A quick round up today, as I’ve got to catch a plane to the Nioulargue (or whatever they call it these days) which, as winter started in England this week, doesn’t seem a bad thing at all…
The bad news is the America’s Cup’s first doping case – the Alinghi website posted a statement from trimmer Simon Daubney yesterday, explaining that he’d tested positive on both the A and the B samples for a recreational drug.
In a subsequent appearance before the Jury for the 32nd America’s Cup, Daubney’s explanation that he was a ‘victim of contamination and or drink spiking’ (which contention was backed up by a polygraph test) was accepted. The jury concluded that there was no fault or negligence on Daubney’s part. Despite that, Daubney has resigned from the team until he’s taken further steps to clear his name - still, not exactly Ben Johnson….
Elsewhere, Yahoo have a bit of a short non-story on the K-Challenge preparations for the next Cup – Stephane Kandler hopes to have a major sponsor by the end of next month, but it doesn’t sound like it’s Areva, as they are quoted as not having been asked to back the French challenge.
And the New Zealand Herald have reported that Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) tactician Terry Hutchinson won’t be back with the Kiwis for the next Cup. Hutchinson is moving on after a successful stint with ETNZ saying, 'Following the conclusion of the 32nd event, I could not come to terms with the team on how we should go forward. I have the utmost respect for them, but an America’s Cup campaign is a very intense commitment, and I did not feel I could continue under the circumstances'.
Since I contributed at least one cold and a strained Achilles, I can’t go without pointing you in the direction of Vernon Neville’s report on sickness and health amongst America’s Cup crews. Neville was Luna Rossa’s fitness coach, and if I remember rightly, this was his PhD work at Loughborough University. So I guess it’s now Dr Neville to you, my son. Personally, I think the new appellation should be withheld until he’s finally learned the offside rule - this is an English university PhD after all…
www.markchisnell.com
Mark Chisnell ©
The bad news is the America’s Cup’s first doping case – the Alinghi website posted a statement from trimmer Simon Daubney yesterday, explaining that he’d tested positive on both the A and the B samples for a recreational drug.
In a subsequent appearance before the Jury for the 32nd America’s Cup, Daubney’s explanation that he was a ‘victim of contamination and or drink spiking’ (which contention was backed up by a polygraph test) was accepted. The jury concluded that there was no fault or negligence on Daubney’s part. Despite that, Daubney has resigned from the team until he’s taken further steps to clear his name - still, not exactly Ben Johnson….
Elsewhere, Yahoo have a bit of a short non-story on the K-Challenge preparations for the next Cup – Stephane Kandler hopes to have a major sponsor by the end of next month, but it doesn’t sound like it’s Areva, as they are quoted as not having been asked to back the French challenge.
And the New Zealand Herald have reported that Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) tactician Terry Hutchinson won’t be back with the Kiwis for the next Cup. Hutchinson is moving on after a successful stint with ETNZ saying, 'Following the conclusion of the 32nd event, I could not come to terms with the team on how we should go forward. I have the utmost respect for them, but an America’s Cup campaign is a very intense commitment, and I did not feel I could continue under the circumstances'.
Since I contributed at least one cold and a strained Achilles, I can’t go without pointing you in the direction of Vernon Neville’s report on sickness and health amongst America’s Cup crews. Neville was Luna Rossa’s fitness coach, and if I remember rightly, this was his PhD work at Loughborough University. So I guess it’s now Dr Neville to you, my son. Personally, I think the new appellation should be withheld until he’s finally learned the offside rule - this is an English university PhD after all…
www.markchisnell.com
Mark Chisnell ©