Bruno, Bruno, Bruno!

On 24 June here in Valencia former AC skipper and long-time AC promoter Bruno Trouble (FRA), along with innovative yacht designer Laurie Davidson (NZL), will be inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame, it was revealed yesterday by HOF President Halsey Herreshoff (USA).

Mr Trouble (pronounced "troo BLAY" -- though in Cup circles he has been affectionately nicknamed "Big Trouble") was an AC helmsman for France during the 1970's. However, Bruno is better known for finding a sponsor (Louis Vuitton) for the Challenger Selection Series back in 1983, and since then building the "Louis Vuitton Cup" into a world-renowned prelude to the America's Cup Match. In that time, LV has become one of the longest-term and most widely respected, and appreciated, sponsor-partners in our sport -- perhaps any sport.

The HOF press release said, "Bruno is the mastermind behind the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger series. As such he continues to set the stage for the 2007 America’s Cup races."

His latest Cup innovation is the "Cylinder Mark", a.k.a. "Bruno's Buoy" -- a term coined by this Blog. The AC 32 Race Committee have other names for it.

All of the Challengers very much appreciate Bruno's -- to say nothing of Louis Vuitton's -- continuing contributions to the America's Cup, and are very pleased to see him honored.

Congrats to Bruno and Laurie. Well deserved recognition for both. If past HOF induction dinners are any guide, this 24th of June black-tie gala should be a very special, and lively, evening.

HOF Press Release on the Scuttlebutt Website

Bruno "Big Trouble" Trouble (FRA) who, we were pleased to read in the HOF press release, "continues to set the stage for the 2007 America’s Cup races."

Bruno stands in his new idea for America`s cup top mark which it is intended to have photographers and camera crews inside. Louis Vuitton Act 7. Malmo, Sweden. 31 Aug 05. Photo courtesy Chris Cameron/ETNZ.

CC MEMO -- Bruno's Buoy

The prototype of a proposed new windward mark for AC 32 made its first appearance in Valencia today -- assembled by ACM Race Operations Manager Niccolo Porzio and his team, then moored to the Race Committee dock at the Real Club Nautico Valencia.

The main (orange) part is 19 metres in circumference and 2.5 metres high. A number of cameramen can stand inside the open interior, and, of course, there is ample area to display ACM sponsor branding on the outside.

The white ball is a helium-filled balloon on a tether that would be released to a height of 100 or so meters to help identify the location of the windwark mark to spectators and media. To avoid the tether tangling in the rigs of the racing yachts, the balloon would be retrieved before the yachts approached the mark to round it.

Regatta Director Dyer Jones will present the concept to the Challenger Commission at its meeting next week; no doubt it will be discussed in some detail. If well received, the plan is to test it during Acts 4 and 5 at Valencia in June.

America's Cup veteran Bruno Trouble conceived the new mark, and he was at the RCNV this afternoon with ACM CEO Michel Bonnefous to check it out. The photo of Bruno and Michel below gives you a better idea of the buoy's size. The ladder is removeable to the inside once the mark is in position, anchored, and the photogs and TV cameramen are inside.