The Swan Rally 2012, running the last weekend in March, started perfect with Veuve Clicquot opening the proceedings at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia with each Swan crew in matching branded Swan Shirts, provided by Vicsail.
America’s Cup Hall of Fame welcomes the next three inductees in 2012, coming from three distinct America’s Cup eras. Two of them are Americans and one is Italian. Established in 1992 the America’s Cup Hall of Fame celebrates and recognizes the achievements of individuals within the sport of sailing and in particular the America’s Cup competition.
The sole participating Maxi, Geoff Hill’s sailing yacht Genuine Risk, won the Sunday Telegraph Trophy for Line Honours as well as a Rolex Yacht-Master timepiece at the 50th Rolex China Sea Race. The Overall title on corrected time went to the Singaporean entry Zanzibar, who also laid claim to a Rolex Yacht-Master timepiece in addition to inscribing their victory in the record books of Rolex China Sea Race history.
Ambassador David Thorne experienced the first day’s competing at the Naples AC World Series today, watching the two races up close from the support boat of America’s Cup champion ORACLE Racing. As a keen sailor himself, the ambassador was disappointed when the sea conditions prevented him from competing in Race 1 aboard the ORACLE Racing boat skippered by America’s Cup champion James Spithill.
In difficult conditions on the Bay of Naples, ORACLE Racing Spithill won the first fleet race going away. The quintet followed it up with a 3rd in Race 2 and finished the day tied for the overall lead with Emirates Team New Zealand. With the wind blowing steadily in the 20s and a choppy sea running at 6 to 8 feet, the conditions were rougher today than even in the more sheltered Plymouth, U.K., last September, widely considered the windiest regatta.
Strong winds and big waves created menacing racing conditions on the first day of racing in Naples. Terry Hutchinson was leading his Artemis Racing team to a solid second place in the first race when both bows buried in impressive fashion as he rounded the top mark. The front of the boat kept going down, the wind pushing the wing over, until they capsized.
A new sailing game is now available free as an app for the iPhone and iPad, giving the possibility to gamers as well as America´s Cup fans to test themselves against the best sailors and the fastest yachts in the world. An Android version for phones and tablets will be released in the coming weeks.
The leading French broadcaster CANAL+ will provide comprehensive live coverage of all the America’s Cup events during the next 18 months comprising this week’s World Series yacht regatta in Naples, Italy. This follows recent broadcast announcements with NBC in the USA, Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, and Italy’s Mediaset.
Naples AC World Series starts tomorrow in the afternoon. Two new Luna Rossa crews, sailing on home waters, are expected to be near the front of the fleet this week, while Artemis Racing, currently third, will be keen to improve on its podium position, with ORACLE Racing Bundock trying to knock them off.
The fascinating Naples AC World Series opening ceremony was an absolutely spectacular show – at a level not seen before at the America’s Cup World Series. The ceremony took place at the Piazza del Plebiscito, which had seating for one thousand guests. Several thousand others were packed into the large Piazza, which was standing room only.