Now it really gets interesting. The round robin phase of Act 12 saw some of the best Cup racing ever. Many close matches, plenty of lead changes, more than a few surprises. But in the Semis which start today the teams go head-to-head, and with teams of similar records. So the racing should be even closer.

First to win two races. Same as the LVC Semis and Finals, and AC Match, next May and June -- a dress rehearsal for the teams as well as the organizers.

H2H requires a different mind set, some say a different strategy. For sure, it brings more pressure. Think of the semis as a three-set tennis match. Could be over in two straight -- meaning today, as two matches are scheduled this afternoon for each of the six semi-final pairings (three divisions). If a semifinal goes 1-1, and requires the third set, that will be tomorrow. Likely at least one final (and petit-final) race will also be sailed in each division tomorrow, with the second race, and third if necessary, on Sunday. Monday is a reserve day.

Yesterday Luna Rossa was issued a new measurement certificate by the ACC Measurement Committee. The yachts are permitted to make one what we call "minor" change to their cert during Act 12 -- minor meaning a change that does not require the yacht to be "refloated" or re-weighed, hence something that is does not affect the yacht's overall displacement/buoyancy. For example, it could be a new rudder of the same volume and weight, but a different shape; or maybe a change in the angle of the winglets on the keel bulb. So we will be watching the Luna Rossa - Alinghi matches with some extra interest today. One suspects our technical team already has a pretty good idea what ITA/LR has changed to try to make themselves more competitive in their H2H with Alinghi, and for the balance of Act 12.

H2H, and a clean slate for all twelve teams. Let's regatta!


The pre-start on Wednesday with ETNZ was particularly interesting,
and illuminating. Today's H2H racing, with the same opponent, will likely
provide more of the same -- and gives both crews a different set of
challenges.

Talking heads at the skipper press conference Wednesday evening:
are we having fun yet, Brad?

CB predicts another nice, medium air seabreeze which, like some long-
winded party guests, will arrive early and stay late.

From a report on the 2007AC Forums from regular contributor Cheryl, who monitors the media in New Zealand for that top AC discussion site:

"In an interview with TVNZ's Martin Tasker, Dean Barker said the choice of USA-87 was driven by the desire to get more performance data on USA-87. ETNZ is still finalising the design of their second boat and believed they could learn more from racing against USA-87 than against Luna Rossa or Alinghi. The choice was not based on who they thought was easiest to beat."

Below is another brilliant photo by our team photog Gilles Martin-Raget. Yesterday he was aloft in a heli to snap the action, thanks to an agreement among all teams to allow legit team photogs to capture non-spy images from helicopters during Act 12. The Protocol has a provision that otherwise prohibits team members from going aloft in aircraft over other Competitors, or using satellites, to observe or capture images of other teams.


Stay tuned -- after a day off today, racing resumes on Friday with head-
to-head racing between ETNZ and ourselves in the semi-finals. We won
the toss of the coin and will have starboard entry for match one, and
match three if necessary (it's "first to win two matches").

I don't know what else to say except, perhaps, "you'd better be careful what you ask for -- you might get it."

Have been reporting since we finalized the deal in late 2003 that the Defender (Alinghi) and the Challenger of Record (BMW ORACLE) had really modernized the game according to the vision of Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison. Many were unconvinced, including, sometimes, ourselves.

Until the last couple of days.

The win Sunday by SWE over SUI, and the stunning come from behind win yesterday by ITA/LR over us in the final seconds of a race we had led convincingly from the get go -- well, that should have finally made converts out of even the most skeptical.

Including Angus Phillips (USA, veteran journalist who has covered the Cup for the Washington Post since 1980), who we were pleased to see had arrived VLC last evening to check in for the first time on AC 32. Surveying the Darsena from the deck of our base with Jane "Bubbles" Eagleson, Anguish said, "I now see what you mean."

What we now clearly have, and IMHO will have for the next year, is not your daddy's America's Cup. It is the brave, new Cup in which the racing is closer than ever and with surprises (pleasant or otherwise) coming when you least expect them.

As Martha might say, "It's a good thing."

At least as far as the overall event is concerned. The good news for our team yesterday is that we handled the loss with professional dignity and grace, learned a lot from it, and demonstrated to ourselves (and our competitors) some excellent crew work and boat speed.

Assuming we win one of today's two matches (only one flight was completed yesterday due to the late arriving seabreeze, so Tuesday's second race against Mascalzone becomes our first match today -- then we race finally race ETNZ), we will for sure advance to the top division semifinals along with NZL, SUI and ITA/LR.

Here is Dyer's pairing list for today. And CB's weather forecast, which looks like much better than yesterday's....


Go the Valencian seabreeze!

Racing resumes today after a welcome and well-deserved day off on Monday. However, the design team was hard at work at our team base yesterday, as was the marketing team, who had sponsor and media functions in full swing all day -- to say nothing of the exciting action in NYC (preceding post).

Eagerly anticipated by all are the two big match-ups today among the "big four": SUI v. NZL and our match with ITA/LR. Our second opponent is the light-air flyer ITA/ML (Dennis Conner's challenger from AC 2003, of course heavily modified to current Version 5 of the ACC rule) that is among if not the narrowest boat in the fleet).

The pairing list for both flights scheduled today (9 & 10) is, as usual, available here to peruse or download. I say "scheduled" because the forecast for wind is not great. CB says it should be raceable, but it has dawned hazy and overcast here this morning and there may not be much of a seabreeze. If so it could be a long, slow day; any matches not completed would be raced on the Thursday (another reserve day).

And here's the early morning scoop from Beddow....


Good news is that we are on the south ("Juliet") course for both races
today. Usually there is better wind for more hours of the day on the
south course down off El Soler beach. And the SUI-NZL match is also on
Juliet, so we and our VIP guests will get a good look at that match as well.

Chart courtesy of the excellent Valencia Sailing website. Shows the three
"divisions" of four teams as they now stand with three flights to go (a flight
is a set of six matches involving all 12 teams). This coming Friday through
Sunday, within each division there will be a knock-out semifinals with the
winners advancing to a knock-out finals and the losers to a petit-finals.
All knock-out series are first to win two races.

Congrats to the Victory Challenge (SWE) who, last evening, were the toast of the America's Cup town for their hard-fought win over the defender, Alinghi.

Credit to Bruno Trouble (or so one hears) for utter-ing, as the match was finishing, a somewhat more colorful version of our headline.


"Moooo! Where did all my Kiwis go?"

Last night the media herd was collectively heard to be saying, and writing, "electric atmosphere."

Indeed, it was a crackling good day at the races. Match racing at its finest. Four lead changes in our tussle with Alinghi. In the other big match of the day, NZL got spanked -- make that paddled -- at the start, then clawed their way past ITA/LR and hung on for a slim win.

RSA came from behind in a protest-fest to beat FRA. No doubt the afterguards and rules advisors from all the teams, and one hopes all the umpires, will be replaying and studying the Virtual Eye race viewer from that match more than a few times over the coming months.

And a number of the other matches were hard fought -- even a couple involving lower-ranked teams and the so-called "big four" as the media call ITA/LR, NZL, SUI and ourselves (note, Jane, at least the BOB lists them alphabetically).

Things were also amped up around the racing -- hottest day of the year, big spectator fleet, improved TV show, well over 200 VIP guests (I believe our biggest group ever) including celebritries Horst Janson (GER, the noted actor) and Bode Miller (USA, the champion skier and noted bon vivant). They each raced as 18th crew, by all accounts had a blast, came early and stayed late last night at the Base mingling with our team members, attracted a lot of media attention, added some mega-wattage to the proceedings, and were great fun to have with us. Bode is coming back for more today.

Speaking of today, there are no key pair-ups. However Mascalzone has a couple of good matches, and the SWE-RSA match features two increasingly aggresive afterguards and that match could make for a few sparks.

Here is today's pairing list.

We race CHN and ITA/39, the two teams which have had the most problems (financial and organizational) off the water. However, +39 at last appears to be on the upswing with new management and money, and will be buoyed today by the christening party they held at their team base last evening for their long-delayed new boat, ITA 85. So we should not be taking them lightly despite their 2-4 record.

Finally, Chris "Beddow" Bedford's weather forecast. Looks good for getting in all of today's scheduled matches, which means tomorrow's scheduled reserve day should be a day off -- eagerly anticipated, as we are all a bit fried after four days of highly-charged action.


Play it again, Chris?


Horst Janson, a lifelong sailor, counting down the time to
the start, with strategist Eric Doyle (USA) all jocked up and
ready to rock up the mast to wind-spot.


Kris Kristofferson's long lost brother?


Bode Miller and navigator Peter "Pedro" Isler (USA) deconstructing
the tactics in yesterday's match with Alinghi. Bode raced as 18th
man.


"But could've we done this at the top mark?"


American arcana: from left your Ed., Jane Eagleson, Bode, Pedro and
Cup vet Doug Rostello, who we are pleased to have as a guest expert for
our VIP boat race commentary this week.


This pic's for Scotty Sanford's father, who we are told is a skier and
big Bode fan.


One of our many VIP guests who was "happy as Larry."

Here's the Day Three pairing list issued by the Regatta Director last evening.

Today for us it's SUI (Alinghi) then SWE (Victory). Alinghi, still racing their old boat SUI 75 looks just fine. Victory, racing their old boat SWE 63 looks a bit sticky all around.


More of the same weatherwise. Perhaps a touch more seabreeze.

Here's the Day Two pairing list issued by the Regatta Director last evening.

Today for us it's FRA then ESP -- the players in yesterday's race of the day that had the great gate incident (preceeding post).


On tap: another light-to-medium seabreeze day.

As with most media, AC journos have a bit of a pack mentality. "Groupthink" emerges in the media center, and the bulk of them dash off similar stories on the same theme. Scanning yesterday's output and the groupthink theme emerges: no surprises.

However, there are a few veteran journos who can see the forest from the trees, or are keen(er) observers of the passing scene. Day after day, month after month, indeed Cup after Cup, they come up with fresh angles and the real insights that go outside or well beyond the pack's pick theme du jour.

To those in the know there were some surprises out there yesterday. Not necessarily in the results, but the less obvious decisions and subtle choices -- personnel, tactical, sail and other equipment, etc. -- made by several of the teams, and the changes to and performances of some of the yachts.

One journo who very often has a fresh and interesting perspective is Yachting World's Matthew Sheahan. His story on the YC website last night captured perfektly the far and away most interesing racing story of the day, the FRA-ESP gate incident on the south course in Flight Two:


To receive one penalty is unfortunate, to receive two careless. But to notch up three penalties after one mark rounding must have left the French wondering what on earth they had done to receive such a beating from the umpires. Even more galling for them was the fact that the issue saw their slim lead go to the Spanish who, having won their first match of the day for their first race in their new boat ESP88, were in no mood to hand it back.

But while the triple penalty at first seemed harsh on the French, you had to hand it to the Spanish who created and deftly exploited an opportunity within just a few boats of the leeward mark.

The situation began with the French leading into the gate and aiming for the right hand mark of the two for a conservative drop and round up onto the breeze. By hoisting their headsail, the Spanish made it look like they would do the same, the French relaxed. Just as they did, the Spanish threw in a gybe to which the French had to match. With more speed and in just a few seconds, the Spanish caught the French and gained an overlap forcing the French to give them room to round. But the French refused to acknowledge this and closed the door on the Spanish, preventing them from rounding the mark and leaving ESP-88 no option but to round up on the wrong side of the mark.

The umpires took a very dim view of this and gave the French a penalty for the professional foul and a couple more to penalise the substantial advantage that they had achieved as a result.

As part of the umpire's duties, informing the boats as to when an overlap has been achieved has formed one of the most recent developments in the on the water judging and the light system on board Cup boats was been designed to make it crystal clear when an overlap has been established. Presumably, the umpires felt that despite being informed that the French had ignored the situation and closed the door regardless even thought the overlap light had been illuminated.

The French side of the story will no doubt be that the overlap was established rapidly from an unlikely position and gained at the very last second. But the fact remains that the overlap was established and the Spanish had every right to water around the mark.

It's not often that one manoeuvre makes a story in a preliminary match, but in this case the issue was an absolute classic and one that will be referred to for some time to come.

Full story


Yesterday's results may not have been surprising, but peel back a
layer or two on some of the onions and there is often more to be seen
than might otherwise be visible to the unitiated, or the unsuspecting
scribe.