Posts Tagged ‘Italy’

We have just returned from a last blast on the slopes of Switzerland where winter is losing its grip on anything below 2,000 metres – the snow being wet, heavy and difficult. But Gstaad is blessed with a glacier at 3,000 metres and on Tuesday there was not a cloud in the sky and so we headed to what seemed like the top of the world with Mont Blanc looking resplendent on the horizon.

After skiing one evening we got talking with our neighbours at the bar and we were telling them about our blogs on scuba diving in the Mediterranean. As chance would have it these guys, as well as looking the part of snowboard professionals, were avid divers and they immediately reeled off names like Eddystone Reef, Diamond Rocks and Scapa Flow. Of course there is one major problem with these sites – they are not in the Mediterranean!

We mentioned that we had already written about Malta/Gozo and Cyprus and asked them what their experiences were of scuba diving in the Mediterranean. They looked at us somewhat quizzically ‘ Diving in the Med is great but its not in the top ten of world destinations – besides the pollution the Med has a fundamental problem – the water is too cold to support coral growth and all that is associated with coral reefs, a multitude of aquatic fauna and flora’.

‘Fair point but if push comes to shove, other than the places we had already mentioned where would you go?’ Secca della Columbara or Chios Island was the answer and as we had heard of neither we asked a few questions and when you watch the video below you may think our friends were being ungenerous with their critique.

Secca della Columara

Not a bad idea to know where it is – Ustica, Italy – OK but we need a bit more – about 50kms north of Sicily in the Tyrrhenian Sea which is on the west side of Italy. Ustica is small, 9 kms across with no more than 1300 inhabitants.

The island (8.7 sq km) is actually the tip of a submerged volcano and, as a result, the surrounding waters are a feast of fish and coral, ideal for snorkelling, diving and underwater photography. In July the island hosts the International Festival of Underwater Activities, which draws divers from around the world. The best months in which to visit, however, are June and September when the wild coastline and dazzling grottoes can be appreciated without the crowds. The best way to get there is by ferry from Palermo, Sicily.

Photo of Secca della Columbara courtesy of Andrew Reay-Robinson

The best dive sites are the Secca della Columbara to the north of the island and the Scoglio del Medico to the west. Note that Zone A of the marine reserve is a protected area. Fishing, diving and even swimming are forbidden here without permission from the Marine Reserve Visitors Centre (Centro Accoglienza; 091 844 94 56; Piazza Umberto 1) which can organise diving excursions into the zone.

The Secca della Columbara is a 43 metre dive featuring a steep wall decorated with sponges and red Gorgonia. The dive is usually undertaken with the wall on your right as you descend to the wreck of a 73m wreck which sank in 2005 and broke into two parts. Large grouper, baracuda and amberjacks, crayfish, dentex and white bream can be seen.

Here is a promotional video from profondobluustica which – when it gets to the diving – looks great. Our friends from the mountains certainly knew their stuff – thanks guys for this great recommendation on where to dive in the Mediterranean. We are pleased to share it with you and check us out tomorrow when we tell you about Chios Island.

With all the hype over the Winter Olympics, other sporting contests out there tend to get overlooked and this is one that nearly passed us by: the 4th annual Burn River Bank Show … Italy’s best snowboard event of the year.

Burn River Jump is the only Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour event in Europe ranked with 5 stars and its fourth edition will take place in Livigno from February the 24th to the 26th, sponsored by Burton Snowboards in collaboration with Mottolino, APT Livigno and Skipassion Livigno. After the success in the past years of River Jump, the slopestyle and big air format is back at this delightful and unusual site.

“With an amazing park, open terrain, accessible off-piste, a warm Italian reception, and prices far cheaper than most other resorts in western Europe, Livigno is one excellent Italian job”

Yesterday, the 24th, more than one hundred riders participated in a qualifying race for the final being held today. These racers will be competing for the podium with invited riders and wild cards in an extravaganza that has become known as ‘the Grand Finale’.

The show starts at sunset with an incredible night show in downtown Livigno  with the jump over the river Spoel. It is a unique showdown, where the 10 classified riders of the 5Star Slopestyle Contest will compete against the 8 invited riders and the 4 wild card riders.

Swatch Mottolino Snowpark, one of Europe’s best snowparks, has prepared special courses on the Livigno area of over 120 thousand square meters and it is also giving, to all riders and week-end bombers, a brand new jibbing area,  the METRO.

Terrain Park on Carosello
Photo: Steve, WSG

The Friday event will be broadcast live on web page www.riverjump.it thanks to the support of Keepod.

After months and months of wrangling in the US courts it’s not the barristers or the bickerings of the billionaires that is delaying the start of the first leg of the America’s Cup – no and you guessed it – it is the weather. The three race series was supposed to have started on Monday but there was no wind. It was then scheduled for Wednesday but there was too much wind and the waves were too big.

Alinghi V and USA 17 are in Valencia, Spain – ready and waiting to race – photo courtesy of George Johns – Alinghi

The racing is now scheduled to start tomorrow – weather permitting – and will consist of possibly 3 races – the third race only being necessary if both boats win one of the first legs.

The 33rd America’s Cup is a Deed of Gift Match to be decided over the three races across two course types. Races 1 and 3 will be contested over a simple upwind-downwind loop totalling 40 miles, whilst Race 2 will be 39 miles long and around an equilateral triangle course comprising a 13 mile beat and two 13 miles reaches.

Of course we know there are only two contestants – the defender Alinghi V is racing under the ‘colours’ of the Societe Nautique de Geneve and is financed by the billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli – the challenger is  USA 17 which is financed by Larry Ellison of Oracle fame and BMW under the ‘colours’ of the Golden Gate Yacht Club.

Both these men are very determined and the stories that swirl around about both protagonists if printed would no doubt land us with a summons to court – so litigious have they become. What we can say is that what we would rather see is a mutual consent event with teams from other countries such as New Zealand, Great Britain, Italy, France and Australia making entries.

As a Deed of Gift Match it has come down to two mega rich individuals who are behaving in a spoilt manner and we believe this is detracting from the charm of the sport’s oldest event.

Ernesto Bertarelli – photo courtesy of Ivo Rovira – Alinghi

Larry Ellison – photo courtesy of Bay Area Sports Guy

Of course the boats have been in Valencia for a while now and not surprisingly there have been some sharp lenses out on the water watching the action. Even if you disagree with the Deed of Gift Match format you will have to agree that the action is going to be very exciting – just imagine the jostling for position at the start line – the boats will hear a 6 minute warning before crossing the start line and then going hell for leather. All 90 feet of them attaining speeds in excess of 30 knots – wow it will be fun to watch.

All we can say is good luck to both teams, we hope there are no accidents and for goodness sake get on with the racing – at the end of the day it is only a sports event.

The action showing both boats in action comes from SailingNewsTV

There are eight teams entered and they include an international mix with the United States, Great Britain, France, Sweden, New Zealand, France, Germany,  Russia and Italy all represented.

The competition started on September 7th in the Bay of Angels on the Cote d’Azur in the south of France. Due to the deep waters of the Bay des Angels, racing for the Louis Vuitton Trophy at Nice Côte d’Azur takes place a few hundred meters from the shore and against the backdrop of the Alps, which plunge at different points straight into the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. A compelling setting.

Winds from the north in the morning of between 6 and 10 knots are the norm and these generally shift to the southeast or southwest in the afternoon and can build up to 15 knots.

Stage 1 is a round robin for all eight teams. Up to four races per day are scheduled through the conclusion of the round robin and will last no longer than one hour in duration.

Here is some action from the first round kindly provided by louisvuittontrophytv

After the first round robin it was the Emirates Team New Zealand who shared joint first place with Azzurra (Italy) both on 6 points.

Stage 2 is a knockout series designed to allow participants to keep sailing as long as possible.

Stage 3 is the knockout semifinals and final. The racing is now drawing to a conclusion with the semi finals having just started. In the first semi final the Italian team Azzurra defeated the British team: the Italian crew played the right side of the course on the first upwind leg and led by 9 seconds at the windward mark.

The British crew tacked to starboard to leeward of Azzurra but the Italians did a wonderful job and increased their lead to 27 seconds at the leeward gate, and then protected the right side of the second upwind leg to increase its lead to 1:16 beginning the run to the finish. The wind lessened throughout this match, from a high of 9 knots to less than 5 at the finish.

BMW Oracle will be the next match up against the inexperienced French team TFS-Pages Jaunes, then the Russian team Synergy sail against Emirates Team NZ – who on the form to date are the team to beat – and finally we will see the Swedish team Artemis take on the host team, All4one, which is a combined French/German entry.

Here’s some action from the same source from round 2.

With only three days left of competition the semi finals will come thick and fast – we will keep you posted and should you wish to visit the Louis Vuitton website click the link here  http://www.louisvuittontrophy.com/home/

All of this is of course the precursor of the America’s Cup – have you bought your tickets yet for Ras Al Khaimah – we hope not – more about that another day.

Photo courtesy of Carlo Borlenghi – Alinghi

So here she is – the defender for the 33rd Americas Cup – to be held just off the coast of the United Arab Emirates at Ras Al Khaimah in February of next year – Alinghi 5. Team president, Ernesto Bertarelli, who is Italian by birth and moved to Switzerland in 1977, is a successful and passionate sailor who has raced at the highest level for most of his life,  is 100% committed to retaining the trophy with Alinghi 5.

But first a little history which goes some way to explaing why The Americas Cup is so special – thanks to Hamish Ross for this insight.

‘The America’s Cup is a symbol of yachting supremacy. Winning the America’s Cup is one of the most difficult sporting accomplishments possible.

The Cup itself was made in 1848 by Garrards of London who were, at the time, the Royal Jewellers. The Cup was one of several identical cups made at the time. It languished at Garrards, unsold, for several years until it was purchased by the Royal Yacht Squadron as a trophy for a special race held in the year of the Great Exhibition of 1851 held in London. Now, it is a priceless sporting treasure.

A syndicate of 5 members of the New York Yacht Club built and sailed a schooner they called America to Britain where it entered the Royal Yacht Squadron’s race which was open to all nations but in fact was only raced by America and other yachts of the Royal Yacht Squadron. America convincingly won the race and took the Cup home to New York amongst great acclaim’……..they then continuously held the cup for 132 years until 1983.

Since then, besides the American team who held the trophy from 1987 to 1995 it has been won by 4 other nations – Australia, New Zealand, Italy and now Switzerland.

The Swiss won The Americas Cup in 2003, defended it again in 2007 against a Kiwi challenge and will face the challenge of the Golen Gate Yacht Club in 2010 – Larry Ellison will do all he can with USA to bring the cup home.

Alinghi 5

We wrote about BOR90 – or USA – as she is now called – in a previous blog. This is what she is challenging.

Alinghi 5 is a 90ft multihull with a beam comparable to the width of two tennis courts set side by side and a mast that towers some 17 stories high. The boat was launched on the 8 July and underwent its maiden sail on the 20 July on Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

On the 7 August, the catamaran was transported by helicopter from its home port of Lake Geneva to a temporary training base in Genoa, Italy from where it was reported in early September that she had suffered a structural failure. We understand that she is now in transit to RAK where trials and testing will continue.

In the video from AdonnanteTv below you can see she is a very fast boat – the challenge has been made, is the defender ready?

As we move into mid April it is time to be thinking of putting away the skis and snowboards and at the same time dusting off the mountain bike. A little time spent at this time of year ensuring you have the right kit will help you to avoid disappointment when you get a sudden call from a mate to go out to the mountains only to find you never had the brake fixed on your bike. So here are a few reminders.

Body protection and your helmet

You may well have grown an inch or so since last year so it is as well to check out the kit you wear.

The single most important item of personal clothing for downhill mountain biking your helmet – ensure you always wear a helmet to protect your head against accidental falls. It is not enough to assume that you are talented and very competent to perform downhill mountain biking because safety is a very important issue as well. On no account must you put your life in peril and so wearing a helmet at all times is the best downhill mountain biking tips that you can get.

Other kit will include shoes, gloves and knee and elbow protectors – again you will have probably grown and there is nothing more uncomfortable than forcing your feet into a pair of shoes half a size too small. We also recommend that you take a light weight back pack – so important for carrying that Mars Bar or other essential sustenance which is so appreciated after an hours biking. We also recommend you ensure your body is well hydrated whilst mountain biking so take along enough liquids and water to ensure that you don’t get thirsty.

Your bike

Maybe Santa crammed a brand new mountain bike down the chimney but whatever the situation and this applies to new bikes as well it is very well worth your while giving your bike the once over. Check nothing is loose, the saddle, the handle bars, the chain – check the brakes are working properly and the gears are sliding from one to another in the right manner. Oil the chain, check the pedals, make sure the tyres are in good order and you have no punctures, check the tyre pressure. Nothing too onerous here – just some basic common sense.

Where to go

It pays to search for relevant downhill mountain biking tips. One place where you can find useful downhill mountain biking tips of where to go is through online sources and via mountain biking forums. We also suggest (if you are not already) that you become a member of a downhill mountain biking club. Never be afraid of asking a question: mountain bikers are on the whole a friendly crowd and always willing to share their tips and experiences

So get ready for what will be a wonderful summer of mountain biking and we thought you would like to see the video below from XTremeVideo of some great action shot in South Africa, Andorra, Spain, the UK , France and Italy.

Ok so that was rather extreme, but that is what we are all about – whatever you skill levels we hope you have a great time.