Start of BMW Sailing Cup world final in Valencia

by Jo Gawith on 14 Apr 2007 A highlight for all sailing enthusiasts – in the grand world final of the BMW Sailing Cup, 1.400 amateur sailors from seven nations will be competing against each other from Friday, 13 April until Sunday, 15 April.

The crews, consisting of the five winners of the national finals of the respective countries, will be confronting their rivals in the race against the wind off the coast of Valencia. The boat type used by the participants from Spain, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Austria, Malta and Denmark will be the Bénéteau First Class 7.5.

With the BMW Sailing Cup, an international regatta series for amateurs, BMW further extended its commitment to yachting in 2006. In professional sailing, the BMW ORACLE Racing team has made a name for itself in the competition for the legendary America’s Cup.

As BMW Sports Marketing Manager Ralf Hussmann says, 'Yachting is becoming increasingly popular. By introducing and hosting the BMW Sailing Cup, we intend to offer our BMW customers a new competitive platform. The BMW Sailing Cup is geared towards all amateur sailors who wish to pit their skills against those of other European sailing enthusiasts on the water.'

The grand finale of the BMW Sailing Cup was preceded by qualifying regattas and the respective national finals. The latter were hosted within the framework of renowned international sailing events. All participants will subsequently have the opportunity to experience the first regatta day of the Louis Vuitton Cup at the BMW ORACLE Racing team base and on a spectators’ boat live and up close.

The ultimate aim of this racing series is to determine the challenger of the America’s Cup title defender Alinghi. Among the favourites – BMW ORACLE Racing.

The winning team of the BMW Sailing Cup will get to know the professionals of the team in person on the occasion of an exclusive day of training – maybe to learn some tactical manoeuvres for the next BMW Sailing Cup 2007.

Participants of the grand final of the BMW Sailing Cup:

Team Malta - David Franks, John Ripard, André Rossignaud, Peter Valentino´, David Anastasi

Team Spain - Juan Company, Javier Jáudenes, Francisco Pomar, Bernat Vidiella, Juan Fullana

Team UK - John Darby, Sian Evans, Mary Barratt, Andrew Baird, Amy Smith

Team Austria - René Mangold, Christian Bayer, Helmut Driemer, Stefan Glanz, Maximilian Petutschnig

Team Denmark - Jesper Bjørn Hansen, Martin Ørbæk Nielsen, George Bry, Peter Thagaard Olesen

Team Germany - Steve Bärtle, Jörg Gruber, Patrick Heinrichs, Dirk Löwe, Jan Jelinek

Team Italy - Paolo Brescia, Simona Crispo, Ariberto Strobino, GuiseppeTesonore, Dario Pagliani