Great Lakes Sail Online June 17, 1998

In this Issue:
Eric Tabarly- Lost at Sea
Chicago Noods- Friday through Sunday
Round Britain- Leg 1 Complete
Bermuda Race- Starts Friday
Around Alone- Training Voyages Galore
Block Island Race Week- Preview

Eric Tabarly- Lost at Sea
    Last Friday nite, off the coast of Wales, world
renowned French sailor Eric Tabarly was lost at sea.
The 66 year old sailor fell overboard while sailing
on Pen Duick 1.
    Eric Tabarly was born on July 24, 1931 in
Nantes France. His first major success was in the
single handed transatlantic race from Plymouth England
to Newport Rhode Island in 1964. Tabarly won this race
again in 1976 on Pen Duick VI a multi hull.
    In 1969 he won the San Francisco to Tokyo race
with Pen Duick III. He sailed in both the 1973-74 and
1993-94 Whitbread races. In 1980 aboard Paul Ricard he set
a then Atlantic crossing record of 10 days 5 hours 14 minutes
and 20 seconds. Tabarly still holds the record from
Bermuda to Plymouth England. He sailed this route in 1974
in 14 days 20 hours 15 minutes and 12 seconds. He
continued winning just last year. Teaming with Yves Parlier
he won a race from Le Harve to Carthagena.
    All of Tabarly's boats were named Pen Duick. In the Breton
language Pen Duick is a black headed tit. Forever when you
hear Pen Duick, Tabarly will come to mind.
    According to crew who were with Tabarly, he went forward
to change sails as a storm built. In the process the boom
knocked him overboard. He wore neither life jacket, nor safety
harness. This was totally in character as Tabarly shunned
much modern safety equipment.
    His brother Patrick, said this: "It was his style of life
that he liked. He died in full form."
    For further information visit: http://www.sail-online.com and
http://www.aroundalone.com

Chicago- Nood Regatta this weekend
    Beginning this Friday and sailing in Chicago until Sunday
will be the Lake Michigan stop of Sailing World's Nood regatta
series.
    Although largely a keelboat affair, the NOOD's are scored
on a one design basis. Classes range from J/24's to Santa Cruz 70's
    West Michigan will have a strong contingent at this regatta.
There will be 3 One Design 35's. They are Hippy Chick, Heartbreaker
and the just launched Pronto. These in addition to Chicago based
China Cloud will be the partipants in the first in class racing on the
Great Lakes of the new One Design 35.
    Two local Nelson Marek 36's, Erlichda and Lunatic Fringe
will be there. Slurred, Not Spoken will sail in the J/24 class, with
Aftershock battling other J/35's.
    Integrity will take on the tough Mumm 30 class, and Woolly Bully
will sail with the 40 footers.
    For daily results of the racing visit:
http://www.sailingworld.com/nood/noodin98.htm

Round Britain- Leg's 2 & 3
    Leg 2 was from Crosshaven to Bara. This leg began with
headwinds of up to 50 knots. The wind died considerably
later in the leg.
    First to finish again was the trimaran Spirit of England
in a time of 2 days 9 hours and 10 minutes.
    In Class 1 there was again a close battle between 2
Open 60 monohulls. This time Musto Performance triumphed
over Victoria Group by less than 2 hours.
    In Class 2 there also was a reversal of finishing order from
Leg 1. Jeantex finished ahead of fellow Open 50 Wolfie's Toy
by 31 minutes.
    Leg 3 began from Barra after a 48 hour stop. The leaders of
the fleet have rounded St. Kilda. Jeantex is in the lead in Class 2.
They are a bit nervous as they turned up forestay damage
during an on course rig check.
    Leg 3 currently has only one finisher. Again it is the trimaran
Spirit of England first to finish.
    For more information visit: http://www.pilgrims.com/rwyc &
http://www.offshorechallenges.com

Newport to Bermuda Race Preview
    Friday June 19th will be the start of the 41st biennial
Newport to Bermunda race. The course distance is 635 miles.
    Each Newport to Bermuda race has several distinct
stages. The first is sailing from Newport toward the beneficial
current of the Gulf Steam. The idea in this first stage is to position
the boat in the Gulf Steam current and knot in a derogatory cold
water eddy.
    The next stage involves crossing the Gulf Stream. This
is more art than science. Suffice it to say that there is no typical
configuration of the Steam and no conventional wisdom strategy.
A good Steam crossing is key to race success.
    After crossing the Gulf Stream, there is usually 300 miles
left to the finish on the island of Bermuda. Generally this is the
most pleasant sailing of the race. Normal conditions will push
the boats to the fastest speeds of the race.
    This years race will see a fleet of 160 boats the biggest
number since 1982. Among the yachts entered are the
maxi's: Morning Glory, Sayonara, Alexia and Boomerang. Two
new Farr 60's Deep Powder and Rima are on the entry list.
    For in progress race updates, and good historical background
information please visit: http://www.bermudarace.com

Around Alone- 3 teams undertake training Voyages
    Three of the boats entered in September's Around Alone have
entered into a significant phase of their training. They are: Cray Valley,
California Challenge and Great Circle.
Cray Valley and skipper J.P. Mouligne have just about completed
a voyage from Newport Rhode Island USA to Falmouth England.
This voyage is serving as J.P.'s 2000 mile qualifying voyaging and
also gets him to Falmouth for the start of the Atlantic Alone race on
July 5th. J.P. sailed through the full spectrum of condition, from calm
enough to hang laundry to 40 to 50 knot winds.
    On the West Coast Brad Van Liew and California Challenge
have completed their qualifying voyage sailing from California to Hawaii.
It took California Challenge two weeks to complete the voyage.
According to Brad: "I had adverse sail that included being becalmed
for a couple of days followed by several days where I averaged over 200 miles."
    Great Circle, Brian Hancock's Open 50, left Marblehead MA., USA
bound for the Azores Islands. Hancock's 2 man crew had a unique feature.
They were Robert Fellows of Iowa City, Iowa and Wayne Kentner of
London, Ontario, Canada. The crew members were Great Circle
supporters who paid their way in order to help Brian out.
    As Great Circle heads for the Azores, Hancock reported:
"What more can I tell you? The crew is happy and the food is good.
This is nice work if you can get it!"

For more information visit:
http://www.torresen.com/aroundalone/aanews.htm

Block Island Race Week
    Even-year competition in the
ever-changing conditions off Block Island starts Monday, June 22,
at Premiere Racing's Block Island Race Week, with increased
one design interest, plus sport boat racing and a competitive PHRF
fleet that includes a Cruising Canvas (non-spinnaker) class.
There's a sharp jump in entries - from 85 in 1994, to 119 in 1996,
to more than 130 entries this year.
    There are eight races scheduled for the 12 classes racing
on two courses on Block Island Sound. Competition is expected
to be fierce for Race Week's ultimate prize, the Block Island Trophy,
presented to the yacht which wins in the class with the closest,
most competitive racing.
    Block Island saw its first race week in 1965 when the Storm Trysail Club
staged a week-long regatta as an American answer to Cowes Week
-- without any Royal yachts or ancient castles. The idea won rapid
acceptance in the sailing community and in the early '80s Yachting
magazine introduced even-year competition as an alternative to
the Cruising Yacht Club of America's Newport to Bermuda Race.
Peter Craig's Marblehead-based Premiere Racing, Inc. took
over the even-year regatta in 1996.
    For more information visit: http://www.yachtingnet.com