It is a tough choice deciding who to congratulate after the last race of the Alicante Trophy. Should it be Mean Machine, winner of the event with five consecutive bullets, or Bribn, helmed by Dean Barker, that finished second, just a mere point behind, and sailed an excellent final race?  read more »

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The 8 champions and their crews taking part in this year's edition of the Trophe Clairefontaine took possession of their boats and carried out their first test and training session, inside Port America's Cup Port in Valencia. Wind conditions during the training session could be defined as acceptable. Throughout the morning, a constant and quite strong breeze was blowing throughout the America's Cup race course as well as inside Port America's Cup. Unfortunately, training started a little bit late, we suppose later than what was initially planned. The 8 boats docked out past 5:30pm and at that time the thermal breeze usually has already started to die down and there the was probably 6-7 knots of wind. There is no doubt that racing will be spectacular once the breeze kicks in. One shouldn't forget that the race course is right inside the basin and yachts have to sail two legs (one upwind and one downwind) inside the canal, meaning that at times they get extremely close to its edges, as seen in the photos. Let's say, I could have almost grabbed Ed Baird's helm if I wanted!!  read more »

James Spithill needs no introduction. The Australian match race maestro is in Puerto Calero, racing in the RC44 Gold Cup at the helm of CEEREF, Igor Lah's Slovenian boat. He clearly dominated the first round robin of the event's match races yesterday, winning 5 out of 5 races, despite having the jib falling apart in the first race. We talked to Spithill earlier this morning on the issue of the BMW Oracle trimaran and the team's first phase of sea trials in San Diego. Valencia Sailing: What are your general impressions from the BMW Oracle trimaran? James Spithill: Its awesome. Its the coolest thing I have ever sailed; its simply an incredibly powerful sailing machine. The whole trimaran, multihull world is another world and there has never been built something similar to this boat, with this power-to-weight ratio. Its very exciting to steer a boat like this. Valencia Sailing: Did you have much multihull experience before sailing that trimaran? James Spithill: No, very little. As soon as we knew that it looked like it was going to go into a multihull challenge I started to get into some racing. Before the boat was built we spent time on the Groupama trimaran, doing some racing there but I come from a monohull background, the whole sailing team really. Thats why we have Franck Cammas and some of his guys involved. Valencia Sailing: Was it a steep learning curve?  read more »

I have put three days of sailing behind me. A lot of fun meeting with friends from different classes and on Friday evening with a boat, that I had never sailed before. The Optimist Dinghy. Yes, I have folded 190cm into this little pram and it did not feel as bad as I thought. It all started with a promise or better a birthday present which I had given to K. last week. She got a voucher to take part in the local women Opti regatta and I promised to organise everything. From the fully rigged boat right on the pier to jump in, to babysitting our little one.  read more »

Hydraulic trim tabs are known for power, precision and durability. Bennett Standard Trim Tabs fit boats from 15′-38′ . Using the helm control, you can adjust the trim tabs individually or together to create the perfect cruising attitude. Increase speed, fuel economy, smooth a rough ride and get on plane faster. Precise adjustments to boat [...]

Excuses for not sailing, and reasons for lack of participation in regattas are topics discussed elsewhere in the nautical blogosphere. We can add our excuse, courtesy in part of one of the world's largest shipping services.

I've not sailed much this summer. That's in spite of spending almost every weekend at the marina and being involved in all sorts of sailing-related projects, and having a small flotilla or herd of boats. Yet, except for a bit of time on Sunfish dinghies and on kayaks, I've not been on the water in several weeks. What gives?

Partly, we've been busy with other projects, such as working on the marina. And, our MacGregor trailer-cruiser has been down in the mast up lot at Elephant Butte and still needs a bit more work and clean-up preparatory to sale.  read more »

Hydraulic trim tabs are known for power, precision and durability. Bennett Standard Trim Tabs fit boats from 15′-38′ . Using the helm control, you can adjust the trim tabs individually or together to create the perfect cruising attitude. Increase speed, fuel economy, smooth a rough ride and get on plane faster. Precise adjustments to boat [...]

Wednesday morning finally saw some America's Cup activity in Valencia, not related to the infamous legal case in New York, even if one could argue about its relation to the world's oldest sports event. Desafo Espaol, the now-invalidated Challenge of Record of the 33rd America's Cup, summoned the press in its base in order to present the team's TP52 and GP42 campaigns for the summer as well as give the current state of affairs in the challenger. Present where Agustn Zulueta, general manager, John Cutler, technical director and in charge of the TP52 campaign, and Laureano Wizner, helsman and skipper of the GP42 campaign. According to Zulueta, the team's current strategy revolves around three main points: 1. Desafo Espaol is primarily an America's Cup challenger and as such it had to adapt its program to the current difficult situation. The main objective is to save money. One of the most drastic decisions was to completely abandon the design of an AC90 yacht. 2. The team has now three sponsors; Iberdrola, the Valencia Region and Quebramar. In order for them to have a return on their investment and given the absence of any America's Cup activity in 2008, the obvious strategy was to participate in the TP52 and GP42 circuits. Iberdrola will use them as a roadshow in order to promote its services around Spain. 3. The TP52 and GP42 campaigns are merely training tools. They will also serve to keep the sailing crew together and eventually bring back sailors that had joined other America's Cup challengers.  read more »