Kaenon Polarized

SAILING – NICE COTE D’AZUR

Nostalgia, glory, passion and royalty all played out as both Louis Vuitton and Italia’s Azzurra team had hoped—as the resurrected and recently-assembled Italians beat favored Team New Zealand 2-0 for the Louis Vuitton Trophy.

Held on the French Riviera in cool, mostly windless conditions, skipper Francesco Bruni wearing Rhino Tobacco G12, stunned everyone with the win, setting off a celebration befitting of the host French Riviera resort town of Nice, the assembled international royalty, aside the passionate Italian victors and their fans.

Kaenon was present on most of the teams, with winning skipper Francesco Bruni (Rhino Tobacco G12) leading the way, runner-up tactician Ray Davies on Team New Zealand (Kore), and 4th place finisher from the UK, Team Origin, supported by helmsman Ben Ainslie (Rhino) and tactician Iain Percy (Baton).

Azzurra, from the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, made its international sailing debut at the 1983 Louis Vuitton Cup but has been in hiatus since the 1987 event off Western Australia.

The team was re-launched last month and today Azzurra won the first race by 25 seconds and the second by 17 for a well-deserved championship.

WORLD MATCH RACE TOUR – ARGO GROUP KING EDWARD VII GOLD CUP – Bermuda

Hamilton, Bermuda: Ben Ainslie, wearing Rhino Black G12 got the gold he’s been chasing all week. In the Argo Group Gold Cup finals match today, the three time Olympic gold medal winner (one silver), Ben Ainslie (GBR) took the finals 3-1. He has finally etched his name on the coveted King Edward VII Gold Cup along with a host of match race sailing legends. Ainslie and his America’s Cup-backed Team Origin also took home the first place prize purse of $50,000. Ainslie sailed for the British America’s Cup challenger Team Origin with his crew of Matt Cornwell, Iain Percy, and Christian Kamp.

Ben Ainslie in Rhino, and his tactician Iain Percy wearing Jetty Tobacco G12, (also a 2x Olympic Gold Medalist).

Final Results
Ben Ainslie 3 v. Adam Minoprio 1
Click here for the full story.

SAILING – KOREA
The World Match Race Tour flew across the planet to Korea for last weekend’s event. Ben Ainslie, wearing Rhino Tobacco G12 couldn’t quite keep the victory momentum from last week in Germany as he finished 3rd. Two-time Tour Champion, Ian Williams wearing Hard Kore Tobacco C12 made it to the finals with his Team Pindar only to lose and settle for 2nd.

SAILING – LANGENARGEN, GERMANY

Wearing Rhino Tobacco G12 and representing the British America’s Cup group, Team Origin and 3x Olympic Gold Medalist, Ben Ainslie start the year off with a bang in their first event on the Tour this year. The win puts Ainslie in 4th place on the World Tour standings with 25 points, as an estimated 45,000 people took in the event on the shores of Germany’s Lake Constance. His tactician continued to be his Team Origin mate and 2x Olympic Medalist Ian Percy who was wearing Lewi Tobacco G12. Next stop is Match Race Korea in a few days time. Read the full story here.

SAILING

Beginning this Saturday in Auckland, New Zealand, long-time America’s Cup sponsor Louis Vuitton will host the first America’s Cup regatta since the last Cup challenge was held in Valencia, Spain in 2007. Featuring 10 strong challengers, including the current America’s Cup defending boat Alinghi, teams will compete in a rotation of evenly matched 1-generation-old America’s Cup class boats – equalizing the playing field and bringing the emphasis back to the skill of the sailors and teamwork on deck. As one of the most recognized sunglass brands in competitive sailing, Kaenon Polarized will have great presence on many of the boats, with three of the strongest teams led by Kaenon Polarized skippers Russell Coutts (Hard Kore, Lewi, Gauge) on BMW Oracle, Brad Butterworth (Hard Kore, Rhino, Lewi) on Alinghi, and triple Olympic gold medalist Ben Ainslie (Rhino, Hard Kore) on Team Origin. To learn more about this unique event visit: http://www.louisvuitton-pacificseries.com

SAILING

Kaenon Polarized Sailors Terry Hutchinson and Anna Tunnicliffe Win 2008 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year Awards

TP52 World Champion Terry Hutchinson (Kore, Rhino) and Laser Radial Olympic Gold Medalist Anna Tunnicliffe (Beacon, Georgia, Baton) today were named US SAILING’s 2008 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year. A shortlist of nine male and five female sailors – determined from nominations submitted by members of US SAILING – was evaluated by a panel of sailing journalists who selected these two sailors for the noteworthy distinction.

Nominated 4 times prior, Terry Hutchinson earned the coveted award as members of the selection panel remarked that in 2008 Hutchinson had “redefined himself” after he “emerged from the America’s Cup to be an awesome fleet racer.” Hutchinson got the year rolling as tactician aboard Jim Richardson’s Farr 40 Barking Mad, which won Acura Key West and Acura Miami Grand Prix. Switching to the TP52 and moving into the skipper’s position, Hutchinson racked up four major victories in Europe to win the Audi MedCup series, followed a month later by winning the TP52 World Championship and Melges 24 North Americans.

Anna Tunnicliffe, who wore Kaenon’s Beacon to win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games, was also nominated to the award’s shortlist for the fourth consecutive year and was the unanimous choice of the panel, all of whom ranked her first in the voting that determines the honoree. Cited by one panelist for “an unbelievable year” culminating with victory in China, Tunnicliffe rose in the world rankings in the Laser Radial class as she worked toward fulfilling her goal of winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games.

Also recognized by the Rolex judging panel for his tremendous accomplishments in sailing was Paralympic Champion Nick Scandone (Hard Kore Rx, Beacon Rx), a religious wearer of Kaenon Polarized Rx who died last Friday after a 6-year battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“What Nick overcame in 2008 went far beyond the limited scope of the Rolex award, and his story will not soon be forgotten,” said one Rolex judge.

In addition, Kaenon Polarized also swept the prestigious Rolex World Sailors of the Year awards when Brit Ben Ainslie and Italian Alessandra Sensini won timepieces in recognition of being the most outstanding sailors in 2008.  Like Rolex, Kaenon Polarized is synonymous with excellence, as represented as the sunglass and lens technology these great sailors rely on for protection and visibility to win races.

To get the complete report: http://www.ussailing.org/awards/rolex/

SAILING

The Mt. Everest of sailing, the Vendee Globe solo ’round the world race, set sail from Les Sables d’Olonne, France in front of 100,000’s of fans. Kaenon adorns two of the race’s 30 sailors: defending champ Vincent Riou (Rhino Rx) of France at the helm of PRB and Frenchman Sebastien Josse (Hard Kore) on BT. Both will count on the unparalleled clarity of their SR-91 lenses to read the water and protect their vision from nature’s harshest elements.

The two most decorated sailors of these past Olympics, Alessandra Sensini of Italy and Great Britain’s Ben Ainslie, took home Rolex World Sailor of the Year honors. Could their Kaenon’s have had something to do with their success?

SAILING

Kaenon Polarized applauds World Champion Sailors Ben Ainslie and Alessandra Sensini on their latest achievements as recipients of the 2008 International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards.

BEN AINSLIE of the UK is an Olympic Gold Medalist, Three Time World Champion and the most decorated British Sailor in history – wears Kaenon Polarized sport frame RHINO™ – the performance minded optics with plenty of street attitude.

ALESSANDRA SENSINI of Italy is an Olympic Silver Medalist, World Champion Sailor and the most decorated female athlete in Italian Olympic History. Sensini alternates between BATON™, the small, clean, and comfortable, performance frame from Kaenon Polarized and JETTY™ to support her active lifestyle on and off the water.

As stated on the ISAF website -

“It’s so difficult to describe my feelings in this moment,” said Sensini upon being named the female ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year. “It’s an honour to stand on the same stage as the best sailors in the world and receive this recognition. I remember seeing the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and dreaming of being on the podium with my country’s flag. I’ve now completed 5 Olympics, that’s 20 years of adapting to new technologies and changes and to be here now, tonight, is so important and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”

Ben Ainslie made history once again this evening as the first person ever to have won the Award three times in his career. “Like Alessandra I would like to give a big thank you from my heart to everyone who made this happen,” Ainslie said, gesturing to his parents and his sister who joined him at the Award ceremony. When asked what his plans are for the future Ainslie’s ambitions were clear: “The next goal for Britain is to try for the America’s Cup- we have a great British team. There are a lot of America’s Cup heroes in this room and we hope to see you on the water in the near future,” he added with a smile.

Everyone at Kaenon is behind you all the way as you set even higher sights to surpass!