[Source: America's Cup] On the day the AC Village opened in the historic Arsenale in Venice, Luna Rossa Challenge thrilled the home crowd by winning all three races on the day to grab a commanding lead in the Arzanà City of Venice Trophy, a prologue, invitational regatta to the AC World Series next week.

Chris Draper’s Luna Rossa Piranha dominated the day in extremely light, challenging conditions on the offshore Lido race course, where the wind rarely exceeded 5 knots.

“Today we had some good starts, which is something we’ve been working on,” Draper said. “It was good to put the training into practice. It was great to come through and win the races, but more importantly we learned a lot.”

The afternoon couldn’t have started better for the Italian team when in race one, Paul Campbell-James guided the Swordfish crew to a second place behind Draper, to give the Prada boats a one-two finish.

Luna Rossa dominates the Arzanà Trophy. Venezia, 12 May 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

“We felt pretty good after that first race,” Campbell-James said. “It was light winds all day and pretty shifty, with lots of opportunities to slide up and slide down. It’s been a great day for Chris (Draper) but hopefully we’ll be able to push them tomorrow.”

Over the course of the day the Swordfish crew, with skipper Max Sirena on board, held off Loick Peyron’s Energy Team and Jimmy Spithill’s ORACLE TEAM USA to post the most consistent score behind Draper for second place.

Crowds were brisk in the Arsenale, traditionally closed off to the public, on this sunny Saturday, while the race course was ringed by the biggest spectator fleet the crews had seen.

“That was unbelievable. Naples was incredible for the number of people on shore, but the number of boats on the water was ridiculous,” Draper said.

Seven teams were on the water Saturday for the prologue regatta, with ORACLE TEAM USA only fielding one crew on the afternoon and Emirates Team New Zealand forced to remain ashore with damage to their boat.

But ORACLE TEAM USA Bundock is expected to race on Sunday as are the Kiwis, meaning nine boats are expected to be on the starting line for the first start at 1400 CEST.

Two more fleet races are scheduled Sunday, followed by a final race between a starting line offshore to a finish just of St. Mark’s Square, right in the heart of Venice.

(Provisional) Results after three races

1. Luna Rossa – Piranha…27 points
2. Luna Rossa – Swordfish…21 points
3. Energy Team…20 points
4. ORACLE TEAM USA Spithill…19 points
5. Artemis Racing…16 points
6. China Team…12 points
7. Team Korea…11 points
8. Emirates Team New Zealand…0 points
9. ORACLE TEAM USA Bundock…0 points

Luna Rossa dominates the Arzanà Trophy. Venezia, 12 May 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

Luna Rossa dominates the Arzanà Trophy. Venezia, 12 May 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

There is no real story behind this series of photos from Luna Rossa’s last training session before America’s Cup racing starts in full earnest on Wednesday. They are simply the best, in our opinion, we have seen so far from the Italian city and are courtesy of the “maestro” of sailing photography, Carlo Borlenghi.

Luna Rossa training on the eve of the America's Cup World Series. Naples, 10 April 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

Luna Rossa training on the eve of the America's Cup World Series. Naples, 10 April 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

Luna Rossa training on the eve of the America's Cup World Series. Naples, 10 April 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

Luna Rossa training on the eve of the America's Cup World Series. Naples, 10 April 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

Luna Rossa training on the eve of the America's Cup World Series. Naples, 10 April 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

Luna Rossa training on the eve of the America's Cup World Series. Naples, 10 April 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

Luna Rossa training on the eve of the America's Cup World Series. Naples, 10 April 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

Luna Rossa training on the eve of the America's Cup World Series. Naples, 10 April 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

[Source: America's Cup]  Racing in the America’s Cup World Series – Naples gets underway on Wednesday afternoon, with Dean Barker’s Emirates Team New Zealand crew clinging to a one point lead on the overall series leaderboard over ORACLE Racing Spithill.

 Two new Luna Rossa crews, sailing on home waters, are expected to be near the front of the fleet this week, while Artemis Racing, currently third, will be keen to improve on its podium position, with ORACLE Racing Bundock trying to knock them off. Team Korea, skippered by multiple world champion Nathan Outteridge will be pushing hard, as will Energy Team, looking to consolidate on gains made in the last regatta in San Diego. China Team, with new skipper Fred Le Peutrec, is coming fresh off a training camp in Sanya, China, and could surprise here in Italy.

Local support in Naples for the event has been incredible, with Paolo Graziano, the President of the local organizing committee, estimating the crowd along the waterfront over the course of a sunny holiday Monday at nearly 250,000.

Over the Easter weekend, Yves Carcelle, the CEO of Louis Vuitton, a 30-year partner of the America’s Cup, had the opportunity to sail as a guest racer on board the AC45 wing-sailed catamarans.

“It’s much more sport now on the AC45s than it was on the monohulls,” he said, after getting a close up view of the action. “Today it is a young man’s game to sail these boats. On board, the five crew have to be very, very fit. The movement and speed just never stops. It’s permanent action. At the end of the day, the sailors must be totally exhausted.”

Quotes from the opening Press Conference:

Paolo Graziano, President of AC Napoli, the Local Organizing Committee: I want to thank the crews and all the people who believed in this city. I think that we have performed really well, beyond expectations, in terms of the organization and the venue. Naples is showing the best of itself. I hope that, through this event, Naples can be seen for what it is: a beautiful city and an amazing place to hold important sporting events like the AC World Series.

Iain Murray, Regatta Director, 34th America’s Cup: On behalf of all the America’s Cup teams and organization, I want to thank Naples and all of the organizations who have come together to put on this event. This is a magnificent venue for sailing and we’re looking forward to some very exciting racing this week. What Naples has done with the opening ceremony and the Race Village and the way the people have come out to support our event is fantastic. It’s bigger and better than anything we expected – thank you.

Dean Barker, skipper, Emirates Team New Zealand: (Sailing the AC45s) is great, it’s a different challenge to what we’ve experienced in the past. The adrenalin from sailing these boats in a big breeze is very hard to explain, but coming in after a day’s sailing it’s pretty hard not to have a big smile on your face.

James Spithill, skipper, ORACLE Racing Spithill: The game has changed, the racing is right next to the shore. It was exciting yesterday (Monday) to see the crowds and I think they will be even bigger next weekend. The exciting thing for the sailors is you can hear people cheering. It’s like being in a stadium. That’s one of the coolest things, to go around the course and hear people cheering… The Italian fans are the best in the world and they’ll make this event fantastic.

Terry Hutchinson, skipper, Artemis Racing: Over the past couple of days we’ve had a lot of weather and rain moving through, so with the mountain behind the race course it wreaks havoc. But the forecast is more for the traditional sea breeze we were after. I think it’s going to be a very challenging race course with all of the geographic effects around here. But that’s part of the challenge, other than the other eight boats on the course, we have to deal with the weather. This will be one of those courses where the race isn’t over until you get across the finishing line.

Darren Bundock, skipper, ORACLE Racing Bundock: We’ve had some very good racing in practice in San Francisco (against ORACLE Racing Spithill), a little too intense at times, as we had that collision. But now there are eight teams we have to beat. We’re fourth overall so we need to get past Emirates Team New Zealand and Artemis Racing and if we can beat all these other teams here that means we’ve got Jimmy as well and we’d be happy with that.

Nathan Outteridge, skipper, Team Korea: I saw that Russell Coutts had posted on Facebook that ‘America’s Cup – Speed Trials’ (the iphone and ipad app) was out, so I had a spare few minutes and downloaded it. I was thinking I haven’t had much practice on the real boats, so I’d practice on the game at least. I’ve got my time down around 31 seconds now, so I’ve improved about four seconds. I need to get out on the water practicing, but this is the next best thing.

Yann Guichard, helmsman, Energy Team: I hope we are ready. We didn’t train on the AC45 in the winter, but individually we continued to sail in our own projects. Loick Peyron set a new record for fastest around the world. And on my side I launched the MOD70 and I’ve been sailing five days a week since January and there’s also been an opportunity for the Energy Team crew to come and train on board the 70 foot trimaran with me.

Fred Le Peutrec, skipper, China Team: It’s a great opportunity we have to sail on these fantastic boats, against these great teams. It’s only our fifth day on the boat all together. We’re still a very new team, there is only one guy who was with us last year sailing on the boat so we are working step by step, concentrating on manoeuvres and our own work on board more than the results – we’ll see after.

Max Sirena, skipper, Luna Rossa: I started my career working on the bow, and now I’m in the cockpit with an important role: It’s a big honor for me and it’s time to show if I can live up to that. It’s a new era and you need the best athletes to be among the best. I was with ORACLE Racing during the last America’s Cup, so I have some experience with the wing and one of my jobs is to transmit that to the crew.

Chris Draper, helmsman, Luna Rossa: I think the biggest thing for Paul and me is (adjusting to) the enormity of the Luna Rossa experience. The support we’ve received is amazing and we’re grateful for that, but it does raise expectations a little bit. We have some very wise and smart people in our team who are quick to point out this is our first event, we have not raced in the AC World Series as a team, so we’re trying to keep our expectations in check.

Paul Campbell-James, helmsman Luna Rossa: The AC45 and the Extreme 40 are very different boats. The style of racing is similar – close and tight, fast racing, but the boats are the biggest change. What gives us confidence is that Yann (Guichard) and Chris (Draper) have done a lot of their catamaran sailing in the Extreme 40s and they did very well in the AC World Series last year, so that gives us a bit of confidence.

[Source: Luna Rossa] Team Luna Rossa Challenge 2013, Challenger to the 34th America’s Cup, has been presented today in Mondello, Palermo, at the Circolo della Vela Sicilia, the challenging Yacht Club.

The President of Circolo della Vela Sicilia, Agostino Randazzo, and the Team Principal of Luna Rossa Challenge 2013, Patrizio Bertelli, welcomed the guests, including the President of the Palermo Province, Giovanni Avanti, the President of the Italian Sailing Federation, Carlo Croce, and the Sports Delegate of the Sicily Region, Daniele Tranchida. A large group of media representatives and a delegation of the America’s Cup Event Authority were also present.

Team Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 was represented by skipper Max Sirena, helmsmen Paul Campbell-James and Chris Draper, sailors Francesco Bruni and Manuel Modena, and the designers, coaches, and other shore personnel Roberto Biscontini, Andrea Casimirri, Steve Erickson, Antonio Marrai, Umberto Panerai, Matteo Plazzi and Luis Saenz.

Luna Rossa Swordfish and Luna Rossa Piranha training. Gaeta, 3 April 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

Agostino Randazzo, President of the Circolo della Vela Sicilia, stated: ”The challenge for the America’s Cup is the greatest ambition for a Yacht Club. I want to thank Patrizio Bertelli for granting this unique opportunity to the Circolo della Vela di Sicilia.”

Patrizio Bertelli, Team Principal of Luna Rossa Challenge 2013, stated: “This team brings together some of the “historical” Luna Rossa team members, and a strong new group of young sailors. The Circolo della Vela Sicilia has a very long and strong history in the world of sailing and we are proud to be representing it.”

Max Sirena, Skipper of Luna Rossa Challenge 2013, stated: “We have been working very hard in the last few months and the whole team has proved to be ready to meet the challenges of the upcoming AC 45 competitions. We are pleased with the status of our work on the construction of the new wing-sail catamaran AC 72 that we plan to launch in Autumn.”

Luna Rossa Swordfish and Luna Rossa Piranha training. Gaeta, 3 April 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

Luna Rossa Swordfish and Luna Rossa Piranha training. Gaeta, 3 April 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

Luna Rossa Swordfish and Luna Rossa Piranha training. Gaeta, 3 April 2012. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

Martínez was probably the most sought-after athlete in Auckland on Monday, giving one interview after another. We had to wait until late at night in Valencia in order to talk to the Spanish Olympic champion but it was well worth the wait. The final result the Spanish boat achieved, third, might seem a bit disappointing after three consecutive leg wins but as Martínez explains it could have been much worse and the entire team deserves congratulations. As to our question about him and Xabi Fernandez joining Luna Rossa for the America’s Cup after the end of the London Olympics, his answer was entirely diplomatic. We’ll have to wait until September to see whether it’s true or not.

VSail.info: Had Team Telefonica won this fourth leg of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race I would have asked you whether you were ever going to fail or commit errors. Given now the result you achieved my question will be easier. Do you consider you failed or committed an error in this leg? Are you satisfied with the third place?
Iker Martínez: I’m very satisfied with the result, I’m very happy and I don’t think we failed, at all. We already knew before the start of the race that some legs would be easier and others more difficult. Without any doubt, being on the podium is a good result and it’s even better when you achieve it in one of the tough legs. This has been one of the most complicated legs where things didn’t go our way since the beginning but we were able to overcome the difficulties, come back in the race and achieve a good result.

That’s when the overall race will be won, when the going gets tough. If everything goes as expected, if the boat sails well and all is smooth and fantastic aboard, it’s easy to do well. However, getting a decent result in a tough leg is much more complicated. That’s why we are very happy with our result.

VSail.info: You say things didn’t go your way in this tough leg. Can you elaborate on that?
Iker Martínez: Well, since the start in Sanya weather conditions were quite special. We didn’t encounter exactly what we were expecting and this put us in a disadvantaged position throughout the leg. Already at the start we were trailing the rest of the fleet because our first decision was not the right one as the weather didn’t turn out to be what we had forecast. As you know, after the start we all went east, knowing there would be a big wind shift. However, we wanted to be a little bit more north than the others, so we sailed a little bit more upwind while they went a bit faster and when the wind shift came, even if it came at the same time for the entire fleet, the boats further east got better breeze. Already there, things went better for them and worse for us and we started the leg with a disadvantage.

Things got even more complicated in the Philippines where we had decided we wanted to go south. However, the remaining teams had another strategy and went further north and as a result, we didn’t want to take too much risk and as a precautionary measure we finally went more to the east. As you see, that decision and change of strategy was based more on what the others were doing rather than on what we thought was the best option. In hindsight we might have stuck to the south but these are decisions you have to take very fast and without much reaction time.

VSail.info: When the fleet approached the Solomon islands, Telefonica went through them while Groupama and Puma opted for a route to the east of them. Do you feel it was a good decision?
Iker Martínez: It was a very good decision, not in terms of gaining miles but more in terms of preventing us from losing many, many more over the leading boats. That move did have its risks but it turned out to be a very good strategy as we could have slipped back even further.

VSail.info: The last miles to Auckland were truly nail-biting, in particular your match match race with Camper for third place. Did you feel at any time the kiwi boat could steal you the podium spot?
Iker Martínez: Of course, and it wasn’t just Camper I was worried about. We could have very well be behind Abu Dhabi or Team Sanya. We were all sailing very close together and we were aware any problem could make us slip back to sixth place. I wouldn’t say we were afraid but we knew we were running the risk that even the slightest problem, with a sail for example or a wrong tactical decision, could throw us back to sixth place.

VSail.info: In this difficult and tough let was there a moment or day that stands out as the toughest one?
Iker Martínez: It will be difficult to point to a single day because we really had a mix of conditions. There were days we were very worried about the boat because she was hit very hard by the waves. There were days we were worried about our tactics because we had to take difficult decisions without knowing whether they would turn out to be the right ones. There were also days we were feeling frustrated because we could see the leading boats distancing themselves even further and there was nothing we could do to prevent it. It was a very difficult leg overall and there were many moments we all suffered.

VSail.info: What about the leg that lies ahead? Will it be as tough?
Iker Martínez: I think the next leg is one of the mythical ones of a round-the-world race. You have to go south, where it’s very cold and very windy and you’ll have to go round Cape Horn. Conditions will also depend on where race management puts the iceberg gates but overall, it will be a very special leg and we will suffer, especially when we have to push the boat. The other teams will certainly put the pressure on us and it will be trade off between pushing hard when the winds get strong and the risk this move entails. In my view, this will be the most critical part of the leg. You will have to push to the edge, without breaking anything or anyone falling overboard.

VSail.info: Did you break anything in this leg? Has the boat suffered any substantial breakage?
Iker Martínez: We arrived in Auckland less than 24 hours ago and as a result we haven’t had enough time to check everything thoroughly. However, we are very surprised to see how well she is and without any doubt one of our strongest points in this race is exactly the boat. It’s undoubtedly an extraordinary machine. We pushed her to the limits, she got hit by huge waves, we squeezed her as much as we could but she’s still as performing as new. We give her an A+

VSail.info: Is the boat the key to Team’s Telefonica’s success so far in the race or are there any other factors as well?
Iker Martínez: I don’t think I could single out one specific factor but if I had to choose, I think the human factor would be the most important one. We are a very good team, everybody gives the best of themselves and everybody assumes their responsibilities and obligations the best they can.

VSail.info: Groupama, after a mediocre start in the race, showed constant progress, went on to win this leg and are now standing second overall behind Team Telefonica. Do you consider them to be the toughest opponent?
Iker Martínez: I think things have changed a lot now and there is no doubt that the overall leaderboard reflects that. Groupama is doing a very good job, the have a fast boat and a crew with a lot of experience. We already knew that in Alicante six months ago. It seems things got complicated, a bit too much, for them at the beginning of the race but it appears they worked out their problems and they still are a strong candidate to win this race.

VSail.info: Any team, in any sport and in any competition it might take part aims to win. Team Telefonica is the overall leader and conventional wisdom wants you to be the favorite. Will you personally consider it as a failure if four months from now you aren’t the winners of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race?
Iker Martínez: It’s difficult to answer your question right now. I think I can give the best answer after crossing the finish line. Still, I think we had done an excellent job so far and even if it’s too early to judge, I think we won’t be unhappy with our final result. Our score can be better or worse than it is now but it is very clear we are have been doing a very serious job and every single member of the team has been giving the best of themselves. This is for me, clearly, the most important issue and if you can do that you can achieve the result you want. Again, it’s still early but nearly halfway through the race I’m very happy with what we have been doing.

VSail.info: Out the five remaining legs is there one that stands out as the most important?
Iker Martínez: All legs, even the shortest ones, carry the same points and we have to consider them equally important. Each leg will have its particularities. In one leg it could be the cold weather, in another one the strong winds and in another one something else. Then again, we have made our models and plans for each leg but they often turn out to be different from the reality.

VSail.info: What is your schedule in this short week in Auckland?
Iker Martínez: We hardly have any time in Auckland. We first have to make sure we thoroughly check the boat and repair the small things that might have been broken even if I feel that most of the repairs will be purely aesthetics. We then have to prepare for the next leg, a tough and long one. In theory we should already be ready but in reality we just arrived! This leg took longer to finish so you can imagine how stressed we must feel, trying to prepare everything while getting some needed rest.

VSail.info: I would like to close the interview with a personal question. Is it true that after the Volvo Ocean Race and the Olympics next summer, Xabi Fernandez and you will join Luna Rossa for the 34th America’s Cup?
Iker Martínez: It’s true we held talks with them. It’s true we have been in contact and Luna Rossa is interested in us joining the team but the truth is that right now we are way too busy with Team Telefonica and our only worry is successfully rounding the world, something that by itself is already difficult. In addition, we do want to be in the Olympics and we are trying to train as much as possible, between each leg. As you see, we are extremely busy right now. We’ll see what happens in the future.

VSail.info: You would be interested in an America’s Cup project though, wouldn’t you?
Iker Martínez: Yes, I think the current America’s Cup is a nice regatta. I have already stated many years ago that I would like one day to be in the America’s Cup. Why not? It has never been the case so far because we have always been very busy with other things. Right now we are very busy with Telefonica and who knows what the next thing might be.

[Source: America's Cup] The first 2012 event of the America’s Cup World Series takes place in Naples, Italy next month and today the regatta format has been released. The program is an exciting mix of race formats, ensuring the sailors are tested across their full skill range. Match racing, fleet racing and speed trials against the clock will push the best sailors in the world as they match wits against each other in the challenging AC45 wing-sailed catamaran.

“We’ve made a few tweaks to the format since the AC World Series events last year,” said Regatta Director Iain Murray. “We’ve consulted with the teams and been able to take the lessons learned from those first three events and apply them going forward. I think we have a strong program now; each race in the Championship events is meaningful for the title races, but every team will now be racing each day, which is also important.”

The opening weekend is an opportunity for the teams to hone their skills ahead of the Championship racing later in the week. The program in Naples begins on Saturday, April 7, with a full afternoon of match racing. The pairings are determined from the finishing order in the previous AC World Series Fleet Race Championship. Then, on the first Sunday, the teams sail three, 15-minute fleet races.

Following two lay days, the Championship part of the regatta begins on Wednesday April 11, with seeding races for Saturday’s Match Racing Championship. Between Wednesday and Saturday, the teams will compete in 11 fleet races, including one 40-minute contest, to determine the top four finishers, who will advance to the Match Racing semi finals and finals (first to win two points).

The ultimate day of the event, Sunday April 15, opens with the AC500 Speed Trial, where each team takes two timed runs down a 500-meter race track. (Speed Trials will also be held on Friday). The crew recording the best time is crowned the winner. Then, it’s immediately on to the winner-takes-all Fleet Race Championship, a single 40-minute fleet race to determine the champion. Here, there is simply no margin for error.

While Emirates Team New Zealand and ORACLE Racing Spithill shared most of the hardware from the first three events in 2011, they can expect more challenges in 2012. Not only are there established teams like Artemis Racing (SWE) knocking on the door, but new talent is joining the fleet in Naples. Luna Rossa Challenge will be racing in the AC World Series for the first time, and they’ll make their debut in front of a home crowd. The Italian team may be joining late, but will campaign two AC45s in the remaining World Series events, as they prepare for the America’s Cup in 2013.

“It’s exciting to see a team with the stature of Luna Rossa Challenge join the AC World Series,” Murray said. “Already in the last event we saw the competitive level of the fleet growing, with the two French teams and Team Korea emerging to challenge the top guns. In Naples, with Luna Rossa competing in front of their home fans, the racing is only going to get closer, and harder.”

Luna Rossa AC45 launch and first sail

[Source: ETNZ Blog] We have been back at work formally a week now after the Christmas break. Summer looks like it has finally decided to make an appearance and Emirates Team New Zealand is a good place to be right now.

Over the break a number of important developments occurred. There were three jury decisions. The first was on the question we asked about the ability of ACRM/Oracle and the Challenger of Record to influence voting on rule changes related to the America’s Cup itself by manoeuvring the vote with the small teams which had not paid the Cup entry fee.

Prior to a vote in San Diego, which made this obvious to us, I was told by one team “well we don’t agree with the amendment that is being proposed here in San Diego but we have to vote with Oracle. Without their support (read supply of their AC45) we would be stuffed. “

The Jury found that unless a team had paid the fees to be in the Cup itself they couldn’t vote – the correct decision.

The second was simply an interpretive question we asked on our SL33s and how they should be measured to make sure they comply with the surrogate rule which prohibits the sailing of catamarans longer than 10 metres after the 1st of January except for the AC45s and later on the AC 72s. The Jury and everyone else for that matter agreed with us so our SL33s are now in the clear and not considered surrogate yachts.

The third was our agreement with Luna Rossa which had been raised by a series of interpretive questions from Oracle to the Jury. There has been some commentary about that but we are comfortable. Prior to the decision we anticipated they may stop telemetry testing between our 72s so it wasn’t a surprise.

Since being back, Luna Rossa has launched its AC45 and have now sailed twice. They put it all together from two bare hulls in a week. Nice work. You have to be well organised to do that.

We have started sailing our SL33s again, carrying on from where we left off at Christmas and yesterday I went and had a look at progress of the AC72 – a big jigsaw puzzle.

But I guess most of my attention has been focused on CAMPER and the Volvo Ocean Race. Honestly we aren’t going well enough. Some of that is a boat which is beating its numbers but under performing (against the opposition) at certain angles.

We have improved it but the reach down the coast a few days ago, especially in flat water, showed we are not fast enough. Is there more to get out of it at these angles, maybe not a lot so we need therefore to turn our attention to maximising points where we can – like the in- port races and offshore, when the conditions favour the boat.

What I can say is as an organisation this is being treated as a priority. The boys on board are doing a good job but as Emirates Team New Zealand we are now trying to bring more resource to the party.

The leg to China will start on Sunday, and we need to take some points back. Telefonica was the only boat that had a worse result than us in the Abu Dhabi in-port then the run down the coast. At least we netted a point back on them, now seven behind in second place.

So over the next week here it will be more of the same, SL33 sailing, AC45 prep to start sailing against LR and the Volvo gets underway again on their way to China.

GRANT