Admiral' s Cup 1995

AeroSail Crew in confident mood
for Admiral' s Cup

AeroSail - a sports promotion project of the Daimler-Benz group -fulfilled one of its most important goals of the season when its boat "Anemos", which was built in Germany, qualified to take part in the German Admiral's Cup team. Starting mid-week, crews will be competing in the Solent for the unofficial offshore world teams championship.

The Anemos, along with the ILC 46 "Pinta" (Willi Illbruck/Leverkusen) and the Mumm 36 "Thomas-I-Punkt" (Thomas Friese/Hamburg), will be defending Germany's title in the Admiral's Cup.

From Wednesday until August 10, eight countries will be battling it out in this event, which has been staged every two years since 1957. Each team consists of three boats. The eagerness to represent Germany was particularly strong this year. Eleven boats competed in qualifying races for the three places. In the ILC 40 category, Jochen Schümann in AeroSail's boat "Anemos" was able to beat last year's America's Cup winner Russel Coutts. The AeroSail project has thus made further progress.

Building on high technology from the Daimler-Benz group and on a programme of systematic talent screening unprecedented in Germany, the talented crew managed by Schümann and his colleagues has now achieved world-class standard: "We can take part alongside the great names, as we intend to demonstrate in the Cup", comments Bernd Zirkelbach. Zirkelbach, who coached Peggy Hardwiger and Christina Pinnow to victory in the 470 World Championships, acts as talent scout for AeroSail in Germany: "Seventy per cent of the crew on board the Anemos are talents who were developed by us."

There has been international acclaim not only for the performance of the sailors but for the 12.50 metre boat too. "A very special boat, technically right out in front" says Peter Warren from New Zealand who will be sailing on the "AeroSail Anemos" in the role of trainer and, as a professional, has an intimate knowledge of the international scene.

The Admiral's Cup races pose great challenges. All three boats have to finish with good placings. In 1993, the three German boats had a lead after the 605-mile Fastnet Race of just 0.25 points. If one yacht makes a minor error or suffers damage, that can be enough to scupper the whole team's chances. But for the moment no one is thinking too hard about that. "The Cup beckons, and we are all looking forward to the start of the first race on July 27. We have made intensive preparations" says Schümann. The twice Olympic winner's optimism is supported by two recent second places - in the ILC 40 World Championship off Denmark and in the Baltic match race at Kiel.

For further information please contact the AeroSail-Communication office Tel.: (0049)711/17-9 34 24, Fax: (0049)711/17-9 45 33.

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© 1995 Daimler-Benz