Photos: Ivor Wilkins/BMWOR

With RR2 only partially completed, racing was called off at 1440 today (Friday) when the wind went over the 23kt limit. Chris's and Gavin's teams both had good days with scores of 4-1. Gavin is tied on top at 11-3 with young Adam Minoprio (Gavin leads on the tie break), Dicko is in third on 9-5, and ETNZ's Dean Barker in 4th on 8-6. Racing resumes at 0930 Saturday.

While Dicko and Gavin's teams both had good days on the water in the NZMRC going 4-1 in the partially completed 2nd round robin (details soon on the main team website), the shore team led by Tim Hacket was hard at work getting USA 71 ready for sailing next week.

Article in Friday morning's NZ Herald....


Yachting: Dickson working the Oracle
Friday November 24, 2006
By Julie Ash

A gun-metal grey Oracle boat is perched on a cradle where Team New Zealand's boats once sat.

The old Team New Zealand base - with its jet-black exterior and white walls, still bearing the marks from the good-luck messages pinned up during the 2000 and 2003 campaigns - is home to Chris Dickson's BMW Oracle Racing for the next three months.

Team New Zealand are just a few metres down the road in the old One World base, and have been hard at work on the Hauraki Gulf for more than a month.

It's not the hive of activity it used to be, but syndicate row has been given a little lease of life.

Dickson's team arrived last weekend. Just 38 members are here but after Christmas that number will double with the arrival of another boat. Despite predictions it will be Oracle's new second boat, the syndicate is saying nothing.

The steely-eyed Dickson, competing in his fifth cup, isn't about to give away any secrets, no matter how insignificant they might seem.

He is looking particularly lean - partly because he's competing in the New Zealand match-racing championships and the weight restriction has led to a few gibes from the crew about the skipper, who does the least work, keeping his weight down.

It is hard to believe that it's 20 years since Dickson made his cup debut in Fremantle, as skipper of New Zealand's first challenge.

At the helm of the Plastic Fantastic, KZ7, he led the team all the way to the challenger series final, winning 37 out of 38 round-robin matches.

"One of the great things about getting older is you get to know more," Dickson says.

"The things that used to come naturally 20 years ago I find a little more difficult now and some of the things that I didn't have the depth to know about 20 years ago I am very comfortable with now. I am very comfortable knowing what is going on with the whole boat package now. Twenty years ago I wasn't.

"As you get older the concentration needed to drive these boats and the complexity has gone up and it is a far more international game."

For the past eight months Dickson, his wife and two young daughters have lived in an apartment in Valencia.

They own a scattering of farm blocks north of Auckland, but the globetrotting means Dickson's job as a "weekend farmer" has gone by the wayside, and the land has been leased out.

There is a strong Kiwi contingent in his team, and Dickson says he is happy to be able to bring them home. But he's aware that the clock is ticking. In just five months' time it will be game on.

Dickson says Oracle - two points behind leaders Team New Zealand in the challenger rankings - are comfortable with where they are at but know they have to keep improving.

"There are some very good teams there and they are all going to have new hardware next year."

Oracle's first new boat, USA87, was launched this year and Dickson says the design team didn't hold back.

"She is a match racer's dream. If you are in a bit of street fight with 87 she will come out on top in her fair share. She tacks very well, gybes well, accelerates very well, comes out of prestarts and is a great boat for short course match racing, which is what it is in Valencia."

Full story

BMW ORACLE Racing afterguard member, Gavin Brady was leading the New Zealand Match Racing championships in Auckland after the first Round Robin was completed today. Racing with Rod Dawson, Sean Clarkson, Jon Ziskind and Ed Smyth, Brady finished the day with a 7-2 record. Team skipper and CEO, Chris Dickson was on 5-4, with two skippers sandwiched in between on 6-3. With the first round robin completed today, the teams will start the second round robin on Friday.

Check our main team website for full reports throughout the weekend. In the meantime, here are some good shots of Thursday's action, courtesy once again of Ivor Wilkins.

From the RNZYS website: "A fantastic day on the water with a great breeze and plenty of awesome results! Gavin Brady and Adam Minoprio finish on 7 wins each, Gavin leads on count back after beating Minoprio by just 3 seconds in Flight Seven."

UPDATE: LOS ANGELES — The new BMW Hydrogen 7, the world's first hydrogen-drive luxury performance car, will make its worldwide debut at the upcoming (1-10 Dec) Los Angeles Auto Show.

Interesting story, and nice ink, from the Inside Line website....

First Drive: 2007 BMW Hydrogen 7
By Kevin Smith, Editorial Director
Date posted: 11-21-2006

We sample a brave experiment to burn hydrogen in a real car
The name tells you immediately what it is: The 2007 BMW Hydrogen 7 is a 7 Series sedan the automaker converted to run on liquid hydrogen. There is no intention to put this or any other hydrogen-fueled car into production yet. The point of the exercise is to gather experience with a hydrogen car in the real world. So let's go straight to the experience.

If no one told you there was a fortune in advanced technology and ground-breaking engineering packed into this car, you might think you were motoring about in a perfectly normal 760Li. Indeed, while looking hard for distinguishing characteristics during our test-drive around greater Berlin, we came up with just three suspects: a slight metallic rattle from the engine when accelerating (sort of like a diesel but less pronounced), an occasional hesitation or engine-transmission miscue on tip-in and less energetic acceleration, thanks to a power cut from 438 horsepower to 260 and a weight gain of 440 pounds.

That's it. Otherwise, the Hydrogen 7 is a perfectly normal luxury sedan. It is definitely not some weird science project that forces us to scale back our expectations about the personal automobile. "A vehicle that is not a BMW anymore is not acceptable to us," says the company in contemplating the future of mobility. And noting that the internal-combustion engine represents available and well-understood technology, BMW is placing a bet on adaptation of existing engines (the 6.0-liter V12 in this case) to burn liquid hydrogen as one way to move beyond fossil fuels.

Proving the concept in a regular car
From the driver seat, this is definitely still a BMW. The H-7 is smooth, polished, poised on the road, and still pretty spritely. Passing maneuvers and uphill on-ramps need a little more careful consideration than in a 760 because you don't have as much sheer thrust. But the difference is not fatal. (BMW quotes 0-62 mph in 9.5 seconds: leisurely but livable.) Furthermore, suspension calibration effectively hides the car's extra mass, so this is another BMW 7 Series sedan that impresses you with how lithe and responsive a heavyweight luxocruiser can be. Overall, there is precious little to indicate that this 7 is running on that wondrously abundant fuel, the one that promises to rewrite all the rules of transportation, economics, energy and environmental stewardship.

Dr. Klaus Draeger of BMW's board of management, calls the Hydrogen 7 "an important milestone on our way to an era of sustainable mobility," partly because the driving experience is "spectacularly unspectacular." We agree entirely.

Full story

Another nice story by Julie Ash in this (Thursday) morning's New Zealand Herald....


Thursday November 23, 2006
By Julie Ash

Chris Dickson's America's Cup syndicate BMW Oracle Racing hope to leave Auckland in February having finalised a race crew.

Oracle have arrived in Auckland for their first training session here since 2004. There are 38 team members here but that number will double in the new year, when the syndicate ships down a second boat.

Up until Christmas they will train on USA71, which was built for the last cup.

"We are done with testing," Dickson said. "We have spent four years on the design, research, boat speed development - the objective is to zero in on sailing the boats as well as we possibly can."

Oracle's sailing manager Craig Monk said there would be 34 sailors here in January and they hoped to come away with a solid group of 24 who could race the boat on any day.

"That is our goal. In the days of old it was just one group of 16 sailors who did the whole regatta. But three months sailing in pretty tough conditions over there - with the heat and the viruses that go around - we don't know how many sailors are fit and well on any given day."

It is generally felt that little will separate the boats in next year's event, so crew work could make all the difference.

"We have seen some of the closest racing ever in Spain this year. A couple of seconds is now regarded as a comfortable win, it used to be a couple of minutes," Monk said.

"I believe it won't be 5-0 [in the cup]. The boat speed edges are very small now, so it is up to the sailors to be able to really drive the boats a bit harder. We have got lighter wind over there so it means maybe some of the smaller teams can hang on."

Oracle would not reveal which boat would be shipped here - USA87, which was launched earlier this year, or the new second boat.

Several features differentiate USA87 from its rivals, most noticeably the bowsprit and the mast, which is further forward.

"Eighty-seven is very, very innovative, the most innovative of any this time around," Dickson said.

"She is innovative in her structure, in her laminate, in the internal layout, in her hull structure, rig placement, bowsprit and appendages - we didn't hold back.

"We have learned a lot from 87. Our second boat isn't out of the same mould, it is out of a different mould but you'll see more next year."

A series between Oracle and Team New Zealand, who will also train in the Hauraki Gulf until mid February, has been mooted and is something Dickson would like to happen.

"One thing that we and Team NZ have in common is getting it [the cup] off Alinghi. By racing Team NZ we'll gain a bit, they'll gain a bit but we'll both get stronger," Dickson said.

Full story

As Jane said in her latest Sail Mail (below), best wishes to all our American colleagues, families and friends on the occasion of the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, which of course kicks off a four-day weekend in the USA. It's business as usual here in VLC and at our winter base in AKL. And no doubt Mark Turner & Co. are hard at it all weekend at our boat building facility in Anacortes, Washington.

From time to time our intrepid, globe-trotting media relations chief, Jane Eagleson (USA), sends out an email newsletter called "Sail Mail." It goes to our team members, partners, families and friends. The Sail Mail often mirrors or consolidates stories running on our main team website or here on the BOB. Sometimes, as in the case of today's Sail Mail, it is particularly newsworthy and well worth posting here for the edification of an even wider audience....


SAIL MAIL -- Wed 22 Nov 06
Thirty-eight team members are now in New Zealand preparing for our crew training session that will start next week with USA 71 on the Hauraki Gulf.

However, the session kicks off this week with two BMW ORACLE Racing teams competing at the New Zealand Match Racing Championships starting tomorrow. Chris Dickson and Gavin Brady are each helming entries. Chris’s crew is Paul Westlake, Jann Neergaard, Zach Hurst, and Kazuhiko Sofuku. Sailing with Gavin is Sean Clarkson, Jon Ziskind, Rod Dawson and Ed Smyth. Today the guys were out training in the MRXs on the Waitemata Harbour.

Earlier today, our CEO and Skipper Chris Dickson and Sailing Team Manager (and race crew member) Craig Monk met with the New Zealand media as we launched our first training session here since the Auckland summer of 2004, which was at the outset of our campaign. Chris and Craig said the focus now will be on crew work development and race training.

We are operating from the former Team New Zealand base in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour. Grant Davidson has the ops side running smoothly. Tim Hacket and our shore team are putting the final touches on USA 71 for sailing next week. Aimee Daniel and Kristen Sneyd are making sure all team members are settling in. Except for the jetlag, the transition to New Zealand has been a fairly easy one as even those team members not from New Zealand have spent time here during the past two America’s Cups.

Even the taxi drivers here know our team -- when I asked to be taken to the BMW ORACLE Racing base in the Viaduct, the cabbie quickly noted that this was Chris Dickson’s team and said, "Welcome back!" Even the local restaurant proprietors seem know much of the latest scuttlebutt, and ask after some of our team members by name.

We would like take this opportunity to wish our American team members, partners, sponsors and supporters a Happy Thanksgiving.

Stay tuned to our team web site (www.bmworacleracing.com) and blog (www.bmworacleracing.com/blog) for the latest from New Zealand, the US, Spain and other locations around the globe as we continue our 24-7 preparations for next year's Louis Vuitton and America’s Cups. --Jane Eagleson

Following photos by Ivor Wilkins/BMWOR.

Thanks to our old friend and media maven, Ivor Wilkins (NZL), for the nice photos in this post.

The most popular American holiday, Thanksgiving, is Thursday this week. In the spirit of the season we will take the opportunity to give a few thanks of our own to people and places who have done special things for BMWOR in 2006 -- first, to the people of Kiel and the organizers of the first, and hopefully annual, German Sailing Grand Prix.

Coincidentally, this morning we discovered this neat amateur video taken by YouTube member "Heinokleinschmidt" during the GSGP at Kiel in August. Check out all the people on the pier (in the background in front of the yachts), the crowd in the GSGP village (foreground, including the RC yacht pool) and the expert German commentator who brings it all together for the tens of thousands in attendance.

By the way, the official (professional) TV coverage of the event is still running daily on the Sail.tv site. The video runs 45 minutes or so, and is excellent. Our thanks, too, to Sail.tv for their excellent work at Kiel as well as the Allianz Cup at San Francisco in October.


Thanks to Kiel, the GSGP organizing committee and Sail.tv, the event was
a huge success and helped to show the way forward for similar events and
future AC Acts.

...will be racing this week in Auckland, which as far as we were concerned never left "the world sailing scene." From the RNZYS website....

The City of Sails will be back on the world sailing scene with the New Zealand Match Racing Championships.

Hosted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS), the Grade 3 sailing event will take place on the Waitemata Harbour from the 22th to 26th November.

Ten NZ teams, consisting of a skipper and four crew members, will sail against each other in two round-robin flights with the four top qualifying for the semi-finals followed by final on Sunday.

Heading the list of entries is Dean Barker. Skipper of Team New Zealand, the event’s reigning champion has returned to try and make it three in a row.

The starting line up also includes BMW Oracle Racing's Chris Dickson, who was runner up here last year.

Entry List:

Dean Barker (NZL, Emirates Team New Zealand)
Chris Dickson (NZL, BMW ORACLE Racing)
Simon Dickey (NZL)
Phil Robertson (NZL)
Simon Minoprio (NZL)
Adam Minoprio (NZL)
Gavin Brady (NZL, BMW ORACLE Racing)
Scott Dickson (NZL)
Laurie Jury (NZL)*
Graeme Sutherland (NZL)*

*top two skippers from last week's qualifier series

This email received today from Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams, sent to family, friends and supporters....

Today we finished off what has been an awesome 1st year winning the Star North American’s in Miami USA. Within a strong fleet of 77 boats, +/- a few teams from the Worlds.

This regatta went extremely well, we had great upwind and downwind speed in the light to moderate conditions. Again coming here early was a key to our success, having the extra time in the boat to iron out the wrinkles and learn about sailing the Miami conditions. Miami was completely different from San Francisco with short choppy waves, and on weekends there is a mass of cigarette boats blasting past adding to the confusion. We didn’t change anything from the worlds in fact we used all the same gear.

We started the regatta off well with 2 wins on the first day to have a 6 point lead from the French pair Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau who placed 5th & 3rd. The 2004 Olympic silver medalists Ross Macdonald and Mike Wolfs where in 3rd position overall carrying a 2nd & 8th. Conditions were great for the star with 8-12kts and a few waves to catch down wind. We ended the day feeling that we were going fast enough but knew it was a strong fleet and that tomorrow was another day.

Day 2 was again excellent conditions with a range of 8-12kts with the exception of one 30kt squall on the final run of the 4th race. This was probably the most interesting race. As we rounded the final mark of race 4 there was thunder and lighting striking everywhere, the winds built instantly from 12kts to 30 kts! This can be a little dangerous in the Star as the smallest of mistakes can cause the rig to come tumbling down. We were lucky enough to escape with no such drama. But Macdonald/Wolfs where not so lucky dropping from 2nd to finish 54th over the line when a runner block broke. We ended day two with a 3rd & 7th to remain in the lead by 1 pt, us with a total of 12pts and Rohart/Rambeau on 13pts. In 3rd spot was Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada on 23pts

Day 3 turned out to be the trickiest day of all with only 1 race scheduled. The breeze shifting 15-30 degrees with big wholes and pressure lines all over the course. This race however turned out to be the regatta winner for us. We managed the tricky conditions safely and ended up in 2nd spot at the top mark with a comfortable lead from 3rd place. We pasted Hans Fogh up the second beat and that was where we finished. With Rohart/Rambeau finishing down the fleet and our win giving us an unbeatable lead. So we won the regatta with out having to race the last race.

From here Carl heads back to his 2 boys and wife in New Zealand while Annabel and I go to Valencia before leaving to Lake Como, Italy where I will help finish off our new boat that is being built as we speak. Next regatta will be Olympic classes regatta 21st of January in Miami which I will sail with David Giles while Carl is busy with BMW Oracle.

Thanks to everyone for their support over this year, it's been fantastic. Regards,

Carl and Hamish

...of light westerlies. In the past week it's gotten cool at night, but the last couple days have been gorgeous. Warm, dry, clear as a bell -- but not a wind strength or direction that bodes well for testing or training.

VALENCIA FORECAST


Glad we are training these days in Auckland. And to our friends on other teams who have taken pleasure in emailing us to say that the weather in AKL has not been too flash of late, please note that we are only now gearing up Downunder. The forecast there this week, as Spring begins to take hold....

AUCKLAND FORECAST

Congrats to Hamish Pepper and Carl "Tiny" Williams (Carl is a member of our sailing team) who have won the North American Star Championship with a race to spare.

They also won the World Championship six weeks ago in San Francisco, having been sailing in the Olympic class for just eight months. After winning the first two races on Wednesday, they slipped a bit on Thursday. They came back strong on Friday, winning another race against the "very classy" 79-boat fleet in Miami, Florida. Hamish and Carl are now in an unbeatable points position with one race to sail on Saturday.

The victory caps off an amazing year for the Kiwi crew, who have risen from zero to be #3 in the ISAF rankings -- and should be #1 when the latest rankings are announced in a couple of weeks.

Full story on the Star Class website

From the story on the Star Class website by Lynn Fitzpatrick about the Star North Americans taking place in Miami....

Carl Williams is still smiling after the conclusion of the second day of racing. He and skipper Hamish Pepper are sitting one point in front of Rohart and Rambeau. Freddie Loof and Anders Ekstrom redeemed themselves by taking a 1, 2 for the 3rd and 4th races of the series.

Results (after 4 races; 79 boats)
1. Hamish Pepper/Carl Williams (NZL) 1-1-3-7, 12 pts
2. Xavier Rohart/Pascal Rambeau (FRA) 5- 3- 4-1, 13
3. Robert Scheidt/Bruno Prada (BRA) 7-6-5- 5, 23
4. Andy Horton/Brad Nichol (USA) 25- 2-2-13, 42
5. Marc Pickel/Ingo Borkowski (GER) 9-7-8-19, 43
6. George Szabo/Mark Strube (USA) 20-12-9-11, 52

Full story

UPDATE (0800 Thu morn 16 Nov) -- Hamish and Carl continue their winning ways, having won both races yesterday on Day One of the Star Class North Americans in Miami. Star Class website has a daily report.

BMWOR's Carl "Tiny" Williams made the December cover of what many consider to be the leading yacht racing magazine in the world, Seahorse, for winning the Star Class Worlds with his skipper and fellow Kiwi, Hamish Pepper. Note also that Dicko has an interview in this issue.

In the coming days we'll post some pictures from our "winter training base" in Auckland -- a bit of a misnomer inasmuch as it is about to be summer there. In the meantime, for those of you not familiar with the changes since the end of the 2003 Cup, these satellite photos should help you get the new lay of the land. Images are courtesy of Google Earth with the somewhat crude graphics added by your Ed. As usual, you can click on the image to enlarge.