Peter Corr's Warwick 82 Aiyana

On assignment for Scuttlebutt in the USVI is action sports photography Leighton O'Connor who provided this report:

At the International Rolex Regatta (March 25-27) in St. Thomas is Peter Corr's Warwick 82 Aiyana. Features include sculptures, paintings, a bar that turns in a bed, transom door, computerized steering, motorized sliding ceiling, Sub-Zero Freezer, Sapelle mahogany, joy sticks for main trim, lifting keel, tons of carbon fiber, server for six TV's... and still a damn fast ride.

Built in Antalya, Turkey, Aiyana was a seven year project for Peter, with her launch in May of last year. Part of his crew of 14 for the regatta include sailing rock stars such as Steve Benjamin (USA) as the tactician, Mark Bartlett (USA) as the bow man, David Sampson (AUS) as the mast man, project manager and crew chief Mal Parker (AUS), Silas Nolan (AUS) along with navigator and captain Rosco Monson (GBR).

Her first race was the Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez Regatta last October in which she placed 13 out of 35. The warm up to the International Rolex Regatta was the International Caribbean Superyacht Regatta early this month in which they took a second behind Hanuman in the Spinnaker Division. Not bad. Next on her racing plate is the BVI Festival & Regatta.

Audi gets ripped

Amid a backdrop of an amateur sport where pickle dishes and personal satisfaction remain the primary prizes, the continued growth of sponsorship and professional sailing leads to unintended consequences.

The Melges 32 class hosts the four event Melges 32 Audi Sailing Series in Italy. Audi has increasingly become a sponsor in a sport that does not have many prominent international brands. But at the first event of the 2011 series in Naples, Italy, the winner of the event protested their support.

The 22-boat event was won by Mascalzone Latino with Francesco Bruni and Paolo Masserdotti. This is the same team that is the Challenger of Record for the 34th America’s Cup, led by Italian Vincenzo Onorato. But Paolo was onboard in place of Vincenzo who refused to attend the event.

“I’m very sorry to not have seen you in Naples, I envied you very much for the fantastic races you had in my hometown,” said Vincenzo. “I personally apologize if we did not attend the price giving. This was not a lack of appreciation towards yourselves, with which I share the passion of this wonderful sport, but an open challenge against the organizing club, and more generally against Audi.

“The club has opposed the opening of our sailing school for disadvantaged children living in the slums and Audi has not honored its contractual obligation by paying the sponsorship for the Louis Vuitton Trophy (note: the team had been rebranded 'Mascalzone Latino Audi Team') that was due to us. We will not take part to any award of the circuit until Audi will settle his debt.”

American John Kilroy with tactician Nathan Wilmot (AUS) on Samba Pa Ti finished second. The second event of the Audi Melges 32 Sailing Series will be in Scarlino, Italy on April 29 - May 1.

Cash is king

The entry deadline for the 34th America’s Cup is March 31st, after which a team would pay a late fee of US$200,000 if their entry is accepted. Thus far, the list of entries for the 2013 event includes six declared teams and two that have not wanted to announce themselves. Here is the payment schedule to enter the event:

By March 31, 2011, a notice of challenge and US$25,000.
By April 30, 2011, a performance bond of US$200,000.
By June 1, 2011, an entry fee of US$100,000.
By December 31, 2011 (or earlier if required by protocol), an additional performance bond of US$800,000.

Additionally, each team is required to compete in the America’s Cup World Series (ACWS) that will begin this year. The schedule of events is to be announced by March 31st, and there is a financial penalty for any team not competing in the ACWS.

To compete in the 2011 ACWS, each team will need to buy at least one AC45 from America’s Cup Race Management, which is the entity established to provide independent, professional, and neutral race management. A 50% deposit to purchase the 675,000 euro (US$940k) AC45 is needed by March 31st to guarantee timely delivery, with the balance due upon receipt.

Entering the 34th America’s Cup includes many conflicts. Those teams that have entered either have the funding or hope to gain it. Declaring their entry should help to establish teams but it is done without knowing the race schedule. And they have many financial hurdles ahead of them.

The fees listed are only some of the entry requirements. There is a long road from the initial US$25,000 entry fee and the estimated 100 million euros (US$140mil) needed to be competitive. As one group who is seeking to enter told Scuttlebutt, “Good luck to those teams that have ‘entered’ so far, but all I am saying is that at this stage, talk is cheap.”

Stadium sailing

Sailboat racing as a stadium sport came to San Diego Bay on March 2-6 for the inaugural Oracle RC44 Cup San Diego. This was the launch for the 2011 RC44 championship tour, with 11, high-performance teams competing within the confines of the bay setting.

Olympic sailing should be hard

Since the catamaran was eliminated from the 2012 Olympics, there has been more discussion than I can ever recall as to what types of events should be in the Olympics. I have endorsed the five discipline position, wherein the events should represent singlehanded and doublehanded dinghies, multihulls, keelboats, and boards. These are the main roads in our sport, and this approach provides the most talented sailors with the ultimate goal to seek.

Sailing is allowed 10 Olympic events, and the choice of which boats are to be used in each event is a harder choice - a choice that will be made in May for the 2016 Olympics. However, my contention is that whatever the choice, the ability to sail the boat must be hard too. Excellence in the Olympics must require extreme commitment, maturity, and skill. These tools take time to earn, and it is during this time when the audience gets to meet the sailors. If the sport is eager to broaden its audience, it must first allow the audience to meet and respect the competitors.

In January I was afforded the opportunity to observe nearly 800 sailors from 53 countries prepare for the Rolex Miami OCR, the elite Olympic and Paralympic event in the United States. During my limited time I came away with three distinct impressions:

THE STAR: Walking through the trailer park where the Star teams prepared is not unlike attending the America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race, or any other prestigious event in sailing. So many of the people working on their boats were some of the best known sailors in the sport. Pardon the pun, but this class has ‘star appeal’, more so than any of the current events. What is the attraction? The best attracts the best, partly because the boat is hard to sail.

THE FINN: This class gets more criticism than the rest. The design is old, and it looks it. But until you watch these singlehanded sailors in action, people should hold their comments. This boat is sailed by men... strong men. The athleticism to duck the boom and the power to push the boat is not for the timid. The boat is technical. And now that the class permits prohibited propulsion (pumping, rocking, etc) in 10 knots, the endurance required is epic. The offwind technique is borderline violent.

THE 470: This class has seemingly been the gateway for many of the top North American sailors... assuming they are the right size. And it is similar to what is commonly sailed as a doublehanded dinghy, except that it is an exceedingly technical boat. In fact, it is a huge step beyond what most young people in this continent are used to sailing. The ability needed to excel in this class is demonstrated by sailors such as Dave Ullman, Steve Benjamin, Morgan Reeser, Kevin Burnham, Paul Foerster, and Charlie McKee who all made their mark in this event, and continue to be leaders in the sport.

These three classes are the most senior of the Olympics events, and are the most commonly criticized in today’s effort to stimulate audience interest in the Olympics. I don’t disagree that the novelty of the foiling International Moth and the dynamism of the Kite event will provide stunning visuals. But I want substance too.

For me, I want the Olympics to be hard. I would prefer not to see teenagers on the podium, but rather seasoned athletes who have paid dearly for the privilege to wear the medal, to see their flag flown, and to have their country applaud them. That to me is what the Olympic Games is all about. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt editor