International sports, Formula 1, European Grand Prix
Valencia, Spain (GenevaLunch) - Red Bull brought Germany their first sporting glory of the day with an emphatic win at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, 27 June. Sebastian Vettel started in pole position and was never really threatened. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button came in next for McLaren although Button’s third place might be lost to a steward’s enquiry after a group of drivers went too fast during while the safety car was on. Should that happen third place would go to the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi.The most exciting moment of the race was when the other Red Bull driver, Mark Webber, was involved in a spectacular crash after driving into the rear of Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus.
BMW Oracle team walking out to the boat Sunday 14 February before the race they won, taking the 33rd America's Cup sailing title (photo: ©2010 Guilain Grenier/BMW Oracle)
Valencia, Spain (GenevaLunch) - BMW Oracle has taken the America’s Cup sailing title, winning the second race Sunday 14 February almost as clearly as it won the first race two days earlier. The American boat finished 5.26 minutes ahead of Alinghi: Oracle’s technology, with its massive rigid sail, was the real winner. The race was close during the first leg but BMW Oracle pulled ahead and the winner was never in doubt.
Links to other sites: Alinghi, America’s Cup, BMW Oracle
Valencia, Spain (GenevaLunch) - The boats waited until nearly the last minute to begin their second race of sailing’s America’s Cup sailing race, after delays while the wind shifted. Alinghi began the race with a penalty, just as it did in the first race, which it lost to BMW Oracle by 15 minutes.
Live and Updates on the America’s Cup site.
Oracle, headed for a clear victory in race 1, America's Cup, 12 February (photo: BMW Oracle)
Valencia, Spain (GenevaLunch) – The water and wind were fine at last on Friday, after days of waiting for sailing conditions off the coast of Valencia to be right for the America’s Cup race to begin. But once Alinghi and Oracle put their tall sails to work, American Oracle’s trimaran dominated the race and won neatly over the Swiss catamaran, finishing eight and a half minutes ahead.
The “wing”, as Oracle’s rigid mast has become known, put in a stellar performance, as did the boat’s aggressive crewing. Alinghi’s lead at the outset, due to a stalled start on Oracle’s part, faded, and by the top mark at the end of the 20 nautical mile upwind first leg Oracle was 3 minutes 21 seconds ahead. By the end of the race Oracle’s lead had more than doubled. Alinghi was hampered by a penalty turn handed out early in the race. The Swiss boat was expected to regain time in the down wind leg, but, Sail-World reports, “it was obvious that, in the soft conditions, Alinghi was at a disadvantage.”
Alinghi held a steady pace, but that was no match for Oracle’s performance on the second, downwind leg, and Alinghi’s finish was something of a shambles.
BMW Oracle Tuesday night in Valencia - waiting, waiting
Update / 2 13:05 Valencia, Spain (GenevaLunch) - The most that can be said about the America’s Cup sailing race is that it’s having trouble filling its sails, quite literally. The race between Swiss Alinghi and US BMW Oracle has been delayed until Friday at least 13:00, due to “leftover seas” from yesterday’s wind.
“The waves were the biggest problem. I think they were about 1.3m average size in the start area,” said Alinghi strategist Murray Jones. “That means we could’ve had a peak of 1.8m and that’s the biggest issue.
“There was a swell coming from one direction and waves from an offset of 90 degrees to that. We’ve been out in conditions not quite that bad, but it’s heinous. I think they’ve done the right thing by not sending us out there,” Jones said.
The race was scheduled to start Monday, but there was too little wind. The teams spent Wednesday morning at their bases, waiting to see which of two contradictory weather forecasts would win out: offshore or onshort breezes were predicted. In the end, they canceled each other out. Races are now scheduled for 12, 14 and 16 February.
Twiddling their thumbs: Alinghi and BMW Oracle wait for the America's Cup race to start (photo: ©2010 Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW Oracle)
Valencia, Spain (GenevaLunch) – The America’s Cup sailing race, scheduled to begin Monday morning 8 February at 10:06, was postponed due to too little wind. By 10:20 the wind was rising from the southwest, but the tall masts of the two catamarans scheduled to race were forced to wait to show off their prowess. The world’s arguably most prestigious international racing cup pits Geneva-based Alinghi against San Francisco’s BMW Oracle.
The two have been sparring for months in courtrooms and now they move onto the water for the real battle, where new technology promises to be a key feature. The three-day fight for the cup is likely to be less gripping, notes Swiss television TSR, than the last America’s Cup in 2007. It lasted three months and had several participants, but which also was a tight and dramatic race between Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand.
The races can be followed live on the America’s Cup site and TSR online. Both teams are using Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to promote the race.
The race consists of:
the best of 3 races, as specified in the “Deed of Gift”, official founding document for the competition
• Race 1: Upwind-downwind 20 miles per leg
• Race 2: 39 nautical-mile equilateral triangle, first leg
• Race 3 (if necessary): Upwind-downwind 20 miles per leg.
Background, GenevaLunch
Links to other sites: Alinghi, BMW Oracle
Oracle vs Alinghi
© Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
BMW Oracle on the water in Valencia 3 February
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – America’s Cup, the top international sailing event, may happen in Valencia after all, it appears, after months of legal battles between Alinghi and the challenger, BMW Oracle, threatened to sink the race. Remaining legal challenges, over such matters as Alinghi unilaterally setting the start time of the race at 10:06 Monday 8 February were put to rest by the International Jury Wednesday 3 February, which said yes, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) has the right to set the rules.
The five-person jury early Wednesday refused several challenges from BMW Oracle to what the SNG argues are its rights to set the rules. The Geneva-based SNG, home to Alinghi, holds the Deed of Gift, which traditionally gives the bulk of decision-making power to the defending champion.
Alinghi on the water in Valencia, 1 February 2010 (photo: ©2010 George Johns/Alinghi)
One of the BMW Oracle objections concerns dumping substances in the sea while racing. The jury refused the San Francisco-based team’s objections to rules for this, it emphasized that all applicable laws apply during the race.
Weather will ultimately determine if the race begins on time. The weather forecast for Monday and Tuesday: 8-20C, 20 percent chance of rain and winds picking up from 10kph Sunday night to 21-25kph.
Links to other sites: Alinghi, BMW Oracle
Alinghi sailing near Valencia 21 January 2010 (photo: GJ, Alinghi)
Left to right: Ricardo Peralta, Spanish government delegate; Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi team president; Alec Tournier, SNG general secretary; Rita Barberá, the mayor of Valencia and Vicente Rambla, vice-president Valencia regional government (Photo: Alinghi)
New York, NY, USA (GenevaLunch) – New York Justice Shirley Kornreich told Geneva-based Alinghi and San Francisco sailing team BMW Oracle Friday in a telephone conference call Friday 29 January that she will not rule on the legality of sails used by Alinghi in the America’s Cup sailing race before the scheduled start to the competition.
The America’s Cup, generally considered the most prestigious race in the sailing world, is scheduled to be raced in 10 days in Valencia, Spain.
Kornreich has presided over a series of legal battles that have threatened the race since Alinghi won the last one in July 2007.
Alinghi promptly announced that the race “is free to proceed as ordered by previous New York rulings: in Valencia on the 8, 10 and 12 February.”
BMW-Oracle says Alinghi's sails not made in Switzerland
Update 18:35 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – America’s Cup challenger BMW-Oracle and defender Alinghi are set to go back to court in New York after negotiations broke down in Singapore 12 January. The two sailing teams and their boats are in Valencia, Spain to contest sailing’s oldest and most prestigious race, a best of three meets that begins 8 February. Final details of the rules for the races are under discussion, but a sticking point lately has been the source of Alinghi’s sails.
BMW-Oracle maintains that Alinghi’s sail, made in the USA, violates the Deed of Gift’s stipulation that the boat be entirely built in the country the team represents, in this case Switzerland, home of the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG). The Deed of Gift is the document that lays down the ground rules for the 159-year-old race. Alinghi says bluntly that BMW-Oracle has it wrong.
Alinghi in November 2009
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Sailing’s biggest race might just happen after all: Alinghi and the Société Nautique de Genève have published the draft Sailing Instructions and Notice of Race for the 33rd American’s Cup. The race opens 8 February in Valencia, Spain. The two published draft documents have been sent to the BMW Oracle team, against whom Alinghi is expected to race. The two have been locking in legal battles for several months over a number of issues, including the size and other details for the boats.
The draft Notice of Race provides details for the boats in section 7.
Draft Sailing Instructions, America’s Cup 2010 and Notice of Race
BMW Oracle left California 15 December for Valencia, Spain
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Alinghi sailing team is preparing to defend its World Cup title in the chilly winter waters of Valencia, Spain in 2010, following a decision Tuesday 15 December by a panel of New York Supreme Court judges to uphold an earlier decision. A judge ruled 30 October against the choice by Société Nautique de Genève’s of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates for the next America’s Cup. The four-judge panel also upheld an earlier decision to exclude rudders from the measurement of the load waterline length of the race yacht.
Alinghi will face BMW Oracle in February 2010 in Valencia. The BMW team, based in San Francisco, left California Tuesday for Valencia, to start preparing for the race.
Background, GenevaLunch
Links to other sites: Alinghi, BMW Oracle
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer missed out on the chance to win his fourth successive title at his Swiss hometown tournament. He played without his customary power and precision to let Novak Djokovic take the title.
Where the race will be decided. ©NARAL
Geneva, Switzerland and New York, USA (GenevaLunch) – Team Alinghi, representing the Société Nautique de Genève in the 33rd America’s Cup race, has announced it will appeal the decision by Justice Shirley Kornreich of the New York Supreme Court to deny Alinghi the right to defend its title in Ras al-Khaimah (RAK), United Arab Emirates, in February 2010.
Kornreich had ruled 27 October that the race be held in the southern hemisphere or in Valencia, Spain, basing her decision on the terms of the “Deed of Gift” which stipulates that the race be held in the southern hemisphere between 1 November and 1 May.
Kasparov, Karpov, in blitz, 25 September 2009 (photo: ©2009 Chessvibes.com)
Valencia, Spain (GenevaLunch) – Gary Kasparov, 46, has won a 12-game match, 9-3, against Anatoly Karpov, 54, in a rematch of their famed 1984 encounter, which was called off after 48 games, over health concerns for the pair, particularly Karpov. Valencia hosted the rematch as part of its celebrations of the birth of modern chess in the city in the 15th century. According to Chess Vibes, the most interesting in a series of historical lectures on chess that accompanied the series was given by Switzerland’s Ulrich Schaedler, “who explained various aspects of the Book of Games manuscript of Alphonse X.”
Karpov and Kasparov say they plan to play again, in Paris in December.
The rematch consisted of: day 1, simul; days 2 and 3, rapid games (25 minute time control); day 4, blitz games (5 min time control), for a total of 12 games.
Details: Chessdom, ChessVibes (video), Reuters and the rapid games on chessgames.com
Valencia, Spain (GenevaLunch) - Garry Kasparov beat Anatoly Karpov Tuesday 22 September in the first game of a rematch of their famous marathon match in 1985.
The original match in Moscow was planned to be the fist to win six games, and Karpov, considered a model Soviet, moved quickly to a 4-0 lead before his brash young challenger switched tactics and gradually ground down his opponent with repeated draws. The match was stopped with Karpov leading 5-3 but apparently on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Valencia, Spain (GenevaLunch) - Rubens Barrichello was the popular winner of the European GP in the streets of Valencia, his first win since 2004 with Ferrari. The Brawn GP driver started in third place behind Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen for McLaren. In the first lap Kimi Raikkönen moved up from sixth to fourth while Championship leader Jenson Button went down from fifth to ninth.
Lewis Hamilton extended his lead through the opening laps.
Mugello, Italy (GenevaLunch) - Michael Schumacher, seven-time Formula 1 Champion has abandoned his comeback as replacement driver for Felipe Massa in the Ferrari team for the European Grand Prix to be held in Valencia, Spain.
Gland, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Seven-times world champion racing driver Michael Schumacher announced he would stand in for injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa in the upcoming race in Valencia, Spain 23 August. Schumacher, 40, who lives on the shores of Lake Geneva, retired from Formula 1 racing in 2006 but continued as a team advisor for the Ferrari team where he won five of his seven championships.
Unbridled energy with La Pulquería at Paleo 09 © Paleo Festival 2009
Paleo Festival Nyon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The crowd at Paleo couldn’t keep up with La Pulqueria Friday 24 July. The energy level on the stage was reminiscent of the Large Hadron Collider at Cern – well, when it works – and lead singer Huracán Romántica exhorted the crowd in very passable French to dance, to DANCE. He even went into the crowd and gave people liberal shots of tequila from a bottle in an effort to get them fired up.
