News Around the World
Ooh err… the yet to be knighted Russell Coutts and Challengers Alinghi stick it to his protégé Dean Barker and Team New Zealand in the pre-start during the 2003 America’s Cup in Auckland – the one that really hurt. Coutts had left Team NZ for Alinghi with his core group of sailors soon after their successful defence in 2000 against Luna Rossa…. Now it is Team NZ’s three-time Cup winning helm Pete Burling who has walked away to lead Prada boss Patrizio Bertelli’s 7th Italian challenge. An Italian win at last, imagine that party!
So far my opinion is that we’re sailing poorly, hoping the boat
will cover our mistakes. But the boat does what you tell it to; there are no miracles. We have enough experience to know that yesterday (races 3 and 4) we sailed OK except for one bad start; today (5 and 6) was the perfect day. Good starts, correct decisions and that little bit of luck needed at an important cross or passing a mark. We weren’t sailing so different yesterday (9,4) and suddenly we’re so good today (2,1). We must remain calm; I’m very calm. I only think about sailing
better every day. There are always terrible races and great ones, but you have to know where you are to do your best at all times. SH: Will you find light at the end of the tunnel? VV: With the boat as she is, we’ll have to sail differently for now and adapt tactics accordingly, looking for different lines on the course, knowing where we can sail high or fast. We have to under- stand the kind of creature we have. Don’t ask a tall, blond Viking to be a bullfighter; that’s for short, dark-haired guys (lots of laughs). SH: Have things changed regarding sails? VV:No, the usual tweaks from one season to the next. I think we’re lucky to have someone (Jordi Calafat) who is very involved in the entire project, though as you know he couldn’t sail here because of the requirements of the Corinthian category. Jordi is a very good sailor and also a very good sail designer; you couldn’t ask for more. SH: Are you missing him onboard? VV: Look, if a sailor is an Olympic gold medallist, has won the America’s Cup and many other big competitions, not having him on the boat is a loss. Jordi always tells me, ‘We have to arrive at the regatta having done our crying – once we’re racing there’s no point in complaining. We always have to do the best we can with what we have. SH: And Markus at the helm? VV: He has experience like few others. It had been 10 years since he sailed a TP52, and he told me, ‘Give me two hours to understand the boat.’ He’s a very good helmsman, he’s also very good at reading
26 SEAHORSE
the wind before the start. I listen carefully to him because he reads the wind very well. But the owner Hans (Müller) is also a very good helmsman; you
just have to look at Platoon’s results over the last few seasons. Last year we lost the season by just one point after a terrible start. The year before we won the season and the world championship, so there’s no doubting Hans’s skills. SH: What hope do you have for improvement this season? VV: You know that I never give up. I always say that good friends and good teams show up in the bad times. I’ll tell you something that might sound strange: I’m happy
Quantumwon here. Terry [Hutchinson] is a little older than me, and when you come back from the America’s Cup to a team that wasn’t stellar in past seasons, seeing him here gives me confidence that if he does well I can do it too. We have completely opposite per- sonalities, but we both have the same ambition. Our rivalry is 100 per cent sporting; we’ve been competing directly against each other for many years, and deep down we feel a certain respect for each other. This competition makes us better. I’d like to think Terry feels the same… I too would have liked to have known Hutchinson’s opinion on
the matter, but in Spain it wasn’t possible. It’s a shame, because I witnessed an epic battle between the two in the seventh race. In the final third of the first beat Hutchinson hammered Vascotto, then in the following legs the battle continued. Finally, at the finish line, American Magicwas seventh and Platooneighth. I had fun watching them fight like two kids during break.
Hoping for better times – Francesco Bruni We spoke to Sled tactician Francesco Bruni after the penultimate day and before D-Day, when the faces aboard Sled could regain their smiles. Seahorse: How’s the start of this season going? Francesco Bruni: In Saint-Tropez we finished second behind
GILLES MARTIN-RAGET
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150
