flying

Belying Grant Dalton reports that ETNZ hasn’t made the go-ahead call for the winged AC, the guys in Toronto couldn’t keep the news under their belt anymore:  Little America’s Cup Champion crew (Canaan), C-Class wing/foil co-designer, and long time anarchist Magnus Clarke is on a plane to Aotearoa to head to his new job this week doing much of what he did for Fred Eaton but for ETNZ; make up cool shit, scribble it down, and then figure out how to make it work.  He’ll also be presumably handling logistics and storage and so on for the wing; Magnus is not only a distinguished racer, designer, and tinkerer; he also had the role of head wing-sitter in Valencia for BMW/Oracle.  In fact, Magnus still had a day job as an architect for all those years that he was earning the right to be called one of the most experienced wing sailors and operators and even designer, and now he’s following his dream about as far as a human being could get from Canada.  This pic of Magnus sliding down the NYYC lawn from Meredith Block, and you can refresh your recollection about the Little AC by checking out the complete ‘TV Guide" to the coverage here. 

Ironically, the same Kiwis that everyone in the world looks to when searching for the best sailors are now raiding Canada, with Little AC multiple champ designer Steve Killing headed down South as well.  Might we see more of our Canadian anarchists on an AC team’s wish list?  Who knows, but one thing we can be certain of when these two are involved:  Outside the box is pretty much standard, and if there’s a loophole to be exploited, Mag, Killing and Dalts will find it.  "If" they enter, of course…

Meanwhile, the first forty-five foot winged mini-beast is well advanced in Warkworth, a short drive North of Auckland.  Have a look at it here.