The Red Bulletin August 2013 – NZ

a beyond the ordinary magazine

august 2013

Rob Waddell NZ Iron Man

America’s Cup

FIGHT CLUB

Battle for the oceans’ greatest prize

EVERYTHING SPORT. NEWS, PICTURES AND GREAT STORIES. CALL 0800 759 759 TO SUBSCRIBE

THE WORLD OF RED BULL

August 60

ready for take off

cover photography: oracle team usa/Guilain grenier. Bilder: oracle team usa/guilain grenier, sergei chyrkov

The catamarans that will slice through San Francisco Bay in next month’s America’s Cup are creating a new type of sailor for a new kind of sailing

Welcome

Waves – we’re on them and under them this month, with world-beaters in both places. The new boats in this year’s America’s Cup are among the most advanced vessels built for any sport, and the crews that race them put their lives on the line every time they take to the water. Beneath the surface, but no less at risk, is Franco Banfi and his driving passion: to photograph the most dangerous sea creatures in the world. Another hidden world revealed by The Red Bulletin this month is the secret street art by Belgian graffiti genius ROA. His images of animals could not be more different to those of Banfi, yet they are equally stunning. All that and much, much more, including the stuff that makes soccer hotshot Neymar so special. We hope you enjoy the issue. the red bulletin

Sharp practice: Olga Kharlan

“ In fencing you have to trick your rival to win.

Turned out I had a real thirst for it. It’s fun” 03

THE WORLD OF RED BULL

at a glance Bullevard 08 photos of the month 16 news Sport and culture on the quick 17 Me and my body Clemens Doppler 22 Kit bag A bowman’s equipment 24 Where’s your head at? Neymar 26 winning formula The science behind indoor weather systems 28 lucky numbers One-hit wonders

50 High drama

Features

Taking the high road to victory with rally legend Sébastien Loeb at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, aka The Race To The Clouds

Underwater photographer Franco Banfi on the dangers of a life aquatic

42 Rob Waddell

The legend of New Zealand sport talks life and death at sea

46 Thrusting Talent

World-class fencer Olga Kharlan

50 Uphill Struggle

78 red bull music academy

In New York City with the talented stars of tomorrow as they breakfast with Blondie and jam with James Murphy

30 animal instinct

A photographer’s subjects can be difficult, but the underwater creatures in Franco Banfi’s images can bite back – fatally

Who will come out on top of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb?

60 Not Plain Sailing The new America’s Cup catamarans 70 Painting The Town

Secretive street artist ROA speaks exclusively to The Red Bulletin

76 Janine & The Mixtape From NZ to NYC: essential new music 78 Lost In Music Get into the groove with the class of 2013 at the Red Bull Music Academy

Action

17 me & my body

How European beach volleyball champ Clemens Doppler plays a numbers game with the tool of his trade: his physique 04

89 The JOy Room

With champagne showers, fountains and house beats, this club is the hot spot for the wise pleasure seekers of Mexico

88 89 90 91 92 94 96 98

get the gear A biker’s back-up party Clubbing in Mexico City travel Dune bashing in Dubai training Inline skating My City A graffiti artist’s Dublin Playlist With Empire Of The Sun save the Date Events for your diary time warpED Can it be true? the red bulletin

photography: duhamel flavien/red bull content pool, dan wilton/red bull content pool, franco banfi, philipp forstner, joy room

30 Wet And Wild

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PEUGEOT WINS THE HIGHEST HILL CLIMB COURSE IN THE WORLD WITH THE 208 T16 PIKES PEAK, AND SCORES A NEW RECORD WITH SEBASTIEN LOEB.

contributors Who’s on board this issue

The Red Bulletin New Zealand, ISSN 2079-4274

The Red Bulletin is published by Red Bull Media House GmbH General Manager Wolfgang Winter Publisher Franz Renkin Editor-in-Chief Robert Sperl Deputy Editor-in-Chief Alexander Macheck

FRANCO BANFI

ryan inzana The comic book artist and illustrator has had his work published in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, but he’s not normally preoccupied with football. Before he drew Neymar for The Red Bulletin, Inzana had never heard of the Brazil and Barcelona hotshot.

“I thought Neymar was the name of Ernest Hemingway’s boat.

We Americans,” he says, with a grin, “still see soccer as a fad, like the internet and penicillin.”

Robert Tighe To interview Rob Waddell, says the man who did so for this month’s issue, is to meet “an absolute legend of New Zealand sport; one of the most intense, focused individuals I’ve ever come across”.

Tighe, a Dubliner relocated to Auckland, has also made his mark with Metro, ESPN.com and Rugby World. Before becoming a writer he, like Waddell, earned his crust out on the water: he worked on a prawn trawler off the coast of Australia.

06

Growing up on Lake Lugano, little did Banfi know that the lakes of his Swiss homeland would soon prove too small for him. Since then he has become one of the world’s leading practitioners of underwater photography. Crocodiles, whales, stingrays: he approaches them all without fear. His most dangerous assignment to date was shooting a cheerful anaconda in Brazil: it was only afterwards that Banfi learnt that the giant snakes will swallow anything that comes near them, with or without a camera.

Editor Paul Wilson Creative Director Erik Turek Art Directors Kasimir Reimann, Miles English Chief Photo Editor Fritz Schuster Production Editor Marion Wildmann Chief Sub-Editor Nancy James Deputy Chief Sub-Editor Joe Curran Assistant Editors Robert Tighe, Ulrich Corazza, Werner Jessner, Ruth Morgan, Florian Obkircher, Arek Pia˛tek, Andreas Rottenschlager, Daniel Kudernatsch (app), Christoph Rietner (app) Contributing Editor Stefan Wagner Design Martina de Carvalho-Hutter, Silvia Druml, Kevin Goll, Carita Najewitz, Esther Straganz Chief Photo Editor Fritz Schuster Photo Editors Susie Forman (Creative Photo Editor), Ellen Haas, Catherine Shaw, Rudi Übelhör Repro Managers Clemens Ragotzky (manager), Karsten Lehmann, Josef Mühlbacher Head of Production Michael Bergmeister

GUILAIN GRENIER In 2008, the Frenchman crossed the Pacific in a sailing boat, so when he gets his camera out to take pictures of boats, he knows of what he snaps. To best capture the ferocious beauty of the Oracle team’s America’s Cup yacht, Grenier chartered a helicopter and buzzed the boat during its training runs in San Francisco Bay. His photos have appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world, including Paris Match, Yachting World and Le Figaro.

“I thought that Neymar was the name of Ernest Hemingway’s boat” RYAN INZANA

Production Wolfgang Stecher (manager), Walter O Sádaba, Christian Graf-Simpson (app) Advertising Enquiries Brad Morgan, brad.morgan@nz.redbull.com Printed by PMP Print, 30 Birmingham Drive, Riccarton, 8024 Christchurch Finance Siegmar Hofstetter, Simone Mihalits Marketing & Country Management Barbara Kaiser (manager), Stefan Ebner, Stefan Hötschl, Elisabeth Salcher, Lukas Scharmbacher, Sara Varming Distribution Klaus Pleninger, Peter Schiffer Marketing Design Julia Schweikhardt, Peter Knethl Advertising Placement Sabrina Schneider O∞ce Management Manuela Gesslbauer, Anna Jankovic, Anna Schober

The Red Bulletin is published in Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, UK and USA Website www.redbulletin.com Head office Red Bull Media House GmbH, Oberst-Lepperdinger-Strasse 11-15, A-5071 Wals bei Salzburg, FN 297115i, Landesgericht Salzburg, ATU63611700 New Zealand office 27 Mackelvie Street, Grey Lynn, Auckland 1021 +64 (0) 9 551 6180 Austria office Heinrich-Collin-Strasse 1, A-1140 Vienna, +43 (1) 90221 28800 Write to us: email letters@redbulletin.com

the red bulletin

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Peugeot’s little hot-hatch is back, and making a big impression. Its 1.6 THP 200hp engine has been awarded 2013 International Engine of the Year by Engine Technology International Magazine.

NEW PEUGEOT 208 GTi

W I NTE R B E RG , G E R MAN Y

MIRROR IMAGE

Slopestyle is the discipline mountain biking ‘borrowed’ from snowboarding: big air and intricate tricks on an obstacle-riddled course. It’s the one with the most wow factor, so photographer Lorenz Holder knew he had to do more than just point and click to capture it correctly at the Red Bull Berg Line event.

The mirror was on a digger; Holder a tight deadline.

“My window of opportunity was small because I wanted the sun in the shot.” When Frenchman Yannick Granieri leapt from ramp to ramp, the stars aligned.

Watch video of the event: www.redbull.com Photography: Lorenz Holder

09

G L A S G OW, S COTL AN D

mind games

Four years ago, Danny MacAskill was messing about on his bike around the village of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye. Four years and one day less ago, an internet video of his cycle tricks turned his life around. A series of further films established him as the best street trials cyclist in the world. His latest project is a venue tailor-made for what he does best, inspired by what he knows best: his own mind. Devised by MacAskill to reflect his childhood passions, Imaginate is the obstacle course every kid dreams of, made real. His ‘inner me’ reached out immediately: the first video got two million hits on its first day of release.

See it come alive: www.redbull.com/imaginate Photography: James North

10

NAPLE S , ITALY

PLEASURE FLIGHT The airpseed indicator reaches 400kph. Aerobatics pilot Matthias Dolderer, in his Zivko Edge 540, makes spectators below in the Italian port city gasp in amazement. (They’re mainly there to watch the America’s Cup World Series; Dolderer, of the Flying Bulls display team, is providing extra thrills.)

Knowing that the German flying ace would be passing over some choice backdrops, including Mount Vesuvius, photographer Olaf Pignataro fixed a camera to tip of the Zivko’s left wing.

Pilot project: www.matthiasdolderer.com Photography: Olaf Pignataro/Red Bull Content Pool

12

Bullevard Sport and culture on the quick

The New Kids They’re young, talented and hungry – and they’re out to feed your mind.

Four new bands to listen out for on Red Bull Records

TRON and on: Daniel Simon and, right, one of his radical roadsters

Five Knives Not the usual Nashville sound: Anna Worstell’s mesmerising vocals over dubstep beats.

road ahead Drive into the future with

a modern master of concept cars While working for Bugatti, German designer Daniel Simon began sketching out futuristic cars and spaceships in his spare time. By 2007, he had enough grand designs to publish a book, Cosmic Motors, which earned him a traffic jam of fans, including racing legend Jacky Ickx. Then

New Beat Fund Loud and edgy California hipsters reminiscent of a ’90s Beck.

Recommended: Scare Me.

Hollywood came knocking. Simon, 37, hasn’t looked back since, designing the Light Cycle for TRON: Legacy. His new large-format book series, The Timeless Racer, depicts fictional cars from the years 1981 and 2027. www.danielsimon.com

phototicker

EVERY shot ON TARGET

Have you taken a picture with a Red Bull flavour? Email it to us at: phototicker@redbulletin.com Blitz Kids British emo rockers letting distorted guitars loose on big-time melodies.

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Every month we print a selection, with our favourite pic awarded a limited-edition Sigg bottle. Tough, functional and well-suited to sport, it features The Red Bulletin logo.

Azores Orlando Duque heads for pastures new on

the Portugal leg of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.

Dean Treml the red bulletin

Photography: daniel simon (2), Tina Korhonen

BearTooth The motto of this in-your-face metalcore ensemble from Ohio, USA, is: “Let ’em have it!”

Be lucky

The 2020 Olympics host city will soon be revealed.

Here’s hoping for a better mascot than…

Wheelie good: British mountain bike star Gee Atherton in training for the World Championship

turin 2006 The Italians chose Neve and Gliz – a snowball and a block of ice. They received a frosty reception.

Photography: imago (2), Getty images (2), Picturedesk.com (2)

King of the hills?

Last season, mountain biker Gee Atherton often found his way onto the podium. This season, he’s usually on top of it.

“I changed my training and I now have the best bike in the field,” says the 28-year-old, Salisbury-born rider. For the imminent World Championship in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, there will be even more changes.

“There’s going to be a lot of pedalling, so we’re going to look at the weight, introduce a hydraulically adjustable seat post and maybe use bigger wheels,” he says.

Who can win? “Greg Minnaar, Mick Hannah, Aaron Gwin – about five, six people.” If he had to choose: overall series winner or world champ? “The overall winner says more from a sporting perspective, but the World Championship has more prestige. And that winner’s stripy tricot [jersey] is damn comfy.”

Beginning on August 26: www.uci.ch

Beijing 2008 The Fuwas were symbolic of Feng Shui elements, but looked like domesticated Pokemons.

the hit man Pop producer and trendsetter Pharrell Williams on collective consciousness and his new passion: music for children’s films He writes hits like other people write grocery lists – and he shops for others as much as for himself. Just this year, Pharrell Williams, 40, has been in the studio with big-name collaborators ranging from Destiny’s Child to Daft Punk. He helped the latter write the ubiquitous hit, Get Lucky. How does he relax? Writing music for children’s animated films: Williams’ latest soundtrack is for Despicable Me 2. the red bulletin: You work across multiple genres, but there’s one thing your songs have in common – a certain sense of cheekiness. pharrell williams: Tragedy after travesty – there is so much going on. People are

becoming desensitised. I think it’s a cultural shift among the collective consciousness that people are looking to smile.

Is writing for kids’ films different to writing albums?

It’s kind of the same, except you have to be harmonious with the intentions of the writer and the director. It doesn’t matter how good you think the song is, it may take them to a different place – and it needs to be cohesive.

What projects have you got coming up?

I’m producing albums for Jay-Z, Kylie, Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Hudson. They don’t have to work with me, but they have. I’m pinching myself.

I’m black and blue all over. www.pharrellwilliams.com

Will.i.ams: Pharrell

atlanta 1996 It still remains a mystery what Izzy, a blue creature in tennis shoes, exactly was.

WE HAVE A WINNER!

Tokyo

One Red Bull Street Style entrant finds himself in limbo in Japan.

Naoyuki Shibata the red bulletin

Hong Kong A drummer gets proceedings

underway at the Red Bull Dragon Roar boat race.

Andy Jones

Potosi

Stunt rider Aaron Colton takes a novel approach to cornering on the open roads of Bolivia.

Patricio Crooker

15

Bullevard

Wild man: Joel Sartore Moleshe (right) and Xee of internet radio show Globalize Yourself Stereo

Animal Planet

Breaking Auckland

Big in Japan For the second year running, Christchurch B-Boys dominated the Red Bull BC One Auckland event with Aron Mahuika (aka Akorn) defeating Davy McCavitt (Grub D) in the final. The win earned Akorn, 23, a trip to Japan for the Asia Pacific Qualifier in October, where he’ll dance-off for a place in the world finals in Korea.

Akorn was knocked out in the first round last year, but is more oak-like now: “I’ve got more confidence and I’ve trained a lot harder. I can compete at this level.” www.redbullbcone.com

Vancouver Swapping pedals for paddles at Red Bull Divide and Conquer in Canada.

Bryan Ralph 16

FULL THROTTLE BERLIN

Radio host Sakhile Moleshe on current global club trends – from powerful synths to Portuguese recitativo

As an in-demand vocalist famous for working with South African dance duo Goldfish, Sakhile Moleshe travels the world, playing and making music. Twice weekly on internet radio show Globalize Yourself Stereo, Moleshe and partner Xee serve up fresh new electronic tunes from their South African base. Tuesdays are dedicated to smoother tracks, while on Saturdays the tempo rises, getting listeners in the party mood. the red bulletin: Which music trends excite you most right now? sakhile Moleshe: Aggressive dance blended with Portuguese recitativo, where the singer adopts the rhythms of ordinary speech. It comes from Angola, but you’re starting to hear it in European clubs and people flip out when it comes on. Apart from that, Shangaan electro is exciting. The beat is incredibly fast, double the tempo of rave music, and the dance steps are crazy!

Which world city parties hardest?

Berlin. Recently I wanted to check out a club there called ://about blank.

I arrived at 11pm, but the place wasn’t even open. When I came back at 1.30, there were maybe 10 people on the dancefloor. At 5 in the morning, when I was on my way home, the queue was snaking around the block.

Which song do you have on repeat right now?

773 Love by Jeremih. For many years the most exciting house music came from Berlin and London. Now America is striking back with a mix of trap and house beats, powerful synths, a lot of bass and raw rap singing – all put to fast rhythms. This track by Jeremih is very much in that mode.

Globalize Yourself Stereo airs every Tuesday and Saturday: www.redbullmobile.com/globalizeyourselfstereo

Zeltweg One way to get a great view of the action at the Airpower 13 air show in Austria.

Red Bull Skydive Team

New York A Treequencer – a sound tree – in the recording studio for Red Bull Creation Aaron Rogosin

the red bulletin

Words: Robert Tighe. Photography: graeme murray/red bull content pool, globalize yourself

American photographer Joel Sartore has been chased

by Arctic musk oxen and had chemotherapy to kill a flesh-eating parasite after a sandfly bit him in Bolivia. Yet he still prefers picturing animals to people.

“Humans are unpredictable. I’ve had more trouble with people on photo shoots than I’ve ever had with critters,” says Sartore, who visits Auckland this month with Grizzlies, Piranhas and Man-Eating Pigs, a retelling of his adventures working for National Geographic. www.the-edge.co.nz

Bullevard

me and my body

clemens doppler

OFF THE SHOULDER

FEEL GOOD INK

1 READY, UNSTEADY, GO I’m 2m tall and weigh about 85kg, but I can weigh 3kg less at the end of a season. It’s important to have strong trunk muscles and the best way to train them is on a Swiss ball, by doing exercises on an unsteady surface. I also have phy­sio twice a week.

Credit: photography: philipp forstner

Take-off power is vital on deep sand. I train my leg muscles with various types of squats.

When you’re building up your strength, it’s heavy weights and not too many reps – say four sets of six reps of 130kg. Then, when you want to increase your strength quickly, the same exercise with just 100kg, but done explosively. the red bulletin

4

All my tattoos remind me of great moments in my life. I got my first when I was 17: the design was, of course, a volleybal­l player.

My volleyball-mad parents wouldn’t have let me get anything else. The model was a player from an American volleyball magazine. Maybe I’ll soon be adding a third number – 13 – under the ace of spades on my right arm, by the figures 03 and 07, the years I won the European championships.

SCREWS LOOSE

2 HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE

3

The most injury-prone parts of a volleyballer’s body are the shoulders. Ligaments and joints come under enormous pressure from smashes and hard serves, which is why I work intensively with resistance bands to simulate the ball-striking motion.

5

I’ve suffered my worst injuries while playing. I ruptured my left cruciate ligament a month before the 2004 Olympics, and did it again two years later at the European championships. The screws that were put in my knee the second time were taken out when I had an operation on my meniscus in 2011.

www.doppler-horst.com

17

promotion

Feeding the City

In a few short years Pack & Company have come to dominate Auckland’s bar and restaurant scene, thanks largely to the energy and vision of Sam Ansley.

F

By Duncan Greive

or decades they space

distinct spaces, each with its

boarded up,

under the building’s original

had been abandoned,

disappearing from memory.

Everybody’s and The Roxy

were a pair of slowly decaying movie theatres, destroyed by fire more than half a century ago. Thanks to the vision of Pack & Company, this long

own aesthetic – and operating names. Everybody’s is an

acclaimed bar and bistro on

the first floor, while the Roxy was to be a fine dining

restaurant for a younger set

who find fine dining too stuffy.

The third space is Imperial

neglected slice of Auckland’s

Lane, perhaps the most

impressive element of the

by day and bar by night, its

downtown is now the most area’s revival.

The vision for the vast

interior encompassed three

interesting of the three – a café

contrast to the sometimes

saturation of interesting new

locations, Imperial Lane is a

only the foolhardy would bet

garish interiors at their other model of restraint. I’ve arrived to meet Sam Ansley, the

designer and chief creative

force behind Pack & Company,

for a tour of the complex, and a new site they’re working on a few hundred metres away.

He’s late, which allows me to

watch Imperial Lane in action

for a spell. The air is perfumed

by sweet pastries, from another Pack idea, a Danish patisserie named Elske in Newmarket. A stainless steel beer cart is wheeled out to signify the

closure of the café and opening of the bar. Neon signs flash

BEER and ROXY and HOT

jargon – “it’s builder-finished, waiting for joinery” – that

speaks to how immersed he is in the job. Ansley project

manages every site they open, which he says shaves close to 50% off the final bill.

“ They’ve got a really good aesthetic,” says Ansley As we near the destination,

chill, and a row of laptops

answers it – arranging dinner,

electric heaters blast out the illuminate young, well-dressed types who function neatly as both patrons and props.

Ansley barrels up, boyish

and muscular in skinny jeans

carefully constructed. By

necked tee – he has both the

and an oversized black scoopstyle and energy of a man half

apologises (again) and

a meeting and lunch in the time most people take to exchange pleasantries. Everything with Ansley is conducted at

breakneck speed – it is one of the defining signatures of his ever-growing business.

The other is its breathtaking

his 39 years. He’s full of

scale. Since moving up to

plugged into a MacBook Air in

Pack & Company has

one hand, with the other

outstretched in greeting. There is no preamble. We march

down Fort Lane and turn right along Customs Street toward his newest creation, the

Crown, part of a forthcoming chain named Little Empire

Brewery and Eating House. It’s one of at least four different

construction sites he has on the go around the city.

On the way he races through

a brief history of the project we’re walking into, a pub

which, while characterful, has never quite found an identity, The expansive view from Neighbourhood in Kingsland.

lapses occasionally into trade

Ansley’s phone rings, he

apologies, carrying an iPhone

The Fort Lane entrance to the Everybody’s and Roxy complex.

against his pulling it off. He

DOGS. Along one wall giant

vast interior all worn industrial

surfaces, either pre-existing or

bars within a stone’s throw,

and seems perpetually closing and opening. Ansley is aiming

to arrest that trend. Despite the

Auckland from Christchurch expanded from a few Lone Star cafés in the mid-2000s to over 25 mostly standalone sites.

Auckland is peppered with the fruits of the company’s labour.

Neighbourhood in Kingsland, Snapdragon in the Viaduct, The Northern Steamship in

Britomart, Libertine in Victoria Park. Every time they open a

new project word of mouth fills

it up and a consistent customer experience keeps it that way.

To underscore their scale, as of today there are the biggest customer of the nation’s biggest brewer, Lion.

The driver of that has been

the irreverent interiors. The vision – table lamps fixed

upside down to the ceiling,

mismatched vintage furniture, re-appropriated pop cultural props – spread throughout

Auckland, and variations on it have become a recognisable signature of a Pack outpost.

There’s nothing outward linking

one venue to another – this isn’t a chain in McDonald’s sense – but Ansley’s unmistakable

aesthetic is always on show.

Ansley and his partners –

including his brother Simon, and an ex-girlfriend – have come to hospitality from a

much more commercial end

Libertine Bar in the historic Victoria Park Markets buildings.

30s opulence at Everybody’s in Auckland’s Downtown.

than some of their more food-

driven competitors like Depot’s Al Brown. Pack’s roots lie in

Christchurch club, ‘The Base’, which the Ansley brothers ran

while Sam attended law school.

It was an early bastion of

house music, while Scribe also made his debut there. After

eight exhausting years, during which he worked fulltime at

radio station Channel Z, and

earned his degree, and booked the club, the brothers were ready for a change.

They decided clubs were too

much hard work, and bought the license to run Lone Star

Cafés in Auckland. Opening on

multiple sites, the future Pack & Company (so-named for their

former ‘Brat Pack’ lifestyle) all worked throughout every

aspect of the business, building up a skillset they would later

apply to their more creatively consuming projects.

The move to food and bars

was not without its pitfalls.

When they purchased

Wellington’s The Matterhorn,

plenty of locals were upset at the idea of an Auckland

Investment group taking over a local icon. Hence the name-

change from Pack Investments to the more earthy Pack &

Company. Not every idea has

Roxy

been a hit, either. The

within him too.

find favour, and part of ‘The

idea of being part of Auckland’s

currently being reimagined.

whole idea that Auckland is

aforementioned Roxy failed to

7 Fort Lane Tue-Sat 5:30pm-1am

Commons’ in Takapuna is

Everybody’s Bar & Bistro

over the mis-steps. A signature

They don’t agonise too much

feature of Pack & Company’s

fabric,” says Ansley. “This

becoming this amazing city.

I get really caught up in that.”

A week later I meet him

style is knowing when to cut

again at Blunderbuss in

always plenty more where

road from Shaky Isles – one of

44 Queen Street Mon-Thu 11:30am-1am Fri-Sat 11:30am-3am Sun 3pm-late

bait on an idea. There are

Imperial Lane

chats with the on-site

7 Fort Lane Mon-Fri 7:30am-Midnight Sat & Sun 9am-3pm

“I’m definitely drawn to this

that came from.

Back at the Crown building

site, Ansley pauses for multiple contractors and wanders out with a tub of sample

paint. He clearly relishes the

hands-on elements of his job.

But their are loftier ambitions

Kingsland, located just up the

a pair of kooky cafés operating under that name – and

Neighbourhood. Ansley’s

clearly in his element, putting the finishing touches on his pizzeria with a twist.

He grins broadly, and says

“I’ve already started work on the second one.”.

illustration: dietmar kainrath

Bullevard

20

the red bulletin

Germany, Continental production plant, Korbach, bicycle building section. Andreu Lacondeguy; Continental employee, Ulf Günzel | www.conti-bicycletyres.com

“LaCONTIguy”

[Andreu Lacondeguy] rides on Handmade in Germany

REVO TUBELESS READY

Race King 2.2

REVO TUBELESS READY

X-King 2.4

b u l l e va r d

kit evolution

target range

’68 STATE

In 1968, this projectile was state-of-the-art, because it was made of aluminium.

Advantage: it’s light.

Disadvantage: it breaks easily and one bad shot could bend it out of shape.

A bowman’s kit might not seem to have changed much, but advances in archery have kept deadeyes open to new technology

1967 ZOPF X7 RECURVE BOW This wooden bow, from a venerable Austrian maker, now defunct, was the trusty companion of many a top archer in the 1960s. The riser weighs in at 1.8kg, and the Zopf X7 was very stable, but wood had its downsides: it would vibrate for some time after an arrow was shot, and was susceptible to the elements.

Less reliable in hot weather, the cold made it brittle, sometimes to breaking point.

RISER SHINE

A bow’s handle is known as the riser. Wooden risers live on in junior and hobby sports; 50 years ago, hand-turned in maple, walnut or rosewood, pros swore by them.

The limbs are block-glued maple, planed by hand, reinforced with glass laminate. Recurve bows, with limb tips curling away from the archer, allow faster shots than straight tips.

22

The X7 was developed with input from seventime world champion Frantisek Hadas (above) www.archery.org

the red bulletin

Words: Arek Piatek

ON A LIMB

STRAIGHTEN ARROW

An aluminium core wrapped in carbon fibre makes this arrow more robust and wind-resistant than an aluminium-only predecessor of the same weight.

SEE & STEADY Top parts: the mountable visor is adjusted for the distance to the target. Beneath: three stabilisers maintain balance before and after loosing the arrow.

2012

Photography: kurt keinrath (2), www.bogensport-marktredwitz.de, Action Images/Paul Childs

W&W INNO AL1 RECURVE BOW

HARD CORE

Modern risers are precision mechanisms, optimally balanced to retain their original position after shooting and made from machine-milled aluminium.

This weatherproof bow seamlessly transfers the force generated by the archer to the arrow. Its synthetic limbs absorb vibrations better than wood and the relatively heavy riser (1.3kg) keeps recoil low and the target rate high. At London 2012, South Korea’s Im Dong-Hyun (below) notched a world-record 699 points (out of a possible 720) in the men’s team contest, using his trusty Win&Win recurve bow.

IN PIECES

Detachable limbs debuted in 1963, becoming standard soon after. Pro archers today have bows designed to their body shapes using computer software.

the red bulletin

In Olympic archery, a 12.2cm target centre ring is targeted from a distance of 70m www.win-archery.com

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Bullevard

Where’s Your Head At?

neymar

To-do list: lead Brazil to home World Cup glory; form Champions League-winning partnership with Leo Messi at Barcelona. Fácil. Here’s the stuff Brazil’s wonder boy is made of

Country Life

If Brazil are to win a sixth World Cup as hosts next year, they’ll need Neymar at his best. “I don’t think there’s pressure on me,” he says, bending the truth like a topcorner free kick.

Hey Neymar!

Neymar da Silva Santos Junior was born on February 5, 1992 in Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil. As required by law for all Brazilian footballers, he played soccer in the streets as a boy.

You’d think they’d have pitches all over the country by now…

Kicks And Flicks

As the national anthem played before his 225th and final game for Santos, in April, Neymar cried. “It was emotional. The film of my life since I was a kid came to mind.”

In the XI at 11

Groomed For Success

Known in hairdressing circles as the ‘fauxhawk’, Neymar’s mane has drawn plenty of admirers from men’s mags – and that of Pelé, who says it, and aftershave, matter more to Neymar than football.

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Groundhog Ney

Neymar has been nominated for FIFA’s prestigious Puskás Award every year since it began in 2009.

Actually, no he hasn’t: in 2009, it was Nilmar on the list. “He’s a top player,” said fellow Brazilian Nil, of Ney. The latter won in 2011 and came third last year.

Tweet Heart

@Njr92 is climbing Twitter’s top 100. At last count, he had passed seven million followers and nudged the Dalai Lama out of 87th place.

Cristiano Ronaldo is soccer’s top tweeter, with 19 million followers.

Fantasy Strike Force

“I have a contract with Santos until 2014,” he told Time magazine in February.

“I intend to honour it.”

Three months later, he did the dishonourable thing and signed for Barcelona for a transfer fee of €57m. www.neymaroficial.com the red bulletin

words: Paul Wilson. illustration: ryan inzana

In 2003, Neymar da Silva Santos Senior moved his family south to Santos, on the coast.

Later that year, his boy signed for Santos FC. “The thing I miss most is playing football on the beach with my friends,” said Neymar Jr.

Bullevard

HArd & FAST

Top performers and winning ways from around the globe In the money: Hard Work by Matthew Couper. RRP NZ$5,000

Words: Robert Tighe. Photography: courtesy of PAULNACHE (2), Red Bull racing, Kolesky/Nikon/Red Bull Content Pool, Lance Koudele

MONKEY BUSINESS Gambling on a big move to Las Vegas paid off for New Zealand artist Matthew Couper Sex and religion are recurring motifs in Matthew Couper’s work, so it’s no surprise that he feels right at home in Las Vegas.

Couper and his wife, Jo Russ, also an artist, got their US Green Cards three years ago and decided to up sticks for Sin City.

“We liked the clash of cultures, the lowbrow versus the highbrow, and it seemed a good place to build an art practice,” says Couper, who grew up in Hawkes Bay. “Vegas has its own religion. Casinos are the church. It’s all about hope and faith.”

Couper hasn’t made his fortune on the roulette table, but he’s been fully embraced by the local art community. Last year at an exhibition in his new hometown, Couper dressed up in a monkey suit and painted small canvases depicting piles of gold and faeces.

“When you paint you are taking some coloured dirt and trying to turn it into something that hopefully somebody will like and buy,” he explains. “If you’re a painting monkey, you paint the same thing over and over again for money. It’s the big dilemma for artists; follow your heart or ensure the bills are paid.”

Couper and his painting monkey can be seen as part of his exhibition The Artist As Peasant at this month’s Auckland Art Fair.

Maxime Richard of Belgium (centre) put in a blistering performance in Solkan, Slovenia to win the Whitewater Canoe World Championships.

Three-time defending Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel finally broke his German Grand Prix duck by claiming victory on home soil at the Nurburgring.

low British kitesurfer Aaron Had e of tricks (centre) used his full rang nal off to win the Triple S Invitatio a, USA. the coast of North Carolin

www.mattcouper.com

Ape art: Couper in disguise

At the ASP Prime Mr Price Pro Ballito in South Africa, local hero Jordy Smith lost to Julian Wilson of Australia in a thrilling final.

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Bullevard

winning formula

perfect storm

Guaranteed to have a good atmosphere: cloud installation Nimbus Minerva by Dutch artist Berndnaut Smilde, Ronchini Gallery, London

Words: Thomas Schrefl. Photography: eeftinck schattenkerk. Illustration: Mandy Fischer

Here’s the forecast: indoor weather systems and how they’re made in the sky A photograph at his grandparents’ home inspired Amsterdam artist Berndnaut Smilde to create an interior cloud, now a source of wonder at London’s Ronchini Gallery. But how on Earth – or just above it – does this installation work?

“Clouds are made up of tiny water droplets which float in the air,” explains Professor Thomas Schrefl of Austria’s St Pölten University of Applied Sciences. “For these droplets to form, water vapour in the air – what we refer to as humidity – must condense around small dust particles. The droplets appear when a relative humidity of 100 per cent is reached or, in other words, when the air cannot absorb any more vapour.

“The total pressure of the air, p, is the sum of the partial pressure of the dry air, pd and the partial pressure of the vapour, pv. Once the partial pressure of the vapour exceeds a certain threshold, we reach the point of oversaturation.

“This is the turning point when it comes to cloud-making. But temperature also has a role to play.

Relative humidity is defined as the relationship of the partial pressure of the vapour to the saturated pressure of the vapour: f = pd/ps × 100. The latter is dependent on the temperature, T, as the solid line, ps(T), in the illustration shows.

“When a humid parcel of air meets cold ground, the air cools, the partial pressure of the vapour exceeds the saturated vapour pressure, and clouds begin to form.

This part of the process is represented by the horizontal dotted line in our diagram. The point of intersection with the ps(T) curve is what we call the dew point.” in the gallery So how does Berndnaut Smilde get a cloud into a museum space? “With trickery,” says Schrefl.

“Oversaturation occurs when additional water vapour is introduced to already saturated air. What Smilde does is intensively humidify the air in the gallery with a water spray. Then he introduces vapour from a fog machine into the space and the reaction occurs. Simple.

“To ensure it floats in the correct space, it cannot rise or fall too quickly. The vertical acceleration of the cloud particles, aC, is dependent on the difference in density between them and the surrounding air. If the density of the cloud particle, C, is the same as the density of the surrounding air A, the acceleration is nil – and the cloud floats.

“As before, temperature is vital too. Dew point and density are dependent on this variable. This means that for a cloud to form, the temperature must be under 20°C. Et voilà – a cloud-filled room.”

More on the cloud artist: www.berndnaut.nl

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Bullevard

lucky numbers

One-Hit Wonders Every musician hopes to have a hit, but for many, that’s where the dream ends. Here are small tales of big flashes in the pan

What do Jimi Hendrix, Iggy Pop, Beck and Norah Jones have in common? They’re all one-hit wonders. None of them has had more than one Top 40 hit in the US charts. Beck is the most successful of the iniquitous bunch, having made it to number 10 in 1994. The song? Loser.

By the book: Edelweiss

By Harper Lee or Capote?

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30,000,000

Spanish flamenco duo Los del Rio formed in 1962, and waited 34 years for their first, and only, hit record. But this one really made it big: Macarena is the most successful song ever by a one-hit wonder. The remix topped the US charts for 14 weeks in 1996, sold 11 million copies worldwide and unleashed a global dance trend.

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History’s first one-hit wonder was Johann Pachelbel and his Canon and Gigue in D, which became a worldwide smash 264 years after the German composer’s death thanks to a 1970 recording by the Paillard Or­chestra. It has since gone on to become a staple at weddings. Green Day, U2 and Alicia Keys have all borrowed the catchy chord sequence.

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160

Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty had seven Top 10 hits in the UK charts as The KLF. In 1988, they imparted their wisdom over 160 pages of a book, The Manual: How To Have A Number One The Easy Way. Viennese jokers Edelweiss followed the advice and enjoyed a number one in four countries with their 1989 yodelling hit Bring Me Edel­weiss.

No no.1: Jimi Hendrix, Norah Jones, Iggy Pop

Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 with her first novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. The novel has sold over 30 million copies, and was made into a film, starring Gregory Peck, which won three Oscars.

The author has never written a follow-up, which has only fuelled rumours that large parts of the novel came from the pen of her good friend Truman Capote.

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Pachelbel’s Canon in D

Hey, Macarena

In 1963, commercial artist Harvey Ball was asked to design a life insurance logo. Ten minutes later, so he says, the yellow, round and grinning smiley was born. By 1971, 50 million smiley badges had been sold. The logo may have made Ball world-famous, but it didn’t make him rich. He never applied for a trademark or copyright of the logo and earned US$45 for his work. the red bulletin

words: florian obkircher. photography: ddpimages, rex features, frank w. ockenfels, shutterstock, xavier Martin

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Harvey Ball’s Smiley

Marc Webber for Pepe Jeans London

animal instinct Photographing live models can be a vicious business, but Franco Banfi’s subjects actually bite back. The Swiss snapper on the dangers of a life aquatic Words: Arek Piatek Photography: Franco Banfi

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Close up

Eye to eye with a blue shark in the mid-Atlantic, off the Azores Islands

Wet and wild: Franco Banfi takes a portrait of an 8m-long anaconda

uddenly, the leopard seal is aware of the diver.

Dropping the wounded penguin it has been chasing, it turns its full attention to the man with the camera.

Terrifyingly, the 300kg predator moves at lightning speed to come eye-to-eye with the photographer.

If it wanted to, it could kill him with a single bite of its powerful jaw.

For Franco Banfi, life and death situations like this are just part of his everyday work. It’s made the 55-year-old from Lugano in Switzerland one of the world’s most in-demand underwater photographers.

Over a career spanning 30 years, Banfi has seen every dangerous thing the oceans have to offer and photographed them in close quarters: crocodiles, sharks, giant squids, stingrays, the list goes on. His motivation is simple. “I prefer species that are difficult to photograph. I risk my life for them,” he says.

Banfi discovered underwater photography in the early 1980s. “Some friends convinced me to dive in Lake Lugano,” he explains. “The world underneath that surface instantly fascinated me.”

Underwater photography – a means of capturing that world – became Banfi’s passion. He taught 32

himself the technical aspects, as well as reading up on as many species of marine life as he could.

“To get noticed as a photographer you have to do what no one else has done before,” he says.

Which is exactly what he set out to do, swiftly establishing his own modus operandi.

“I don’t dash off for the lucky shot; I try to gain the trust of the animals first,” he says. “When dangerous or shy ocean-dwellers tolerate your presence, your images take on an entirely new dimension.”

Aged 25, Banfi sold his first photo to an Italian diving magazine. At 34, he won the underwater photography world championships in Cuba. Since then, his photos have become a staple of respected wildlife magazines like National Geographic, BBC Wildlife and Stern.

The art of getting close to an animal, says Banfi, is a mixture of science and experience. “Every species reacts differently, but there is one rule for survival that almost always applies: show the animal respect, but never fear.”

It was this rule which saved Banfi’s life during the encounter with the leopard seal: “I stayed where I was and held the camera out to him. He swam away.” There are always exceptions, however.

“When an anaconda gets aggressive, it’s better to disappear,” he says. “They’re primitive and once they start attacking they don’t stop.” www.banfi.ch

Franco Banfi has 30 years’ experience as an underwater photographer the red bulletin

Dancing with a manta ray

“These giant specimens off the Mexican island of Socorro accepted me after a few days. I laid my hands on them and let them pull me through the water. Their skin is as rough as sandpaper. When I let go, they came back and we set off again.�

Bite-sized image

“Caimans [alligator-like reptiles] grow up to 2m long. To cool off during the day they open their mouths in the water and remain in this menacing-looking position.

In Brazil I stalked one of them while swimming. Always from the front, though, because caimans like biting to the side.�

Eye of the tiger shark

“It’s one of the most fearsome animals in the ocean: unpredictable, and with a bite powerful enough to crack tortoise shells. We lured this specimen off the coast of Africa with fish blood. It came dangerously close: you can see the shadow of my camera on its snout.”

Ice diving with belugas

“This photo won a bunch of awards.

It was shot in the White Sea, off the coast of northern Russia. Beluga whales are generally scared of people, but this curious, playful guy was an exception. He got so close that I had to keep pushing him away with the camera, just so I could focus.”

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Credit:

Chasing the impossible

Credit:

“No one has managed to photograph the birth of stingrays in the wild. A marine biologist and I accompanied this pregnant female for a week in the Atlantic, while taking care to avoid the deadly sting. Unfortunately it got away from us.

What remains are photos of the animal on its incredibly long search for a spawning ground.�

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The well-fed anaconda

“This photograph was taken in the Brazilian wetlands area of Pantanal.

Anacondas wait for their prey on the bank – they even eat crocodiles.

This specimen had already eaten and barely took any notice of us. But then it got annoyed and opened its mouth fully in the direction of the camera.

That was our signal to retreat.”

Teeth marks in the camera “A saltwater crocodile in a typical lookout position near the shore off Papua New Guinea. I approached from the side, getting closer and closer and then pressed the shutter.

Suddenly its head jerked in my direction and it bit into the camera.

The marks are still there to this day.”

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Picking up signals

“Whales know when you’re nervous, and it relaxes them when you radiate calm. This photograph is the result of harmony between man and animal. With this sperm whale I knew beforehand that it was going to submerge. I went down first and took the photo while it glided past and looked at me.”

Feeding the predators

“For shark shots you always need bait that you hold out, so they can smell it, but not reach it. In our case it was pieces of fish in cage-like boxes. You start snapping as soon as the predators approach.

This photo shows me off the coast of the Bahamas at 15m depth, surrounded by 25 lemon sharks.”

Camera-shy monster

“Giant squids can grab divers with their tentacles and drag them down into the depths. This colossus accompanied us down to 80m, but was cautious. When the camera flashed it jerked away – and slowly snuck up again later.”

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the red bulletin

ALL WORLD CUP RACES LIVE ON

Born January 7, 1975, Te Kuiti Mr Incredible His achievements aren’t confined to watersports.

He played representative rugby for Waikato, has a black belt in judo and is fluent in Japanese.

Photography: Chris Cameron

Master chef After the America’s Cup, Waddell’s focus turns to his new job as Chef de Mission, or team manager, for the New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games teams.

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the red bulletin

man T

rob waddell

Iron

The Olympic rower turned world-class sailor talks sea sickness, winning mentalities and how the tragic death of British sailor Andrew Simpson rocked the America’s Cup to its core

Credit:

Words: Robert Tighe

he Marvel Bar in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour is an appropriate place to meet an actual sporting superhero like Rob Waddell. As a young rower, Waddell won two world titles and an Olympic gold, not to mention three successive New Zealand Sportsman of the Year awards. But now, after switching oar for sail, his latest mission is to help New Zealand lift the America’s Cup. It’s a responsibility the 38-year-old from Te Kuiti takes extremely seriously.

“We’re genuinely motivated to try and win this thing for New Zealand,” says Waddell, as he tucks into a bowl of hot chips after a long, hard day on the water. “This crew stayed with Team New Zealand when they could easily have gone to other boats. We’ve sailed together for a long time now; we’re a tight crew and we’re very determined.”

That determination – specifically, “a strong work ethic and daily commitment to excellence” – are qualities Waddell cites when asked what

makes a successful athlete. Unsurprisingly, they’re qualities that he displays in spades, according to David Slyfield, Team New Zealand’s physical trainer.

“This guy is incredible,” says Slyfield, who has worked with six Olympic gold medallists including Waddell, Sarah Ulmer, Hamish Carter and Lisa Carrington. “People often attribute success in sport to natural talent or genetics, but there’s a huge component that’s down to athletes simply learning how to win. All successful sportspeople are incredibly good learners. They pick up what’s important and figure out what they need to do to get that win, whatever sport they’re involved with. Rob is a prime example of that, in both rowing and sailing.”

Slyfield was largely responsible for Waddell’s transformation from world-class rower into worldclass sailor. After successfully defending the America’s Cup in 2000, Team New Zealand were decimated by the defection of skipper Russell Coutts and tactician Brad Butterworth to bitter rivals Alinghi.

Their departure triggered a mass exodus of more top sailors, tempted by the lure of big bucks.

Team New Zealand hired Slyfield to help them recruit promising athletes from outside the world of sailing, to meet this shortfall. Slyfield was Wadell’s personal trainer for the Sydney Olympics and knew that he was up for a fresh challenge. Despite the fact his only previous sailing experience was limited to “mucking around in

Waddell reached the pinnacle of rowing when he took gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000

Photography: Chris Cameron (2), Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

a friend’s dinghy” as a teenager, Waddell beat 39 other applicants for a place on the team.

“They were looking for someone who had a good physiology and a positive attitude,” says Waddell.

“I felt like I’d achieved everything I wanted to in rowing, and was captured by this romantic idea of being on a sailing boat. Then you actually get into it and you realise, ‘Yikes! I’ve got a lot to learn here.’”

Getting to grips with the terminology and techniques of sailing was one thing; finding his sea legs was another. Waddell’s first offshore race was the infamous Fastnet around the English coast.

“Sailors aren’t supposed to get seasick but I did,” he laughs. “We were beating out of the Solent, doing 30 knots in big seas, and waves were smashing over the boat. Within a couple of hours, I was in a bad way.”

Waddell’s crewmates decided to wind him up by warning him not to get any vomit on the side of the pristine yacht. So instead of puking over the rail, Waddell threw up in his jacket.

“It wasn’t my proudest moment,” he says. “I cope better with it now, and feel like a far more useful member of the team in general. I’ll never be the guy behind the wheel, but I’m good at my role.”

That role – the grinder – demands explosive bursts of strength. Grinders are responsible for the winches that control the sails, and Waddell packs a lot of power into his imposing 6ft 7in, 115kg frame. Timing, speed and agility are also essential, particularly on the new AC72, the 72ft high-speed catamaran that’s now usurped the traditional monohull for the 2013 America’s Cup. “The old boats were all about strength,” says Waddell. “You stayed in one spot and needed to be super powerful in your arms and shoulders. These new boats are different: there’s a lot of sprinting across the trampoline [the netting that serves as the catamaran’s deck]. The boat is so fast that it’s running right on the edge. Tipping over would be terrifying.”

The dangers of sailing, and the America’s Cup in particular, were made abundantly clear by the death in May of Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson. The British sailor was killed when the yacht of the Swedish America’s Cup team, Artemis Racing, overturned and broke up during a training session in San Francisco Bay. “I knew Andrew,” says Waddell. “I didn’t know him well, but I spent time with him at different regattas. It’s a very sad time and there’s enormous sympathy for him, his family and friends. It came as a huge shock to everybody involved with

Credit:

Waddell’s Cup: Rob takes a break from conquering America’s

Team work: Emirates Team New Zealand training with their second AC72, NZL5, on the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland

“It doesn’t feel like you’re going to flip, but there are increased risks” the America’s Cup. Different people had different opinions about what could happen on these boats, but I genuinely didn’t think a fellow sailor would die.”

Simpson’s death has made the general public aware of just how dangerous the America’s Cup can be. “Of course there’s risk involved any time you go out on a boat,” says Waddell. “Anything can happen; a pole could fall on your head or you could get caught off balance by the boom. Sailing these catamarans takes it to another level. Andrew’s death has made us all realise that if these boats pitch over then somebody’s going to get hurt.”

Despite this, Waddell has no intention of quitting his adopted sport. “I’m happy on our boat,” he says. “We’ve sailed in some big breeze and our team feel comfortable. These are fast boats: you’re up around 40 knots. It doesn’t feel like you’re going to flip, but there are increased risks, and we’re mindful of that.”

Waddell is no stranger to risk. In 1997 he was diagnosed with a heart condition: atrial fibrillation.

NBA star Larry Bird, singer Barry Manilow and former 007 Sir Roger Moore are also affected the red bulletin

by A-Fib, marked by an irregular heartbeat. The major problem in sport is that it can reduce the efficiency of your heart by up to 25 per cent. In a worst case scenario, it can bring on a stroke.

Waddell had pre-emptive heart surgery in 2009, and while there is a risk this condition could recur, he’s still been part of Team New Zealand’s last two America’s Cup campaigns (2003 and 2007), and is hoping to make it third time lucky in San Francisco.

The winner of this month’s challenger event in San Francisco Bay, the Louis Vuitton Cup, earns the right to lock horns with Oracle Team USA in the America’s Cup proper, starting on September 7.

Most sailing experts rate Team New Zealand as the favourites, but Waddell rejects that tag.

“There are so many unknowns,” he says.

“Reliability is going to be a big issue because it’s unlikely that every boat is going to finish every race.

“We’ve led the way with our developments and the other boats have been playing catch up, but we haven’t raced each other yet, and until then it’s hard to tell the strengths and weaknesses of each boat.

“Of course we’d like to win. That’s why we’re here. That’s certainly why I’m here.”

Follow Team New Zealand’s progress: www.etnzblog.com

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thrusting

talent World-class fencer Olga Kharlan gets straight to the point in the run-up to this month’s World Championships in Budapest Words: Ruth Morgan Photography: Sergei Chyrkov

W

hen she was a little girl, Olga Kharlan dreamed of being a shop assistant or a dancer. Fortunately for Ukrainian sport, both career paths were sliced to tatters the moment she picked up a sword.

That epiphany was 12 years ago. Now 22, Kharlan and her sabre have won two Olympic medals – the first a gold at Beijing 2008, when she was just 17 years old – and numerous world and European titles. This month, the girl from Mykolaiv, near Odessa, is dreaming of yet more glory at the World Championships in Budapest, and counting on dried fish, self-help and Marilyn Manson to get her there.

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the red bulletin: How did you get into fencing? olga kharlan: I clearly remember the day I first heard about it. I was an energetic child and used to go dancing a lot. But when I was 10, my mum said, ‘I’m sorry, but we can’t afford to pay for your dance lessons any more.’ My godfather was working as a fencing trainer at the time so he suggested I go to his club instead.

When did you first realise that fencing was becoming a passion?

To begin with it was just a bit of fun, but I discovered my true passion for the sport when I started getting results. I had a real thirst for winning. I love that fencing is an

unusual sport, too – you have to trick your rival if you want to win. That’s fun.

There are three types of sword in fencing: épée, foil and sabre. Why did you go for the sabre?

The épée and foil jab, while the sabre strikes. It’s the only weapon where you can score points with the blade’s edge.

It’s a very agile weapon, and as a result the discipline is incredibly fast-paced.

We fence with greater energy whereas, with the épée and foil, there’s a lot of standing around and waiting.

What do you say to those who claim fencing is not a hugely physical sport?

All sports are physically strenuous, and the red bulletin

Olga Kharlan first took a stab at fencing aged 10. Seven years later she won Olympic gold

the thing I can’t resist. Oddly, I don’t like chocolate, but sometimes – and this happens very rarely – I can eat a whole bar of milk chocolate in one sitting.

After that, I just want dried fish again.

Do you ever want to turn off your alarm, forget the gym and hang out with your friends like a regular 22-year-old?

I don’t have much free time to myself, and that’s the hardest part of my profession. When I do get time off, I like to hang out with friends from outside the sport. When we meet, we don’t talk about training or competition. We just go to the cinema, catch up and have fun.

Is talking shop a problem with your boyfriend, since he’s a fencer too?

Yes, I’m going out with another sabrefencer called Dima, and we often speak about our bouts and give each other advice. My coaches would prefer I was single, but Dima being around has never got in the way. If anything, it’s helped.

What sort of music gets you in the mood to do battle?

I love listening to music – in my car; when I’m at home; when I’m training.

Sometimes I can’t prepare for a match unless I’m listening to something. I have all sorts on my iPod, from Metallica to Justin Bieber. When my boyfriend listens to my iPod, he’s always surprised by the choice of songs. He’s like, ‘You’ve got Marilyn Manson on here?!’

You’ve had a lot of attention for your looks as well as your fencing prowess.

Are you happy being labelled a pin-up?

I’m very flattered that people appreciate my looks, but feel quite embarrassed when they give me compliments. I really

On the front foot: Kharlan (left) is hoping to win her second consecutive world championship gold

48

“If I get recognised it’s only because of my car – because I have my name and the Olympic rings on the number plates” enjoyed being photographed for a Ukrainian men’s magazine – but it did have some negative consequences. My parents were fine about it, but my trainers didn’t understand why we [Olga and her two teammates] did it. Afterwards I said I wouldn’t pose for another magazine like that, but who knows? I might…

You still live in the Ukranian town where you grew up: Mykolaiv, near Odessa. Are you a local celebrity?

Not really, because fencing still isn’t very popular there. If I get recognised, it’s only because of my car – because I have my name and the Olympic rings on the number plates. [The car was a gift from the Ukrainian Fencing Federation for winning gold.] It’s great when I’m recognised as it means people know what fencing is.

Do you think you’ll ever leave your hometown?

I’ve lived in Mykolaiv all my life and I love it there. All of my relatives live there and I share a house with my parents and my dog. My mum always has something delicious waiting for me when I get back from competing – I love her borscht. I plan to live my whole long and happy life there.

Do you still get nervous before a bout?

I always get nervous! Confidence is a weird thing. You can have it one minute and then two seconds later it’s gone.

I have to distract myself from negative thoughts. My inner voice helps me.

I often talk to myself – but not out loud.

How are you feeling about the upcoming World Championships?

My goal is to win individual gold at both the World Championships and the next Olympics. I’ll have to work very hard to achieve that, but when I have, I’ll be the happiest person in the world. www.redbull.com

the red bulletin

additional photography: daniel kolodin/red bull content pool

sabre fencing is no exception. You need vast amounts of strength and stamina. We move around with our legs half bent, so there’s constant pressure on the knees and back – which are often injured as a result.

Plus we’re constantly bruised from hits.

How mentally taxing is fencing?

Psychological fitness is just as important as the physical side. Everything can change in a second. So we don’t just train in the fencing hall, we train in the psychologist’s study, too. He gives me strategies to focus my thoughts.

Do you miss dancing, your first love, despite all of your fencing success?

Maybe I would have become a great dancer.

I loved samba and cha-cha, but I’ll never know. I sometimes watch ballroom dancing competitions because it’s so beautiful, but that’s where my interest ends; my heart belongs to fencing.

How did it feel winning bronze at London 2012 after gold in 2008?

Before London, I thought that if I didn’t win a gold like I did in Beijing, I’d be very depressed. But I realised that once you’re on that Olympic podium, you’re a winner. I’d have liked to be a little higher up, but I’ve got still time to get there. We’ll see what happens in 2016.

How strenuous is your training regime?

I’m in the gym for about eight hours a day, six days a week. I do general physical training and then fencing training, where we spend a lot of time practising moves and polishing our technique.

Can you eat what you like if you’re exercising that much?

I don’t often go on diets. I really love savoury food, especially dried fish. That’s

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h undredths

Regular folk drive up America’s Pikes peak in about 45 minutes.

In winning The Race To The Clouds, the hill climb up the mountain, French rally legend SĂŠbastien loeb cut 80 per cent off that time

photography: flavien duhamel/red bull content pool

Word s: W ern e r J ess ne r

photography: flavien duhamel/red bull content pool

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“I want the record,” says sébastien Loeb, “but I know there is no room for even the smallest error”

Sky rocket: Peugeot Sport built an 875hp 208 all-wheel drive prototype for the world’s best rally driver, Sébastien Loeb, to pilot up Pikes Peak

very year in late June, Eric, his wife, Mary, and her mother, Mary-Jo, leave their home in Kansas and cross the state line for an American road trip. This year, Mary-Jo wanted to see Colorado, first the small city of Pueblo, then Colorado Springs and then on to the highpoint – an assault on ‘America’s Mountain’: Pikes Peak.

It was on this mountain 120 years ago, on July 22, 1893, that the lyrics to the immortal anthem America The Beautiful came to songwriter Katharine Lee Bates, “and I probably won’t be around for the 130th anniversary,” says the elderly Mary-Jo in the backseat of the Volvo, her white ringlets bobbing in the rear-view mirror.

The road winds around the famous mountain, a beloved American holiday destination. One curve follows another

with no end in sight, each of them steeper and narrower than anything the three road-trippers were familiar with in their native Kansas. Mary grips the ceiling handle nervously, but Eric has everything under control. There are hardly any guide rails on the side of the mountain road and Eric has to resist the urge to peer over the edge. Tyre marks scar the narrow curves – so narrow that Eric has to come to a halt to see around each bend.

Soon, the family becomes aware of a number of tyre marks leading straight out, over the edge of the abyss. Mary gasps for breath in the passenger seat.

In the back, Mary-Jo grins in apparent delight. “Altitude euphoria,” mutters Eric as he navigates the next serpentine turn. “What have they got me into?”

An icy wind is blowing when they reach the summit of Pikes Peak; the 12.4-mile ascent has taken them 45 minutes. The three Kansans turn their gaze east, to the Great Plains from where they have come – hundreds of miles laid out before them like a vast, crumpled map.

In the souvenir shop they buy an ashtray, a sweatshirt and a few fridge magnets. Then it’s time to start their descent. Some 1,440m below, skilful mechanics are putting the finishing touches to a small fleet of highperformance cars and motorbikes. The following day, these vehicles will tackle 20 of the most legendary kilometres in American road racing, when they take

photography: Alastair ritchie

The wild beast with the huge spoiler zooms, roaring, from one corner to the next

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part in the 91st running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The Unsers, the Andrettis, the Millens, all of them have proved their mettle here – in the infamous mountain race to the summit.

In the late 1980s, the Europeans left their mark on this race for the first time, pulverising the course record with a succession of rally cars. With four-wheeldrive and upwards of 500hp, they tore through the 11-minute barrier on the gravel road to the summit.

The famous road was laid with asphalt in 2012. At this point an ambitious local could manage it in 11 minutes, but that was too slow to break any records. By the end of 2012, the 9 Minute Club – comprising those daring drivers who’d made the summit in less than 10 minutes – was five-strong. New Zealander Rhys Millen held the record with a time of 9:46.164, with French driver Romain Dumas 0.017 seconds behind in second.

Making up the five was Japan’s Nobuhiro Tajima and the two motorbike riders, Carlin Dunne of the USA and his compatriot, Greg Tracy. photography: Alastair Ritchie (5), werner jessner (4), garth milan/red bull content pool (2), Flavien Duhamel/red bull content Pool (2)

Everyone’s a winner: from souped-up singleseaters to sidecars, all kinds of vehicles compete at Pikes Peak

he latter pair didn’t use petrol or diesel on their way up to the summit in 2013, instead they trusted their fortunes to electric energy. Indeed, this was in many ways a race made for the electric engine: conventional petrol-burning motors have to cope with performance loss at high altitudes. Despite large turbochargers and advanced electronics, there simply isn’t enough oxygen to burn. Anyone who makes it to these heights having surrendered a quarter of the horsepower they had in the valley has really done their homework.

Electric cars don’t have this problem, of course, but their batteries – even in a relatively short race like this – are heavier than fuel engine units. And even if big name car manufacturers like Mitsubishi are now putting their name to some of the electro-projects, this still remains pioneering work: little more than glorified tinkering.

Of course, there won’t be a whisper of this when it comes to the overall victory.

Not when the challenger is celebrated French rally driver Sébastien Loeb. The main topic of conversation here on the mountain is not whether Loeb can crack the record in his specially developed

By a 300m abyss, Loeb takes a double 60-degree bend at 170kph Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak, but by how much. In training, his car – 875hp strong, 875kg light – burned a few seconds per kilometre from the competition, including the two current record-holders Millen and Dumas. America loves winners and there are huge expectations of Loeb.

The 39-year-old is feeling the pressure.

A break between two training runs, and the nine-time rally world champion has retreated to his trailer. His blue eyes blaze, thrown into even sharper relief by stubble now turned pepper-and-salt. He sprawls on a bench, relaxed. Although of slender build, his powerful upper arms are testament to the work he has already done, taming both mountain and car.

“First I had to establish trust in the Peugeot,” he says. “I had to find out how nervous the car was and what I could do with it. During a test in France we sorted out the major problems – transmission too long; suspension too hard; steering too direct – and on the first run in America the car did everything I wanted it to. I don’t know what the old rally cars felt like on Pike’s Peak, but this one’s insanely fast.”

Nevertheless, can he really go at 100 per cent speed here – on these miserly roads clinging desperately to the flanks of the infamous mountain?

Loeb hesitates: “Let’s say 99 per cent.”

There’s another major drawback: unlike the World Rally Championship (WRC) there is no co-driver to dictate the curves to him during the journey.

How well does he know the route?

“Even before I came here, I had memorised the sequence of curves,” says Loeb. “I studied on-board videos at home, then I came here with my codriver, Daniel Elena. We drove the route and put together a pacenotes book, just as I would in a normal rally special stage.

“In the WRC we only get to inspect the course twice: the first time you put 57

he following day, as early as 3am, a good two-anda-half hours before sunrise, a 1km-long colonnade is working its way up the mountain, past the herd of campervans, which were already in place the day before. Admittedly, the ban on open fires makes hearty weekend fun difficult. Colorado is suffering from severe forest fires and hoping for rain.

Up at the summit, it’s bitterly cold.

Along the road, yesterday’s meltwater from late-season snow is still frozen.

First up are the motorbikes, the riders exposing themselves to the dangers of the mountain without roll cages or any of the protection afforded to their four-wheeled rivals. Supermotos and vintage racing bikes follow, all conquering the mountain to a great show of reverence from the fans.

A few dauntless individuals serve to remind us that sidecars still exist, with hearts bigger than anything humanoid.

Johnny Wood almost dislodges his passenger, Giorgina Gottlieb, in the 58

penultimate curve; at the finish line she clings to him, sobbing. In the heat of the battle, Bruno Marlin’s passenger, his son Jérémy, leans so far out that the young Frenchman scrapes his helmet visor on the asphalt. American Wade Boyd wins ahead of Japan’s Masahito Watanabe.

Rivals on the track, they all embrace once they get to the summit. They’re not racing against each other, but against the mountain and the clock.

That goes double for Sébastien Loeb, the first starter among the cars. If all goes to plan, he will win, that much is certain.

What’s interesting is the time he does it in.

Long before you see him, you hear him.

Every change of gear is an explosion amplified by the Rocky Mountain cliffs: a staccato of explosions coming nearer and nearer. Between Devil’s Playground and the summit, the road keeps disappearing and the eyes strain to focus. The silhouette of the Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak should be appearing down there, but it’s already ahead, at a crag further on.

The ear has tricked the eye. Later the telemetry will show a peak speed of more than 240kph, the wild beast with the huge spoiler zooms, roaring, from one corner to the next, disappears, reappears, tears past at easily 170kph on a double 60-degree curve, at the end of which yawns a 300m abyss. At the exit, the inside front wheel is exactly on the white line marking the edge of the asphalt. It is an exact, clinical procedure: one of those moments which very few men on this planet can pull off in a car.

The clock at the finish line shows an unbelievable 8:13.878, one-and-a-half minutes under the existing record.

Membership of the 9 Minute Club is a bit less special today. In second place is last year’s victor Rhys Millen, with a respectable 9:02, which might be an eternity better than his old record, but is still in a completely different league.

At 4,300m above sea level, Loeb seems happy and relieved: “I felt good in the car and I decided on all-out attack,” he says. “Pikes Peak was my season highlight, and this record means a lot to me.” He will drive his last WRC event in his native France this autumn, and in 2014 he’ll enter the touring car world championship (WTCC) in a Citroën, which will manage a mere third of the performance of the Pikes Peak Peugeot. The nine-time rally world champion has enjoyed his mad week in this unbelievably powerful, radical car, built just for him.

In the meantime, the mountain has reminded everyone why they call this

On top of the world: Sébastien Loeb celebrates at 4,300m above sea level

event the Race to the Clouds. It draws together a mighty contingent in white and grey and gives it a vigorous shake: rain, hail, snow, fog, wind – it takes the whole afternoon to get the last 24 cars up the hill. There’s no hope of a record or even a respectable time now, and how could there be: now it’s the turn of the soapbox cars, the home-built, rebuilt, the jerry-built, the family teams; the products of long winter nights’ tinkering. The spectators greet every last one of them with great respect and genuine enthusiasm, and rightly so.

Sébastien Loeb is still up there on the summit, in the middle of a sleet shower and pea-soup fog. Everyone drives down together, whether hobby warrior or record holder. Everyone is equal before the mountain.

In the Best Western Hotel in Manitou Springs, where Eric, Mary and Mary-Jo are recovering from their previous day’s exertions, there’s a dozy calm. Mary-Jo snores lightly on the veranda, Mary browses the latest edition of the National Enquirer. With earphones in his iPad, Eric is watching the race online. Bit of a hotshot, this Loeb. Next year, Eric decides, he’ll send the two girls up to the summit on the cog railway. He’ll master the route to the top alone and won’t slow for any curve. How hard can it be? www.redbull.com

Take a seat in Sébastien Loeb’s cockpit and join his breathtaking record drive in The Red Bulletin tablet edition.

Download it now for free the red bulletin

photography: flavien duhamel/red bull content pool

together the notes and the second time you’re checking them. Here, the third run onwards was all new for me. I was able to tell Daniel 100m before the next curve what was coming, and he checked it. I would say “120 left” and he would correct me, like “120 left plus”. We drove it together nine times, and the last three times I didn’t make a single mistake.”

Perfection is what’s required here and Loeb wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I approached Pikes Peak like I do all of my projects: professionally, with a good team and to the very highest standards.

I know there is no room for even the smallest error. But I have no interest in just coming here and driving with the pack. I want the record.”

There are parts of the course where the road drops 500m into nothingness, with no guide rail. At many of these curves, such as the forebodingly named Devil’s Playground at 4,000m, the cars in the fastest class reach speeds of well over 200kph.

“With a car as powerful as the Peugeot, if you steer just a fraction wide, you’re history,” says Loeb. “You have to be precise.

It was actually easier before on gravel; you can work much more with the car.”

Meanwhile, clouds roll in and the weather service forecasts a 30 per cent chance of rain.

Photography: ORACLE TEAM USA/Guilain GRENIER

Deadly and demanding, the huge catamarans that will slice through San Francisco Bay in the America’s Cup next month have created a new type of sailor for a new kind of sailing Words: Andreas Tzortzis

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and bracing themselves against the other hull as water whips through.

The boat begins a slow tack and more bound across, including Spithill, who joins them on the other side. He steadies the wheel and heads upwind toward Fort Mason. Behind him, three chase boats bearing the Oracle logo swerve in and out of the AC72’s wake at top speed like a motorcade, straining to keep up.

Spithill is the skipper of Oracle Team USA, current holders of the America’s Cup. The red-haired Australian became the youngest skipper to win the trophy

when he steered Larry Ellison’s trimaran to victory in the 2010 competition. Next month he and a top-flight international crew of 11 will take on the winner of a three-team selection series between boats from Sweden, New Zealand and Italy in the 34th contest for a trophy awarded since 1851.

“I don’t think anyone, even pro sailors a few years ago, could ever predict or think this is where we would end up today,” says Spithill, 34. “From where we’ve come from to where we are is a vertical quantum leap. It’s not a slow the red bulletin

Photography: Cameron Baird/Red Bull Content Pool

he wind in San Francisco Bay barrels through the Golden Gate Bridge like a gang of brawling longshoremen spilling through the doors of a bar. It whips the placid waters of the morning into frosted whitecaps by early afternoon, buffets the regal hills of Angel Island and whistles through the ghostly windows of Alcatraz, blowing the baseball caps off the heads of Midwestern tourists.

On the water, boats heel and the edges of their canvas sails flap sharply in the strong gusts. But on the 72ft catamaran with a 260m2 sail speeding past them, there is little sound.

The boat the America’s Cup committee hopes will give sailing a shot in the arm begins heeling as the first fingers of wind hit the wing. The 11 members of the crew tuck themselves into an area dug out of one of the two hulls. Paired up around four grinding handles attached to hightech winches, they hold perfectly still.

It’s a game of inches as skipper Jimmy Spithill looks up at the sail and wing and then out in the direction he plans to head. The grinders, who operate the sails, move in synchronised motions for a few revolutions, trimming the sail and wing in and out. The only sound is the mechanical crank of the wing as the boat’s hulls begin to rise out of the water. First the windward hull, then the leeward, as it rises up on a 250kg slice of carbon-fibre daggerboard, a manoeuvre called foiling that enables the boats to hit speeds in excess of 39 knots (72kph).

Other boats pound through conditions like this, but the AC72 cuts through everything. It’s remarkably stable on top of the water as the speed ticks up and up.

Spithill gives the word and the crew spring into action. A tight choreography begins as they bound across the width of the boat, skidding down on the netting

“I don’t think anyone, even pro sailors a few years ago, could ever predict or think this is where we would end up today. From where we’ve come to where we are is a vertical quantum leap” the red bulletin

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“We’re working so hard – we’re on the edge, and when you get to the end of it, you look around and think if you could bottle that up, you’d do well”

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breaking apart. It took more than seven hours to recover the boat from the water.

The dangers are set against a backdrop of the sport’s far-reaching potential.

These boats are unmatched in their demands on sailors and their design innovation, and they’re set to generate the sort of buzz and TV audiences the America’s Cup, and the sport of sailing, desperately need to justify the hundreds of millions spent in investment each year.

To no one is this more apparent than Spithill, who swears he remembers the jubilation that greeted Australia II’s victory in 1983, the first time a nonAmerican boat had won the competition since the first race in 1851. He was three years old. Seven years later, he won his first race on a wooden dinghy that he, his sister and his dad found on a scrap heap.

He’s now behind the wheel of a boat costing an estimated US$10 million.

His crew hail from eight countries. The fitness levels required of the team are Olympian in this category. And the rush he gets from sailing is unparalleled.

THE FEELING

Photography: ORACLE TEAM USA/Guilain GRENIER

“It was intimidating the first time I stepped on,” says Spithill of the AC72. “We spent countless hours going through the design with the engineers, the predictions, the CAD drawings.

But when you step on that and it starts moving, it’s like you’re going from a pony to a thoroughbred. As soon as that boat hits the water, it is alive and it just wants to go. All it takes is as little as 5 knots [10kph] of wind. It’s really demanding because it takes so much energy and concentration. One little slip and this boat will bite you.

“You hear the foils start to hum when you go over 40 knots [74kph], and the wind is like being in a hurricane. The guys are working so hard and you’re on the edge, and when you get to the end of it, you look around and just... Yeah, if you could bottle that up, you’d do well.” progression. We’ve just gone ‘Bang!’ It’s like we’ve broken a brick wall down.”

The AC72’s increased power also led to tragedy, however. In May of this year the Swedish Artemis Racing catamaran broke apart during a downwind America’s Cup training session. British Olympic gold medal winner Andrew Simpson died in the incident after becoming trapped under the water. His death led to a number of proposed changes in race rules, including a maximum wind speed reduction to 23 knots (43kph), down the red bulletin

from 33 knots (61kph).Crewmembers must also wear life vests with oxygen canisters tucked on the outside, which can give one minute of air if they go under.

In October of last year, Spithill and his crew were fortunate to survive their own brush with disaster. On the eighth day of training on the boats, Spithill’s AC72 nosedived in rough conditions as he navigated through its most dangerous manoeuvre – the sharp turn from upwind to downwind – sending the 11-man crew into the cold water of the bay before

THE RESPECT

“You never ever underestimate the boat.

You give it a lot of respect and don’t ever relax. You’re 100 per cent focused. With other boats, a lot of the time, it’s like, ‘Hey guys we’re gonna take a break and sit down and relax.’ It doesn’t happen. That’s when an accident can happen. It’s not like you take the wing down and have lunch.

“A lot of the time you don’t have the time to say, ‘Hey here’s what’s coming up.’

Or, ‘Get ready for this.’ You need to make 65

each and every decision in a calm way while you’re red-lining the boat. And the guys on board have to make decisions when they’re completely exhausted. It’s split-second and you need incredibly smart guys. You can have the fittest guy in the world on the boat, but if he doesn’t have a strategic mind or is not a good enough sailor to anticipate what’s coming up, he’s not going to make it. You could have the greatest tactician, and if he’s not a great athlete he’ll stick out like a sore thumb.

“We’ve had some football players, rugby players and race car drivers on board, and they’re just like, ‘I had no idea.’ Now we’re getting real credibility.”

THE RISKS

“If you get on a 72ft carbon-fibre multihull with a 131ft wing and you don’t think there’s going to be some risk associated with it, there is something wrong with you.”

“We always knew there was a chance of capsizing. But at the end of the day, the sailors are on the boat because they want to be on there. They understand that it’s not risk-free. Nothing is. But they do it because they’re people who like to go out of their comfort zone, they like to be pushed and ultimately learn something about themselves.

“The most dangerous manoeuvre is the point where you bear away and turn the boat from going upwind to a downwind direction with the wing out. If you didn’t do anything the boat just wants to nosedive. It requires very good co-ordination – if you get it right and if it’s done well, you’re rewarded

with an amazing sort of acceleration – from about 10 knots up to 40 knots [19-74kph]. It’s an amazing feeling.”

THE RESPONSIBILITY “There’s a lot of risk. You make a wrong decision in this boat and it could be catastrophic. The time you have to make a decision a lot of times is split-second. You’re always trying to think a step or two ahead.

“No question, there is a greater sense of responsibility than in the past. That’s rare if you look at team sports. You look at MotoGP and Formula One: if the driver makes a mistake, he’s going to hurt himself. There’s not that many sports where you put everyone in danger. I actually don’t know if there is a sport like that. It demands a lot of your attention, for sure.”

THE ARENA

“If you’re a sailor and you’ve sailed in the water around San Francisco, you’ll be ready to roll. You’re going to have a lot of confidence after being pushed hard, dealing with the fog, the ferries, Alcatraz and the currents.

The Bay’s personality changes every single day. It’s challenging. Then you throw this boat in and sail it around this course. When you come into the dock, it’s like you’ve really accomplished something, you’ve pushed hard. It’s asked you for a lot, but what an awesome, rewarding experience.”

THE FUTURE

“Finally, sailing is up there with other kinds of sport. Before it bothered me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that our sport is so diverse. People are saying that this is Formula One on the water, and it’s true in terms of engineering and construction, but before we didn’t have that level of athlete to pull it off – now we do.

“Honestly, when I go home at night I can’t wait to get up the next day and come here. It is the coolest thing in the world. It’s a big sacrifice on time and your family, but I cannot wait to get in.

“What’s crazy is what’s going to happen in another five to 10 years. I used to do a bit of motocross, and you see Travis Pastrana doing the first backflips, and then the first double backflip. It makes you wonder how far your sport can go.” www.americascup.com

Turn the page for 2013 Cup preview

Photography: ORACLE TEAM USA/Guilain GRENIER

“There’s a lot of risk.

Make a wrong decision in this boat and it could be catastrophic. That’s rare in sport: there’s not that many of them where you put everyone involved in danger”

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1

the Bay Arena San Francisco Bay is the most intimate and reliable America’s Cup venue to date.

In September the winds howling through the Golden Gate Bridge hit average speeds of 20 knots (37kph), picking up in the early afternoon of each day. The size of the boats and the course taking them close to the San Francisco peninsula guarantees fans on shore will have plenty to look at.

not plain sailing With its consistent wind and renowned beauty, San Francisco Bay is the perfect location for America’s Cup sailors, spectators and TV cameras 68

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The team lowdown

The four teams have decades of America’s Cup experience between them. American sailing expert Kimball Livingston has watched every race since 1980: here’s his run-down of this year’s favourites

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the outcome?

Celebrity sailing enthusiasts make their best guess as to who will win

Luc Alphand (France) The former World Cup alpine ski racer and Dakar Rally winner now spends his time trying to break sailing records

Photography: oracle team usa/Guilain GRENIER, Sander van der Borch, Luna Rossa, Chris Cameron, Picturedesk.com (3), Getty Images. Illustration: sascha bierl

O r ac l e T e am U S A

Em i r at e s T e am N e w Z e ala n d

Golden Gate Yacht Club, San Francisco CEO: Russell Coutts (New Zealand) Skipper: Jimmy Spithill (Australia)

Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron CEO: Grant Dalton (New Zealand) Skipper: Dean Barker (New Zealand)

“Crashing boat number one last October cost Oracle Team USA time on the water, but you can’t count the defender out. They’re a strong organisation, with a deep bench, and they were consistent winners on the 45 circuit [last summer’s preliminary racing on 45ft versions of the current boats]. They’re the only team training with two boats and two crews. They’ll be tough when the time comes and no matter who is on the course, there has never been an America’s Cup so vulnerable to the fortunes of war.”

“Right now the Kiwis have the strongest boat, the most practised team, the most time on the water, and they haven‘t had to deal with the hometown political distractions that surround Oracle. They’re focused, they’re having fun, and they’re of the mindset they have to win in order to stay alive. If Team New Zealand doesn’t win this time around, the government won’t refinance them. They’re the only team with government backing, and without that first $30 million guaranteed, it’ll be a steep slope.”

“The Oracle Team is the favourite for me.

They still have a lead in the technology and tactics. Among the challengers, I see Emirates Team New Zealand imposing its culture on the Cup. This new form of modern sailing is good, but it has moved away from its tradition. Sailing becomes more professional in these kinds of projects, which can cost a lot of money and energy. With innovative technology, every detail counts in racing. As I come from sports that are timed – skiing and rally cars – this kind of sailing speaks to me.”

M i c k e y Ha r t ( U S A ) The Grateful Dead drummer is head of the event’s entertainment committee and composed the music for this year’s America’s Cup “I’m into the rhythm of the whole thing. It’s like a dance, a ballet on the water between man, ship and the ocean. These guys are at the edge, and they’re rhythm masters. Who wins? It’s a couple of guys racing across the water – the most important thing is that they’ve created this dance. My interest is in what it sounds like sonically. What does the boat and the water sound like?

I try to use that when I’m making the music for the Cup.”

L u n a R o ssa C h all e n g e

A r t e m i s Rac i n g

Circolo della Vela Sicilia CEO: Patrizio Bertelli (Italy) Skipper: Max Sirena (Italy)

Royal Swedish Yacht Club CEO: Paul Cayard (USA) Skipper: Iain Percy (UK)

“Max Sirena is a veteran who was in charge of the wing for Oracle Team USA when they won in 2010.

The team looks good on paper, but their boat is essentially a copy of Team New Zealand’s first boat, and the Kiwis have moved on and up.

The Italians and Kiwis have been training as partners, but if Luna Rossa has the stuff to beat New Zealand, it’s been hard to detect.”

“There have been a number of quiet departures since Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson was killed in a training crash, and until they launched their second boat they had no idea what they have. They’ve had less time on the water than anybody else and no time at all in a foiling AC72 until their second boat was launched this summer. It’ll be uphill all the way for them this year.”

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A sailor on the San Francisco Bay for much of his adult life, Kimball Livingston is a journalist, author and a three-decade veteran of covering the America’s Cup for various publications. He currently lectures on the race series at UC Berkeley.

E d d i e J o r da n ( UK ) Former Formula One team owner. Superyacht owner “I know the Americans will probably try to cancel the race if the wind is too strong, but I think if it’s windy and the wind is good – and they are allowed to race in it, the Kiwis will win.”

N e v i ll e C r i c h t o n ( N e w Z e ala n d ) Yachting enthusiast and winner of the 2009 Sydney-Hobart race, an annual event over the 1,170km between Australia and Tasmania “If the America’s Cup comes down to a race between Oracle Team USA and Team New Zealand, Oracle has a slight edge upwind, but Team New Zealand is way quicker downwind and reaching.

Also, Team New Zealand’s crew and boat handling skills are far superior to all the other teams.”

Watch exclusive footage of Oracle Team USA on the water in The Red Bulletin tablet edition.

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the wild side of town He’s a faceless superstar: a wall-painting nomad, artist and rebel. The Red Bulletin spoke exclusively to ROA in what is his longest interview to date Words: Jasmin Wolfram and Andreas Rottenschlager Photography: Philipp Greindl

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Long spray days: “First my shoulders ache, then my back and then the index finger – that’s from pressing the button of the spray can”

Not pictured: ROA in the Galerie Hilger NEXT in Vienna: “I am a wall-painting nomad”

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the red bulletin: You spray huge motifs onto public walls, often under extreme time pressure. Which parts of your body start to hurt first? roa: I recently worked on a motif in the commercial port in Linz, Austria, for nine days; sometimes 12-hour shifts with no break. First my shoulders hurt, then my back, and then the index finger on my right hand, which is the one I use to press the spray-can nozzle.

Of course, a motif on that scale is a mental challenge, too.

“Artists should only create things that inspire them” With fines and prison sentences, not everyone accepts this as an art form.

It would be better if people worried less about their privacy or property and saw these artworks as a gift, not something which adversely affects their environment.

When you were young, you spraypainted the walls of derelict houses.

Now you have artworks hanging in galleries. How do you reconcile those two extremes?

An artist is an artist. It doesn’t matter the red bulletin

additional photography: elsa okazaki

ew York; London; Berlin.

If you hunt around the world’s great cities, you’ll find ROA’s animal murals on walls in courtyards, sprawled across the side of factories.

Inspired in part by the sketches of Charles Darwin, the secretive Belgian street artist paints in simple blacks, whites and reds and has, of late, become hot property. Now, rather than running from the law, he is being offered gallery space by big-name art dealers. Some of his works are the size of several tennis courts, while smaller pieces hang in prestigious venues such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

Last year, the Stolen Space gallery in London gave him a solo exhibition.

Although his art is publicly displayed worldwide, ROA is a very private man.

There are no photos of his face in the public domain. His pseudonym, he says, “doesn’t mean anything”. His reasons for privacy are simple: “Works are more important than people.”

When The Red Bulletin meets him, hip-hop is blaring from laptop speakers on the second-floor balcony of the Galerie Hilger NEXT in Vienna.

Empty spray cans are strewn across the floor. The sun will be going down any minute and he’s running out of light.

ROA has to have his latest installation – an enormous kingfisher with outstretched wings – finished by the following evening. But, as night falls, he finds time to sit down with The Red Bulletin for a rare interview.

How do you go about transferring an A4 sketch onto a multi-storey building?

I make my sketch directly on the wall.

A wall is like any other work surface, just a little bigger. I find it boring to reproduce something you’ve already painted, so my sketches are mainly doodles. I want to create something new and fresh each time.

Many of your works could be painted over. Does that bother you?

Of course I want my works to survive as long as possible. But when I leave a place, that’s my job done. The wall doesn’t belong to me and the world doesn’t belong to us. It’s a public place and anyone with a spray can or a tin of paint can change that at any time.

Is street art modern art?

It’s contemporary, not modern. It doesn’t matter if street art is defined as intellectual or underground, or how seriously it is taken. The main thing is that it happens. The term street art was created by people who had nothing to do with it, similar to a lot of general terms, it merely connects ‘street’ and ‘art’. But street artists have existed much longer.

It’s not limited to painting: mime, juggling and music can all be street art, too, so it is a bad term that describes nothing.

In June of this year ROA completed two huge murals in Linz for the Austrian city’s Bubble Days art festival. He spent nine days working on this sketch of a goat

where or how he works or the context in which he performs. The main thing is feeling that desire to create something.

It’s not about how great people think you are, or how well you hold your place in the market. It’s nice to have bread, cheese and chocolate spread on the kitchen table every morning.

How do you define the term ‘artist’?

An artist can do what he wants. If someone comes in and defecates on the floor of this gallery and calls it art, it’s art. Whether the public likes it or not is another matter. A true artist should only create things that inspire him, not stuff that’s easy to sell. I did all sorts of jobs in the past, just to be able to afford spray paint. Now it’s the other way around: I make my money with paint to buy paint.

Your art is all about taming wild animals. Why? I don’t actively tame them. Some people think my animals are sweet, others find them aggressive. When I paint the animals, they appear static, but they’re not necessarily dead.

People give them their own meaning – that’s what’s beautiful about art.

Your motifs all come from the animal kingdom. What is it that you don’t like about people?

Animals reveal a great deal about the times we live in, the things that affect us and the way we live our lives as humans.

Vital signs: ROA’s work has given the port in Linz a facelift.

Below: his intricate sketch of a mountain goat’s skull

How did the work of Charles Darwin inspire your motifs?

Darwin researched different animal species all over the world and was constantly on the move. In that sense, we’re very similar. I’m extremely interested in biology and the vast variety within the animal kingdom. But ultimately, I’m an artist, not a biologist.

You keep the details of your private life closely guarded. How much time

“Street art could raise house prices”

do you get to spend at your home in Belgium?

It’s got to the point where my real home doesn’t feel like home any more.

I’m like a wall-painting nomad.

Some of your pencil drawings are reminiscent of the old masters of Belgium and Holland. As somebody raised in the Low Countries, do you see yourself as part of that tradition?

We’re all influenced by the conditions we grow up in; the things we see as children. The impressions they make inspire us, even if we don’t realise it at the time. From that point of view, it’s possible that the European school influenced my painting style, yes.

Your work fills walls 20m high. How do you get the proportions right?

I don’t use projectors or grids. They wouldn’t be any use, because when I’m starting out, I don’t know how the artwork is going to proceed. I find that out while I am painting. I have photos of the animals I want to paint and I look at their skeletons so I can understand their anatomy and proportions.

In 2011, you painted in Gambia. What did the people there make of your work?

The people are open to creativity, they are not afraid of change.

Is this the biggest difference to Europe?

Why do Western graffiti artists paint almost exclusively in rundown or backstreets locations? Because these are the places where nobody is bothered by what we do. But they’re also the places that have the most potential for transformation. Now there are owners of properties speculating that street art could actually help house prices to rise.

What gets you more excited?

The freedom of a legal location or the thrill of an illegal wall?

It doesn’t matter if something is legal or illegal. The only thing that matters in the end is that you create something interesting.

ROA’s latest exhibition: www.inoperable.at

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janine and the mixtape

One Woman Band From NZ to NYC, Janine Foster is at the forefront of R&B’s reinvention – and still on the up despite downsizing

kind of stuff,” says Foster. “A few years “Because I moved to New York without It’s usually only bad reviews that tell ago, I didn’t think I could do that kind much gear, it actually drove me to readers to beware. Yet a glowing notice of music, and it wasn’t until I was like, create a sound,” she says. “I don’t have for Hold Me, the slow-burning single ‘No, this is my lane, I’m going to do this,’ many keys or synths like I used to, so from Janine and the Mixtape’s debut that I started creating my own sound.” at the moment I’ve been singing lots of EP, advised caution: “Seductive and Janine and the Mixtape’s woozy, things and then adding so many effects soulful, this one may have you dialling intoxicating strain of R&B has secured that it starts sounding like another your ex. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.” its maker live shows in New York City, instrument. That has opened up “It’s like a sexy, dark dream state,” and piqued the interest of XO, the record a whole new lane of production.” says Janine Foster, a solo artist who label/collective led by The Weeknd, the The laws of new music say that uses the Janine and the Mixtape leading light of new-school R&B. These any new sound must be accompanied name to house her experimental take by a new genre name. on beat-driven soul music. “R&B’s “I’ve been calling it ‘indie R&B’ always had that sexiness to it. It’s just or ‘alternative R&B’ and I’ve heard gotten a bit darker, probably to match ‘emo R&B’ used as well,” says people’s state of mind; especially Foster, “but I like ‘new wave R&B’.” here in New York where it’s miserable Painted into the details of the when it’s cold. So maybe that’s where Dark Mind EP are themes of love some of the darkness comes from.” and loss framed by a chilling The heads-up came from Vibe, tapestry of synths and samples, the go-to website for news from the a device that makes Foster’s frontlines of R&B and hip-hop, which soaring voice the star attraction, also marked Foster as one of “several gently warming the five tracks fresh faces [who] have begun to usher from the inside out. Hers is a finely in a new wave of R&B superstars into balanced recipe of hot and cold the 21st century.” It succeeded in production ingredients, and it announcing a boxfresh voice to a means that she is unlikely to put the mainstream audience. Missing were Backing: two synths and a drummer accompany Foster on stage vision for her project in the hands the details of the herculean prep that moves have fuelled online chatter about of another producer any time soon. went into developing a sound that took major label interest in Janine and the “I’d like to say that I’m chilling out a the Mixtape from Whenuapai, West Mixtape, speculation which Foster is little bit more,” Foster says, “and wanting Auckland to Brooklyn, New York. staying schtum on. Right now, the stage to work with other people and being Foster, 23, began honing her craft is set for her to appear on more tastemore open, but this is my story and this aged 14, writing songs and singing them making blogs and websites as the sweetly is my soul. Why would I throw away any at open mic nights around Auckland. melancholic set of songs on Dark Mind part of it, any detail? If someone else is Fast-forward the Mixtape nearly 10 years finds a word-of-mouth audience. going to get it and give it the same love, to 2013, and the bones of Foster’s singerTalking to The Red Bulletin from her then that’s cool: that works. But the songwriter days can still be made out modest apartment in Brooklyn, Foster truth of the matter is that I can’t expect under the surface of her debut EP, Dark says she benefited from the limitations people to hear as much as I do.”

Mind. The tracks are fleshed out softthat arose after she moved to New York Expect to see the words “written, focus vocal effects, shape-shifting synths, City in September 2012. Instead of produced and performed by Janine and crunchy programmed beats that cramping her style, her minimalist, oneFoster” in the credits of Janine and the anchor her richly atmospheric music. woman-band approach to music pushed Mixtape releases for the foreseeable future.

“Growing up, I listened to a lot of janineandthemixtape.com her in several new creative directions. ’90s R&B, a lot of Aaliyah and all that 76

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Additional Photography: Eloise Handricks

Words: Sam Wicks Photography: Bradley Siefert

The line-up Janine Foster – singer, songwriter, producer, instrumentalist Discography Bullets (single, 2012) Hold Me (single, 2013) Dark Mind (single, 2013) Dark Mind (EP, 2013) League fiend A staunch supporter of the New Zealand Warriors, you’ll find Foster at Mt Smart Stadium whenever she’s on home turf.

Sneaker head Foster’s wardrobe is stacked with size three footwear: “I can wear the little boys’ ones with Spiderman on them if I want to.”

Night shift in the studio: among those jamming the late shift is Louis Baker (top)

Breakfast with Blondie, jamming with James Murphy, composing with Philip Glass and then singing a church into awestruck silence.

All in a day’s work at Red Bull Music Academy in New York City Words: Florian Obkircher  Photography: Dan Wilton and Christelle de Castro 78

give us this day our daily

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T

he mixing desk is the size of a car.

Its controls, dials and lights reminiscent of a space shuttle. Nearby sit an assortment of speakers, microphone stands and drums, circling the desk like planets around a sun.

A man with dishevelled hair and a greying beard is sitting with his back to this musical cockpit.

“So you want to know how we get such a dry drum sound, eh?” he asks the crowd with a broad grin.

The recording studio is packed to the rafters with listeners. “OK,” he says. “We use a little modern technology: mouse pads taped to the drums.” Cue reverent nods and mutters of amazement from the audience.

The man in question is James Murphy, the New Yorker whose DFA label is infamous for setting new dancefloor

trends. As the creative mind behind LCD Soundsystem, he sold millions of records during a stellar career, receiving three Grammy nominations in the process.

The 43-year-old producer is currently cutting a new album with Canadian indie rock gods Arcade Fire, but he’s engaged in an entirely different project here this evening. The audience is made up of 31 young, ambitious musicians. The venue is one of the new recording studios at the Red Bull Music Academy in Manhattan.

The Red Bull Music Academy has been travelling the globe since 1998.

Every year it makes a four-week stop in a musical hub such as Cape Town, Berlin, São Paulo and, as of this May, New York City. The concept is always the same: reboot an old building in the city centre and fit it out with recording studios and an auditorium, then invite 62 young musicians, producers, singers and DJs from all over the world to attend.

This group is then split into two, with each half attending for a fortnight.

Within this two weeks, they can fully give themselves over to their passion: making music, exchanging ideas and learning from each other.

On hand to help participants in each city are big names from the industry. In New York that means people like sound visionary Brian Eno, techno mogul Richie Hawtin, composer Philip Glass and the aforementioned Murphy.

“For me, the Red Bull Music Academy is a place of opportunities,” says 23-year-

Speakers in 2013 included (below, from left) Debbie Harry, Giorgio Moroder, and Red Bull Music Academy co-founder Torsten Schmidt

Red Bull Music Academy celebrates the 12th birthday of the DFA label, run by James Murphy (right), with a wild party in New York City

“The Red Bull Music Academy is a place of opportunities” LOUIS BAKER

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old New Zealander Louis Baker. “Making music with like-minded people from 29 different countries? Forging international contacts within the industry? Getting feedback from established professionals?

None of that is easy to do back home.

But here, it’s all possible.”

“As a young musician, it’s easy to feel a little off the beaten track in New Zealand,” he continues. “It’s a great place, but you can feel alone as a creator of art. Here, you soon realise you’re not the only crazy person passionately pursuing your dream.

It’s an excellent vindication of what you believe in and what you’re doing.”

Baker has now been in New York for a week and a half, but there hasn’t been any time for sightseeing yet, thanks to the packed timetable at Red Bull Music Academy headquarters.

“It’s pure stress,” he says. “The best stress you can possibly imagine. You get up at 10. You discuss last night’s party over breakfast. Over the course of the day, there are two lectures given by professionals. Between these, you work on songs or give interviews to the on-site radio station. At night, you record music in the studio or head out to the city’s clubs where music legends and other participants share the stage and the decks with us. It’s amazing.”

Baker is playing tonight. After his final lecture is finished, he packs up his guitar and heads with a gaggle of other students towards the grandiose West Park Church on 86th Street.

Baker will be the support act for German avant-garde house artist Pantha Du Prince, who gave his guest lecture at the Red Bull Music Academy the day before.

House beatmaster Sinjin Hawke

Full marks at the Academy (from top): house producer Bok Bok from London, kissed by musician Nick Hook; Nigeria’s Kraftmatiks; Scottish dubstep DJ Rudi Zygadlo and Italian producer Jolly Mare

House DJs Pleasure Cruiser (left) and Carrot Green fine-tune a track in one of the nine recording studios

On the way there, Baker admits he is nervous: this is his first ever gig outside New Zealand. An hour later, he’s standing in the wings. He takes a deep breath and then he’s on. Within two minutes he has silenced all the chatter in the pews with a voice as gentle and powerful as Jeff Buckley’s, creating goosebumps throughout the audience with his perfectly crafted folk songs.

The crowd hangs devoutly on the young musician’s every word. It is a surreal scene: a man and his guitar putting a flock of hundreds into a group trance.

“That guy was incredible,” says Just Blaze after the concert. “We’re going to be hearing a lot more from him.” Blaze has produced Jay-Z, Eminem and Kanye West, and is one of four Red Bull Music Academy studio tutors here in New York available for every student around the

Music non-stop (clockwise, from above left): electro pioneer Brian Eno; revellers at the DFA party; the Red Bull Music Academy newspaper, The Daily Note; New York participant Shadowbox; a masked partygoer earns his stripes

Photography: Anthony Blasko (1)

clock. The 35-year-old first took part in the project as a lecturer in Melbourne in 2006 and was so taken with the atmosphere that this time he wanted to make a bigger contribution and spend more time there.

“In the past, a lot of DJs used to cover the labels on their records so nobody could see what music they were playing.

You didn’t want anybody to know which record it was,” he says. “But now, through programmes like The Red Bull Music Academy, sharing knowledge has become a much bigger part of culture.”

Blaze, whose primary job as a tutor is to help these young musicians in the studio with his technical expertise and experience, says he gets something from his exchange of ideas with the youngsters, too.

“I get very inspired when I see a group of young musicians collaborating together, or when I work in the studio with talented kids like Louis,” he says, pointing to the young New Zealander.

“Are you coming to Le Baron?” someone asks, holding a taxi door open for him. It’s tempting. Four other students are performing at the venue tonight. But Baker waves them on. He’s had enough for one day. And an important guest is scheduled for the Red Bull Music Academy’s lecture couch the next morning.

Not long after breakfast, a woman wearing a black Ramones T-shirt and sunglasses enters the auditorium, a man with grey hair by her side.

It’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein.

Blondie. The New York punk icons.

Cool personified. The two of them talk for over an hour about what it the red bulletin

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Top: dubstep DJ Skream brings the British bass sound to New York at a Red Bull Music Academy party.

Above: British electro DJ Richie Hawtin, a 2013 lecturer. Right: D창MFunK shows off his 21st-century funk at an intimate show

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British participant T Williams (above) has remixed Jesse Ware and Disclosure

“I made a pact with myself to try anything” louis baker

Hip-hop producer Just Blaze (above) is part of the Red Bull Music Academy studio team.

How late into the night does he work with the participants? “Usually till 5am,” he says.

“But that’s fine. It doesn’t feel like work”

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was like on the Lower East Side back in the ’70s, how Harry originally sold candles to be able to survive in New York.

How she and Stein pulled all-nighters with Andy Warhol and the Ramones at Max’s Kansas City nightclub. And how they recorded the Blondie hit Call Me with electronic pioneer Giorgio Moroder, who had sat on the Red Bull Music Academy couch himself a week earlier.

Harry grimaces when someone refers to the song Denis. She says she can’t bear it. “You’ve got to understand that she’s constantly singing the lyrics ‘woobiedoo’ in that song,” Stein explains.

“That’s really difficult – for anybody.”

The auditorium erupts into laughter.

The final lecture, by Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, also provides plenty of chuckles.

He’s a dub music pioneer, the producer of several Bob Marley albums and a wizard on the decks. A Jamaican who makes reggae sound like it comes from Mars.

His outfit helps too: a baseball cap with mirrors attached, and his beard dyed a pinkish red. The 77-year-old paints a charmingly bonkers picture of his world: why reggae is like sex; why all life is reflected in the bass drum. The effect of his cosmic lecture is that, for an hour at least, you think you’ve understood how the universe is interconnected.

And all without illegal substances.

Later, over dinner, some are still discussing Perry’s wisdom. Others have already holed themselves up in the recording studios. The Red Bull Music Academy is transformed into a musical playground during these evening hours. Young producers dash excitedly from one small studio space to another with drum machines and headphones under their arms. Hip-hop lovers check whether the records they’ve

just purchased at the local flea market will be good for sampling or not.

Just Blaze is sitting in one of the recording studios, studying his computer screen. He’s working on a new track with Barcelona-based participant Sinjin Hawke. The two of them put a soul vocal track into the software’s arrangement window and crank up the pitch until it sounds like Mickey Mouse. Blaze says, “It needs a harp.” Hawke nods in agreement. They import the file and press play. A bass music monster comes crashing out of the studio computers.

We’re talking about something that would blow the roof off any club.

“It isn’t ready yet,” Hawke explains.

“But it’s getting there slowly.”

In the studio next door, Canadian techno connoisseur Mathew Jonson is taking an audio workshop. The questions everyone wants answers to are: how do Jonson’s tracks get that ultra-rich sound?

What does his live set-up look like? And how does he control the huge, sideboardsized synthesiser on his right? The young musicians sit around the studio and follow Jonson’s comments in reverent silence. Then he takes them over to the controls: “Don’t be shy. Play to your heart’s content!” It becomes a wild house-music session within a matter of minutes. New students join in like lions around a fallen antelope. They nab a synthesiser and jam along. Layers of sound cloud overlap, regulated only by a thumping beat. One participant likens it to a hypnotic experience: “It was like climbing into a time capsule.”

It’s now 4am, and it feels like rush hour in the studio corridors. Louis Baker is still up, too. He’s just recorded the guitar on an R&B track for Nigerian participant Kraftmatiks. It’s the fifth track he’s worked on with fellow participants since he’s been here.

“I made a pact with myself,” he says.

“To just try anything, and take on the challenge.” And that really is enough for him right now. Baker flings his jacket over his shoulder. He’s already on his way out the door when someone calls his name. It’s Anna Love, another participant from the US. Baker still owes her a vocal track.

“Come on Louis. You promised me we’d record it today!” Anna pleads.

Baker gives a quick sigh, thinks for a moment and then trudges back into the studio with a smile on his face.

He knows that he can make up for that lost sleep later. But he won’t be able to say the same thing for this experience. www.redbullmusicacademy.com

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WINGS FoR EVERY TASTE.

CRANBERRY, LIME, BLUEBERRY. AND THE EFFECT oF RED BULL.

Deep bass: diver-friendly waterproof MP3 player MUSIC, page 94

Where to go and what to do

ac t i o n !

photography: xtremedesert.com, finis

T r a v e l / G e a r / T r a i n i n g / N i g h t l i f e / M U S I C / p a r t i e s / c i t i e s / c l u b s / E v e n ts

Dune bashing

It’s a buggy’s life: speeding over sand at 100kph

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on the expanse of giant dunes outside abu dhabi thrillseekers experience the ride of a lifetime Travel, page 88

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Action!

PRO TOOLS

Hi-TECH saviours Compressed-air system “When a fall is detected, the airbag is completely filled to its 4-litre capacity in 30 milliseconds. It knows a rider’s falling before he does.”

Airbag “In a fall, this will reduce the force of impact on your upper body by up to 85 per cent.”

In case of emergency

Arai VX-3 “The face piece can be detached from the exterior, reducing the risk of injury during first aid.” www.araihelmet.com

Telemetry “Statistics are picked up by sensors, which provide information about a rider’s driving – and how to improve it.”

Integration “The compressed air system fits into a hump under the leather, for increased comfort.

The whole thing weighs just 650g.”

Neck Brace “It takes a lot of imagination to come up with an excuse for not wearing a neck brace. Leatt make some of the best.”

Stefan Bradl: rides for the LCR Honda team

The perfect back-up

Intelligence “Data is collected from three motion detectors, three turn ratio sensors and a GPS.”

MotoGP German biker Stefan Bradl credits the Dainese D-air with keeping him in the chase for honours – and out of hospital We all know life in the fast lane can be tough. But when you race 1000cc motorbikes for a living, it can be life-threatening, too. Stefan Bradl – the 2011 Moto2 world champ – helped develop the Dainese D-air Racing protection system, a cross between an inflatable backpack and a life vest. He claims it has already saved him from injury many times over.

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“Last season in Indianapolis, I flew off the bike and smashed my shoulder,” says Bradl. “Without the D-Air, I would have broken my collarbone, at least.

But I came away with barely a scratch.” Here, the 23-year-old describes the system that gives him the confidence to push his speed – and his boundaries. www.dainese.com

Spine Vest “Full protection while still allowing maximum freedom of movement. This spine-protecting gilet fits under any jacket.” www.pocsports.com

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photography: kurt keinrath, GEPA pictures/Gold and Goose (1)

www.leatt-brace.com

Action!

party

MEZCAL TIME Mexico’s real favourite drink

You know about tequila, but for a proper taste of Mexico give mezcal a try.

Joy Provision

Words: alejandro garcÍa williams. Photography: Rodrigo jardÓn (2), joy room (2)

mexico city With champagne Showers, fountains and House beats, Joy Room is the hot spot for the rich and Beautiful of Mexico Are you ready for the big time?

Close to the centre of sprawling, 20 million-strong Mexico City you’ll find its beating heart: Joy Room.

The queues for this vaunted super club regularly stretch several blocks, and each night the venue is packed with more than 800 people.

Joy Room has been setting the nightlife agenda in this country’s capital for five years now, and shows no sign of relinquishing that hold. A regular haunt of footballers, world-class DJs and musicians (recent revellers include The Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay and the entire Mexican national football team), the champagnefuelled party usually goes on until dawn, matching anything that New York or Miami has to offer.

JOY ROOM Antara Fashion Hall Mexico City, MX, 11520 www.joyroomantara.com

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Happy place: Joy Room, complete with fountain

House beats are the music of choice

Mezcal Danzantes Traditionally a working class drink, mezcal is made from different types of maguey, an agave plant. Danzantes, from the Espadín and Tobalá kind, is clear, smooth and a bit smoky, with 42 per cent proof.

Muy macho.

Club hopping Queue too long at Joy Room?

Here are nearby nearly-as-good alternatives

FAT CROW Intimate concert hall for 80 people, with acoustic performances.

RAGGA Large disco with a younger crowd and a sushi bar.

VOILÀ Plays host to some of the best international bands, including Ratatat.

Mezcal Pierde Almas The name of this brand literally means “lost souls”.

Made in extremely small batches using traditional equipment and fair trade politics, it’s young but powerful. The average bottle exceeds an alcohol volume of 45 per cent.

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Action!

travel

And anoth er thing Abu Dhabi dos

Race With dunes bashed, drivers with spare energy can get back to tarmac with a high-octane track experience at the F1 YasMarina Circuit. www.yasmarina circuit.com

Arabian sights: Abu Dhabi’s desert is best explored on four wheels

Anyone for desert?

Dune bashing With climbs and drops of 400m, tackling the world’s biggest sand expanse on four wheels is a rollercoaster ride like no other

Joost Welmers rode with www.xtremedesert.com Prices start from €829 for a two-day tour

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www.rotana.com

whizz

Advice from the inside It’s not a mirage “Surprisingly, I found a beautiful five-star resort in the Empty Quarter,” says Welmers. “It’s truly in the middle of nowhere. Pretty amazing to stay there during your trip. Real luxury after hours of wind and sand.” qasralsarab.anantara.com

Not sick of the sand? Try blokarting, or land sailing, as it’s also known. Find a windswept stretch of beach, stick a sail onto a threewheel buggy and you’re away. www.dreamdays.ae

Rough guide

“There are no warning signs in the desert,” says Maurits Knopjes of xtremedesert.com.

“Nothing to tell you about a sudden steep drop or change in terrain, so it’s good to have someone experienced with you. Never drive out to The Empty Quarter alone.”

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words: ruth morgan. photography: extremdesert.com (2), shutterstock (2)

It doesn’t take a genius to work out why the barren dunes outside Abu Dhabi are known as The Empty Quarter, but a lack of population is exactly what makes this part of the world’s largest sand desert the perfect place for dune bashing. This is the sport of driving over huge sand drifts, and while some tour companies offer a quick chauffeured 4x4 ride in the dunes, true petrolheads get behind the wheel of a buggy capable of speeds up to 100kph for two days of unforgettable driving. “I’ve been to deserts before, but nothing like the Empty Quarter,” says Joost Welmers, 29, a digital marketing executive from the Netherlands. “It’s like being on the moon. The terrain is indescribable – and the driving was so exciting.

I love adrenalin and this was completely different to what I’ve done before. These dunes are up to 400m high, and very steep, so you get up them at full speed up then drop over the other side – it’s like a rollercoaster. We got faster and faster as the guide worked out what we could handle, and the rushes got bigger. It was so much more than I expected.”

Rare Abu Dhabi is great for steak. The Blue Grill at Yas Island Rotana serves some of the capital’s best cuts in opulent surroundings.

Action!

workout

Best foot forward: Baena hones her skating technique with biomechanical exercises Cecilia Baena, 26, from Columbia, is a six-time inline skating world champion

Want to boost power?

Get inline

Words: Ulrich Corazza. Photography: Camilo Rozo/Red Bull Content Pool. Illustration: Henri Irawan

s KATING The reigning women’s inline world champion sees red for danger, gets loaded and is all knees and elbows If you cover over 4,000km a year on your skates and your racing bike, just as Cecilia Baena does as part of her training, then the other elements of your athletic life must support that. In her case, she complements the wheeled activity with three weekly weight-training sessions, which include squats with 100kg, deadlifts of 80kg and 100 crunches. She also regulates her nutrition, never eating when she feels like it and sticking to a schedule.

“You have to load up on carbs before long sessions,” she says, “otherwise you’ll lose weight. During competition I mostly eat chicken or fish. Red meat gives me cramps.”

The current world champion also has one crucial piece of advice for those who inline. “Never break a fall with your hands, or you risk serious wrist and finger injuries.” Land on your knees and elbows, which should be padded for protection. twitter.com/ChechyBaena

D O T R Y T H I S AT H O M E “These two simple exercises, for just a couple of minutes every day, will improve your technique and develop the explosive strength and stamina your legs need for inline,” says Baena.

1

Bend your leg about 100 degrees, with your upper body leaning forward.

Slowly bend your left knee.

Keep your right foot off the floor, swinging your arms for momentum.

Repeat the exercise five times, then do the same with the other leg.

Sidestep explosively to the right, with your left hand in front of you.

Using the momentum from your arms, take a big jump to the right.

Land on one foot; repeat in the opposite direction, for a total of five each.

2

Get Your Bearings Wheel Good Ways To Skate Great

“I recommend that you clean the wheel bearings on your skates with petrol at least once every two weeks,” says Baena. “If the metal’s too dry, grease up the bearings with a bit of oil. It’s also vital you choose the right set-up: that depends on the surface you’re skating on. Beginners tend to need slower wheels and bearings, but ask for advice in a specialist shop.”

the red bulletin

Start in the same position as for the exercise above.

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city Guide

mount joy

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goldenbridge

Iveagh Grounds

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“ Tourists here are greeted like family” Dublin For graffiti artist Maser, spending time in his hometown means a stint in prison, haircuts in unexpected places and almost hanging out with Bono Thanks to his occupational camera shyness, you won’t know if you brush past Maser on a Dublin street. Yet he’s a constant in the city. “I was born and raised in south Dublin,” he says. “It’s where my studio is now. It has a great sense of community – even tourists are greeted like family. Through graffiti I’ve travelled a lot, and the more I am away from Dublin, the more I realise what a great place it is. It’s been a huge influence on my work, which is all based on what I encounter in my day-to-day life. In a way, my work is Dublin.” www.maserart.com

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d u b sta r s maser’s city lights

1 The Bernard Shaw

South Richmond Street This old pub was taken over by music promoters and turned into a crazy place. My first studio was here. It hosts great art exhibitions, and you can get pizza from a blue double-decker bus in the garden.

St Stevens Green

Stre

Grove Road

Graffiti artist Maser, who keeps his real name and age secret, is Dublin born and bred

Trinity College

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There’s more to Dublin than St Patrick’s Day

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Festival c ity

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sense of community. I paint here a lot and people chat to me, there’s good banter. My art isn’t just about the finished piece, it’s the experience, too.

4 Kilmainhan Gaol

Inchicore Road This 18th-century prison inspires me anew every time. The film In the Name of the Father was shot here and 300 years ago, Irish national hero Anne Devlin was imprisoned inside. I painted a portrait of her in Dublin 8.

samhain This pagan festival, held on Halloween, heralds the end of the Celtic summer.

Thousands join a huge fancy-dress parade winding its way through Dublin before a huge fireworks display. www.visitireland.com

Fringe Festival For 16 days in September, this festival turns Dublin into a stage for international comedians, musicians and dancers, with 500 events at over 30 venues. www.fringefest.com

Electric Picnic

2 All City Records

Temple Bar This is where I get all my supplies.

It’s a great hangout: a record shop that sells graffiti paraphernalia.

You can also get a great cup of coffee or your hair cut. There’s a street art gallery there, too.

3 Dublin 8

Area around Kevin Street This is old Dublin. There’s a real

5 vico Road Beach

Vico Road This swimming spot is just next to Bono’s house. It’s an oldschool bathing area: you jump off rocks into the sea. It’s 20 minutes from the city centre and when the days are long it’s lovely. I’ve never seen Bono diving in, though.

Held on a huge estate just outside Dublin, ‘The Irish Glastonbury’ has top acts like Fatboy Slim, Björk, Arctic Monkeys.

The Knife and Eels lined up for the last weekend in August. www.electricpicnic.ie

the red bulletin

photography: courtesy of maser (2), the bernard shaw, all-city records, lusciouselopster

est oad W n’s R

Emmet Road

Kilmainham

Victoria Quay

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Irish National War Memorial Park Con Colbert Road oad ore R Inchic

Smithfield

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Street

Conyngham Road

King Street

Garden of Remembrance

t Stree Jervis

t ree St

arbour hill

Phoenix Park

Dublin, Ireland

Bo lto n

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5

Marley Park

Str eet

stoneybatter

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North Bull Island

Kild are

Capetown, South Africa

Phoenix Park

FATE DOESN’T ASK. IT COuLD ALSO bE mE. Or yOu. David Coulthard.

13-time Formula 1 Grand Prix Winner and Wings For Life Ambassador.

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music

super s ta r D J DJ of The Year* Seth Troxler’s golden rules for music biz survival

Empire Of The Sun were hard to miss when their space-age debut album Walking On A Dream landed in 2008, particularly the catchy single We Are The People. Now frontman Luke Steele and producer Nick Littlemore have released Ice On The Dune, a highenergy symphony of Disney disco.

Their influences are as colourful as they are diverse: Littlemore recently reworked Elton John’s back catalogue at his request, and became musical director for Cirque de Soleil’s Zarkana show. These are the songs that get him through those long studio nights.

An empire state of mind playlist nick littlemore of flamboyant Australian duo Empire Of The Sun sees beauty in musical simplicity

1 Dr John

www.empireofthesun.com

2 Brian Eno

3 Ruth

This is a wonderful song from Dr John’s 1968 debut LP, Gris-Gris. I first heard it when I was 21.

There’s one incredible section where he and five vocalists each sing the same phrase into a mic positioned between them.

The voices keep resonating and create a human echo. I’ve tried to replicate this many times, but never manage it so well.

This is a beautiful, still, quiet song from Eno’s Before And After Science.

What I love about him is that he makes things that are so simple and delicate.

It’s a style I respond to a lot: things that are very quiet. I always find that the simplest songs are the hardest to write, so have so much respect when they’re done perfectly like this.

Paris has the coolest heartbeat of any city in the world. I grew up in Australia, but there was always an overt French connection in our house. Ruth are a little-known electronic group from Paris, and this track has the coolest vibe.

The way the vocal is delivered is amazing.

I don’t know what he’s saying and I don’t care; I’m always grooving to this.

4 The Korgis

5 Soak

I Walk On Gilded Splinters

Everybody’s Got To Learn…

Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime has been covered a lot, but nobody has matched the beauty of the original. There was a remix I’d hear when I was sneaking out to raves in the ’90s, and it wasn’t until years later that I heard the 1980 original. It’s so simple, but that’s all it needs to be. You should put less in the way of the song when it’s this strong.

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By This River

Sea Creatures

Soak is a wonderfully talented young artist from Derry I’ve been listening to a lot. Sea Creatures is a mature work, but she wrote it when she was just 13 years old. This is her coming-of-age song.

You get the sense that it’s written from a child’s perspective, but it’s amazingly insightful – the things she’s discovered things about herself and other people.”

Polaroïd/Romans/Photo

w et w et w et music to watch fish go by

Finis Neptune Perfect for the music-loving diver: a waterproof MP3 player with headphones that attach directly to the cheek rather than the ear. This transmits vibrations into the inner ear. Deep house just got a whole lot deeper… www.finisinc.com

1 If you’re serious about making music, you have to give up everything else. No side jobs, no distractions.

2 Always be friendly.

If you’re an arsehole, everyone in the industry will know about it in no time at all.

3 Meet a lot of people and make contacts.

Most record labels choose to only work with artists they know personally.

4 When you send out a demo, put it together as a package yourself.

You need more than a link to your SoundCloud page.

5 Don’t put out more than four singles a year; that’s when press interest starts to disappear. *Seth Troxler was named DJ of the Year 2012 by electronic music magazine Resident Advisor www.redbullmusic academy.com/ lectures/seth-troxler

the red bulletin

words: florian obkricher. photography: universal music (2), finisinc.com, christelle de Castro/red Bull Content Pool

Nick Littlemore: one half of Australian band Empire Of The Sun

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save the date

don’t miss diaries open, pens at the ready

17 august super bad SuperVillains are fast making a name for themselves as hip-hop’s ones to watch. Catch them at The Kings Arms and toast the launch of their new EP. www.kings arms.co.nz

21 august STOMP’s boots hit Auckland with six shows at The Edge

AUGUST 6-11

Get rhythm

Where you bin? For traschcan-wielding troupe STOMP, the answer is all over the world. Their high-octane shows, combining dance, percussion and comedy, have been seen in 50 countries over 20 years. Now back in NZ with a new show – expect shopping trolleys and plumbing paraphernalia alongside their famous bins – their conjuring of music from everyday objects is still a delight. www.the-edge.co.nz

UNTIL SEPTEMBER 29

California cool

AUGUST 3/4 & 17/18

Real Warriors Can The Warriors mount a late charge for the playoffs?

It’s do-or-die time as they host the Sharks and the Panthers this month. www.warriors.co.nz

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UNTIL september 29

Hi ho Hillary

Sunshine, surfing and Hollywood are three things that spring to mind when you hear the word ‘California’. But for design enthusiasts, it’s also associated with some of the most iconic work of the 20th century. California Design 19301965 celebrates the designers, and artists of the Golden State and their influence on the way we live today.

The exhibition includes everything from furniture and fashion to album covers and photography. www.aucklandartgallery.com

Did you know that Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay celebrated reaching the top of Mount Everest with a Kendal Mint Cake, the original energy bar? This and other unique insights are revealed in From The Summit, an exhibition marking the 60th anniversary of their historic climb. Also featured are rarely seen objects including Hillary’s diaries; it also celebrates the legacy he left behind – the schools, hospitals and bridges he built for the Himalayan people. www.aucklandmuseum.com

Exercising outdoors is tough enough in the winter when it’s wet and cold, so why not go one step further and run in the dark?

That’s the theory behind the Inov-8 Trail Run Night Series. www.trailrun.co.nz

30 august urban circus Forget everything you thought you knew about the circus. Traces present a dynamic mix of acrobatics, basketball, skateboarding and parkour set to a contemporary soundtrack. It’s circus remastered. www.bruce mason.co.nz

the red bulletin

words: Robert tighe. photography: stomp, tim white, los angeles Country Museum of Art (3)

cool running

OUR GREATEST ATHLETES. THEIR GREATEST MOMENTS.

TUESDAYS 7.30PM / THURSDAYS 9.30PM. SKYSPORT. #RBCHRONICLES

Time warped: can it be true?

Hair force

Photography: gamma-keystone/getty images

It was the day the world (of competitive hair growing) stood still. On July 31, 1968, above an unseasonably grey Stockholm, Sigrid ‘Wiggy Siggy’ Andersson, home favourite in the world championships, reached down to her left ankle, removed a concealed pair of binoculars and looked down at the judges below. By making – some say mocking – the same pose as the judges looking up at her, she was first disqualified and later reinstated, with a set of perfect 10 scores that won her the title. ‘Shock socks binox rock locks finals’ ran the headline in Svenska Dagbladet.

The next edition of the red bulletin is out on september 3 98

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