Glenn
Bourke joins Ilbruck Team
(04/10/01) (source
: yacht.de)
Fresh from the Cruising Yacht Club
of Australia , Glenn Bourke starts work for German Illbruck
Challenge on May. Bourke who has previous America's
Cup experience with 1995 One Australia (as tactician)
and Kookaburra (1986-87) syndicates, becomes director
of the Team.
According to the rumor
mill, lawyers for Prada and TNZ are challenging sail
designer Rob Hook. Hired by Illbruck (German team) to
do their Volvo sails and OneWorld (Seattle) to design
their America's Cup sails, Prada and TNZ have taken
issue with the arrangement saying it breaks the AC rules
against teams sharing designers. Arbitration is expected
soon.
The illbruck Challenge continues
its America's Cup preparations with the launch of its
match racing program in Laboe, Germany and the signing
of its Volvo Ocean Race crew for the America's Cup,
illbruck Challenge skipper John Kostecki announced today.
In addition, two German sailors were signed to the team
this week. Joining the illbruck Challenge team are Gunnar
Knierim and Arne Wilcken of Kiel. Both competed for
many years with illbruck's "Pinta" campaigns and were
both with the winning German Admiral's Cup team in 1993.
"I have raced with Gunnar and Arne many times in the
"PINTA" programs and during our Volvo Ocean Race training
in Europe," Kostecki said. "They are both solid sailors
and a great addition to the team."
Some of Germany's top sailing talent, including 3 of
the 5 German male Olympic medallists from Sydney, are
training with Henriksen in Laboe, close to Kiel in northern
Germany. Taking part in the match race program are Gunnar
Bahr and Ingo Borkowski, Olympic Soling crew for Jochen
Schuemann.
Their credentials include one-time European Champion
in fleet race Soling, one-time World Champion in Soling
match racing and silver medallists at the Sydney Olympic
Games. German sailing talent Marc Pickel, the former
European Star champion who represented Germany in the
Star class in the Sydney Olympic Games, finishing 12th
overall, and three-time Tornado World Champion Roland
Gaebler, who earned an Olympic bronze medal representing
Germany in the Tornado Class in Sydney, are now training
with the illbruck Challenge match race team.
The match race team is training for their first regatta
later this month in Portugal. Match Race Team Manager
Morten Henriksen is coaching the team and also trying
out potential recruits for the America's Cup sailing
program.
llbruck
Challenge Starts Tank Testing (02/24/01) (source
: Illbruck
Challenge)
The Illbruck Challenge America’s Cup
Design Team this week began testing models in the towing
tank at the Hamburg Ship Model Basin, marking a fundamental
step in the design of Germany’s first America’s Cup
racing yacht.
This is a major milestone in the design our first America’s
Cup boat,“ said Michael Richelsen, design director for
the illbruck Challenge. „The towing tank is a reality
check as to where we are in the design process. By testing
our ideas on one-third scale models, we can validate
our computer findings. The Hamburg Ship Model Basin
is a leading edge facility where we have the benefit
of German’s top scien-tists and experts.“
In addition to the research being conducted at the Hamburg
facility, the design team is also testing the same model
but in a smaller scale of 1:20 at FH Kiel. Design concepts
for both appendages and hull shape such as keels will
be tested in the towing tank on one-third scale models
of actual International America’s Cup Class (IACC) yachts.
Tank test results will be used to refine and validate
design ideas that are developed with both Velocity Prediction
Programs (VPP) and Com-putational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
computer codes.
The tank tests allow the design team to measure the
effects of speed and wave variations on a range of design
configurations, recording drag and side force on the
models. The one-third scale models are towed at a variety
of speeds, heel angles and leeway angles through the
tow basin.
Richelsen heads the design and technology program, drawing
on his experience as Director of Design Systems at North
Sails and his deep involvement in various America’s
Cup campaigns since 1983, most recently with AmericaOne.
The team includes yacht designers Friedrich Judel and
Torsten Conradi as well as scientists and experts in
VPP, CFD and structural composites. Scientists associated
with Team’s leading research and development facilities
including Germanischer Lloyd, FH Kiel, and Deutsches
Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), the German national
center for air and aerospace research, are working exclusively
for the illbruck Challenge. Tank testing and CFD work
will be done both at FH Kiel, a technical university,
and HSVA. The illbruck Challenge design office is located
in Hamburg, Germany, centrally located to the team’s
tank testing facilities and re-search partners. The
America’s Cup race boat will be built in Germany.
Additional
Members to Illbruck Team (01/24/01) (source : illbruck
Challenge)
Four additional race crew
have been named to the illbruck Challenge Volvo Ocean
Race sailing team, following an intensive training and
racing session in the Southern Ocean, illbruck Challenge
skipper John Kostecki announced today. Named to the
race crew - who could also play
a role in the America's Cup set-up - are :
-
the canadian Richard Clarke,
helmsman/trimmer (a three-time Olympic campaigner
in the Finn class, Finn gold medallist in the
99 Pan American Games and seven-time Finn North
American Champion, He is switching gears to big
boat offshore racing) ;
-
the new zealander Jamie Gale,
mast (competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in the
Star class and 1996 Games in the Soling class,
He is a veteran of three America's Cup campaigns
and was part of the winning 1995 Team NZ programe)
;
-
the irish Ian Moore, navigator
(who has earned a reputation as a respected navigator
and tactician in world-class offshore events such
as the Fastnet Race, Admiral's Cup and Newport-Bermuda
Race, he holding a Masters Degree in Naval Architecture
and designed high-speed catamarans before becoming
a professional sailors ) ;
-
the american Noel
Drennan, former sail coordinator is now helmsman/trimmer
(17 years with North Sails, is a 17-time veteran
of the Sydney to Hobart Race, the No.1 ranked
helmsman on the Etchells world rankings from 97-2000
and was sail coordinator for the last Stars &
Stripes campaign).
a
The new crew named today
join illbruck Challenge Volvo Ocean Race team members
Stuart Bannatyne, watch captain; Stuart Bettany, bow;
Mark Christensen, watch captain; Ray Davies, helmsman/trimmer;
Dirk de Ridder, trimmer; Ross Halcrow, trimmer; Tony
Kolb, bow; and Juan Vila, navigator.
Additionnal forces come
as the team announces the signing of one of the world's
top match racer, Morten Henriksen, to oversee the building
of a competitive match racing team while John Kostecki
concentrates on the Volvo.
Henriksen will recruit German talent in building a competitive
illbruck match racing team for the World Match Racing
Circuit. This will allow new recruits with limited match
racing experience to train in the one-on-one format
of racing used in the America's Cup while also providing
the seasoned team members the chance to sharpen their
skills. The match racing team will be joined by Kostecki
and other illbruck Challenge race crew as the schedule
permits.
The illbruck match racing team will compete on the international
circuit while the illbruck Volvo Ocean Race crew is
competing in the around-the-world race. Henriksen will
continue in a coaching role with the illbruck race crew
following the completion of the Volvo Ocean Race in
June 2002 when the entire sailing team will then focus
together on training for the America's Cup.
"Morton is a great addition to the team," said Kostecki.
"Not only is he one of the most respected match racers
in the world, he is is also a talented and respected
coach. While our round-the-world race crew focuses on
delivering the best possible performance in the Volvo
Ocean Race, Morten will be building a strong match racing
team. By the time the Volvo Ocean Race is over, we will
merge all of our sailing talent for the final stage
of America's Cup preparation" .
German challenge
accepted (12/21/00) (source : SailSail.com)
The Royal New Zealand
Yacht Squadron has formally accepted the America's Cup
challenge from the Duesseldorf Yacht Club. It is the
first challenge from a German yacht club in the 150-year
history of the world's oldest sporting trophy.
The Commodore of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron,
Peter Taylor, said the recent clarification of the "arm
of the sea" clause by the America's Cup Arbitration
Panel had cleared the way for acceptance of the Illbruck
Challenge from the Duesseldorf Yacht Club on the Rhine
River.
Challenges for the 31st
America's Cup regatta have now been formally accepted
from five yachts clubs in four different countries
:
-
Prada
Challenge, (Punta Ala Yacht Club, ITA) ;
-
Oracle
Racing, (Seattle Yacht Club, USA) ;
-
Stars &
Stripes, (New York Yacht Club, USA) ;
-
Swiss
Challenge, (Société Nautique de
Genève, SUI) ;
German's
Cup Challenge Is Official (11/01/00) (source :
Illbruck
Challenge)
It's official. The first-ever German challenge,
the Illbruck Team, headed by the Illbruk family (Germans
yachting fanatics who made their millions in the plastics
industry), will represent the Germany in the 2003
America's Cup, with American John Kostecki (tactician
for Paul Cayard's AmericaOne syndicate in the last
Cup) as skipper.
The not very well-kept secret of the German-based
America's Cup syndicate backed by Mickaël Illsbruck
was formally announced today during a press conference
at the international water sports exhibition "hanseboot"
in Hamburg.
The Illbruks have always had an affinity with
New Zealand - hiring Kiwi stars such as Russell Coutts
and Peter Lester to sail the Pintas, which were often
built in Auckland. Now they have turned to other New
Zealand sailors for their round-the-world campaign
in the Volvo Ocean Race and the America's Cup.
With a cluster of Kiwi sailors and an American skipper,
the Illbruk syndicate have paid their entry fee, booked
a base in the Cup village and say that they are definite
starters for October 2002.
The technology, sailing and management teams assembled
for the Volvo Ocean Race will remain in place for
the America's Cup, providing a seamless integration
of the racing programs.
American John Kostecki is the Illbruk skipper in both
ventures. "When the last America's Cup finished, we
had 90 per cent of our team for the Volvo race, then
everybody started getting approaches from all these
other America's Cup teams," Kostecki said. "It was
looking like we would cross the finish line in Kiel
in June 2002 and the team would break up to go all
over the place. "I explained that to Michael Illbruk
and he didn't like the sound of it. He figured we
had a unique team, and it seemed logical that we stay
together and do an America's Cup."
Former Team New Zealand trimmer Ross Halcrow (with
1995 Cup winner Team New Zealand, Halcrow was trimmer
both with the 1999-2000 Young America Challenge and
the 1992 New Zealand America's Cup Challenge) has
been part of the Pinta team for the past 10 years.
In addition, the new illbruck Challenge race crew
for the America's Cup includes Ray Davies and Dirk
de Ridder will compete in the illbruck Challenge in
both the Volvo Ocean Race and the America's Cup. Both
Davies and de Ridder were with Kostecki in the AmericaOne
campaign.
New Zealanders Stu Bannatyne and Mark Christensen
- watch captains on the Volvo boat - and Stu Bettany
look certain to follow. Olympic Star sailor Jamie
Gale will try out for the team next week when Illbruk
sail their round-the-world boat from Perth to Auckland.
Dane Michael Richelsen, Illbruck Challenge Director
of Design/Research and Development, will head the
design and technology program. Richelsen will draw
on his experience as Director of Design Systems at
North Sails and his deep involvement in various America's
Cup campaigns since 1983, most recently with AmericaOne.
Richelsen is building a team of yacht designers, scientists
and experts in Velocity Prediction Programs (VPP),
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and structural
composites. Yacht designers Friedrich Judel and Torsten
Conradi from the design firm of Judel/Vrolijk are
already on the team, as is sail designer Patrik Erlandson
from North Sails Sweden.
Five-time America's Cup veteran Chris Bedford heads
up the meteorology team. Bedford will liaise with
all members of the team, collecting data and developing
weather forecasts that will support racing activities."
Scientists associated with Germany's leading research
and development facilities including Germanischer
Lloyd, FH Kiel, Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA) and
Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), the
German national center for air and aerospace research,
are working exclusively for the illbruck Challenge.
Tank testing and CFD work will be done both at FH
Kiel, a technical university, and HSVA, a leading
European tank testing facility. The illbruck Challenge
design office will be located in Hamburg, Germany,
centrally located to the team's tank testing facilities
and research partners.
Because the Illbruk Challenge will have only four
months to work solely on the Cup campaign, Kostecki
and Illbruck said this first challenge will be a low-key
one.
"Our America's Cup campaign will start with a one-boat
program for America's Cup XXXI in 2003 with our eye
on victory in America's Cup XXXII. The powerful performance
it will take to win the America's Cup is not something
that comes overnight. We will take a long-term approach
to winning the America's Cup". The America's Cup race
boat will be built in Germany as will the boat for
the Volvo Ocean Race. The team's new Volvo Ocean 60,
designed by Farr Yacht Design, is now under construction
at the illbruck plant in Leverkusen, Germany. Killian
Bushe, a veteran in composite construction of Whitbread
and America's Cup boats and a range of other offshore
racing boats, is the lead boat-builder of the illbruck
Challenge.
The Illbruk Challenge will fly the Dusseldorf Yacht
Club's burgee. The Yacht Club, founded in 1908, has
a membership of more than 480 and is a shareholder
and organizer of the well-known annual North Sea Race
Week. "The Duesseldorf Yacht Club and its members
are proud to launch Germany's first America's Cup
Challenge," said Commodore Strosek. "We are delighted
to be represented by this distinguished team of sailors.
The Illbruck family has sailed from this club for
many years; we are pleased to continue the tradition
by partnering with them for this significant milestone
in German sailing history," Strosek said.
The illbruck Challenge team will continue its Volvo
preparations with a Southern Ocean training session
starting next week in Fremantle, Australia. The team
will depart from Fremantle for Auckland, New Zealand
November 20. The team will then compete in the Sydney-Hobart
Race in December. Training for the America's Cup will
begin upon conclusion of the Volvo Ocean Race in June
2002 from the recently secured illbruck base, the
former America True base, in Auckland's Viaduct Basin
