AMERICA'S CUP 33 - the statistics

TV
39 TV channels acquired the broadcasting rights : Sky (Great Britain), Canal + (France), Teledeporte and Canal 9 (Spain), Eurosport (Europe), Show Time (the Middle East), ESPN (the USA) FOX Live (Australia), TVNZ and Sky (New Zealand).
15 hours of live broadcasting to 216 territories
27 hours of special programs
2,160 million potential viewing audience.

INTERNET (www.americascup.com)
2,800,000 visits
1,200,000 unique visitors
656,000 unique visitors watched the live racing direct through the official web site
(this audience does not include the streaming broadcasting by 350 other Internet sites worldwide)
346,000 was the record number of unique visitors, occurring on the 12 of February 16,000 Facebook fans and 13,000 followers on Twitter in the three official languages of all the communication of the Web (Spanish, English and French)
More than 300 articles published more in three languages on www.americascup.com

PUBLIC AT THE MARINA REAL JUAN CARLOS 1(from the 7th to the 14th of February)
Global number of visitors: 201,000 between the 7th the 14th of February
Record: 7th of February 2007 - 60,000 people at the event inauguration
More than 2,000 children of Valencian schools in organized visits
More than 1,200 hamburgers more served
More 5,000 served plates of paella
More than 800 fondues (150 kg of cheese) served
More than 1,400 kilos of powder in `mascletás'

PRESS CENTRE
965 Requests accreditation requests from 37 countries (Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the United States, Great Britain, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, the Faeroes, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Holland, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, Islands Vírgenes and the Ukraine)
More than 8,000 articles were published
400 daily users connected to the Internet to the Wi-Fi network of 120 Mbs
10 kilometers of optical fiber installed
15 official Vehicles that have realised 13,244 kilometers in more than 700 services
5 official press conferences in the conference hall

PROMOTION
2,000 sq m of canvases
500 banners
180 bus stop advertising panels
1,000 1 minute adverts of the 33rd America's Cup in the trains of the Mediterranean corridor area
Continuous advertising of 35 seconds in 345 buses of Valencia
10,000 official programs distributed.
Presence in airports of Madrid and Barcelona

THE REGATA – 33rd AMERICA'S CUP
2 boats: the catamaran Alinghi 5 and the trimaran the USA
2 regattas: 12th of February and 14th of February 2 formats of racing: Windward/Leeward (12th of February) and triangle (14th of February)
79 nautical miles of racing: 40 in the first and 39 in second
24 sailors in the official crew listing: 14 on Alinghi 5, 10 in the USA
2-0, the score in favor of BMW ORACLE Racing
15 minutes and 25 seconds, the delta of first race, the 12 of February
5 minutes and 29 seconds, the delta of second race, the 14 of February

AMERICA'S CUP
33 editions of America's Cup between 1870 and 2010
4 countries have defended the America's Cup: The United States, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland
28 editions defended by the United States: 1870 to 1983, 1988, 1992, 1995
1 edition defended by Australia: 1987
2 editions defended by New Zealand: 2000 and 2003
2 editions defended by Switzerland: 2007 and 2010
7 countries have reached the America's Cup Match (England, Italy, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and the United States)
6 venues in 159 years: New York (the USA), Newport (the USA), Fremantle (AUS), San Diego (the USA), Auckland (NZL) and Valencia (ESP) 1 trophy: the America's Cup
1 America's Cup

Source - America's Cup Consortium 2007
photo - ©2010 BMW Oracle Racing

AMERICA's CUP 33 - What's it like on the ground in Valencia?

The Stars and Stripes at BMW Oracle

The Multihull and its amazing wing, longer than a jumbo jet wing.


Let's face it - it is turning out to be the biggest non-event of the year.
Battle of the Giants? Giants these boats may be but they seem just a little too delicate for the job in hand - my sailing friends tell me - assure - me that a normal America's Cup yacht would have loved the conditions on Valencia's waters these past few days.
The Press room has been teaming with press from over 37 countries - over 900 of them all waiting with bated breath for what has been billed as the race to beat all races - and there is some urgency for many of them as they will have to leave for Canada to report on the winter Olympics which start this weekend. Who is going to care (apart from the protagonists and their yacht clubs) once the Winter Olympics get under way?
For those spectators who have made the effort to make it to Valencia for this AC33 will also be deeply disappointed that they won't even be able to see the BMW Oracle boat in the flesh, the construction of the 'wing' means that it is too dangerous to bring the boat into the Marina, so it is moored out in the commercial port and, unless you are invited as friends and family or press there is just no way to see it up close. (if the visibility is good and there is no crane in the way, you can just see the huge wing in the far distance) I have been lucky enough to see it in the flesh - a very early start to see the docking out ceremony - (more of which later) and it is stunning- huge and stunning.
Which brings us on to the racing - that too will take place (if it ever happens) miles out to sea. 20 miles or so - that is a very long way from shore (think Dover to Calais) and too far away to see with the naked eye, so you can really only watch the races on television or on the internet. There is a giant screen at the AC Park with a few scattered loungers around to watch from - but there are fewer and fewer spectators each day and so any atmosphere there was is less and less tangible. The highlight so far has been the incredible Mascletà at the opening ceremony. But if you are not a fan of noise and daytime fireworks and just want to watch good sailng, you won't have been impressed.
The AC Park has been spruced a bit but they were still fixing broken decking on the Veles e Vents building on the Monday, when racing should have already started. Though there is a bar open there are empty shops. There are a few stalls acting as tapas, burger, fondue and paella bars, and they are not bad value. The general consensus on the souvenir shops is that they are far too expensive, much more so than the previous America's Cup Merchandise.
It is fascinating to watch the press conferences (you can watch them online on the teams websites) and here them talking about how great the races will be - the question is - when.
Timothy Birch
Photos ©2010 Thisisvalencia.com/Timothy Birch/Mike Adams

America's Cup 33 News- Race One...nearly (again)!

Racing was postponed for two hours and then a further one hour today in an effort to allow the swell from yesterday’s high winds to subside. At around midday, race director Harold Bennett took the decision to abandon racing until Friday.

There were some interesting comments surrounding the decision. James Spithill, helmsman of USA said at the BMW Oracle press meeting: “we think probably at 10 am there was a window but having that said that, it is very easy to look from the outside. I think Harold Bennett is the right man for the job. I have full trust in Harold”. A member of the press asked “maybe you are not as well informed as Alinghi, they were saying last night there would not be a race today”. Spithill said “I can’t comment on that” but clearly was disappointed not to have been able to put the trimaran to the test.

Loick Peyron, co-helmsman of Alinghi 5 said: “The conditions were possibly boat breaking. These boats are for Formula 1 racing and you do not take them off to do the Paris-Dakar.”

There was a sense of disappointment among the crowds who had flocked to the America’s Cup port and the lack of accurate information was partly to blame. Since all the main action takes place far from the Velas y Vents building, it is essential that interest is maintained with regular broadcast up-dates.

Sadly, the programme does not allow for racing tomorrow but we will be there to assess the conditions ahead of the planned 10am start on Friday.
Mike O’Neill

NOTABLE QUOTES OF THE DAY
Harold Bennett (NZL) Principal Race Officer explained:

“We have issued an amendment that there will be no signal before midday tomorrow Wednesday). We will make a further assessment at 0830hrs in the morning. So we will have a look at what it is like early in the morning. We will take a check then. There are a lot of strong winds forecast overnight and offshore and that is going to throw up a swell. So it is more the sea-state that is going to be of concern. Until we see what the sea state is we are not going to guess. I don’t want to put the boats out there if they are not going to sail. I do not want to put them all the way out there and bring them back without a race. Talking with the weather guys from both teams they agree that this is what we are going to get, so it is a fairly easy decision to make.”

America's Cup News - Day Two and still no race!

The only racingthat took place today at the AC Park was with these BMW Oracle Radio controlled model yachts.


The New Aston Martin Rapide on display in AC Park today.
Another day without a race in Valencia today, waves in excess of 1.3 metres forced organisers to cancel the races for the second time this week. More later in detail from Mike O'Neill.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AMERICA'S CUP 33

Q1- How do I get there?
Metro TO NEPTUNO, tramvia TO DR LLUCH or bus TO AVENIDA DEL PUERTO
Q2 - What time and what day and is admission free.
The Port opens each day at 9am and admission is free
Q3 - What are the Teams/Countries and how many boats? how long will a race last?
The America's Cup 33 is a Deed of Gift match (read Mike O'Neill's explanation here. It is a best of three races, two boat race between Alinghi, the defender , and BMWOracle, though some would say it is a battle between owners Bertarelli and Ellison. Each race can last up to 7 hours.
Q4 - Can you watch from boats in the sea? Can I watch from home?
The organisers are strongly advising not to try and watch from sea, the course is between 20 and 40 miles out (it is a long way out - think Dover to Calais - which is around 20 miles and takes an hour and a half on a fast ferry!) It is also jolly cold out there at this time of year - the wind chill is around 5 degrees lower than on shore. Not least is the shear size and speed of these multihulls - keep away from them. You can easily watch from the shore on giant screens or from home, for the first time the races are being broadcast live on the internet on americascup.com site and there are daily broadcasts on both alinghi.com and bmworacleracing.com - we'll be blogging on thisisvalencia.blogspot.com and tweeting twitter.com/gooruvlc
Q5 - Can you see from the beach/port?
Great to see them leave and return - the atmosphere promises to be electric - and then watch with the crowds on the big screens.
Q6 - What's Happening in the Marina?
All sorts of activities, food, souvenir shops, children's activities, concerts (free) each evening
Q7 - Is there Catering - Can I eat and drink?
There is the cuisine of Switzerland, The USA and Spain. On the opening day there will be Raclette, Paella and Burgers with all proceeds going to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti
Q8 - Is there shopping/souvenirs.
But of course! Sail gear, and all kinds of AC33 souvenirs.

Two days to the start.......

A ‘Battle of the Titans between the giant catamaran of Team Alinghi and the huge BMW Oracle trimaran is due to start at 10 am on Monday morning.

Rumours were circulating last night that the ‘grudge’ match between these two monsters will be decided by wind strength; the reason being that Alinghi was designed to perform best in winds up to 15 knots ( around 27km/h), whilst BMW Oracle is at her best in 10 to 25 knots (18 to 46 km/h). Mondays forecast of up to 12km winds would seem to favour Alinghi. But the nature of match racing is that many other factors come into play, such as who wins the start, who chooses the ‘right’ side of the course and which team performs best on the day. Nothing is certain until the leading boat crosses the line without incurring penalties.

One thing is certain: since each of these multihulls is capable of speeds up to 3 times that of the wind (technology has advanced that fast), we are certain to see some very exciting racing over the next few days.

In what will surely set the seal on the manner in which these races will be contested, Larry Ellison (owner of BMW Oracle) was asked if he will be going to the Owners Press Conference, due to take place at 4pm today (Saturday 6 February). He replied that Team Alinghi had requested that Russell Coutts, BMW Oracle’s CEO (and helmsman of Alinghi when they first won the America’s Cup in 2003) should not be there. “As a result of them asking Russell not to go, I am not going...” The ‘grudge’ match element was further underlined by Mr Ellison, who likened the contest to that: “....between two heavyweights who don’t much like each other”.

The opening ceremony will start at the America’s Cup port on Sunday morning and is rumoured to include some spectacular displays. More as the story unfolds....

Mike O’Neill

A view at sunset of Marina Juan Carlos 1 in Valencia, setting for the 33rd America's Cup

photo ©2010 Diana Birch/thisisvalencia.com