America’s Cup World Series - Ready for racing in Naples

Nine teams took part in the official practice session on the Bay of Naples on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of the first day of championship racing in the America’s Cup World Series scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

This is the final event of the 2012-13 America’s Cup World Series. ORACLE TEAM USA is leading the standings and has tasked Tom Slingsby with protecting a lead built up in the first events by team skipper Jimmy Spithill. Slingsby jokes that Spithill has told him not to ‘stuff it up’, and although he considers himself an underdog in making his AC World Series debut as skipper, he’s confident his team can earn good results.

“I think we’ve got a good young team that could surprise some people,” he said. “Our boat handling looks pretty good so we just need to get our race experience up.”

Another team making their inaugural AC World Series appearance is HS Racing, led by double Olympic gold medalist Roman Hagara, who says he’s hoping to challenge some of the more experienced AC45 teams over the course of the week.

“I want to see us improve a little bit from race to race and hopefully get some finishes near the top,” he said. “The other teams have many more hours on the water than we do, but I think there’s a chance we could surprise some people.”

Following today’s training session the nine skippers took to the stage to meet the public in the Race Village. A vocal and enthusiastic crowd was on hand to ask questions and celebrate the sailors. Fans have been lining the foreshore to watch the teams practicing since last weekend when the Race Village opened and the crowds are only expected to grow as the week progresses.

Racing from Thursday to Sunday will be streamed live on YouTube worldwide (subject to territorial rights agreements) beginning at 1400 local time (CEST) on Thursday.

Download the full race schedule and format here

Current 2012-13 America’s Cup World Series Championship leaderboard
(Teams participating in Naples – skipper – points)

ORACLE TEAM USA (Slingsby) – 165
Luna Rossa Piranha (Draper) – 121
Artemis Racing White (Ekberg) – 120
J.P. Morgan BAR – 116
Energy Team – 102
Emirates Team New Zealand – 100
Luna Rossa Swordfish – 71
China Team – 43
HS Racing – 0

HS Racing brings double gold medalists to the America’s Cup World Series

Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher (the ‘H’ and ‘S’ in HS Racing) are two of the most successful Olympic athletes in Austria. Sailing together, they’ve won two gold medals each in the Tornado Class catamaran at the Games in Sydney and Athens.

As living legends in the Tornado, it’s no surprise the multihull maestros had their interest piqued by the new form and format of the America’s Cup. Their role as Sports Directors for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup led to an opportunity to compete as HS Racing in the final America’s Cup World Series event in Naples.

“It was always a plan for us to go to the America’s Cup,” Hagara says. “So this is a good opportunity to show the outside world and our partners how it could work for us to compete. Hopefully, the America’s Cup is in the future for us, so this is a good chance towards that.”

The new style America’s Cup would appear to suit Hagara and Steinacher well. The boats certainly do. Hagara says the AC45s – the wing sail catamarans used at the America’s Cup World Series – are a pleasure to race, even if they’re physically very demanding.

“The AC45s are really nice boats. They’re quick, easy to handle and fun to sail. But they’re very tiring. There’s a lot on for all of the crew, especially for the guys on the front of the boat. It gets a little easier as you move back! But even for me as helmsman I’m pulling on the wing sheet, grinding, hiking, looking around for tactics, as well as steering. It’s not easy.”

Although Hagara admits the physical nature of the boat favors younger sailors, he says the experience he and Steinacher bring compensate for this.

“Experience always helps but the future in this type of sailing is for the younger generation,” Hagara admits. “If you have a skiff or multihull background and you’re young and you’re good, this is for you. Everything on these boats happens so fast. Experience helps, but…”

It’s hard to consider double Olympic gold medalists as underdogs, but Hagara is realistic about his prospects this week.

“I think from race to race I want to see us improve a little bit and hopefully get some finishes near the top. The other teams have many more hours on the water than we do, but I think there’s a chance we could surprise some people.”

Paddle for Humanity Announces 2013 Event Series

The 2013 Paddle for Humanity event schedule includes some of the nation’s most desirable paddling locations from coast to coast. The Stand Up Paddling, or SUP event series commonly referred to as Paddle for Humanity, has spread awareness of paddle sports and the philanthropic side of the paddling community over its five-year history. This year Paddle for Humanity includes six events from coast to coast and is open to all skill levels.

 

Paddle for Humanity is a philanthropic event that focuses on spreading the love of paddle sports while raising awareness and funds for charitable causes close to the heart of the paddling community. Over the past four years Paddle for Humanity has raised thousands of dollars for its non-profit partners. This year’s series will raise money for the Navy SEAL Foundation, Best Day Foundation, LUNGevity, and Ocean of Hope. “Every paddler who participates will make a positive impact for these very deserving organizations,” says event director, Pete Stirling. Participants will select the organization of their choice to receive 20% of their registration fee.

This year’s event lineup will include the following locations:
Deerfield Beach, FL, June 1st
Minneapolis, MN, June 22nd
Seattle, WA, July 20th
Washington, D.C., August 31st
Austin, TX, September 14th
Newport Beach, CA, September 21st

Each location will feature a 5k paddle, a 10k paddle and a Rule 7 event that can include anything and everything in the name of good fun. To register for these events, visit http://www.paddleforhumanity.org, click on Events, select the event you are interested in and Register Now.

This years Paddle for Humanity national event series sponsors include, SUP ATX, LiftSUP, Destination Surf, Watermans Sunscreen, and Futures Fins. Additional local and national sponsorship positions are available – contact paddleforhumanity(at)gmail(dot)com for more information.

Paddle for Humanity is sanctioned by the World Paddle Association (WPA).

Hyeres To Close 2012-13 ISAF Sailing World Cup Series

ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères will bring the 2012-2013 World Cup series to a close with over 800 of the world's top sailors across ten Olympic and two Paralympic events ready for action.

 

Austria's Zajac and Frank fly a hull ©Dominic Marsano

Touching down in Australia, USA, Spain and finally Hyères, France from 22-27 April the 2012-13 series has welcomed sailors campaigning for the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition to set an early marker at the beginning of a new quadrennial.
A 35-boat Nacra 17 fleet will line up in Hyères after ISAF Sailing World Cup Palma acted as a learning curve for many of the new crews.

Experienced multihull sailors stole the headlines in Palma, most notably the French and Dutch teams, as they controlled and dominated the fleet throughout the week.

Whilst the multihull specialists lead the way at the moment, Argentina's Esteban Luciano Blando who is crew with Cecilia Carranza Saroli, a London 2012 Laser Radial Olympian, thinks the story will be somewhat different further along the line, "Right now at the moment a lot of crews are making mistakes but in six months it will be closer.

"People who have had the boat for longer are sailing much better in some conditions because we don't have the experience. When you sail more you get more experience."

P1 Superstock: USA SuperStock Champions Begin Bid For Global Glory

Reigning P1 SuperStock USA champions, Andy Biddle and Tracy Blumenstein will begin the defence of their title this weekend (19/20/21 April) in Stuart, FL when the opening round of the 2013 national championship kicks off.

More; P1 Superstock: USA SuperStock Champions Begin Bid For Global Glory General News

Sailors looking forward to getting back on the race track

The nine skippers of the America’s Cup World Series met with an enthusiastic and large pool of media on Tuesday morning in Naples at the skippers’ media opportunity.

All of the talk was on the excitement of getting back to racing following a long break after the last event in San Francisco.

“The big thing this week is for the team to practice going racing,” said Luna Rossa Piranha helmsman Chris Draper. “We’ve put a lot of work in over the last six months so we’re keen to see where we stack up.”

ORACLE TEAM USA Crew Ready for ACWS Naples

After alternating between sailing the AC72 and training for the next America’s Cup World Series, ORACLE TEAM USA is in Naples, Italy, and ready to focus on racing the AC45. Skipper Tom Slingsby and crew Sam Newton (wing trimmer), Kinley Fowler (jib trimmer), Rome Kirby (runner) and Piet van Nieuwenhuijzen (bowman), arrived over the weekend and hit the ground running in preparation for this week’s regatta, held April 16-21.

“All of our focus has been on the AC72, but on the days that we are not sailing on the AC72, we have been able get out on the AC45s. We’ve had a few training sessions over the last couple of weeks which have been really important,” said Slingsby. “We’ll have a few days of training and hopefully improve as much as we can before racing starts. And, I know to expect huge crowds – last year was the biggest crowd I’ve seen in sailing, so I’ll be ready for that, which will hopefully take away some of the nerves.”