After I posted about my wish for a skippercam I saw the next day that they had it, good close shots from the controllable cam at wing base, and the port/stb cams can do the same thing. Close focus on the skippers has to be done to give sailing the same sort of strong human interest action content that makes tennis and golf so successful at drawing audience.

No matter what engineers and yacht designers say about technically possible or not: the sea is king and always will be.

Video is not working - has it been removed ?

Nice idea. However they already have four cameras mounted to the boat (which v cooly can be zoomed and panned, etc from on shore)and given that there are nine boats and races only last 20 minutes each...you do the maths

The lack of wind for race one was OK; it was comforting to see Mother Nature remind all these Primadonnas that she can humble the best laid plans. - Only thing I'd mention after this first day of preliminaries, is that it would be nice to have a 'skippercam' on each boat. Put a camera on the wing that can focus on the skipper, and the human interest factor will be greatly improved.

We understand Phil has since been penalised 20 minutes for the engine seal breakage. We believe that drops him to 21st place

Not a good test of the media component of the test event.

PS: If this is the Olympic test event - then there are still no results for the Women's Match Racing on the official website the following morning...

I just wish I was there!

So lets see....Phaedo has outsailed all those that started on the 29th, passed all the boats ahead of her, presently leading the race even though being a bona fide cruising boat and you only mention it in the very last sentence....Honestly, 464 miles for an allout 100 footer doesn't impress me very much.

This is totally awesome news for Mike and for sailing as a whole, it wouldn't be the same without him there for the Vendee!

James, Regarding the line: "This marks the first time that boat hull design innovation will be applied to paddleboards," this isn't quite true. Morrelli and Melvin have designed a SUP that has been in production for about a year now: http://vimeo.com/12219362 . However, these are race SUP's rather than the wave specialized shapes I imagine Laird and Juan K. will pen.

So, who was first to turnip at the finish line today? lol

We went out to watch the start in conditions which could be described as pretty biblically rainy. We got so wet so quickly that we decided to cash in our chips and go and have breakfast. Some time later, after we'd dried off, we managed to catch Alinghi and Foncia finishing. And got really, really wet again. The photos make it look like it was sunny, which I certainly don't remember!

From a Geneva newspaper -- In wind conditions that were often hard to handle, the (Alinghi) team achieved a perfect race without the slightest error. Their gamble on the way to the mark at Bouveret (Alinghi did not reef) in more than 20 knots wind, was no doubt one of the keys to this success. -- Alinghi then performed a return to Geneva at speed with a capital S, always tightly followed by Foncia who remained in contact to the end. Michel Desjoyeaux delivered an extended tacking battle with Ernesto Bertarelli and his team, which the latter finally won in 6h 25 minutes, which is the third best finishing time in the history of the Bol d'Or since 1939. -- Foncia arrived right behind, followed by Ylliam helmed by Arnaud Psarofaghis, and Okalys Corum. Nicolas Grange's boat skippered by Loick Peyron had problems at the start when a crewmember fell overboard, but succeeded all the same in catching up and gaining a spot at the foot of the podium. -- (note; Triga IV still holds fastest time of 5h01m51s, set in 1994). -- http://www.tdg.ch/8-ans-attente-alinghi-remporte-bol-or-2011-06-18

Anyone else notice that the AmericA's Cup new logo is a bit similar to this MetallicA one? http://vgtribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/metallica.jpg

How ya doing, KM? Maybe Shoebridge has it totally backwards. He said they were happy with the venue, but the boat and format needed work. But probably the venue has the most quirks, actually; When they require $12 million for an environmental OK/permits for a sailboat race! - - As detailed in the following apologia to idiotic red tape: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/06/america-s-cup-short-cash-plannin...

I'm not clear what it is that these teams have entered, but wonder what makes the San Fran mayor so sure they're going to be competing for the America's Cup in 2013. Most of them entered the AC World Series precisely because the rules were changed so that they didn't have to enter the actual America's Cup at all. I enjoyed Kevin Shoebridge's comments. Talk about damning with faint praise.