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THE OVERDOGS GET A WHIPPING
What another fantastic day's racing off Valencia. We probably wouldn't have thought so, were it not for the fact that it was the perceived underdogs in both matches who led from start to finish. But when you've got Luna Rossa leading BMW Oracle and Desafio leading the Kiwis, you're just waiting for someone's wheels to fall off and for the lead to change.

Well, all credit to the Italians and Spanish, as they held the overdogs (is that the opposite of underdogs?) at bay. Perhaps we're going to have to revise our perceptions of underdogs and overdogs. The fact is, BMW Oracle haven't led Luna Rossa round any mark of any of the three matches thus far in the Semi Finals. That is an incredible statistic, and a very worrying one for the American team.

James Spithill is pouring on the aggression in the pre-start and is getting the better of Chris Dickson. Luna Rossa have won every start and BMW Oracle have been forced to fall back on searing downwind pace to haul them back into the game. It can't help that Dickson is without his No.1 choice bowman, Brad Webb, who had to pull out a couple of days ago for some knee surgery. No doubt Kazuhiko Sofuku is every bit as able a bowman but he's not had the benefit of honing his skills and communication with Dickson and the rest of the crew during the past few weeks of competition.

Having said that, Dickson lost today's pre-start battle to Spithill long before the start gun fired. After being one of the most consistent pre-starters of the Round Robins, Dickson just doesn't seem to be able to match the finesse of the young Australian.

Spithill probably has a brief to inflict as much damage on the opposition as possible in the pre-start, as does Karol Jablonski for the Spanish. When you're the perceived underdog, it's the best chance you have of winning a match race.

Look how dangerous Jablonski was against the Kiwis today, sticking a penalty on Barker. It's what the Spanish thought they needed to beat the Kiwis, although actually they didn't need it, because they led NZL 92 all the way round the track, a mighty confidence boost for a team that had never beaten in the Kiwis in any of their nine previous outings.

Both the Americans and the Spanish made a mode change to their boats last night. Of course, no one ever says what they've done or why, but when Spithill was asked his opinion on what might have changed on USA 98, he replied: "The rudder. That would be my guess." A real guess? Or a little psychological dig at Dickson's starting perhaps? -- Andy Rice in his superb AC Blog www.sailjuice.blogspot.com

* New measurement certificates have been issued today for ESP 97 (Desafío Español) and USA 98 (BMW ORACLE Racing). Both boats have appeared to have speed to burn on the downwind legs of the race course in their matches to date, but they've struggled at times upwind.

Among the changes that could require a new certificate would be changing the wings on the keel bulb. In general, bigger wings improve performance upwind, but also increase drag, making the boat a touch slower downwind. With some evidence of downwind speed available to sacrifice, it is possible that each team has opted for bigger wings, to help balance the attributes of their boats all around the race track.

Semi-final standings (first team to win five advances to the finals)

Emirates Team new Zealand 2-1 over Desafio Espanol
Luna Rossa Challenge 2-1 over BMW Oracle Racing

www.americascup.com

THE 32ND AMERICA'S CUP - A SIMPLE GUIDE
While Scuttlebutt readers may be up to speed with the rules of match racing and the America's Cup, there are always plenty of people baffled by terms such as dial-up and overlap or who think a boom vang is a sound system.

The 32nd America's Cup - A Simple Guide by renowned sailing instructor Penny Whiting is everything the America's Cup fan needs to know condensed into 72 pages of easy to understand text and graphics. Featuring a brief history of the America's Cup and profiles of the teams, this is definitely an all-you-need-to-know reference for following the 32nd America's Cup, available now at the 32nd America's Cup webstore.

www.americascupstore.com/cart/add_to_cart.asp?id=32GUIDE.1

AS LEASE CHALLENGE: TWO TRIS RETIRE
Antoine Koch (Sopra Group) and then Pascal Bidegorry (Banque Populaire) informed the race committee at midday that they were retiring from the race and headed to Lorient. Frank Cammas on Groupama and Lionel Lemonchois on Gitana 11 are the only boats left in the race. Groupama rounded Fastnet Rock in the early afternoon Wednesday, 24 miles ahead of Lemonchois.

The weather conditions caused a number of damages, some severe. In the case of Sopra Group, the crew heard a loud noise and found that nearly two meters of the centerboard was broken, including a portion of the crash box designed to protect it. Taking into consideration the damage, the young skipper decided that continuing on was not worth the risk of additional damage. "We also haven't much interest in continuing to Fastnet Rock without a centerboard, we will head to the port of Keroman to affect repairs so that we can sail in this weekend's Trophee des Multicoques in Lorient.

With less than 70 miles to Fastnet, Pascal Bidegorry made a similar decision to abandon racing, citing damage to the port connecting arm. "It is not very serious but we cannot continue towards Fastnet.. We are now quietly travelling towards Lorient at 15 knots. The damage occured at 10 o'clock, and while the waves had started to be more chaotic the winds remained reasonable at 20 to 22 knots from the west. We should be back in port during the middle of the next night."

A large depression will arrive bringing winds of 25 to 30 knots tonight. In order to delay what would be a dawn arrival, the race committee has modified the end of the course to include two loops around Groix and Belle-Ile, and reserves the right to increase that 80 mile figure-8 to a 160 mile loop around Ile d'Yeu.

Positions at 16 May 16h00 :
1- Groupama 2 (Franck Cammas) - 300 miles from Groix
2- Gitana 11 (Lionel Lemonchois) - 28.9 miles to leader
Abandon- Banque Populaire IV (Pascal Bidrgorry)
Abandon- Sopra Group (Antoine Koch)

www.aslease-challenge.com

VOR COMING TO GALWAY?
Following a series of meetings with Irish Minister for Sport and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, Noel Grealish, Progressive Democrats TD for Galway West, has made an official request that the Government funds the 8 million Euros that Galway requires to provide the necessary infrastructure for a Volvo Ocean Race stopover port.

The proposed site for the Galway facilities has been inspected by Volvo Event Management and a letter of intent has been signed with the Galway Harbour Commissioner. Grealish says that a commitment of Government funding will ensure that Galway becomes one of the ports chosen to host the high profile race and believes it has the potential to boost the city economy by 70 million Euros.

Grealish says that becoming host to the Volvo Ocean Race would, potentially, result in fully booked hotels and bed and breakfast establishments for up to a month and have a longer term effect, by showcasing Galway as a key leisure and tourism destination, especially for marine leisure activities. He described the Volvo Ocean race as having "a bigger tourism potential than the Ryder Cup". -- Marian Martin in BYM News, www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=8588

ROLEX CAPRI SAILING WEEK
Capri, Italy: The Rolex Capri Sailing week debuted in good sailing conditions with a west-southwesterly wind ranging from 8 to 12 knots and reaching up to 18 during the last leg of racing. The cloudy sky intimidated in the first race but left space to a sunny weather in last leg and permitted the Race Committee to complete 5 races in this first day of competition.

All classes raced today with the fleet of 51 boats taking to the course prepared by the Race Committee in the waters in front of Capri. A windward-leeward course of 8 nautical miles was prepared for the Farr 40s and Swan 45s, while an initially 13.5 mile course was later reduced to 10 and set the stage for the Comet S and Mini Maxi regatta. .

The Farr 40, with 16 entries, provided plenty of action with very close racing in the three windward-leeward races with disputed and close spectacular starts. Australian Lang Walker's Kokomo with Colin Beashel calling tactics led today's racing with two consecutive victories in the first races and a fifth place in the last, giving them an overall first place in the temporary ranking.

For the Swan 45s today's racing acted as warm up racing and did not count for the Swan 45 World Mediterranean Circuit, as the Rolex Capri Sailing week is an official leg of it.

Among the Mini Maxis, Italian OPS 5 - a Baltic 60 owned by Violati Massimo, member of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda - led the 7 craft fleet in today's 10 miles course and took first place followed by 2006 Rolex Capri Sailing Week winner Giorgio Ruffo's Aleph, which crossed over the finish line as first in real time, as third place went to Sei Tu 2. .

Comet 45s Libertine won in it's class in today's regatta followed by Roberto Franchella's Aria Tx Active with a crew totally made up of sailors of the Aeronautica Militare Italiana (Italian Aeronautic Army), while Guido Morisco's Nur arrived just third. .

According to the weather forecast winds of approximately 8 to 10 knots from 290 to 300 degrees is expected for tomorrow and conditions will be overcast with a chance of rain in the morning, improving as the afternoon goes on but remaining variable. .

The Rolex Capri Sailing Week runs through Saturday the 19th of May.

Rolex Capri Sailing Week 2007 - Provisional Results after 1 Day (Top Three) .

Farr 40
Position. Yacht Name, Country, Owner, Points
1. Kokomo, AUS, Lang & Sue Walker, 7 (1- 1- 5)
2. Barking Mad, USA, Jim Richardson, 13 (8- 3- 2)
3. Twins, FRA, Erik Maris, 17 (4- 9- 4) .

Mini-Maxi
Position. Yacht Name, Country, Owner, Corrected time
1. OPS 5, ITA, Violati Massimo, 01:22:48
2. Aleph, ITA, Ruffo Giorgio, 01:24:56
3. Sei Tu 2, ITA, Morina Antonello, 01:25:54

Comet S
Position. Yacht Name, Country, Owner, Corrected time
1. Libertine, ITA, Biscardi Maurizio, 01:32:25
2. Aria, ITA, Franchella Roberto, 01:33:10
3. Nur, ITA, Morisco Guido, 01:33:29

www.regattanews.com

32ND AMERICA'S CUP - THE GAME
Just released to universal acclaim, 32nd America's Cup - The Game is the latest installment from the producers that brought you Virtual Skipper. Using a brand new Virtual Skipper 5 graphic engine, 32nd America's Cup puts you in Port America's Cup helming any of the 12 teams currently in Valencia. It's as close to reality as it is possible to be - unless you are expecting a call-up for helming duty any time soon.

Designed for PC, the game features many different modes of game play as well as a tutorial functions teaching sailing basics, networked gaming capability and a film-making function. Playable from ages 3-103.

boutique.gamesplanet.com/campagne/promo.html?partenaire=9&jeu=VSK5&affilie=23

PERFECT TEN LEADS AUDI X-35 CUP
After the second Audi X-35 Cup event on 13th May, it was UK-based 'Perfect Ten' that emerged at the top of the leader board. This 5 event one-design series is hosted by Medemblik Regatta Centre in Holland and runs throughout the season, acting as a training ground for the top European X-35 teams. The first event, two weeks ago, attracted 17 entries and it was the current world champion Nic Bol (a member of the Mean Machine team) aboard Quantum Racing who took the gold medal. However, fellow Quantum boat 'Perfect Ten' were hot on their heals.

This season, four members of the RYA Volvo Keelboat Squad have joined this boat hoping for success at the North Sea Regatta and the X-35 Worlds, which will be held alongside the Olympic classes as part of Kieler Woche in June. 140 competitors arrived in Medemblik this weekend for the second Audi Cup. The event was won by the Dutch team Qube, with Perfect Ten again coming in second. With 6 races now counting, they lead the series with 14 points. The next major X-35 competition is the North Sea Regatta starting on the 25th May where 22 boats have already entered.

Class association: www.x-yachts.com/seeems/12942.asp
Event: www.audix35cup.nl/mainindex.php

ARCHIPELAGO RAID
On Monday 30 July 2007 the seventh edition of the Archipelago Raid will start in Stockholm. The race has established itself as one of the toughest, non-stop, extreme sailing and orienteering competitions. It brings out the best sailors and adventurers worldwide to brave the beauty of the Stockholm, Åland and Finnish archipelagos.

For five intense days and nights a maximum of 35 teams will navigate the amazing labyrinth of thousands of islands and rocks on Formula 18 catamarans. Along the way they have to find almost 30 checkpoints located on beaches, pontoons, boats and lighthouses.

The event is organised in the true spirit of a Raid, demanding an extreme performance in sailing and respecting nature in an adventurous spirit. The course can vary between 300 and 500 nautical miles depending on the wind strength. Main attributes to win this race are endurance, experience with multihulls, navigational skills and knowledge of the Scandinavian Islands.

Race Director Christine Salen-Guillou continues: "We have pre-registrations from 14 countries."

The countries are: Italy, New Zealand, America, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Norway, France, Switzerland, Finland, England, Belgium, Norway and Åland.

See www.archipelagoraid.com/media/flash_video.php?video_id=6 for a short six minutes video report of last year's unique event. -- Simon Keijzer

www.archipelagoraid.com

TRAPPED IN AN INTERNET CAFE!
American Round the World Sailor Bruce Schwab is trapped in an internet cafe in La Rochelle in Western France. He is there preparing for an Atlantic delivery and went to the bathroom just before closing time, last night his time.

He wrote just a few minutes ago ...'Help! I'm emailing from an internet cafe that I've been trapped in all night. No, I'm not joking, although it IS a funny story. After a very late dinner with crewmembers Mike, Carina, Anna, and volunteer Thomas, I came here to catch up on email and download some large weather files.

'I stayed right to closing time... and there were three people in the cafe when I went into the bathroom to use the john and brush my teeth (saving the walk to the other side of the marina after getting to the boat). I heard the sliding of doors and clanking of locks, and rushed out...too late to catch the tired and rushing young employee before he was out of earshot. I guess I took to long to brush my teeth?

'Rattling the doors and some shouts at the late hour was of no use. No phone in here, but of course I have free internet... so I got on Skype and made some calls trying to get the police. I called at least five different police stations. However, my number must have appeared as something strange as they would not answer or I would get a click and disconnect after letting it ring for a long time.

'Called the boat...but evidently the crew had obviously gone to sleep on the boat and turned off all the phones. In the wee hours I wound chatting on Skype with friends in Spain, Florida, and Texas; and trying different numbers to call that we dug up on the internet. No go.

'So here I sit, waiting for morning opening of the opening of the internet cafe. I took a brief nap on a table. Hopefully the new coffee-swilling online gaming internet junkie cafe kid will arrive soon.

'Not much sleep on the table, so I'm a little drowsy. But I guess its good practice for the coming watch schedule. And now I've had a chance to catch up on communication with you....;-)

'When you hear from me again, I will have escaped from the Akromicro Internet cafe, in the old port of La Rochelle. Sheesh.' -- Bruce Schwab in Sail-World.com

www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=33701

KIEL WEEK
Goran Petersson, will strike the ship's bell on the occasion of the opening ceremony of Kiel Week 2007. The President of ISAF (International Sailing Federation) will attend Kiel Week for the second time after his election in November 2004. - In the evening of June 16th the Prime Minister of the province of Schleswig-Holstein, Peter Harry Carstensen, will open Kiel Week officially at the town hall of the city of Kiel.

"We shall take the opportunity of the attendance of ISAF President Petersson at Kiel Week to discuss the newly invented ISAF Worlds 2007 and 2011 in all Olympic Classes, as well as this year's closeness of dates between Kiel Week and the ISAF Worlds in Cascais, Portugal starting just a few days later" commented Jobst Richter, chairman of the Kiel Week race organisation, and added: "In future we hope for a better reconciliation of the dates with other top ISAF events; and Kiel Week is definitely known as one of the best regatta series."

During his 2005 visit to Kiel Goran Petersson (who competed personally in Dragon Class races some years ago) already stressed the importance of Kiel Week as one of the top international regatta events world wide, and promised that this traditional North European sailing "highlight" shall maintain a firm place in the annual ISAF race calendar. Unfortunately, this year's closeness of dates with the ISAF Worlds in all Olympic Classes in Portugal dates back to his predecessor in office, Paul Henderson (Canada).

Dates:
125 years Kiel Week 2007:June 16 to June 24, 2007
Olympic Classes: June 16 to June 20, 2007
International Classes: June 21 to June 24, 2007
Offshore: June 16 to June 24, 2007
X-35 World Championship: June 19 to June 24, 2007

www.kieler-woche.de

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.

* From Gareth Evans: Does anybody know of a way of watching the America's Cup live online in the UK? I have no intention of subscribing to Sky Sports with the prices they charge. The Live Sailing animation is good, but it isn't live video!

At least it's an improvement on last time round, when the BBC stopped coverage once the British team went out. Judging from the amount of complaints they received, I'm not the only fan of sailing on the TV in the UK!

THE LAST WORD
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. -- Frank Zappa

OC Events, www.ocevents.org , organisers of two major IMOCA 60 oceanic events, the new double-handed Barcelona World Race 2007, and the original solo transocean race, The Transat 2008 (ex-OSTAR) plus the Extreme 40 Sailing Series for The iShares Cup.

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