AMERICA'S CUP SAILING - WELL ALMOST!
Club Nautico Español de Vela's (CNEV) second annual regatta takes place in Valencia this weekend and was presented on a very sunny morning at the club's headquarters in the Marina Real Juan Carlos I (formerly Port America's Cup) today. Four teams will sail ACC yachts and over 70 RN cruisers and Platu 25 will race this weekend. The fourth team to officially enter the ACC regatta is Luna Rossa.
Manuel Chirivella, president of the CNEV, Challenger of Record of the 33rd America’s Cup; Laureano Wizner, traveller of Desafío Español; Murray Jones, strategist and helmsman of Alinghi for this event; Rober Scheidt, strategist of Luna Rossa; Ben Ainslie, skipper of TEAMORIGIN; and Javier Moner, owner of one of the RN yachts, presented the regattas at this morning's Press conference.
Manuel Chirivella said that the goal of this regatta was a “get together of the amateurs and fans with the top sailors of the sport to enjoy what we love the most, sailing”. Moner added that he was “overwhelmed being able to share a press conference with some of the best sailors in the World and to sail with them in the same event, you learn just by watching them!”
Laureano Wizner, traveller of Desafío Español, said: “We are looking forward to racing the ACC yacht again. I may helm the boat but Paul Cayard will probably steer ESP 97 most of the time”.
Murray Jones, strategist of Alinghi and helmsman of SUI 100 for this event, added: “Our crew work is a bit rusty at the moment but we hope SUI 100 is still as fast as last year!”
The Brasilian sailor Robert Scheidt (who got silver in the recent Olympics in Beijing and also three golds from Athens 2004, Atlanta 1996, and another, silver medal from Sydney 2000) strategist for Luna Rossa, shared the same feelings, "to race on the ACCs is a great opportunity to get back to work”
Ben Ainslie thanked Desafío Español for lending TEAMORIGIN ESP88 for the races and looked forward to getting on with racing in this, the first regatta for TEAMORIGIN on an ACC boat. The four ACC crews had a training fleet race today. The Regattas begin in earnest tomorrow with the first race scheduled for 1pm. Racing continues over the weekend both on Saturday and Sunday. The weather forecast for the event is great, so get down to the port to watch.
And watch out for Mike O'Neill's reports on thisisvalencia.blogspot.com

REGATTAS TIMETABLE
 

FRIDAY 07 NOVEMBER 2008
13:00 HRS: Races ACC
15:00 – 20:00HRS: RN and Platu 25 Classes Registration at the Desafio EspañolTeam Base

SATURDAY 08 NOVEMBER 2008
13:00 HRS: Races ACC
14:00HRS: Races RN and Platu 25 classes

SUNDAY 09 NOVEMBER 2008
12:00HRS: Races RN and Platu 25 Classes
13:00 HRS: Match Race/fleet race ACC
18:00HRS: Prize giving ceremony of the II Trofeo Desafio Español at the Spanish Team Base

The best of luck to all the teams!

MORE THAN JUST SAILING IN THE MARINA - NOW THERE ARE HORSES!
CAVALIA COMES TO VALENCIA!
FROM 25 November
Cavalia, a show like no other created to date, is a lavish orchestration of multimedia, equestrian and performing arts. Brought to you by the team behind Cirque du Soleil. It starts 25 November and ticket prices range from 30€ to 159€ for dinner and the show.

UNDER THE WHITE BIG TOP,
EXPLANADA VELES E VENTS (ACCESO MALVARROSA)
MARINA REAL JUAN CARLOS I

BUT WHATEVER YOU DO, GET DOWN TO 39º27N
ON 08 NOVEMBER FOR THE BEST PARTY IN TOWN....