Ernesto Bertarelli

[Source: Golden Gate Yacht Club] GGYC spokesperson Tom Ehman said, “Unfortunately, the meeting between Larry Ellison and Ernesto Bertarelli in Trieste did not take place. We remain eager to resolve this issue and return the 33rd America’s Cup to the water as a multi-challenger regatta under fair rules. We hope and expect the meeting will be rescheduled to take place in the near future.”

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Ernesto Bertarelli, owner of America’s Cup defender Alinghi, talked to the French newspaper Le Figaro last week, when he was racing in the Voiles de Saint-Tropez on Numbers. The interview was published today and we provide the English translation for our non-French speakers.

Le Figaro: How did your meeting with Larry Ellison go?

Ernesto Bertarelli: In my opinion very well. We share the same passion for sailing and our points of view are not very distanced. But as we say “the devil is in the detail”. Between two visions that are quite close, interpretation can some times be a little bit different. But I’m still hopeful we’ll get along. We talked about what could be done and we’ll keep discussing. And not only with Larry. I was this weekend in Saint-Tropez to listen to all those interested in the America’s Cup and try to see whether a compromise is possible.

Le Figaro: BMW Oracle has offered to withdraw their legal action if we went back to a traditional Cup on the same base as the last edition…

Ernesto Bertarelli: It doesn’t make any sense playing the same tune over and over. Everybody wants the next Cup to be raced with one boat per team in order to avoid spending staggering sums. We have to find a solution that will allow us to race with budgets within reach of more teams.

Le Figaro: The ideal Cup for you ?

Ernesto Bertarelli: It’s thus a cheaper Cup, multi challenger, and a Cup that generates the maximum interest among the public, sponsors and the media.

Le Figaro: What do the Americans want?

Ernesto Bertarelli: Very honestly, I’m perplexed. When negotiations were interrupted last year, I thought I had made a very important step towards the direction of the challengers, in particular BMW Oracle, with the 13 versions and rectifications of the protocol (rules). We gave them the liberty to choose the new boat rule and we agreed upon the format that everybody accepted, except the Americans. They were asking us not to participate in the challenger races. By definition, with only one boat this would exclude for us any possibility of training and development. It’s as if we were catapulted to the Roland-Garros final without even hitting one ball against anyone in training and without playing a single match.

Le Figaro: The Deed of Gift (founding document that sets the fundamental rules of the Cup) gives the defender a certain advantage…

Ernesto Bertarelli: Absolutely, but it’s not me who wrote it. It’s as if Rafael Nadal, after winning in Wimbledon, said “from now on we will only play on clay”. This document gives the winner the possibility to choose the site and rules of the regatta. It has been like that for 150 years. Nevertheless, I try to introduce some equity. And it’s essential, in the current financial context to reduce costs, if we want the Cup to exist beyond a few billionaires. It’s my principal objective.

Le Figaro: Do the Americans agree?

Ernesto Bertarelli: In principle yes. In fact, I’m waiting for them to stop their legal action.

Le Figaro: The have just filed their appeal papers…

Ernesto Bertarelli: I don’t see what it will bring them, if only a victory that would guarantee a multihull duel against us. This is the reason we continue building ours. And we are far from finishing it. I had a positive meeting with Larry Ellison, we have the impression we are getting along marvellously and agree on practically everything. But then, during execution, I have the impression we are lost on translation. Tom Ehman’s press release (spokesman of Golden Gate Yacht club) issued afterwards was not clear. And then Russell Coutts (Alinghi’s former skipper during their first victory in 2003) hasn’t helped the discussion so far.

Le Figaro: All that is a great waste..

Ernesto Bertarelli: Yes. The day after our victory, people rushed to criticize us, while the success of our management was shown by the success of the 32nd edition in Valencia. I do nothing but try hard to reproduce that success. We proposed a Cup with one boat in 2009 in order to secure sponsors. A year later, due to the legal actions, we haven’t advanced…

Le Figaro: Is there anything you regret?

Ernesto Bertarelli: Yes. We committed a fundamental error: we should have let a few weeks pass after the end of a really incredible 32nd America’s Cup, let pressure subside, before putting the documents on the table without explaining them. The communication of our vision was very bad. And we paid the price. But a year later, we realize our vision was probably a good one. I’m confident and it’s my duty to do all I can in order to find an equitable deal. But we also need good will from the other side as well.

Le Figaro: Will you participate in the event organized by Louis Vuitton and the New Zealanders in Auckland ?

Ernesto Bertarelli: There again, I’m perplexed. Team New Zealand proposes us to participate yet at the same time they are engaged in a legal action against us. Louis Vuitton says «the Cup, we are not interested anymore» and then sponsors that event… We would like to go but that could create antecedents with potential sponsors of the next Cup.

Le Figaro: When do you think the next Cup will take place ?

Ernesto Bertarelli: I think you have to count on 2010. With Valencia on the first row. The infrastructure is already available. We already have enough problems and we don’t need to add more. You don’t organize an America’s Cup by snapping your fingers.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: BMW Oracle] Ellison Reiterates Offer for Conventional Multi-Challenger Regatta

Larry Ellison and Ernesto Bertarelli held a cordial meeting on Saturday, Sept. 27 in San Francisco to discuss the issues surrounding the 33rd America’s Cup.

GGYC spokesman Tom Ehman said, “Larry Ellison reiterated the GGYC offer – if we return to a multi-challenger event for AC33 with fair and competitive rules similar to those used for AC32, GGYC will withdraw its appeal to the New York Court of Appeals.”

Messrs. Ellison and Bertarelli have agreed to further meetings to continue those discussions, but no dates have been set. In the meantime, GGYC will file its appellate brief with the New York State Court of Appeals as planned on Monday, Sept. 29 in order to meet the Court’s deadline.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Our friends from the excellent Italian sailing website Zero Gradi Nord have published an exclusive video interview with Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi’s owner, regarding the America’s Cup.

The Swiss yachtsman was in Porto Cervo, Sardinia where he won Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in the Mini Maxi division with a comfortable margin, scoring 4 bullets in 6 races. Bertarelli has chartered the 66ft yacht Numbers and raced with a crew almost entirely of Alinghi team members.

Bertarelli talked to the Italian media present in the regatta for about 30 minutes covering most aspects of the America’s Cup. The interview was in Italian for the convenience of our non-Italian readers we publish the translation.

Note: The translation is mine and hopefully as reliable as possible. Although I consider myself very fluent in Dante’s language a few errors might have slipped in, especially when at moments Bertarelli’s voice was silenced by the noises of forks and knives. Be patient, the article is long…

Ernesto Bertarelli talks to the Italian media. Port Cervo, 6 September 2008. Video copyright Zero Gradi Nord

Question: Given the latest court decision in favor of Alinghi, are you thinking about a multi-challenger America’s Cup?

Ernesto Bertarelli: You could think about organizing an America’s Cup next year with multiple challengers but even if you consider there is a very small percentage the court might rule and decide that Cup doesn’t count it is not feasible. We are currently in the same situation we have been for some time now, waiting.

Question: Is there still room for diplomacy in the duel between Alinghi and BMW Oracle?

Ernesto Bertarelli: We have been using diplomacy for a year now. I think we committed an error in July 2007. We should have taken the scheduled 3-week holidays immediately after winning the America’s Cup. The other big error we made was that instead of putting the documents on the table, we should have first presented our vision, the reason of existence of the new Protocol. We made a mistake and didn’t do these two things.

Yet, what we did from July until November was to sit with the Challengers, always inviting BMW Oracle, and made 13 modifications to the Protocol. We also let the Challengers, without our presence, take a decision on the new boat rule. We then agreed on the regatta format. During these 3-4 meetings the Americans always refused to attend and instead decided to go ahead with their litigation to Justice Cahn.

After they won the case with Justice Cahn we once again sat with them and told them, “very well, you won, let’s now work this out and find a solution to go out of the court and on the water for a multihull race”. They refused a solution that would have given us the time to build a boat. We couldn’t accept a regatta where they would have ready a 90ft catamaran while we only had a Version 5 ACC yacht or a 40ft catamaran. This is why we appealed because we had made an offer.

Can we talk about diplomacy when one party doesn’t want to give in, or better said when one party takes a step ahead but the other party always takes a step back? This took place from July until November. In fact they always tried to justify their actions with the idea of fairness but when they are given the opportunity to race on multihulls on an equal foot, they refuse it. I can’t understand this concept!!

Question: Given the latest modifications on the Protocol, do you think it still needs further changes?

Ernesto Bertarelli: The Protocol has been modified 13 times. The Challengers approved it and I don’t think there is any reason to restart a process that has matured. In fact, the Protocol wasn’t a problem anymore. We are back again discussing the Protocol, it seems Oracle is playing the same record again and again. That issue was behind us already last September.

Then the argument about the boat came up, claiming that Alinghi had designed the boat before winning the America’s Cup. At that point we gave the Challengers the opportunity to choose the rule and they accepted it by changing from 25 to 23 tonnes.

Then, after the protocol and the rule were settled, they came up with the issue of the regatta format, the defender’s participation, semifinals, the training sessions, etc. We also discussed that with the challengers and after reaching an agreement we went back to BMW Oracle and waited for their reply. They showed they had absolutely no intention to adjust. All these things have been done.

Still today, we have been organized many times in order to reopen a conversation with the challengers on some issues but a lot has already been done. There is no reason to reopen the protocol, maybe we should reconsider the issue of the boat. We know that the AC90 has been thoroughly studied by BMW Oracle that had the means to go ahead with a double design team. They have a design team for the monohull and another one for the multihull. We cannot afford it and obviously no other team can afford it either. As a result, keeping the AC90 would give them an advantage.

Question: Does that mean that Alinghi would accept BMW Oracle in a multi-challenger America’s Cup?

Ernesto Bertarelli: Of course. As I said earlier, they have to clearly show they have the intention to participate in a common vision of the America’s Cup. If they demonstrate it there is no reason not to accept them. We never wanted to refuse any entry.

Question: But the Protocol signed with CNEV gives you exactly that power, to refuse an entry.

Ernesto Bertarelli: We never refused any entry. Still, before even refusing anyone they would have to file an entry. I would like to become a member of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda but the first thing they would ask me would be, “Have you filed an application? File it first…”.

Question: Were you surprised by the favorable decision of the appellate court?

Ernesto Bertarelli: Yes, I was surprised. First of all, I was surprised by the total and complete way we won, I wasn’t expecting that. I think that if you scrutinize the Spanish, then I thought it would be fair to also scrutinize the Americans. The certificate they presented, where they mention a 90ft by 90ft boat with a keel and then they show us a trimaran with no keel and whose official certificate we are still waiting to see, as written in the Deed of Gift, was an issue at least as relevant as the annual regatta.

The problem is that with a document 150 years old that depends on the NY court system, especially the one we are in, in charge of Trusts, one could make up any lawsuit. This is what I told Larry last December; “You won the first set but not yet the match”. I see things that could be done in order to guarantee the long-term success of the America’s Cup. We wrote that letter the mentioned the introduction of a way to avoid the civil courts and organize a sports arbitration. What other sport ends up in a civil court? Other things as well could be done.

Question: You have a vision about the future of the America’s Cup. Have you thought about taking care of the organization without participating?

Ernesto Bertarelli: For the moment no, but maybe some day. It’s not my ambition to repeat NYYC’s results. As I often said, I wanted to win the first time. Then I hoped to win a second time and that time my ambition was to leave it better than what it was when first won it. This is still my aim.

Question: Do you like the idea of becoming sailing’s Bernie Ecclestone?

Ernesto Bertarelli: I don’t think that the F1 model is the correct one for the America’s Cup. Formula 1 is controlled by a single person, a single company. I think it would be more appropriate a model of a federation of yacht clubs. Not all yacht clubs of the world, like an athletic federation, but the yacht clubs that have participated in or maybe that have won the America’s Cup.

Question: The accusation you most often receive is your desire to be judge, organization and participant at the same time.

Ernesto Bertarelli: I mentioned the reasons earlier. Our targets were the following. First, reduce the America’s Cup cycle to two years instead of four. It was not a question of euphoria but of urgency to relaunch, to remain on the successful wave, immediately sign the host city agreement and keep the public interested by giving a date. The second issue was to introduce a new boat. All you have to do is walk around Porto Cervo and listen to people talking about Numbers. The AC90 is very different from Numbers but a boat that is faster downwind, bigger, more spectacular would have been the best option. The third issue was that although we showed it was possible to make a profit, by creating sponsor and TV interest, costs were still too high.

For these reasons we wanted to carry out a 2-year project, with the teams having only one boat, including the defender. But when the Defender has only one boat, it can’t train when the rest of the teams are racing, unless it participates in the Selection Series. This fact, our participation in the selection series, was used against us in order to say the Protocol was unfair. It was easy because clearly some people had that idea of the Defender being left out of the selection, training alone with two boats. They didn’t understand that the fundamental reason was cost reduction and if one stops training 4 months before the Cup they will obviously lose it. Yet, we never even proposed that we should have 2 boats.

Those were the three main targets: Two years, a new boat and cost reduction.

Question: Do you still defend the choice of Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV) as Challenger of Record?

Ernesto Bertarelli: One kicks the CNEV, then another one gives it another kick and when it falls down, everybody starts kicking. Desafío did better than BMW Oracle. It wasn’t a team of losers. They did better, much better than Vincenzo Onorato. The fact the Spanish remained honorable and didn’t react to what they received doesn’t mean they are losers.

Question: Shouldn’t have been better to name as Challenger of Record a yacht club that has a certain tradition, like the English syndicate?

Ernesto Bertarelli: The English back in July 2007 and still now are an unknown entity. We all talk now about the English but have you seen an English team? In the iShares Cup they just have a 5-strong team. Can you tell me what they have more than the Spanish? These are personal opinions regarding the relation between a yacht club and the team that represents it and I will not enter into such a discussion.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup] Without doubt one of the best views in the house at the 19th Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is that of the helicopter pilot tasked with positioning the film and photographic teams recording events unfolding. It is an enviable job and an addictive one too. Forty of the biggest, fastest, best-looking yachts on the planet and you get to see them from a perspective most only dream about. As the racing got underway today in a building breeze from the north-west and clear blue skies, the eye in the sky had the perfect view.

Top spots in the fleets went to the Ernesto Bertarelli-chartered Numbers in the Mini Maxis, Ranger in Cruising, Alfa Romeo in Racing and Lindsay Owen-Jones Magic Carpet 2 in Wally. The Cruising Division raced nine miles less than the other three, which all undertook a 39 nautical mile course that must have been strength sapping in the burning sun. All yachts took on a windward leg from the start off Porto Cervo towards the Island of Caprera. A hard left turn took the fleet into the passage between mainland Sardina and the Maddelena Archipelago. The shorter course for the Cruising Division saw them turn North at Punta Sardegna to Isola Baretinelli, where they turned south-east for a spinnaker run to a final mark in Golfo Pevero and on to the finish off Porto Cervo. The other three divisions continued northwest at Punta Sardegna and made their turn back towards the East at Ecueil de Lavezzi of the southern tip of Corsica.

Numbers, chartered and helmed by Ernesto Bertarelli, leads the Mini Maxi division. Porto Cervo, 2 September 2008. Photo copyright Rolex / Daniel Forster

The Racing Division comprising Alfa Romeo and Rambler was scheduled to start at 1140, but a broken runner on Rambler saw the gentlemanly conduct of the day award go to Neville Crichton as he agreed to a delayed start for these two boats that put them to the back of the list. That was the last merciful act from the canting-keeled Alfa as she scorched around the course in 3 hours 26 minutes to correct out over a minute ahead of Rambler.

The 8-boat Wally division witnessed the racing debut of the 143-foot Esense. She is quite a sight. The crew’s day-glow green shirts are a striking contrast to the dark hull and teak deck. She is 40 feet longer than the next largest in the class, Dark Shadow, which at 100-feet is impressive enough, but from above looks like a dinghy compared to her big sister. Just as David showed Goliath a thing or two about speed and agility versus size and power, the relatively smaller Wallys: Magic Carpet, Y3K and Open Season (all between 95 and the 100-foot mark) slipped away from Esense on the first windward leg and led her around the course. Irvine Laidlaw’s Highland Fling X is one of the smallest in the class, but did well enough to finish second on handicap, ahead of Genie.

Royal Ocean Racing Club CEO, Eddie Warden Owen is on board Highland Fling X as tactician this week and described the race today as one as the best day’s racing he has had in Porto Cervo, “it was just great going up between the islands today. We were close with some of the others all the way, just wonderful”. Warden Owen admitted to taking advantage of being behind the leading boats at the top mark of the course, “we knew as we turned the corner at the top that the wind would follow us around. Just to make sure we looked through the binoculars at the boats ahead and could see those that had taken a high line were having to gybe to keep on course. So we stayed low, took a longer route but with more speed.”

Start of Race 1. Porto Cervo, 2 September 2008. Photo copyright Rolex / Kurt Arigo

A similar story unfolded in the Cruising Division, where the Ed Dubois designed, 144-foot, Salperton was making her competitive debut in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. Another Briton, Andy Green, is on the helm and thoroughly enjoyed his day steering the biggest yacht in the fleet around the 30-mile course. Green, too, took a lower route at their top turning mark, “ we did really well today. We held our time up between the islands and really took it out of the fleet on the way back.” Salperton finished second on the water and on handicap, barely a minute behind the J Class, Ranger. “Ranger is so well sailed it’s hard to get close. But we did well,” commented Green, who is clearly in awe of the machine he has control of this week, “it’s as big as it gets” he added. And it is. From the dock, Salperton is impressively long, the bow stretching away into the distance. It must look that way from the helm. From the water, in a small RIB, she is enormous, spreading her huge shadow across the water. From the air she is something else, words failing to adequately describe the magnificent sight of her in full flight.

It takes nerves of steel to stand at the helm of one of these maxis on the start line. Millions of dollars of boat and equipment at stake. Not to mention the egos. Spare a thought for Tom Burnham at the helm of the 125-foot Ghost. For the first time. Burnham is an experienced yachtsman, an America’s Cup sailor and full-time pro on the grand-prix circuit. When he signed up to race on Ghost it was as tactician and crew boss. Tom Whidden normally drives the silver wraith. But Whidden was unexpectedly unable to attend this week’s event and Burnham was asked to step up to the plate. “It was a little nerve-wracking out there. But it was also very exciting and a lot of fun to be helming such a fantastic boat. We had a great start which owed a lot to the teamwork. The guys had me in the right position, which made it easy.” By all accounts, Ghost did have great start. Andy Green (on Salperton) certainly felt they had the best start of the fleet.

Numbers, chartered and helmed by Ernesto Bertarelli, leads the Mini Maxi division. Porto Cervo, 2 September 2008. Photo copyright Rolex / Daniel Forster

Unfortunately, despite leading the Cruising Division around the course on the water, Ghost lost ground on the run towards home. The tack line on the spinnaker broke as they reached down the back of the islands and although the crew had the replacement spinnaker up and drawing in a couple of minutes she was relegated to eighth on corrected time. The second J Class Velsheda rounded out the top three on handicap.

The anticipated dogfight in the Mini Maxi division duly came. Torben Grael, skippering the brand-new, Reichel-Pugh 69 Alfa Romeo 3 in its first competitive outing brought her home first on the water finishing 14 seconds ahead of Numbers. The lead could have been more but for problems with some sail changes towards the finish, which Grael felt had slowed them up. And although Alfa 3 finished fifth on corrected, Grael was very pleased with the day.

The start was best seen from the air as Numbers, Alfa 3 and the two STP 65s Rosebud/Team DYT and Moneypenny seemed to hit the line in a bunch at the Committee Boat end and stayed together for much of the initial beat. Allegre took the pin end of the line but when she crossed back towards the leading bunch she was not far off the pace. Andy Soriano’s boat was third across the finish line and fourth on handicap. Moneypenny came in just ahead of Rosebud/Team DYT on the water and on handicap, finishing second in the division. Matt Ciesicki, a downwind trimmer, summed up he feelings of the crew: “halfway up the beat it was looking pretty bad for us, our competition was two to three minutes ahead of us. We just chipped away and the second half of the beat went well. Once we got around the top and got in a close reaching situation the boat really came alive. We stacked everyone all the way back and just let the trimmers and drivers do their work and gapped right up close to Alfa and almost bow to bow with Rosebud. We were very happy with our downwind speed and we nearly caught Alegre at Monici. We ended up with a pretty happy result to come in second against some great competition.”

Essence, 7th in the Wally division. Porto Cervo, 2 September 2008. Photo copyright Rolex / Daniel Forster

We’ll let Ed Baird - AC winning helm and ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year on the Mini Maxi Numbers - sum up the day’s proceedings: “It was a classic Porto Cervo race, it just was beautiful: 12-20 knots from the west, up through the straits and around the islands. We had good close racing, lots of boats in the hunt, short tacking up the rocks, followed by a run and a reach with gennakers back to the mark and then to the finish. A fabulous day, there wasn’t a cloud anywhere!”

The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association (IMA), will run from September 1st to September 7th. Racing commences tomorrow, Tuesday and with racing scheduled for each following day, the prize giving on Saturday will be the culmination of an intense week of big boat racing. From the most luxurious, through the most traditional, to the most advanced monohulls afloat today, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is nothing if not an astonishing line up of sailing power.

Jim Swartz, owner/skipper of MONEYPENNY, speaks about the pre-event competition

Interview by Susan Maffei Plowden

CURRENT PROVISIONAL STANDINGS

Place Boat Name Owner Nation, R1-Points

Racing

1. ALFA ROMEO Neville Crichton NZL, 1-1.0

2. RAMBLER George David USA, 2-2.0

Cruising

1. RANGER, RSV Ltd USA, 1-1.0

2. SALPERTON, Primero Maritime Ltd CAY, 2-2.0

3. VELSHEDA, Tarbat Inv. Ltd GBR, 3-3.0

Mini Maxi

1. NUMBERS, Meyers/Bertarelli USA, 1-1.0

2. MONEYPENNY, Jim Swartz USA, 2-2.0

3. ROSEBUD/TEAM DYT, Roger Sturgeon USA, 3-3.0

Wally

1. MAGIC CARPET, 2 Lindsay Owen-Jones GBR, 1-1.0

2. HIGHLAND FLING X, Irvine Laidlaw GBR, 2-2.0

3. GENIE, Charles de Bourbon MON, 3-3.0

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Last Saturday, we published a post, commenting an article that appeared in the Italian newspaper L’Arena according to which Larry Ellison, owner of the America’s Cup challenger BMW Oracle, had stated in an interview that he wanted to modify the Deed of Gift in order to be able to race the America’s Cup on a lake.

Ellison was last week in Malcesine, Italy, on Lake Garda taking part in a race together with Russell Coutts, James Spithill and sailors of BMW Oracle. According to the article, Ellison was so thrilled by wind conditions and the scenery of Lake Garda that he was thinking of changing the rules that govern the America’s Cup and currently prohibit races on a lake.

The only interview Ellison did in Lake Garda (following the match racing on Thursday) is this one on Luca Bontempelli’s sailrev.tv. Ellison gives a very lengthy and detailed description of his races and when asked about the site he praises it but at no time whatsoever does he make the slightest reference, even indirect, to the America’s Cup.

The local paper quotes the Yacht Club president Johnny Testa who says Ellison thinks it’s a great venue and draws his own conclusion (with a twinkle in his eye) that therefore Garda would be a great venue for the America’s Cup. A combination of bad journalism and wishful thinking resulted in a misleading article.

It appears that every time Ellison or Bertarelli go to some race and helm, the local press takes it as a guarantee that the billionaire team owners want to hold the 33rd or 34th America’s Cup there.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

It was interesting but it wasn’t what we were expecting or what we would have liked to listen or see. This pretty much sums up Friday night’s presentation by Tom Ehman, head of external affairs, and Manolo Ruiz de Elvira, senior designer, at the premises of Valencia’s yacht club. The two men from America’s Cup Challenger of Record BMW Oracle talked to an audience of around 40 people on the America’s Cup for about an hour and a half, touching almost all aspects of the world’s oldest sports competition, ranging from its history to the most recent legal issues and the current state of affairs of their own team.

It was initially planned to be a “private” talk, restricted to the yacht club’s members but finally the media were allowed, a fact that in my view definitely altered the issues, tone and philosophy of the presentation. It suffices to say that around 25 minutes into the show, the crew of Valencia’s main TV station was asked to turn off the cameras and take them out of the room. Obviously, Valencia Sailing doesn’t have any footage either, despite the fact I had my camera ready. In addition, even the liberty of taking pictures was restrained and I was once asked to put it away, when the presentation’s most “revealing” slide appeared (it was the oven where, according to Ehman, the the biggest parts of the yacht’s hull are baked; more on that later). It is true though, there was hardly anything revealing or new for anybody with some knowledge or understanding of the issues. Don’t expect any scoops here.

As I said, around 35 members and 5 journalists were present. This is not Anacortes or New York, so nobody was expecting a huge turnout although any club member would have liked it, it was entertaining. The audience ranged from the old commodore down to the 9-year old kid and optimist sailor who took the microphone and stated his dream was to become a sailor of BMW Oracle. In fact, the whole show was a good PR action by the team towards the host city of the event, rather than a meeting of the design heads. The point was to make the American team look more pro-Valencian than Alinghi.

Given that aim, the show had to be fun and of course try to portray the Defender in a disadvantaged position. Seconds after getting the microphone, Ehman’s first question to the audience was who was supporting Alingi and who his team. I can assure you there were more pro-BMW Oracle hands raised. After that he went on presenting the history of the America’s Cup, from 1851 to the 32nd edition. He cunningly praised Alinghi and Ernesto Bertarelli for the all the “great things” they achieved in the 32nd America’s Cup that resulted in the best racing ever.

But of course he was not their to praise Bertarelli. His next slide was titled “Why not continue with what we already had in the 32nd Cup?”. Because, according to Ehman, “our friend Ernesto had a different idea” and created the CNEV (Club Nautico Español de Vela) in order to better control the America’s Cup. When the now-infamous photo of the Protocol signature aboard Vava flashed on the screen, I was surprised by the boos heard, the voices of contempt and the shouts of “shame” or “disgrace”. It is true though, that Valencia’s yacht club had high expectations to be the Challenger of Record, instead of the newly-formed CNEV.

Ehman and Ruiz de Elvira gave an overview of the legal steps taken by BMW Oracle after the presentation by Alinghi and the CNEV of the new protocol, always trying to choose the worst looking photos when anyone related to Alinghi was shown. In fact, with all my respect to him, the face of SNG’s secretary while receiving GGYC’s challenge, on July 11, was funny. He surely didn’t seem happy at all.

At times it was not the photos that were funny but the captions used to describe them. There was one of the July 25 presentation, showing Bertarelli and Michel Bonnefous with the caption “I can’t lose - I have the best lawyers”

First family photo of BMW Oracle in September 2007. Valencia, 30 May 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

He then showed BMW Oracle’s first family photo (see above) taken sometime in September 2007 after Russell Coutts had formed the core of the team. One of the following slides was by far the most imaginative. Ernesto Bertarelli was shown holding the America’s Cup and kissing it (it was difficult to tell whether it was from the 31st or the 32nd edition) with a hilarious caption “Kiss my cup”, probably referring to the Swiss billionaire’s refusal to negotiate. That was also an issue, Bertarelli’s alleged refusal to talk, when reflecting on the events from July 2007 to December 2007.

It was then time to talk about what BMW Oracle is currently doing, sailing-wise. So, they mentioned the RC44s, the TP52s and of course the Extreme 40’s. Surprisingly, there were photos of BMW Oracle’s catamaran capsize last week here in Valencia but that was a great opportunity to show that Alinghi also capsizes, showing Friday’s incident in Lugano both with pictures as well as video (that you can watch here). The audience was amazed to see the impressive capsize of Alingh’s white catamaran at the top mark.

BMW Oracle has also been training in trimarans as has Alinghi. Obviously, the slide showed the capsized FONCIA upside down with Alinghi’s crew onboard.

What happens next
Half of the talk being about the past, the rest was about the future, or at least what BMW Oracle thinks will happen. One of the slides was about the possible dates of the 33rd America’s Cup, stating that July 2008 was “improbable” but leaving a question mark for October 2008 or any month between January and July 2009. According to Ehman, all of Alinghi’s legal actions have one and only aim, to win more time.

The slide on possible venues was hilarious as well (see below). It appears that Bertarelli not only is in talks with all the remaining communist regimes of the world, he must have approached most of the kings, sheiks or sultans of the Persian Gulf.

Where will the 33rd America’s Cup take place? Valencia, 30 May 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

An hour had passed since the start of the show and we still hadn’t heard or seen anything about BOR90×90, the team’s multihull under construction. Unfortunately, we didn’t learn much and we were even allowed to photograph less. Of course, there wasn’t much to see. The only photo of anything close to the boat is here below. This tent is called the “Vehicle Assembly Building” in BMW Oracle parlance. It adjoins the actual boat shed and as its name implies, the various parts of the yacht are assembled in there. It is nothing extraordinary, just a temporary construction in the city of Anacortes, Washington.

The only slide from inside the boat shed will not appear on Valencia Sailing since I was asked to put my camera away. It was a tent inside the boat shed, very similar to the ones used for outdoor parties. According to Ehman, it is the oven where the biggest pieces of the hull are baked. It was obviously completely covered and two, apparently, big pipes were coming out from its sides and merged into one, somewhere in the middle.

As it was expected, neither Ehman nor Ruiz de Elvira entered into any technical details. Still, one slide was educative. The future BOR90×90 is as big as two basketball courts, side by side.

The Vehicle Assembly Building in Anacortes, Washington. Valencia, 30 May 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

It was interesting but it wasn’t what we were expecting or what we would have liked to listen or see. This pretty much sums up Friday night’s presentation by Tom Ehman, head of external affairs, and Manolo Ruiz de Elvira, senior designer, at the premises of Valencia’s yacht club. The two men from America’s Cup Challenger of Record BMW Oracle talked to an audience of around 40 people on the America’s Cup for about an hour and a half, touching almost all aspects of the world’s oldest sports competition, ranging from its history to the most recent legal issues and the current state of affairs of their own team.

It was initially planned to be a “private” talk, restricted to the yacht club’s members but finally the media were allowed, a fact that in my view definitely altered the issues, tone and philosophy of the presentation. It suffices to say that around 25 minutes into the show, the crew of Valencia’s main TV station was asked to turn off the cameras and take them out of the room. Obviously, Valencia Sailing doesn’t have any footage either, despite the fact I had my camera ready. In addition, even the liberty of taking pictures was restrained and I was once asked to put it away, when the presentation’s most “revealing” slide appeared (it was the oven where, according to Ehman, the the biggest parts of the yacht’s hull are baked; more on that later). It is true though, there was hardly anything revealing or new for anybody with some knowledge or understanding of the issues. Don’t expect any scoops here.

As I said, around 35 members and 5 journalists were present. This is not Anacortes or New York, so nobody was expecting a huge turnout although any club member would have liked it, it was entertaining. The audience ranged from the old commodore down to the 9-year old kid and optimist sailor who took the microphone and stated his dream was to become a sailor of BMW Oracle. In fact, the whole show was a good PR action by the team towards the host city of the event, rather than a meeting of the design heads. The point was to make the American team look more pro-Valencian than Alinghi.

Given that aim, the show had to be fun and of course try to portray the Defender in a disadvantaged position. Seconds after getting the microphone, Ehman’s first question to the audience was who was supporting Alingi and who his team. I can assure you there were more pro-BMW Oracle hands raised. After that he went on presenting the history of the America’s Cup, from 1851 to the 32nd edition. He cunningly praised Alinghi and Ernesto Bertarelli for the all the “great things” they achieved in the 32nd America’s Cup that resulted in the best racing ever.

But of course he was not their to praise Bertarelli. His next slide was titled “Why not continue with what we already had in the 32nd Cup?”. Because, according to Ehman, “our friend Ernesto had a different idea” and created the CNEV (Club Nautico Español de Vela) in order to better control the America’s Cup. When the now-infamous photo of the Protocol signature aboard Vava flashed on the screen, I was surprised by the boos heard, the voices of contempt and the shouts of “shame” or “disgrace”. It is true though, that Valencia’s yacht club had high expectations to be the Challenger of Record, instead of the newly-formed CNEV.

Ehman and Ruiz de Elvira gave an overview of the legal steps taken by BMW Oracle after the presentation by Alinghi and the CNEV of the new protocol, always trying to choose the worst looking photos when anyone related to Alinghi was shown. In fact, with all my respect to him, the face of SNG’s secretary while receiving GGYC’s challenge, on July 11, was funny. He surely didn’t seem happy at all.

At times it was not the photos that were funny but the captions used to describe them. There was one of the July 25 presentation, showing Bertarelli and Michel Bonnefous with the caption “I can’t lose - I have the best lawyers”

First family photo of BMW Oracle in September 2007. Valencia, 30 May 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

He then showed BMW Oracle’s first family photo (see above) taken sometime in September 2007 after Russell Coutts had formed the core of the team. One of the following slides was by far the most imaginative. Ernesto Bertarelli was shown holding the America’s Cup and kissing it (it was difficult to tell whether it was from the 31st or the 32nd edition) with a hilarious caption “Kiss my cup”, probably referring to the Swiss billionaire’s refusal to negotiate. That was also an issue, Bertarelli’s alleged refusal to talk, when reflecting on the events from July 2007 to December 2007.

It was then time to talk about what BMW Oracle is currently doing, sailing-wise. So, they mentioned the RC44s, the TP52s and of course the Extreme 40’s. Surprisingly, there were photos of BMW Oracle’s catamaran capsize last week here in Valencia but that was a great opportunity to show that Alinghi also capsizes, showing Friday’s incident in Lugano both with pictures as well as video (that you can watch here). The audience was amazed to see the impressive capsize of Alingh’s white catamaran at the top mark.

BMW Oracle has also been training in trimarans as has Alinghi. Obviously, the slide showed the capsized FONCIA upside down with Alinghi’s crew onboard.

What happens next
Half of the talk being about the past, the rest was about the future, or at least what BMW Oracle thinks will happen. One of the slides was about the possible dates of the 33rd America’s Cup, stating that July 2008 was “improbable” but leaving a question mark for October 2008 or any month between January and July 2009. According to Ehman, all of Alinghi’s legal actions have one and only aim, to win more time.

The slide on possible venues was hilarious as well (see below). It appears that Bertarelli not only is in talks with all the remaining communist regimes of the world, he must have approached most of the kings, sheiks or sultans of the Persian Gulf.

Where will the 33rd America’s Cup take place? Valencia, 30 May 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

An hour had passed since the start of the show and we still hadn’t heard or seen anything about BOR90×90, the team’s multihull under construction. Unfortunately, we didn’t learn much and we were even allowed to photograph less. Of course, there wasn’t much to see. The only photo of anything close to the boat is here below. This tent is called the “Vehicle Assembly Building” in BMW Oracle parlance. It adjoins the actual boat shed and as its name implies, the various parts of the yacht are assembled in there. It is nothing extraordinary, just a temporary construction in the city of Anacortes, Washington.

The only slide from inside the boat shed will not appear on Valencia Sailing since I was asked to put my camera away. It was a tent inside the boat shed, very similar to the ones used for outdoor parties. According to Ehman, it is the oven where the biggest pieces of the hull are baked. It was obviously completely covered and two, apparently, big pipes were coming out from its sides and merged into one, somewhere in the middle.

As it was expected, neither Ehman nor Ruiz de Elvira entered into any technical details. Still, one slide was educative. The future BOR90×90 is as big as two basketball courts, side by side.

The Vehicle Assembly Building in Anacortes, Washington. Valencia, 30 May 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Alinghi] Statement from Ernesto Bertarelli

Regarding the concerns raised by Mr Nicolas Gonet, owner of SUI-8, about his participation in the Décision 35 Class, I would like to say that I will not support any move to exclude his boat from the circuit, should this issue be raised at the next General Assembly.

As expressed in the previous Assembly, I must highlight that the Class was founded on Lake Geneva by sailors for friendly competition and in my opinion the fact that Gonet intends to introduce BMW Oracle Racing to the circuit goes against the original spirit of the Class. In addition, I believe it is questionable that a team in litigation with the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), one of the host clubs, competes in events organised by this club. However, for the better of the sport, I prefer to keep the fight on the water.

Note to Editors
The Décision 35 Class was founded in 2004 by Swiss sailors for friendly competition on Lake Geneva. The spirit of the event is owner sailor. http://www.challengejuliusbaer.com/en/

Class members:
SUI1: Alinghi, owned by Ernesto Bertarelli (SNG)
SUI2: Okalys, owned by Nicolas Grange (SNG)
SUI3: Julius Baer, owned by Philippe Cardis
SUI4: Zen too, owned by Guy de Picciotto (SNG)
SUI5: Foncia, owned by Alain Gautier
SUI6: Cadence, owned by Jean François Demole (SNG)
SUI7: Axiom, owned by Guy de Picciotto (SNG)
SUI8: Gonet, co-owned by Nicolas Gonet (SNG)
SUI9: Smart Home, owned by Christian Michel
SUI10: Ladycat, owned by Dona Bertarelli (SNG)

2008 Racing season:
2-4 May: Grand Prix Chopard (SNG)
24-25 May: Open de Rolle (SNR)
7 June: Genève-Rolle-Genève (YCG)
14 June: Bol d’Or Mirabaud (SNG)
30-31 August: HP Cup La Réserve
5-7 September: Open de Versoix (CNV)
20-21 September: Open du Yacht Club (YCG)
3-5 October: Grand Prix Beau-Rivage Palace (CVV)

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: New York Yacht Club] The America’s Cup paid a visit to the New York Yacht Club on Wednesday, October 3. Here Ernesto Bertarelli, left, head of the Alinghi syndicate — the defender — poses with the famous trophy and NYYC Commodore Charles Townsend. The next day Mr. Bertarelli held a press conference.

Ernesto Bertarelli, left, head of the Alinghi syndicate — the defender — poses with the America’s Cup in the NYYC’s Model Room with NYYC Commodore Charles Townsend. New York, 3 October 2007. Photo copyright Rick Maiman

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back