BMW ORACLE Racing ready to race

From a team press release issued today:

The BMW ORACLE Racing team is ready to return to Louis Vuitton Trophy action in La Maddalena, Sardinia. 10 teams will battle for supremacy over the two-week regatta, racing off one of the Mediterranean’s most spectacular coastlines.

Competing on equalised America’s Cup Class boats (two of which have been provided by the team – USA 98 and USA 87), in Cup style match racing, the Louis Vuitton Trophy provides an important measuring stick for the team as it returns to monohull racing following its America’s Cup win in February.

“It’s really exciting to get back on the water and race against all of the teams again,” said skipper James Spithill (AUS). “It feels like it’s been a long time since we’ve been in a competition like this.”

BMW ORACLE Racing missed the most recent Louis Vuitton Trophy in Auckland as the team focused on its America’s Cup Match.

“I had a chance to see some of the racing in Auckland and it was all at a very high level,” Spithill continued. “This will be a good test for us to compete against many of the teams who are potential challengers in the next America’s Cup.”

The team racing in La Maddalena features several new faces, including navigator Ian Moore (GBR), who comes to the team after stints with Emirates Team New Zealand and TeamOrigin.

The full crew list for La Maddalena: 

Bow - Brad Webb 

Mid Bow - Ryan Godfrey 

Mast - Shannon Falcone

Pit - Matthew Mason 

Port Grind - Brian MacInnes 

Starboard Grind - Jono Macbeth 

Main Grind - Joe Spooner 

Upwind Trim - Ross Halcrow 

Downwind Trim - Joey Newton 

Main Trim - Dirk de Ridder 

Traveller/Up Mast - Mark Mendelblatt 

Skipper - James Spithill 

Tactician - John Kostecki 

Runner/Strategy - Michele Ivaldi 

Navigator - Ian Moore 

Aft Grind - Simeon Tienpont 

Aft Grind - Gillo Nobili 

Coach/Afterguard - Philippe Presti

Racing is scheduled to start on Saturday May 22nd and runs through June 6th. The regatta format includes an opening Round Robin, followed by two elimination rounds, a semi final and final.

Full team coverage will be on the team blog at http://bmworacleracingblog.blogspot.com and there will be live streaming coverage of the regatta at www.louisvuittontrophy.com.

Training day two

A valuable session on the water today in La Maddalena in preparation for racing Saturday. Gilles Martin-Raget filed these images of the morning training slot.

Good training for new crew additions in La Maddalena

After a good morning session, the afternoon training slot for BMW ORACLE Racing was cancelled with the wind exceeding 20 knots. With only four boats for 10 teams, and plenty of racing to complete over the next three weeks, prudence is surely a sensible course for the organisers to take.

But the morning session was a fruitful one for BMW ORACLE Racing, who were paired up with Azzurra, for a 75-minute session.

Among the new faces on the crew list (see full list below) is navigator Ian Moore, who joins the team after recent stints with Green Dragon in the last Volvo Ocean Race and TeamOrigin in the Nice and Auckland Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas. 

Moore also sailed with Louis Vuitton Cup winners Emirates Team New Zealand in the 32nd America's Cup and knows tactician John Kostecki from their days together with illbruck, where they won the 2001-02 Volvo Ocean Race. Trimmers Ross Halcrow and Dirk de Ridder were also on that illbruck team, so Moore isn't in unfamiliar territory on board, although he says it's been a while since he's sailed with the guys on the team. 

(Ian Moore between Jimmy Spithill and JK)

"I don't think I've sailed with JK since the Volvo. But he seems very relaxed and is enjoying the sailing. It's a nice feeling on board. I haven't sailed with Jimmy before, but I sailed with quite a few OneWorld guys (Spithill was helmsman for OneWorld in 2002-03)  at Team New Zealand, and they all raved about him and his starting, and although they're all just getting back into the swing of things on the monohuls, you can tell already it's going to be good.

"I think they're finding it really interesting to get back onto an ACC boat. I think they're enjoying racing two very similar boats. The closeness of the racing, the pre-starts, it's something the guys seem to be enjoying after the multhihull experience."

The training sessions are action-packed. With just 75 minutes on board, the teams roll immediately into a couple of practice starts, before sailing a one lap, short course, race. Today, the team was paired up against the very strong Azzurra team and Moore said it was great, intense, practice session. 

"We might have copped a penalty in one of the pre-starts, but that's also good in a way… to learn what you can and can't get away with while it doesn’t count against you, but we had a good race against them."

The team has more training scheduled on Wednesday.

The crew list for the team in La Maddalena is as follows:

Bow - Brad Webb

Mid Bow - Ryan Godfrey

Mast - Shannon Falcone

Pit  - Matthew Mason

Port Grind - Brian MacInnes

Starboard Grind  - Jono Macbeth

Main Grind - Joe Spooner

Upwind Trim - Ross Halcrow

Downwind Trim - Joey Newton

Main Trim - Dirk de Ridder

Traveler/Up Mast - Mark Mendelblatt

Helm - James Spithill

Tactician - John Kostecki

Runner Strategy    - Michele Ivaldi

Navigator - Ian Moore

Aft Grind - Simeon Tienpont

Aft Grind - Gillo Nobili

Meanwhile in Valencia...

Noted yacht designers from around the world are attending a conference to lay the groundwork for a new class of boat for the 34th America's Cup.

The conference is being hosted by design coordinator Ian 'Fresh' Burns at the BMW ORACLE Racing base in Valencia.

As mentioned at the Rome press conference for the 34th America's Cup, the goal is a fair design rule that will produce a next generation boat that is thrilling for sailing fans to watch, challenging for the sailors to sail and stimulating for the designers as well.

By seeking input from the best brains in the business, the process is off to a good start. The objective is a rule fair to all teams which, like race management, will be placed in the hands of a neutral organisation. 

The design rule for the new America's Cup class is to be finalised by the 30th September of this year.

Training day - morning session

The gale force mistral winds have abated and BMW ORACLE Racing had the first of its two scheduled training sessions this morning in La Maddalena.

Team photo Gilles Martin-Raget was out on the chase boat and sent through a selection of shots.

We'll have more from the guys following their afternoon session.

Pre-practice day in La Maddalena

With the Mistral blowing, the boats remained ashore today in La Maddalena. But there was an 'all-teams' briefing by the organisers on processes and procedures for the upcoming regatta. Practice is scheduled to begin tomorrow (Tuesday), as long as the wind abates somewhat.

In the meantime, we spoke with JK, who will tactician here, about how it feels to be re-joining the AC community for some monohull match racing.

Mistral conditions in Sardinia

A mistral wind continues to pound Sardinia, with windspeeds regularly in the 30+ knot range. Yesterday, the shore crews measured gusts as high as 47 knots at the container park in the boatyard.

(Images from Paul Todd/Louis Vuitton Trophy)

Conditions are expected to moderate somewhat tomorrow and the forecast suggests conditions return to a 'sailable' range by mid-week. Training for all 10 Louis Vuitton Trophy teams is scheduled beginning on Tuesday - weather permitting.

Training for the Louis Vuitton Trophy

The next regatta for the BMW ORACLE Racing team is the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena. Not only will the team be competing in Sardinia, but it is supplying two of the four ACC boats the organisers provide for the racing.

This week, the sailing team has been getting re-aquainted with monohull America's Cup style sailing at the venue.

(Images are courtesy of Paul Todd/Louis Vuitton Trophy/OutsideImages)

34th America's Cup announcement in Rome

The new 34th America's Cup YouTube channel is now featuring a highlights video from last week's press conference in Rome.

Drummond gets his due

Design Director Mike Drummond is to be inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in September. 

A statement announcing the list of inductees noted: "Mike Drummond has over 20 years America’s Cup experience as a design engineer, principal designer and navigator. He has been a part of four America’s Cup winning teams and continues to serve as BMW ORACLE Racing’s Design Director following victory with the American team in the 33rd America’s Cup."

Mike is one of five Kiwis going into the Hall of Fame this year, along with American Halsey Herreshoff.

Our hearty congratulations go out to Mike, on behalf of the team, for what can only be described as a well deserved honour.