The emphatic 2-0 win over Team NZ by Francesco Bruni's all Italian Azzurra was a surprise to many, but not to the Italians themselves. Representing HH The Aga Khan's Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (Sardinia), and built around Giovanni Maspero's Joe Fly sailing teams, Azzurra were well trained and well supported from the beginning.

One wonders, though, what the large… Continue

Big boat this. And lovely lines. Click Here for the photos or just click through to "Photos" from anywhere on this site. These photos were taken yesterday afternoon at Le Bouveret,… Continue

Just had my first look at Alinghi's big catamaran - the one they have built to face BMW Oracle in next February's Deed of Gift 33rd America's Cup race off. Will try and post photos tomorrow. Impressive machine. It is parked on the hard in the industrial park of Villeneuve at the Eastern end of Lac Leman in Switzerland. They are planning to airlift it by helicopter to nearby Bouveret eary Wednesday morning, where they will step the mast and start water trials.

There were no races in Cagliari today due to the lack of wind. Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts’ BMW ORACLE Racing are the grand winners of the event, ahead of Chris Bake’s Team Aqua and Igor Lah’s Ceeref.

April 26, 2009 – The wind carried on playing tricks with the Cagliari Cup organisers today. Despite a good forecast and some promising moments, Peter “Luigi” Reggio had no other option but to send all the teams back to port at 2:30 PM.
Winner of the fleet regatta, Larry Ellison’s BMW ORACLE R… Continue

Two more difficult races were completed today. Thanks to a first and a third, Chris Bake and his team climbs up the top of the provisional leader board, alongside Larry Ellison and the BMW ORACLE Racing boys and ahead of the brilliant Spaniards from Puerto Calero Islas Canarias.

Apri… Continue

Thanks to a third and a first, the American team - with Larry Ellison at the helm and Russell Coutts calling the shots - takes the lead of the fleet regatta ahead of Team Aqua and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero.

April 24, 2009 – For most RC 44 team owners, the first fleet regatta coincides with their return at the helm for the first time since the last event. The transition is usually sharp, and they sometimes need a couple of regattas to get their feeling back. Larry Ellison didn’t need such an… Continue

I came across this story in the LA Times. Seems politics is the curse of sailing, even in the friendliest of races. Newport to Ensenada is one of the best "parties" in the sport. Hardly a serious race as many of the entrants turn on the motors in light wind.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-newport-ensenada-race23-2009apr23,0,4633631.story

Team Artemis scores an impressive 9 / 0 and wins the match race event ahead of No Way Back, Ceeref and BMW ORACLE Racing; all three on a tie with five points each.

April 23, 2009 – Showing great mastery of the tricky air conditions, and superb boat handling, Dean Barker and his cre… Continue

Three months out from the event in Auckland and we are starting to see articles from the monthly magazines. The most recent issue of Nautica Magazine China features 26 full color pages of all the action!

PRESS RELEASE - RC44 Championship Tour – Cagliari RC 44 Cup

Tricky conditions on day one of the Cagliari RC 44 match race contest

Two flights could be completed on day one of the Cagliari Cup match race event. The winners of the day are Team Puerto Calero Islas Canarias,… Continue

PRESS RELEASE - RC44 Championship Tour – Cagliari RC 44 Cup

Pro skippers expect a tough RC 44 contest in Cagliari

The second event of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2009 begins tomorrow in Sardinia. The event marks the beginning of DHL’s GoGreen program, aimed at compensating the carbon footprint of the RC 44 Championship Tour. Nine top level teams will compete for the title.

April 21, 2009 – The world’s best skippers involved in the RC 44 Cagliari Cup participated this morning in the event’s op… Continue

After more than two years of contentious debate, legal wrangling, political positioning, at times out right name calling and general discord, the New York Supreme Court, has made the final decision between Oracle and Alignhi. In the courts unanimous decision it found that CNEV was not a qualified yacht club at the time it issued it's challenge and has installed GGYC and Oracle as the official challenger of record.

The decision was based primarily on a condition in the "Deed of Gift" that states… Continue

We in the America's Cup world have been waiting impatiently for a decision from the New York Court of Appeals on the future of the America's Cup. It is notoriously difficult to predict when judgments will be handed down, but general opinion has it that the decision is likely this week which would make the date for a decision either Tuesday 31 March or Thursday 2 April.

The Cup has been in limbo now for too long and we are all hoping that the judgment will provide clarity on the future of the Ev… Continue

The former Executive Director and Principle of China Team America’s Cup Sailing are beginning the process of organizing the Beijing Yacht Club. I know what many people are immediately thinking! “Beijing? But there’s no water in Beijing!” Actually this is only a minor issue and there is precedent for such a club.

What we hope to do is bring together sailing fans currently living in the metropolis to organize sailing events and adventures. These activities would include professional sailing teams… Continue

After an exhausting, exhilarating, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately satisfying month in Auckland, we have returned to our respective homes in China and around the world. To review videos of our exploits click here. To s… Continue

Hi to all at China Team.

It was great to meet you in Auckland.

China Team fans might like to watch the video interview I did with China Team helm Ian Williams following the LVPS final.

You can see it at www.offshorerules.com by clicking the 'Articles' tab and scrolling down to 'Interviews'.

Or you go directly to it using this.... http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=95

Kind regards

Justin Chisholm

Take a look here.

The following is an excerpt:

"The knockout rounds on Thursday produced a stunning finish with a margin of just one second separating Luna Ross and Team China.

In fact the steady improvement of the China crew has been one of the talking points, as has the surprise performance of the Greek Challenge and the quality of Damiani Italia. The emergence of these new crews and… Continue

Watch some of Team China's magic moments: http://tvnz.co.nz/louis-vuitton-pacific-series-news/lv-pacific-series-day-eleven-wrap-2476844/video

Animated highlights: http://tvnz.co.nz/louis-vuitton-pacific-series-news/sail-off-b-luna-rossa-vs-china-team-2-13-2470784/video

I had the pleasure of being on the boat today in our quarter-final match up against Luna Rossa, although I guess pleasure is the wrong word. It was the first time our guys were racing with the New Zealand boats and due to some technical issues for K-Challenge, we ended up racing in the first flight, so not a lot of practice time.

Ian Williams managed to get the Italians in an early penalty, but they led the start and we played catch up most of the way... There's any number of explanations for t… Continue