Son of the Dragon

Congrats to China Team on last evening's spirited naming ceremony for CHN-95, the first Chinese yacht in the history of the America's Cup.

While a projection of a TAG Heuer watch counted down the 30 minutes to the bottle smash, speeches were given by, among others, the Chinese Ambassador to Spain Mr. Qiu Xiaoqi, Valencia Mayoress Rita Barberá and syndicate chairman Wang Chao Yong.

The first-ever AC team representing a Chinese yacht club, powered largely by the former French AC team Le Defi, backed by Swiss-based main partner in TAG Heuer, for an unprecedented AC event in Spain, used a bottle of Chivas from Scotland swung by the Chinese model Xin Li (who splits her time between Los Angeles and New York) to "christen" the yacht Longtze while a number of French and German marketing mavens hovered in the wings. Not to mention that the yacht was constructed in China by a boat building team led by Australians.

Needless to say the evening was a colorful mix of sights, sounds, tastes, personalities and languages -- including English, French, German, Mandarin and of course Spanish, in which most of the ceremony was conducted. The unskirted yacht -- with its colors, graphics and name -- is distinctly Chinese.



CHN-95, after being christened Longtze -- Son of the Dragon -- at the China Team Base in the Port America's Cup last evening. Photo courtesy of Pierre Orphanidis, Valencia Sailing whose camera was much better in the rain and smoke than your Ed.'s normally-trusty phone cam.

Red Bull: Party On!

Congrats to Sweden's Victory Challenge on the naming ceremony this evening for their new ACC yacht, SWE-96. As we type, we can hear the music going strong from across the Port America's Cup at the Victory Team Base. A large crowd has already gathered on the roof-top hospitality area, and a few moments ago the Red Bull aerobatic plane put on a spectacular display above (and, at times, just above) the waters of the PAC basin.

The Red Bull aerobatic plane in action over the PAC a few minutes ago. Photo courtesy of Michelle Tapper (NZL, BMW ORACLE Racing).

UPDATE 2330 Thursday: Victory's celebration was not your father's traditional AC christening party. Full story (and more pictures) on the popular Valencia Sailing website. Rock on!






FURTHER UPDATE 1145 Friday: Hurray! ACM actually published something on their site about all this. And a good story to boot. 'Bout time ACM paid more attention to the teams.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE 1320 Friday: AREVA's team photog, Franck Socha, captured (apparently from the roof of their base) the best shots of the aerobatic show that we have so far seen.

AREVA Christen FRA 93

Congrats to our colleagues Dawn Riley and George Clyde and our other friends at the AREVA Challenge on the christening of their new ACC yacht last evening here in Valencia. Approximately 400 team members and guests gathered under a special tent erected for the occasion on the hard in front of their team base.

After a couple speeches and a great video, all team members were invited to the stage. Then the big red curtain behind them was opened to reveal the light-grey FRA 93 -- with a significantly turned-up nose and, by all accounts, an interesting transom. Details on the AREVA Challenge website.



We may not be in Kansas anymore, or Berkeley for that matter, but do pay attention to that boat behind the curtain. Photo courtesy of AREVA Challenge.



The big moment last evening. Photo courtesy of Pierre Orphanidis and his Valencia Sailing website, where there are more excellent photos to be found.