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Catching up with Maxi World Championship 2010 thanks to iMovie 11

Plenty of photographs and iPhone 4 movie clips from the 2010 edition of the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship have been sitting around on my hard-disk since last September to be processed. Finally, the update of iMovie provided the "excuse" to use this material to test the "professional-quality movie trailer" provided in iMovie 11.

You will have to be the judge wether the result meets professional criteria. But I can assure you that the production process is fairly simple and straight forward. The movie-trailer templates provide an efficient starting point to assemble a video clip quickly. Since the template is fairly rigid and in my experience doesn't let you have too much room for change, I transformed the "movie trailer template" into a "project" which then allows you to make all the changes you wish. You can "copy-paste" any element of the various templates (using the option key) provided by the software.

iMovie 11 has gained significantly in options to adjust your still and video footage, add a wide variety of titles, addition of professional audio tracks (some specially recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra) and, last but not least, the reinstatement of the single row view, i.e. the traditional timeline we are used to from Final Cut Pro. Once you have familiarized yourself with the various keyboard shortcuts and the program's options, iMovie 11 allows you to process your video clips quickly and efficiently. A perfect companion for the multimedia photographer!

Maxi Rolex Cup 2010 Race 6 from Klaus Huber on Vimeo.

 

Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2010 from Klaus Huber on Vimeo.

 

Seeking the perfect wave - Porto Pollo @ 6 Bf

Porto Pollo, located at the northern tip of Sardinia, separated by the narrow Straight of Bonifaccio from Corsica, is Sardinia's wind surfing El Dorado. Hardly any day goes by throughout the year without a few hours of serious wind, be it the northerly "Tramontana" in winter and spring, the westerly "Ponente" throughout summer and fall. And then there are the "special days" when the northwesterly blows, the "Maestrale", resulting in invariably heavy traffic up and down the 7 km long sandy beach. Last sunday, a beautiful September day was such a magic moment. I am happy to share my impressions from this glorious late summer day.

Seeking the perfect wave - it's maestrale time at Porto Pollo! from Klaus Huber on Vimeo.

Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2009: back from the races on day two

I finally got around to putting a short YouTube video together from the "homecoming" of the maxi yachts on day two at Porto Cervo. It's quite a sight to watch these superb racing machines and their crews after a long day fighting 20 + knots of Northeasterlies in the Maddalena archipelago. Enjoy.

Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2009: Dialing up and start of final regatta

It was Sunday, September 13 2009 around noon time, when the glorious maxi yachts were dialing up for the start of the last regatta of this year's Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup at Porto Cervo. Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo eventually won the event in the Mini/Maxi Racing Group while the litigious "Mr. Skype" Niklas Zennstroem's RAN won in the prestigious overall category. It was an electrifying scene of all these beautiful maxi yachts jockeying for positions at the starting gate with at times hair raising maneuvers to get to the best spot before the gun went off. I watched it from the top of the helipad high above Porto Cervo's old harbor and here are a few highlights:

 

2009 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup - Day 2: Luna Rossa ahead of the pack

It was one of those glorious days off the Costa Smeralda where traditionally in early September the Rolex Maxi Cup is held. The worlds most prestigious yachts, stacked with the best sailing crews money can buy and its super rich owners congregate at Porto Cervo for this Formula Uno gig of sailing. It's an awesome sight to follow these beautiful machines through the rock strewn island archipelago of La Maddalena up north to the Bocche di Bonifacio between Northern Sardinia and Corsica at a steady Northeasterly of up to 20 knots. Unfortunately, I had no boat to follow the race this time. Hence I did the second best to do under the circumstances and caught these awesome racing machines when they reentered port after the battle.

For the second day in a row, Luna Rossa, Bertelli's yacht (1999 winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup) with the Brazilian Olympic stars Torben Grael and Robert Scheidt at the helm came back from the finish line ahead of the pack. Luna Rossa, the Ferrari of Italian sailing, traditionally assembles the best of crews who know the waters around La Maddalena like their pockets.

Not too far behind in second place came Ran skippered by Tim Powell which lead from start to finish but got a time correction to put it just behind Luna Rossa . Its owner, Niklas Zennström, the person behind Kazaa and Skype, must have been a very happy man indeed. Money can buy quite a few things in life... Any way, it looked like he was anxious to "skype" his boat's glorious performance a.s.a.p.

But Mr. Z. was not the only software tycoon grabbing attention at Porto Cervo harbour. Hasso Plattner's (the SAP founder's) Visione, at nearly 150 feet is the biggest yacht in this year's Rolex Cup. It is a strikingly eye catching beauty as you will appreciate.

"Formula Uno Yachting" takes it's toll after a grueling day off lumpy Porto Cervo. A well deserved time-out for these Sagamore Enigma crew members to be ready for the evening's social program!

Swiss cat meets russian chopper: with Alinghi 5 over the alps

The voyage of Alinghi 5 over the Grand Saint Bernard all the way to Genova offers some stunning sights. The Alinghi crew and the Russian heli pilots teamed up for a flawless gig to get the "monster" cat over the alps. What an engineering and avionic accomplishment. Ernesto Bertarelli must have been both relieved and proud of his crew when he saw his huge cat water safely in the harbor of Genova. I bet Larry Ellison and the BMW-Oracle crew could not avoid noticing that the defender is getting it's ducks in a row, one by one. February 2010 is just around the corner and the Swiss cat is flying.....

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Cool 6 Beaufort at Porto Pollo

Cool 6 Bf at Porto Pollo from Klaus Huber on Vimeo.

Sardinia's windsurfing mecca comes alive when the northwesterly gales a.k.a. the "Maestrale" blow in full force over Porto Pollo. Dozens of wind- and kite surfers come out of their tents and campers to test their skills. It's a truly breathtaking show well worth the short drive up from the Costa Smeralda. Windsurfers from all over Europe congregate in Porto Pollo from early spring well into fall. It's a "crazy" bunch of top athletes whose wild rides attracts lots of kibitzing beach lovers. Find the directions in the google map below.

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Swan Rolex Cup 2008 - Porto Cervo

Porto Cervo and the Maddalena archipelago, according to the pros who come here year after year to compete in the Rolex Cup be it on Maxis, TP 52s, 12ms or Swans as happened last week, is one of the world's most attractive racing venues. To follow the race without a boat or helicopter can be very frustrating, regardless of what glass you attach to your Nikon or Canon. The action is usually to far from shore. Unless you are lucky as I happened to be the other day as I went to the lighthouse of Capo Ferro hoping to see some of the 70plus participants in the Rolex Swan Cup of 2008.

Have a look at my podcast or this YouTube clip.

Maxis take-off - Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2008

Traditionally in the first week of September the Costa Smeralda Yacht Club hosts the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup - welcoming the most beautiful yachts representing the ultimate in technology, elegance and professionalism. Here are my impressions of the pre-start activities of the world's best sailors getting these ultimate racing machines of 20 to 40 m in length ready for a day of heavy maestrale in the La Maddalena archipelago. Among the winners this year was Ernesto Bertarelli and the Alinghi team who came in first in the Mini/Maxi class chartering Dan Myers' "Numbers" 60 ft yacht. Tactician Brad Butterworth seems to be equally at home in the La Maddalena archipelago as he was off Valencia.

Costa Smeralda Polo Goldcup 2008

Twice a year the Polo Gold Cup on the Costa Smeralda has become the focus of the glitterati as well as the rest of us tourists who enjoy a game of polo. But polo is anything but just glitter and glamour: it is a most athletic sport requiring perfect control of horse and rider at breakneck speeds. It is also very much a contact sport as you will appreciate from this video clip.