Gullviverallyt blev fullspikat på direkten. Arrangören som sätter stopp vid 80 båtar drog ett mejl till tidigare deltagare och pang så var det fullsatt. Erfarna kappseglare mot glada glidare gör upp i fyra dagars rundbana med trevliga hamnar i Stockholms skärgård. Jaktstart varje dag där först i mål får äran. Medan alla får pris. Och det brukar delas ut knep och knåp pyssel till dom minsta. skotas wm gör debut med sin Amalia och red tänkte hänga på. Vi lyckades alltså kila in oss bland dom rutinerade (även om red seglat en gång tidigare). Om bara vår-vädrets makter är med oss så blir det en skön tripp. 13-16 smäller det. Start i krokarna av Getfoten.

Mer info: www.gullviverallyt.se

Tidigare Östersjömaran, alltså Watski Baltic2star slår sig för bröstet med fullsatt anmälningslista och folk på kö. I kategorin kaxig marknadsföring så skriver dom också "den mest populära seglingen i Sverige". Hur tänkte dom då?? Har dom gjort en marknadsundersökning eller hallå vaddå?Över till pressreleasen.

Båtar från 21 till 63 fot möts i Watski Baltic2star
Den mest populära seglingen i Sverige blir kanske också den mest spännande.  I år kan vi ta emot 125 seglande båtar och anmälningslistan var i princip fulltecknad efter två veckor. Idag har vi ca tio båtar som står på kö för att få starta om någon annan hoppar av, dvs inte betalar startavgiften före 1 mars. Banan blir i stort densamma som förra året, Oxelösund-Visby-Oskarshamn-Oxelösund , i tre etapper. Starten går onsdag eftermiddag  26 maj och seglarna beräknas tillbaka lördag 29 maj. Man kommer att kunna följa alla båtar via transpondrar som sänder positioner till vår hemsida http://watski2star.se  Där finns för övrigt all information om tävlingen som kan behövas.

Huvudarrangör är Oxelösunds Segelsällskap-OXSS, som får hjälp av sällskapen i Visby och Oskarshamn. Bland de deltagande finns många av de mest kända seglarna i landet, Klabbe Nylöf, Jonas Claesson, Anna Drougge, Lena Having, Björn Österberg , Anders Lewander m.fl.

Andra raka och tack och god natt för Alinghi. Americas Cup har än mer blivit VM i regeltolkning plus mest klirr i kassan. Antingen var det spiken i kistan. Eller så var det bara en plump i protokollet och några smarta personer hittar ett smartare koncept för framtiden. Det är ju knappt så Larry Ellison fått en fjäder i hatten av den här soppan. Tja, det finns säkert anhängare av det här också och i press-releasen står det "nagelbitare på första kryssen". Over and out.

Här blir det säkert mer info.

update: Längst ner på sidan har ni förklaringar och bortförklaringar :) ->

Foto: Jose Jordán/AFP






BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA): 
Larry Ellison (USA) team founder and afterguard BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA):
“ It is a fabulous experience I am very proud to be part of this team and I am exceptionally proud to bring the America’s Cup back to the United States of America for the first time in a very long time.”

James Spithill (AUS) skipper-helm BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA):
“ What a fantastic race. Firstly I would really like to congratulate Alinghi for bouncing back today. They were coming out there swinging. We knew they were a champion team and they showed that again today. Full credit to them it was one hell of a boat race. I tell you enjoyed every minute of it.”
It was good to see the reaching race, I think you’ll appreciate the boats getting together and showed how exciting it can be.

John Kostecki (USA) tactician BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA):
“ This is huge. I have been dreaming about winning the America’s Cup for 25 years and so it is a very special moment. It is a great team and this was very much a team effort. Everyone put in a lot. It was a difficult project especially with the wing sail, and there was some testing times.”

Russell Coutts (NZL) CEO and afterguard BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA):
“ I think this was a very challenging event. Even two or three months ago I was not sure that we could have our team working effectively enough to beat these guys. I know, because I was in team Alinghi and I know how good they are. It was a fantastic effort on our behalf to have beaten them and certainly I hope to see them back and competing in the America’s Cup.”

Larry Ellison (USA) team founder and afterguard BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA)  ….one his thoughts on possible venues for the 34th America’s Cup in response to questions about San Francisco and Valencia: 
“ I think we are open to considering a lot of options. We will talk to San Francisco, to Valencia…..Valencia have been fantastic hosts to the last two America’s Cups. And as you know we pushed very hard to hold this Cup in Valencia. It was not the Defender’s first choice, and overall we enjoyed sailing the 32nd and the 33rd America’s Cup in Valencia.”

Larry Ellison (USA) team founder and afterguard BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA)….on speculation about a Challenger of Record:
 “ All I would like to say is that we definitely have Challenger of Record. One thing I would like to assure people about the 34th America’s Cup. There be a completely independent jury, there will be a completely independent umpires. It will be an independent group which manages the next America’s Cup and there will be a level playing field for all competitors.”

James Spithill (AUS) skipper-helm BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA)….on comparisons with his last America’s Cups in monuhulls;
“This one has been an amazing experience, pretty much for al the team, but especially for the sailors, Pretty much everyone on the boat had very little multihull experience beforehand.  In some ways this almost one feels harder. For me personally it was a really steep hill to climb. To be able to climb that you need to have good support and early on Franck Cammas and the Groupama guys, Glenn Ashby, Roman Hagara and a lot of these multihull experts. From my point of view there was no way I could have got to that level without their help and support.”

Russell Coutts (NZL) CEO and afterguard BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA):
“ Of course we would like to see Alinghi back as a challenger. They are one of the best teams in this business, and they have proven that. I think that the Cup boats we should reach consensus with the rest of the America’s Cup world. I think it would be irresponsible for one party to make try and make a decision on behalf of the everyone else. You need to put a lot of thought into this. This is a 159 year old trophy and let’s look after it.”

Larry Ellison (USA) team founder and afterguard BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA): 
“This particular America’s Cup has got a lot of interest because for the first time in a long time it featured the two fastest sailboats in the world. And the limits of what is possible marrying high speed sailing and  material science, carbon fibre, Kevlar, computational fluid dynamics, computer simulation of not only our hulls but also our wing. It was really a high tech race. And a bunch of people who really aren’t that interested in sailing followed it pretty closely. And we think that is important for our sport. We think that is important to get the television coverage, to involve non sailors as well as sailors. We are going to try and make decision along with the rest of the America’s Cup community so we can do just that, achieving sponsorship and funding for all of the teams from BMW ORACLE and Alinghi to the China Team and the South African Team and the Swedish team the New Zealand team. If we do our job well and work closely with them it should be the most popular America’s Cup ever, the 34th America’s Cup.”

Alinghi
Ernesto Bertarelli (SUI) Team President and helm Alinghi (SUI):
“Over the last ten years anyone who has come close to the Alinghi team I guess understands what I feel now. There is a unique warmth, a unique spirit, a unique friendship that ties any person who has either worked, cheered or come close and met the Alinghi team. And so I am very proud of what we achieved over the last nine years.”

“It is not for me decide the future of the America’s Cup any more so I will wait and see what the future is going to bring us and where it going to take us. Then I will decide.”

“We could see there was a bit of difference in the boats, but that’s yacht racing.”

“ They had a strategy. They got a little help from the legal system in New York that always makes things difficult for us Europeans to get the same sort advantages. They were able to change their boat when they saw ours, they were able to bring a wing and they were faster. So, good on them. Maybe I wouldn’t have done the same thing, but that is the America’s Cup, it is not the European Cup, it is the America’s Cup. The Americans have a bit of an advantage but they take the Cup back home. Let’s see what happens now.”

“ I think the greatest achievement of Alinghi is being the first European Team to win the America’s Cup.”

“If you win the America’s Cup you hope you are not going to be sued!”

“ The best part is not actually having the silverware itself. The best part is having the team that is successful, which has a spirit, which wins and god knows if we had won. If any team that has won over the last ten years has won it is Alinghi. Now these last two races we did not win, we were disadvantaged we didn’t have a boat which was quite fast enough, but with the boat we had, with the odds we had we did our best to show that we were not going to lay down. We exit with our heads high.”

Brad Butterworth (NZL) skipper-tactician Alinghi (SUI):
“ I think both days were real races. Unfortunately it is just two races, but I’d like to congratulate Oracle on the job that they have done, designing and building and sailing that boat. It is not an easy thing to do the change their boat, to re-mode it and to push it when they saw what we were coming out with. And to the guys in our group as well. They did a great job with the time constraints they had.”

“ We wanted to get the right hand side of the start line. We were a little bit bunched by the start being called so late in the day. We really weren’t close enough for the time that we had and we struggled to ping the ends and then gybe round and get to our end so we got a nice penalty for free and that was two for two, so we like be even numbers, that is good. We thought we’ve got the penalty we will gybe round and we could not get to the starboard layline to the committee boat which is what wanted, because of the spectator boats.”

“We managed to get what we wanted and I think we had better pressure on that side on that long starboard tack and we pushed the boat harder than we have ever pushed it on both tacks.”

Kul att kolla i tio minuter när två monsterbåtar utan rimlig budget gör upp om Americas Cup. Här ser man repris på första köret: video. skota blir nostalgiska och kör också en repris på AC32 uttagningarna i Malmö!


Foto: Jose Jordán/AFP/33rd America's Cup (skota är akrediterad press under AC33)


James Spithill (AUS) skipper/helm BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA): “Obviously it was quite exciting at the start. We were able to get a piece of them in the entry and that is something we had been thinking about for quite some time, and it started to set up to look like we might be able to get a penalty on them, so I pushed it pretty hard in there. Obviously that left us pretty close to them and we then we had a hard time slowing the boat down. We were in a pretty controlling position then, as time went on through we got ourselves stuck in irons, but also I want to say well done to Alinghi, they did a good job getting out from there.”“ We still have a lot to learn. It kind of showed today that we aren’t at race level preparation that we are kind of used to in these campaigns. But it was an exciting start with plenty of action.”

Larry Ellison (USA) team founder and afterguard BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA):“ I think my emotions started when it looked like we were going to race in three and a half knots of breeze. Russell and I were on the boat and we were told that we might be sailing in 20 minutes then we had the call to get as many people off the boat and as much stuff as possible off the boat to sail as light as possible, because there was a very, very light breeze. I had to get off the boat and so did Russell. And so we sailed with a minimum crew. So I think it is more stressful to watch than to sail.”
Larry Ellison (USA) team founder and afterguard BMW ORACLE Racing Team (USA):
“ The piece of kit we are most proud is the wing.”
“Today I did say that sailing is a lot harder than running a software company!”

Ernesto Bertarelli (SUI), helmsman and team president Alinghi (SUI): 
"For sure at the start after the penalty it felt good they were stopped we could gybe and start. The wind changed quite rapidly. We had six or seven knots during the pre start and right off the start we were surprised with the wind coming in so strong, so quickly, 12 knots, but we thought we were doing good. But they caught up. We had to make a sail change which slowed us, but they were fast today and the wing seems to be quite a weapon. "

Brad Butterworth (NZL) skipper/tactician Alinghi (SUI): 
"They certainly showed how fast they can get their boat going. They could not have come off the line in a worse position and they ended up in a very strong position. When you are sitting in front of them and they sail up and around you, that is speed."

Här kommer en nyhet inför 2010 års Ornö Runt. Som vanligt tänker vi på skota vara med för att pusha deltagar-antalet över 200. Funkade inte 2009 men upp på hästen igen. Och därför skickar vi också en passning tillbaka till arrangören: varför inte ha ett pris till årets debutant? Så har skotas wm något att segla om, hahaha.


 
"Ornö Runt kommer att låta sportbåtar segla egen klass på Ornö runt 2010 precis som flerskrov seglar i egen klass. Det finns ju gott om båtar typ Melges 24, 11 MOD, X-Treme 25, B&R 23 etc som pga sin låga vikt kontra relativt stora segelplan är straffade i LYS/SRS och svåra att jämföra med mer traditionella båtar, precis som med flerskrov. Tyvärr så samlar ju dessa båttyper inte ihop till egen entypsklass var för sig därför låter vi dem starta i egen klass enligt LYS/SRS. Detta gör att dessa båtar kan mäta sig mot varandra där förutsättningarna är mer jämförliga utifrån rådande vindförutsättningar."
 
Hälsar Ove Hägg.

Vi måste ju knyta ihop säcken och meddela slutresultatet i VM i OK-jolle. Vår ende svensk på plats i Wellington och tillika titelförsvarare - Thomas Hansson-Mild - slutade sjua. En spik i bagaget får räknas som godkänt. Vann i stor stil gjorde hemmaseglaren Karl Purdie. Arrangören är omåttligt snål med att bjuda på bilder. Men vi hoppas som kompensation att Hansson-Mild slänger in en kommentar och promotar OK´n en smula med personlig rapport.

Isjaktsfanatiker har jagat runt halva Europa för att hitta spelplatsen för årets VM. Ett tag drog troppen mot Ungern och Balatonsjön, men där gick inte att åka. Oskar Kihlborg har hur som haver raggat rätt på seglarna. Vi har hört rykten om att någon svenska ligger trea efter första dagen.... Oskar hälsar: "While things are a bit slow in Valencia, the Icesailing Worlds In Neusiedler See, Austra, is proceeding at about 130km/h."

Info + resultat.

Skönt med snabba press-människor. Vi på skota eftersökte ett par bilder och rader från VM i OK jolle i Wellington. Fick svar på tal. Lustigt bildval dessutom.... Tack till pressofficer Mandy Burt!

"Wellington turned on more champagne sailing today for the Invitation Race of the OK Dinghy World Championships.  The day dawned with glorious sunshine and unusually mill-pond-flat water, which was a perfect backdrop for the thousands of Rugby Sevens spectators making their way along the waterfront to the Westpac Stadium.  The most creative costumes past the Yacht Club were the young guys and gals dressed as 101 dalmatians, complete with leather dog collars and doggie identity discs – inspirational.  Our own Yacht Club girls, dressed as pilots, entertained the sponsors boat (BMW and Eye Talent Management) before the former left for the rugby and the latter headed out on the water. 46 sailors left the shore in an 8 knot breeze, which built to 15 knots during the course of the race – perfect sailing conditions. 
Reigning World Champion, Thomas Hansson-Mild from Sweden, led the race from the start, with Paul Rhodes (NZL) in second.  When most of the fleet split, Hansson-Mild went up the middle, and led round every mark.  With the breeze building Karl Purdie, who had crept up from fifth to third around the marks, hit the left hand side very hard and finished second just behind Hansson-Mild. 
 The competitors are now gathering in full team uniform for the official welcoming ceremony and powhiri at the Te Papa national museum marae this evening."

VM i OK-jolle står för dörren i Wellington med svenske Thomas Hansson-Mild som titelförsvarare. Veteranen Karl Purdie (NZL) vann uppvärmningen - nationella mästerskapen - före sin landsman Paul Rhodes. Hansson-Mild på en blygsam 30:onde placering. Men hygglig sjögång i avslutningsrundan gjorde att många sparar sina krafter till VM. skota håller tummarna för Thomas, men det lär inte bli en lätt match mot hemmaseglarna.

Mer info: http://www.okworlds2010.com

Det bullas upp för feta skiff seglingar i Australien. Uppvärmningen har börjat och här ser ni sköna bilder av Christophe Launay och hälsar: 

"The 18 feet skiff SP HighModulus Australian Champion 2010 “Gotta Love It 7” sailed by Seve Javin, Sam Newton and Tom Clout.The 18ft Skiff is considered the fastest class of sailing skiffs. The class has a long history beginning with races on Sydney Harbour, Australia in 1892. It is the fastest conventional non-foiling monohull on the yardstick rating."

Anders Lewander laddar och är på väg ner (eller på plats) och hälsar följande i sin pressrelease (valda delar - den var jävligt lång...):

"Den 12 februari startar den anrika regattan JJ Giltinan, ett mästerskap som alltid har räknats som ett VM för 18ft skiff och som seglats på Sydney Harbour sedan 1938.  ”Team Gill Swedens målsättning är att göra bästa tänkbara prestation”, säger Anders Lewander som är skeppare på den svenska båten. ”Att säga att vi ska åka ner till Sydney och vinna vore inte trovärdigt, men vi kommer definitivt att göra vårt allra bästa utifrån de förutsättningar vi har. Klassen är ett getingbo med många olympier och världsmästare och de ca 30 deltagarna har alla tävlat ihop under många säsonger. Men vi är starka, vi har skiffsegling i blodet och vi ska ha riktigt kul. Det blir en riktig drömresa så här i februari.”

Peter Mickos som seglat 18ft skiff professionellt med Anders Lewander fyra säsonger tidigare, håller med: ”Det är helt klart en fantastisk resa. Vi ska matcha de bästa och ge dem en riktig överraskning. Vi har det bästa materialet och vi har torrseglat både i drömmen och framför videon på Anders segelmakeri. Vi kommer absolut ge konkurrenterna en hård match.”"

Vi har bett Anders om några bilder från Sydney och hoppas att han kan skicka över något kul!

Glada nyheter från Miami. Anton och Sebbe spikade i 470. Plus att tre svenskar var i "finalen" (medaljrace)  i Laser. Kul att det svänger. Lustigt att Emil Ceder tog en spik i Laser men sen hade två DNS direkt efter det. Dom svenska brudarna hängde på låset i 470 men nådde inte ända fram till medaljrace.

Mer info och resultat: http://rmocr.ussailing.org/

Nu ska skota slipa knivarna och börja gissa på OS medaljer i London!