America’s Cup

The course for the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race, due to start from Alicante in Spain in the autumn of 2011, is now set and the first port of call will be Cape Town, South Africa, making its eighth appearance as host to this premier ocean race.This marks the beginning of the port announcement process for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12. Organizers will reveal the rest of the course around the

Like many others who had been closely involved with a team that competed in the 32nd America’s Cup in Valencia in 2007, I returned to the Spanish city to watch the 33rd Cup match, this time as an outside observer. At SAIL’s request I had run some Velocity Prediction Programs (VPPs) on both boats and the

Harken has been supplying gear to America’s Cup competitors since the early 1970s, and been providing the winch and hardware packages for both challenger and defender since the 1995 match. “As you would expect, the Cup match in Valencia was very interesting,” says Harken’s Global Manager, Mark Wiss. Harken supplied the batten car systems for all three masts BMW Oracle developed for their soft

Back in 1851, when the schooner America got things going by winning the America’s Cup in a race around the Isle of Wight, it was widely assumed it was her then-radical hull shape that did the trick. In fact, it was largely the result of her superior sails.Fast forward to 1983, the year John Bertrand aboard Australia II won the Cup from Dennis Conner and the New York Yacht

What does it mean to have an Italian Challenger of Record for America’s Cup 34? Let’s start with spirit, enthusiasm, gusto, sport pursued con brio. Vincenzo Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino team was one of four (yes, four) Italian entries in the 2007 Cup, and the game was more fun while the Italians were in it.Expect more of the same. With the Club Nautico di Roma in the hunt there will be

While the advantage ebbed and flowed in the prestart and in the first few minutes of the first leg, the challenger USA overcame a 650 meter deficit and passed Alinghi just 15 minutes into the first race of America’s Cup 33. From there, the Americans never looked back. It’s 1-0 in a best-of-three match.Imagine you’re Jimmy Spithill and you’re no longer a

My sailing journey began in 1983 when I met my future husband, who then owned a 25-foot daysailer. We sailed locally on New Jersey’s Raritan Bay on weekends, with an occasional evening sail during the week. After a few years of daysailing we graduated to a 27-foot cruiser. We spent most weekends and our summer vacations cruising together. But then I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a

Today in Valencia, USA, the trimaran sailed by the Challenger, BMW ORACLE Racing Team, crossed the finish line 15 minutes and 28 seconds before the Defender Alinghi during Race One of the 33rd America’s Cup. After two days of postponement, today’s race kicked of a best-of-three match that will last throughout the weekend and possibly into next week. USA, represented by San

With only 3kts of wind, Alinghi and USA are on the line reading 23 and 17kts, respectively.For the best up-to-the minute coverage, check out the official America’s Cup live ticker. For all the inside details, a race breakdown, and final wrap up, check back for Kimball Livingston’s report from

The wind at dawn blew from the mountains across the plain and out to sea, bringing tears to unprotected eyes and cutting through parkas and fleece that yesterday felt warm enough for winter on the Spanish Mediterranean but now we know the falsehood of that. I walked from playa to darsena with the sun two fingers above the sea, lighting the Varadero Publico that houses Race