The holiday break is over and the team is back hard at work. Some never really stopped, notably our boat building team in Seattle. Likewise the ongoing work at our new Base.

As you will know from previous posts, logistics manager Grant "Guthrie" Davidson had our new Base far enough along that we actually moved in before Christmas, consolidating the staff and activities there that for the past couple years had been carried out at our temporary base at the RCNV (local yacht club) and at a nearby (to the new Base) office building where our design, marketing and admin teams had been working. But it was Monday this week that things were, for the first time, in full swing at the new Base as by then most everyone was back at their desks after the well-deserved break.


Looking south from across the street at our new Base,
Wednesday morning. Only half the Base is pictured, the other
half is to the left.


Carla Roldan is the first point of contact as she meets and greets
guests in the ground floor reception, seen here Wednesday in her new
surroundings getting guidance from the telephone technician.


Construction continues, especially on the third floor, where the team hospitality center is rapidly taking shape, and on the myriad of other finishing details all over our new 5600 sq. m. "home."

Coincidentally, our friends from BMW Motorsport were in town on Monday and Tuesday, along with some 500 media and other VIPs, for the launch of the new BMW Sauber F1 Team and the presentation of the team's F1 car for 2006, which ran for a few laps at the Valencia circuit.

Many of the BMW Motorsport and Sports Marketing folks are involved with, or at least keenly interested in, BMW ORACLE Racing. While in VLC they took the opportunity for a first-hand look around our team and new Base. I think Mirko Groeschner, our marketing director, said he conducted ten different base tours, including one with BMW's F1 team head Dr Mario Thiessen. There is proving to be a nice synergy between BMW F1 and AC activities at all levels -- technical, of course, as well as commercial, and now sporting.

Preparations are well underway for the return of our sailing team, who will soon be back in VLC and on the water testing and training in preparation for Acts 10-11 (May) and 12 (June). This year, the Acts are all in Valencia.

Some of the sailing team are in action next week, racing in the Auckland Match Racing Cup. Dicko leads one team into battle and Bert Pace will steer another. We are the only AC team to have two entries in this prestigious new event, which will include most of the big names in AC and match racing in the world today.

As we type, the Blogster is en route to Auckland where, among other things, we will snap a few pics of the action and otherwise bring you a bit of the flavor and inside scoop from what should be a very interesting and exciting event. Keep an eye, too, on our team website as Ivor Wilkins and Jane Eagleson will post daily race reports there.

This will be our first post to the BOB from 35,000 feet as we have a live internet connection on this Lufthansa flight from Munich to Bangkok. Indeed, time, and technology, marches on....