Yachting News 18th January 2011
Wild Days Rum, available at all liquor stores on Waiheke Island – more here
Greetings yachties,
In this issue:
Emirates Team New Zealand – VOLVO UPDATE,
Destopnews,
Russell Coutts talks to Sailing World magazine’s Stuart Streuli,
AC 45 – first sail,
New Oracle Racing Team facebook page here,
Barcelona World Race – latest news here,
Hyundi Long Board,
Sail-World Australia – latest issue here,
Sail-World UK – latest issue here,
Sail-World USA – latest issue here,
Sail-World NZ – latest issue here,
Scuttlebutt USA – latest issue here,
Scuttlebutt Europe – latest issue here,
Enjoy
100 ft Chrisco from Luca Brenta Yacht Des on Vimeo.
“We’ve hired very good people who have run other big sports’ properties before. We were firm believers that we needed professional management…”
Coutts goes on to speak about the challenges ahead for ORACLE Racing in trying to defend the Cup, and about his sailing future.
“I’m going to get into the AC45s and start sailing… As a team our goal is to win; for me it doesn’t matter who’s on the boat… my job is to make sure we have the best team out there.”
Listen to the full interview with Sailing World magazine’s Stuart Streuli here.
The test team completed the first sail and were back at the dock by noon in New Zealand before a tropical storm system began to move into the area. The early start afforded the team the chance to launch and sail before returning to the Viaduct base to tuck the boat platform and wing safely back into the shed. The rain came just moments after the shore operations were finished. With flat seas and 10 knots of breeze out of the northeast, the crew had near-perfect testing conditions, but some stormy weather is on the way so the next sailing session will be later in the week.
Here’s what was heard from around harbour:
Harold Bennett (PRO 33rd AC)
“It’s an awesome looking boat. I saw it sailing, flying a hull almost immediately and it was pretty impressive. It will be great to see more of them trialling together soon; I reckon the future of the America’s Cup is looking good.”
Peter Lester (Americas’ Cup veteran and sailing TV commentator)
“It’s great to see the first one and it’ll be fantastic when we get a few of them sailing out on the harbour. What also really impresses me is the way the team behind it have really thought about the detailing – and getting it in and out of water efficiently.
Andy Hindley (America’s Cup Race Management, COO)
It was an unbelievable first sail. We were in 8-10 knots of breeze and we were sailing at more than double that speed .. .up to about 20 knots at one point.With a bit more breeze we could be going 28 – 30knots.
We were only sailing for a couple of minutes and flying the hull. It’s a great start. There’s a bit of work to do onshore now, but then we will get it back onto the water and sail it as often as we can.
Jimmy Spithill (AC45 Test Skipper and ORACLE RACING Skipper)
“It’s fantastic …everyone at the dock is smiling. It’s an awesome tool and it’ll be a lot of fun.
The wing’s big and the boat powers up quickly and is easy to sail and maneuverability is not a problem. Straight off the bat we were talking about going racing and how good it is going to be.
We’ll have no problem having close racing. We were doing 20 knots at times.
photos by Uncle Majo
and who’s this?
going for a sail?
The Doldrums have been kind and given HUGO BOSS a good transition into the Southern Hemisphere. The boat never really stopped and now seems to be into the well established SE trade winds heading south. All good onboard and the guys are happy to be in the South and starting to think about preparations for the Southern Ocean.
