ACWS- The Italian job—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 11 Apr 2012 This week’s Grand Prix headlines are being dominated by the America’s Cup World Series (ACWS) Naples, Italy event, which begins Wednesday and runs through Sunday. Here, teams will race wingsail-powered AC45 class catamarans in both match-racing and fleet-racing formats, with plenty of up-close-and-personal crowdscape action for both spectators and sailors alike. 'The game has changed, the racing is right next to the shore,' says Oracle Racing’s Jimmy Spithill. 'It was exciting yesterday (Monday) to see the crowds and I think they will be even bigger next weekend. The exciting thing for the sailors is you can hear people cheering. It's like being in a stadium. That's one of the coolest things, to go around the course and hear people cheering… The Italian fans are the best in the world and they'll make this event fantastic.'

Other teams are equally ramped up for this event, as Italy is a country where North Sails garb is considered high fashion, and were sailing is part of the national conversation. 'This weekend was 'practice' racing, but still the Italian public made it down to see the action,' reported Artemis Racing’s CEO, Paul Cayard. 'Italy is known to be one of the most passionate nations when it comes to the America’s Cup and we are expecting big crowds both here in Naples and next month in Venezia.' Get the full regatta preview inside this issue, and stay tuned to the website for racecourse results, as they become known.

Meanwhile, In Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) news, Groupama 4 limped across the finishing line in Itajai, Brazil under jury rig yesterday, picking up the third podium position and valuable leaderboard points. 'The guys all did a fantastic job and I am very happy with our podium place,' said skipper Franck Cammas. 'The mood among the guys is very good and we're still right in this race.' Groupama’s current work list includes stepping their spare rig, which was flown to Itajai, and no doubt doing some creative re-stitching to an inventory that had to be modified to fit their stubby, broken stick.

Emirates Team New Zealand are now the last men sailing to Itajai, racing a lonely two-thousand-plus miles after stopping to make repairs to a badly delaminated Camper. Currently, the team is working to round Cape Horn before a big low-pressure system rolls in. 'The boat is in perfect working order so we’re able to run it in full race trim,' said skipper Chris Nicholson. 'The incentive for us here is to get a fourth place and get valuable points so we are very focused on pushing the boat as hard as possible… Everyone is really looking forward to getting to Cape Horn, hopefully we can just get north before the breeze hits.' Get the full VOR debriefing, inside.

Also inside, get the latest on the Global Ocean Race fleet as it negotiates light airs en route from Punta del Este, Uruguay to Charleston, South Carolina; check out the post-racing reports from the 50th anniversary Rolex China Sea Race, and be sure to also check out the wrap-up report from the Garda Optimist Meeting.

May the four winds blow you safely home,