The Alinghi sailing team raced SUI100, the 32nd America’s Cup winning boat, to five wins out of six this weekend in Valencia, winning the AC class trophy of the Trofeo Desafio Espanol, Club Nautico Espanol de Vela’s annual regatta.

This three-day regatta heralds a return to racing for the AC Version 5.0s after a long sojourn ashore and has given the teams some much desired America’s Cup Class racing.

Four America’s Cup Class yachts raced alongside the 80-strong fleet of cruiser-racers fighting for the Trofeo Desafio Espanol in the light autumn conditions off Malvarossa beach that last year saw one of the greatest battles in America’s Cup history between Team New Zealand and Alinghi who won the trophy for a second time. This weekend there was less at stake, but it was no less ferocious, with ex-Alinghi helmsman Peter Holmberg at the helm of Luna Rossa, Olympic Gold medallist Ben Ainslie steering TeamOrigin and Paul Cayard at the helm of Desafio Espanol.

The 12 entered challengers and the Defender meet again this coming week in Geneva to continue discussing the design of the new class and the 33rd America’s Cup.

SEAMANSHIP 101
– The lower shroud exploded with a loud ‘bang’ on Paul Cayard’s IC 24 on the return race from The Baths during Monday’s Scuttlebutt Offshore Championship held at the Bitter End YC in the BVI. Cayard quickly tacked the boat and handed the helm to BEYC guest John Stephenson. Without wasting a motion, Cayard kicked off his flip flops and climbed the rig with both a spinnaker halyard and topping lift in his teeth. After completing a very crude jury rig, he took back the helm and calmly won the race, and the two-race championship by 32 seconds over Bruce Kirby, with Dave Ullman a half minute further back in third place. The windward- leeward races of the Vineyard Vines Pro-Am Regatta at the BEYC starts on Tuesday, with guests of the resort crewing for the invited pro skippers – Cayard, Kirby, Ullman, Dawn Riley, Zach Railey, Ed Baird, Rod Johnstone and Keith Musto.