...and hot. Yesterday it hit 40 deg C (104 F), and was humid as hell -- the least comfortable day yet during these Acts. Last summer I remember it being this hot, but not this humid. And the last two evenings we have had cracking good thunderstorms like those we grew up with in the USA's Great Lakes region (Michigan). Reminds some of us of Savannah (Georgia, USA) and the '96 yachting Olympics where we learned to tolerate the heat and humidity, and violent afternoon thunderstorms.

We know full well that it is hot here in July and August, but the brochure said nothing about the humidity! This keeps up and someone in the media will start calling it "Hotlencia."

Loved the headline in yesterday's piece by Matthew Sheahan on the Yachting World website -- "Out of the Frying Pan..."

Lighter breeze today than we had the last few days of Act 4, which is probably good given all the concerns about pre-start carnage. Cooler too, but regardless how hot on shore it is quite comfortable on the water...and delightful in the late evening sitting outdoors for dinner. No wonder they don't start 'til 23:00.

Enough. To quote Bob from the 2007AC Forums -- "Let's regatta!"

Valencia, 20:30 Thursday

The Syndicate Heads press conference at noon today was by far the most entertaining and informative of any so far in this 32nd America's Cup.

Unfortunately ACM have gone away from the formal press conference format of past Cups in favor of informal "mixed zone" interviews with smaller groups of media. This in part to help meet European deadlines and to accommodate languages other than English.

Cup vets prefer the former format, which was used today, with the players all at one table together with live mics because it is often livelier. On more than a few occasions, this has led to famous or even infamous exchanges ("Dennis, I don't think you should have said that!" -- the late, great Tom Blackaller in 1986 scolding DC after he questioned the motives of the New Zealand Challenge for building fibreglass 12s).

While I have not read all the stories from today's press conference, the mainstream journos can only get so much space and much goes unreported. I have a little more freedom. :-) So here are some of the more interesting comments, or at least the gist of what was said (I didn't have a tape recorder):

Stephan Kandler (K Challenge) -- "We have not one but often two women racing on our boat."

Augustin Zulueta (Desafio Espanol) -- "We are feeling the pressure to perform better from the strong presence of Spanish media."

Patrizio Bertelli (Luna Rossa) -- "Yes, this is our third challenge and we have experience, but look at all the experience of the other Challengers, like Chris Dickson, even if their team has not been together as long as ours. Besides the new wind and sea conditions here present a new challenge for everyone, so in many ways we are all starting over."

Salvatore Sarno (Shosholoza) -- "These America's Cup boats are like women; it takes some time to get to know them."

Cesare Pasotti (+39) -- "It will be very windy when you come to Trapani."

Hugo Stenback (Victory Challenge) -- With an accent more American than mine, "We have our boatbuilders standing by in case there is carnage out there [in the crowded pre-starts]. Stay tuned...."

Ernesto Bertarelli (Alinghi) -- "We are waiting to complete our base to see what Luna Rossa builds." A subtle and clever comment that went over the heads of many, since Alinghi will be watching from the sidelines while all the other teams race their new boats in the Challenger Selection Series.

Uwe Sasse (United Internet Team Germany) -- "We come with hopes not expectations. We have been warmly welcomed by the America's Cup family, and appreciate the three teams that let us get by them for wins in Act 4."

Grant Dalton (Emirates Team New Zealand) -- "The new format is great. We are a corporately-funded team and without the Acts we wouldn't have sponsors."

Xavier de Lesquin (China Team) -- "Fleet racing will bring a lot of attention and excitement, but we are happy to have two boats." This was in reference to the possible pre-start "carnage."

Grant Dalton (ETNZ) -- "We're getting used to having holes in our boat, but there's not time to fly another one up here!"

Chris Dickson (BMW ORACLE Racing) -- "Larry is not here because he is on his boat in Palma. Like the rest of the sailing team, I gave him the afternoon off."

Dicko (right) with PR manager Jane "Red Bull" Eagleson
on the way to today's interesting press conference.

ACM's media maven and press conference host Marcus
Hutchinson (FRA) with legendary AC yacht designer Olin
Stephens (USA) at today's press conference.

The Sailing Team now has to shift gears from match racing to fleet racing for the start of Act 5 tomorrow. At a sailing team meeting today Sailing Director John Kostecki (USA), helmsman Gavin Brady (NZL/USA) and Rules Advisor Richard Slater (AUS) reviewed with the guys the changes in strategy, tactics and racing rules for the upcoming five-race series.

One big change in mind-set, and after so many months of match-race training it is easy to forget, is that the marks will be left to port (rounded counter-clockwise) instead of to starboard as they are in match racing.

Tomorrow will be the first time we will see twelve ACC yacts on one starting line. At the 91 Worlds in San Diego we had 9, as best I can recall. PRO Peter Reggio will lengthen the starting line to 450m to accommodate the 12. The leg length will be increased to 3.0 nautical miles, and an offset mark will be added after the windward mark. Nonetheless there was concern today at the syndicate-heads press conference about "carnage", especially in the pre-start.

Another historical footnote: Act 5 is the first time since the 1st America's Cup Match in 1870 that fleet racing will count towards who wins the Cup.

Watch for a new piece on our website later today, by Ivor Wilkins, about the differences between match and fleet racing.

Gavin Brady reviewing tactics with the sailing team at today's
pre-regatta meeting.

All eyes glued to the screen for "'pre-game films" -- the
Virtual Eye graphic displays of Act 3 fleet racing in Valencia
last October.

Last night was ACM's volunteer thank-you party. As a team we always make an effort to attend and add our thanks to the hundreds of people who, for the sheer fun of it, staff the race committee boats, America's Cup Park, and so on.

It was good to see Cup newcomers United Internet Team Germany also attending to show their appreciation along with Shosholoza and a large contingent from +39.

Big turnout of ACM volunteers last evening at the race
operations tent at the RCNV.

ACM Race Operations manager Niccolo Porzio (center) with
his wife Benedetta and BMW ORACLE design team member
Mat Bird (USA).

Key man afloat: a bemused Spectator Control chief,
Jose Luis Soler (ESP), with a party entertainer (no,
that is not the Alinghi VIP boat captain).

Valencia, 07:45 Thursday

Sailing Team member (navigator) Peter Isler (USA) and two time winner of the Cup --with Dennis Conner in '87 and '88 -- says that the famous sailor in the family is his wife, JJ.

Today Scuttlebutt, the excellent North American internet/email sailing newsletter reported that JJ Isler has been named by Sailing World magazine to their prestigious Hall of Fame:

* JJ Isler, 41, hails from San Diego but went east for college and raced at
Yale University, making the All-America Team at a time when it was a rarity
for women sailors. Since then, Isler's ability to shift gears from Olympic
470s to J/24s to 50-footers and even America's Cup racers has earned her
four titles in the USA as Yachtswoman of the Year. Racing in the 470 at the 1992
Olympics with Pam Healy, Isler won a bronze medal, and at the 2000 Games
with Pease Glaser, she won a silver.

Our congrats to JJ, who has also done a Cup campaign -- with '95 defense candidate America Cubed.

JJ in '95 with America Cubed --
yikes, already 10 years ago.

Valencia, 01:00 Thursday

Tried to take the day, Thursday, off and mas o menos I did; at least managed not to post anything here.

It is better when we are racing -- the day is easier, more routine. Day off (no racing) and it becomes a meeting fest. Long meeting this afternoon with the jury, ACM and others trying to sort out yet another regatta-wide policy/procedure.

John Kolius was right, at least at the time, when he said the America's Cup is three years of meetings followed, finally, by a few weeks of racing. Now it is three years of meetings and racing. No wonder everyone involved is a very busy if not a bit stressy at this point.

Lots of pics to post later today, but after a good, long sleep.

But first, I gotta post a pic (below) someone just emailed of a well-known Cup figure, LOL. Definitely not under any stress, or maybe he is and has lost it completely? ;)

Regardless, certainly a different race committee "look" from the Newport days.

As our crack Team Meteorologist, Chris "Sunshine" Bedford often says, "if you are really into this sort of stuff, I got lots of it" -- meaning, of course, weather charts and graphs. And we've seen this movie each of the last three days, so it should be another perfect day for our big match with ETNZ.


UPDATE -- When Bedford saw this post this morning, he was not sure what to think of the new nickname "Sunshine." Sounds a bit 70ish, Chris said. Now that he mentions it, it does, just like the theme of this post. But with our good friend and ETNZ Met Man, Dr Roger Badham, universally known as "Clouds" (I know that's hard to believe given -- LOL -- he's always so bright, cheerful and upbeat), what's wrong with a little Sunshine? :-)

"To finish first, first you have to finish."
-- Anon


Yesterday, with the most wind yet in Act 4 (20ish kts), predictably there was plenty of gear failure. China Team retired prior to the start of second race with a broken boom (above).

+39 had a tough day at the office -- blowing a spinnaker in the first race, and breaking their rudder in spectacular fashion during the pre-start maneuvering of their second.

Fortunately (knock on wood!) BMW ORACLE Racing has suffered hardly any breakage thanks to our Shore Team, led by Mark "Tugboat" Turner (NZL) and Tim Hacket (AUS), which is widely regarded within the Cup community as second to none.

"If it doesn't break, have you built it too heavy?"
-- Ben Lexcen (the late, great co-designer of 1983 Cup winner Australia II)

"To win the America's Cup, you need fast boats, well sailed, that don't break."
-- Your humble Editor

Valencia, 21:00 Monday

Another beautiful day for racing in Valencia, with the most breeze yet -- 20, maybe 21 kts up the first beat of the second race. We led K Challenge from start to finish, no dramas. The all-important second match with Luna Rossa was interesting. Dead-even, split-tack start with Luna Rossa off on port tack at the committee boat and our guys started at the buoy end on starboard tack. A minute or so after the start we tacked onto port on the "hip" (to windward and astern) of Luna Rossa. The Virtual Eye graphic display system, now working well throughout the venue and spectator boats, already was showing us ahead by a boat length.

The first leg was a display of classic match racing tactics. We bounced them to the near layline (tacking repeatedly just ahead of Luna Rossa, forcing them to tack off to the right for clear air). Then two thirds up the beat we crossed over to the right to have starboard advantage going into the top mark.

Luna Rossa, however, was only behind by 2-3 boat lengths as we began the first run. ITA 74 seems quick downwind and was able to blanket us a bit, and pulled even near the bottom of the run. Our guys spurted ahead just before the gate and were first through it. For some reason LR dropped their kite late and much of it went into the water. Also, strangely, they rounded up astern of us instead of going for the other end of the gate. In the confusion one of their spinnaker sheets, now trailing well aft of the yacht, ended up around the propeller of the umpire boat which was following the match in its normal and proper position. Luna Rossa are trying to get redress from the jury for that. A hearing has been set for tomorrow morning at 09:30, but I would rate their chances of overturning today's result as not very high.

We were quick up the second beat, and opened up an insurmountable lead for win number 9 out of the ten matches we have so far raced -- our only loss, of course, against Alinghi two days ago in a very close match.

There were no surprises in any of the other matches. The other race involving two of the "big four" was a yawner -- Alinghi led from start to finish over ETNZ.

That means Alinghi is now on 10 wins. Even if they lose tomorrow to Luna Rossa they have clinched* Act 4 since the winner of our match tomorrow with ETNZ will also be on ten points, and the tie would be broken in favor of Alinghi -- they beat both ETNZ and ourselves in our respective Act 4 matches. Whichever of us wins tomorrow will end second in Act 4 but be first among the Challengers for those relatively few (at this stage) but nonetheless important Louis Vuitton Cup ranking points for the challenger selection series in 2007.

So only one race tomorrow -- ETNZ. The forecast is more of the same -- plenty of sun and breeze. Here is tomorrow's pairing notice no. 6 (pdf, 20 KB).

Tonight I sense we are all a bit frazzled after going at it pretty hard now for eight days straight, some on our team longer than that. The prospect of completing Act 4 tomorrow, and having no sailing on both the "reserve day" (Wed) and the "off day" (Thu) is welcomed. But first, and given all the Kiwis on our team, we are very much looking forward to racing ETNZ tomorrow for the Act 4 challenger marbles.

Tonight we are hosting, here at the Base, a function for about 80 media, and it is time to go emcee the opening of that and offer a surprise happy-birthday toast to Oracle Corp VP Judy Sim.

And if I get a moment later tonight, or early tomorrow morning, I have some great pix to post from last night's block party at our Base.

*assuming, of course, nothing changes at Luna Rossa's Jury hearing this morning nothing changes.

"It's amazing when you realize how fast the noisy, bumpy chase boat with her two big engines has to go to catch up and stay with the yacht. Then, after transferring to 76, the first thing you notice is how smooth and quiet that ride is by comparison."

-- Oracle Corp VP Judson Althoff, 18th crew in yesterday's race against Desafio Espanol.

Judson Althoff

Sailing team member (trimmer) Ross "Rosco"
Halcrow (NZL/CAN) hosing off after Sunday's
two wins. In breezy, bumpy conditions like
yesterday the leeward-side trimmer spends
"quality time" in the lovely Mediterranean
waters off Valencia.

Sailing Team member (traveler), and morning show co-host,
Mark "Squawk" Bradford (AUS). After hours he becomes even
more entertaining.

[UPDATE -- 20:15 Monday: Interesting web report about Rising Sun, with details of the boat here.]

OK, from a distance Larry's new 138m (452') yacht, Rising Sun, looks big, but not that big.


It's only when you see another boat near it that Rising Sun's size sinks in. Look closely at the photo above -- that's something like a Beneteau 35 dwarfed alongside.

Some people say the America's Cup is the Formula One of yachting. Since the Cup pre-dates F1 by some 80 years, I like to think that F1 is the America's Cup of motorsport.

Given the imbroglio at Indy yesterday, let's hope neither is correct.

Flight Seven
Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 74) beat China Team (CHN 69) - delta 1:22
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 82) beat Victory Challenge (SWE 63) - delta 0:24
+39 Challenge (ITA 59) beat K-Challenge (FRA 60) - delta 0:41
BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 76) beat United Internet Team GER (GER 72) - delta 1:31
Alinghi (SUI 75) beat Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 67) - delta 1:33
Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 77) beat Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) - delta 1:17

Flight Eight
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 82) beat China Team (CHN 69) - delta 1:58
Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 74) beat +39 Challenge (ITA 59) - delta 2:10
K-Challenge (FRA 60) beat Victory Challenge (SWE 63) - delta 0:58
BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 76) beat Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 67) - delta 1:49
United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) beat Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) - delta 0:06
Alinghi (SUI 75) beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 77) - delta 2:08

Standings
Alinghi - 8
Emirates Team New Zealand - 8
BMW ORACLE Racing - 7
Luna Rossa Challenge - 7
Desafío Español 2007 - 4
Victory Challenge - 3
+39 Challenge - 3
K-Challenge - 3
Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team - 2
United Internet Team Germany - 2
China Team - 1
Team Shosholoza - 0

Valencia, 20:30 Sunday

Today, in a word, was routine. By now we have figured out how best to get to the new Base, whether to drive, bike or walk, where to park, how to get through security, and when, where and how to perform our various tasks. Most everyone ashore and afloat goes about their jobs with a minimum of fuss and bother. Nice, professional feeling to it all.

We led both races from start to finish. The race against United Internet Team Germany was, well, routine. We did have a bit of a scare at the second weather mark after rounding and setting the kite. The German team, still coming up the weather leg on starboard tack, appeared to sail out of their way in attempt to make it look to the umpires like we (on port tack) had fouled them. There was no collision, but it was close and protest flags went up on both boats. The umpires "green-flagged" the incident, meaning no penalty to either yacht. If anyone was wrong it probably would have been GER 72 if they had left their proper course to manuever against a yacht on another leg of the course.

The pre-start in the second race was interesting. JK, Gavin, bowman Brad Webb and the other 14 members of the BMW ORACLE orchestra played the starting theme perfektly, hitting the line at the favored committee boat end just a fraction after the starting signal, and leaving ESP 67 wallowing astern in our dirty air. Race over.

The Spanish team had a tough day, also losing their first race (to Alinghi, with HM King Juan Carlos sailing as 18th crew).

Just as Chris Bedford predicted, in the second race it breezed up to the max we have seen so far this series -- to my eye about 17 kts at deck level. For the first time we saw spinnakers on the downwind legs, instead of the gennakers normally used in lighter air. The gennaker-spinnaker crossover in most tactical situations is about 16 kts.

I think most of us were cheering for Shosholoza in their race against UITG on our course this afternoon. Shosho started well and led until the last 200 meters. Then the South African team overstood the finish line (sailed too far before jibing the last time to the finish line -- in other words, they kept zigging when they should have zagged). This allowed Jesper Bank (DEN) & Co. to jibe first and inside of Shosho, and run over them just before the finish. It would have been Shosho's first win. :-(

Tomorrow we should see another 35 deg C day, and maybe even a touch more breeze. We race K-Challenge (FRA) first. They have been struggling, but FRA 60 (nee NZL 60, a TNZ Cup boat in 2000) looked better in this afternoon's fresher conditions when they beat Victory Challenge (SWE). Most viewed that as an upset, but K-Challenge could be on the upswing. I hope our guys are not looking past the K-Challenge match toward the big race we have later tomorrow against Luna Rossa.

Of course the other big match tomorrow is ETNZ vs. Alinghi, our two friends at the top of the leaderboard one point clear of us and Luna. Likely only one will be there tomorrow night, and the other tied for second with either ourselves or Luna Rossa(but, again, I should not count our K-Challenge chickens until they hatch!).

We race ETNZ in our final match scheduled on Tuesday. Wind and weather should continue to be fine through at least the middle of next week.

Pairing list for tomorrow is available here (pdf, 25 KB).

Tonight we are hosting a "block party" -- a barbecue for our neighbors on this side of the Port America's Cup: Alinghi, +39, Shosholoza and Luna Rossa. As I bang this post out up in the Base I can smell the bangers and burgers being grilled by, among others, Laurent "Lafayette" Esquier and Grant "Guthrie" Davidson, and can hear the friendly banter along with the native band that the South Africans have brought along to the party. I will snap one picture of the proceedings from up here to give you a feel for it all, and try to post more early tomorrow. Cheers!

Good neighbors.

Valencia, 11:00 Sunday

Since we blogged Judy Sim from sponsor-partner Oracle yesterday, you may think I am giving equal time to BMW with this post. Truth is Ralf "Ultimate Marketing Machine" Hussmann is BMW's director of sports marketing and, like Judy, another of my favorites in this campaign.

Like most Germans he is a straight shooter, and sometimes meine anglo-saxon Kollegen find that a bit difficult to deal with. A good guy, who keeps the home fires burning for us with BMW in Munich.

Ralf pushed for the blog when the idea first surfaced some weeks ago, and was the first person in the campaign to ask me how the new blog was going. So, of course, we showed him, and blogged him at the same time.

Herr Hussmann checking the blog at the BMW ORACLE
Base this morning.

Valencia, 0900 Sunday

To be sure it's warm on shore, but delightful on the water. Today's weather -- best conditions so far in Act 4, even better than yesterday.

Postcard to the folks: "wish you were here!"

Valencia, 21:15 Saturday

Beaut day for racing -- sunny, warm, dry and even better breeze (12-13 kts) than expected. Close loss to Alinghi, but not much in it. They got the first shift. JK, Gavin & Co. clawed their way back, but Alinghi hung on to win despite breaking their spinnaker pole on the last run. Our boatspeed was good.

Second race against Mascalzone not much of a contest. Tony Kolb and Carl Williams were aboard 76 for the race with "Macaroni" (as they are known with affection around the Port America's Cup), and Gavin and Larry again shared driving duties.

Big David Brooke got whacked on the leg during the race against Alinghi; but, while they shoot horses, last I saw Brookie at the Base this evening he was still standing and shrugging it off in true Kiwi style.

Mood in the camp tonight is upbeat and relaxed, with the realization that there are going to be many, many close races over the next two years. Some will go our way, some not. Full marks to Alinghi for a good job today, and to ETNZ who held off Luna Rossa in the other key match.

Standings as of tonight:

Alinghi (SUI) 6
Emirates Team NZ (NZL) 6
BMW ORACLE (USA) 5
Luna Rossa (ITA) 5
Desafio Espanol (ESP) 4
Victory Challenge (SWE) 3
+39 (ITA) 2
K-Challenge (FRA) 2
China Team (CHN) 1
Mascalzone Latino (ITA) 1
United Internet Team Germany (GER) 1
Shosholoza (RSA) 0

Tomorrow it's UITG and then Desafio Espanol, who, no surprise, have so far looked pretty good in the 2003 One World boat (ESP 67 nee USA 67) V5'd by Reichel-Pugh. Tomorrow is a big day for them -- facing Alinghi in the first flight before they meet us in the second.

Day 4 pairing list is posted here (pdf, 25 KB).

Now off to represent the team at another evening function. Long but good days.

Valencia, 1115 Saturday

One of my personal favorites in this campaign is Oracle Corp Sr VP Judy Sim (USA). She arrived last night for important meetings, sponsor-partner dinners, to check our terrific new Base, and to take in a few days of racing. Judy epitomizes what the AC is all about -- the pursuit of excellence.

Oracle VP and CMO (chief marketing officer) Judy Sim.

Valencia, 08:00 Saturday

Never sure why organizers and others make the reporting of results and scores so complex. The BMW ORACLE Racing Team Website has a great graphic on the home page to show the overall standings.

Here, simply put, are the results from yesterday:

Flight 3
Alinghi beat the Victory Challenge by :33
BMW ORACLE Racing beat +39 by 1:14
China Team beat Shosholoza by :27
Emirates Team New Zealand beat the Spanish Challenge by 1:10
Luna Rossa Challenge beat United Internet Team Germany by 1:36
K-Challenge beat Mascalzone Latino by :53

Flight 4
Alinghi beat +39 by 2:02
Victory Challenge beat China Team by 2:30
BMW ORACLE Racing beat Shosholoza by 3:37
Emirates Team New Zealand beat United Internet Team Germany by 2:33
Spanish Challenge beat Mascalzone Latino by 1:00
Luna Rossa beat K-Challenge by :55

At the end of yesterday’s races with the winners scoring one point, the losers nil, the standings were:

Four Points
Alinghi
BMW ORACLE Racing
Emirates Team New Zealand
Luna Rossa Challenge

Two Points
Victory Challenge
Spanish Challenge

One Point
United Internet Team Germany
+39
K-Challenge
China Team

No Points (as yet)
Shosholoza
Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team

(credit to www.valencialife.net for helping to keep things simple!)

Valencia, 06:30 Saturday

Each evening before a race day the RC issues a "Pairing Notice" detailing the next day's racing which I thought you might like to see. Here is pairing notice 3 (pdf, 25 KB) for today's (Saturday, 18 June) racing.

And here is the "Morning Show weather slide" Chris Bedford produces for us early each race day, among many, many other facts and figures and predictions which he provides to the Sailing Team for their mid-morning wx briefing....


We have seen this movie before -- on both Days 1 and 2 of this Act 4. More lightish sea breeze and flat water.

For our race with Alinghi today, it will be the first time we race SUI-75 in an official race. We did race that yacht in a very close practice race last Monday, but teams tend to play all sorts of games (using old sails, for example) in practice races so you can't place too much stock on the relative performances of our boats that day.

Alinghi had problems with SUI-75 during the 2003 Cup so they ended up racing, and winning with, the older of their two yachts, SUI-64. (For cost-cutting reasons, under the AC Rules each team is permitted to build no more than two new yachts per Cup cycle.)

Interestingly, Alinghi tested a "hula" on SUI-75 in the late stages of the 31st AC, similar to what Team New Zealand was using on both their boats. Alinghi never got it to work, and were not convinced that it was any better anyway (nor were we at what was then called ORACLE BMW Racing), so they stuck with their conventional SUI-64.

For this Cup, as with our yacht USA-76 and all the other yachts competing in Act 4, SUI-75 has been modified to comply with Version 5 of the AC Class Rule. V5 took effect 1 January 2005. Essentially, a V5 yacht has about 10% more downwind sail area, is a tonne lighter, and the keel bulb is 100mm deeper (maximum draft of 4.1m).

Valencia, 21:00 Friday

"Seasonably warm" was Chris Bedford's forecast, and so it was for Act 4, Day 2 and today's 12 matches. As you will have likely read elsewhere we had two more solid wins, over +39 (ITA) and then Shosholoza (RSA), in the same weak, unassertive seabreeze as yesterday -- 8-11 or so knots.

It was another "Family and Friends Day" meaning spouses and friends of team members were welcomed along with a number of other VIP guests on our three first class spectator boats: Zurga, Ava and Adventura Dos. It was a nice gesture by CEO Chris Dickson and our marketing department. These are long, hard campaigns -- including and especially for our families. Their continuing support is crucial to the team's success.

With the warm (35ish deg C) temps and light air, Sailing Director John Kostecki wisely sent the yacht out at 11:45 with a skeleton crew while the race team remained ashore in the shade and relative cool of the Base for another 75 minutes. This meant that we had many of the sailing team with us for the Morning Show which takes place at the Base for our VIP guests right after dock-out, and we were able to introduce them personally. This was nicely handled by Mark "Squawk" Bradford (AUS), a popular member of the sailing team who has a flair for emceeing, and is well known for his, shall we say, ribald after-hours humour. The sailing team were taken to the yacht by Chase 2 and 3 at 1300.

Another "first" today was being able to interview navigator Peter Isler via mobile phone patched into our race commentary radio circuit that links the three VIP spectator boats. Peter gave us an update before the first match, and again between matches. He is a two-time winner of the Cup, with DC in 1987 and 1988. Together, with his extensive experience as a commentator for the USA Cup broadcasts in recent years on both ESPN and OLN, Peter added a new "here and now" angle for our VIP guests, which they all thought was great!

The "big four" -- Alinghi, BMW ORACLE, Emirates Team NZ and Luna Rossa -- are now all tied on 4-0. We won't likely be tomorrow night, as Luna Rossa and ETNZ square off and we take on Alinghi, both matches in the first flight but on different courses. We have Mascalzone in the second flight. They have had a surprisingly rough go so far, sitting on 0-4 with Shosholoza.

Tonight you could feel the anticipation for tomorrow's racing within the team, even among the spouses on the VIP boats as we came back into the Harbour. More of the same sunny, warm weather and moderate seabreezes are predicted for tomorrow. Let's rumble!


BMW press attache Nicole "Nicky" Stempinsky with prolific
Spanish journalist Jorge Aguade of Las Provincias
newspaper. The Girard-Perregaux team watch launch
was Jorge's 15th press conference in the three days
prior to Act 4, and he had three more to go!

Valencia, 06:15 Friday

Day 1 was pure joy. BMW ORACLE was firing on all cylinders.

As we prepared yesterday morning for the first day of racing everyone on the team seemed to be going calmly about their business -- professionals at work, enjoying their jobs.

At 11:30 I was about to begin the first-ever "Morning Show" in Team Hospitality at our new Base. The 150 VIP guests were on the balcony with a commanding view of the Port America's Cup. For the last hour they had been watching every move of our shore and sailing teams as they prepared and launched 76, loaded on the sails and other gear, and made everything race ready. Finally "Captain" Craig Christensen moved Chase 1 into position to tow 76 off the dock and out of the harbour. You could see the "Electrons" -- Rodney Ernst and Matthew "Mugs" Ulvr-Green -- making last-minute adjustments to the comms and other electonic gear, including all the extra race-day gear required by the Race Committee. This includes cameras, radio-telemetry gear and antennae for television and the "Virtual Eye" (formerly "Virtual Spectator") system that, when it's working, provides superb real-time graphic displays of all the racing.

All at once there seemed to be a pause in the action. Very little motion or activity. Then I realized nothing was wrong, just that everyone had done their thing, on or ahead of schedule, and we were ready for liftoff. I looked around the harbour at the other team bases and could only imagine the frantic activity that must be consuming a few of the other teams as they prepared for their first-ever day of AC racing.

That's when the theme for the day struck me: professionals at work.

The rest of the Thursday was more of the same for BMW ORACLE Racing. 116 competent, practiced professionals getting the job done, and done well.

Our first race was against Victory Challenge (SWE). They have looked good during practice racing here the past couple weeks, and the Swedish-based team were good again yesterday in the lightish 7-12 knot conditions. But our guys won the start and maintained a comfortable lead for the entire two-lap (four legs), 10-mile race. Gavin and Larry each got time on the wheel, and to my eye it was simply a "fast boat, well sailed that didn't break."

Our second match was with newcomer, at least in name, China Team. Essentially they are the French "Le Defi" of the 2003 Cup under new national colours -- literally, as the formerly neon green FRA-69 is now bright red with a yellow bow and known as CHN-69. It was an aggressive pre-start, and China Team sailed better than they had in their first race against Alinghi (SUI-75). However, 76 & Co. were more than equal to the task. We led the entire race, and notched win 2.

Probably the only surprise of the day was the win by United Internet Team Germany over K-Challenge. K had a rough opening day, losing also to ETNZ (NZL-82).

Another bright, warm one predicted today, and hopefully the seabreeze will be a bit more assertive for our matches against +39 (ITA-59) and Shosholoza (RSA-83).

Today's matches:

Race 1
1. NZL 82 vs FRA 60
2. ITA 74 vs ITA 77
3. ESP 67 vs GER 72
4. SWE 63 vs USA 76
5. ITA 59 vs RSA 83
6. SUI 75 vs CHN 69

Race 2
1. ITA 77 vs NZL 82
2. GER 72 vs FRA 60
3. ESP 67 vs ITA 74
4. SWE 63 vs ITA 59
5. RSA 83 vs SUI 75
6. USA 76 vs CHN 69

The codes above are carried on the mainsails of the yacht. The first three letters are the Olympic country code, and two numbers are assigned sequentially to each ACC yacht (irrespective of nation) as it is built, so you can tell relatively how old each yacht is. 61 and before are AC 2000 era boats, 62-82 are from AC 2003, and 83 forward are newly built for AC 2007 -- so far only Shosholoza's RSA 83.

The three Italian ("ITA") teams:

- ITA 59 (nee SUI 59, Be Happy, from AC 2000) is the team +39
- ITA 74 is Luna Rossa
- ITA 77 (nee Dennis Conner's USA 77) is Mascalzone Latino.

The others are probably clear:

- CHN (China), China Team by LeDefi
- ESP (Spain), El Desafio Espanol
- FRA (France), K-Challenge
- GER (Germany), United Internet Team Germany
- NZL (New Zealand, Emirates Team NZ
- RSA (Republic of South Africa), Shosholoza
- SUI (Switzerland), Alinghi
- SWE (Sweden), Victory Challenge
- USA (United States of America), BMW ORACLE Racing

Today's weather:

Valencia, Early Thursday Morning

It has been an exhausting but exciting week for everyone on the team as we moved the bulk of our operation from our temporary base at the Real Club Nautico Valencia to our new, but not yet completed base, in the Port America's Cup.

The move on Monday went off with barely a hitch, thanks to the efforts of a lot of people, notably Laurent Esquier (Ops Dir), Grant Davidson (Logisitics Mgr) and Mirko Groeschner (Marketing Dir) and their teams. By midday Tuesday we were ready to sail a practice race against Alinghi (which we won), and by Wednesday afternoon the Team Hospitality area was in nearly perfekt shape for the first function of any sort at our new base -- the Girard-Perregaux team watch launch.

Today, however, is the day we have all been anxiously waiting for and working hard towards -- Day 1 of Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 4. An historic day, because for the first time in the 154-year history of the America's Cup the Challengers will be racing for points that count toward the selection of the ultimate challenger more than two years before the AC Match in 2007.

Act 4 is a match racing "round robin." Over the next week each team races each of the other 11 teams once, including the Defender Alinghi. The winner is the team with the most wins at the end of the round. If two teams are tied, the is broken in favor of the team which won the match between them.

Today we race the Swedish "Victory Challenge" in the first match, and then Cup newcomer "China Team" in the second. While the latter is the first-ever Cup entry from China, the sailing team (and yacht) are essentially the French LeDefi team from the 2003 Cup. So FRA-69 is now CHN-69.

The Victory Challenge looked fast at times in Auckland during the 2003 Cup, and they have won a good share of their practice races here in Valencia the past couple weeks, so they could shape up to be one of the better teams in the 32nd AC. China Team was the last Challenger to be accepted, and have not had much time to get ready for Act 4. But with all the teams racing today for the first time with yachts modified to the new "Version 5" of the Class Rule, it could be anyone's day.

Breeze in the upper teens (in knots) is predicted all week and into next by our Meteorologist, Chris Bedford (USA), and with the relatively rough conditions (for the amount of wind) that we find here in Valencia, it will be an interesting test of the crews -- and yachts.

A number of the teams have already had serious gear failures this week in practice racing, and given the breezy, rough conditions expected again today, no doubt there will be some more breakdowns. Knock on wood that we don't suffer any gear problems today! As they say in Formula One to finish first, first you have to finish.

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