provide their top three pics and vids from 2011. Today we provide
their top picks of 2011 and say: Happy New Year!
Picture: Head first into a wall
Guilain says: “When ORACLE Racing sailed in San Francisco
last June for the first time with the new AC45, it was the first time these
boats sailed in strong wind conditions and rough seas. Combined with great
natural light, the day couldn’t have been more perfect for shooting. I love the
way the lead crew has his head turned to the wall of water that’s about to
engulf him and the aft guy has one leg overboard, as if he’s ready to step off.
The AC45’s really are spectacular to shoot in windy conditions.”
Video: Back
to the Future
George says: “There is no doubting now the
thrills-and-spills excitement that the AC45’s bring to the transformed America's
Cup. But in this film, I was particularly interested in the challenge of
‘bringing together’ these teammates, Jimmy Spithill and Murray Jones, to
reminisce about a time when they were competitors, to recall the 34th America’s
Cup between USA 17 and Alinghi 5. Spithill skipper ORACLE
Racing’s boat to victory and Jones was a key member of the Alinghi team for
eight years. Recorded in a waterfront cafe in Auckland, I'd like to do something
similar, with other team members, only maybe after they've had a few
beers...”
Related articles: Top
3 of 2011: No. 1
Top
3 of 2011: No. 2
Top
3 of 2011: No. 3 |