America's Cup 34- First Capsize!

Earlier this morning, while the Artemis Racing team was out on the AC45, a "freak puff of breeze" says ACRM boat captain Troy Tindill, knocked them over onto the wing. The AC45 prototype is now back at the ACRM (American's Cup Race Management) base after it's fall on Hauraki Gulf in Auckland. 


Thankfully everyone is okay. There doesn't seem to be any structural damage; just some to the vinyl skin and the boat should be back up and on the water in a couple of days.


As my sailing coach used to say, if you're not capsizing every once in awhile, you're not trying hard enough. 

Blackfinn DC Club Hits - Songs for Monday!

Hit up the town this past Friday with some friends and hung out at Blackfinn in DC. It was a pretty good atmosphere and since I'd won a happy hour there, the drinks were pretty cheap as well. Getting as many drinks as I did for under $20 was unheard of. Had a good time chatting with my friends Ryan and Mike; catching up.

Since I haven't done a Song for Friday in a couple weeks as a result of being out of town in New Orleans and on a snowboarding trip, please enjoy a couple of the club hits that were rocking Blackfinn this past Friday.

America's Cup 34- Australia & TBD

What an exciting day!

Team Australia announced (press release here) that they will be competing in the America's Cup and then an eighth team announced that they will be competing as well! Pretty exciting stuff... Team Australia will be the first Australian team to compete for the cup in over a decade.

This means that the list of teams for America's Cup 34 is as follows; Aleph (France), Artemis Racing (Sweden), Energy Team (France), Mascalzone Latino (Italy), Team Australia, two undisclosed teams and the defender of the cup, BMW ORACLE Racing.


Personally, and I don't know how feasible this really is, but I'd like to see New Zealand and Russia throw their respective hats in the ring as well. 

For more info on the America's Cup race area and possible course, check out CupInfo's site here.

America's Cup 34- New Zealand AC45 Video

New Zealand has some pretty serious ties to the sailing community. Back in 2000, I was lucky enough to be in Auckland during the America's Cup. Wish I could be there now to see these AC45s first hand however, I'm not. So in the meanwhile, these videos will just have to do. Some pretty sweet footage of some seriously awesome boats...

America's Cup 34 - Energy Team (Awesome Name!)

The team that the Yacht Club de France is backing (about which I blogged earlier) is called the Energy Team. I have found some information on the team and their core members. 


By the way, a little trivia for you, the Yacht Club de France was founded on June 15th 1867 under the patronage of Emperor Napoleon III. They also claim to be one of the most prestigious yacht clubs in France and count Jules Verne among their members. And yes, that is the Jules Verne that Google paid tribute to yesterday, February 8th for his 183rd birthday.

Core Energy Team Members


Loïck Peyron (Skipper of the AC45 and AC72): 6 times F60 world champion, 8 times F28 Trophy Champion winner


Bruno Peyron: 8 times world ocean records champion, skipper of the G Class, which will be the ambassador for Energy Team


Yann Guichard (helmsman with Loïck Peyron): Extreme 40 world number 2, Member of the French Olympic team


Thierry Fouchier: performance team, the only Frenchman to have won the America’s Cup with BMW Oracle Racing aboard which he was the wing sail trimmer.


Jean-Christophe Mourniac: performance team, member of the French Olympic team, one of the world’s top 5 Tornado and F18 racers over the past ten years.


Yves Loday: coach for young talent. Former member of the French Olympic team, he was Tornado gold medallist in Barcelona in 1992. He will be joining the team to prepare the "Youth America's Cup" that the American Defender is launching.
(with most of this info coming from yachtsandyachting.com)

Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus!!!

This trailer brought tears to my eyes. This is the followup to the Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. A prehistoric terror has recently been discovered in the jungles of Africa! Guess who is gonna be there to watch the action?

Jaleel White of course! - Yes. That's right. Urkel.

Please enjoy the trailer for what I'm sure will be cinematic gold!

America's Cup 34- Yacht Club de France (7th Team)

The 7th team to throw its hat in the ring to compete in the 34th America's cup is the Yacht Club de France as of February 4th per Americascup.com. This makes the second French team to enter the AC with ALEPH being the other team.

In case you want to see the other listed competitors...