Adesso Vela » morgan larson

Melges32 World Champion – Pronti partenza e VIA…

Vigo — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 10:04:34 +0000

Lo spettacolo deve ancora cominciare… una vecchia canzone dei Litfiba suonava più o meno così e prendendo spunto dall’inizio dell’avventura di B-Lin verso San Francisco vogliamo presentarvi quello che sarà uno degli eventi più attesi della stagione, il Campionato del Mondo Melges 32.

Scorrendo l’elenco degli iscritti non può che risaltare la compattezza della flotta americana che annovera tra gli equipaggi il gota della vela mondiale. Del resto è un fatto che dopo aver dominato nella passata stagione, aggiudicandosi i mondiali dei più importanti monotipi Melges24, Melges32 e Farr40, nel 2010 gli americani sono ancora a secco.

Nei Farr40, nel “puttan tour” di Santo Domingo, Barking Mad nulla ha potuto contro lo strapotere di Nerone, così come nei Melges24 la location di Tallinn è stata boicottata (colpevolmente) da tutti gli americani, che non hanno potuto difendere il titolo conquistato ad Annapolis.

Restano i Melges32 il cui continuo aflusso di armatori del Farr40 ha fatto si che il livello del mondiale di San Francisco si alzasse notevolmente. Scorrendo la lista degli iscritti risaltano i nomi altisonanti di tre “esordienti” del calibro di Roussel Coutts con Gombay Smash che torna a far “marchette” con gli owner driver, di Francesco De Angelis con i Jappo di Sled e di Hamish Pepper con Yasha Samarai.

Sulla starting line dei protagonisti assoluti Warpath dei fratelli Howe con Morgan Larson e Star che per l’occasione imbarca come tattico Nathan Wilmot ammutinatosi dai Campioni del Mondo in carica di Bliksem, che per non sbagliarsi lo hanno sostituito con uno “sconosciuto” australiano Nathan Outteridge (Campione del Mondo 49er 2008 e 2009, “solo” 2° nel 2010).

Un passo avanti a tutti sembrano essere quelli Samba pa ti di Kilroy. Il “bianco Signore” già protagonista in Europa con il Melges32 nelle Audi Series, si gioca un’altra occasione per vincere finalmente un Campionato del Mondo a San Francisco. La prima nel 2004 gli andò male, era con i Farr40 e Paul “Bialetti” Cayard alla tattica. Dominò il pre world poi falli clamorosamente il mondiale a causa di una randa nuova, a Suo dire, poco performante.

Molta curiosità destano quelli di Ramrod dopo aver ben figurato nei Farr40 ci riprovano con il M32, con Chris Larson alla tattica e un certo Mike Beasley, non quello dei Miami Heat campionissimo NBA, ma quello The Race con Playstation.

Ne abbiamo citati solo alcuni dei tanti altri che saranno a bordo dei 32 pronti a darsi battaglia, Andy Horton, John Mollicone, Darren Jones, John Mahoney, Gavin Brady, Vince Brun ma l’equipaggio che più di ogni altro ci terrà col fiato sospeso è quello di Full Throttle.

La straordinaria esperienza al timone dell’”Admiral” John Porter coadiuvato alla tattica da “Jono” Mc Kee con Andy Burdick alla randa ne fanno uno dei protagonisti assoluti. Il fatto poi che l’Admirall schieri al suo fianco i due figli è qualcosa di straordinario che mette un po’ di romanticismo in mezzo a tutto questo professionismo. Certo è che la flotta è avvertita la “linea di screamage” dei Porter è schierata in tre fanno 350 kg fermarli sarà un bel casino.

Sicuri protagonisti saranno anche gli equipaggi nostrani ed Europei in genere cui dedicheremo un post nei prossimi giorni, per il momento… See you soon.

Vigo

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America’s Cup, Happy as Larry by Morgan

Pacio — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:21:58 +0000

Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle and owner of the team was quite happy last night!
They might not sell him the Golden State Warriors but at least he has a big silver cup.
On arrival at the mooring I assisted on board while the team lowered the “wing”.
There were no beers opened until the wing and boat were safely out of the water and secure in the shed and when that was finished the party started and what a party it was!
Unfortunately for me I had to be at work (with Mascalzone Latino Team) bright and early this morning. We are preparing to compete in the older version Cup boats down in NZ in March.
My experience with BMWOracle is something I will never forget.
The sheer size of the team, the technology and the depth of talent through out was quite impressive. Where will the America’s Cup go from here?
My feeling is there is a 50% chance or better that it will remain in multi-hulls (likely a size more manageable) and with rules that make the boats easier to manage logistically (no wing…) Russell and Larry promised to include all challengers in the rule that will affect the type of boat.
They will need a majority of the teams to agree before we see the AC in multi-hulls but that could just happen!

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America’s Cup, The Triangle

Pacio — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 09:32:28 +0000

Tomorrow is a big day for both teams. Alinghi can even the score with a win and Oracle will win the 33rd America’s Cup with a win.
We were just notified that the start time will be delayed until 12 noon. It is crucial to have a race tomorrow as conditions will worsen early in the week.
I’d say there is a good chance for a short delay so look for the start to kick off somewhere between 3-4:30 am PST.
Russell Coutts addressed the team last night with the message to keep focused. He also said that we would always need to win at least one of the windward leeward races and that the triangle course was designed four BMWOracle’s Trimaran.
Some people are estimating that we could be as much as 5 knots faster on the reaching legs in over 8 knots of wind. 15% faster over 24 miles of sailing should be enough to win but keeping that giant wing in one piece is the key to tomorrow.
James Spithill was disappointed with his start in race one so look for another aggressive start.
The forecast is for 4 knots at midday building to 9 knots by 3pm.
USA behind at the start but sailing closer to the wind by 5 degrees and faster! imagine how much money the gas dock is making this week!

Morgan Larson

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America’s Cup, a wing and a prayer …

Pacio — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:02:08 +0000

…I think a few of the designers were seen a church this morning

By now those who are following know that the BMW Oracle won todays race by a convincing margin. The winning delta wasn’t quite a realistic measure of performance but there aren’t too many people at our Team Base unhappy with how the Trimaran performed. We were about 4 minutes faster on the beat and about the same on the run after taking out the time Alinghi lost: at the top mark setting their down wind sail, missing the layline which created an extra jibe and then the botched penalty turn at the finish (the rule states you need to be completely on the course side of the finish when you cross head to wind) that cost them almost 5 minutes. Our guys sailed in more pressure downwind which gave them an extra push. All in all we are surprised that we have such an edge in those conditions.
Some points of interest:

-About 30 minutes prior to the start, at the crucial time to make the wind call, we received a transmission by the authorities that we didn’t have permission to be over the water and to land immediately. I asked my pilot if he was ok to land on the beach and he replied: si, si Morgan no problema. We landed right at the waters edge on the right side of the track near the starboard layline.
The wind at the starting line was 3 knots and the wind at the top mark was 6 knots and we were sitting in 14 knots of wind! Luckily positioned in a great spot to assist in calling the right side. Indeed our meteorologist and his team agreed that the right had better wind.
Funny enough we were called just after the start saying we found the paperwork and we were cleared to fly again!
Maybe this was an accident and maybe someone greased the right wheels to get us off the course!
-Whether it was our boat, the wing, the helmsman or the crew, we seemed more stable. Our wing height was steady and Alinghi’s was up then down then up again. We all know that a steady boat is a fast boat.

-Sunday looks to be light wind but the course is a equal lateral 36 mile triangle. We think the wing will really be quick against them on the reaching legs. We seem to have much more stability (more weight on the rail) than Alinghi.

-The forecast for snow has changed and things are warming up a little. I was beginning to wonder if we should bring in de-icing machines for the giant wing.

Our trusty mechanic fueling up the chopper. Doesn’t exactly look safe but “no problema”!

Minutes before the dock out this morning. We are never behind on the hoist of the main sail.

Another safe landing and it is always good to be alive!

Morgan Larson

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America’s Cup – last minute by Morgan Larson

Pacio — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:37:55 +0000

two hour delay. 12noon start. Seas have come down and wind is good. The delay may cost them a race as the wind should be dropping by noon. So, if you are dead keen to see a race today is 70% chance of racing. A high percentage due to the media pressure and Alinghi’s pressure on the RC to race in light fickle conditions. It might not be pretty but there is a good chance of racing starting somewhere after 3am West Coast.

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Morgan Larson on Adesso Vela

Pacio — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:57:33 +0000

“one of 5 weather team ribs (they are positioned on the race course to feed pre-race wind data to the boat)”

Adesso Vela è diversa da tutti quelli che vi parlano di vela fondamentalmente per due motivi:
1) Ci piace raccontare “da dentro”. Cerchiamo sempre qualche insider che smetta per un attimo i panni del velista e scriva per noi.
2) Ce la tiriamo come nessuno.

Pensate come ha reagito il nostro ego smisurato quando oggi abbiamo ricevuto il messaggio a seguire e le foto in allegato da Morgan Larson.
Chi è Morgan Larson? Mah …. nessuno in particolare …. è a Valencia a fare il coach di BMW Oracle
Stay Tuned on Adesso Vela perchè Morgan will be back!

“A very, very windy day here in Valencia. Temperatures are down and we had 20-35 knots of wind from the NW today. Out to sea the winds are also strong and pushing in a swell of 2-3 meters! Winds will lay down overnight but there could be a small delay due to sea conditions. Also the wind is due to shift from the NW to the SE during the day which could affect the race. If they go on time for a 10am start we should have a race finally. We are experiencing a cold spell here and temps may drop into the high twenties over the next few days! Can you imagine the wind chill while sailing along at 35 knots of boat speed. I will due my best to send a note letting you know if you should stay up or go to bed tonight (if you even care at this point!)”

best, Morgan

My trusty helicopter pilot Jose Maria. Jose is a great guy and also grows oranges (they are bigger than the largest grapefruit you have ever seen!)

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