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Festival Season has officially begun!

The Sun is shining cheerily this month in Valencia's bright blue skies, and thoughts inevitably turn to the scorcher of a Summer we are expecting to break free of Spring any minute now.
Skimpy dresses, microshorts, gladiator sandals and colourful Wayfarers are the order of the day and we want candy. Candy for our ears, yes indeed, bring on some outdoor dancing at a Music Festival near you...

What with "La Crisis" and all, it has to be said that the festies, are fewer and further between lately, but this weekend kickstarts festival season of a handful of really high quality events promising to be well worth the parting with of euros.
Back a second year, SOS4.8, this Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd of May in Murcia, brings Babyshambles, Duffy, Underworld, Duffy, Russian Red, The Prodigy and more to España for a two day tunefest for what they call the Festival Internacional de Acción Artística (Int'l Festival of Artistic Action) and its not all about the music either - this is a 48 hour stint of all kinds of artistic activities, to incite you to reflect on politics, science, philosophy and of course, the economy, with exhibitions, conferences and performances running alongside the concerts to blow your mind while you rock it out. Check it out here: sos

This weekend also may offer something to appeal to the more hardcore at heart. If this applies to you, you may like to take yourself off to Villarobledo for the XIV edition of Viña Rock. Moshpit action is guaranteed but also the best Spanish and Valencian music around, from flamenco fusion, rap and hip hop to rock and heavy metal. lineup is here and the tickets are pretty cheap for a three day event.

I myself am already scheming plotting and planning for July- FIB (Festival Internacional de Benicassim) is also back again for their fifteenth year of a week of beachside fun in the sun. Fashion, art, drama and music music music comprise a lineup that gets stronger and more diverse as the years fly by. Headlining this year we have Oasis, Kings of Leon, Franz Ferdinand and The Killers headline the four days, in that order, but it tends to be the names in the slightly smaller print underneath that float my boat. My girl Lily Allen (I think we'd make excellent friends, I've always said so) will be playing on the Saturday and we ladies at thisisvalencia (and the boys, go on admit it!) can't wait to clock her enviable wardrobe - Chanel, anyone? - and sing along to her songs from her amazing new album It's Not You It's Me under the stars.
2ManyDJs, also making an appearance this weekend at SOS always guarantee a wicked time and we will expected an impressive setlist of their brilliant bootlegs, mashups and remixes, clearing our FIB Agenda for them without fail. The DJs and the electronic music generally forms quite a large part of the lineup to the festival and I am particularly excited about the recent announcement of Steve Aoki's addition to thangs. I am surely not the only one who has joined the dots here and made the connection, but Aoki being at the Valencian Community's hippest event of the year must definitely mean he will be accompanied by party photographer and fun-seeker extraordinaire, best buddy Mark Hunter, a.k.a. the cobra snake . I have always kept a watchful eye out for him and his lens at Benicassim, it is, of course, our very own Coachella, and this year I am willing to put money on his showing up.
The last time I saw Peaches onstage at FIB she was sporting a strap-on and a 70s pornstar moustache so she is sure to entertain too and her backstage ensembles always make for brilliant photos (read - thigh-high silver boots and fishnets in 40º heat.)
To be frank though, despite all of the exciting new acts confirmed, when Kings Of Leon were announced back in they had me hook, line and sinker, those Morán boys. My obsession with the Followill brothers has escalated this year into something unhealthy. Don't fret though, dear reader, I am not the sort to plaster my walls with Kings of Leon posters to plant with a snog before bed, nor do I know all of their personal details by heart including birthdays, favourite colours and preferred nightcaps, I am simply captivated by the vocals (oh, Caleb, what a voice!) and lyrics. And their live performance is something spectacular - can't wait for them to grace the Heineken Green Stage with their presence. click here, tickets are still available!


photo © 2009 thisisvalencia.com

YOUTH AND NEW EUROPEAN MEDIA CONFERENCE

The YOUTH AND NEW EUROPEAN MEDIA conference, with the tagline, TAKE THE INITIATIVE, CREATE YOUR OWN MEDIA will take place from 7 – 9 May in La Pobla de Vallbona, 20 Kms northwest of Valencia City.
The conference will entertain journalism students, graduates and professionals from all over Europe for three days. With debates, workshops and activities, the event will be a must for anyone interested in current affairs, journalism and multi-media. 
The main focus will be on European communication and new media, with expert input from Valencian, Spanish and European media specialists.
Among the growing list of journalists and broadcasters attending are Brussels Media guru, Raymond Frenken, Susanne Henn of Deutsche Welle, Journalist and founder of EUobserver Lisbeth Kirk, the British broadcaster and writer Patricia Kelly and Sky News Europe Correspondent Greg Milam.
more by clicking on the headline 

Sorry Folks, it ain’t gonna happen.......

Bet they're not smiling now!


There should be AC33 yachts on the horizon!

The reason I have been slow in putting pen to paper (ok, finger to key-board) recently is an increasing awareness that, notwithstanding two major and costly defeats in court, Ernesto Bertarelli’s ego is so huge, he just cannot accept defeat. The result of this is that, in spite of Golden Gate Yacht Club’s (BMW Oracle’s home club) offer to bury the hatchet and agree to a conventional America’s Cup series in Valencia next year, Société Nautique de Genève (Team Alinghi’s home club) have instead accepted the alternative of a head-to-head ‘Deed of Gift’ match in 90 foot multi-hulls at a venue to be decided.

SNG statement: issued yesterday (23 April), said:

“At a meeting today in Geneva, the America's Cup defending yacht club, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), confirmed that it accepts the Golden Gate Yacht Club's (GGYC) challenge for the 33rd America's Cup and informed representatives of the American yacht club that its team, Alinghi, will be ready to race their 90x90ft boat (as stated in the GGYC Notice of Challenge) in 2010.

SNG expressed its willingness for the challenger selection to be open to other teams and has encouraged GGYC to do so by offering them more time for teams to prepare if necessary. It was also stated that the SNG would be flexible and ready to discuss other terms of the 33rd America's Cup such as race format, venue or calendar.”

Now, much as I look forward to the spectacle of two giant multi-hulls (catamarans or trimarans...or one of each) hurtling towards one another at 50 knots plus in a winner-takes- all ‘grudge match’, the idea that this should be the way forward to future America’s Cup contests is just plain stupid. For a start, once one of these two giants has crossed ahead of the other.......game over, bar some unfortunate accident. These ‘boats’ are just so fast that, unlike Formula One where a great start can often be undone, the leading boat can just sail away and...well, where’s the sport in watching that?

The idea that the (alleged) eighteen other teams, waiting in the wings for the outcome of this conflict, would now willingly commit themselves and their sponsors (!) to the design, build and trial of these multi-hulled monsters really beggars belief. These teams have been willing to toe the party line thus far in the vain hope that they would get at least a year’s worth of low-cost sailing in the existing armada of AC yachts. GGYC (BMW Oracle) had already stated that, if they won the case, they would be happy for the 33rd AC Challenge to carry on in the existing boats provided that SNG (Alinghi) accepted some modest amendments to the rules that SNG had instigated.

GGYC statement: Valencia, Spain, 23 April 2009 – “A delegation from the Golden Gate Yacht Club and its team, BMW ORACLE Racing, met in Geneva today with representatives of SNG/Alinghi. GGYC’s clear and straight-forward proposals for a fully competitive, conventional America’s Cup in monohulls were rejected by SNG, who insisted on a regatta in large multihulls under the Deed of Gift (“DoG”). SNG asserted that the Deed of Gift match with GGYC would take place in May 2010. This is in defiance of the recent decision and orders of the New York courts that the DoG match take place in February 2010.

GGYC has asked SNG to put their position in writing, and hopes to have another meeting with SNG soon to clarify issues related to the DoG match. GGYC is disappointed that SNG categorically rejected our proposals for a conventional regatta. GGYC will continue to negotiate in good faith as Challenger of Record to put the America’s Cup back on the water as soon as possible.”

The question of dates is important. The New York Supreme Court ruled that racing should take place within ten months of judgement, which means by the end of February 2010. If the two teams don’t like the idea of racing in cooler European waters at that time of year, they could always be sure of a warm welcome in New Zealand, where Alinghi first won the trophy back in February 2003. Read the rest of this story NOW on thisisvalencia.com.....Bertarelli’s Big Problem
Mike O'Neill

Vote for Barbara!

If you are a regular reader of thisisvalencia.com you will probably look forward to reading Barbara O'Neill's excellent column about life as an ex-pat in (and out) of this fair city of ours. What you probably don't know, and I am about to tell you, is that Barbara has written a book, and jolly good it is too - it's called THE GIANT KILLERS and is currently on the Harper and Collins website Authonomy.com for all to read. The purpose of the site is to get your book read and voted on. The more votes, the higher the book is ranked and when it is ranked high enough it will be read by an Editor at Harper Collins with a view to publication.If, of course it is not snapped up by an eagle eyed agent or publisher in the meantime.
'When Elizabeth and Jack open the package they believe they are looking into a toy box. It is Jack who notices they are breathing.'
Barbara would love you to visit her page and have a read of this excellent novel, which she describes as a fantasy thriller. If you like it sign up to the site and put her book on your shelf and send her your comments....

To whet your appetite here are the cover notes:
It is the year 2150. Elizabeth Waldren, married to a man she has come to despise, is living in an old cottage on the isolated shores of Chichester harbour. Her husband, Stephen, is a geologist with a colonisation project on the planet GT4. Absent now for ten months, he has left her with his psychologically disturbed eight year-old son, Jack. On a routine survey Stephen risks entering the prohibited area and stumbles across an indigenous race, The Lhaitiri. Only twelve centimetres tall, he succeeds in capturing nine of them and, by a clever deception, transports them to Earth, keeping their existence from the project leader, Jonathan Tupperman. Angered when Elizabeth refuses to let him play with them, Jack resolves to punish her; but as he begins to understand the strength of her friendship with Ybron, their chief, he decides The Lhaitiri must die. As Elizabeth discovers that she is dealing with a life form far removed from that of Earth, she is determined to communicate. But when conversation is finally possible, so comes understanding and The Lhaitiri are faced with the true nature of the human race; with all its complexities and the society it has created for itself.
Go on go over to Authonomy.com and read (VOTE TOO) Barbara Richmond O'Neill's THE GIANT KILLERS, I guaantee you'll be hooked from chapter one.
Gooru

Our latest newsletter out today!

Our new style newsletter hit the mailboxes all over the world today! Packed with information and fun to read.
If you would like regular news from Spain's third largest city, home to Formula One, Open Tennis 500, The Gran Premio de España Show Jumping, The Palau de les Arts, The world's Best Zoo, Europes Best Aquarium and some of the best Architecture, nightlife and dining in Spain - send us an email by clicking the headline and following the instructions on the Newsletter. Hey and you can follow this blog and follow us on twitter too!

Tupper Sex Party at Laboratorio

Hey Girls,
What better way to spend a sunday evening in Valencia than drinking Champagne and Chocolate cake and looking at sex toys? Laboratorio, just off Plaza de la Virgen is holding a Ladies only Tupper Sex Party in conjunction with the sex shop 2-ROMBOS.
5€ e gets you in to the presentation 2 'copas' of Cava and Chocolate cake
It is a private party with closed doors and only for Girls!
Reservations are a must - 625 46 1616.
Oh and boys? There will be a Gay themed party by the same team at Café de las Horas very soon ...

America's Cup 33: Société Nautique de Genève statement

CONFUSED? WE ARE....
Geneva, Switzerland - (2009-04-23)
At a meeting today in Geneva, the America's Cup defending yacht club, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), confirmed that it accepts the Golden Gate Yacht Club's (GGYC) challenge for the 33rd America's Cup and informed representatives of the American yacht club that its team, Alinghi, will be ready to race their 90x90ft boat (as stated in the GGYC Notice of Challenge) in 2010.
SNG expressed its willingness for the challenger selection to be open to other teams and has encouraged GGYC to do so by offering them more time for teams to prepare if necessary. It was also stated that the SNG would be flexible and ready to discuss other terms of the 33rd America's Cup such as race format, venue or calendar.

Good News on the America's Cup

The Golden Gate Yacht Club have written a letter to Société Nautique de Genève setting out their thoughts on the way the next America's Cup could be. Sounds good for Valencia- Let's hope the meeting tomorrow in Geneva goes well

A statement just issued by GGYC, reads:

'The Golden Gate Yacht Club and its team, BMW ORACLE Racing, remain committed to a multiple challenger, mutual consent regatta. In preparation for our meeting with Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) this Thursday (23 April) in Geneva, Commodore Marcus Young sent a letter to his counterpart at SNG today reiterating our commitment and outlining two proposals for a multiple-challenger AC33. This letter is posted on our Club website, www.ggyc.com. We believe it is important to be clear and transparent in our respective positions. We are asking SNG to respond with their position in writing to avoid any confusion.'

The letter referred to reads:

Golden Gate YC - Golden Gate Yacht Club

April 21, 2009

Commodore Pierre-Yves Firmenich
Société Nautique de Genève
Port Noir
CH-1223 Cologny
SWITZERLAND

Dear Commodore Firmenich,

We remain committed to a multiple challenger, mutual consent regatta. To that end, we have ceded full authority to our delegation to negotiate an agreement with your club, and we seek confirmation that your delegation has similar powers.

We also believe that the process can be accelerated by highlighting our position to you in writing ahead of the meeting, thereby giving your team time to discuss the options and prepare. Henceforth, our AC33 proposals will be in writing and we respectfully request your responses be in writing as well.

Our proposal for AC 33 is for a multi-challenger regatta under a Protocol and rules (racing, technical and commercial) agreed by mutual consent, at Valencia in 2011, in your new 'AC33' class based on:

AC 32 rules and format with cost cutting measures; and the Board of ACM agreed by mutual consent.

or, alternatively:

a traditional format of a separate Challenger Selection Series organized at your venue by Louis Vuitton (if they agree to this role); i.e., the Challengers will provide the winner of the LV Cup, and the Challengers will re-assume the financial and organizational responsibilities for this series.

On Thursday our delegation is going to Geneva to discuss the foregoing with your representatives. We look forward to your written response to these proposals within a week of the Geneva meeting.

We suggest there be a neutral observer at the meeting able and willing to brief potential Challengers and the press afterwards. We invite your suggestions on who this might be.

Sincerely,

END

Flamenco Jazz At the IVAM

Valencian saxophonist and composer Kiko Berenguer heads a strong group of jazz musicians tomorrow 24 April at 11:00pm at IVAM for a session of Jazz Flamenco. Kiko Berenguer (sax and direction), Rafael Vargas " The Chino" (singer), Juan Carlos Gómez (flamenco guitar), Rogerio Campas (bass), Rafa Villalba (percussion) and Julia Gominelli (percussion) give the free performance of music and music from the films with a flamenco jazz twist.
24 April, 11:00pm
IVAM Centre Julio González
C/ Guillem de Castro 118 – Valencia

The Royal Ballet comes to the Palau de les Arts

The ballet returns to the Palau de les Arts in the hands of Carlos Acosta and The Royal Ballet. The Cuban dancer, one of the best dancers of today, hailed by the press as the “successor of Nureyev” and the “new Nijinski” together with the UK's finest Ballet company, Covent Garden's The Royal Ballet will present a show with choreography by Robbins, Stevenson, MacMillan and Balanchine. In the pit, Paul Murphy, musical director of the Royal Ballet of Birmingham, will conduct the Orquestra of the Comunitat Valenciana.
more at thisisvalencia.com by clicking the headline

International Book Day, BookCrossing and IVAM Valencia

Tomorrow 23 April, is International Book Day (a symbolic date for world literature for on this date in 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died), IVAM, along with 26 Spanish museums and centers of contemporary art, will share the experience of bookcrossing, or book liberation. More than 2,000 books related to different artistic disciplines 'released' ready for you to capture.
For those of you unfamiliar with BookCrossing, it is, in the site's own words, "an earth-friendly way to share your books, clear your shelves, and conserve precious resources at the same time. Through our own unique method of recycling reads, BookCrossers give life to books. A book registered on BookCrossing is ready for adventure.
Leave it on a park bench, a coffee shop, at a hotel on vacation. Share it with a friend or tuck it onto a bookshelf at the gym -- anywhere it might find a new reader! What happens next is up to fate, and we never know where our books might travel. Track the book's journey around the world as it is passed on from person to person."

All IVAM's released books will be credited with BookCrossing labels, will contain the instructions necessary to the 'capturer' and will be registered in the page Web www.bookcrossing-spain.com, where the readers will be able to indicate the place where they found each book and the place they released it.
IVAM say that the object of this initiative is the diffusion of knowledge on contemporary art.
More by clicking the headline

Free Folk Extravaganza At Valencia Poly

Very short notice, but we only found out today ourselves - The Valencian folk group Quamlibet plays live tomorrow Thursday, 23 April, in the Nexus Building at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, with a circuit of music named, in Valencian So de Sons. The concert begins at 8;00pm and is free!
Quamlibet comprises of six musicians and there will be an accompanying audio-visual spectacle filled with new features. If you can't make it tomorrow or you can and love what you see and hear they appear again in Valencia at the II Festival Dos Mares de Valencia. More information on this later, but it is a festival of music from the mediterranean and of Asturias and Cantabria. Sounds great.

Rita's Pleased! -33rd America´s Cup

According to our sources, it appears the mayoress of this lovely City, Rita Barberá, has received a letter bearing good news. A letter which she described as "very nice", from Ernesto Bertarelli, the founder of Alinghi, in which he has expressed his belief that Spain and the Comunidad Valenciana deserve to be the hosts, once again, of the massive nautical sporting event, the America's Cup.
Barberá is full of hope after BMW Oracle recently declared their intentions to negotiate a new protocol with Alinghi for the next Cup so that the other teams who wish to compete may do so. Bertarelli, in his letter, has informed her that he is already in touch with Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, in order to reach an agreement and the fact that they are open to negotiation is great news for Valencia, especially after the New York courts ruled Oracle to be Challenger of the Record, meaning this America's Cup could only be a three-regatta race between Oracle and the defender of the Cup, Alinghi.
Anita Darling

Global Champions Tour - Show Jumping

8 to 10 May City of Arts and Sciences
Valencia has been chosen as host city to the Grand Prix of Spain when the Global Champions Tour travels here for the first time. This new 5* CSI takes place from the 8th to the 10th of May when the organisers, Oxer Sport, the leading company in the organization of equestrian events in Spain, will transform the water areas of the City of Arts and Sciences into a stunning arena. It all takes place over three days in early May and is open to the public.
more by clicking on the headline

XII Festival de Cometas cancelled

Apparently due to lack of funds this year's festival of kites has been postponed from this weekend- the organisers are trying to reschedule for a weekend in June. It is such a shame, it is a lovely event .. we'll keep you posted

America's Cup: LATEST NEWS

Dear Members of the Société Nautique de Genève,

The latest developments in the 33rd America's Cup deserve some explanations so that you are all aware of the current situation.

For nearly two years, SNG and Alinghi have worked in conjunction with 18 challengers and those discussions led to the establishment of two new classes of America’s Cup yachts, initially the AC 90 rule and, more recently, the AC 33 rule. In addition, the rules that would have had governed a multi-challenger event as proposed in May 2010, were negotiated and published.

On April 2nd, the New York State Court of Appeals declared that the Club Náutico Español de Vela was not a valid Challenger of Record and, as a result, forced the Société Nautique de Genève to accept the Golden Gate Yacht Club (the club of BMW Oracle Racing) in its place, according to the terms in their notice of Challenge, including a multihull boat 90ft by 90ft.

Following the recent decision of the New York Courts, the rules governing the 33rd America's Cup, that SNG had developed with the Club Náutico Español de Vela, are no longer valid.

The Société Nautique de Genève is writing Golden Gate Yacht Club today to inform them that it accepts their America's Cup Challenge and that invites them to meet in order to define the terms that should govern the 33rd America's Cup.

Ernesto Bertarelli, President of Alinghi, also expressed his willingness to meet the President of BMW Oracle Racing, Larry Ellison, in a face-to-face meeting.

We will keep you informed of the outcome of these meetings in the weeks to come.

Yours sincerely,

Fred Meyer
President of the America's Cup Committee

A rare opportunity to see Rodrigo Leao in concert

Rodrigo Leão is one of Portugal's most important composers and performers,
he started his career by working with some of the most prominent Portuguese groups of the 80's and 90's; first playing keyboards with Sétima Legião, an ensemble that produced new visions for Portuguese modern pop and three years later, he became part of one of the most significant Portuguese musical projects of all time, Madredeus, again playing the keyboards.
In 1993 that he decided to record his first solo album, Ave Mundi Luminar. The album reflected numerous influences, from classical music to modern downbeat sounds, with vocals by Teresa Salgueiro, and with lyrics written in Latin, the album ultimately obtained significant success all across Europe. A year later, Leão decided to abandon Madredeus, and from then on he focused entirely on his solo career. Theatrum, his second album, was released in 1995, once again inspired by electronic sounds and world music. More than five years later, in 2000, he released Alma Mater, his third album, once more receiving considerable acclaim. His last album, CINEMA, released in 2004 went straight to number one in Portugal and also received critical acclaim throughout the world.
His short 3 date tour of Spain begins in Benicassim this Saturday 18 April and continues through to Zaragosa on Monday 20 April and ends in Logroño, capital of Rioja, on tuesday 22 April
tickets for the Benicassim show which begins at 22:30 this Saturday are 12€ and are available through www.telentrada.com/902.10.12.12
Teatre Municipal de Benicassim: 964300102

America's Cup - An Open Letter

This is an open letter to the Société Nautique de Genève and the Golden Gate Yacht Club from the Commodores of the five yacht clubs that either set the America's Cup competition in motion: the Royal Yacht Squadron, or have been a former trustee of the Cup: the New York Yacht Club, the Royal Perth Yacht Club, the San Diego Yacht Club and Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

'We write to encourage you to negotiate together for a fair and equitable multi-challenger competition for the thirty-third defense of the America's Cup. We believe that such an event, as opposed to a 'Deed of Gift' defense, is in the greater interest of the sport of sailing in general and of members of the broad America's Cup community, who have invested their time and resources to make the event a true international competition of the highest order.

'We hope that the current challenger and defender will work together to find a way through their differences to bring about such an event for the good of yachting and the America's Cup.'

The Lord Iliffe, Commodore Royal Yacht Squadron
David K. Elwell Jr., Commodore New York Yacht Club
Mark Fitzhardinge, Commodore Royal Perth Yacht Club
R. Andrew La Dow, Commodore San Diego Yacht Club
Scott Colebrook, Commodore Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron

AMERICAS CUP BACK ON THE WATER!!

No, you read it right, this is no April Fool, this is the real thing!

For those of you who need a brief update on the reason for the long delay: Following Alinghi’s successful defence of the trophy in July 2007, they accepted CNEV, a newly-formed Spanish Yacht Club as Challenger of Record. The two teams set about changing the format and rules for future Americas Cup series. A number of other teams were outraged by this and one of them, BMW Oracle, commenced legal action against Alinghi in the New York courts, alleging that CNEV was not a valid Challenger of Record.

A court hearing in November 2007 found in favour of BMW Oracle but Alinghi appealed and, in June 2008, managed to reverse the original decision. BMW Oracle then counter-appealed and the whole thing was brought to an end with a New York Supreme Court ruling yesterday, 2 April 2009. An extract follows:

'Since CNEV has failed to show that at the time it submitted its Notice of Challenge it was a 'club fulfilling all the conditions required by' the Deed of Gift, it does not qualify as the Challenger of Record for the 33rd America's Cup competition and Supreme Court was correct in declaring GGYC to be the valid Challenger of Record.'

SNG, Alinghi’s home club said yesterday: “It has consistently been our view that the America's Cup should be fought on the water. Today through the American courts the Golden Gate Yacht Club has won the right to challenge the Société Nautique de Genève. We will now discuss the terms for the regatta with them and will prepare our defence of the 33rd America's Cup.”

GGYC, BMW Oracle’s home club have yet to comment, but a statement from Tom Ehman of GGYC following the first court hearing still seems relevant: He said ““From the very beginning this whole process has been about stopping the defender from imposing a wholly one-sided set of rules on the Cup that was strongly opposed by the great majority of challengers.”

CNEV issued a statement saying: Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV) and Desafío Español have received the news of the New York Court’s decision with disappointment.
The court’s decision confirms Golden Gate Yacht Club as the Challenger of Record, to the detriment of the Spanish club.

So what now? The situation was best summed up by Richard Gladwell of Sail-World.Com: “The fate of the America's Cup lies in the hands of Ernesto Bertarelli and his clubs and team.

Take the hard line and insist on meeting Golden Gate YC in a multihull and there will be another round of Court argument and Appeal, which will not be resolved for another two years, plus the 10 months taken from todays date for the match to be held - effectively three years.

Or, he can take the magnanimous line, agree to operate under Mutual Consent and run a multi challenger event, which could be underway in 12 months time (April 2010) with the first preliminary regatta being sailed off Valencia in the months time.

Your call, Ernesto.”

There will be more stuff to resolve before the show is well and truly back on course but we will keep you posted as the news breaks. Good sailing!
Mike O’Neill

Mike O'Neill writes regularly on Sailing and the America's Cup here

Larry Ellison wins in court over the America's Cup 33

A New York court Thursday backed American team BMWOracle over the Swiss champions Alinghi as an end to a long-running legal fight that could now mean the next America's Cup will be a duel between the two clubs in multihull boats.
The New York Court of Appeals overturned a ruling last year that backed, Club Nautico Espanol de Vela (CNEV), a Spanish club as the official Challenger of Record for the next edition of yachting's premier event.
BMWOracle, owned by American billionaire Larry Ellison, will now replace the Spanish club as the Challenger of Record, giving it the right to help organise the next America's Cup with defenders Alinghi.
"We're very pleased with today's decision by the New York court," Oracle spokeswoman Jane Eagleson told AFP. "We're carefully studying the decision and expect to have more to say in the next few days."
Alinghi's spokeswoman said the club would issue a statement later Thursday.
Oracle now has the right to demand the next America's Cup be a best-of-three duel with Alinghi in multihull boats, rather than the traditional regatta involving several teams, but the US team has said it is willingto negotiate with Alinghi to reach a deal on a traditional regatta, and the court in its ruling even called on them to talk with the Swiss champions to settle terms.

Fib Benicassim just gets better and better

fib, the Benicassím Musicfest gets bigger every year - British bands Maxïmo Park and The Horrors head the latest list of new additions to the line-up. Maxïmo Park will be promoting ‘Quicken the Heart’ (2009), and The Horrors will be giving us a taste of the new trails they have been blazing with Geoff Barrow of Portishead on their new album, ‘Primary Colours’to be released shortly. The Walkmen, a New York-based band, are also on board with their latest album, ‘You & Me’ (2008). The British band Elbow will also arrive with a new release in tow, ‘The Seldom Seen Kid (2008). Canadian artist Peaches, the personification of punk is now coming and the Swedish indie singer Lykke Li with her stirring electropop vibe; as will the Japanese-American Steve Aoki, an outstanding DJ and producer who has remixed bands like The Killers and Duran Duran.

Americaa's Cup 33, the regattas are taking place in Valencia

Valencia to host two pre-regattas
The 33rd America's Cup event authority, AC Management, today signed a Host Venue agreement with the Valencian Municipality and Regional Government for Valencia to hold two America's Cup pre-regattas, the first from the 10-19 July and the second in October.

Lenny Kravitz Performs in Valencia 02 MAY 2009

Lenny Kravitz will perform in Valencia. The New York singer opens his four date Spanish tour on May 2 at the Luis Puig Velodrome to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his first album, Let Love Rule. The tour includes performances at the Cordoba May 3 in Madrid on 8 and Saragossa 9.

Last year the president of the Diputación de Valencia, Alfonso Rus, was determined to get more Headline American artists to play in the city sarting with Madonna at Cheste.

This year, the first artist to open the concert scene, outside the MTV Winter Festival poster, will be Kravitz. Tickets for the concerts, with the exception of Madrid, are through through Tick Tack Ticket.