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 . . . "

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Nice Ink: Shosholoza's Tomasso Chieffi

Excerpt from an interesting interview with Shosholoza sailing team member (afterguard/tactician), Tommaso Chieffi (ITA) on the Sailing World website....

At this point what are the team's expectations?
Making the semifinals has been the target all along. Top-four is ambitious because we have bigger teams ahead of us, especially the Spanish, Mascalzone Latino, or the Swedes. It's going to be a good fight among these teams, and the winter racing we've done has proven that any team can now beat the other on any given day. Those spots from eight to four will be fairly open.

Have the changes in the afterguard helped the fluidity of the decision-making?
That's an area where we've been trying to improve a lot and now we have a composition where Paolo [Cian] has become our starting helmsman, but he's also doing the whole race. Last year he did only the start. I'm replacing Dee Smith in the tactician's role, where last year I was driving after the start. Ian [Ainslie] is strategist, and Mark Sadler is the traveler/main, and wind spotter. Mark is tied in with the crew, and with the maneuvers—kind of like Murray Jones with Alinghi does.

Are the inexperienced guys brought in at the outset of the campaign sufficiently up to speed?
These guys have come along and I rate them as experienced at this stage; they've learned their way through. We've brought some additional backups for trimmers who are also observing and coaching. And we brought in three new persons last year to back up the mastman, grinder, and runner/main positions. This is going to be a long regatta and we came to the agreement that we needed to have backups. Everyone could get sick or injured at any time.

How popular is this challenge in South Africa; is the novelty still there?
It's very popular in South Africa, and here in Valencia. It's just the young and fresh theme that brings a novelty to the America's Cup and the team is very highly regarded in terms of popularity. It's always been an open team and people are free to come and join the spirit of the campaign. The bigger teams are much more strict about their security and not letting people in and stuff; we've always been very open and that has helped its popularity.

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Family Fun in Gandia

Shosholoza and Areva enjoyed some good intramural competition yesterday and today, and not just in ACC yachts.

Today, the they are down in Gandia, about 45 minutes south of Valencia, former home base for the Areva Challenge. On a sunny and warm day that felt like early summer, the Gandia games included match racing: shore crew vs. shore crew; afterguard vs. afterguard; marketing vs. marketing, etc. This was followed by a nice paella lunch in the old Areva Base tent. This afternoon's program included beach volleyball, a rowing contest and boule competition.

More of the good cheer, spirit and cooperation common among AC 32 Challengers.



Match racing in Gandia Harbor using local yachts.



Rowing competition featuring team members, families and families.



Boule getting organized on shore. One doubts the authors of the AC Deed of Gift ever imagined that, more than a century and half after the Cup was donated to NYYC, "friendly competition between foreign countries" would include a game of bowls on a beach in eastern Spain between teams from France and South Africa. ¡Viva la Cup!

Photos courtesy of Benedikt Horber (GER).

Nice Ink: African Debutants

Nice article running on the Reuters wire this week and being picked up in papers and on websites around the world:


African debutants aim high in America's Cup Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:25 PM ET

By Wendell Roelf

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Africa's first America's Cup hopefuls Team Shosholoza started out with the aim of winning a race or two.

Now, despite having the oldest boat in the challengers' series, the South African team have raised their sights and are determined to make this year's semi-finals.

"At the beginning of last year we were taking it as it came and hoping to win a few races but now we're in a position where to come fourth, to make the semi-finals, is something in our minds," said skipper Mark Sadler.

"It's going to be bloody hard and difficult to get that right but it is a possibility and that's where we're aiming.

"It started off as an adventure...but after winning a few races we are a fully fledged America's Cup team. We've achieved more than we expected to already and whatever more we take away is a bonus," Sadler said as the team prepared to travel to Valencia in Spain where the Louis Vuitton Cup -- the challengers' elimination series -- will be held.

The team hope to do justice to their name -- "Shosholoza" is a Zulu word which means to go forward -- when they tackle the last of the pre-qualifying rounds against the world's best sailing teams in April.

SUPERSTITIOUS SAILOR

Team Shosholoza have been focusing on the April competition since March 2004 when a group of relatively inexperienced club sailors were brought together by Italian sailor Salvatore Sarno, the managing director of a shipping company in South Africa.

"Everything is in the hands of the team. They have to work together, sail together as much as possible. The crew has to be synchronised just like a machine," said Sarno, a superstitious sailor who ensures the boat always has a red chili on board to ward off "evil spirits".

Sadler said major modifications to the boat were made in December to try to coax more speed from what will be the oldest boat in the competition.

"The boat's been upgraded and refitted so it's got some new gear. It's a slightly different shape. It's things that we've learned over the last year that we think will make the boat a little faster," he said.

Principal designer Jason Ker, speaking from Valencia, said the team decided not to build a second boat as most others had done, but rather to modify and improve the existing craft.

"We've made changes to the bow, stern and appendages to get more speed through the water," he said.

OCEAN FERRARIS

Speed is vital and milliseconds could open the door to a place on the winner's podium, with the top three teams -- Oracle, Prada and Team New Zealand -- considered to be the Ferraris of the open ocean race.

Just like Ferrari they were also beatable, suggested Sarno.

Full story on Reuters

Patriotic Parents

Nice article in today's Cape Times (Cape Town, South Africa) by Di Meek about the Cup-enthusiastic parents of Shosholoza grinder Reinhardt Rauscher....

The patriotic parents of a gung-ho grinder

Tossing it all into the wind comes naturally for Shosholoza enthusiasts, writes Di Meek

December 19, 2006

The parents of a Team Shosholoza sailor, Reinhardt Rauscher, have been so inspired by South Africa's first challenge in the America's Cup race that they have sold their home, bought a yacht and set sail for Valencia, Spain, to support the team in the final legs leading up to the tournament in June next year.

That they had never been on a yacht before was simply a minor |detail for adventurers Martie, 46, a book-keeper, and Rusty Rauscher, 48, who had a racing car repair business in Boksburg - a dry highveld town east of Johannesburg some 600km from the sea.

"Reinhardt was our biggest inspiration. He was lucky enough to join Team Shosholoza in January 2005 and we are just so proud of him and what the team is doing for South Africa that for a long time now we've wanted to be part of it all.

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Shosho's Nankin Back Onboard

Welcome news today about Shosholoza's Charles Nankin, who was seriously injured on the last day of the German Sailing Grand Priz at Kiel in August, on the South Africa's SuperSport website....

Team Shosholoza mastman Charles Nankin was back on board yacht Shosholoza RSA 83 - albeit in the non-participant role of 18th man - for the first time on Wednesday since seriously fracturing his back in a freak sailing accident in August this year.

"I was excited to say the least! It's still too early to return to my position as mastman but now I'm happy and confident that I'm on the right track.

"I'll be back with the team in January and ready for the challenge," said a beaming Nankin, 28, of Zeekoevlei, Cape Town, who was sailing with the team during a practice session in Mediterranean waters off Valencia, Spain.

Nankin, a key player in the team, has been recuperating in Valencia - host city for the 2007 America's Cup and 'home' base in Europe for the past two years for Team Shosholoza and the 11 other teams from around the world entered for the event.

He returns to South Africa early next week with the rest of Team Shosholoza's sailing crew.

But while most of the team will be enjoying a short Christmas break he will spend time at Cape Town's Sport Science Institute replicating sailing situations through sport-specific fitness training.

Nankin's sail on Wednesday was exactly 100 days since his freak accident occurred while racing in the German Sailing Grand Prix in Kiel.

At the time he was on foredeck pulling in the spinnaker while rounding a leeward mark.

He was flung overboard by the foresail, which hit him unexpectedly as it came across the bow.

He was then sucked under the boat as it turned, hit in the back by the rudder and trapped underwater for 24 seconds.

Diagnosed with a full vertebral fracture, he immediately underwent a three-hour operation at a specialist hospital affiliated to the University of Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel and a titanium plate was inserted to stabilise the thoracolumbar region.

Two weeks later he was flown back to Valencia where he spent a few days in a rehabilitation clinic before returning to his Valencia home on August 30.

Nankin's teammates were pleasantly surprised to see him back on deck so soon.

"We're all convinced that Charles will be back in his regular position very soon," said grinder Shaun Pammenter, who has been back-up mastman since Nankin has been off the boat.

Boat captain Tim Kröger also commented: "A speedy return to the boat is good after such a serious accident, we're all happy and relieved."

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