It's nice to have a surprisingly large number of family and friends joining us here in Malmoe, and enjoying the clean and well-organized venue and surroundings.


Mike Segerblom (striped shirt) and family from Long Beach, CA visiting the paddock yesterday. Mike is the long-time Executive Director of the highly regarded United States Sailing Center at Long Beach. The Segerbloms were vacationing in Copenhagen and came across the bridge to Malmoe for the afternoon. Mike is an old friend of a number of us in BMWOR, including Dicko (who, most will be aware, is far left in the photo above). And, no, they had not just come from an audition for a remake of the movie "Blues Brothers".

The new BMW ORACLE Racing photo and video archive is now online at www.bmor-photo.com and www.bmor-video.com.

The enhanced service for media, friends and family provides up-to-date photo and video material from the team including categories such as "event", "crew action", "people", "boat", "match racing", "fleet racing", "shore side" and others.

The new archive is offered as a service to all partners and media to assist in providing the visual materials needed to accompany news stories about the BMW ORACLE Racing team. During the upcoming Louis Vuitton Acts, daily race copyright-free images will be offered at no cost.

Video footage featuring BMW ORACLE Racing will also be accessible online at www.bmor-video.com. The video footage can be previewed online in the form of video streams. Additional information such as a rundown, a short description, the rights and technical details will be provided with each video footage segment. More features such as a search function, an online order procedure etc. will guarantee you a professional, fast and comfortable use of this system. Within the "specials" section of the archive you can find short cuts of the best grinding sequences, helicopter sequences etc.

The new service is being managed by the marketing department's Max "Schnitzel" Hoellerl (AUT).


Max Hoellerl

There are four cranes to handle the 12 yachts. Scotty Sandford tells me that all four are 250 ton capacity or more. One was found here in Malmoe, but the other three had to be brought in from Finland. They not only lift the yachts in and out in lieu of travellifts, but they step and unstep rigs, put support boats in and out of the water, etc. So they are busy and scheduling can be a bit of a mission.

Last evening, for example.


Why was our shore team standing around well into the evening?


Because our neighbors had some trouble undoing the nuts that connect the starboard V1 (sidestay holding up the mast) in the yacht.


This tied up the crane that services our end of the paddock. And since 76 was still in the water, our guys had to wait a bit. But it works both ways -- probably we have inconvenienced our neighbors once or twice as well. Such is the cooperative spirit in the "AC paddock."


After 90 minutes or so they got their nuts off, and the rig was pulled out.


Then the crane was swung around to lift out 76. Tim, Scotty and Trevor looking flash in their flourescent-green, locally-mandated (and no doubt a good idea) safety vests .


76 lifted out...


...and swung toward the cradle.


ACM's operations manager and paddock boss, Rene "Fluffy" Holliger, stops by to be sure all is in order.


76 over her cradle, the front end of which is about to be raised so the yacht can be lowered to her nighttime resting spot.

As with Act 1 in Marseille last year, here in Malmoe all the teams are lined up side by side in a Formula One-style paddock. Much has been written, and photos published, elsewhere so I will not belabor the point. Suffice to say, the atmosphere is much more relaxed, neighborly and in a word -- enjoyable.

We all have friends and former teammates on most if not all of the other teams, and here we see many of them each day. In VLC, working behind the walls of our individual bases and with our homes spread all over greater Valencia, we rarely see anyone from the other teams. But here is it different, and this is the way yacht racing, and the America's Cup, should be.

It was that way in Newport. The teams were clustered together on the cityfront wharves. There were not bases, per se, and it was much more open and communal. Then came the winged keel, skirts, and the walled-off, high-security bases in Freo (87) and San Diego (88, 92 and 95) and Auckland (00 and 03). Same now in Valencia.

At least Alinghi and ourselves as Challenger of Record have reversed that trend with these AC road-show events. I for one would like to see future Cups venues set up more in the way of these paddocks we have had in Marseille and Malmoe, and less of the expensive, individual bases being constructed as we speak in VLC.


By a nose...we are at one end of the row of 12 yachts in the Malmoe paddock; Alinghi is at the other. Our immediate and colorful neighbor is Desafio Espanol (ESP). Next to them is Mascalzone Latino's firey red ITA-77 (fomerly Dennis Conner's USA-77, New York Yacht Club's 2003 challenger Stars & Stripes), then the black yachts of Victory Challenge (SWE) and K-Challenge (FRA) respectively..

In Formula One they call the overseas (meaning non-European) races "fly-aways" because the equipment has to be flown in Bernie Ecclestone's fleet of 747's instead of trucked as is done for the races in Europe.

For the new AC 32 circus, I guess you might call Malmoe and Trapani "ship-aways", but since most of us flew up here perhaps "fly-away" still works.

Most teams, including BMW ORACLE, have only about 45 team members working here. Interestingly, one of the newer and normally smaller teams, +39 (one of the three Italian challengers), has nearly 100 people here. I must check in with my old friend Luca Devoti, 2000 Finn Class Olympic medalist and +39's sporting director, to see why they came with such a relatively large contingent. Perhaps it has something to do with the next regatta being a "fly away" in their home port of Trapani.


En route Valencia to Malmoe on Friday -- the layover at Munich airport allows time for a quick wurst and Bavarian beer, for which we invited fellow travelers from Desafio Espanol. Left to right: design team coordinator Ian "Fresh" Burns (AUS), Desafio Espanol's Teresa Ruiz, marketing director and Munich maven Mirko "In the Pink" Groeschner (GER), Jorge Lamarca (Desafio Espanol rules advisor), our team doctor Kiko Espi Escriva (ESP), weather team member and expert match racer Rod Dawson (NZL), and marketing's Kerstin "Handstand" Schulz (GER).

"The modern-day bowman's description encompasses three basic duties: Call the starting line, make the headsail changes, and do all the climbing*. But the simple description doesn't convey either the action or complexity of the work at hand. Done well, it's a job that takes speed, strength, and balance, as well as the ability to keep track of a dozen lines and parts that are constantly bending around turns and overlapping each other. It takes a personality that enjoys a certain amount of chaos and mayhem, and further enjoys salvaging order from it...."

So began an article in the January, 1995 issue of Sailing World, the authoritative USA yacht racing magazine, called "Cult of the Point" by Doug Logan.

"Point" in AC parlance means the pointy-end or bow of the boat; hence "pointman" in lieu of bowman who resides up in "frontierland." Indeed, it would seem bowmen must have a bit of cowboy in them to survive the frontier. Indeed, to my knowledge it is the only position on an AC boat which has a "union" and their own dedicated website.

For some reason the "Cult of the Point" article is showing up today in my various search engines tuned to "America's Cup." It was one of the better sailing articles in memory, and also highlights a bit of contemporary AC history, so I thought our readers might enjoy it.

The full text of "Cult of the Point" is available here.

*Ten year's later Doug Logan would have written "most of the climbing" as these days the Strategists, such as Eric Doyle, are also often up the rigs as windspotters and batten kickers.



Two of the best "pointmen" in the game, Alinghi's Dean Phipps and BMW ORACLE's Brad Webb in a photo (one of my favorites) from the UBS Trophy in Newport last year.

BMWOR advance team for Malmoe -- logisitics manager Grant "Guthrie" Davidson (NZL), sailing team manager Aimee "Aimster" Hess (USA) and yard manager Scotty "Big Equipment" Sandford (NZL) -- report that things are shaping up very well in the Swedish city.

And, no surprise, it is cool. Daily highs are 14-16 deg. C., there is chilly 20 kt onshore wind, and they have not seen much sun. Those of you who live or have lived in northern Europe know that can all change overnight, and this time of year you can just easily have a week of summer as winter. Here's hoping for the former. Otherwise it is going to be some shock for us "Valencianos" who are more accustomed by now to daily highs of twice that.

Thank goodness we have all just received new fleece jumpers from our clothing partner, Henri Lloyd. Long-johns anyone?

The MSC ship with the AC yachts and materiel will arrive over the weekend, Operations Director Laurent "Lafayette" Esquier (FRA) and our shore team begin arriving on Monday, and by the end of next week when the sailing team and others arrive all should be set up and ready to go.

In addition to the Swedish Victory Challenge switching from SWE 63 to SWE 73, the newer of their 2003 yachts, one also hears that in Malmoe the South African Challenge, Shosholoza, will have a new helmsman -- veteran match racer and former AC skipper Chris Law (GBR).

It will be interesting to see who Alinghi has on the wheel. They have three helmsman on their team: Peter Homberg (USA), Ed Baird (USA) and Jochen Schuemann (GER). Peter steered the Valencia Acts. Some have suggested that we can expect to see Ed Baird on the wheel in Malmoe, and Jochen driving in Trapani. Will be interesting to see who has the best hands, and sharpest elbows.

By the way, Malmoe is just across the bridge from Copenhagen, which has one of Europe's best international airports, so it is a cinch to get to Malmoe. Mirko reports that our sponsor-partners will again be bringing many VIP guests, so we are looking forward to another large group of supporters in Malmoe -- as we had in Valencia.


The Oresund Bridge, the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe,
links Sweden and Denmark for the first time since the last Ice Age.


Oresund Bridge.

Check the Challenger Commission blog for other info on Malmoe.

BMW's sports marketing strategy has three pillars -- motorsport, golf and now sailing. Not only does BMW partner with BMW ORACLE Racing in the America's Cup, but has made a strong commitment to other sailing events including Kiel Week, the Swedish Match Tour, and the BMW Royal Langkawi International Regatta in Malaysia.

This past weekend 13 winners from this year's RLIR were the guests of BMW for an America's Cup "fantasy camp" here in Valencia.

Aside from taking in the sights and sounds of Valencia Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, on Saturday morning they were treated to a special Morning Show, that morped into more of an AC seminar, featuring presentations by team members Ian Burns, David Brooke and Asim Khan, and an insider's Base Tour conducted by Kevin Batten -- including being to climb aboard and inside USA 71 (which is on shore in her cradle while 76 heads to Malmoe).


After the Saturday morning Base Tour. Host Peter Burkardt, BMW Malaysia's
Sales and Marketing Director, is standing in the back, third from left.

In the photo above, some of you AC mavens may recognize the gentleman to the left of Chris Dickson (Dicko is front row, far right). That's Scotty McAllister (AUS) who was mastman on Australia II when they won the Cup at Newport 1983!

Saturday afternoon our guests split into four teams and had a match racing tournament in the SM-40s, with one or two of our sailing team on each of the yachts led by Brian "Puck" MacInnes.





The winning team, "Double Dutch," was captained by Rolf Heemskerk (grey shirt, middle in the photo bewlow). Puck, second from the right (duh!), presented the "trophies" which, no doubt, were consumed later that evening. Double Dutch dominated, winning all three of their matches.


Match race winners "Double Dutch."


Mirko "Herr Direktor" Groeschner (left) with '83 Cup winning crewman
Scotty McAllister.

USA 76 joins 11 other ACC yachts, various team tenders, chase boats, weather boats and 60+ ACM race committee vessels aboard the MSC ship that will depart Valencia at 20:00 tonight to take the America's Cup circus to Malmoe for Louis Vuitton Acts 6 and 7.





Our shore team begins arriving Malmoe a week from tomorrow (Monday) to begin setting up, and by Friday the 19th the sailing team and most other support personnel will all be there. We have a few days of practice sailing, measurement checks, various team and official meetings to attend and, finally, racing -- which begins Thursday 25 August. Act 6 is match racing, one full round (11 races; we race each of the other teams once). Act 7, five fleet races, follows. The last day of Act 7 is Sunday 4 September.

It will be a shock to more than a few systems to go from the 25-35 degree (C.) heat of Valencia to the much cooler Malmoe. The five-day weather forecast for Malmoe next week shows highs between 17 and 20, and lows of 12-15. After months here in t-shirts and flip-flops, don't forget to pack the woolies!

At Malmoe we will be back to daily blog posts, so be sure to tune in.

A schedule of the Malmoe racing and other events is posted, along with other challenger-related information, at the Challenger Commission website. Note on the list of entries recently posted there that the same 12 yachts will race in Malmoe as in Valencia Acts 4-5, except that the Swedes will be using SWE 73 instead of 63, having recently modified 73 to Version 5 of the ACC class rule (under which we have been racing since 1 January 05).

Also check ACM's official site for more information on the Malmoe LV Acts.

Hola, otra vez -- hello, once again. It has been almost a month since our last post. Originally we were to blog only during the Acts, but due to the all-around popularity of the BMW ORACLE Racing Blog we will try to post from time to time during the non-racing periods as well.

The past month has been anything but dull. Post-regatta debriefs, analysis, a lot learned and some adjustments. A few days off, and then right back to testing for the design of the new yachts -- and training for the Malmoe Louis Vuitton Acts 6 and 7 now less than a month away.

After the disappointing results of Acts 4 and 5, we seem to be lifting our game. Last Friday we had three good practice races with Luna Rossa, one of our "neighbors" who, like us, are temporarily based here at the RCNV (along with Alinghi, China Team and ACM Race Ops). With Dicko steering and Gavin calling tactics we appear to be getting back on track with "a fast boat, well sailed, that doesn't break."

There's light at the end of the between-Acts tunnel. Can't wait to get back at it in Malmoe.