The new Ferrari 2010 for Fernando Alonso

Nick Tombazis and Aldo Costa, in charge of the new project, have established the main concepts. This year Ferrari has enough time since the F60 is finished. In fact, the aerodinamics test made by Fisichella in Variano, besides helping him to get in touch with the car, had come in useful to test the changes to make in 2010, which we can get as a clue of how further they are.

Red Bull: the role mode

Maranello technical experts took the basis of the Red Bull RB5, developed by Adrian Newey, as role mode due to its potential to adapt to the new regulations: thinner forward wheels, (2,5 cm less than last year) and the prohibition of fuelling (tanks are 3 times bigger).

Main points of the project:

The project 661 will be a radical car more than a polish like past years. The front side will be singnificantly raised, flattered and with a central groove and low nose which will support the new designed spoiler.

It probably will be longer than its antecessor, in this way the body will generate more downforce (will work a a very big spoiler). The rear will also be very low and extremely compact. The chassis will be lifted so they gain space at the end to put the grooves for feeding the diffuser.

When taking out the KERS they will gain empty space for the ballast, adjusting it to every race.

The flaw: tests indicate that the engine is greedy.

Free translation from: PERIODISTA DIGITAL (in Spanish)

Fernando Alonso goes to Ferrari

Spain’s double Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso will leave Renault at the end of the season and join Ferrari on a three-year deal, the Italian team announced on Wednesday.

The threat of a breakaway series, the recent race-fixing scandal and the future of a number of manufacturers, including BMW, Toyota and Renault, all slowed things down considerably this year, but nothing held up events quite as much as the uncertainty over the future of Alonso.

That now appears to be resolved. The two-time world champion, who is under contract with Renault until 2010 but has the option of leaving at the end of this year, will reportedly sign a five-year contract with Ferrari worth £23  million a season, with the option to extend for a further year.

Fernando Alonso said:

I feel happy for being a Ferrari Pilot. To drive the car of the “Cavallino Rampante” is a dream for any F1 pilot, and today I am lucky for achieve it. I want to greet Luca de Montezmolo, Ferrari’s president to strive to reach this agreement. During past summer we signed a contract to begin our relation on 2011, but last days the situation changed and we decided to bring forward my arrival to Maranello.

All those years on Renault had been fantastic, all together we have won four world championships and 17 of the 21 GP that I have until now have been with Renault. I hope all the Renault team good luck and I also want to win all te possible points from now to the end of the season. Once the GP of Abu Dabi is over, all my strength will be focused on next year. I am sure that together with Felipe we will give Ferrari and all his supporters around the world great joy.

Maddoff's chained yacht

Bull's chained propellors of Bernard Madoff

As said yesterday, Bernard Madoff’s yacht has been chained at France. The yacht, a 27 m Leopard from Arno Shipyard, is registered in George Town and is currently lying in Antibes near a pristine Sunseeker. Italian design, freench mooring, George Town flag, american owner. Cosmopolitan at least.
The specifications of the yacht are

Length overall: 27 meters
Beam: 6,05
Engines: 2 x MTU 16V 2000 M92
Max Speed: 40 Knots

For more info and specs visit Cantieri Navale Arno
Pictures via Monaco Eye

Another of Bernard Madoff’s trophy assets has been seized, this time in the south of France.

French authorities on the Cote d’Azur have chained up his yacht “Bull” at a marina in the exclusive Mediterranean enclave of Cap d’Antibes, between Cannes and Nice.

Bailiffs threw a heavy chain around the boat’s propeller on Friday after a court granted the reqest by French investment firm Meeschaert, one of the many former investors in one of Madoff’s funds that is now suing to get some of its clients’ money back.

The yacht is valued at $7 million.

In a statement Sunday, Meeschaert chairman Cedric Meeschaert said the firm “decided to act fast, so that the boat wouldn’t leave French waters.”

A warning posted by the bailiffs on the boat reads: “Important: Do not turn on the motors, considering that the propellers are chained.”

The chained yacht of Bernard Madoff

It cautions that “major judicial problems” will result if anyone attempts to remove the boat.

Last week a Palm Beach mansion owned by Madoff and two of his yachts were seized in the United States.

Madoff, 70, is in jail in New York awaiting sentencing after he pleaded guilty to swindling billions from investors in what could be the biggest scam in Wall Street history. He faces up to 150 years behind bars.

Prosecutors in the United States are seizing as much as they can of Madoff’s personal fortune, and have begun demanding millions of dollars in payments from his relatives. Roughly 6,700 people have filed claims for a share of whatever is recovered.

The bull will no longer navigate with Madoff

Thousands more — some who lost in excess of $1 million — are expected to come forward.

Via: NPR

M/Y Eclipse Eclipse is under construction by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany. The construction is taking place on a dock hidden from public view and there are still no definitive statements about size as there is a ‘race against the meters’ betwwen some megayacht owners. It is said that there is another megayacht project awaiting to rise its size when Eclipse’s is known. 

Clic to enlarge

The yacht is expected to be delivered to Roman Abramovich in 2010 and will be not less than 160 meters, with all kind of eccentricities and some known features.

Eclipse will have at least three helicopter pads, several hot tubs, two pools, three launch boats, and a private submarine. 

But the most ‘strange’ extras will be the radar designed specifically to warn of incoming rockets. There will also be armored protection around the wheelhouse and the billionaire’s cabin – along with bullet proof windows.

There will also be a surveillance system, with movement sensors and infra-red cameras all around the perimeter of the boat, and in case that someone do breach the security cordon and climb on board the beautiful superyacht, Abramovich, 41, and his girlfriend, Daria Zhukova, 26, a former model, can escape through secret corridors to a submarine that is launchable underwater and can dive away to 160ft in depth.

 

She is designed to be run with 50 crew, and the total cost of the project will round the €300 million.  When Eclipse launches, Mr. Abramovich will own more than 1,100 feet of yacht — the approximate length of the Queen Mary 2. Exact prices for his boats aren’t known, but industry experts estimate they range from about €20 million for his smallest to more than €300 million for Eclipse. Annual overhead for the boats is more than €15 million, industry experts say, and it costs him €90,000 just to fill up the tanks of his current largest boat, Pelorus.

 
This will be the 5th yacht owned by Mr. Abramovich, as well as ‘Pelorus’ (114 m), ‘Le Grand Bleu’ (112 m), ‘Ecstasea’ (85 m) and the tiny one, the ‘Susurro’, which is only 45 meters long.

ROMAN ABRAMOVICH: born on 24 October 1966 in Saratov, Russian SFSR, USSR) is a Russian billionaire and the main owner of private investment company Millhouse LLC. According to Forbes magazine, as of 5 March 2008, he has had a net worth of US$23.5 billion. However, his wealth declined to $3 billion, so he hast lost most of his fortune due to the worldwide financial crisis.  In 2008 Forbes magazine ranked him as the fifteenth richest person in the world. He was also considered to be the second richest person currently living within the United Kingdom

Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor, Majorca to Sebastián Nadal and Ana María Parera.

Rafa Nadal is the new face for promoting the Tourism in Majorca since a couple of months, and he is trying to install a National Center of High Performance Sports in Mallorca.