WHIMPER Sep 4, 15:33
And so Act 7 ends not with a bang but a whimper. The RC pulled the plug at 13:30, hoisting Flag "N" which means "racing is abandoned."
We end tied with Alinghi and they win on the tie break. So the "big four" as the media like to call Alinghi, BMWOR, ETNZ and Luna Rossa, also appear to have a "top two," at least for now.
We are back as first of the Challengers (having finished second to Alinghi in both Acts here), but hopefully we can further improve our game for Trapani and best Alinghi there as well.
As I write this at 14:15, just as Chris B predicted early this morning, the fog has cleared and the wind has come up. Here on shore, at least, it appears to be raceable. But having just come in from the race course (we took our VIP guests for a lunch cruise in the fog) visibility on the course is still limited, and it would not be safe to send the circus out on the water this afternoon. No doubt a good decision by PRO and on-the-water ringmaster Peter "Luiggi" Reggio.
The mast has already come out of 76, the tender is about to be lifted out of the water, Capt Craig Christensen and his team are hard at work decommissioning the tender and our three other supports boats, and with the help of the sailing team the shore team already has us well down the de-camping road.
The MSC ship with all 12 yachts, team containers and support boats, and 65 race management vessels will be loaded over the next two days, and it leaves here midday Thursday for Trapani. It should arrive there six days later (the 14th) and unload on the 15th. All should be set up by the 23rd when the the sailing teams arrive. Racing starts on Thursday the 29th. Same format as here -- two Acts, first match racing then fleet racing.
Our advance scout Grant "Guthrie" Davidson (NZL) is already there, and reports that the locals are not as far along in preps as they were here in Malmoe at this stage, so it could be a little more rough than ready when we begin racing there in just over three weeks.
The Act 7 prizegiving is at 15:00 this afternoon, and I believe there is a closing party this evening. A full day of meetings tomorrow, and then most all of us are out of here tomorrow night or latest Tuesday, with the exception of our hard-working shore team.
Speaking of the shore team, these past ten days I have enjoyed hanging out with Scotty Sandford and co., sharing an office, riding to the Base with them each morning and usually home together at night. Aside from early risers Laurent Esquier and Chris Bedford, the shore team is usually the first to arrive, and almost always the last to leave -- indeed, the heart if not soul of our team.
Mirko wrapping up the final "Morning Show". The Marketing dept
entertained over 1000 VIP guests during Acts 6 and 7, as they did in
Valencia for 5 and 6, thanks to the strong interest and support from
our partners BMW, Oracle, Henri Lloyd, and Girard-Perregaux
(among others).
"Pea soup" on the race course. We took the VIP guests for a lunch
cruise hoping the fog would lift enough to race, but on the race course
this historical vessel was about all we saw, and then just barely even
though she passed within 150m or so of us.
Prince Jacob (SWE) with Kerstin Schulz (GER) enjoying lunch if
not the view on one of our VIP boats today.
Checking out 76 after the RC had pulled the plug, the noted yacht
designer German Frers (ARG) with his son Manny. As in the 2003 Cup,
Manny is again the lead designer for the Sweden's Victory Challenge.
Jesper Bank (DEN, white shirt, arms folded) is the skipper of the
first-ever German challenger, United Internet Team Germany. After
the racing was called he gave a group of his Danish supporters a
tour of the paddock, including a lingering look at USA-76.
Tender driver Chris Robertson (NZL) waiting for the crane at our end
of the paddock to free up so our tender can be lifted out of the water.
The blue-and-white checkered Flag "N" flying over the paddock
this afternoon, indicating that racing has been abandoned, and
Malmoe Louis Vuitton Act 7 is now history.
We end tied with Alinghi and they win on the tie break. So the "big four" as the media like to call Alinghi, BMWOR, ETNZ and Luna Rossa, also appear to have a "top two," at least for now.
We are back as first of the Challengers (having finished second to Alinghi in both Acts here), but hopefully we can further improve our game for Trapani and best Alinghi there as well.
As I write this at 14:15, just as Chris B predicted early this morning, the fog has cleared and the wind has come up. Here on shore, at least, it appears to be raceable. But having just come in from the race course (we took our VIP guests for a lunch cruise in the fog) visibility on the course is still limited, and it would not be safe to send the circus out on the water this afternoon. No doubt a good decision by PRO and on-the-water ringmaster Peter "Luiggi" Reggio.
The mast has already come out of 76, the tender is about to be lifted out of the water, Capt Craig Christensen and his team are hard at work decommissioning the tender and our three other supports boats, and with the help of the sailing team the shore team already has us well down the de-camping road.
The MSC ship with all 12 yachts, team containers and support boats, and 65 race management vessels will be loaded over the next two days, and it leaves here midday Thursday for Trapani. It should arrive there six days later (the 14th) and unload on the 15th. All should be set up by the 23rd when the the sailing teams arrive. Racing starts on Thursday the 29th. Same format as here -- two Acts, first match racing then fleet racing.
Our advance scout Grant "Guthrie" Davidson (NZL) is already there, and reports that the locals are not as far along in preps as they were here in Malmoe at this stage, so it could be a little more rough than ready when we begin racing there in just over three weeks.
The Act 7 prizegiving is at 15:00 this afternoon, and I believe there is a closing party this evening. A full day of meetings tomorrow, and then most all of us are out of here tomorrow night or latest Tuesday, with the exception of our hard-working shore team.
Speaking of the shore team, these past ten days I have enjoyed hanging out with Scotty Sandford and co., sharing an office, riding to the Base with them each morning and usually home together at night. Aside from early risers Laurent Esquier and Chris Bedford, the shore team is usually the first to arrive, and almost always the last to leave -- indeed, the heart if not soul of our team.
Mirko wrapping up the final "Morning Show". The Marketing dept
entertained over 1000 VIP guests during Acts 6 and 7, as they did in
Valencia for 5 and 6, thanks to the strong interest and support from
our partners BMW, Oracle, Henri Lloyd, and Girard-Perregaux
(among others).
"Pea soup" on the race course. We took the VIP guests for a lunch
cruise hoping the fog would lift enough to race, but on the race course
this historical vessel was about all we saw, and then just barely even
though she passed within 150m or so of us.
Prince Jacob (SWE) with Kerstin Schulz (GER) enjoying lunch if
not the view on one of our VIP boats today.
Checking out 76 after the RC had pulled the plug, the noted yacht
designer German Frers (ARG) with his son Manny. As in the 2003 Cup,
Manny is again the lead designer for the Sweden's Victory Challenge.
Jesper Bank (DEN, white shirt, arms folded) is the skipper of the
first-ever German challenger, United Internet Team Germany. After
the racing was called he gave a group of his Danish supporters a
tour of the paddock, including a lingering look at USA-76.
Tender driver Chris Robertson (NZL) waiting for the crane at our end
of the paddock to free up so our tender can be lifted out of the water.
The blue-and-white checkered Flag "N" flying over the paddock
this afternoon, indicating that racing has been abandoned, and
Malmoe Louis Vuitton Act 7 is now history.
by TFE
