Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a sports car? Or is it an Alfa Romeo cunningly disguised as Neville Crighton’s latest boat?
Whatever… here are some exclusive pics of the new 70’ Alfa Romeo, designed by Reichel-Pugh, and pushed out of McConaghy’s shed in China a couple of weeks ago (yes, we’ve been keeping it under wraps).
Congratulations, Neville, on your new TransPac record. And congratulations on being the owner of the only pocket maxi in the world with wing mirrors on the steering pedestals and a sports car stashed down below. Outrageous! Wonderful!
For the record – that’s the coolest nav station Sail-World has EVER seen, and the sassiest engine cover in the world (check out the wheel arches, yup, they’re there!). But can we have just a little padding in the Recaro bucket seats? Please? … Details & Pictures
While some of the most high technology kit ever seen in sailing was wheeled out of the shed in Villenueve, and San Diego, the Open Letter writers were at it again. This time drawing their respective lines in the sand as to where the 33rd America’s Cup must be sailed, and how big the yachts are allowed to be.
Like most things with this America’s Cup, all the parties seem to be able to do is agree to disagree, and then run to Uncle Herman or Auntie Shirley to sort it all out, and then come away with different versions of what the good Justices actually ruled.
First up from the Societe Nautique de Geneve
Mr. Marcus Young Commodore
The Golden Gate Yacht Club
#1 Yacht Road
San Francisco
California 94123
USA
6 July 2009
33rd America’s Cup
Dear Commodore,
We write to correct your erroneous letter of June 19, 2009 and to address news reports of a recent interview with Russell Coutts.
In the June 19 letter, you curiously claimed that …Â Details
Tom Akin had a lot to say about sailing Flash, a TP 52, to Hawaii. His initial comments were, ‘I found out what is its like to be in a TP52 for seven days.
‘You sit in water, you eat in water, and you sleep in water. It’s wet. The beast is not as luxurious as my Santa Cruz 52. I was looking for a creature comfort and couldn’t find one.’
Akin, his crew and Jeff Thorpe, Criminal Mischief’s navigator, worked non-stop over a very short period of time to get Flash into racing condition. From the time the boat arrived in Long Beach, two weeks before the start, until the evening before they took off, the deck was strewn with rigging materials, sealants and tools. The work that they did paid off. With more than half of the Transpac fleet safely docked in Honolulu, Flash sits second in class and second in fleet.
Akin had nothing but praise for each and every individual who sailed Transpac 09 on Flash…Â Details
Doug Baker’s Magnitude 80, specifically designed by Alan Andrews Yacht Design for West Coast distance races, crossed the Diamond Head finish line at 2:17:41 am on Sunday.
Magnitude 80’s elapsed time of 6:16:17:41 (subject to ratification) was within minutes of Morning Glory’s record run of 6:16:04:11 in 2005 that established a course record, which held until Alfa Romeo’s finish yesterday.
Magnitude 80 started the race on July 5th along with the other Unlimited Class boats. It finished over a day behind the 100-foot Alfa Romeo, also an Unlimited Class Division I boat. Magnitude 80, like Alfa Romeo, has a canting keel. It also has a single retractable daggerboard on centerline. With an active racing program, the boat has taken line honors, won numerous races on corrected time and holds records in the Tahiti Race, Marina del Rey to Cabo, LA to Cabo and Newport to Ensenada races, among others…Â DetailsÂ