44th Transpac Yacht Race / No breeze, no Disney for Transpac's final start

http://www.transpacificyc.org/07/news/tp07-press-rel-31.html

Transpacific Yacht Club, Al Garnier, Commodore

Starts July 9, 12 and 15, 2007; WEB site http://www.transpacificyc.org/

July 15, 2007
No breeze, no Disney for Transpac's final start

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Roy E. Disney's powered-up Pyewacket, with America's Cup skipper Dean Barker on board, will be among the final 23 of 74 boats in the 44th biennial Transpacific Yacht Race that head for Hawaii Sunday. They'll receive a boisterous sendoff from Rainbow Harbor in downtown Long Beach at 10 a.m., followed by their start eight miles west off Point Fermin in San Pedro at 1 p.m.

A few hours after his news flashed around the docks at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, the fleet met balmy southeast zephyrs of only 3 to 4 knots off the Point Fermin start line in San Pedro that left the high-powered racers gasping for air. With what little wind there was coming from 170 on the compass and the west end of Santa Catalina Island to the right at 215, all 23 boats quickly tacked to port after the gun.
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44th Transpac Yacht Race / 23 harbingers sail into uncertainty

http://www.transpacificyc.org/07/news/tp07-press-rel-25.html

44th Biennial Transpacific Yacht Race / Los Angeles to Hawaii
Transpacific Yacht Club, Al Garnier, Commodore

Starts July 9, 12 and 15, 2007; WEB site http://www.transpacificyc.org/

July 9, 2007
23 Transpac harbingers sail into uncertainty

LONG BEACH, Calif.---OK so far, the first 23 starters in the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race must have been thinking as they sailed off into uncertainty, escorted by dolphins in a balmy 7-knot westerly breeze under sunny skies Monday, but what lay ahead for the next 2,225 nautical miles to Hawaii was anyone's guess.

The forerunning fleets included nine Division 6 racers and 14 Aloha A and B division boats. Divisions 4 and 5 and nine vintage Santa Cruz 50 and 52s start Thursday, followed by Divisions 1, 2 and 3 Sunday, all starting off Point Fermin in nearby San Pedro after sendoff ceremonies at Rainbow Harbor, Transpac's mainland home port in Long Beach.

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Alinghi wins the 32nd America's Cup

http://www.americascup.com/en/news/detail.php?idRubr=70&idContent=28902

Valencia - 03.07.2007 - 16:43
Alinghi wins the 32nd America's Cup

Alinghi won the 32nd America’s Cup on Tuesday afternoon on the waters off Valencia. The Swiss Defender won its fourth consecutive race in dramatic fashion, to win the Match 5-2.

This final race of the America’s Cup was befitting of what has been the closest, most exciting America’s Cup in recent history. Emirates Team New Zealand spent much of the race ahead on the advantage line, but with Alinghi in strong tactical position on the right hand side of the race course. The Kiwis were never able to get a big enough lead to cross ahead and switch sides.

After making a pass on the first run and leading through the leeward gate by 14 seconds, Emirates Team New Zealand again found it couldn’t get across the bow of SUI 100 on the second upwind leg.

With both boats approaching the top mark separated by just a few metres, the Kiwis, approaching from the left on port tack, faced Alinghi roaring in on the privileged starboard tack. Both boats went into a ‘dial-down’ and the Umpires penalised the port tack NZL 92 crew for not keeping clear of Alinghi. That, effectively, was the race. Alinghi rounded the top mark ahead by 12 seconds and looked secure for the win.

But then, an enormous windshift saw Emirates Team New Zealand able to lay finishing line which was now upwind. As Alinghi struggled to drop its spinnaker, the Kiwis turned into tack to fulfil its penalty obligation. Now downspeed, the Kiwis could only watch in horror as Alinghi slid across the line, just one second ahead.

As SUI 100 crossed the finishing line, the crew was muted in its celebration, still stunned by what had occurred over the past five minutes. The spectator fleet paying respect through a cacophony of boat horns. The Alinghi crew took up a tow to join in the celebrations in Port America’s Cup

It was a perfect day for racing on the waters off Valencia, with the bright, warm, Valencian sun generating a strong 14 to 17 knot sea breeze. As with the past race days of this 32nd America’s Cup Match, there was a healthy sized spectator fleet on hand to witness the racing.
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America's Cup - There will be no Second

http://www.americascup.com/

Valencia - 02.07.2007 - 07:24
Holding pattern

The 32nd America’s Cup Match is on ‘pause’ today, a scheduled off day on the race calendar. Yesterday, shifty, unstable conditions saw racing postponed for the day, making this effectively a two day break in the schedule.

Valencia - 02.07.2007 - 07:13
Weather Forecast
Weak low pressure over central Spain on Monday develops and slides northeast by Tuesday. This coupled with high pressure to the east of Ibiza provides good prospects for Tuesday.

Valencia - 01.07.2007
Do or die

Midday, 1st July 2007, and Port America’s Cup is already swarming with people – an estimated 100,000 visitors will flock to the Valencian coast to witness what might be the last day of the America’s Cup Match Final. Alinghi is only one race win away from lifting the Cup.