Anyone who spent last summer wincing at the sound of “Oracle Team USA” when referring to a 12-man team with 1.5 Americans aboard will be slightly happier to learn that the Team Alvimedica Volvo 65 will include at least 4 US-based sailors in its Newport-based boat. Skippers Charlie Enright and Mark Towill officially named Newport badass Nick Dana to the crew, while Amory Ross will reprise his role as On-Board Reporter, though this time with far more freedom than he had during the PUMA days. That’s four Americans out of 9 total spots (including the media guy), and we understand that Enright is working hard to reach agreement with another US sailor, who we hear is San Fran skiff legend Matt Noble, though that remains unconfirmed.
We can’t hide our disappointment that the kids behind who created the All-American Offshore Team decided they couldn’t perform in the VOR with a young, fully US crew, especially given the non-Americans they named for their official roster: Inshore one-design racer Alberto Bolzan (ITA), 50 year-old navigator Will Oxley (AUS), and Kiwi Volvo Ocean Race backmarkers Ryan Houston (Delta Lloyd, Sanya) and Dave Swete (Sanya). Could they really find no US offshore and inshore one-design performers with back-of-pack VOR experience like Housty and Swetey?
We admit that we know very little about the constraints the Alvi team is operating under, and we’re happy to see that they are clearly serious about putting together a team with a chance. But we’re still sad to see the final nail in the coffin of the Morning Light/King’s Point/All-American Offshore Team; a great bunch of kids that we’ve been following since we met the Disneys and the kids at the Morning Light premier about a decade ago.
Head over to the Team Alvi Facebook Page here for the full story, and re-live Mark and Charlie’s first VOR interview with SA from all the way back in February.
