2005 Archives
Send In The Clowns, II
The release says: Californian Dee Smith, a grand prix skipper, tactician, navigator and coach with over 40 years of yacht racing experience and a wealth of knowledge in a variety of classes including the America's Cup, will be on board Shosholoza as tactician for the Trapani Louis Vuitton Acts 8 and 9 - match and fleet racing events - to be held in the picturesque Mediterranean port city off southern Sicily.
God help 'em! Photo courtesy the Original Krusty the Clown Homepage. 09/26/05 |
So
the South African Shosholoza team have done it again. Hired
another
"ridden hard and put away wet" war-horse of dubious
distinction. Last time (Sweden) it was Chris "the Claw" Law.
This time (Sicily) it's - ta dah -- Dee "I Still Love Hasso" Smith.
FLASH - Swedish Meatballs
The Swedish team "broke" new ground today. They lost their rig on shore, while in the travellift. No wind even. Huh?? At night the teams tie halyards from the masts to the tops of nearby shipping containers in case a freak storm comes up - like the one during Act 1 in Marseille last year that capsized three of the ACC yachts while in their cradles.
Please pass the meatballs.... 09/23/05 |
This
morning someone on the Victory shore team forgot to untie one
of the halyards, the travelift took off with the boat to launch
it, and - crack - the rig stayed behind.
Crusty Old Barnacles
09/14/05 |
Herb
McCormick, Cruising World editor and former New York Times
boating writer, and Angus Phillips, outdoor writer for the
Washington Post, recently published dismal diatribes (our with-it
SA readers would call them "rants") longing for the "good
old days"
of the America's Cup - the 1970s and 1980s - and whining about
Larry and Ernesto messing up the AC by modernizing it.
| AC
TV We start with the Italian TV market, given the fact that there are three Italian AC teams, more than any other country, a quarter of the total number of teams!! You
would expect ACM to aim at achieving as much coverage as
possible in that country. Guess what, you are wrong. After
months of stubborn (arrogant?) negotiations ACM finally
signs a contract with LA7, a free-to-air network. LA7 is
the smallest of all no-subscription networks to air nationwide,
with an average daily share of no more than 2.5%, falling
to 1.9% of share in the total Italian TV advertising market. The ratings data company considers Italy to have a population of 55,695,000 people. During Acts 6 & 7, the average daily viewership of the morning America's Cup program was around 60,000 while the late-night show was viewed on average by 90,000 individuals. Numbers speak for themselves. Even if we assume that NO viewer watched both shows, roughly 0.25% of Italians tuned their TV sets on the America's Cup. It is clear that no matter how much Mar Bruno Troublé tries to inflate the numbers, the America's Cup is nothing more than a fringe sport for TV networks and viewers. On top of that, ACM is acting as if it were as popular as the Superbowl. Whether it's due to ignorance, arrogance or incompetence, the bottom line is that ACM's attitude is hurting the America's Cup. I'm not fond of the "good old days" in the 1980's or whine because Dennis Conner is absent. There is a constant evolution in life and neither Dennis is immortal nor the America's Cup cannot evolve. But you can't lie, telling people that a sports franchise that costs 2 billion dollars and attracts 0.25% of the total TV audience is an "enormous success" !!! Roughly
speaking, 0.5% of the general population has a great interest
in the America's Cup while 99.5% either has never heard of it
or doesn't really care. The Italians have an excellent saying
about that: "E un spettacolo con tre gatti di spettatori",
or "It's a show with an audience of three cats." |
Brady Bunched
The departure, on the heels of John Kostecki's re-assignment a month ago, didn't seem to hurt the team on the water - Oracle won both their matches today including a hard fought battle with their arch-rival Team New Zealand. This is not the first time Brady has "resigned" from an America's Cup team, and the consensus among more than a few Cup veterans (including a few who were with him on Prada last time) was "no surprise - he's a great talent, but when is he going to grow up?" What is interesting is that both John Kostecki and Brady were unhappy at B/O, with Kostecki looking to perhaps land the Disney VOR ride (along with a number of his mates) if he could get out of his B/O deal. Paul Cayard came along and got the VO deal, and Kostecki got released - but did not getthe VO ride. Btw, we hear rumors that Cayard's VO deal is worth around the $1.5 - $2.0 million range..... Oracle photo courtesy of Gilles Martin-Raget. 8/30/05 |
| The
Claw We hear that Chris Law has been asked to helm the South African AC boat at Act 6 in Malmo They'll evaluate his performance and then will take it from there. If Law gets any decent results, he'll come out of it looking good for the full time gig we reckon. 08/12/05 |
| AC
TV The Outdoor Life Network (OLN) has procured the TV rights to the 2007 AC broadcasts. They are known for providing decent coverage and lots of it, but how about stepping up in the commentator department? Please, whatever they do, don't let Isler, Jobson, Riley etc. anywhere near a camera. Get some fresh blood, with perhaps a bit of energy and the actual ability to broadcast. The AC on TV can be tedious enough without the clichéd, dull and predictable comments we've been subjected to in the past. 7/27/05 |
|
It is true - JK has moved out of the BMW Oracle boat and is now simply a consultant and advisor to the team. Chris Dickson is back on the boat as skipper and helmsman and Kostecki will not be back there unless recalled. It has been thought than JK has been unhappy at B/O for a long time and this has to come as a blow to the team as he was likely going to be the man on board. Perhaps he tired of the Dickson Management Approach? Here is Kostecki's e-mail:
Sent:
Monday, July 18, 2005 5:43 AM Dear Family and Friends: I just wanted to take this opportunity to inform you that I have changed my role on the BMW Oracle Racing. I have restructured my contract to be a consultant to the team. This means that I have 100% freedom to pursue other sailing/racing activities and be based at home in Reno, Nevada. This means I will not be racing with the team and will not be required to travel or live in Valencia anymore. Both Anne-Marie and I are very happy with this change and look forward to spending more time at home and with family and friends. I will be racing this week in Palma, Mallorca (Spanish Island in the Med) on a TP-52, which is a new class of high tech racing boats. I am now looking forward to doing more racing such as this. While I am racing this week, A-M will be staying in Valencia to prepare our stuff to move home. We will both fly home to Reno on July 25th. We look forward to seeing or speaking with you all soon. Best Regards, John and Anne-Marie 7/19/05 |
| Adios
Kostecki? We received an interesting, yet suspicious e-mail indicating that the content was from John Kostecki and stating that he had re-negotiated his contract and would not be sailing for BMW/Oracle in the upcoming AC. We could not get any collaboration from our AC snoops, so we are not saying it is true for sure, but If it is, then you read it here first; and if it isn't we'll tell you that too. Back in the day we would have run with it, but every now and then we actually adhere to some semblance of journalistic integrity... 7/19/05 |
Bad Break The South African AC program, though an emotional favorite for many, has been struggling and it did not get any better with the news that Shosholoza's rig came down today. The spar, which failed below the deck, was the repaired Italian one not the ex-Alinghi rig. Bummer. 7/13/05 |
| The L Word We understand that several of the teams are having difficulties getting their boats to measure under version 5 of the ACC rule. The allowable variation in L is now only a matter of inches and even some of the big guys are having to work very hard to hit the target. Probably won't be too many admitting their troubles though...... 7/1/05 |
A Little Tension? We are hearing that the America's Cup Management (ACM) has been asking media outlets not to accept content from a certain Valencia blogger - it would appear the ACM does not much care for said blogger. You can be pretty sure that if the ACM approached us with such a "request" that our answer would likely fall in the "fuck off" category..... 6/23/05 |
Follow The Money... When you are a German luxury auto company, you can't let your major competition dominate a market, and Mercedes Benz is at least going to represent, at least on a small scale. MB will be an official supplier to Team Alinghi, which not only of course won the Cup in 2003, was also the first European team to win the trophy since the introduction of the race in 1851. As an official supplier, Mercedes will provide vehicles for the entire Swiss team, which is being led by German sports director Jochen Schümann. Not quite the equivalent to what BMW has committed to Oracle, but the pointed star will at least be there.
Damn Nice Spanish brewery Estrella Damm has joined Emirates Airlines as major sponsors for Team New Zealand's 2007 America's Cup campaign. Still under funded, this is said to be the last major advertiser to come with the team, which surely means that the advertisers are not paying as much as TNZ was asking for. 6/14/05 |
| Kaiko
Kibosh This Phil Kaiko jury decision is a subject that SA long ago took up and predicted the outcome. The jury decision is widely viewed as correct and a big yawn. Anyone with half a brain saw it coming. The Jury even tried to tell the Spanish, in the wording of the hearing notice, that the Spanners were proceeding down a slippery, to say nothing of an expensive, slope. The Spanish and Kaiko stubbornly and stupidly staggered down the slope anyway, and got their hands and faces slapped. Next the jury decides who pays what, but the Spanish no doubt will bear the brunt of the costs which could easily be north of 50,000 Euros. Too bad for Phil Kaiko, who most of our sources say a hard worker and genuine nice guy. But SA hears he has hired a high-powered, Cup-experienced lawyer. So, dear reader, we may not have heard the end of this sad saga. One other piece of news is that Alinghi's Hamish Ross stood up during the closing arguments and lowered the boom on the Spanish, adding insult to injury. The other teams represented by back-benchers were silent. But Mr. Ross, as the self-proclaimed author of the Protocol (despite more than a dozen others being involved) could not help himself. The reason, aside from grandstanding before the jury? It can only be that Alinghi was trying to get a precedent clearly established that would prevent Luna Rossa from hiring Tom Schnackenberg, which is widely rumoured to be the Italian's latest personnel move after failing to get Mr. Coutts when he settled with Ernesto a few weeks back. 5/11/05 |
It is not the first time there has been a German challenger. Michael Illbruck retains that dubious honor. Illbruck challenged for the 2003 Cup, but shut down his campaign and forfeited a $500,000 performance bond after winning the Volvo Ocean Race and realizing that he had not the time, money or stomach to pursue the America's Cup (to say nothing of losing his family's backing after spending much more than budgeted to win the Volvo). Illbruck even had an IACC yacht (GER 68) built, and this has since been chartered to and finished off by Emirates Team New Zealand for testing in the current campaign against their rebuilt NZL 81 and 82 - the de-hula'd boats of their 2003 campaign. The new German campaign has internet money behind it and will no longer be called "Fresh 17." Too bad - we were going to have some fun with a team whose name sounded more like a teen porn magazine. Perhaps they will hook up with one of our favorite bands, and our favorite Terminator-Governor, and call it, "Achtung Baby!" 4/28/05 |
In
another world exclusive, SA reveals that a German challenge
for the America's Cup will be announced in Berlin midday Friday,
just hours before the final deadline of 4:00 p.m. Central Europe
Time.
AC EFFLUENT
In another world exclusive, SA reveals once again what is going on behind the scenes in Valencia. We have been accused before of stirring the shit, but in this case it seems we are doing just that - literally - but sadly someone needs to while ACM and Valencia apparently "dither" to use the word below. Get a load of this email thread, forwarded to us by a journalist in New Zealand who got it from Alinghi. We have heard similar stories about Barcelona during the 1992 Olympics from sailors who raced there. So this cannot come as a big surprise. How would you like to be a genoa trimmer sitting to leeward on an AC Boat in Valencia on a windy day? Or a bowman? And if this is the kind of shit - no pun intended - Tom Ehman is having to deal with as chairman of the challenger committee, no wonder he is stepping down and turning it over to Team GBR's George Clyde in May. But good on him for trying to do something about it: Read On |
All About the Benjamins Of course the Tom Schnackenberg suit against TNZ is interesting, but the real story is the probability that TNZ is desperately short of money. Why do you think they are hanging out in NZL where the testing conditions suck, while all the other teams are testing in the excellent testing conditions Valencia offers plus being in the waters and wind in which the Louis Vuitton America's Cups will be contested come 2007? Some try to make favorable comparisons between TNZ staying in NZL and what DC did in the '87 campaign by training in Hawaii and never going to Fremantle until just before the start of the Louis Vuitton. The difference is that Dennis had excellent training conditions in Hawaii, even more reliable than Fremantle's. Dalton is just trying to save money, and in the process is seriously compromising his design and testing program. 4/11/05 |
RU$$ELL
We read the Alinghi statement, and it said that Coutts would not sail with any other team in the next Cup. It did not say that he would not sail. If Baird, Holmberg and Schumann don't make the grade, and they haven't in the past, no one should be surprised if Russell rides in on his very expensive white horse at the last minute, in a no-lose situation, and tries to get Alinghi off the ropes and engraved onto the Cup for a second time. And to everyone moaning about Coutts being pulled off the field by Bertarelli, it looks to SA like Coutts sidelined himself. After signing a new contract or two in 2003, and taking more millions off Bertarelli, Russell had a hissy fit when he did not get his way on a new class of boats (Coutts wanted a new swing-keel 90; Bertarelli wanted to keep the AC Class for one more cycle to keep costs down). Then Coutts threw a tantrum over the 2007 venue (Russell wanted Lisbon; Ernesto chose Valencia). In the meantime Russell refused to sail for Alinghi at the Moet Cup in San Francisco and UBS Trophy in Newport. A pro athlete in any sport who refuses to go out on the court, playing field or race course and do his job deserves to be fired. So Ernesto fired him. Big deal. Fired, Russell fires up his lawyers, knowing if he can apply enough pressure on Ernesto he eventually will settle, and Russell can have another big payday. That appears to be exactly what happened last Thursday. Yeah, we really feel sorry for poor little Ru$$ell, who is a couple million richer this week. 3/29/05 |
SA
is tired of reading in Muddlerutt and in some of the other
oily sailing rags about how poor little Russell got shafted
by evil Ernesto. We don't quite see it that way.
¡Ay, caramba! First they challenge through their national sailing federation, creating una problema grande under the Deed of Gift which states that only yacht clubs can challenge. At some point they they hire Phil Kaiko as their chief designer. No, wait, "we did NOT hire Phil Kaiko, at least not yet." Either they did not know, or want to believe, that Kaiko had already been paid - get this - 400,000 euros by Italian challenger Mascalzone Latino for doing design work for them, or so ML alleges in their protest against the Spanish Team currently being heard by the Jury. Go Vincenzo! And today we hear another Italian challenger, Plus 39, lodged a protest against the Spanish, for "stealing" match racing skipper Karol Jablonski of Poland who, Plus 39 alleges, is under contract to them. ¡Ouch! 24-Mar-2005 |
Next
they confuse the hell out of the world by launching their AC
challenge as "El Reto." Soon they re-launch as Desafio
Espanol, but a few weeks later when take the wraps off their
boat it has
"Iberdrola" written large on it, as if their main sponsor
is now the name of their team.
Rulers OK, we do have to give them credit - the Challenger Commission is proving to be a breath of fresh air. They have again published their meeting minutes, and within a day of their meetings ending, on their website:- www.challengercommission.com. Scary, but for a bunch of sea lawyers and sailing bureaucrats they even sound like they know what they are doing. The minutes are an interesting and revealing read, real insight into the inner workings of the America's Cup. And is it just gamesmanship against the Defender, or does ACM sound like the Keystone Cops? One point jumps out:- 11. The Chairman reported on behalf of the Challenger of Record that the ISAF Review Board had received an application from Russell Coutts concerning Protocol Article 13.12, that the Review Board had forwarded the application to the Defender (SNG), the Challenger of Record (GGYC) and ACM asking for a response prior to 21 March, and that a letter has been sent by those three parties back to ISAF drawing their attention to the ISAF-ACM Agreement signed in November, 2003. Under that Agreement the ISAF Review Board has no jurisdiction over the America's Cup. It was also noted that the Agreement states that the America's Cup can adopt, or decline to adopt, any ISAF Rule or Regulation; and that in the case of conflict between ISAF and AC rules or regulations, the AC rules/regulations prevail. The CC received the report and agreed no action was required or appropriate on the part of the CC. So we WERE right when we told you back on March 1st, in a world exclusive, that ISAF and Coutts had teamed up against Bertarelli. Anyone think ISAF is going to over rule, or rule over, the America's Cup? Are ISAF's legal pockets deep enough? Stay tuned, this could get interesting. 3/18/05 |
NEWS FLASH: Just as SA long-ago predicted, info is that Mascalzone Latino has now paid their challenge fees and been accepted making 9 challengers. Good show Vincenzo! Now back to our regularly scheduled programming... "The agenda of the recent Challenger Commission meeting was leaked on Sailing Anarchy (nothing new there). Everyone said 'very interesting, I'd like to be a fly on the wall'. "Now
here's a dangerous precedent. You can be a fly on the wall. |
We
have been reading posts and emails about the new AC Challenger
Commission website - words like "shocked to see some openness
in the Cup",
"transparent", "fresh air". SA even got a back-handed
compliment on one site that wrote:
| China
Girl?
Apparently a rich player with $64 million to throw away, Chaoyong Wang, Chairman of China Equity Investment Group, has along with Xavier de Lesquen, cofounder of Le Defi, put together a Chinese AC team called, imaginatively, China Team. They are thought to convert FRA 69 to version 5 and start there. We'll get you more as we get it. 3/9/05 |
Fight On.... Coutts is still fighting Bertarelli hard. The hearing part of the arbitration over his contract is in March, with a decision expected several months after that. Meanwhile, we hear ISAF is trying to worm its way into control of the America's Cup by writing to SNG as the Defender and GGYC as the Challenger of Record telling them they have a month to reply to the Coutts complaint and then ISAF will hear it. Fireworks coming over this one......Of course you'll hear it here first. 3/1/05 |
BIRDS OF A FEATHER As previously reported a plump little birdie told us that DC's "Robin", Bill Trenkle, was recently seen in New Zealand readying the boats for shipping. We are now told that DC is preparing to sell them to Vincenzo Onorato (Mascalzone Latino, the "Latin Rascal") so he can challenge for the next Cup. Legal-eagles in San Diego are busy preparing the papers. Onorato
and other possible challengers (are there any - hello, John Sweeney?
have you sold your $10 mil crew position yet? got any sponsors?)
has until April 29th to file challenges. That is the final deadline. 2/23/05 |
Warmed Over & Heating Up
Once again SA's crystal ball, and our mole inside ACM, have proven omniscient. A month ago we correctly predicted (Swedish Meatballs) that Malmoe, Sweden would be the site for two of the six AC pre-regattas on tap for this year, and that the Swedish "Victory Challenge" was ACM's anonymous 7th Challenger that registered before Christmas along with the Spanish. Other sites got it so wrong. Read On 2/20/05 |
AC 32 Challenger Commission Meetings God knows there are plenty of agendas for various people in the America's Cup, and the challenger meetings in San Francisco is very much about agenda. Much is likely to come out of these meetings, which just concluded. Oh to be a fly on that wall! 2/3/05 |
Adios OneWorld, Hello El Reto USA 65 and USA 67 are now El Reto property along with 10 40 ft. containers of prime AC equipment, the OW rig and sail program and all the chase Boats…..everything but the design information was transferred to El Reto on 25th January 2005. Price rumored to be in the $10 mil range.
The transaction went very smoothly and very quickly, in spite of ‘ole DC and his boy Trenkle calling and e-mailing the Spanish team on an almost daily and shameless basis …….reducing the price on the Stars and Stripes boats to bargain basement prices……….. their sales pitch - the S&S boats are ‘faster, better built and better designed than the OW Boats…… Yeah right. 1/28/05 |
SWEDISH MEATBALLS? "A Smörgåsbord Favorite"
Meatballs are a way to use up leftovers, hence the dozens of different recipes. The cook used the meat that was on hand, a filler that was available, and ingredients for the sauce based on not only regional or family preference, but what was handy. Sound like the recipe for a half-baked America's Cup team? Read On 1/21/05 |
Swedish
meatballs are probably the best-known Swedish cooking specialty,
definitely a necessity on the smörgåsbord. Norway,
Denmark and Finland have their own versions, too.