Valencia Crónica #72

Issue #72 of Valencia Crónica is now available here.

The usual fine print.... Editor Bridget Baker issues VC approximately every other week, and it is intended solely for AC 32 team members and their families. Accordingly, VC is password-protected to ensure the privacy of contributors' contact info.

To obtain the password, or to be added to the email distribution list for Crónica, please write Bridget at valenciacronicaspain [at] yahoo [dot] co [dot] nz. Over 500 families are now receiving VC by email.

Valencia Crónica #71

Issue #71 of Valencia Crónica is now available here. Despite it now getting late in the AC32 game, Valencia Crónica continues to get better and better. Thanks to Editor Bridget Baker and her now many contributors for such a helpful and family-friendly service to all the teams. May it continue in future editions of the Cup!

The usual fine print.... Bridget issues VC approximately every other week, and it is intended solely for AC 32 team members and their families. Accordingly, VC is password-protected to ensure the privacy of contributors' contact info.

To obtain the password, or to be added to the email distribution list for Crónica, please write Bridget at valenciacronicaspain [at] yahoo [dot] co [dot] nz. Over 500 families are now receiving VC by email.

Congratulations & Thanks

Nice letter emailed to the Challengers last evening by Commodore W H Dyer Jones, AC 32 Regatta Director, and posted here with his kind permission....


Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Race Committee, I want to thank all competitors for their patience, cooperation, and understanding during the recently completed Round Robin series of the Louis Vuitton Cup. We know it was as difficult for you as it was for us.

We wish to congratulate the 4 teams that will now proceed to the Semi-final stage next week; and equally importantly, to thank those teams which are excused from further racing, for their tremendous effort with us over the last four years. We have enjoyed your spirit and determination to excel. We wish every member of every team all best in the future; we are sure our paths will cross at another sailing event soon.

We also want to thank all of the Race Volunteers who stuck with us for many more days than they had committed to without any days-off.

Finally, we extend out thanks for their support and assistance to the Capitanería de Valencia and the Capitán Marítimo, Red Cross, Guardia Civil, Salvamento Marítimo, the Spanish Navy, and the Port of Valencia. No racing is scheduled for 10-13 May. We look forward to racing starting again on 14 May 2007 in the Semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

For the Race Committee,

Dyer Jones
Regatta Director
32nd America's Cup

Nice Ink: Taking South Africa to the America's Cup

America's Cup Semifinals Taking Shape
South Africa's Shosholoza Shows Spark in Close Loss

By Angus Phillips
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, May 6, 2007; Page E04

VALENCIA, Spain, May 5 -- The top two challengers guaranteed themselves spots in America's Cup semifinals with easy victories Saturday, but it was the best-loved team in town that tugged heartstrings, falling from contention with another narrow defeat.

After regatta co-leaders BMW Oracle and Luna Rossa secured their slots in the next round, South Africa's Shosholoza absorbed a 47-second loss to Desaf?o Espa?ol that ended the first-ever African entry's chance to advance.

Shosholoza has three races left and won't go meekly. The rookie South Africans gave all the good teams a scare over the last two weeks and scored one shocking upset, beating top-ranked Luna Rossa.

Not bad for a team with a $23 million budget, 15 percent of what the big spenders have, and a crew that hadn't sailed these big, complex boats before.

The inclusion of two black sailors boosted the global image of a nation that only two decades ago was mired in apartheid. Did he ever imagine he would sail in the America's Cup? Not in his wildest dreams, said Zulu bowman Golden Mgedeza of Johannesburg.

Miracles do happen. The last few weeks, Shosholoza has been seen off the docks with a blessing from Andrew Mlangeni who spent 26 years locked up on Robben Island with South Africa's most famous freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela, who became president and oversaw the nation's overhaul to democracy.

But Shosholoza's entry wasn't symbolic. Of three teams trying the Cup for the first time, it was by far the most successful. China and Germany battled for the cellar. Whenever Shosholoza went out, a potential upset was in the air. In the first round robin, they won half their races to widespread surprise.

"We never thought we'd give the big boys such a hard time," said Erika Spilhaus, whose son Johann is a grinder and whose husband, John, takes care of hydraulics -- with her help. She was bicycling to the Cup village with a smile as the clock wound down.

"We're happy," she said. "We never expected to make the semifinals, but we never expected to do this well."

Saturday was typical. Shosholoza battled up the first leg on a bright, breezy day and rounded the first turning mark five seconds ahead. The win was critical for the fourth-place Spaniards, fighting for the last semifinal berth. They attacked on the downwind run, slid ahead on a puff of breeze, then held off the Africans in a tight, tactical race.

Shosholoza's financial and emotional leader, transplanted Italian shipping executive Salvatore Sarno, reckons the effort won't end, assuming he can find help to carry on. That seems likely.

"It was huge back home," team spokeswoman Di Meeks said. "On live TV every day and we've had front-page articles in all the papers."

"I'm absolutely stuffed," said mastman Charles Nankin. "It's the end of the road. We put so much into it and came so close to so many good teams. To be in this league, with so much potential to win, and have it end . . . "

Full story

Ernest G Taylor

We were sad to hear the news that Ernie Taylor (AUS) passed away on 25 April after a long illness. He served as executive director of the Challenger Commission's forerunner, the Challenger of Record Committee (CORC), for the 1992 and 1995 Cups. The Kiwi challenger, Black Magic, defeated Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes at San Diego in 1995 thanks in part to the strength of the challengers as a group in the '95 LVC.

From ACM's statement: Dyer Jones, currently Regatta Director of the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia, Spain and who worked with Ernie in both events stated: "Ernie was a determined and forceful leader of the Challenger Committee who, because of his background in television, helped bring this event into the forefront of public attention. We extend our sympathy to his family; he will be missed by all of us in this event who knew him."