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CNN Mainsail reports from Valencia
March 21, 2007
The America's Cup is nearly upon us -- and CNN Mainsail will be in Valencia in April to bring you all the latest news and reports from sailing's biggest event.
Double Olympic gold medallist, Shirley Robertson will present the program from an America's Cup yacht for a close-up view of what the event is all about. The competition has all the glamor, money and rivalry to compare with any other sporting event in the world and this could be the biggest and best ever. For the first time since its inception in 1851 it is being held in Europe, with all the ensuing advantages of television audience reach and sponsorship money. This is sport's oldest trophy -- the original race was watched by Queen Victoria. She saw the British fleet beaten by the yacht, called America, from the New York Yacht Club. The trophy was then named the America's Cup and carried off to New York and stayed there for 132 years! Australia was the first nation to wrest it from the grip of the U.S. then New Zealand. During the last Cup in 2003, the Swiss team Alinghi took it from the Kiwis.
Summary of April program
Shirley Robertson talks to Paul Cayard: One of the world's best sailors and a veteran of six America's Cups, there is not much Cayard does not know about this event. But what is his take on this latest edition of the event? Will it be the biggest and best ever? Will the changes and modernisation make for the best racing ever? What does he think of the venue of Valencia and the Spanish team for whom he is now working? Shirley Robertson explains the boats: A winning team has to have good sailors, but more often than not, the team with the fastest boat wins. So, what is an America's Cup boat? Shirley Robertson explains the features of an ACC boat, while Louise Moran goes behind the scenes at one of the main challengers, the American BMW Oracle Racing. They have used motor-racing technology and spent millions of dollars on research and development to try to give their yacht an edge over its rivals. With so much at stake, great secrecy surrounds each boat's individual characteristics and the hulls are hidden when out of the water, by skirts. Carlo Borlenghi, official photographer of the America's Cup:
But the America's Cup is not just about technology, like any sport it has its artistic side. Carlo Borlenghi is one of the finest marine photographers in the world and is the official photographer for the America's Cup, capturing these magnificent boats and their crews in action. Mainsail follows him out on the water to see him at work. Shirley Robertson on board Victory Challenge:
Shirley Robertson gives the rundown on an America's Cup crew -
- how does everyone work together on the boat to achieve maximum speed? Mainsail climbs aboard Sweden's yacht, Victory Challenge, for a close-up view of these speed-machines. Finally, after all the secrecy of teams hiding their technology secrets from each other, all is revealed in a grand unveiling day before racing begins. Everyone gets to see what lies beneath the skirts hiding the boat hulls. Then the challenger series begins to see who will face Alinghi in the America's Cup. |
