BMW ORACLE Racing official supplier of consultancy services, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, had their "Roland Berger Challenge Club" meeting here in Valencia at our team base last week. Participating were 40 hard-working but amiable consultants and project managers from all over the world (14 countries).

The Challenge Club concept is to intensify the development of the company's most talented people. Each year they meet twice for two to three days at an interesting location. On Friday, as a team building exercise, they raced Beneteau First 7.5's from the fleet maintained here in VLC by the Sailing Team.

Sven Breipohl, head of HR for Roland Berger, was here as well. During their meetings Marcus Berret was introduced as the new head of the Challenge Club previously managed by Stefan Boetzel.

Here's a brief video slide show of the excellent session the Roland Berger group had out on the water last Friday....


Everyone wins in a team-building exercise like this.

Thanks for your many kind comments and emails after we posted Q&A #1. We have received a dozen or so good questions, and are endeavoring to get them answered authoritatively and posted here ASAP. Here's #2:

Q: What literature about the America's Cup do you recommend? I am particularly interested in Cup people past and present. --Marc Zimmermann.

A: Marc, thanks for the tough question. Over the years there have been many books, good and not so, written about the Cup and some of the leading personalities. Here are some of my favorites that I know are on the bookshelves of many who are students of the Cup:

+ The Lawson History of the America's Cup: published in September 1896, it is widely considered the first authoritative book on the Cup albeit the author(s), it is iwdely acknowledged, had a bit of an axe to grind with respect to the New York YC.

+ Then there is Ranulf Rayner's book, The Story of the America's Cup 1851-2003 first published in 1996 and recently re-issued and updated through AC 31 (2003). More of a coffee table or even art book (paintings by Tim Thompson depict scenes from the Cups history), it covers in some detail many of the Cups personalities over the 150+ years.

+ Keelhauled by Doug Riggs was published in 1986 following the win in 1983 by Royal Perth YC that ended NYYC's 132-year reign -- the so-called "longest winning streak in sports." It's sub-title "History of Unsportsmanlike Conduct and the America's Cup" notwithstanding, Doug's book offers an interesting perspective into the personalities, strengths and foibles of many of the Cup's key players of both the 19th and 20th centuries.

+ Published in 1989, John Rousmaniere's A Picture History of the America's
Cup has some of the best early photos of the Cup and is a balanced overall presentation by one of the sport's great contemporary authors.

+ Not a book, but an excellent online article on the Cup's history from a more technical perspective is Halsey Herreshoff's History of America's Cup Racing.

However, it's such a good question I thought it wise to get another perspective -- and from a European who has read practically every AC book ever written, journalist and author Bob Fisher (GBR). He is nearly through writing his own, exhaustive book on the history of the Cup. From Fish we received this insightful email today after he had read our (draft) answer above:

"There are one or two points in the answer to Marc's question that need clarifying and correcting. The Lawson History was published in a limited edition of 3,000 at Boston in 1902. Thomas's axe was that he had refused to join the New York Yacht Club, and that club could not countenance a boat owned outside its membership to compete for the right to defend, so Lawson's Independence was refused entry to the trials that were held in 1901. Ironically, the shape of Independence appeared to have an influence on Nat Herreshoff when he designed Reliance in 1903. Whereas Boudoin Crowninshield didn't produce the right engineering to make the great scow-form work, Herreshoff did.

"Strangely, The Boston Globe in an editorial of August 6th 1983 took a similar view to that of its former local citizen, Lawson, when criticising the NYYC over its policy towards Ben Lexcen and the winged keel of Australia II. It concluded: 'What is disturbing is cry-baby poor sportsmanship. Any group with custody of an artifact called the America's Cup represents the nation. The New York Yacht Club should remember that grace under pressure, fair play and even a sense of humor is expected of alleged sportsmen. May the best boat win.'

"Many of the books written about the Cup are by, or co-authored by, those who have been intimately involved as competitors [or managers] and are thus not totally objective. For this reason, those to which I have referred most in my researches for my book that will be published on May 31st next year, are:

+ The America's Cup - an informal history - by Ian Dear.

+ America's Cup 1851-1983 by John Rousmaniere.

+ An America's Cup Treasury by Gary Jobson that highlights the pictures of Edwin Levick."

-- Bob Fisher

Marc, I hope that helps, and thanks for the question. Perhaps some of our readers will chime in with their reactions to the above list, and their own favorites and recommendations in the comment section below.

Saturday in Valencia was another gorgeous sailing day. Sunny, not too hot, 15-18 knots. Same as it was Friday, indeed as it has been much of August. Town is quiet, traffic is minimal, the beaches are packed. One wonders why we are not racing the LVC finals and AC Match in August instead of June, with the run-ups in June-July when the breeze is clearly more reliable than in April-May.

After a well-deserved two-week break for most of our colleagues, we have been back at it this week in VLC enjoying the excellent weather and sailing conditions. At this point most of the other teams are racing elsewhere (TP 52s, match racing tour, Farr 40s, Olympic test event in China, etc.) or are on holidays, or both.

Yesterday (Friday) we saw SWE and RSA also sailing here (one-boating); today only BMW ORACLE Racing was out. For the coming weeks we will continue to take advantage of the good breeze normal this time of year, before it goes lighter as it cools off next month -- and the days get shorter.

ETNZ trained here until early August. They have now packed up and are headed back to New Zealand to launch their second new boat (now identified as 92). They will train in NZL until Christmas and then return to VLC in February, or so we read.

In early August one of Luna Rossa's boats, presumably their new ITA 86, was shrink-wrapped and trucked off to points unknown. Carving already? Otherwise quiet at our neighbor's next door.

Alinghi trained here last week but it has been quiet at their base this week. They trucked 75 off to Switzerland a week or so ago for a promotional tour. We hear Alinghi are planning to train in December and January in Dubai of all places, possibly joined by the Swedes. Wonder what Emirates Team NZ's title sponsor thinks of all that?

After the hugely successful German Sailing Grand Prix at Kiel (still generating nice ink for Shosho, UITG and ourselves -- and the Cup in general), UITG trained in VLC for a week or so with their new GER 89, but we have not seen them out this week. No apparent action at +39 while they finish up their one new boat ITA 85. Mascalzone, too, are quiet; they are said to be building a second new boat after rumored concerns with their first ITA 90. [30 Aug update -- our longtime friend, Margherita Bottini (ITA, Mascalzone press officer and a real pro) wrote today saying, "...certainly our second boat has been in our program from the beginning."] China Team are working on their new base; press reports indicate they are now building their one new boat on a wooden male mold in China. No action at the Areva Base; they are building their one new boat now announced as FRA 93 in France. Press reports say that the Spanish are working on their second new boat; otherwise it's also been quiet at the green base most of this month.

Dog days of summer? But some of the best days all year for testing and training in VLC.

Team members, family and friends flying through Europe these days, especially those transitting through London's Heathrow or Gatwick, should be aware of the new regulations that severely curtail carry-ons.

New rules ban almost all liquids, creams and gels from being carried aboard flights. Those items must be put in your checked bags. Some exceptions include baby formula and some required medications. For some flights and destinations, even stricter rules may now be in force.

One of our team families returned from vacaciones via Gatwick earlier this week. They report that things have definitely tightened up. Click here for a photo they snapped en route from Gatwick to Valencia. ;)

Our readership is global and growing steadily. We appreciate very much your interest and support. To see an interesting web stat for this blog's global reach, current to the moment, click here.

It all began on 22 August 1851. The schooner yacht America defeated Aurora and 13 others of the Royal Yacht Squadron fleet in a race around the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England.

For their efforts the syndicate of New York Yacht Club members was awarded a bottomless pitcher ("ewer" to be more precise), 27 inches tall and crafted of 134 ounces of silver plate in 1848 by the crown jewellers, Garrard of London. The trophy was bought "off-the-shelf" -- it was not unique nor purchased for the occasion -- by Lord Anglesey, who donated it to the Royal Yacht Squadron.

To great acclaim, the syndicate returned with the Cup (and the tidy sum of $25,000 for which they sold America before leaving England) to pre-civil war USA. In 1852, 44 years before the French aristocrat Pierre, baron de Coubertin staged the first modern Olympic Games (1896), America syndicate members drafted a "Deed of Gift" donating the trophy to the New York Yacht Club "upon the conditions that it shall be preserved as a perpetual Challenge Cup for friendly competition between foreign countries" -- a radical idea in those days.

Our longtime friend Bob Fisher (GBR), widely regarded as the dean of the Cup journalists (he wouldn't disagree), is writing an exhaustive book on the Cup's history. Bob said in a recent email:

The original Deed of Gift of the America's Cup was handwritten by George Schuyler to the NYYC on May 15th 1852. The date was subsequently altered (in the same hand) to July 8th 1857, the date it was accepted by the club. The original is safely kept under temperature and humidity controlled conditions in the "Rare Books and Archives Room" in the Library of the New York Yacht Club at 37 West 44th Street, Manhattan.

Others have reported that during mid-1850s the trophy languished in a syndicate member's closet; at one point they apparently considered melting it down to make medallions for the syndicate.

Finally, in 1857 the Deed was done. However, it was not until 1870 (after the American civil war) that the first challenge came from the Royal Thames YC (GBR) and James Ashbury with his yacht Cambria. By then the trophy was known popularly as "The America's Cup" -- notwithstanding the trophy bears the inscription "Hundred Guinea Cup."

John Rousmaniere (USA), yachting writer/historian and an esteemed NYYC member, shed further light on all this in a recent email:

The cup was originally called the Hundred Pound Cup because that's what it cost, but was sometimes called the Hundred Guinea Cup.

In the Royal Yacht Squadron the cup was nothing special, just an ordinary trophy on the shelf that had a familiar design and had cost 100 pounds. So it was referred to as "the £100 Cup" [witness the RYS poster from 1851, above]. As another indication of the trophy's ordinary status, since a pound at that time was also called a sovereign, people also casually referred to it as "the Hundred Sovereign Cup."

Whoever set out to inscribe the original name on the trophy, probably the Americans, got their guineas mixed up with their pounds -- neither the first nor the last to do so -- which is why the name inscribed on it is "Hundred Guinea Cup."

The original name was a functional one, not an honorific like "Queen's Cup," which was how it was first called after coming to America. NYYC founding Commodore and syndicate member John Cox Stevens was the first but not the last Cup notable with a touch of grandiosity, and he liked to tell people that Queen Victoria had personally handed the trophy to him. When the American press and the NYYC eventually settled on "the America Cup" and, later, "the America's Cup," they returned to a functional name.

Needless to say, 22 August 1851 turned out to be an important day for the sport of yacht racing, indeed for international sport. No doubt the Cup's historical significance is a large part of why today, 155 years later, so many us here in Valencia, and around the world, are pursuing it with such passion.






P.S. We posted a few other tidbits on this subject this afternoon over on the Challenger Commission Blog, including a photo of the Cups in China earlier this year that some of you may enjoy.

Today the Luxist website, has a nice post on the the new Girard-Perregaux team watch for BMW ORACLE Racing....

How many logos can one watch have? This Girard-Perregaux watch created for the 32nd edition of the America's Cup has to serve three masters. It carries the Girard-Perregaux logo as well as the logos of BMW and Oracle since this is the ladies chronograph for the BMW Oracle sailing team. The 32mm watch has a sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating and a back that bears an etching of the boat. The watch's movement is the automatic column-wheel Girard-Perregaux caliber GP030C0 beating at 28,800 bph.

Since the outset of this campaign, our marketing department led by Mirko Groeschner, along with Judy Sim and Karen Webb of Oracle Corp, Ralf Hussmann & Co. at BMW, and latterly Bjoern Widemann at Allianz have made it a top priority to inform and entertain -- not only our VIP guests, but anyone and everyone who might be or become interested in the Cup. Chris Dickson gets it, too, and has supported these efforts more than any other Cup team leader with whom I have been involved (and that includes top guns Paul Cayard and Dennis Conner who are also savvy in this regard). With a few stubborn exceptions, the rest of our team have as well. A big and refreshing difference from the rather private affair the Cup was not too many years ago.

(For those of you who read German, a couple days back there was a very nice article in Austria's "Der Standard" newspaper about the good job our team does helping race-day guests understand the AC -- with thanks for the tip, and article placement, to BMW's Nicole Stempinksy.)

Hence this blog. As our readership continues to grow we are finding that more and more of you following our team and "the BOB" (as some in the media now call it -- for Bmw Oracle Blog) are not necessarily sailing experts. Indeed, many of you, it turns out, are newcomers to our sport and the AC. Great!

And we get questions. Most we have answered by email, or have worked into a general post. The volume is increasng, so with this post we begin a new category, and service, here on the BOB: Q&A. You send us a question -- email it to blog[at]tfehman[dot]com -- and we try our best to answer it ASAP and ideally by an expert on our team. Fire away: no serious question will be considered too basic, or too advanced.

The question that inspired this new BOB feature came a day or so ago from a top Cup journalist, new (in AC32) to our sport. He asked:

Q: "What's a trim tab?"

A: A trim tab is a "flap" -- an adjustable surface like the flap on the trailing edge of an airplane wing -- that is attached by a hinge to the trailing edge of the keel.

When the boat tacks the tab is swung from one side to the other, around 5-12 degrees either side of centerline. This gives the keel an asymmetric shape that produces more lift. It also produces more drag, but if designed and used correctly the extra drag is more than offset by extra lift -- meaning the boat goes forward more and sideways less.

The trim tab allows a smaller keel that can produce the same lift as a bigger keel without a tab, so you don't have to drag a bigger keel downwind. Little or no trim tab is used downwind (the tab is on centerline).

If enough trim tab angle is used, an America's Cup yacht will actually make "negative leeway" -- the yacht no longer slides a bit sideways but actually "claws" to windward. This, however, usually results in a lot of exta drag.

Teams spend a fair bit of money, time and energy on the design of the keel fin and tab (to say nothing of the bulb and wings) -- trying to find the optimum size and shape overall, and best tab angles, for the various wind and sea conditions, and trimming, steering and sail combinations.

Most ACC yachts (and other classes that allow trim tabs) have an inner, smaller steering wheel to adjust the tab. Some use other means such as a rope and cleat arrangement, so the absence of an inner wheel does not necessarily mean no trim tab. An inner wheel can also be used to control a forward rudder ("canard").

--Ian "Fresh" Burns (AUS, design coordinator & sailing team)








OK, so much for Q&A #1. Any comments on these (and any other posts) always appreciated. Don't hesitate to argue, politely please, with our answers, or add to them. Just click on "comment" below. Also, you can ask a new question for us there, as all comments posted are automatically forwarded to your Ed. via email.

P.S. While most do, not all ACC keels have trim tabs. Perhaps grist for a future Q&A.

Scotty Sandford (NZL, shore team) is well known for putting in long, hard days for our team. He is a versatile, competent, can-do man if ever there was one. And apparently Scotty is nocturnally talented as well, as today we received this email:

"Scotty had a brilliant performance in Kiel Friday night when the band called him on stage, and he performed "Summer of 69" with them. I took some pics with my mobile, but then it broke down. Now the mobile is repaired and the pics are still there! Pls find attached."

With thanks to our cellphone snapper, who wishes to remain anonymous....








Unlike Scotty, a few of us on the team are old enough to remember '69, and with fond memories. (Get your minds out of the gutter -- it's was cool watching them land on the moon.)

Regardless, nice work, Scotty, but please don't give up your day job -- at least not for another eleven months or so. Meanwhile, maybe we can hook you up with Pedro next time he rocks on in Cabanyal.

By the way, since the summer of '69 fully one third (11) of the 32 America's Cup defenses have taken place.

["Summer of '69" lyrics by Bryan Adams. However, for reasons that will be obvious only to Jane Eagleson, this blog post is dedicated to Marilyn Manson.]

Nice ink for Peter Isler (USA, sailing team) and his wife JJ (double Olympic medalist in the 470 class with an AC campaign to her credit as well; Peter says, "JJ's the famous sailor in the family") in a column by Bill "Off" Center in today's San Diego Union....

When J.J. and Peter Isler originally wrote “Sailing For Dummies,” San Diego's leading sailing couple had dreams of the book selling 35,000 copies and becoming something of a guide for landlubbers entering what appears to be a complicated sport.

“We had no idea it would become as popular as it did,” J.J. Isler said recently.

Full story



Popular with both newbies and experienced
sailors, an updated edition is now available.

That's the title of an interesting article running on BusinessWeek Online today.

The article in a nutshell: "The company has done a better job of digesting its PeopleSoft acquisition—and holding on to customers—than expected."

Nice ink for Larry & Oracle Corp. Let's hope the same headline -- with a "BMW" in it -- will be appearing in the news a year from now.

Reportedly the first Starbucks in Valencia is now open at C/ San Vicente, 44. That's near the Plaza del Ayuntamiento in the central city. Details and a map in a tongue-in-cheek post on the CC Blog.

With a Starbucks on every other corner in Auckland, and throughout the USA, at least the Kiwis and Yanks on our team will now feel a little more at home here in VLC.

Now this looks like something worth taking in if you are going to be near any of the tour cities in the States over the next couple months, beginning this Friday (18th Aug) in the Big Easy....

New York, NY – The 2006 BMW Pop-Jazz Live Tour will get off to a rousing start with a special debut show in the birthplace of jazz at the historic jazz venue Tipitina’s French Quarter, 8/18 at 8pm.

The New Orleans show—conceived as a “tribute” to the Big Easy in recognition of New Orleans’ singular contribution to jazz history—will feature the tour headliner Mike Phillips, who appears courtesy of Hidden Beach Recordings. Phillips, a NAACP Image Award Nominee, regularly tours and collaborates with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Prince and Jill Scott.

Phillips will be joined by local jazz legends Kermit Ruffins and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews. The invited audience will include community leaders, dignitaries, local jazz musicians and New Orleans residents. “We want this special show to serve as a post-Katrina reunion that brings the community together,” said Michael Aiken, Managing Director of Spring LLC, the driving force behind the tour. “The show demonstrates our thanks for the city’s contributions to jazz and music and gives our guests at Tipitina’s a well-deserved opportunity to just have a good time and see old friends.”

Dedicated to “re-inventing” jazz for a younger, sophisticated and hipper generation/audience with new ideas on what jazz should be, the 2006 BMW Pop-Jazz Live Tour will then travel to six other cities:

+ Chicago, 13 Sep
+ Washington D.C., 19 Sep
+ New York, 21 Sep
+ Atlanta, 26 Sep
+ San Francisco, 10 Oct
+ Los Angeles, 12 Oct

Full story

OK, Herr Hussmann, how do we get some tickets!? And why not bring Mr Phillips & Co to Valencia next Spring??



Further information about Mike Phillips and the tour is available at
www.ipopjazz.com.

Updating our previous story on BMWOR's Carl Williams (NZL, sailing team) who, with Hamish Pepper (NZL), are having a terrific freshman year in the Star Class. This news release arrived alst evening after yesterday's conclusion (unfortunantely, no racing the past two days) the Star Europeans in Neustadt, Germany....

The Harken Star Team of Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams have officially finished fourth overall in the 2006 European Star Championships sailed in Lubeck, Germany. The result assures the crew of a place in the YNZ Olympic Squad for 2007.

This is their first year of competition in the highly competitive Star class. In fact they have only been sailing the class for eight months, and in that time have climbed to 13th place in the ISAF Rankings counting just six out of the possible seven best regattas. This result should pull them even higher, possibly into the top ten, which will be an amazing achievement.

Congrats to Hamish and Carl, and we will keep you apprised here of their progress. Meanwhile, Carl, we look forward to seeing you back in Valencia. No doubt Peter and Olaf Harken will be happy as well. Note to Dicko: for all this ink we are giving the Harken Star Team, maybe we can get a discount (or at least not pay such a premium) on our Harken gear?

Happy to hear that Shosho crewman Charles Rankin, who was injured on the final day of the German Sailing Grand Prix, is doing well following surgery Monday in Kiel.

Details on the Challenger Commission Blog and the Team Shosholoza website.

On behalf of all involved with BMW ORACLE Racing, our best wishes to Charles and his family Phillip and Flavia for his rapid and complete recovery.