Shannon and Simeon bring the schwag to junior women’s champs

By ORACLE Racing Comms // June 28, 2011

What do you get when you mix two 6-foot-6 tall and tanned athletes with 56 junior women sailors between the ages of 13 and 18? ORACLE Racing guest speakers at US SAILING’s 2011 U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship.

ORACLE Racing teamers Shannon Falcone, who celebrates his 30th birthday today, and Simeon Tienpont, 29, were the guests of honor at a pre-regatta dinner at the host Richmond Yacht Club in Point Richmond, Calif.

The duo took a page out of the James Bond how-to-arrive-in-style handbook when they showed up on a team tender and stepped onto the yacht club floats, wearing their black ORACLE Racing jackets and black shorts.

“It must’ve been pretty funny seeing us standing there,” said Tienpont, of The Netherlands. “Two tall guys in front of 60 giggling teenagers. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was lawn bowling, they were captivated.”

Falcone and Tienpont spoke about ORACLE Racing’s training the past two weeks on San Francisco Bay and presented the video that’s become known as “The Russell Coutts video,” where the all-time  greatest Cup winning skipper pitchpoles his AC45 and then falls through the wing.

The two also came armed with trivia, such as the first women’s team in the America’s Cup.  But the questions stumped the audience. “All of the questions were from 1992 or 1995,” said Tienpont. “Some of them weren’t even born then!”

They also fielded many questions from the crowd, the most popular being “How fast are the boats?” and “How much will it cost us to get a women’s team together?” and, of course, “Can I have your telephone number?” Well, that’s what the guys are claiming.

“We love coming to events like this,” said Falcone. “It's great to meet and talk to people who love following our sport. Some of these girls, you never know, they could be among the next generation of America’s Cup sailors. So it's always interesting to hear their questions, their points of view and to be able to give them an insight into the lifestyle we lead as professional sailors.”

As the night wound down, Tienpont handed out certificates in a humorous ceremony to sailors who had capsized their Laser Radial rig and turned turtle, their identity known by the mud on the sail.

The night concluded with Falcone and Tienpont handing out signed caps and t-shirts, and patiently posing for pictures galore.

“We must’ve done about 100 different photo groups,” said Tienpont.

Link to article: Shannon and Simeon bring the schwag to junior women’s champs
Photos: Shannon Falcone (with beard) and Simeon Tienpont entertain junior women sailors at the Richmond Yacht Club (Guilain Grenier/ORACLE Racing).

A helping hand from Bay area volunteers

Source: America’s Cup // June 26, 2011

Sailing enthusiasts from around the San Francisco Bay area came together to provide crucial time and support for the AC45 test sessions June 13-20 on San Francisco Bay.

More than 80 volunteers from six different Bay Area yacht clubs provided their services both on and off the water in the form of course marshals, boat drivers and Guest Racer coordinators.

America’s Cup Race Management will rely on volunteers to help stage many aspects of the racing in San Francisco both in 2012 and 2013, while the Event Authority will also be looking for volunteers to support the events off the water.

“We had volunteers step up from San Francisco, Sausalito, South Beach, St. Francis, Corinthian, and Richmond Yacht Clubs for the June testing,” John Craig Principal Race Officer said. “We are grateful for the support from these committed volunteers and look forward to working together over the next two years.”

As the host location of the event, Golden Gate Yacht Club was instrumental in spearheading the alliance between the Bay Area clubs, as well as supported all of the on-the-water activity.

“We really enjoyed getting to know our fellow Bay Area sailors from the other yacht clubs in the area,” said volunteer Mark Leonard. “This experience drew us together and strengthened the bonds between our clubs as we supported our love of sailing.”

The volunteers worked tirelessly all week, to ensure that ACRM could get the most out of the sessions as they prepare for the first competition in Cascais, Portugal this August.

"It was an extraordinary experience," said volunteer Bob McDermott. "I think that we demonstrated that there is a wealth of talent in the Bay Area sail racing community which the ACRM can utilize in all phases of AC34."

And what did the volunteers think of AC45s from their close-up view?

“To see those boats up close, see the crew maneuver, it was incredible and all of us were captured by what was going on,” said volunteer Lynn Spiller. “And then to see these boats race along city front of San Francisco, what a backdrop.”

Or as Berkeley Riley summed it up: “Wow, 'dem boats go fast!”

Link to article: A helping hand from Bay area volunteers
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com

Follow ORACLE Racing
Online at: www.oracleracing.com