Americas Cup

BMW Splits from Oracle After Huge America's Cup Win

America's Cup champion BMW Oracle Racing says German automaker BMW is ending its sponsorship at the end of the year.

BMW has been part of the syndicate since 2002, contributing in the areas of structural engineering and lightweight, composite construction.

BMW Oracle Racing swept Alinghi of Switzerland in two races in February to win the America's Cup, the oldest trophy in international sports. Its radical trimaran design was the fastest boat in the history of the America's Cup.

BMW Oracle Racing is owned by Larry Ellison, CEO of business software maker Oracle Corp.

The reason for the break? BMW is said by sources to want to separate from technology partner Oracle over business issues.
The BMW-Oracle team won the America's Cup in February with a convincing 2-0 victory.

"In winning the 33rd America's Cup, we achieved all of our ambitious goals," said Ralf Hussmann, general manager BMW sports marketing. "We will continue to be involved in the sport on a national level."

Tags: Americas Cup, BMW Oracle Racing, sailing, yachts

Dennis Conner's New Yacht Has A Long History

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

Famous racing skipper Dennis Conner has a new toy. The sailing enthusiast who won the America's Cup four times has bought a beautiful old boat. Classic Boat says that Conner picked up the 40-foot BB Crowninshield-designed gaff schooner Fame. The yacht was the winner of many Great Lakes races but she has seen better days. Conner bought Fame for $17,000 and is hoping to have her sailing this summer, her centenary year. Fame is a 1910 Long Island Sound Schooner that was designed and built by B. B. Crowninshield for his personal use. He wanted to create "the largest and fastest boat he could handle and take care of alone." She was sunk in 1995 but was quickly rescued. She will likely get a new lease on life under Conner's care and may take part in a few races.

Tags: americas cup, classic yacht, dennis conner, sailing yacht

Panerai Relaunches Classic 1936 Sailing Yacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Yachts & Sailing

Swiss-owned Italian luxury watch brand Panerai has restored a classic 1936 sailing yacht which will now serve as the company's flagship at exclusive yachting events. Panerai CEO and avid yachtsman Angelo Bonati just spent the last two-and-a-half years overseeing a complete restoration of the Eilean (above), a beautiful two-masted 72-ft. Bermudian ketch originally designed and built in 1936 by the legendary Fife boatyard in Scotland. When Bonati acquired the stylish yacht, whose design was inspired by the J-Class America's Cup racers of the 1930s, in 2006 it was a mastless, rusting wreck. He hired Italian naval restoration specialist Enrico Zacagni to undertake the extremely costly and painstaking 40,000-hour task. In addition to its Burmese teak skin and decking and perfectly recreated period details, the yacht now features a bespoke set of Panerai sailing instruments. The beautiful boat will represent the brand at the upcoming Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge.

Gallery: Panerai Yacht Eilean

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Tags: Americas Cup, Angelo Bonati, Panerai, regatta, sailing, sailing yacht, yacht

The Classicist: Set Sail on a 100-Year-Old Superyacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Yachts & Sailing, The Classicist

Among yachting historians the name Nathanael Herreshoff is spoken with awe. With a degree in mechanical engineering from M.I.T., Herreshoff - known as "Captain Nat" - revolutionized the world of yacht design and produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup winners between 1893–1920. The elegant yachts he designed for those who could afford them were the largest, most expensive and most powerful ever built to defend the famed sailing trophy. Among the moguls who commissioned sailing superyachts from the Rhode Island-based naval architect were Jay Gould, William Randolph Hearst, J.P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, William Kissam Vanderbilt, Harry Payne Whitney and Morton F. Plant.

Plant, who liked to be known as "Commodore", was a financier, yachtsman and philanthropist who founded the Connecticut College for Women. These days however he is best remembered as the man who traded his opulent Fifth Avenue mansion to Parisian jeweler Cartier in 1917 for $100 and a pearl necklace. Plant owned several yachts during his lifetime, but one of the most famous was the "peerless schooner" (according to the New York Times) Elena which he commissioned from Herreshoff in 1910. His instructions to the great naval architect were simple: "Build me a schooner that can win!" The yacht claimed several victories before Plant's death in 1918, later passing into the hands of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Elena's crowning triumph came in 1928 when she won the 3,400 mile King's Cup Trans-Atlantic Race from New York to Santander, Spain.

All ancient history, you're probably thinking; but the Elena (above) has now been rebuilt and relaunched in all its original splendor, and what's more it is now listed for sale in the South of France via global online luxury marketplace JamesList for $12 million. Spain's Factoria Naval de Marin tracked down 320 original hand-drawn plans, in the possession of Herreshoff's alma mater MIT, prior to beginning the restoration process. Historic images of the yacht were painstakingly studied to ensure that every detail was restored to perfection, from her towering masts and nearly 1,200 square meter sail plan to the wide teak deck and luxurious appointments. The Elena can accommodate 10 guests in Gilded Age luxury, with beautiful woodwork throughout and elegant, period correct fittings discreetly updated with modern technology. All guest cabins are exquisitely finished with mahogany panellng, while all interior ornamental details follow the original Herreshoff designs. Check out the gallery for glorious images.

Gallery: The Elena

Tags: Americas Cup, classic yacht, Nathanael Herreshoff, sailboat, sailing, sailing yacht, superyacht, Vanderbilt, wooden boat, yacht

The Classicist: The Louis Vuitton Cup

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Sports, Books, The Classicist

The America's Cup, which is 45 years older than the modern Olympics, is of course the world's most famous sailing race. However the Louis Vuitton Cup, sponsored by the famed French luxury goods house for the past 25 years, is actually considered by many to be the more exciting regatta. While only two yachts compete in the America's Cup, several take part in the LV Cup which has been a rite of passage for yachtsmen looking to challenge the defending champion of the America's Cup since 1983.

A beautiful new book celebrates this great era in world-class sailing: The Louis Vuitton Cup: 25 Years of Yacht Racing in Pursuit of the America's Cup. Louis Vuitton's ties to the world of yachting go back much further of course. In addition to many traveling trunks and items designed for use on ocean voyages, from 1933 to 1938 Gaston-Louis Vuitton developed a unique model boat division, and in 1935 for example one could acquire from LV a scale model of Cornelius Vanderbilt's famous steam yacht the North Star (see the gallery).

The book, by yacht designer, professor of naval architecture at the University of Nantes, and marine author and artist Francois Chevalier, pays homage to the exceptional navigators and avid photographers who helped forge the reputation of the Louis Vuitton Cup, and offers an impassioned account of the competition's inception and vision, accompanied by gorgeous photographs both modern and vintage. The book also offers an in-depth look at seven landmark races in the regatta's history.

Gallery: The Louis Vuitton Cup

The Louis Vuitton Cup also shows how the America's Cup itself paralleled Vuitton's expansion from a company that began by making travel trunks to its current stature as an internationally renowned luxury brand. The book traces the trajectory of the Louis Vuitton Cup, recounting stories of the individual races and victories, from the first in Newport, Rhode Island in 1983 (won by the Australia II which went on to win the America's Cup, puting an end to 132 years if American dominance) to the last in Valencia, Spain in 2007, won by the Emirates Team New Zealand. It presents profiles of its greatest winners and pays tribute to the world's most talented yachtsmen and the photographers who, passionate about the sea, helped forge the regatta's reputation.

Tags: Americas Cup, AmericasCup, Louis Vuitton, Louis Vuitton Cup, LouisVuitton, LouisVuittonCup, Sailing, Yacht

New America's Cup Yacht May Be The World's Fastest

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

The speedy Hydroptere may have some new competition in the fastest boat race. The100-foot trimaran that BMW-Oracle has built for a potential America's Cup race in 2009 recently had its first sea trials off Washington state this month. So far the boat has been zipping along at speeds close to 30 knots (35 m.p.h.) but as the Detroit Free Press reports that may be just the beginning of what this yacht can do. The yacht has a 90 foot beam and is designed to be light and fast with a 5,000-square-foot mainsail, a 3,500-square-foot jib for upwind sailing and a 7,000-square-foot gennaker, Instead of a fixed keel it has a large daggerboard and hydrofoils that are cranked down from the outboard hulls. When the boat is zipping along the hulls basically lift out of the water on the daggerboard and foils, creating a hovering effect. Makes the once revolutionary Stars and Stripes yachts seem very conventional by comparison.

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Tags: americas cup, AmericasCup, bmw, trimaran, yacht