August 31, 2005
Boats Needed for Hurricane Relief Efforts
Two days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, conditions continue to decline. As part of relief, rescue and recovery efforts, the Louisiana Governor's office has requested assistance from the marine industry. Specifically, officials have asked the industry's largest trade association, the NMMA's, to recruit help from its members.
There is a need for boats to use in the effort. Outside of medical personnel, the biggest need right now is for watercraft. Marine manufactures and dealers how are in a position to help should contact NMMA. Communications in the area are difficult, so direct contact with officials is not possible but the NMMA will put interested parties in touch with Louisiana Fish & Wildlife effort.
Interested parties can make contact online or by calling 202-737-9759.
Labor Day Advisory from the Paranormal
By: Tom Rau
I’m not one to dwell on supernatural or paranormal phenomena, but that isn’t to say I don’t deny the presence thereof. When events occur that hint of supernatural influences it’s difficult not to wonder what unforeseen power could be at play. Such thoughts visited me last week regarding the Boat Smart column.
I had requested from Lieutenant Commander Tracy Wannamaker, Commander Coast Guard Group Grand Haven, safety points regarding kids and water. A rash of recent drownings have involved youths. One in particular involved a nine-year-old boy who drowned in Lake Michigan near Holland’s north pier. Commander Wannamaker had the woeful task of consulting in person with the parents who lost their son.
What make it especially difficult for the Commander she has a son the same age with many of the same interests and habits as the deceased nine year old. In fact, their birth days were a week apart. The Commander e-mailed me that afternoon: “If I ever have to do that again it will be too soon—it’s been an awful year for that. The child did not know how to swim and was pulled out over his head by the current.”
I responded to her e-mail by suggesting she write water safety instructions regarding kids and water, not necessarily as an experienced Coast Guard rescue responder, but as a mother of three. She did. A series of electronic snafus, however, prevented delivery before my deadline to the newspapers. Whether it was coincidence or a supernatural hand at play I really don’t know. Here’s what happened; I will let you decide.
On Tuesday, the day before my deadline, Commander Wannamaker attempted to e-mail me three times and three times received an “unable to deliver” response. The Commander regularly edits Boat Smart via e-mail. This failure was a first. I then suggested she fax the copy, which she did. My fax machine rang but it failed to pick up. This happened twice. I then suggested she e-mail the copy to Station Manistee and they could burn the e-mail onto a floppy disk, which they did. When I arrived home with the floppy, I inserted it into my computer. When I opened the file the computer crashed. I got the computer back on line; however, during the crash the floppy was damaged and now unreadable.
The next morning my server was back on line. Incidentally, for whatever reasons, it was randomly and intermittently rejecting e-mails—but not all. To top it off the Commander’s piece exceeded the column’s length since I had added a last minute story regarding a drowning in Glenn Lake. Seemingly for whatever reasons the Commander’s piece was not supposed to run even though it offered life-saving information. Then it dawned on me as if I were struck by a revelation from above. The column should run this Labor Day weekend, which surely will draw thousands to the water, especially with warm weather in the forecast. This message must be intended for someone and it could be you. Now Commander Wannamaker’s message:
Two weeks ago I was in the heartbreaking position of telling a Mom and Dad that their nine year old son had drowned in Lake Michigan. This is the part of my job that keeps me awake at night, the part that I could do without. As I read through the search paperwork, I noted that this child was only one week younger than my own son. Immediately I was thrust into the “what if” self-questioning that all parents do, and I came up with a few items that all parents or caregivers need to know:
You are in charge: respect the water. Our beautiful lakes are also very unforgiving at times. You need to understand how the water moves, how deep it is and what is on the bottom. You also need to understand rip currents and explain them to children that are old enough to understand. I make my kids recite what they would do if caught in a rip current every time we go to the lake. The Beach and Pier Safety Task Force, based in Grand Haven, has a useful website that discusses rip currents and other hazards: www.respectthepower.org
Invest in swim lessons for the whole family. Non-swimming parents can’t help when the children are in trouble in the water, and often get into trouble as well while attempting to help. I can think of nothing worse than watching your child drown because you are not equipped to help him or her. Swim lessons not only teach children how to keep their head above water, but also promote safety and confidence in the water.
If you or your children cannot swim a proper-fitting life jacket is a must for both of you. On more than one occasion my kids have fought me on this, but it’s not open for discussion: “put it on or you are sitting on the beach.” Many drownings occur when non-swimmers suddenly find themselves in water over their head. In addition, many “good swimmers” drown because of fatigue, panic or medical issues.
Unfortunately, rescuers don’t get called until someone goes under, and there are only a few precious minutes to save a life. Often it’s too late. Pride is never a good excuse for drowning.
Be vigilant. Don’t take your eyes off of them—we all know how fast the little ones can move, in or out of the water! Know how to respond in case of emergency and run these scenarios through your mind—you may be the one that saves the unsuspecting swimmer.
Whether the message is paranormal or not there is one thing for certain: all drownings, whether it be in Lake Michigan or a backyard wading pool, can be avoided by those who are alert and water wise.
Hurricane Katrina
New Orleans continues to suffer as flood waters continue to rise even two days after Katrina hit the city. People interested in donating to the relief efforts can contact International Aid.
Boats owned by private individuals and governmental organization are an important part of current relief, recover and rescue efforts.
Photo courtesy: WWLTV - www.wwltv.com
Boats and marine facilities suffered great physical damage. New Orleans telvision station WWLTV provides video footage of the city's Southern Yacht Club as sailboats are thrown around like toys and the club bursts into flames. See the video.
August 30, 2005
BMW Oracle Earns 2nd Overall
Malmö, Sweden. BMW ORACLE Racing defeated the Luna Rossa Challenge team today to finish the Louis Vuitton Act 6 regatta as top challenger in the fleet and 2nd overall. America's Cup defender Alinghi went through the series undefeated to take the top prize. The final day of this regatta saw the fleet competing in perfect conditions off Malmö with a 10-12 knot breeze, sunny skies and flat water showing the yachts to best advantage. The four top teams
all raced against each other today and, in securing its place as top
challenger, BMW ORACLE Racing led the Italian team from start to finish, winning by a convincing margin.
Race Summary: - USA-76 vs. ITA-74
Starting in perfect sailing conditions of 10 to 12 knots of breeze and flat water, USA-76 very quickly stamped its authority on the match when they crossed ahead of Luna Rossa Challenge on starboard for a split tack start. Immediately tacking across onto port to cover the Italians, the two crews engaged in a spirited tacking duel, but by the third cross USA-76 was able to come across on port tack and pass clear ahead of ITA-74 on starboard. Having gained control of the right hand side of the course, USA-76 repeatedly forced the Italians to tack away and led around the first mark with a 26 second
advantage. On the downwind leg, the Italian team made a slight gain, but, as the two yachts rounded opposite marks at the leeward end, USA-76 was still 24 seconds in front. On the second windward leg, USA-76 totally dominated and extended out to a 1 minute 19 second lead, finally crossing the finish line 1 minute 5 seconds in front.
QUOTES
Ian Burns, BMW ORACLE Racing navigator: "At the start, I think we were both a bit surprised at how strong the current was. We were aware we had to get a move on to get back to the startline. We had a strong start. "We both wanted the right, so we were not surprised when the Italian team immediately ducked under our stern and went to the right. "
J35 Great Lakes Championships
The Great Lakes J35 Championship took place August 27 to 29.
Results are available at:
Final Deadline for Women's Keelboat Championships
Organizers of US SAILING's Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship (Rolex IWKC) remind sailors that the deadline to enter the world's premier keelboat regatta is September 2. After that date, no other entries will be accepted. The 11th Rolex IWKC is scheduled September 17-23 at the Annapolis Yacht Club, in Annapolis, Md. To date, 40 international teams from four countries and 15 U.S. states have entered including defending Rolex IWKC champion Sally Barkow, of Nashotah, Wis. The Notice of Race, Entry Form and additional information for competitors can be found online at www.ussailing.org/riwkc and www.race.annapolisyc.org/2005rolex
August 29, 2005
The Italians Stun the Kiwis
It was a difficult day of tense racing on Sunday as the light and shifting breezes off Malmö put pressure on the decision makers in the afterguard.
After the first flight of races, it appeared the story of the day would be the comeback by the home heroes, Victory Challenge, who delighted their fans by sneaking past the Spanish team on the final run for a brilliant come from behind win. As 18th man on board, HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden appeared to bring the Victory crew the luck they have been looking for these past few days.
While Victory followed up that win with a triumph in flight eight as well, the major surprise belonged to Italy's +39, who won for the third time in their last four matches, stunning Emirates Team New Zealand.
Flight Seven
One of the most hotly anticipated matches of the day, the battle between Desafío Español and Victory Challenge did not disappoint. Spain forced Sweden to tack away soon after the start, allowing the Spanish to capitalise on a left-hand shift and stretch to a seemingly unassailable lead up the first beat. At the bottom of the run, however, the Spanish crew made a mess of their spinnaker drop and allowed Magnus Holmberg to halve the gap. Around the final windward mark, the local team was just 36 seconds behind. Gybing on to starboard down the last run, Victory picked up more breeze and sneaked around the outside of the disappointed Spanish. The spectator fleet cheered as their local heroes won a match that appeared to be out of their reach.
Luna Rossa was running +39 Challenge ragged in the pre-start, but helmsman Iain Percy wrestled the blue and orange boat clear by start time to lead across the line. The smaller team held the advantage over the more experienced Luna Rossa for some time until James Spithill gained the right-hand side of the course and got on level terms with +39. Momentary indecision saw +39 mess up a port/starboard cross and they were given a penalty. Luna Rossa stretched away from their compatriots for the rest of the race, winning by a large margin.
Shosholoza's helmsman Chris Law has a reputation for aggressive starting but today he started too eagerly against Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia and the South Africans were forced to restart. From there the Italians controlled the race to win by over a minute.
Following a relatively even start between BMW ORACLE Racing and China Team, American skipper Chris Dickson put the hammer down to speed away from the fledgling Chinese team. Syndicate head Larry Ellison took over the wheel of USA-76 as the Americans cruised to victory.
In the match between Emirates Team New Zealand and K-Challenge, Dean Barker's crew ran rings around Thierry Peponnet in the pre-start, and the French did well to avoid a penalty decision against them as they floundered at a virtual standstill. At the start the Kiwis rolled immediately into a covering tack and dominated the race to win by a comfortable margin.
Alinghi led its race against United Internet Team Germany from the start, after Jesper Bank put the white boat into some vulnerable positions in the pre-start. Jochen Schuemann steered the Defenders to a straightforward victory of 1 minute 45 seconds over the Germans. Alinghi remains undefeated.
Flight Eight
Dean Barker and Emirates Team New Zealand made a rare unforced error by breaking the start line a second too early, in what should have been a straightforward match against +39 Challenge. Iain Percy capitalised on the Kiwis' mistake and sailed a very cool race in the light and shifting breezes. For a moment up the second beat, it looked as though +39's tactician Ian Walker might have let New Zealand off the hook by allowing them to get further right. But the Italian team kept their nerve to trounce the stunned Kiwis by over a minute - surely the biggest upset to date at the Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Acts.
At the start of its match against Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, K-Challenge held the upper hand. But it wouldn't last, as the Italians hooked into better breeze from the right, and led by 47 seconds at the first mark. Skipper Vasco Vascotto never looked back after that, with the Italians storming to a 1 minute 6 second victory.
Mainsail problems meant that Shosholoza was very late entering the start box against Luna Rossa, and the Umpires put a penalty on the South Africans before they had even started. Despite starting late, the South Africans briefly led up the first beat, thanks to a right-hand shift. But any hope for Shosholoza would be short-lived as the Italians pegged back their rivals with superior shift work in the fickle breezes. Luna Rossa's winning delta was 1 minute 23 seconds.
China Team was not expected to pose much threat to Alinghi but no one could have predicted the level of Swiss dominance. By the first mark the Defenders were leading by 10 boatlengths. By the finish they had extended that lead to almost 700 metres, and they won by over three minutes.
During a frenetic pre-start, one of the runners on Desafío Español jammed, pinning its mainsail on the centreline and stalling the boat to a dead stop. The Spanish were sitting ducks as Chris Dickson manoeuvred BMW Oracle aggressively around the green boat like a marauding shark. However, Dickson decided to focus on a good start and left the Spanish trailing in his wake. Helmsman Karol Jablonski did a good job of keeping the deficit to just 12 seconds at the first mark. The green boat rolled into an immediate gybe-set in a bid to sneak past the Americans. However the Spanish found less breeze on the right-hand side and USA-76 stretched away to win with ease.
Victory Challenge narrowly won the start against United Internet Team Germany and these two boats engaged in a tacking duel up the first beat. The Swedes looked the slicker of the two crews and led at the first mark by 35 seconds. By the end they were 1 minute 20 seconds ahead, rounding off a perfect day for the home team.
Tight duel at the Dragon World Championship
Gold Cup winner Jorgen Schönherr (DEN) man of the day
Fresh winds with strong gusts on the bay of Lübeck off Neustadt/Holstein on Friday (26 August) were just the right conditions for the Danish sailors at the Rolex Baltic Week. Dragon Gold Cup winner Jorgen Schönherr from Ströby scored nearly optimal points with a first and a third at the world championship and is now close on the heels of the leading crew Harm Müller-Spreer/Markus Wieser/Thomas Auracher from Hamburg, Germany. Florian Jacob, Harald Gusek and Thomas Birkner from Berlin, Germany are the winners of the parallel Dragon World Week.
Like the day before, conditions at the Hanseatic Lloyd Dragon World Championship were rough on both men and material. Thomas Andersen from Denmark and his Nina "targeted" Achim Griese's Be cool (Hamburg) and inflicted severe damage to mast and boat. "We will make do, though," said crew member Robert Stark (Planegg), "we'll stick to it." They got redress for their DNC and pushed up to the top ten in the overall rankings.
The comfortable lead that the Müller-Spreer team had brought with them to this race day was reduced to a mere two points. "We've simply been sailing badly and made a couple of mistakes," explained crew Markus Wieser (Starnberg). Then they discarded their 15th rank of race four and came sixth in the last race of the day.
For another Danish crew around helmsman Poul-Richard Hoj-Jensen, it turned out to be a brilliant day. After rank four, they came first and moved up to position three in the overall ranking with eleven score points behind the leading crew. For many German crews, it simply wasn't their day. "We mucked up one race," said Marc Aurel Pickel (Kiel) from the team of Thomas Müller (Hamburg), who is sixth overall, and also current world champion Vincent Hoesch from Rimsting came only seventeenth in one race.
The three men who had been dominating the fleet during the whole Dragon World Week, Jacob/Gusek/Birkner, remained superior until the final day. After their fourth win, it was clear that the crew of El Guanche would be the overall winner so they could look forward to an elegant Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date time-piece. With an even score of points, Metzing/Buhtz/Läufer from Berlin won "silver" because of better individual results than their Hamburg competitors Mankowski/Hebbel-Seeger/Fock.
The start of the German Open of the X-79 class as part of the Rolex Baltic Week saw a superior Bernd Zeiger (Kiel). He achieved two wins in a row with his Sextanten, before Morten Reinhold from Denmark beat him in race three on Circeline, second overall with four points less. Three more X-79 races are scheduled for Saturday (27 August). The Dragons are back on schedule and are set to sail one race as part of their world championship.
Jorgen Schönherr and his Dragon Double?
The German-Danish position fights at the Rolex Baltic Week in Neustadt/Holstein, Germany saw winners and losers on both sides on Saturday (27 August). At the Dragon World Championships, the hosts' Northern neighbours were at advantage. With 19 points in the ranking, Jorgen Schönherr from Ströby took over the lead from Harm Müller-Spreer (Hamburg, 30). At the X-79 German Open, Bernd Zeiger from Kiel, Germany has ten points and kept Morten Reinhold from Dyssegard, Denmark (15) at bay.
The top group of the Hanseatic Lloyd Dragon worlds saw a mixture of success and mishaps. Vincent Hoesch from Rimsting, current world champion of 2003 that time with compatriot Dieter Schön, achieved his first win. But with a score of 35, he has no chance to defend his title anymore. "Too late for the heroes," was his brief comment after a race that had finally been to his liking. Hoesch and his crew Harro Kniffka and Max Scheibmaier had been chasing the fleet and pushed ahead from the fifth rank at the first mark to second and on into the lead.
He even passed this year's Gold Cup winners, Jorgen Schönherr and his crew Anders Kaempe and Anders Walderdorph. Rank two made the Danish triumvirate the top favourites of winning the coveted double of Gold Cup and world championship. Particularly so as Müller-Spreer with Markus Wieser and Thomas Auracher toppled and came only 19th. The Germans discarded this as their worst race, so they will enter the final race on Sunday (28. August) "only" eleven points behind Schönherr. "From the very beginning, we had seen him to be our fiercest competitor," said Wieser, "now it looks like we have to wait for him to trip to have a chance of winning."
Despite a disastrous race that landed him on rank 59 Lars Hendriksen from Denmark (42 points) still hopes to get a podium finish. This is now beyond reach for Germans Thomas Müller (84) with Marc Pickel and Ingo Borkowski due to a 44 this Saturday. "A beautiful race day with sunshine and wind, one of the best we had this year," said Borkowski sarcastically. Also title holder Dieter Schön, whom lives in Elsbethen, Austria, on rank six with a score of 56 has no more chance to be among the top three.
Despite two minor slips with two fourth ranks, Bernd Zeiger's crew on board the Sextanten made clear that they are set to win the X-79 German Open. Two wins let her surpass Morten Reinhold, Denmark again, whose Cirkeline had meanwhile taken over the lead. "In the first half of the day, nothing went as planned," reported Zeiger's crew member Felix Weidling from Kiel, "in race five, we even thought we had started prematurely, but luckily, that turned out to be not the case. At some stage, we were only 15th."
But Zeiger never let go and he firmly steered his boat ahead to success. "Race three today was a pure win from start to finish," said the owner, "you had to go right in any case and so we did straight away." The fourth and final race on Saturday were much more tricky - but all's well that ends well. Another two races are scheduled for Sunday (28 August). Zeiger: "We must be sharp, nothing is decided yet."
Results of the Rolex Baltic Week on Saturday, 27 August 2005
Hanseatic Lloyd Dragon World Championship
Overall results (after six races):
1. Schönherr/Kaempe/Waldersdorph (Denmark) 19 points, 2. Müller-Spreer/Wieser/Auracher (Germany) 30, 3. Hoesch/Kniffka/Scheibmaier (Germany) 35, 4. Hendriksen/Johannsen/Leifelt (Denmark) 42, 5. Hoj-Jensen/Neergard/Guhle (Denmark) 54, 6. Schön/Westergaard/Huber (Germany) 56.
German Open of the X-79
Overall results (after seven races):
1. Sextanten, Bernd Zeiger (Germany) 10 points, 2. Cirkeline, Morten Reinhold (Denmark) 15, 3. www.elvstroem-sobstad, Thomas Taato (Denmark) 22, 4. Job DK, Bo Andersen (Denmark) 23, 5. Keep Smiling, Ingo Bergmann (Germany) 33, 6. Missis X, Thomas Olsson (Sweden) 44.
Siau And Ingham Win U.S. Youth Multihull Championship
It was a tight squeeze for the race organizers and competitors of the U.S. Youth Multihull Championship this weekend in Panama City, Fla. With Hurricane Katrina approaching, organizers and host club St. Andrew Bay Yacht Club decided to fit in as many races as possible on Friday and Saturday, canceling races on Sunday, what otherwise would have been the final day. For Michael Siau (Manlius, N.Y.) and Sam Ingham (Rochester, N.Y.) it wasn't as much of a tight squeeze: the two came out with a bang on the first day, winning all six races. With those results, the team had practically secured the Championship title and the battle went on for second and third place. After four additional races on Saturday, local sailors Evan Miller (Panama City, Fla.) and Kyler Hast (Lynn Haven, Fla.) took second overall, with Cameron Biehl (San Diego, Calif.) and Pike Harris (Coronado, Calif.) finishing third.
With their new National Championship title, Michael Siau and Sam Ingham received US SAILING's Arthur J. Stevens Trophy and have qualified to represent the U.S. at the 2006 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Sailing Championships, which will be held in Weymouth, England. Sarah Newberry (Miami, Fla.) won the Darline Hobock Sportsmanship Award for demonstrating pure sportsmanship behavior throughout the Championship.
Alinghi wins Act 6
The top team was nearly knocked down a peg but recovered in dramatic style to win the Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Act 6 with a day to spare. It was a day when one of the star sailors at the Cup resigned from his team before sailing started and heavy conditions and good match-ups inspired some excellent racing. The spectator fleet on the water witnessed exhausting tacking duels, gear-breaking luffing matches, numerous penalties, along with an impressive slam dunk for good measure.
It was a beautiful day for sailing on the Øresund, as strong 20-knot winds blew white froth across the water under sunny skies. Some of the top teams were paired up on Monday afternoon, with the results of the day going a long way to determining the final standings.
The big news before racing was that Gavin Brady, a helmsman and tactician for BMW ORACLE Racing had resigned from the team. A statement from the team said that Brady couldn't agree upon his future role with the squad. The changes didn't appear to affect the team on the water - Dickson earned two points on the day with Bertrand Pacé in the tactician role.
But the action on the water was more compelling than the story in the base compound. The top teams faced each other again today, and close matches up and down the table brought some important results.
Flight Nine
Following an aggressive pre-start between Alinghi and Luna Rossa, the two boats split tacks off the start line. On the first cross, with the Italians on starboard and the Swiss looking to duck their transom, James Spithill pulled off a perfect slam dunk on Jochen Schuemann. Not only did Luna Rossa make a gain, but Spithill managed to stick a penalty on Alinghi in the process. But the Swiss held close and on the run, managed to catch all the way up. A poor spinnaker drop into the water by Luna Rossa meant Alinghi had made the pass. The Swiss extended the rest of the way, and were able to complete their penalty turn with ease before the finish line, to maintain a perfect record on the season.
Thierry Peponnet of K-Challenge was immediately put on the back foot when he incurred a pre-start penalty, however the French must have hoped that they could stretch away from China Team, who were yet to score a point at the regatta. But helmsman Pierre Mas got back on level terms with K-Challenge up the second beat, through a relentless tacking duel. China Team came out on top, and extended down the final run to win by over a minute after K-Challenge had unwound its penalty.
In the battle for fifth place, +39 Challenge started evenly against Desafio Espanol. However, two-thirds of the way up the first windy beat, the genoa on the Italian boat ripped to shreds. Iain Percy continued to sail ITA-59 under mainsail, but Karol Jablonski steered ESP-67 to a lead of over one thousand metres, crossing the finish more than 3 minutes ahead.
BMW Oracle's afterguard changes did little to upset Chris Dickson's rhythm, who tied up Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team on the start line. USA-76 led comfortably off the line and was never challenged again by the Italians.
Emirates Team New Zealand played an aggressive pre-start game, preventing the late-arriving Victory Challenge from entering the start box before the two-minute time limit. Already a penalty down, the Swedes could never get on even terms with the Kiwis, who extended their lead around the course to win by over two minutes. Victory never took its penalty turn however, so it was scored as a Did Not Finish.
Mainsail problems dogged Shosholoza before the start, and the South Africans never entered the start box for the race, handing an easy victory to United Internet Team Germany.
Flight Ten
Dean Barker and Emirates Team New Zealand faced the new-look BMW ORACLE Racing team, with skipper Chris Dickson supported by Bertrand Pacé as his tactician, after Gavin Brady left the team. Both boats sailed a long starboard tack off the start line with the Kiwis blinking first, tacking away with the boats bow to bow. Emirates Team New Zealand held the power of the right, and the two teams tacked over 20 times on the leg with the Emirates squad slowly gaining. Barker eventually pushed Dickson over the port tack layline, leading the American boat around the top mark by 16 seconds.
The run was an opportunity for Dickson to close up a little and he did so, but the second beat was a repeat of the first, with the Kiwis using the right to push the Americans to the layline. But nearing the top mark, the jib flew loose on the New Zealand boat, and with the Kiwis unable to tack for a few moments, Dickson pounced, sliding through on the layline, and streaking ahead to round first. BMW ORACLE Racing went on to win.
The Kiwi loss combined with Alinghi's victory over Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia handed the Act 6 title to the Swiss. The Alinghi powerhouse is undefeated in match races this year, now sitting on a 21-0 record, split between two helmsmen - a very impressive feat.
China Team helmsman Pierre Mas made an unforced error on the start line, crossing the line early and handing a big lead to +39 Challenge. The Italians were too strong to catch, and went on to earn their impressive fifth victory.
Team Shosholoza helmsman Chris Law picked up a penalty in the pre-start again and his team could never recover against a strong Spanish effort.
The match between Victory Challenge and Luna Rossa was a great one, with the home side surprising the Italians by matching them tack for tack up the first beat. Swedish skipper Magnus Holmberg was impressive on the start, forcing ITA skipper James Spithill to tack right before the gun, slowing the Italian boat. The teams engaged in a brutal tacking duel upwind, completing over 30 tacks before the top mark, where Luna Rossa held a slim lead. With Victory gaining on the run, Spithill had no option but to luff aggressively to protect his position. As the boats eased upwind in the strong breeze, the spinnaker pole on Victory Challenge broke, and the spinnaker burst. By the time the Swedes had cleaned up, Luna Rossa was ahead for good.
K-Challenge skipper Thierry Peponnet was impressive on this pre-start against Germany's Jesper Bank, pushing nearly him into the Committee Boat. Starting and covering well, Peponnet sailed a strong race. There was bad news for the French though as a crew member was taken from the boat after injuring his hand in a winch.
The match racing of the Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Acts is scheduled to conclude with the final flight of racing on Tuesday. The match between Luna Rossa and BMW ORACLE Racing will determine second place.
Results
Flight 9
Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 67) beat +39 Challenge (ITA 59), delta 3:22
China Team (CHN 69) beat K-Challenge (FRA 60), delta 1:09
United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) won, Team Shosholoza (RSA83) did not start
BMW ORACLE Racing (USA76) beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA77), delta 1:39
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 82) won, Victory Challenge (SWE 73) did not finish
Alinghi (SUI 75) beat Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 74), delta 0:25
Flight 10
+39 Challenge (ITA 59) beat China Team (CHN 69), delta 2:05
Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 67) beat Team Shosholoza (RSA 83), delta 1:43
K-Challenge (FRA 60) beat United Internet Team Germany (GER 72), delta 0:47
BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 76) beat Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 82), delta 0:24
Alinghi (SUI 75) beat Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team (ITA 77), delta 1:07
Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 74) beat Victory Challenge (SWE 73), delta 0:39
August 26, 2005
Another Good Day for Team New Zealand
Two more wins for Emirates Team New Zealand today, the second day of the Louis Vuitton Act 6. Races were sailed in much fresher conditions that tested boats and crew.
NZL 82 handed Spain its first defeat of the regatta. Alinghi, BMW Oracle and Luna Rossa and ETNZ got through the day without a loss.
Friday in Malmo dawned brighter than the day before although showers were forecast. As racing started the breeze was a steady 14 to 16knots, increasing to 18 to 22 knots as the race progressed.
Defasio Espanol had a good day on Thursday beating both Mascalzone Latino and United Internet Team Germany. In racing so far ESP 67 has shown good speed and difficult to pass in they get ahead.
Before leaving the dock Grant Dalton said the match against Defasio Espanol was not an occasion to make a mistake of break anything. “They’re fast and their crew work is impressive. This is not going to be an easy race.”
NZL 82 won the start, taking the left of the course. With the bow in front, the crew worked relentlessly to protect the left and ran tight cover to maintain the lead.
There was nothing in it – never more than two boat lengths – for the entire first leg, With NZL 82 rounding the first mark with a 14 sec advantage. NZL 82 led to the leeward gate and again the advantage was a mere 14 sec.
On the second beat NZL 82 slowly made gains and by the top mark had extended the lead to 36 seconds and went on to finish 33sec ahead.
NZL 82’s second race, the third to start on the northern course, was postponed for 90 minutes when the breeze dropped and became shifty. And then when race officials decided to call a start the breeze had picked up and by the time they entered the start box was gusting above 20 knots, reaching 27 on the course.
The stronger breeze brought out the best in NZL 82’s crew. Commentators on the course described the NZL 82’s pre-start performance as “slick and confident boat handling.”
The stronger breeze presented some problems for the fleet: ESP 67 broke its boom, CHN 69 broached and took several minutes to sort itself out and Luna Rossa was in a near-broach. Shosholoza (RSA 83) did not start the second race after winning the first race of the afternoon against SWE 73.
NZL 82 won the start and took the left of the course taking a 27sec lead at the first mark. ITA 77 brought up a stronger breeze on the run and took 10 sec out of the lead at the leeward mark.
On the second beat NZL 82 extended to lead by 1min 2sec. ITA 77 had trouble with the spinnaker hoist on the second run and ETNZ sailed away. The Italians also had to complete a penalty turn and NZL 82 finished a comfortable 2min 58sec ahead.
South African Surprise!
South Africa's Team Shosholoza sailed an epic race on Friday, earning its first win of the season, and indeed in 25 starts at the 32nd America's Cup. The victory came as the result of some incredible team work and match racing manoeuvres by the rookie team, with new helmsman Chris Law providing the guiding hand of experience.
"The guys were elated," Law said. "But they're very controlled; they don't let it all out."
On a day when the sun returned to Malmö, the conditions later in the afternoon proved to be testing to the extreme as Sweden offered up a magnificent day of racing conditions. For the first flight of the day, blue sky, heavily dotted with big cumulus clouds, and occasional wind and rain squalls brought Southwesterly winds of 15 knots.
Later in the day, strong gusts upwards of 25 knots tested the teams with both sailors and equipment pushed to the limit. Two main booms were broken, the China Team nearly capsized during a strong squall and a sailor aboard United Internet Team Germany, Christian Buck, was evacuated from the boat after suffering an injury sustained after the race had ended.
On the race course, the tacticians had a tricky day as well. The dark, heavy cumulus clouds represented storm cells that brought stronger winds, and shifts to the left. A current running across the race course was another factor to consider, during a testing afternoon on the Øresund, just to the North of Malmö.
Flight Three
The first flight of races proved to be an opportunity for the smaller teams to threaten some of the strong ones, with +39, China Team, United Internet Team Germany and K-Challenge each showing moments of strength in their matches.
But the biggest push came from Shosholoza, the only team yet to post a win in the 2005 season. The South Africans took Sweden's Victory Challenge beyond the limit in their match, recovering from some tricky moments in the pre-start to win the left side, and eke out a big enough advantage to hold the lead around the top mark.
It was very close though, and Sweden's Magnus Holmberg kept pushing on the run, sneaking an overlap, but South African helmsman Chris Law, with luffing rights pushed the Swedes past the leeward gate. Sailing hard to the wind, it was difficult to drop the spinnakers, both teams struggling on the drop, the large sails grabbing in the water. The South Africans recovered faster and Law raced back up to the leeward gate, his aggression resulting in a six boatlength lead as the boats headed up on the second lap of the course. Holmberg never recovered, and Shosholoza earned a very well deserved win.
Among the other matches, +39, K-Challenge, United Internet Team Germany and China Team each took what turned out to be the much favoured left hand side of the start line against their bigger opponents. But the left hand shift was big enough to lift the top teams around the windward mark as well, and Luna Rossa Alinghi, BMW ORACLE Racing and Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia respectively were able to lead around the top mark and win their matches despite the early scares. Emirates Team New Zealand managed to hold off the Spanish to earn its third straight win.
Flight Four
During the second flight, the tough conditions became even harder to figure out, as each cloud seemed to bring a major wind shift. Both race courses were plagued by start postponements due to the big shifts, as the wind jumped in direction and speed throughout the afternoon, ranging from eight to 25 knots from the Southwest to West.
The action came fast and furious during this second flight. Alinghi and K-Challenge were able to get away and although the French had a good start, and earned the favoured left side, the size of the windshift allowed Alinghi to squeeze up past the layline as well, and the Swiss led around the top mark and extended for the win.
The German team was let off the hook after skipper Jesper Bank was late into the start box. Hounded by China Team's Pierre Mas, Bank needed to use the spectator fleet to shake off the Chinese team, and then Mas made an unforced error, starting early. Bank took full advantage earning his team's first win.
Then the action really picked up. A series of squalls crossed the race course, bringing big wind shifts and gusts in excess of 25 knots. China Team suffered a massive broach downwind, the boat lying right over on its side for several seconds.
In its match against Luna Rossa, Desafío Español squandered a big lead, and was trailing the Italians when they broke their boom, and had to retire. Luna Rossa moves to four wins.
Shosholoza, after picking up its first win also broke a boom. This occurred whilst the team was waiting in the changeable conditions for their match against +39 to begin. The South Africans retired for the day, handing the race to +39.
Emirates Team New Zealand had a relatively straightforward race against Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team. The Italians picked up a penalty for gybing too close in the pre-start and the Kiwis sailed away to their fourth win.
Finally, Victory Challenge was forced to retire from its match when its jib pulled away from the headstay. The American team was ahead at the time, and completed the course for the win.
Results
Flight Three
Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 74) beat United Internet Team Germany (GER 72), delta 1:40
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 82) beat Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 67), delta 0:33
Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 77) beat China Team (CHN 69), delta 1:09
Alinghi (SUI 75) beat +39 Challenge (ITA 59), delta 1:45
BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 76) beat K-Challenge (FRA 60), delta 1:12
Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) beat Victory Challenge (SWE 73), delta 1:20
Flight Four
Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 74) won, Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 67) retired
United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) beat China Team (CHN 69), delta 6:32
EmiratesTeam New Zealand (NZL82) beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA77),delta 2:58
Alinghi (SUI 75) beat beat K-Challenge (FRA 60), delta 1:04
+39 Challenge (ITA 59) won, Team Shosholoza did not start
BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 76) won, Victory Challenge (SWE 73), retired
Second ABN Boat to be Christened
After 16 months in the making, the much-anticipated christening of the second ABN AMRO boat will be held tomorrow in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
This boat is the very latest in sailing technology, and incorporates feedback generated by the seasoned professionals of crew ONE (http://team.abnamro.com/web/show/id=43669). The first ABN AMRO boat (http://team.abnamro.com/web/show/id=46600) was christened in February in Portugal, and represented the first Volvo Ocean Race Volvo 70 boat in the water.
Skipper Mike Sanderson (http://team.abnamro.com/web/show/id=43574) said: "The new boat is very much crew ONE's baby. We were involved in the decision-making all the way through. We really made sure we used the advantage to be able to build a second boat."
This second boat is an historic first, and represents the only second-generation Volvo 70 boat to participate in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006.
Please stay tuned to www.abnamro.com/team this weekend for updates, pictures and videos on the event.
ABN AMRO is one of the 20 largest banks in the world, with home markets in Brazil, the US and the Netherlands and origins dating back to 1824. The bank is proud to enter two boats in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006. For TEAM ABN AMRO, we are: 'Making more possible'.
2005 Solitare Du Figaro Gives a Rough Ride
Yesterday marked the end of the Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro 2005 for SKANDIA skipper, Sam Davies – three weeks, racing over 1600 miles, in this solo marathon between France, Spain and Ireland. Positioned as the world championship of solo offshore racing it demands everything from the solo sailor, not least endurance and stamina as the skippers cope with little to no sleep when racing.
At 1805 BST yesterday evening, SKANDIA crossed the finish line of the fourth and final leg in 23rd place - 4 hours, 20 minutes and 19 seconds after the winner, Jérémie Beyou on Delta Dore. Unfortunately, 23d place has dominated Davies’ performance throughout this event, finishing in 23rd place in legs one, two and four with her best result of 10th place on leg 3. This has left Davies in 22nd place in the overall rankings, 6 hours, 24 minutes and 13 seconds behind Beyou with a cumulative time of 255 hours, 13 minutes and 33 seconds. It is not the performance Davies would have hoped for going into this event - her third consecutive participation – with high hopes of a top ten overall position. However, things did not go her way and started badly with a collision at the start of the first leg that badly damaged SKANDIA. Undoubtedly, this affected her performance and Davies never really recovered her stride. Her 10th place in leg 3, the longest leg, boosted her confidence but it was too little, too late.
All praise goes to the 29-year-old winner, Jeremie Beyou, who after nine attempts has finally won his personal ‘grail’. Beyou started sailing in the Figaro class aged 19 and his persistence has final paid off a decade later. Beyou pipped solo legend, Michel Desjoyeaux on Geant, to the post who had to accept 2nd overall with Kito de Pavant on Groupe Bel in 3rd. Both Desjoyeaux and de Pavant have won the Solitaire event before.
Looking at the overall standings for 2005, Davies, who trains at the specialist school of Port le Foret in France, is not far from some other race favourites in the middle of the fleet who were also expecting to excel: Armel Le Cleac'h (Foncia-TBS) winner of the 2003 Solitaire du Figaro, finished just 10 minutes ahead of Sam in 20th place and Oliver Krauss (Espoir Credit Agricole) who came 3rd in the final leg, finished 18th overall, only 17 minutes ahead of Sam. It can take years to get to the top of the Figaro ladder as Beyou has just so aptly proved, and as the class increases in popularity with both sailors and sponsors, the experts keep pushing the performance level ever higher. For Davies, in her third year of competition, getting to the ‘top of the class’ is proving to be a long and winding road…
SAM’S SOLITAIRE AFFLELOU LE FIGARO 2005
23rd – 23rd – 10th – 23rd : 22nd overall
LEG 1: Perros Guirec to Gexto-Bilbao, Spain (390miles)
SKANDIA 23rd, 53mins behind winner CERCLE VERT (Gildas Morvan)
After colliding with rocks less than 2 hours after the start, Davies struggled to settle in to the race - damage was done both to Davies’ mental state and the boat. After 390 miles of solo offshore racing, the 45 competing skippers arrived within seconds of each other. Although crossing the line in 26th, Davies later won her protest against Jorg Riechers (GermanyToo) who didn’t allow her sufficient water to clear the rocks. Davies was awarded 5 minutes of time, moving her Leg 1 finish position up three places to 23rd.
LEG 2: Getxo-Bilbao, Spain to La Rochelle (368 miles)
SKANDIA 23rd, 1hr 21mins 18secs behind winner NANNI DIESEL (Pietro D’Ali)
The shore team worked hard for two days and two nights to get SKANDIA to the start line. Davies got off to a flying start, rounding the final inshore race mark in 2nd place before heading across the Bay of Biscay. SKANDIA skipper, Sam Davies kept in contact with the leading pack holding a top ten place for the first 24 hours of the race. In a highly competitive fleet, Davies had a real fight on her hands but one wrong decision saw her tumble down the rankings to finish in 23rd place, 1 hour and 21 minutes 18 seconds behind Italian newcomer, Pietro D'Ali on Nanni Diesel.
LEG 3: La Rochelle to Cork (Crosshaven), Ireland (456 miles)
SKANDIA 10th, 49mins 2secs behind winner CLIPTOL SPORT (Laurent Pellecuer)
Davies starting the longest leg of the event well rested and feeling positive knowing that endurance is one of her strong points. Leg three was a predominantly upwind race, SKANDIA’s favourite, with wet and windy conditions finishing with a downwind run direct to Cork. Davies sailed a clever and conservative race and managed to not drop below eleventh position for the entire leg. SKANDIA scored her best result of the event, finishing 10th and moved up five places in the overall rankings to 17th.
LEG 4: Cork, Ireland to Port Bourgenay Talmont-Saint-Hilaire, France (496 miles)
SKANDIA 23nd, 4hours 20min 19secs behind winner DELTA DORE (Jérémie Beyou)
Sam celebrated her 31st birthday on start day but celebrations were short-lived. Storms force winds forced the Race Committee to shorten the leg from 496 to 428 miles, removing the Fastnet Rock race mark. For two days and two nights, the fleet were close-reaching through strong winds, rain and big seas on a straight-line course to the finish. With no major manoeuvres or tactical decisions to make, this leg was all about endurance and getting the best boat speeds in these storm force conditions. After starting at the back of the fleet, Davies sailed a good fast race in the difficult conditions and moved SKANDIA up 12 places during the first night. On the second and last night, a cold front provided the leading boats faster boat speeds - averaging 10 knots – as SKANDIA and the other boats mid-fleet were too far back to enjoy these conditions and increased the gap to 30 miles. There were no opportunities to gain on time as the wind decreased on the final downwind run to the finish off Port Bourgenay. SKANDIA crossed the line in 23rd place.
SKANDIA’S SOLITAIRE RESULTS TO DATE
2003: (Sam’s first participation in the event, competing in both the overall and rookie class)
Leg finishes: 25th (4rd rookie) - 29th (3rd rookie) - 27th (2nd rookie) - 7th (1st rookie)
Overall: 19th & 2nd rookie
2004:
Leg finishes: 6th - 14th - 26th - 13th
Overall: 19th
2005:
Leg finishes: 23rd - 23rd - 10th - 22nd
Overall: 22nd
OVERALL POSITIONS AFTER FOUR LEGS (BEFORE JURY)
1. BEYOU Jérémie / DELTA DORE 248h 49mins 20secs
2. DESJOYEAUX Michel / GEANT +1h20'54"
3.DE PAVANT Kito / GROUPE BEL +1h58'41"
4. MORVAN Gildas / CERCLE VERT +2h17'9"
5. ELIES Yann / GROUPE GENERALI ASSURANCES +2h24'22"
6. PELLECUER Laurent / CLIPTOL SPORT +2h29'45"
7. DUTHIL Frédéric / BROSSARD +2h35'53"
8. D'ALI Pietro / NANNI DIESEL +3h5'12"
9. TABARLY Erwan / THALES +3h13'3"
10. CAUDRELIER Charles / BOSTIK +3h18'57"
--
22. DAVIES Sam / SKANDIA +6h24'13"
Movistar is the New IMS 600 World Champion
Al Cap One III second / Harm Müller-Spreer superior at Dragon Worlds
The Rolex Baltic Week cheered the new IMS 600 World Champion 2005 on Thursday (25 August). The title was won by the Grand Soleil 42 Movistar with her Spanish-Italian crew and owner Lorenzo Bressani from Trieste and helmsman Pedro Campos (Madrid). Because of a port/starboard violation against Movistar, the Norwegian Al Cap One III of Einar Sissener (Oslo) had been disqualified in the last race and thus lost the title. The same happened to Thetje Ancker from Kappeln, Germany: His Luffe 43 Transit Express was on her way to a podium place when they, too, were disqualified. Closely followed by the next five boats, Hanseatic Lloyd of Christian Plump from Bremen, Germany came third. Harm Müller-Spreer from Hamburg, Germany with his crew Markus Wieser and Thomas Auracher are leading in a superior way at the Dragon Worlds.
Shuffling in front of the race office at the ancora Marina in Neustadt, the IMS 600 sailors could hardly await the official results. At 20.55 h local time, they were at last delivered - including two bitter pills for Al Cap One III and Transit Express. The Spaniards had produced a number of witnesses who had seen the critical incident on the second beat of the last race. Sailing legend Campos explained the situation: "We had the right of way with wind from starboard when the Norwegians approached us and were about to collide. If we hadn't given way, there would have been a crash." The international jury shared their point of view and turned Al Cap One III's win into a "DSQ". And so the precious Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date timepiece went to the Mediterranean.
The decision for rank three was extremely close. It was merely a quarter point that kept the surprising up-start crew of Transit Express from Hanseatic Lloyd, that won the podium place in the last second and was more than happy. "We were disqualified the day before. Now it was someone else's turn," said helmsman Albert Schweitzer, "decisions out on the water are always extremely close." The final racing day with wind up to 25 knots definitely suited a world championship. Schweitzer: "But we had already lost the title in the long-distance race."
The same happened to Horst Mann's L+M Hispaniola (Kiel). Her crew had been very convincing in the ten up and down races, but in the end, she came only fifth, half a point ahead of the Ocean Warrior (Sverre Valeur, Norway) and Moonshine of Matthias Müller von Blumencron (Hamburg, Germany), who had been in second place after the long-distance race. "We haven't managed to improve our Rodman 42 any further", explained helmsman Nils Heyde from L+M Hispaniola, "but the outcome really goes back to a tactical mistake in the long-distance race."
At the Hanseatic Lloyd Dragon World Championship, the triumvirate of Harm Müller-Spreer/Markus Wieser/Thomas Auracher kept their overall lead by achieving two fourth ranks on Thursday. After three races, the Hamburg-based helmsman is the only one with three top-ten ranks. Hard on his heels is the current champion Vincent Hoesch from Rimsting with his crew Harro Kniffka and Max Scheibmaier and 17 points back. "Compared to coming 15th on the first day, we were on target today," said Hoesch.
He benefited from a 20-per cent penalty (ZFP) for the winner of race three, Thomas Andersen from Denmark, who had had a premature start under flag Z in a general recalled race start before. Two-times German Olympic medallist Ulli Libor from Frei-Laubersheim and his crew Gunnar Bahr (Berlin) and Jan Schoepe (Cuxhaven) pushed ahead to rank five. "Unfortunately, we were passed down from second to sixth place in the end," reported Libor after a wet and cold, but thrilling race day.
Results of the Rolex Baltic Week on Thursday, 24 August 2005
IMS 600 World Championship
Final results (after twelve races):
1. Movistar, Pedro Campos (Madrid, Spain) 41,5 points; 2. Al Cap One III, Einar Sissener (Oslo, Norway) 49; 2.; 3. Hanseatic Lloyd, Christian Plump (Bremen, Bremen) 74,25; 4. Transit Express, Thetje Ancker (Kappeln, Germany) 74,5; 5. L+M Hispaniola, Horst Mann (Kiel, Germany) 74,75; 6. Ocean Warrior, Sverre Valeur (Bergen, Norway) 75,25; 7. Moonshine, Matthias Müller von Blumencron (Hamburg, Germany) 76,1875; 8. Hagstroemer, Gutta Johannsen (Saltsjöbaden, Sweden) 77,5; 9. Abraxas, Eivind Haugan (Nesbru, Norway) 80,25; 10. Chemate_, Peter de Ridder (Grinchem, Netherlands) 82,5.
Hanseatic Lloyd Dragon World Championship
Overall results (after three races):
1. Müller-Spreer/Wieser/Auracher (Hamburg, Germany) 9 points, 2. Hoesch/Kniffka/Scheibmaier (Rimsting, Germany) 26, 3. Hendriksen/Johannsen/Leifel (Rungsted Kyst, Denmark) 27, 4. Schönherr/Kaempe/Waldersdorph (Ströby, Denmark) 28, 5. Libor/Bahr/Schoepe (Frei-Laubersheim, Germany) 40, 6. Andersen/Feddersen/Seier (Fredericia, Denmark) 41.
August 25, 2005
Raymarine to Outfit Canadian Ocean Racer
Raymarine, the world leader in marine electronics, announced today it would once again support Derek Hatfield and the Spirit of Canada Ocean Challenges team. As a Platinum Partner, Raymarine will completely outfit the new Open 60 ocean racer, Spirit of Canada, with a complete electronics package that includes autopilots, radar, navigation aids, instruments, communications, software and systems.
“We are very excited to have Raymarine back as our official electronics partner, said Derek Hatfield, Spirit of Canada skipper. “In the last race around the world, the Open 40 was totally kitted out with Raymarine electronics, autopilots and software and it all worked beautifully.”
We are pointing our bows to the 5-Oceans race in 2006, it is acknowledged as the longest, hardest event for an individual in any sport. It is a single-handed around-the-world ocean race that spans eight months and 28,700 nautical miles of grueling competition. Derek finished in 3rd place in class II in the 2002/03 Around Alone (now the 5-0ceans) race sailing a 40-foot racer, despite a life threatening and catastrophic capsize near Cape Horn.
He’s thrilled that Raymarine will be there to support him as he builds a new 60-foot Spirit of Canada for the next race in the fall of 2006.
“Because I know the electronics intimately, I have the utmost confidence in Raymarine’s reliability and functionality. This confidence will go a long way to ensure the Team’s success in this highly competitive IMOCA Open 60 Class,” says Hatfield. “The Raytheon 6001 autopilot was still working after 35,000 miles around the world. When I had electrical problems in New Zealand, Raymarine tech support found a solution quickly and was unbelievably supportive.”
Situational Awareness Key to Water Safety
Two weeks ago in the column I reported 41 water related fatalities that I knew of this year. The count is now 50. Coast Guard officials around Lake Michigan report that their fatality numbers have doubled from last season. Nearly all these fatalities share a commonality—they could have been avoided.
After nearly two decades of reporting water related accidents and fatalities, I’m convinced the leading cause of recreational marine accidents is lack of situational awareness. People simply fail to understand that the marine environment is inherently dangerous despite how inviting it might appear. I often quote Commander Roger Dubuc, former assistant director of search and rescue on the Great Lakes, and prior Commander, Group Grand Haven “How fragile the nature of human life is in an always dynamic and dangerous marine environment,” said Commander Dubuc. So true. Too often during an emergency people are suddenly overwhelmed and even more often they are void of a plan of action.
Another aspect I’ve observed both as a safety columnist and Coast Guard rescue responder is how quickly calamity can strike on the water. This proved so in the recent drowning death of a three-year-old boy in Millennium Park in Grand Rapids; also in the drowning death of a nine-year-old boy in Lake Michigan off Holland State Park. In both drownings, the children were under adult supervision. Yet in an eye blink they perished while their guardians were reportedly distracted. But distracted or not, could the guardians have executed a successful rescue had they observed the struggling child? Watching is one thing; successfully responding, another.
I live within walking distance of Lake Michigan and often swim in the lake. On occasion, I watch adults overseeing kids in the water. I wonder what would they do should an emergency arise. At times, I observe children a hundred yards or so off shore atop sand bars. Should misfortune strike, how could they reach the child in time? I doubt I could. What might appear as someone in close reach could seem miles away while battling the waves to reach them.
If I had the responsibility of overseeing a child in the water, I would consider these factors: could I reach the child in an emergency, and, if so, could I handle the pandemonium. Handling a child or adult in death’s throes in water will overwhelm the average person. Several years ago off Warren Dunes State Park several adults attempted to rescue a 12-year-old boy struggling in the surf. He survived; the adults drowned.
The safest way to handle a thrashing person in the water is flotation. I would have readily available a flotation device with a line attached to toss to the child. A good toss could cover 50 or so feet; it would provide a means to pull the child to safety. Of course, the child would be in waist high water because while establishing my situational awareness parameters, I accounted for time and distance required to reach the child.
Situational awareness applies to boaters as well. A number of recent boating fatalities involved individuals separating from boats and drowning. What would a boater do should he or she face an open water emergency with a person overboard. Jump in? Hardly. Or maybe he or she would if instinct, not reason, seized the moment—a sure formula for disaster.
On Sunday, August 21, 2005, a seven-year-old girl jumped off a pontoon boat adrift on Glenn Lake in Leelanau, County. A finger of wind had snatched the ball cap off her father’s head and she jumped in to retrieve the hat. Her father, age 49, jumped in to assist her back aboard. He managed to get the child back aboard along with her 10-year-old sister who had also leaped in to assist. He, however, drowned as the boat drifted off.” The girls were wearing life jackets but not the father. I actually wept. Oh, what will it take for people to realize the inherent dangers of the marine environment.
I discussed situational awareness with Robert Lapp, a fellow retired Coast Guard Chief. He told me that just the other day he had anchored his 30-foot powerboat off Manistee’s First Street beach. Aboard was a 10-year-old boy who was eager to swim to shore. Lapp’s depth finder read four feet. Still, he directed the lad to wear a life jacket. He also entered the water with a Coast Guard approved flotation device. “The water was not four feet as the boat’s depth finder indicated. Both of us were over our heads,” said Lapp.
They headed for shore and received another surprise. “The beach appeared closer until we hit the water; then it seemed much further away,” said Lapp. Thank goodness for Lapp’s situational awareness honed by 22 years of Coast Guard search and rescue experience. Both had donned flotation, which led them safely ashore.
Situational awareness saves lives. I plead with anyone who nears water, enters it, or plies upon it please consider what he or she would do during an emergency especially with someone struggling in the water. If you hesitate, that could be the time it could take to trigger a lifetime of regret. Be water wise- assess the situation before it assesses you.
Other Boat Smart stories may be found at www.boatsmart.net
Article by: Tom Rau
Two Wins Open Regatta for Team New Zealand
Two races today for Emirates Team New Zealand on the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 6 and two good wins.
But it was not all plain sailing. A problem with a spinnaker pole in the second race turned what was a procession as NZL 82 opened up a considerable lead on the less-fancied China Team into a much closer race.
A fitting on the topping lift failed just as the spinnaker was being lowered at the end of the first run and both pole and sail went into the water. The pole broke in two.
The crew, with one eye on the fast-approaching China Team, worked quickly to get NZL 82 moving again. CHN 69 got close, but NZL 82 was not seriously threatened and at the finish was a comfortable 32 seconds ahead.
Grant Dalton said after the race that great crew work saved what could have been a race-losing situation. “They just got on with the job… coolly and calmly. They knew what had to be done and they did it. It was good to be part of it.”
NZL 82 led CHN 69 around the first mark by 1min and was 59 sec at the second mark after the first downwind leg. At the third mark the lead was trimmed by 23 sec to 36sec.
First up NZL 82 beat United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) by 1 min 39 sec. The race started well with Dean Barker claiming the right of the course as planned. The wind shifted further left than anticipated giving GERR 72 an advantage but NZL 82 was still ahead by 33 seconds at the top mark.
Nz 82 extended to 1min 3sec on the run and from there it was a procession to the finish.
The lesson from the day’s racing was that the top four teams in Valencia are still the teams to be reckoned with. Alinghi had two wins, as did BMWOracle and Luna Rossa.
The weather off Malmo today, in sharp contrast to the previous week, was wet and gloomy with a breeze from the south and south-east between 14 and 16 knots, climbing to 18+ knots towards the end of the second race.
NZL 82 was not alone in drama. Several boats had gear failures and +39 lost two men overboard. They were recovered unharmed.
Crew for first race day:
Helm: Dean Barker
Tactician: Terry Hutchinson
Navigator: Kevin Hall
Strategist/traveler: Adam Beashel
Weather/runner: Ray Davies
Mainsheet: Chris Salthouse
Trimmer upwind: Grant Loretz
Trimmer downwind: James Dagg
Grinder: Rob Waddell
Grinder: Jono Macbeth
Main Grinder: Winston Macfarlane
Pit: Nick Heron
Runner/pit: Tony Rae
Mid-bow: Richard Meacham
Bow: Stuart Bettany
Mast: Matthew Mason
Runner/grinder: Andrew Maclean/Grant Dalton
Results today
First flight
Alinghi (SUI 75) beat Victory Challenge (SWE 73) by 54 seconds
BMW Oracle (USA 76) beat Shosholoza (RSA 83) by 1min 33sec.
K Challenge (FRA 60) beat +39 Challenge (ITA 59) by 38sec
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 82) beat United INternation Team Germany (GER72) by 1min 39sec.
Defasio Espanol (ESP 67) beat Mascolzone Latino (ITA 77) by 1min
Luna Rossa (ITA 74) beat China Team (CHN 69) 1min 38sec
Second flight
SUI 75 beat RSA 83 by 3min 7sec
USA 76 beat ITA 59 by 1min 48sec
NZL 82 beat CHN 69 by 32sec
ESP 67 beat GER 72
SWE 73 beat FRA 60 by 25sec
ITA 74 beat ITA 77 by
Leaderboard at the end of day 1
1 Alinghi
1 BMW Oracle
1 Emirates team New Zealand
1 Luna Rossa
1 Desafio Espanol
6 K Challenge
6 Victory Challenge
8 Team Shosholoza
8 Victory Challenge
8 Mascalzone Latino
8 United Internet Team Germany
8 China Team
IMS 60 : Al Cap One III leads Movistar
Becalmed: Another day without races at the Dragon Worlds
Two races in light winds and two protests were the talk of the day at the IMS 600 World Championship on Wednesday (24 August) at the Rolex Baltic Week in Neustadt/Holstein. The Dragons, however, had yet another idle day. Once again, they lacked sufficient wind for their world championship races, now being two races behind schedule.
The final day of the IMS 600 worlds (Thursday, 25 August) may hold up to four races with many points to score, but it looks like it will be a duel between Al Cap One III of Einar Sissener from Oslo and the Spanish-Italian Movistar, that is being helmed in turns by owner Lorenzo Bressani and skipper Pedro Campos. The Norwegians lost a point each in the two races of the day. On top of that, the South Europeans crew had the advantage of a much higher discard out of race four and are now only 1.5 points from the lead.
The biggest surprise of the day, though, was the Luffe 43 Transit Express of Thetje Ancker from Kappeln. With a win in race eight, she advanced to rank four and now is by far the best-placed German boat, as Matthias Müller von Blumencron from Hamburg and his Moonshine slipped from fifth to eighth position. Now the Kiel-based L+M Hispaniola of Horst Mann is on rank seven scoring a bullet in race seven.
"Everything went perfectly right from the start, even though we were not in front most of the time", reported tactician Thomas Jungblut from Hamburg. Only when crossing the finish line, they were 27 seconds ahead of the Swedish Hagstroemer of Gutta Johannsen on elapsed time. The yacht from Saltsjöbaden moved ahead to rank three, but did not get too close to the top two because of a black flag disqualification.
The crew protested against the disqualification, as they felt they had been blocked at the start by the Hanseatic Lloyd of Christian Plump/Bremen). The two boats had even touched. "Hagstroemer has caused the collision," said helmsman Albert Schweitzer, and filed a protest, too. In the end, the jury disqualified the German team, as they had given their competitors no chance of staying clear. Thus, Hanseatic Lloyd remained ninth. The international jury, however, stuck to the rules and did not give to the Swedish appeal for redress.
The Hanseatic Lloyd Dragon World Championship only saw enough wind to try a couple of starts and half a race, but it had to be cancelled when the breeze died down. The fleet cheered when they heard the forecast for the next day: Thursday is said to bring Southerly to South-Westerly winds of four to five with strong gusts, which should allow the Dragons to complete two races.
Results of the Rolex Baltic Week from Wednesday, 24 August 2005
IMS 600 World Championships
Overall results after eight races:
1. Al Cap One III, Einar Sissener (Oslo, Norway) 27,25 points; 2. Movistar, Lorenzo Bressani (Trieste, Italy) 28,75; 3. Hagstroemer, Gutta Johannsen (Saltsjöbaden, Sweden) 39,5; 4. Imagine, Peter Rudbäck (Stockholm, Sweden) 42,4375; 5. Transit Express, Theetje Ancker (Kappeln, Germany) 42,50; 6. Abraxas, Eivind Haugan (Nesbru, Norway) 43,25; 7. L+M Hispaniola, Horst Mann (Kiel, Germany) 45,75; 8. Moonshine, Matthias Müller von Blumencron (Hamburg, Germany) 51,6875; 9. Hanseatic Lloyd, Christian Plump (Bremen, Germany) 52,5; 10. Ocean Warrior, Sverre Valeur (Bergen, Norway) 54,25.
Dragon World Week
Overall results after two races:
1. Florian Jacob (Berlin, Germany) 4 points; 2. Thomas Metzing (Berlin, Germany) 7, 3. Hans-Walter Kröger (Hamburg, Germany) 8.
Ellen Sets Date for Solo Record Attempt
Following the safe delivery of the 75-foot trimaran B&Q to New York earlier this week, Ellen MacArthur has announced her plans to officially go on standby from the 1st September for her assault on the west-east solo transatlantic record. The record currently stands at 6 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 37 seconds after French skipper, Francis Joyon, sailing his 90-foot multihull IDEC smashed the 11-year-old solo record by 22 hours on the 6th July this year. Joyon had previously held the fastest solo time around the world of 72 days, 22 hours and 54 minutes until a year later when MacArthur crossed the same finish line off Ushant to set a new time of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds taking 1 day, 8 hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds off Joyon's time.
Now the stage is set for another showdown – can MacArthur achieve the extraordinary and break Joyon's solo transatlantic record? It is an almost over-whelming challenge in a boat that is 15-foot shorter and with a smaller sail area. MacArthur will have to race <
MacArthur made the announcement whilst still in New York following the delivery trip from the UK via Newfoundland: "<
The start line for the west-east solo transatlantic record is off Ambrose Light, approximately 20 miles outside New York habour with the finish line off Lizard Point on the south-west coast of England. The theorectical course distance is 2925 miles across the North Atlantic and MacArthur will have to average over 19.75 knots to break Joyon's time requiring a wind speed average of over 20 knots. "To be honest, it is a really tall order and Francis has again set an incredibly high benchmark but we will give it our best," said MacArthur. The <
It is a bit like riding the 'perfect wave' – you must get on it at Ambrose Light and not fall off until the finish, and hope the wave goes all the way to the English Channel without tapering out or heading north which is what happened last June as <
And this time MacArthur is not the only player... Also waiting in the wings is another French skipper, Thomas Coville and his 60-foot trimaran Sodebo. After establishing a new Miami-New York solo record in July, Coville has been on standby in New York since the beginning of August and there is every possibility that Sodebo and B&Q will end up starting together both grabbing the same weather system when it comes along.
MacArthur will not sit-out the standby period in New York but will return to Europe and monitor the weather situation daily, only returning to the States once a favourable weather system has been identified.
The solo transatlantic record must be broken by a minimum of 60 seconds, therefore <
STANDBY MODES: WHAT DO THEY MEAN?
RED: No obvious weather window in sight
AMBER: 60 to 70% chance of departure in next 72 hours
GREEN: Intention to depart within 36 hours
HISTORY OF PREVIOUS SOLO TRANSATLANTIC RECORD ATTEMPTS
Crewed Records:
In 1905, Charlie Barr and his crew raced the 185-foot schooner 'Atlantic 2', across the North Atlantic in a record time of 12 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 19 seconds - this time would stand for another 75 years!
It was the era of multihulls in the 1980s that really took this record's history to a new level - Eric Tabarly took two days off Charlie Barr's record on board his foil trimaran 'Paul Ricard' at an average speed of 11.93 knots. Through the 1980s this record was improved upon by by the French multihull racers through the 1980s: Marc Pajot, Patrick Morvan, Loïc Caradec, Philippe Poupon and, finally, Serge Made on board Jet Services V. Jet Services V set a crewed record of 6 days, 13 hours and 3 minutes in 1990 that was to stand for 11 years. But it was Playstation, the world's largest catamaran at the time, which smashed this record in 2001. Playstation skipper, Steve Fossett, and his crew covered the distance in just 4 days, 17 hours and 28 minutes! An unimaginable time, that is still proving hard to beat as Bruno Peyron and his crew found onboard Orange II found out last summer when they failed to break Fossett's record by just 30 minutes.
In the monohull division, it is the 140-foot schooner, Mari-Cha IV who holds the record for the fastest passage across the North Atlantic in a monohull. Owner Robert Miller and his crew of 24, passed the Lizard Point in October 2003 in a time of 6 days, 17 hours, 52 minutes and 39 seconds at an average speed of 18.05 knots.
Solo Records:
For the history of single-handed transatlantic record attempts the multihulls are just as dominant and the best place to begin is with the Frenchman Bruno Peyron on board the trimaran Ericsson. In 1987, he established a record time of 11 days, 11 hours and 46 minutes although that same year, Philippe Poupon reduced the time to 10 days and 9 hours. It was eight years later before Laurent Bourgnon broke the 10-day barrier on board the 60-foot trimaran Primagaz. During this record attempt, Bourgnon achieved a 24-hour record and a transatlantic record of 7 days, 2 hours, 34 minutes and 42 seconds that was to remain untouched for 11 years. After Ellen MacArthur’s unsuccessful attempt in 2004, the honour now lies with the Frenchman Francis Joyon on board his 90ft trimaran, IDEC. On 6 July, 2005, Joyon smashed the record by 22 hours. His 90ft trimaran also managed to break Bourgnon’s existing 24-hour distance setting a new record of 543 miles at an average speed of 22.6 knots.
CURRENT RECORD HOLDER
Solo west-east transatlantic record:
Francis Joyon: IDEC (90ft Trimaran)
30 June-6 July 2005
6d 4h 1m 37s
Average speed of 19.75 knots over a theoretical course of 2925 miles
24-hour solo record:
Francis Joyon: IDEC (90ft Trimaran)
3 July 2005
543 miles
Average speed 22.62 knots
NOTES ON ELLEN MACARTHUR SOLO RECORDS AS RATIFIED BY WSSRC
MacArthur currently holds three previous solo sailing records set on board her 60-foot monohull Kingfisher and two records on her 75-foot trimaran <
Kingfisher Open 60 monohull
* Transatlantic east-west Plymouth, UK to Newport, US 14d 23h 11m (fastest female and winnner of Class 1)
* Fatset female to race solo around the world in the 2000/2001 Vendée Globe in 94d 4h 25m 40s and finishing 2nd overall
* St Malo-Guadaloupe (Route de Rhum) new course record monohulls 13d 13h 31m 47s
<
* Transatlantic west-east Ambrose Light, US to Lizard Point, UK, solo, fastest female, June 2004, 7d 3h 49m 57s (average speed of 17.02 knots, over a theoretical course of 2925 miles)
* Round the world, non-stop, solo, February 2005, 71d 14h 18m 33s
PARTNER OF THE DAY: B&G
Ellen has sailed hundreds of thousands of miles with B&G and has now signed up for even more!
B&G, the Performance Sailing Division of Simrad has been an official partner to Ellen, Nick Moloney and Sam Davies of the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team for the last three years. B&G h2000 instruments provided Ellen with precise wind information on her record breaking circumnavigation, assisting her to make the best tactical and strategic decisions. Her B&G h2000 autopilot helped steer her course for over 27,000 miles and use of the revolutionary RemoteVision gave her full wireless control even when up the mast. Ellen will benefit once again from the same equipment and 24-hour support during her transatlantic record attempt following the recent signing of a new contract between B&G and the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team.
A Wet Start, at the Malmo-Skane Louis Vuitton Acts
It was a good opening day of racing at the Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Acts, with moderate Southerly breezes and flat water providing an ideal playground for the 12 teams of the 32nd America's Cup.
The weather wasn't perfect; the cool breeze with overcast skies and rain showers were a clear indication that the America's Cup was a long way from its host city of Valencia, Spain. But the weather didn't dampen the competition and two full flights of races were completed. The action was fast and furious all day, with the second Flight of racing full of thrills and spills.
Flight One
In the opening matches of Flight One, the Defender of the America's Cup, Alinghi faced the local favourites, in Sweden's Victory Challenge. The Swiss team had Jochen Schuemann on the helm for the first time in competition, as the Defender looks to build two strong racing teams. Schuemann didn't look out of place at all, starting well against Sweden's Magnus Holmberg, and building a good lead on the first leg. The Swiss demonstrated good speed and boat handling in racing away to the win.
In other matches in the opening flight, helmsman Thierry Peponnet on K-Challenge executed an aggressive pre-start, pushing +39 over the starting line early. That advantage at the start was converted into a race win by a French team who sailed a slick race.
New helmsman Chris Law on Shosholoza was very comfortable on the pre-start, the South African team looking much stronger than in Valencia. Although the South Africans lost to BMW ORACLE Racing, it was a much better effort from Shosholoza, who held an advantage on the early part of the leg.
Emirates Team New Zealand dispatched United Internet Team Germany, while Luna Rossa dispatched China Team. The Desafío Español squad won its race when Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team was forced to retire with equipment problems.
Flight Two
Despite a schedule that offered what appeared to be straight-forward matches, there was plenty of action in the afternoon matches, with people falling overboard, blown sails, and dramatic start line manoeuvres. The incidents were precipitated perhaps by an increase in wind strength with gusts approaching 20 knots.
The most important incident concerned the +39 Challenge when two crew members, Giuseppe Leonardi and Anthony Nossiter were swept into the water as they tried to hold a spinnaker down on the deck when the wind began to blow it out of the sail bag.
The sailors were plucked out of the water by the nearest Umpire boat, transferred to a support boat, and then back aboard the race boat. +39 was penalised for the incident as the Rules dictate it should be, and completed a 270-degree penalty turn before finishing.
Victory Challenge posted its first point of the series with a win over K-Challenge, earning the victory in the pre-start. Skipper Magnus Holmberg timed his sprint to the line perfectly, leaving K-Challenge behind and to leeward as the start gun fired. French skipper Thierry Peponnet couldn't recover from the poor start and the home team sailed safely to its first win.
Emirates Team New Zealand had a fright rounding the leeward gate in its match against China Team. A broken spinnaker pole led to the sail falling into the water and the boat nearly stopping. China Team threatened to overtake the Kiwis but the Emirates squad recovered just in time.
The Spanish team had a similar scare when its jib came down on the second upwind leg against United Internet Team Germany. A quick recovery by Spaniards meant the Germans couldn't overtake, but it certainly closed up the gap.
Like the Kiwis, BMW ORACLE Racing also broke a pole setting up for the final run, but had a secure enough lead over +39 to win the race easily. Finally, the Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team was unable to complete the second flight either, continuing to suffer from problems with its mainsail.
Racing continues on Friday with similar conditions forecast and two more full flights scheduled.
August 24, 2005
Sailors Head to U.S. Multihull Championships
More than 30 young sailors between the ages of 13 to 18 are on their way to Panama City, Fla., to compete in the US SAILING's U.S. Youth Multihull Championship, which will be hosted by St. Andrew Bay Yacht Club from August 25 to 28. Competitors will be sailing in Hobie 16s to vie for the National Championship title and a spot on the 2006 US Youth World Team, which represents the U.S. at the 2006 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Weymouth, England. The winner of the U.S. Youth Multihull Championship will receive US SAILING's Arthur J. Stevens Trophy.
Several competitors from last year are scheduled to come back this year for another chance at the National Championship title, including last year's winning crew Jerry Tullo (Staten Island, N.Y.), who is returning this year with a different skipper, Graham Todd (Royersford, Pa.). Tullo made history last year when he and his brother TJ were the first pair of siblings to win the U.S. Youth Multihull Championship. By winning the event, the Tullos qualified to compete at the Youth World Championships which were held earlier this summer. The two brothers came back with impressive results, taking 7th place. With TJ aging out of youth competition, Jerry decided to take another shot at qualifying for the World Championships by defending his title at the U.S. Youth Multihull Championship.
For more information on the U.S. Youth Multihull Championship, including online registration, please visit the event's website at www.ussailing.org/championships/youth/multihull. The event is part of US SAILING's National Championship series. For more information about the National Championship series, visit www.ussailing.org/championships or contact US SAILING's championships manager Liz Walker at 401-683-0800.
The U.S. Youth Multihull Championship is US SAILING's newest National Championship, first held in 2001. The winner of the event will receive the US SAILING Arthur J. Stevens Cup, named in recognition of the efforts of Art Stevens, former Chairman of US SAILING's Multihull Council, for developing youth multihull sailing in the United States.
Sky Sports Gains TV Rights for America's Cup
The British broadcaster Sky Sports has secured the UK television rights to the 32nd America's Cup. The network will broadcast coverage of each stage of the event, beginning with the opening Louis Vuitton Acts in 2005, 2006 and April 2007, and continuing through the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger selection series and 32nd America's Cup Match in 2007.
"I am very happy to announce this agreement with Sky Sports," said Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of the organisers of the 32nd America's Cup. "First of all because the United Kingdom is one of the most passionate countries about the America's Cup, and it was in England where everything began more than 150-years ago. Furthermore, many top sailors on the 12 teams are British, among them Olympic medal winners. This arrangement with Sky Sports will allow sailing fans in the UK and Ireland to watch the races and follow all of the action in the 32nd America's Cup."
The agreement means Sky Sports will broadcast live coverage of the 32nd America's Cup Match in June 2007, when the Swiss Defender, Alinghi, faces the best of the 11 challengers.
Alinghi's opponent for the Match is selected through the Louis Vuitton Cup, an elimination series consisting of Round Robins, Semi Finals and Final. Sky Sports will have coverage of the Round Robins, and live programming from the Semi Finals and Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
August 23, 2005
5-Oceans Race Launches New Web Site
The 5-Oceans solo round the world yacht race has launched a new multi-language website in English, French and Spanish. The website, hosted by greendesign of Southampton, includes in-depth information on the 5-Oceans Race for event followers, press and potential skippers.
The 5-Oceans Race starts in Bilbao, Spain, in October 2006. A preliminary entry list shows a wide range of international competitors including Britain's Alex Thomson, sailing his Open 60 Hugo Boss. Also named are Around Alone's podium winner Derek Hatfield of Canada and Unai Basurko of Spain, representing the host port of Bilbao Bizkaia, both of who are building new Open 60s for the race.
A section of the site is devoted to the history of solo circumnavigations and will be expanded to become the definitive guide to solo sailing. A skippers’ only section has also been developed to provide sponsorship and other resources for all bonafide competitors.
The 5-Oceans race is the longest and toughest event for any individual in any sport - the Ultimate Solo Challenge! Check it out at www.5-oceans.com
BMW ORACLE Racing prepars for Louis Vuitton in Malmo
The Malmo regattas cap a busy summer on all fronts of the BMW ORACLE Racing program. "On the design side, we completed five months of two-boat testing last month and now we are in an important phase of our design program," said team CEO Chris Dickson. "On the sailing side, we have had some changes to the race crew while maintaining an intense competition schedule with three different teams in the week leading up to Malmo. The team is looking forward to the America's Cup racing in Sweden and taking on this competitive fleet in Malmo."
In Malmo, the racing afterguard includes Chris Dickson returning as
skipper and who will also take on the role of helmsman. Larry llison, Gavin Brady, Eric Doyle and Ian Burns will round out the afterguard. Brady will be tactician, Doyle will be strategist, and Burns will temporarily be in the navigator's slot. American Peter Isler returns as navigator for the final Acts of the season in Trapani, Italy.
"The changes are all with an eye on the long-term goal of winning the America's Cup in 2007," Dickson said. "We are determined to improve our performance. Change can be positive and invigorating. The guys have been working hard and we are building a winning team spirit. We will be giving it our best shot to be on top of the leader board for Louis Vuitton Acts 6 and 7.
With four Acts to go in 2005, we still have the opportunity to finish the season where we want to be." The team shipped its race yacht USA 76, support vessels and containers of gear, together with the race yachts of the 11 other competing America's Cup teams, from Valencia to the Swedish port on the Baltic Sea. The gear was unloaded on Monday 15th August and by Friday 19th August, the race crew was
out practicing.
The America's Cup fleet of 12 ACC yachts lined up bow-to-bow in the event boat park in Malmo is an impressive sight. "It's fun for us to take the racing to a new audience in Sweden," Dickson said. "The city of Malmo is giving us a warm welcome and the racing promises to be as exciting as ever."
Racing in the Malmo-Skane Louis Vuitton Acts begins on Thursday 25th of August with the match races of Act 6, followed by a three day fleet racing series (Act 7) starting on the 2nd of September. The 2005 racing season for the 32nd America's Cup concludes in Trapani, Sicily at the end of September.
August 22, 2005
Campbell Wins Gold and Tunnicliffe Silver
Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif./Georgetown University/Laser) and Anna Tunnicliffe (Norfolk, Va./Old Dominion University/Laser Radial) sailed in with the gold and silver medal respectively on Saturday, the final day of the Sailing competition at the 2005 Summer World University Games. A strong second place finish in race eleven and a solid sixth in race twelve pushed Campbell past home country favorite Turkey's Kemal Mutlubas for the gold medal.
"It's great (to have the gold medal)," said Campbell. "I told myself at the beginning of the event that if I could just be patient and sail my own regatta, just do as well as I can every day and take it one race at a time that things would work out. I've done enough sailing and enough training that it should work out right. As it turned out, it was just about perfect. I sailed the most consistent regatta of anybody and that obviously paid off so I was pretty happy about it. Today was tough. I went out and had a great first race and made it really difficult for Kemal (Muslubas of Turkey) to come back in the last one. He (Muslubas) put up a really good fight and he almost did it himself. It was a really tight day, but I was glad to be able to put some serious points on him in the first race and be able to put it out of reach."
Tunnicliffe who entered the day in second place needing to finish ahead of Poland's Katarzyna Szotynska was unable to do so, finishing eighth and fourth to Szotynska's sixth and first.
"I'm pretty excited about how the overall event went," said Tunnicliffe. "My goal was to get a medal and to come away with the silver is pretty exciting. The Polish girl (Szotynska) that beat me sailed an excellent regatta. She is really fast, so it was good to be right there with her the whole regatta. I'm pretty excited with how it went. It is a good step forward going toward the Olympics (Beijing in 2008)."
Brendan Fahey (Kingston, Wash./University of Washington) finished 12th in the overall regatta standings. He posted a 15th and 13th today.
"I finished in the top half, which is what I wanted to do," said Fahey. "There are a lot of good sailors here, obviously and I was happy to end up 12th. Of course you always want to do better, but I'm pretty pleased. It (the World University Games) was an awesome experience. Izmir is great."
In her first international competition, Jenny Gervais (Charleston, S.C./St. Mary's College of Maryland) finished in 15th place. She sailed in today with two 16th place finishes. On her World University Games experience Gervais commented, "It was a very good experience. It was an eye-opener for sure, but I had a good time and I learned a lot. I know what to expect next time around. The Games experience is almost indescribable. It is awesome to be here in something set up like the Olympics. It really gives me something to work for."
With half of his team winning medals, USA Head Coach and Team Leader Gary Bodie (Hampton, Va.) was very pleased with the performance of the U.S. at the 2005 Summer World University Games,
"It is a great feeling," said Bodie. "We sailed really well today and came through with a gold and a silver. It was a fabulous ending for us. It (WUGs) is a great stepping stone for sure. Andrew has a gold medal in the Youth Worlds to match this gold medal at the World University Games. Both Andrew and Anna are really making strides toward the ultimate goal (making the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team). Their experience here is invaluable."
For more information about the World University Games Team - Sailing, please visit the Team's website at www.ussailing.org/olympics/2005WUG/team.htm. For more information about the World University Games, please visit the event website at http://www.universiadeizmir.org/en.
The team will march in the Closing Ceremony of the 2005 Summer World University Games on Sunday, August 21 at Ataturk Stadium before departing for the United States.
Final Results:
Women's Laser Radial
Overall Standings - Top Three Plus U.S. Finishers
Name (Country)/Current Place/Race Finish & Points
1. Katarzyna Szotynska (POL): 1-1-(7)-2-(6)-3-2-1-3-1-6-1; 21 points - GOLD
2. Anna Tunnicliffe (USA): 2-4-6-1-(10)-1-1-3-1-2-(8)-4; 25 points - SILVER
3. Krystal Weir (AUS): (6)-5-3-6-2-(9)-3-4-2-5-5-2; 37 points - BRONZE
15. Jennifer Gervais (USA): 17-16-(18)-10-7-14-17-16-16-(19/DNF)-16-16; 145 points
Men's Laser
Overall Standings - Top Three Plus U.S. Finishers
Name (Country)/Current Place/Race Finish & Points
1. Andrew Campbell (USA): 3-5-5-3-1-1-2-(7)-(7)-62-6; 34 points - GOLD
2. Kemal Mutlubas (TUR): 2-4-2-9-2-(11)-3-6-2-2-(10)-2; 34 points - SILVER
3. Johann Cechosz (FRA): 1-1-10-4-3-3-(26/OCS)-4-(26/DSQ)-7-3-1; 37 points - BRONZE
12. Brendan Fahey (USA): 17-18-(19)-8-(22)-4-11-10-13-13-15-13; 121 points
Light Winds Make Taugher Work For His Victory
It may have looked like Kevin Taugher had his Laser on cruise control Sunday with a big lead before the last two races of the 2005 U.S. Singlehanded Championship for the George O'Day Trophy, but he's been sailing long enough to know that no lead is too big to lose.
Confronted by the lightest winds of the three-day regatta and a flock of Sunday boat drivers crossing the race course close to shore off Seal Beach, Taugher admitted, "I was a little worried. It was very light, and with the power boats going through it was also very choppy"---conditions that favored lighter and luckier competitors.
But even with two fifth places---his worst finishes in nine races---by day's end his agony had turned to the ecstasy of his first national championship. Runner-up Reed Johnson, 19, of Toms River, N.J., cut Taugher's 18-point lead to a final 13 with a fourth and a first, "but there was too big a gap," Johnson said.
Taugher, 33, of Huntington Beach, is a member of the host Alamitos Bay Yacht Club.
Thomas Barrows, 17, of the U.S. Virgin Islands, was the first-day leader and recaptured his form in more favorable conditions with a pair of seconds to finish third overall, followed by Peter Phelan, 32, Santa Cruz, Calif., and Vann Wilson, 49, Long Beach.
Taugher's performance mirrored the varying conditions. His best day was Saturday with finishes of 2-2-1-1 in 15 to 18 knots of breeze, following a 3-4-2 Friday in 12 knots. On Sunday the first race started in 5 knots, building to 8 through the second race.
"I'm glad the whole regatta wasn't sailed in these conditions," he said. "I was 15th or 18th [early] in the first race but finally went out to the left side and got back into it."
Johnson said, "I thought I was going to get lucky when he was so far back, but Kevin sailed well. Second's all right. When I sailed this regatta two years ago in Oklahoma City I was dead last."
Barrows had no complaints, either. "It's a really friendly event. People talk to each other about what they're doing. I'm real happy."
So was the host club to celebrate with one of its own, joining an elite list of national and champions and Olympic medalists in various small-boat classes.
"I'm really pleased to win it at my own club," Taugher said. "So many people here have helped me to improve over the years, it's a victory for all of us. It's a great honor to have my name on that trophy with all those great sailors."
Peter Barrett was the first O'Day winner in 1962, and the second winner, Finn sailor Henry Sprague of Newport Beach, was present for the award presentations Sunday afternoon.
The event was once again sponsored by Vanguard Sailboats, which provided the Lasers, and Rolex Watch U.S.A., which has consistently recognized excellence in every important arena of competitive sailing dating to the 1958 America's Cup. Vanguard has been a dedicated sponsor of numerous U.S. National Championships for more than a decade.
The U.S. Singlehanded Championship is one of US SAILING's 11 National Adult Championships. More information about it: www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/ussc.
The leaders (23 boats, 9 races):
1. Kevin Taugher, Huntington Beach, 3-4-2-2-2-1-1-5-5, 25 points.
2. Reed Johnson, Toms River, N.J., 7-3-3-1-7-8-4-4-1, 33.
3. Thomas Barrows, St. Thomas, USVI, 1-1-6-5-12-9-15-2-2, 53.
4. Peter Phelan, Santa Cruz, Calif., 5-6-7-3-5-6-9-6-10, 57.
5. Vann Wilson, Long Beach, 12-5-1-9-3-7-3-16-6, 62.
August 19, 2005
Skandia Climbs Up Rankings
After a general recall, Leg three finally got underway yesterday at 1617 BST, in a light wind of around 6 knots, starting with a five mile windward/leeward course before heading out of the bay. Solo offshore legend, Michel Desjoyeaux, skipper of Geant, led the fleet around both the AGF and Radio France buoys, just ahead of Erwan Tabarly (Thales) followed by Yann Eliès (Groupe Generali Assurances). Yesterday evening, as the fleet pointed their bows towards the Emerald Isle 456 miles away, SKANDIA was lying in 19th place.
It was a difficult night for the 45 skippers as they sailed across busy shipping lanes and fishing areas, making it almost impossible for them to sleep. But the sailing conditions were good – flat seas and a breeze of around 10 knots.
Overnight, Davies fortunes turned as SKANDIA climbed up the leaderboard and she is now battling it out with the front runners at the head of the fleet. At 0800 BST SKANDIA was polled 4th place and then 5th at 1200BST within one mile of the leader. The 1500 BST positions put SKANDIA in 6th just 0.7nm behind the new race leader, Jeanne Gregoire skipper of Banque Populaire. Gregoire is one of only three females competing in event. Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) is hot on her heels in 2nd place, with Laurent Pellecuer (Cliptol Sport) in 3rd - the leading trio are within shouting distance of each other, just 0.1 mile apart. Only one mile separates the top 8 boats including SKANDIA and just 5 miles separates the top 30 – Figaro racing at its best!
Although, the fleet are fairly spread out from west to east as they progress north along the French coast towards Ushant in a north-westerly wind of around 12-15 knots. Davies will be trying to make the most of this before she hits the cold front tonight which will bring strong winds, rough seas and tough sailing conditions.
LEG 3 POSITIONS LA ROCHELLE - CORK, IRELAND (1500BST 18/8/05)
1. GREGOIRE Jeanne/ BANQUE POPULAIRE 362miles to finish
2. DE PAVANT Kito / GROUPE BEL 362miles
3. PELLECUER Laurent / CLIPTOL SPORT 362miles
4. TABARLY Erwan / THALES 362.3miles
5. CAUDRELIER Charles / BOSTIK 362.5miles
6. DAVIES Sam / SKANDIA 362.7miles
7. PETIT Benoit / DEFI SANTE VOILE 362.8miles
8. D'ALI Pietro / NANNI DIESEL 362.9miles
9. BEYOU Jérémie / DELTA DORE 363.2miles
10. MORVAN Gildas / CERCLE VERT 363.5miles
For latest positions, go to http://classements.lasolitaire.com/
OVERALL POSITIONS AFTER TWO LEGS:
1. D'ALI Pietro / NANNI DIESEL 108h22'21''
2. MORVAN Gildas / CERCLE VERT +2'36"
3. DUTHIL Frédéric / BROSSARD +13'53"
4. BEYOU Jérémie / DELTA DORE +17'25"
5. CHABAGNY Thierry / LEBRE BERMUDES +22'29"
6. LE CLEAC'H Armel / FONCIA-TBS +23'13"
7. CAUDRELIER Charles / BOSTIK +25'13"
8. DESJOYEAUX Michel / GEANT +27'53"
9. PELLECUER Laurent / CLIPTOL SPORT +28'13"
10. TABARLY Erwan / THALES +29'47"
--
23. DAVIES Sam / SKANDIA +1h58'37"
Ericsson Racing Yacht Christened
The Ericsson Racing Team's Volvo Ocean 70 yacht,
was last night baptised by her godmother, HRH Crown Princess Victoria
of Sweden, at a spectacular christening ceremony in Gothenburg,
Sweden. Ericsson together with partners Sony and Semcon, hosted a
special event at the Gothenburg Opera for guests from all over the
world. The new VO 70 yacht is now officially named "Ericsson",
representing a key milestone for the Ericsson campaign.
The Ericsson Racing Team led by skipper Neal McDonald celebrated the
christening of their boat last night, in the presence of
HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Carl-Henric Svanberg,
President and CEO of Ericsson, Howard Stringer, Chairman and CEO of
Sony and Hans Johansson, CEO of Semcon.
The christening ceremony took place at 22.00 CET in the magnificent
surroundings of the Gothenburg Opera. Princess Victoria was invited
onto the stage by Carl-Henric Svanberg, to perform the official
christening of the Ericsson yacht. "We wish our yacht and all who
sail with her a safe and a swift journey", said The Crown Princess.
The champagne bottle broke first time - a sign of good luck for the
yacht and her crew.
Silence followed and the guests stood transfixed, as the Ericsson
yacht was lifted into the air and swung out over the water. The
Ericsson Racing Team was lined up on the deck and the sky was lit up
with fireworks, as the crowds of supporters let out a resounding
cheer.
Skipper Neal McDonald commented, "This is a key milestone in our
campaign and we are looking forward to going forward from here. Now
that we have the full team in place, our energy will focus on
consolidating our skills as a team and making sure the boat is in top
shape for race start in November."
Gunnar Krantz, skipper onboard Swedish entry SEB in the Volvo Ocean
Race 2001-02, was amongst the guests attending the christening.
"This is a great event - the christening of the boat is like a start
in the race. It lives with you for a long time and gives you extra
confidence that you can pull it off and do a great job."
He continued: "The VOR is a fantastic event and a very strong
challenge. It takes a lot both from the sponsors, the project
managers, the crews and the technical side and it seems like the
Ericsson Racing Team has all the components in place. You can see
that they are on a hunt for something big, which gives me a lot of
confidence in this project."
With only 78 days to go before the race begins, the Ericsson Racing
Team will now sail back to their training base in Vigo, Spain, where
they will train until the start of the Volvo Ocean Race on 5 November
2005. The race will take Ericsson to nine stopovers on her journey
around the world, finishing back in Gothenburg on June 17, 2006.
Ericsson, the world's leading telecommunications supplier, is
supported by Sony and Semcon as partners in the race. For updates
and pictures on the Ericsson Racing Team's participation in the Volvo
Ocean Race, please visit: www.ericssonracingteam.com
Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet
communications through its continuous technology leadership.
Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson
is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the
world.
August 18, 2005
Dragons and Swans to Start Baltic Week
IMS-600 Worlds begins with long-distance race on Sunday
More than a 150 skippers filed their entries for the second Rolex Baltic Week, which will start this coming Saturday (20 August) in Neustadt/Holstein in Germany and is set to become a nine-day event of top-class sailing sport. The biggest yacht of the fleet will be the 58.66 feet (17.98 metres) Swan 57 RS Happy Hour by Michael Heine from Berlin. The triple-handed keelboats of the international Dragon class will carry out their world championships on the Bay of Neustadt. Another highlight will be the IMS-600 worlds that are to start on the first Sunday with an overnight long-distance race.
"The number of entries has gone up by 50 percent compared to last year's", says a happy Gunter Persiehl, president of the organizing club Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) Hamburg. This can be mainly attributed to the Hanseatic Lloyd Dragon World Championships with their 75 top crews. There was such a rush that it was decided to include a parallel Dragon World Week into the regatta programme for the crews who have not qualified for the worlds.
The first start on the water on Saturday will see the Nautor's Swan yachts beginning their Swan Race presented by Deutsche Bank (ends Tuesday, 23rd August). The bigger Happy Hour is likely to have her difficulties to become the overall winner in a fleet of smaller competitors. Also Claus Bressler (Hamburg), last year's winner with his Swan 56 R Chrila will have to watch out most for the Swan 46 Elan of Harald Baum and the Swan 46 MKI Gundel G. of Jens Kießling (both from Hamburg).
Whereas the Swans will take up full speed from the beginning, the Dragons get a chance to get into race mood in a tune-up race on the first day. Sunday will see a charity race in favour of the World Childhood Foundation that was founded by Queen Sylvia of Sweden. Her Royal Highness will personally attend the regatta in Neustadt and will watch the race from on the water.
The IMS-600 big boats will have to miss this opportunity. The second race day of the Rolex Baltic Week will send them out onto an offshore race of 80 to 120 nautical miles through the Western part of the Baltic Sea. This race will be weighted by a points factor of 1.25 compared to a factor of 1 for all (max. 10) inshore races (Tuesday through Thursday). "We need to be up front right from this very first race if we want to get a podium finish in the end", such are the plans of the Kiel owner Horst Mann, who will enter the championship with his former boat, the Rodman 42 L+M Hispaniola. Even though the Hanseatic Lloyd owned by Christian Pump of Bremen, who also aims for the title, the fiercest competition does not only come from within Germany. The Norwegian Al Cap One III had recently showed her potential at Travemuende Week and is sure to take on the fight against the two favourites. Two other strong challengers are Checkmate_ owned by Dutchmen Peter de Ridder and Movistar with Italian Lorenzo Bressani.
Among the world's 75 best Dragon crews, it is hard to make out the favourites, as there are a number of former title holders from various boat classes, including Olympic ones at the start. The current title-holder is German Dieter Schoen living in Elsbethen, near Salzburg, Austria. He will sail with his long-time crewmember Andreas Huber, along with Danish two-time Finn world champion Stig Westergaard in Chrisco. Another pre-event favourite is Vincent Hoesch from Rimsting, also a 2003 World Champion, who will steer Hll-Ariston with Harro Kniffka and Michael Lipp.
Entries come from 13 different nations. Traditionally, German and Danish crews make up the largest part of the fleet, but there are also entries from Russia and the United Kingdom, as well as boats from Sweden, Finland, Belo Russia, USA, Hungary, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands and even Puerto Rico. The Dragons, who only have their world championship every other year, traditionally sail only one rather long race per day, and determine their champion on the last day of the Rolex Baltic Week.
The second half of the week will feature the Fun Cup (26/27 August), which will be presented by Mercedes-Benz Hamburg. More fun than fierce competition, but serious racing nonetheless - that is the intention of the Fun Cup. All entrants will be rated according to their yardstick numbers. The crews will have a LeMans-style pursuit start from in front of the large marquee. Individual yacht handicaps will determine the staggered start times. The smallest yachts will start first with the biggest and fastest several hours later. The idea is for the competitors to all cross the finish line as closely together as possible after completing the 80 - 200 mile course on the Baltic Sea. The first boat home will win the Fun Cup.
Eighteen German, four Danish and one Swedish team are set to enter the international X-79 class German Open. The 7.96 metre long keelboats have a beam of 2.88 metres and have been very popular for years, especially in Northern Europe. They are a one-design class and sail without handicap. These demanding racing yachts, manned by crews of five or six, will sail a maximum of twelve races to determine the winner.
World University Games: Day 4
In what has become the norm for the U.S. sailors at the 2005 Summer World University Games, Anna Tunnicliffe (Norfolk, Va./Old Dominion University/Laser Radial) and Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif./Georgetown University/Laser) lead Team USA in another strong showing in Izmir Bay. Much as Campbell did yesterday, Tunnicliffe won today's first race going away from the competition. She then followed that up with a solid third place finish in the eighth race of the regatta. Despite her impressive sailing today, Tunnicliffe fell one point in the overall standings as Poland's Katarzyna Szotynska posted a second and first respectively today. A strong second place finish in race seven helped vault Campbell into a tie for first place overall in the competition with Tonko Kuzmanic of Croatia with 20 points if the regatta were to end today. Campbell finished seventh in the final race of the afternoon.
"I feel pretty good," said Tunnicliffe. "I'm glad that I was able to have two good races. It's a good confidence builder. I would like to definitely get some more (wins), but I just need to get the Polish girl to finish behind me. We still have four races left so we'll see what happens."
On a day reminiscent of the first day of the competition, Campbell again was consistent and posted solid scores.
"A little more breeze made for a change of pace," said Campbell. "It was actually similar to the first day. The first race went alright. I was fourth on the top mark and then gained and lost and then ended up having a big gain at the last run and ended up finishing up second. I was pretty psyched about the first race. It was a solid finish for the breeze. I'm glad to put that one under my belt. The second race I didn't have all that great of start. I thought I was in a good spot and I hit a couple of bad waves right off the line. The breeze kind of went the way I didn't think it would go and it kept going. It was a tough first beat. I think I rounded about 10th for 11th and made small gains the rest of the race and ended up seventh in the race. It's my worst race of the regatta, but all in all it's not a bad finish. It's not a bad day. I just have to see what tomorrow brings and hopefully put together another couple of good finishes and then really make a big push on the last day. Things are starting to shape up nicely."
USA Head Coach and Team Leader Gary Bodie (Hampton, Va.) added, "It's really encouraging because we don't want to be a specialist light wind team. We went out there and showed today that we can go with anybody in the breeze. Anna got a bullet, sailed really well, completely straight ahead, fast upwind, fast downwind. Andrew pulled through with a great first race as well and kind of out of nowhere he passed two boats and, as he usually does, he's always right there, right there, taking advantage of other people's mistakes and at the end he had a great race. In the second race we had high hopes. Anna certainly came through with a total keeper with a third. You never win them all and to go out there and get a one, three is a great day even if the competition got a one-two. They'll just be setting up for the final battle at the end. Andrew's pair today is going to look solid on the board. He still doesn't have a double digit (anything out of the top ten), so he's still in great shape. That's going to be more than a two-way race at the end. That's going to be a battle for the finish I think."
It was a tougher day for Americans Brendan Fahey (Kingston, Wash./University of Washington) and Jenny Gervais (Charleston, S.C./St. Mary's College of Maryland). Fahey finished 11th and 10th, while Gervais was 17th and 16th.
Sailing competition continues Friday, August 19 at 13:00 with races seven and eight of the regatta at the Karsiyaka Sailing Center. Each competitor races twice daily through August 20 for a total of 12 races (competitors drop the two lowest scores).
Women's Laser Radial
Overall Standings - Top Three Plus U.S. Finishers
Name (Country)/Current Place/Race Finish & Points
1. Katarzyna Szotynska (Poland): 1-1-(7)-2-6-3-2-1; 16 points
2. Anna Tunnicliffe (USA): 2-4-6-1-(10)-1-1-3; 18 points
3. Tania Elias Calles (Mexico): 3-3-4-(9)-3-7-4-2; 26 points
15. Jennifer Gervais (USA): 17-16-(18)-10-7-14-17-16; 97 points
Men's Laser
Overall Standings - Top Three Plus U.S. Finishers
Name (Country)/Current Place/Race Finish & Points
1. Andrew Campbell (USA): 3-5-5-3-1-1-2-(7); 20 points
2. Tonko Kuzmanic (Croatia): 4-3-1-2-4-(17)-5-1; 20 points
3. Johann Cechosz (France): 1-1-10-4-3-3-(26/OCS)-4; 26 points
13. Brendan Fahey (USA): 17-18-19-8-(22)-4-11-10; 87 points
August 17, 2005
Bekatorou Draws Strength from Victory
Russell Coutts has won Dream Race Mykonos, defeating Francesco Bruni's Luna Rossa team 2-0 in a light-wind final. This event was organised by Sofia Bekatorou to introduce the world of match racing and the America's Cup to Greece.
Reigning Olympic Champion Bekatorou made an important step in her bid to learn the game of match racing, when she beat Kiwi legend Chris Dickson in their match earlier this week. While she may have won Olympic Gold in Athens last year, Bekatorou knows that switching from fleet racing in 470 dinghies to match racing in heavy keelboats cannot be achieved overnight. There are new skills to be learned. At least victory over the skipper of the BMW Oracle Racing team suggests she is moving in the right direction..
"It really was a very challenging match," she said. "We won the pre-start and got to windward of him. But downwind we had a problem with the spinnaker and he got inside us. But then we got back in control on the windward leg and managed to finish first. It was nice to win against such a great team."
For Bekatorou, arguably the greater achievement was in having organised this regatta in less than a year, and in convincing so many top names to compete in an event with no history. Russell Coutts said he was pleased to be invited: "It has been a lot of fun, and Mykonos is a beautiful sailing venue. I figure it's important to support sailing as a sport, and every year I try to do at least one or two events like this."
Sofia Bekatorou designed Dream Race Mykonos to work on a number of different levels, and it has delivered in every area. It has worked as a fundraising event to promote sailing to young people on the island of Mykonos. Seeing four America's Cup teams in action has given Bekatorou and other Greek sailors an important insight into match racing at the highest level. And it has opened the Greek public's eyes to the world of the America's Cup.
The ambitious young sailor's ultimate dream is to assemble a Greek challenge for the next America's Cup. "Of course we are in no position yet to talk seriously about such a project," Bekatorou admitted, "but this event has worked as a good introduction to the America's Cup. We proved as a nation that we can manage big projects, with the Athens Olympics last year, and I believe we could make a credible challenge for the Cup."
She has the backing of Russell Coutts in pursuing her ambitions. "Sofia has really put the work in to make the Dream Race work, and so she clearly has what it takes. When people ask if it is realistic for her to organise a Greek challenge for the Cup, I say why not? When New Zealand started challenging for the Cup, a lot of people said it was unrealistic for us to be able to challenge the bigger nations. But we did, and so I think the Greeks can do it too."
Bekatorou plans to make the Dream Race Mykonos a regular fixture in the calendar. This year saw two days of good winds, enabling some good racing in the Beneteau 25 keelboats, followed by two days of almost zero breeze. Fortunately enough breeze came in to enable a quick final to be held between Coutts and Bruni. Chris Dickson was third and Santiago Lopez Vasquez of Desafio Espanol fourth. Best of the four Greek skippers was Theodore Tsoulfas, followed by Sofia Bekatorou.
Campbell Sweeps the Day
Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif./Georgetown University) sailed away from the fleet to win impressively in both races today of the men's Laser regatta of the 2005 Summer World University Games. The two victories are Campbell's first of the event and, combined with two thirds and two fifth place finishes move him to a current number two ranking overall, just one point behind Johan Cechosz of France, if the event were to end today. Anna Tunnicliffe (Norfolk, Va./Old Dominion University) made it a three out of four first place day for the Americans as she won race six of the women's Laser Radial, her second race win in as many days. Tunnicliffe struggled in the first race this afternoon, finishing tenth. Americans Brendan Fahey (Kingston, Wash./University of Washington) and Jenny Gervais (Charleston, S.C./St. Mary's College of Maryland) both posted their best finishes thus far of the regatta, with Fahey finishing fourth in race six and Gervais finishing seventh in race five. Fahey was 22nd in race five, while Gervais was 14th in race six.
"It feels good," said Campbell. "I'm pretty comfortable in the lighter air and I had to make today count, I think. I was trying to let the other guys make a mistake and I think that not only did that happen today, but I got to put together a couple of pretty good races. I stuck to my pretty conservative style and it ended up working in my favor, so I was pretty happy with it. It's good to be out in front and have a nice pad there and just be able to watch how the rest of the race unfolds and know that everybody else knows that you're out there ahead and that they can't catch you. It's a pretty big psychological advantage I think. I'm pretty happy about it."
Tunnicliffe who remains in second place of the current overall standings added, "It felt good to finish on a good note again. The first race, I had a great start and just got a little too nervous and made some mistakes half way up the first leg and it cost me a top five finish. I've now got a sixth and a tenth which I am a little disappointed about, but the rest of my results are good. It's going to be a long regatta. We're half way through, but we still have a lot of races to go. I'm feeling good and I know I can do it, so hopefully I will able to put it all together and do it."
On his fourth place finish in race six, Fahey said, "Everything just seemed to go better for me. I got off the line well and sort of played some shifts. When you're up in the front, it's a lot easier to stay there than to get there, so that was good. I think what I really need to work on is being more consistent. I had a really terrible fifth race, but then the last one was good. If I can just be more consistent that would be a step in the right direction. Hopefully the next half of the regatta I can do that."
On her best day of sailing in the regatta thus far, Gervais commented, "It felt really good. It was nice to be able to be up in the pack and think with the fleet. I wish I could have pulled out something a little bit better because there were definitely moments I was higher up than that, but I'm not going to be a complainer. I had a much better start in the second race than I did in the first set today."
USA Head Coach and Team Leader Gary Bodie (Hampton, Va.), overall was pleased with his team's performance despite a couple of missed opportunities. "It was an outstanding day in both the men and the women. Andrew Campbell combined speed with smarts. He was just unbeatable. He won both races by a good margin, really convincing, really well done. Anna (Tunnicliffe) had two chances to do really well. The first one turned into a bit of a problem, but the second one she came through, put the first one behind her and had a great race. Actually she had to pass the Irish girl twice. She passed her on her first run and then passed her again on the last run to get the win. Brendan (Fahey) had an outstanding race in the second one, so he got another keeper. Jenny sailed well today. She had a great first race and she looked like she was doing really well in the second until the wind came up just a little bit for her. It was a solid day all around."
Davies in Positive Mood for Start of Leg 3
Today at 1400 BST SKANDIA left her dock at La Rochelle and headed out to the start line of the third leg of the Solitaire Affelou Le Figaro, 456 miles from La Rochelle to Cork on the south coast of Ireland. This is the second longest leg of the 1710-mile four-leg event – nearly 100 miles further than the previous two legs and a challenging course for the 45 skippers. The race is due to start at 1600 BST and will begin with a short windward/leeward inshore course before the fleet head out of the bay then turn right towards Ushant.
From Sam before the start: “I’m feeling good, positive and really looking forward to it! It’s going to be tough but I think I might to able to do well in this leg. This is a much longer leg than the ones before, and really more ‘offshore’ as we will cross the English Channel and the Irish sea. There are several shipping lanes to cross, and the Scilly Isles will be almost on our route. It’s really complicated at the beginning, and some people may get away and create a big gap in the fleet, and I think the same will happen at the finish – some boats will pull away from the rest. It’s really important to always be alert in this leg. We’ve got a long upwind run in strong winds towards Ushant so it’s important not to get too knackered. At the point of Brittany, the wind will pick up to 30-35knots so it’s going to be full-on sailing - this leg is going to work the muscles! At the end of the last leg, other skippers were feeling really tired but I felt rested, so I think I’m better prepared for this leg than others who haven’t had as much sleep, and are starting to feel the fatigue. This leg and the next leg will be the longest I have ever sailed in this type of event. I’m happy this leg is longer than the first two because I think endurance is one of my strong points and I prefer the endurance of a long leg rather than the sprint of a short leg. The longer the better!”
Richard Silvani from Météo France predicts that the fleet will be navigating through a number of weather systems with some testing conditions: “There is forecasted to be rather unstable and light air for the start, due to the storms forming further south. In a light WSW breeze, only 3-8 knots will assist the 45-boat fleet towards Ushant on the north-western most point of France but this should move round to a light west-north-westerly breeze (6-12 knots) by this evening. Tonight we should see some strong north-westerly winds of about 25 knots, gusting up to 35. This is forecasted to weaken to 5-10 knots but still with a risk of storm, and gusty winds. The wind should then drop and lift again in the Celtic Sea, where, once again, there will be a new high pressure system and the decision of when to tack to contend with. The wind appears to gradually swing left towards the end of the race and weaken again, although the breeze will continue from the west and even south-west by Sunday, by which time the skippers are all expected to have finished.”
The ETA for the fleet in Cork, Ireland, is Saturday 20th August.
DAVIES WINS PROTEST
Following the incident after the start of Leg 1 when Sam found herself without sufficient water to keep clear of the rocks in the bay of Perros Guirec, the protests of both skippers involved, Sam Davies and German skipper Jorg Riechers (GermanyToo), were heard by the international jury in La Rochelle yesterday. The jury has decided that Riechers was in the wrong and gave him the maximum penalty - disqualification from Leg 1 (as the event is based on cumulative time, Riechers will be given the finish time of the last Leg 1 competitor plus 2 hours). Davies has been awarded 5 minutes of time, moving her Leg 1 finishing positioning up three places, from 26th to 23rd.
Although Riechers will tumble down the overall rankings this outcome will not affect the overall standing for Davies, who after two legs is lying in 23rd overall 1 hours, 58 minutes and 37 seconds behind the leader, Pietro D’Ali (Nanni Diesel). The Solitaire du Figaro is all about cumulative time and Sam will have to sail two blinding legs to achieve her objective of finishing inside the top 10 overall when this event finishes on 26th August.
OVERALL POSITIONS AFTER TWO LEGS:
1. D'ALI Pietro / NANNI DIESEL 108h22'21''
2. MORVAN Gildas / CERCLE VERT +2'36"
3. DUTHIL Frédéric / BROSSARD +13'53"
4. BEYOU Jérémie / DELTA DORE +17'25"
5. CHABAGNY Thierry / LEBRE BERMUDES +22'29"
6. LE CLEAC'H Armel / FONCIA-TBS +23'13"
7. CAUDRELIER Charles / BOSTIK +25'13"
8. DESJOYEAUX Michel / GEANT +27'53"
9. PELLECUER Laurent / CLIPTOL SPORT +28'13"
10. TABARLY Erwan / THALES +29'47"
--
23. DAVIES Sam / SKANDIA +1h58'37"
Marine Air System Used on R/V Odyssey
The R/V Odyssey, which returns to the U.S. this week from a five-year round-the-world study expedition, is equipped with a Marine Air chilled-water air conditioning system supplied by Dometic Environmental Corporation, an official sponsor of the 93-ft. sailing vessel.
“The Marine Air system has been a mission-critical item of equipment for the ship,” said Iain Kerr, CEO of Ocean Alliance. “The Odyssey has been at sea almost constantly for the last eight years, much of it in the tropics, and the Marine Air chilled water system is vitally important for crew comfort and more importantly to protect the scientific equipment on the vessel from damage due to heat and humidity.”
Last year, Dometic supplied a new four-ton (48,000 BTU) chiller to replace the existing Marine Air chiller unit, which had been originally installed on the vessel 11 years earlier. The installation was performed at Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
“The Marine Air system has given us years of trouble-free performance under some of the most demanding conditions, running around the clock in the tropics,” said Kerr. “And the Dometic team provided a level of factory support that is unmatched in my experience, shipping the unit to meet the Odyssey in the Indian Ocean and giving us useful advice on the best way to complete the installation.”
The 93-ft. steel-hull ketch serves as a mobile research platform for Ocean Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to whale research. The vessel was constructed in Whangerei, New Zealand, in 1976, and was donated to Ocean Alliance in 1991. It is fitted with state-of-the-art research and communication equipment and is one of the most advanced research vessels involved in the study of whales today. The Odyssey is just completing a five-year circumnavigation to examine the concentration, distribution and effects of persistent organic pollutants on marine life throughout the world’s oceans.
The Odyssey will celebrate its return to its home port of Boston with a press conference on Wednesday, August 17, 2005. The vessel will be berthed at the Moakley Courthouse Dock.
Ellen Prepares to Depart to New York
After a delivery trip lasting eight days, the 75-foot trimaran <
Since finishing her solo round the world record, Ellen has only sailed with a crew on a couple of smaller record attempts and this will be her first opportunity to sail in ‘solo’ mode. Charles Darbyshire will be onboard purely in a back-up role and to test some of the communication equipment on board: “This is the first time I have sailed <
Upon arrival in New York, it is planned that the trimaran will be berthed for the first few days at North Cove Marina which is located in downtown Manhattan where the current solo transatlantic record holder, Francis Joyon, berthed his 90-foot trimaran IDEC whilst he was on standby.
MacArthur will not be the only skipper on standby for an attempt on the current 6 day, 4 hour, 1 minute and 37 second solo transatlantic record. Since the beginning of August, French skipper Thomas Coville has been based in New York with his record breaking 60-foot trimaran. Sodebo. Ellen is due to go on standby from the 1st September to wait for the ideal weather system to propel her 2925 miles across the North Atlantic. If Coville is still waiting in the wings, it could turn into a race as well as a record attempt!
U.S. Singlehanded in California
Today and tomorrow, 23 of the country's best singlehanded sailors are arriving in Long Beach, Calif. to compete in the U.S. Singlehanded Championship for US SAILING's George O'Day Trophy. The sailors of the U.S. Singlehanded Championship have come a long way to be able to compete in the National Championship: they defeated more than 100 sailors nationwide in elimination rounds at local sailing organizations across the country. The event is sailed in Lasers, provided by Vanguard Sailboats, out of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. The Championship kicks off on Thursday, August 18, with a Rolex clinic and racing will take place from Friday through Sunday. The event is sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A., as are all of US SAILING's Adult National Championships.
Competitors for the U.S. Singlehanded Championship are selected through ladder events starting at the local club level, as well as up to six additional sailors who are selected based on their sailing resume. In addition, the regatta is also open to sailors representing the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association, the Interscholastic Sailing Association (high school sailing), the U.S. Youth Championship, and the military. Some of the competitors who have qualified for this prestigious Championship include US Sailing Team-member Ryan Minth (New York, N.Y.) who finished third at the event last year and Thomas Barrows (St. Thomas, USVI) who won the U.S. Youth Championship earlier this summer and finished second at the U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship last weekend.
The George O'Day Trophy was presented to US SAILING in 1962 by friends of O'Day who was well-known to sailors through his company manufacturing small boats. He also won an Olympic Gold medal in 1960 as helmsman in the 5.5 Metre class.
Ericsson Completes 2000 Mile Qualifying Sail
The Ericsson Racing Team has successfully completed its 2000 nautical
mile qualifying sail arriving into Gothenburg, Sweden on 15 August,
after seven days at sea. It is compulsory for all teams entered for
the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 to complete a non-stop ocean
qualification passage of approximately 2000 nm, to prove themselves
seaworthy before the race starts in November. Ericsson, the third VO
70 yacht to complete the voyage, did so with eight of her ten
crewmembers onboard.
The team left its training base in Vigo, Spain on August 8, joined by
Ericsson Team Technical Director and five times Whitbread / Volvo
Ocean Race veteran, Magnus Olsson of Sweden. Experiencing 25 knots
of winds in reaching conditions, off the Bay of Biscay, Ericsson
clocked top speeds of 25 knots. They sailed up the west coast of
Ireland and north of Scotland, into lighter winds, arriving into
Gothenburg, Sweden at 11.00am Monday.
Skipper Neal McDonald gave his overview of the team's second long
distance sail onboard the VO 70:
Team USA: Strong Finish at World Games
Anna Tunnicliffe (Norfolk, Va./Old Dominion University) captured Team USA's first sailing victory of the 2005 Summer World University Games this afternoon in race four of the regatta for Laser Radial at the Karsiyaka Sailing Center. The win was a good way to cap the day for Tunnicliffe, who finished sixth in race three, the first race of the day. Today's performance puts Tunnicliffe in second place in the overall regatta standings with seven points total, just behind Poland's Katarzyna Szotynska who leads with four points.
"It was a great race," said Tunnicliffe. "The wind lightened up a little bit and I got off the line good, went to the right side and there was only a couple of others over there, so it worked out well for me. It was a nice way to end the day. I had a little bit of a rough race the first race, but it's still really early in the competition so it's still hard to tell where anyone is going to finish overall."
Team USA made its strongest showing of the event thus far in the second race of the day, with all four sailors placing in the top 10. Besides Tunnicliffe's victory, Jenny Gervais (Charleston, S.C./St. Mary's College of Maryland) improved dramatically from her previous three races to finish 10th in Laser Radial. On the men's side in Laser, Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif./Georgetown University) kept his consistent form, finishing third, while Brendan Fahey (Kingston, Wash./University of Washington) had his best race of the Games thus far finishing eighth.
With the mayor of Izmir looking on from the press boat on a beautiful warm, sunny day in Izmir Bay and with much lighter winds than yesterday, Campbell found the conditions more to his liking. Campbell is currently in fourth place overall after finishing fifth and third respectively in today's races.
"The conditions were a fair amount lighter today as there was a lot less breeze," said Campbell. "It made a difference only in the fact that it mixed the fleet up a lot more. I personally didn't sail all that much different. I think I had the same scores as yesterday, but some of the guys ahead of me had some bad races and mediocre races. That's what happens in light air, it kind of helps to mix the fleet up. I just need to keep putting solid scores on the board and getting top five finishes like I've been doing and try to keep out of the penalties. I think that I gained a few points on the guys ahead of me and closed the gap a little bit, so I think I'm back close to even with those guys."
USA Head Coach and Team Leader Gary Bodie (Hampton, Va.), is pleased with the performance of his sailors thus far and expects them to continue to do well.
"Race number four in the series was a great race for the Americans in both fleets men and women. It was our best race so far. Anna won in the women and Jenny was up there and ended up 10th. Andrew finished third in the men, and Brendan was top 10 behind him. It was really the first race where all four of them have put it together.
"The air conditions were a little lighter and maybe that is kind of the American style, so that was good. All in all, I think we were consistent today, so another good day."
In race number three, the first of the day, Gervais finished 18th and Fahey finished 19th.
Racing Gods Come to Greece
Since winning Olympic Gold in home waters a year ago, Greek sailing star Sofia Bekatorou has been working hard to launch a new match racing event called Dream Race Mykonos. Bekatorou has attracted four top America's Cup teams to the event, along with four Greek teams, one of which she is the skipper.
The first day's racing took place on Sunday 14 August in light winds, and not surprisingly the big names from match racing dominated the day's proceedings. BMW Oracle's Chris Dickson and legend-without-a-cause, Russell Coutts, won all their matches in the Beneteau 25 one-design yachts, with Luna Rossa's Francesco Bruni and Desafio Espanol's Santiago Lopez Vasquez prevailing in all but one of their matches. Of the Greek teams, Bekatorou's Gold medal winning crew in the 470 was the most successful, Emilia Tsoulfa notching up two wins for Theodore Tsoulfas. Bekatorou and Mixalis Mileos scored one apiece, with Evangelos Chimonas yet to win.
But for Bekatorou, the outcome of the racing is secondary to the wider aims of the event, which the Olympic Champion says are to "fund Youth sailing in Mykonos and promote the sport in Greece. What better motivation could young sailors have than seeing a group of the most famous sailors racing in their hometown?"
Even that ambition is only a stepping stone to a greater goal for Bekatorou. "The race is called the Dream Race because for the first time Greek sailors have the opportunity to race against America's Cup teams. My dream is to create a Greek team for the America's Cup and this event is the first introduction for people and sailors to meet and see the real fun of match racing at the highest level."
Bekatorou admits she had serious misgivings about launching such an ambitious project, but took great heart from asking Russell Coutts his opinion of the event. When he answered with a simple: "Why not?", that was all the confirmation she needed to go ahead. To have attracted such a strong list of contenders in the event's first year is testament to Bekatorou's drive. Now that some of the big names have come to see the beauty of Mykonos for themselves, they may not need any persuading to return in future years. Racing in this year's Dream Race Mykonos concludes on Wednesday 15th August.
Ericsson Names Spanish Yachtsman to Crew
The Ericsson Racing Team has today named Guillermo Altadill as
crewmember of Ericsson's entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06.
"Guillermo has been round the world 6 times and will definitely be
someone whose opinion I will be constantly listening to in the Volvo
Ocean Race. In my many miles with him I have learnt not only to enjoy
his sense of humour, but also to respect his ability to make a boat
sail fast," says Neal McDonald, skipper on the Ericsson Racing Team.
Guillermo Altadill, born in Barcelona, has managed to combine Olympic
programs with hard round the world sailing up through his
professional racing career. This will be his fourth Whitbread Round
the World/Volvo Ocean Race. The Southern Ocean is one of the big
thrills that draw the experienced helmsman back to the race again.
"The Southern Ocean is my favourite part. These legs make this race
more than a pure competition, mixing racing with adventure, and
sometimes survival in the raw nature elements. The crew work has to
be perfect and coordinated in these conditions. After six times
racing around the world I have high goals for this race, and only
with a team like Ericsson Racing Team we can be sure to be very
competitive. A main part of the team have known and sailed with each
other for years and this is an important element to have a well
functioning team," says Altadill.
Altadill is very happy with the fact that Volvo Ocean Race will start
in Spain this time. "The Volvo Ocean Race is a big event and to have
this in Spain is a good opportunity for the Spanish public to get to
know this kind of fascinating sport up close. Offshore racing is not
very well known in this country. This race could change this
situation, and generate public interest", says Altadill.
Ericsson, the world's leading telecommunications supplier, announced
its entry in the race on April 25. The Ericsson Racing Team is
supported by Semcon as design and development partner.
Tony Kolb Joins Team Ericsson
The Ericsson Racing Team has today announced Tony Kolb as crewmember
onboard Ericsson's entry into the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06. It has
also confirmed Britain's Jason Carrington, Construction Manager for
the team, as part of the racing crew.
Tony Kolb, 29 years of age and born in Munich, is joining the
Ericsson Racing Team, on a leave of absence from BMW ORACLE Racing.
A bowman with the America's Cup Challenger, he brings many attributes
to the Ericsson team. A skilled sailmaker and boatbuilder, Kolb's
international sailing reputation rocketed being a member of the
winning illbruck team, alongside John Kostecki, in the last Volvo
Ocean Race 2001-02.
Kolb commented: "The last race was a great experience and I hope this
time will be even better. Ericsson is a very professional team with
a great skipper and great people. The Volvo Ocean 70's are pretty
high-tech racing machines, much faster than the VO 60's, so I think
we will have a lot of fun with some pretty crazy moments on the
limits. For sure I hope to be able to win this race again and I will
do everything possible to make that happen."
Jason Carrington will join Kolb as part of the core racing crew.
Carrington, a highly respected boat builder, was appointed
Construction Manager for the Ericsson team last year and is looking
forward to participating in the race, having spent many months
preparing for and building the boat. In line with Ericsson's
business, the new VO 70 is extremely high-tech, employing cutting
edge technology to make this ninth edition of the race more exciting
than ever.
Carrington has sailed three round the world yacht races and is one of
two people to have held both the mono and multi-hull 24 hour world
records at the same time - the other is Ericsson team skipper Neal
McDonald (GBR). Carrington's invaluable combination of experience as
a professional boat builder and professional sailor, make him a true
asset to the team.
Supported by Semcon as design and development partner, the Ericsson
racing team is currently out sailing, clocking up invaluable miles on
the water. They departed from their training base in Vigo on August
8, headed for Gothenburg, Sweden, where the yacht will be christened
later this week.
For updates and pictures on the Ericsson Racing Team's participation
in the Volvo Ocean Race, please visit: www.ericssonracingteam.com
Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet
communications through its continuous technology leadership.
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August 15, 2005
Moviestar in Search of Wind
The Volvo Open 70 movistar is covering the last miles in the Rolex Fastnet Race that it has been taking part in since last Sunday in the waters off the United Kingdom and Ireland. After three days of competition, only one boat reached Plymouth after covering the 608 miles of the Fastnet Race: Charles St. Clair Brown's New Zealand maxi ICAP Maximus, with a time of 2 days, 20 hours, 2 minutes and 7 seconds. The kiwi maxi was helped by a 12 knot breeze on the last stetch of the voyage. Such strong winds have been unusual in a race that has seen almost flat calms most of the time. In fact, at 1100 hours today, only 72 of the 285 boat fleet had reached Fastnet Rock, which practically marks the half-way point.
Bouwe Bekking, skipper of the movistar, remarked from the boat yesterday morning: We have found a bit of a breeze at last, about 7 knots from the north west, so we are flying the spinanaker. I think that some of the Open 60s that chose to sail further south are under greater pressure than us. The group of boats that we were in has started to separate; but at least we are making headway. With its arrival in Plymouth, the Maximus won the prize for the real time winner. In total, there are over 30 trophies to be won in the Rolex Fastnet Race, apart from the two main prizes: the Fastnet Challenge Cup and the Fastnet Rock Trophy.
The boat should reach Plymouth between tonight and tommorow morning. That's sailing: it's no use having the fastest monohull in the world if it doesn't have the fuel to deploy its full potencial, which is what is happening to us in the Fastnet Race with the wind. We are very happy to take part in this race anyway, because we are gaining experience and a lot of information, both of which will be very useful when the real competition that this boat was buit for starts: the Volvo Ocean Race.
The 32nd America's Cup arrives in Malmo-Skane
The 32nd America's Cup arrived in Malmö in earnest over the weekend when the M/V Schippersgracht pulled alongside the dock with its cargo of America's Cup boats and equipment.
The ship docked on Saturday evening and unloading of the 2000 tonnes of equipment needed for the Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Acts began on Sunday when the containers stacked on the 'weather' deck were removed.
On Monday morning attention turned to the 13 America's Cup Class boats which were being lifted one by one directly into the water. Shore crews from each team then towed the boats to their new homes at the team base compound for the Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Acts.
"The operation has gone very smoothly," said René Holliger, the man responsible for logistics for the America's Cup organisers. "It's a tribute to the teams, the crew of the ship, and the stevedores on the dock that everything is running on schedule. Of course, we've been fortunate with the weather as well. Sunshine, and most importantly, light wind, makes the work much easier."
The teams are operating on a tight schedule to get their boats prepared as quickly as possible. Most of the sailors will be anxious to get on the water here, to get a feel for the local conditions, and sharpen up their crew work. The bigger teams could be sailing as early as Thursday afternoon, with the others likely taking to the sea over the weekend.
The M/V Schippersgracht departed Valencia last Sunday carrying 200 pieces of America's Cup cargo, including 86 RIBs and support boats, 70 shipping containers, 13 ACC boats (11 team boats, plus 2 hospitality and display boats), and over 20 masts. This totals nearly 2 000 tonnes of material, taking up 30 000 cubic metres - the equivalent of 12 Olympic size swimming pools.
Racing in the Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Acts begins on the 25th of August with the match races of Act 6, followed by a three day fleet racing series (Act 7) starting on the 2nd of September. The 2005 racing season for the 32nd America's Cup concludes in Trapani, Sicily at the end of September.
BMW ORACLE Racing Continues European Tour
BMW ORACLE Racing helmsman Gavin Brady set the pace with a spectacular performance at the Danish Open while this week two other crews will be match racing at the Dream Race in Mykonos, Greece and at the new Swedish Match Tour event in St. Moritz, Switzerland. This intense racing program for BMW ORACLE Racing precedes the main event, Louis Vuitton Acts 6 and 7, starting in Malmo 25th August.
Until August 17th, Mykonos is the venue for the "Dream Race." BMW ORACLE Racing crew members Paul Westlake, Zach Hurst, and Kazuhiko Sofuku join CEO and skipper Chris Dickson in the Dream Race where the crew won their first three races of the round robin yesterday. Among others, the team faces top Greek sailors and America's Cup competitors - including Francesco Bruni from Luna Rossa Challenge and three-time America's Cup champion Russell Coutts. The teams are match racing in Beneteau 25s.
Against none-the-less dreamlike backdrops in the Swiss Alps, St. Moritz Lake is the scene of the third stop of the Swedish Match Tour 2005/2006 from 16th to 21 August. The St. Moritz Match Race, which for the first time is part of the worldwide leading sailing series for match race professionals, will be sailed in Streamline keel boats, which allow for a three-man crew. Mark Bradford is the skipper for BMW ORACLE Racing. The all-Australian crew includes Rodney Daniel and Nick Partridge.
At the Danish Open, which concluded yesterday, the racing went down to the wire with Brady and his BMW ORACLE Racing crew of Brad Webb, Ross Halcrow, Rodney Daniel and Ed Smyth. The team faced Jesper Bank in the Finals and were tied at 2-2 when both time and wind ran out. Bank won the regatta with a technical count back to the last time the two teams raced each other in the round robin and Bank had won and therefore won the Danish Open. Brady and crew settled for second place but the racing was by far the most spectacular yet on the Swedish Match Tour this year.
Sam Update: Two Down Two to Go
AT 2321BST last night, the Italian newcomer Pietro D'Ali, skipper of Nanni Diesel, crossed the finish line of Leg 2 off La Rochelle, after 2 days, 12 hours, 21 minutes and 20 seconds to win Leg 2 of the Solitaire du Figaro. In a match race to the finish, Fred Duthil (Brossard) crossed the line just 50 seconds later to take 2nd place – an incredibly close finish to the 368 mile leg.
On their final approach to the finish line, the leading pack had a surprise visit by the name of Armel Le Cleac'h (Foncia-TBS) who climbed up the fleet and finished in 3rd place, 10 minutes after Pietro D'Ali. Charles Caudrelier (Bostik) took 4th place (+12mins) with Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) finishing in 5th (+14mins).
After a superb start to Leg two, SKANDIA entered the Bay of Biscay in 2nd place and SKANDIA skipper, Sam Davies kept in contact with the leading pack holding a top ten place for the first 24 hours of the race. In a highly competitive fleet, Davies had a real fight on her hands but one wrong decision saw her tumble down the rankings to finish in 23rd place , 1 hour and 21 minutes behind winner Pietro D’Ali.
“I sailed really well at the start, and I even managed to overtake Erwan Tabarly on Thales and round the Radio France buoy in 2nd! I didn’t want to take any risks and I was probably keeping an eye on the others too much and watching to see what the rest of the fleet were doing. I had planned to sail up the Bay of Biscay in two tacks, but the wind change I was expecting never happened. So I did what everyone else did – one tack – but it was too late. At one point I was leading the group I was sailing in. I didn’t get caught out with sleep - I slept but not too much. At the Birviedeux lighthouse, I rounded the race mark with Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) SKANDIA was going really fast but unfortunately I didn’t sail her in the right direction – I decided to go left when all the gains were one the right. Kito de Pavant went right and finished 16th, I went left and finished 23rd. I just made the wrong decision!"
Davies was not alone mid-fleet and finished just 4 minutes behind one of the race favourite Yann Elies (Groupe Generali Assurances) who finished 22nd. Other race favourites Jeremie Beyou (Delta Dore) took 10th place (+27mins) closely followed by Michel Desjoyeaux in 11th (+31mins).
Pietro D’Ali, skipper of Nanni Diesel, is now the overall leader in the Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro 2005 rankings [the first time in the Solitaire’s history that a non-French skipper has led the event overall!], 2 minutes and 26 seconds ahead of Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) in 2nd. The leading two boats have created a gap of over ten minutes between them and the rest of the fleet. SKANDIA is positioned 23rd overall, 2 hours 3 minutes and 37 seconds behind Nanni Diesel.
The fleet now have two days before the set off on their next on Wednesday 17th August. This will be their longest leg - 496 miles from La Rochelle, rounding the Fastnet Rock and finishing in Crosshaven (Cork) in Ireland.
LEG 2 POSITIONS GEXTO-BILBAO TO LA ROCHELLE
1. D'ALI Pietro / NANNI DIESEL finish time 60h 21'20"
2. DUTHIL Frédéric / BROSSARD +0'50"
3. LE CLEAC'H Armel / FONCIA-TBS +11'16"
4. CAUDRELIER Charles / BOSTIK +12'26"
5. MORVAN Gildas / CERCLE VERT +14'3"
6. TABARLY Erwan / THALES +15'12"
7. CHABAGNY Thierry / LEBRE BERMUDES +23'19"
8. ROGNON Cyrille / ENO & NAVI LINE +23'42"
9. ATTANASIO Romain / MR.BOOKMAKER.COM +25'39"
10. BEYOU Jérémie / DELTA DORE +27'5"
---
23. DAVIES Sam / SKANDIA +1h21'18"
For Leg 2 positions in full, go to http://classements.lasolitaire.com/?t=tablo-2-2
OVERALL POSITIONS AFTER TWO LEGS:
1. D'ALI Pietro / NANNI DIESEL 108h22'21''
2. MORVAN Gildas / CERCLE VERT +2'36"
3. DUTHIL Frédéric / BROSSARD +13'53"
4. BEYOU Jérémie / DELTA DORE +17'25"
5. CHABAGNY Thierry / LEBRE BERMUDES +22'29"
6. LE CLEAC'H Armel / FONCIA-TBS +23'13"
7. CAUDRELIER Charles / BOSTIK +25'13"
8. DESJOYEAUX Michel / GEANT +27'53"
9. PELLECUER Laurent / CLIPTOL SPORT +28'13"
10. TABARLY Erwan / THALES +29'47"
--
23. DAVIES Sam / SKANDIA +2h3'27"
Fastnet: Winds Bring Small Boats Closer to Victory
ICAP Maximus's grasp of the IRC handicap lead in the Rolex Fastnet Race is becoming increasingly tenuous, as new westerly winds offer hope of corrected time victory to a number of the smaller boats.
Shaun Frolich's IMX-45, Exabyte III, could steal best corrected time from the Kiwi Maxi if she can finish before sunset this evening. She was reported as being 33 miles from the finish in Plymouth at 1630 hours this evening, travelling at around 10 knots in a 13-knot north-westerly breeze. Provided she can maintain that average, Exabyte III could just squeeze past ICAP Maximus.
An even better bet is Teng Tools, Eamon Crosbie's Ker 32, which was averaging 7 knots boatspeed with 60 miles to reach the finish. Alan Crosbie, the owner's son, said that on current progress he was expecting to make Plymouth by the early hours of the morning, around 0100 to 0200 hours. Provided this IRC-optimised yacht can cross the finish by 0615 hours, she could better ICAP Maximus's time by a hefty margin. "You never know what can happen," said Alan Crosbie, who was part of the winning crew when the Ker 32 won the Round Ireland Race last year. "The breeze could easily shut down at night, but we'll be working hard to the finish."
Weather expert Mike Broughton's analysis of the weather suggests the westerly breezes should hold steady for the next 48 hours. The wind could vary in strength from 10 to 15 knots over the next day, then start building during late Friday night.
Broughton's forecast will be sweet music to the slowest boats in the fleet, still running downwind from the Fastnet Rock. Alex Whitworth and Peter Crozier were enjoying the best sailing conditions of the race this afternoon, their Brolga 33 Berrimilla making a very respectable 7 knots' boatspeed in a 16-18 knot north-westerly. "We're going like the clappers, this is by far the best breeze we've seen. We've been having a ball," he said.
Whitworth and Crozier are not professional racers, but two friends on a global adventure. Having sailed their boat up from Sydney, they plan to sail back via the Cape of Good Hope to compete in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race this Christmas. Winning the Rolex Fastnet Race had never even entered their minds, and on hearing that they were in the running, Whitworth still refused to believe his ears. On current progress Berrimilla would cover the remaining 180 miles to Plymouth by 1730 Friday evening, and yet such is her handicap rating that she could still beat ICAP Maximus's time if she arrived by 0220 hours Saturday morning. "I rate our chances of doing that no better than 2 per cent," said Whitworth. "The boat you should be watching is Aye! We saw her earlier and she is sailing very well."
It is some time since Derek Copeman's Elan 31 has reported her position, so she is still likely to be far out in the Celtic Sea. But Whitworth believes Aye! Could well be in contention for IRC handicap victory. If a small boat does indeed win the race, it would be a rare victory. Since its inception in 1925, the Rolex Fastnet Race has been dominated by big boat success. Perhaps the wind gods are looking to redress the balance.
272 of the original 283 starters have rounded the Rock. With eight yachts having retired, there are three remaining are Pickle, Simaroon and Sunsail Team NHS. 27 yachts have finished and first multihull to arrive was Eric Bruneel's Trilogic, which finished at 17.01 today.
The Rolex Fastnet Race entails 608 miles of racing from Cowes to Plymouth, via the Fastnet Rock off the southern tip of Ireland. In addition to the two main prizes - the Fastnet Challenge Cup and the Fastnet Rock Trophy, there are more than 30 trophies to be awarded at the conclusion of this year's race. The prizegiving will take place at the Royal Citadel, home of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, in Plymouth on Friday 12th August.
Further information about the RORC and the Rolex Fastnet Race can be found at: www.rorc.org
Copyright free high resolution photography, for editorial usage only, may be found at: www.regattanews.com
IRC Overall Standings (Provisional Top 5 @ 1800 11/8/05)
1. NZL99999 /ICAP Maximus/ Elliott 30m / EBS Yachting
2. IRL5200/ Patches / TP52 / Eamon Conneely
3. GBR521R /Bear of Britain/ Farr 52 / Kit Hobday
4. GRE55 / Aera / Ker 55 / Nick Lykiardopulo
5. GBR2601R /Spirit of Jethou/ Swan 601 / Peter Ogden
Open 60 Standings (Provisional @ 1800 11/8/05)
1. Cheminees Poujalat / Bernard Stamm
2. Virbac Paprec / Jean-Pierre Dick (10% place penalty)
3. Sill et Veolia / Roland Jourdain
4. Ecover / Mike Golding
5. Pindar Alphagraphics/ Mike Sanderson
Fastnet: Professionals and Corinthians Share Spoils
The Rolex Fastnet Race has a habit of handing the spoils to the big boats. With crucial tidal gates for the fleet to leap through, the faster you travel the more gates you can pass before they shut. So getting a good start out of the Solent is absolutely vital.
The evening before the start of the race, at the skippers' briefing in Cowes, professional navigator Mike Broughton predicted a light-airs race. The tide would play an even greater role than usual, the need to leap through that first major tidal gate at Portland Bill becoming all the more important.
In a series of seven starts from the Royal Yacht Squadron, staggered at intervals of 20 minutes, the 283-boat fleet got away in sparkling conditions - blazing sunshine but with a little less wind than most would have wanted. Nevertheless, the strong current was soon working in the fleet's favour and propelling the fleet out of the Solent.
Camera boats and spectator boats followed the fleet all the way to the Needles, with one yacht attracting a disproportionate level of interest. This was the old 1985 Maxi, Arnold Clark Drum, skippered by Simon Le Bon. Exactly 20 years earlier, the lead singer of Duran Duran had set out on this very same race in the very same boat. But he never got to see the Fastnet Rock that year. Battling through storm-force winds near Falmouth, Drum's keel wrenched away from the hull and the Maxi capsized. Le Bon and crew were rescued by the RNLI. Twenty years later, the crew had got back together, this time determined to see that elusive Rock.
As for the race favourites, there were two battles that everyone was keen to watch. The race for line honours would surely be a clash of the titans, an Australia vs New Zealand battle between Skandia Wild Thing and ICAP Maximus. The Kiwis launched off the Cowes end of the long start line, and swept into an early lead, one that they would extend to an enormous margin by the finish in Plymouth 608 miles later. The newly refurbished Skandia Wild Thing was two minutes late for the start after effecting some last-minute repairs to her mast, and she could never get on level terms with the Kiwis. Snapping at the Aussie's heels was the Volvo Open 70 Movistar, with Bouwe Bekking racing this powerful boat in full ocean-racing trim.
The other much-anticipated battle was between Irish TP52 Patches and Greek Ker 55 Aera for IRC handicap victory. Eamon Conneely's brand new 52-footer had just swept the board in the round-the-cans racing at Skandia Cowes Week only a few days before, so the Irish owner had high hopes of winning the Rolex Fastnet Race at his first attempt. With Olympic medallists like Ian Walker and Shirley Robertson on his team, there was every reason to believe Patches could win, although the offshore expertise of Nick Lykiardopulo's highly professional crew on Aera (winners of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2004) could not be dismissed lightly.
The first night of the race, the bigger boats made excellent progress along the southwest coast of England. The biggest reached Lands End by early morning, having successfully negotiated those dreaded tidal gates. The smaller ones, the 30-footers, had not been so fortunate, with some even forced to kedge with their anchors against the adverse current. This contest had 'big boat race' written all over it.
The amazing thing about the new generation of high-tech race yachts is that they almost always sail faster than the wind. In other words, they are so efficient that they make their own wind. As they entered a windless Celtic Sea, this would prove an invaluable asset. Even on a glassy sea, ICAP Maximus kept rolling along. She was stretching out to an enormous lead. In other years, co-owners Charles St Clair Brown and Bill Buckley might have dreamed of breaking the course record, but even for a boat of such power and grace, 2005 would prove to be an excruciatingly slow race. ICAP Maximus did at least enjoy a fast run back up the Cornish coast, and she covered the final 90 miles in around eight hours. The elegant Maxi arrived in Plymouth early on Wednesday morning having taken the best of three days to cover 608 miles. She had left her opposition way behind. It would take Grant Wharington and his Aussie crew another 15 hours to bring Skandia Wild Thing home just as the sun was setting over Plymouth.
With line honours safely tucked away, St Clair Brown began to dream of doing 'the double'. The disappearance of the wind in the Celtic Sea was holding up Patches' progress. Battling among the Open 60 division, Conneely's crew were sailing a good race. They had got the better of Aera and other similar-sized rivals, but there is only so much you can do with the wind you're given. The breeze eventually picked up for the final run into Plymouth, but not sufficiently for Patches to overhaul ICAP Maximus's IRC corrected time. Things were looking better and better for the Kiwis.
Back in the Celtic Sea, the desperate lack of wind was playing havoc with a rockstar's busy schedule. Le Bon had to fly to America for a concert later in the week, although he was determined to see the Fastnet Rock, off the southwestern tip of Ireland. And so the crew of Arnold Clark Drum retired from the race, switched on the engine and motored up to the legendary Rock. They celebrated with champagne before motoring back to the Scilly Isles. From here, Le Bon's brother picked up Simon by light aircraft for his onward flight across the Atlantic.
Meanwhile, the fascinating Open 60 battle was reaching a tense conclusion, with Frenchman Jean-Pierre Dick racing neck and neck with Swiss sailor Bernard Stamm all the way to the finish. Dick's Virbac-Paprec beat Stamm's Cheminées-Poujalat by just 13 minutes across the line. However, Dick admitted that he had been helped off the rocks at Hurst Point, at the exit to the Solent, having run aground little more than an hour after the start. A penalty for 'outside assistance' relegated the Frenchman to second overall, handing victory to Stamm.
The following day, Thursday, new breeze swept in from the west and brought a welcome respite from the drifting conditions that had dogged the race so far. For the bulk of the fleet still out in the Celtic Sea, they could at last get sailing again, traveling at good speed under spinnaker. As the hours wore on, the marina at Queen Anne's Battery started to fill up. And ICAP Maximus's grasp on IRC victory was becoming increasingly tenuous. By Thursday evening, Shaun Frolich's IMX-45 Exabyte III had seized the lead, although not for long. Throughout the night, new leader would be toppled by another new leader, the strengthening breeze enabling the smaller boats to leapfrog the corrected times of their larger brethren.
Just where would it all end? It seemed every yacht in the fleet was getting its 15 minutes of fame. Eventually, one of the smallest and oldest yachts in the fleet, a Nicholson 33 called Iromiguy seized her moment, and there was no one left to challenge her. Jean-Yves Chateau and his six crew sailed Iromiguy across the line at 1224 hours on Friday afternoon, after more than five days at sea.
For a race traditionally dominated by big boats, Iromiguy's victory was a dream come true, proof that just occasionally the Corinthian weekend enthusiast can prevail in an unremarkable boat. What is remarkable is that you have to go back 30 years, to 1975, for the last time that a yacht less than 40 feet long won this offshore classic. And the boat that won it then was Golden Delicious, a Nicholson 33, the very same design as Iromiguy.
This was the French skipper's fourth Rolex Fastnet Race. In the previous race two years ago, he came second in his class. "I came back this year to try to win my class," said Chateau, a doctor by profession. "But it is not possible that I could win the whole race. It is unbelievable, a childhood dream." He had won in a boat almost 30 years old, and worth less than £14,000.
The IRC handicap leaderboard was dominated by the smallest boats in the fleet from Class IRC 3, and also by overseas entries. After Iromiguy came Cavatina, Eric Lisson's Granada 38 from Ireland, and in third was Exile, a French X-312 owned by Nicholas de la Fourniere.
ICAP Maximus the trophy for line honours and Class Super Zero, where she beat Patches by over four hours on corrected time. In Class Zero, Robert Boulter's Mills 37, Thunder 2, beat Steven Blom's Grand Soleil 45 Satori by less than an hour and a half on handicap. Roger Dunstan's Prima 38 Bounty Hunter won IRC 1, and the Harry Heijst's Sparkman & Stephens 41 Winsome won IRC 2.
In the IRM division, Nick and Annie Haigh prevailed in the battle of the Farr 40s, with Too Steamy beating the Australian-registered Cacharaza by just over an hour. Frenchman Joel Malardel's Normanni 34 Tancrede won the small multihull division.
The doublehanded division was won by Pascal Loison, on the J/105, Night and Day.
The prizegiving took place at the Royal Citadel, home of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, in Plymouth on Friday evening, 12th August. More than 30 trophies were awarded at the conclusion of this year's race. Rolex Rolesium Yachtmaster timepieces were presented to the Line Honours winner, Charles St Clair Brown and Bill Buckley, co-owners of the 98-foot ICAP Maximus, who were also awarded the Errol Bruce Cup for first home in Class Super Zero, and to the first Overall in IRC Handicap, Jean-Yves Chateau, owner of the Nicholson 33 Iromiguy, who was also awarded the Fastnet Challenge Cup.
At the time of writing, 279 of the 283-boat fleet have now reached Plymouth. Eight are still out at sea, with the final yachts expected to arrive later today and early Sunday morning. Ian Walker's Dawn Class 39, Pickle was last around the Fastnet Rock and on track for the last boat home.
PROVISIONAL RESULTS (as of 1100, 13 August 2005)
Boat Name, Type, Owner
IRC
1st Overall: Iromiguy, Nicholson 33, Jean-Yves Chateau
Line Honours: ICAP Maximus, Charles St. Clair & Bill Buckley
IRM
1st Overall: Too Steamy, Farr 40, Nick & Annie Haigh
Line Honours: Leopard of London, Reichel/Pugh, Mike Slade
IRC - Super 0
1) ICAP Maximus, Elliott 30m, EBS Yachting
2) Patches, TP 52, Eamon Conneely
3) Bear of Britain, Farr 52, Kit Hobday
IRC - 0
1) Thunder 2, Mills 37, Robert Boulter
2) Satori, Grand Soleil 45, Steven Blom
3) Moana, First 47.7, Francois Goubau
IRC - 1
1) Bounty Hunter, Prima 38, Roger Dunstan
2) Ster Wenn 5, X 442, Guy Sallenave
3) Puma Logic, Reflex 38, Sailing Logic
IRC - 2
1) Winsome, S & S 41, Harry Heijst
2) Night and Day, J 105, Pascal Loison
3) Groupe Paprec, X 332, Jacques Amedeo
IRC - 3 (subject to fleet finishes)
1) Iromiguy, Nicholson 33, Jean-Yves Chateau
2) Cavatina, Granada 38, Eric Lisson
3) Exile, X 312, Nicholas de la Fourniere
IRM
1) Too Steamy, Farr 40, Nick & Annie Haigh
2) Cacharaza, Farr 40, Marcos Vivian de la Pedrosa
3) Hooligan V, Max Fun 35, Edward Broadway
Multihulls
1) Tancrede, Normanni 34, Joel Malardel
2) Dazzle, Dazcat 12, Michael Butterfield
3) Paradox, Dazcat 10m, Matt Baker
Two-Handed (subject to fleet finishes)
1) Night and Day, J 105, Pascal Loison
2) Berrimilla, Brolga 33, Alex Whitworth
3) Sixes and Sevens, Sigma 33, Pip Dwyer/Jon Brockhouse
Open 60
1) Cheminees Poujoulat, Bernard Stamm
2) Virbac-Paprec, Jean-Pierre Dick
3) Sill & Veolia, Roland Jourdain
USCG Suspends Search for Possible People in Water
U. S. and Canadian Search and Rescue resources have suspended their search for two PIW in northern Lake Huron. The search and rescue (SAR) case began Friday morning approximately 9:10 a.m. and continued until 11:30 a.m., today. The U. S. Coast Guard Ninth District assumed SAR Mission Coordinator (SMC) late Friday night and has suspended the search.
The search has covered 1,550 square miles of the 720 square miles between Marquette Island, Mich. (north), Bois Blanc Island, Mich. (south east), and Mackinac Island, Mich. (south west). The two-day search has involved numerous searches of the area, in which the overdue vessel was located, by rescue agencies. Search efforts will resume, pending any new information.
Mariners are reminded to fill out a float plan when transiting from one location to another, especially those transits that cover a considerable amount of distance and time. A float plan can be something as simple as giving a responsible party an outlined itinerary that includes points and times of departure and arrival and transit routes. A more defined search can be developed, by utilizing information from a properly documented float plan.
Skandia Racing Flat-Out to Finish of Leg 2
It was a fast night of sailing for SKANDIA and the other 44 Figaro Beneteau boats in the second leg of the 1710-mile Solitaire du Figaro. As forecasted the wind strengthened to 20 knots, almost doubling the average boat speeds to 10 knots, allowing the fleet to enjoy fast reaching conditions, as they made their way towards the next race mark at the Birviedeux Lighthouse off the island of Belle-Ile, which they rounded this morning.
SKANDIA moved up the rankings overnight placing Davies in 20th place, 1.6 miles ahead one of the race favourite Yann Elies (Groupe Generali Assurances) in 22nd and two miles adrift of Michel Desjoyeaux.
Italian Pietro D'Ali (Nanni Diesel) lost his lead during the night to Fred Duthil (Brossard) who at 1500 BST was leading by 0.6 miles. The four leading boats have pulled away from the rest of the fleet and according to support boats on the water, the two leaders Brossard and Nann Diesel have created a gap of about 3 miles between themselves and Charles Caudrelier (Bostik) in third and Erwan Tabarly (Thales) in 4th.
After the upwind conditions that dominated the first 36 hours of this leg from the Spanish port of Getxo-Bilbao, the Figaro fleet are currently sailing downwind under spinnaker on their final run to the finish, in a north-westerly breeze of around 17-18 knots. This is expected to drop to 10-17 knots as the wind shifts round to the north-east by the end of the afternoon. The pace is unrelentless with only 10 miles separating the top 20 boats and the stamina of the skippers will tested to the full in the push to the finish.
The leaders have around 80 miles to go. The latest ETA at La Rochelle is for early tomorrow morning (Monday).
WHO IS PIETRO D’ALI?
Pietro D’Ali (42) is the third Italian to ever compete in La Solitaire du Figaro. (Corrado Agusta in 2003 and Simone Bianchetti in 1997). Pietro has already proved he means business by finishing 8th in Leg 1, just 11 minutes and 27 seconds behind the winner, Gildas Morvan. This has placed him at the top of the leaderboard in the Bénéteau rookie class with a 45 minute and 50 second lead on Yannick Bestaven’s Aquarelle.com.
Although he is new to the Solitaire, he is no stranger to high level sailing competitions and has an impressive sailing CV including two America’s Cup campaigns on Prada (winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000 on Luna Rossa), crew in the Volvo Ocean Race as part of the crew on Brooksfield. Pietro has also been Italy’s J22, J24, 420 and 470 champion and vice champion in the 470’s world championship in Kiel. He has won the Sailing Tour of Italy and has represented his country in the Star class at the Sydney Olympic Games. This year on a Figaro Bénéteau he has already won the Massilia Cup and above all, a leg on the Generali solo, where he finished 7th overall and first in the “rookie” class.
LEG 2 POSITIONS GEXTO-BILBAO TO LA ROCHELLE (1500BST 14/8/05)
1. DUTHIL Frédéric / BROSSARD 85.9 miles to finish
2. D'ALI Pietro / NANNI DIESEL 86.5 miles
3. CAUDRELIER Charles / BOSTIK 87.9 miles
4. TABARLY Erwan / THALES 88 miles
5. MORVAN Gildas / CERCLE VERT 91.3 miles
6. LE CLEAC'H Armel / FONCIA-TBS 91.7 miles
7. ATTANASIO Romain / MR.BOOKMAKER.COM 92.5 miles
8. CHABAGNY Thierry / LEBRE BERMUDES 92.5 miles
9. BERENGER Nicolas / KONE ASCENSEURS 92.8 miles
10. Beyou Jérémie / DELTA DORE 92.9 miles
---
20. DAVIES Sam / SKANDIA 95.9 miles
Champs Crowned at US Junior Championships
Newport Beach/Marina Del Rey, Calif. - After three days of exciting races and hard-fought competition, US SAILING has crowned the nation's junior sailing champions in single-, double- and triplehanded events of 2005. The winners have been named to US SAILING's U.S. Youth Sailing Team. This year's National Junior Champions are:
* U.S. Junior Singlehanded Champion: Cameron Cullman (Rye, N.Y.), representing American Yacht Club
* U.S. Junior Doublehanded Champions: Cole Hatton/Blair Belling (both from Newport Harbor, Calif.), representing Newport Harbor Yacht Club
* U.S. Junior Triplehanded Champions: Ted Hale, Evan Aras, and Joe Morris from Annapolis Yacht Club, Md.
U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship for US SAILING's Smythe Trophy
Cameron Cullman saved the best for last to win the U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship. Up until the last day of the Championship, he had been in second place, trailing just a few points behind Thomas Barrows (St. Thomas, USVI), who won the U.S. Youth Sailing Championship earlier this summer. On the last day, Cullman came prepared to win, getting a bullet on the first race of the final day, while Barrows finished 11th. In the second race of the final day, the two match-raced against each other, with Cullman finishing 17th and Barrows taking 18th. Using their last race as their discards, Cullman finished with 24 points total and Barrows with 31, thus Cullman took home US SAILING's Smythe Trophy.
U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship for US SAILING's Bemis Trophy
In the U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship, Cole Hatton and Blair Belling representing Newport Harbor Yacht Club, the host club, had the home-court advantage on the last day of the event. The Championship had been up for grabs throughout the regatta with the lead changing every day. Hatton and Blair finished the event with a total of 40 points in ten races, five points ahead of Taylor Canfield and Nathan Rosenberg (both from St. Thomas, USVI) representing St. Thomas Yacht Club. This is the second time in the 31-year history in the Championship that a team from Newport Harbor Yacht Club brings home US SAILING's Bemis Trophy (Scott Hogan and Amy Halvorsen won the trophy in 1998).
U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championship for US SAILING's Sears Cup
The U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championships was the real nail-biter for the Junior Championships with the lead changing hands several times throughout the regatta. In the end, the team from Annapolis Yacht Club won with sailors Ted Hale, Evan Aras, and Joe Morris. Bay Waveland Yacht Club (Jackson Benvenutti, Gary Taylor and David Bolyard) of Bay St. Louis, Miss., took second while host club Balboa Yacht Club took third.
August 11, 2005
How Many Funerals Will it Take?
Special by: Tom Rau
On Wednesday, July 27, 2005, my wife and I attended the funeral and paid our respects to a friend whose 80-year-old father had unexpectedly died. It was already a bad day for me regarding fatalities. During my boat smart beat telephone calls to Coast Guard Groups Milwaukee and Grand Haven that morning, I learned that there had been five fatalities around Lake Michigan over the last 72-hours.
Sitting in church, tears welled up as I listened to the hymn: “How Great Thou Art.” I thought at that moment other families and friends must be gathered at the funerals of those who died upon the waters over the last several days. Perhaps they too were listening to “How Great Thou Art.” Who would have expected a loved one’s carefree day would end up several days later under the dark shadow of a casket.
My friend’s father at least had enjoyed 80 years of life and produced two wonderful children who in turn brought into the world a fine brood reflective of his own qualities as a loving father. The average age of those who died over the last three days was 24 years. What will they leave behind besides a huge hole in the family fabric? Bear with me as I bare forth my soul.
It’s a crime to allow people to climb aboard a boat without any form of training whatsoever. Understand, it is not boats or the marine environment that is killing people, but the naïve mentality of its victims. They simply can’t grasp that it is not a user friendly environment regardless of how alluring it may seem. The five deaths over the last few days bring my count so far this season to 42 recreational water related fatalities; and those are only fatalities that I know of. One of the needless deaths occurred the other day in Calumet Harbor, Chicago. It involved a 38-year-old mother who drowned as her kids watched in horror from a 32-foot boat. She had gone for a swim off the boat, and as it drifted off, those aboard could not start the boat. She drowned as they looked on.
Just days before the Calumet Harbor incident a 32-year-old male was wave jumping on his new personal water craft and crashed into the lake off Sheboygan, Wisconsin. His fiancé was riding with him and between them they had one life jacket. She held him afloat awaiting rescue responders. He drowned before help arrived. Reportedly he had purchased the personal water craft three days before.
Recreational boating seems all so idyllic, but it can turn ugly in a heart beat. Despite how some may care to portray it, the marine environment is not about beer ads, smiling beauties casting their adorning eyes at mister stud boat driver, or the rest of the advertising hype that depicts the marine environment as a inviting giant aquatic theme park. It’s about dealing with reality. Those who depict it as anything else might attend a funeral or two to get their bent perspectives realigned.
And funerals promise to follow unless boaters learn to boat smart. Coast Guard recreational boating statistics in the first four years of the 21st century indicate that if current trends continue, the future looks gloomy to say the least. Take the average number of fatalities, 708, that occurred in the first four years of the 21st century and multiply it by one hundred years. That’s 70,800 projected doomed recreational boaters and possibly far more as recreational boaters grow in numbers as the U.S. population expands.
U.S. Census Bureau’s high series projections forecast that the nation will expand by 268 million people by the year 2050. Take reported boating injuries requiring medical assistance that occurred during that same four-year period and project it over a hundred years. We are looking at 1.5 million recreational boaters facing possible injures requiring medical treatment. The financial losses based on current trends are staggering—four billion dollars projected in property damage, and the figure does not include inflation or population increases, or even an increase in recreational boats.
Recreational boating losses will surely escalate if U.S. Census population projections hold true. Unfortunately another consistently will hold true unless legislators do something to stop it: nearly 83 percent of boating fatalities reveal that the victim had no form of boating education.
So how do the shortcomings end? The day legislators enact mandatory boating education. Until then throw any potential boat operator the keys to a boat and let them free upon the waters. So how many funerals will it take to end needless boating fatalities? Let’s stop throwing folks boat keys and first throw them the keys to smart boating. Now, that’s mandatory.
Moviestar -- Out on the Course
The 2005 Rolex Fastnet Race proved a good testing ground for the crew of the Volvo Open 70 'movistar', who were pleased to race against other boats for the first time.
Dutch skipper Bouwe Bekking, who has already completed four circumnavigations of the globe, said, "It is always different in delivery mode. You might slack off a little and even though you think you might have done the right thing, racing mode is always better, which is why this trip has been so good for us."
Bekking sees the Rolex Fastnet Race as a key event in their training programme for the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race that commences in November from Spain. "It is the first time that we have raced the boat and it was great to have the opportunity to race against other boats. Although some were much bigger than us, many had similar speeds in the light winds and it was good to test a variety of sails that we would not have normally used in these conditions."
'Movistar' started the race strongly out of the Solent and was just behind the 100ft 'ICAP Maximus' as night fell. From then on it was snakes and ladders as boats picked up the breeze and then lost it on the way out to the famous Fastnet rock off the Southern tip of Ireland.
Making good progress on the fleet, 'movistar' was the third boat to round the rock at 13h35 on 9 August, behind the two big 100ft Maxi's. Although homeward bound, it was slow progress and the Spanish Volvo Open 70 was the seventh boat to cross the finish line off the Plymouth breakwater at 05h 19 this morning (August 11) just behind the much bigger 'Leopard of London'.
After four days at sea many of the other crews were pleased to reach the shore, but for 'movistar' it was just an opportunity to re-fuel and put some new sails onboard before heading back out to sea towards their home-port of Sanxenxo, Spain.
Although the crew would have liked to add another record to their 24-hour distance record achieved earlier this year, the conditions were not in their favour. Bekking was not concerned - the crew had learnt a lot about the boat and were pleased to be out racing.
Bekking concluded before heading out onto the horizon, "We are very happy with the progress we have made and we have achieved what we wanted to achieve. We feel that we have a little advantage over the other Volvo Open 70's and that is important to us."
August 10, 2005
Fastnet: Light Air and Close Combat
Since the start of the 2005 Rolex Fastnet Race on Sunday morning, light airs have dictated the slow pace as the Open 60 fleet play the vagaries of sea breeze versus gradient breeze to their advantage or disadvantage! The competition amongst the 12-boat Open fleet [Benoit Parnaudeau's Best Western Chamonix announced their retirment on Sunday evening] is wide open with only 12 miles separating the fleet this morning as they approach the Fastnet Rock off the south coast of Ireland. There has been a fair amount of place changing amongst the front group but Mike Sanderson's Pindar Alphagraphics has kept her position at the front of the fleet since 1500 BST yesterday. This morning sees Jean Pierre Dick's Virbac-Paprec in 2nd and Bernard Stamm's Cheminées Poujoulat in 3rd. Less than half a mile behind Stamm comes Mike Golding's Ecover and Roland Jourdain's Sill et Veolia. Alex Thompson on Hugo Boss is certainly mixing it with the top five but incorrect polling information is putting him at the back of the fleet although visual sightings by the other skippers confirm he is not off the pace. Other Brit, Conrad Humphreys is a couple of miles adrift of SKANDIA after losing out in Mounts Bay yesterday.
Nick Moloney and his crew on board SKANDIA were 6.6 miles behind the leader at the 0918 BST poll and comfortable with their position in the middle of the fleet covering the ground at 8.2 knots in a light westerly breeze. Sometimes reaching, sometimes downwind as the breeze swings around, the crew have had their work cut out for them in these conditions and Moloney reported that not much sleep was had on the first night as the SKANDIA crew worked hard to establish their position. But for Moloney this race is proving to be more pleasure than pain compared to the last time he raced solo in the 2004/2005 Vendée Globe non-stop round the world race [see below].
After rounding the Fastnet, the Open 60 fleet will have 240 miles to go before the winner of this fleet is decided and the outcome is wide open. The weather is unlikely to change significantly as the high pressure system looks set to persist for another couple of days. This will mean that the Open 60 crews will be fighting for every knot of speed, continually searching for the best breeze either inshore or offshore and hoping that the tital gates off the south-west coast of England on the final run into the finish at Plymouth do not cause their downfall. The Open 60 leaders are expected to finish sometime late tomorrow evening - the center of a high pressure system is firmly parked over the Fastnet Rock, meaning the light airs will continue.
FROM NICK ONBOARD SKANDIA AT SUNRISE 09.08.05:
I cannot remember if i have ever seen the irish sea so smooth. if you are not in a hurry to get somewhere, the situation is pretty glorious. This morning 0517 GMT it is a little overcast but the skies have been mostly clear of cloud specially during the evening which commenced last night with a great display of the 'green flash' as the sun sunk below the horizon....awesome! Plenty of shooting stars to entertain the crews throughout the cool evenings. It's a case of wearing everything you have to keep warm throughout the evenings, we are glad its not wet and wild.
We are currently surrounded by boats, 9 miles behind our class leader in 7th position and can see the the fleet from 5th to 10th. The sun is rising and we are awaiting the warmth it generates. Last night was our second at sea in
this race and normally we would be around the rock but still have 50 miles to go. I am not in any hurry, as long as the fleet are still together, I could continue in this enviroment for a long time.
It's fantastic to have a team onboard. This is the first time I have sailed offshore since the Vendée Globe. Then I was very lonely. I love the laughter and the company of the rest of the team and the general hashing over of options and decisions. We are happy with our position and are continually working our way closer towards the front after a tough first night being caught too close to the beach. None of us slept much on the first night but seem to be getting some reasonable rest now. We have e generator problem which is not desperate but a little frustrating.
Patches Finds the Fast Route to Foggy Fastnet
With the first few yachts having rounded a fog-bound Fastnet Rock, the TP52 Patches is provisionally leading the Rolex Fastnet Race on handicap. Calculated on corrected time under the IRC system, Eamon Conneely's Irish 52-footer is ahead of Nick Lykiardopulo's Ker 55 Aera by almost an hour and half.
Patches skipper, Ian Walker, was delighted to be racing in amongst the Open 60 fleet and other larger and more powerful yachts. The eighth boat round, Patches passed the Rock at 1437 hours this afternoon. The sleek lines of the TP52 are proving very slippery in the unrelentingly light and glassy Celtic Sea. "We had a very good night," commented the double Olympic medallist. "Upwind in the light airs I think we're quicker than the Open 60s. "We can see 16 boats around us. We're no more than five boat-lengths away from Ecover. We rounded inside them at the Rock."
Walker believes their strategy of approaching the Rock from the south was the key to their big gains. But while he is pleased with progress to date, he is certainly not feeling comfortable. "There have been some massive gains and losses, and there will be plenty more. The race hasn't even started yet."
The other threat to Patches handicap lead is the current leader across the water, ICAP Maximus. Although the bigger boat was two hours behind Patches on IRC handicap at the Rock, the wind has been working in the Maxi's favour. Having rounded the Rock at 0333 hours this morning, she has managed to sail in a straight - albeit not very fast - line back towards the Scillies. The boats behind, on the other hand, have had to contend with a wind that has since shifted round to the south-east, forcing them to tack upwind on the 150 miles back to the Scillies. Speaking at 1540 hours this afternoon, the Kiwi Maxi was 92 miles from the Scillies, but in less than 2 knots of wind. "The Celtic Sea is covered in high pressure, so we won't be reaching Plymouth for a long time yet."
The Maxi's owner, Charles St Clair Brown, said the conditions were extremely frustrating. "We parked up a fair while. Everyone's working pretty hard to keep the boat going." He has allowed himself the possibility of winning that rare double of line honours and handicap victory. "It's a big ask, but it's possible," he said.
Veteran Fastnet navigator Mike Broughton, who is sitting out this race but still watching the weather closely on the internet, believes the light winds work in favour of the big Maxis. "Their rigs are higher, and that makes all the difference. There is a lot of surface friction at sea level. So if the wind was blowing, say, 4 knots at sea level, it could be 25 to 30 per cent stronger at the top of a Maxi rig. Also, with a canting keel you can drop it to leeward to help heel the boat over." He also thinks the breeze might give ICAP Maximus a reasonable passage back to the finish, although there is scant likelihood of stronger winds arriving until Friday night at the earliest.
In the closely-fought Open 60 fleet, Pindar led around the Fastnet Rock, passing the waypoint at 1348 hours, just 13 minutes behind the Volvo Open 70 Movistar. Pindar skipper Mike Sanderson commented: "We are pushing very hard. The reason we are here is that we wanted some intense racing and that is what we are getting. It's fantastic. If we can get out cleanly from what looks like a transition zone in the wind, we should have a better run. But we'll be fighting all the way to the finish. It could be down to the last headland coming into Plymouth. There are plenty of fun and games out here yet."
Further back, many yachts still have a long, slow battle to reach the Fastnet Rock. Simon Le Bon and his crew on Arnold Clark Drum continue to enjoy life at sea, but are hoping for things to speed up. Alex Whitworth, the skipper of doublehanded Australian entry Berrimilla, commented at 1530 hours today: "We're 40 miles north-west of Lands End. The breeze is very soft and gentle. We've had three hours of glassy calm. We're hard on the wind, but we're more or less pointing at the Rock. We've got a lot of boats around us, ranging from a Sigma 33 to a 45-footer."
The Rolex Fastnet Race entails 608 miles of racing from Cowes to Plymouth, via the Fastnet Rock off the southern tip of Ireland. In addition to the two main prizes - the Fastnet Challenge Cup and the Fastnet Rock Trophy, there are more than 30 trophies to be awarded at the conclusion of this year's race. The prizegiving will take place at the Royal Citadel, home of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, in Plymouth on Friday 12th August.
Further information about the RORC and the Rolex Fastnet Race, including position news from competitors and Rock rounding times may be found at: www.rorc.org
Copyright free high resolution photography, for editorial usage only, may be found at: www.regattanews.com
FASTNET ROCK ROUNDINGS (@1700 9/8/05)
Pos./ Name / Type / Time / Date
1. ICAP Maximus / Elliott 30 / 03.33 / 9/8
2. Skandia Wild Thing / IRC Maxi 98 / 09.18 / 9/8
3. Movistar / Volvo 70 / 13.35 / 9/8
4. Pindar Alphagraphics/ Open 60 / 13.48 / 9/8
5. Leopard of London / R/P / 13.51 / 9/8
6. UCA / Judel/Vrolijk86/ 13.55 / 9/8
7. Virbac-Paprec / Open 60 / 14.09 / 9/8
8. Patches / TP52 / 14.37 / 9/8
9. Ecover / Open 60 / 14.39 / 9/8
10. Sill & Veolia / Open 60 / 14.41 / 9/8
11. Cheminees Poujoulat/ Open 60 / 14.56 / 9/8
12. Team Heiner One / Volvo 60 / 15.14 / 9/8
13. Venom / Volvo 60 / 16.00 / 9/8
14. Formidable 3 / Lutra 56 / 16.04 / 9/8
15. Skandia / Open 60 / 16.07 / 9/8
16. Aera / Ker 55 / 16.12 / 9/8
17. Hellomoto / Open 60 / 16.22 / 9/8
18. Hugo Boss / Open 60 / 16.28 / 9/8
CURRENT IRC STANDINGS (PROVISIONAL EXTRAPOLATIONS @ 1700 9/8/05)
Pos. /Sail No./ Name / Owner
1. IRL5200/ PATCHES / EAMON CONNEELY
2. GRE55 / AERA / NIK LYKIARDOPULO
3. NZL99999/ ICAPMAXIMUS / EBS YACHTING
4. NED56 / FORMIDABLE 3 / PIET VROON
5. BER2000/ VENOM / WINDWARD SAILING
6. NED7550/ TEAM HEINER ONE / TEAM HEINER BV
7. GER5000/ UCA / KLAUS MURMANN
8. GBR1R / LEOPARD OF LONDON/ MIKE SLADE
9. ESP1 / MOVISTAR / DESAFIO VUELTA AL MUNDO
10. M10 / SKANDIA WILD THING/ GRANT WHARINGTON
Sailors Named for University Games Team
The four-member Sailing Team from the U.S. and a coach will travel to Izmir, Turkey, for the World University Games which will be held August 11-21. The U.S. will be represented by a total of four sailors in two Olympic classes: two competitors each in the Laser (a singlehanded boat for men) and the Laser Radial (a singlehanded boat for women). The four sailors named to the 2005 U.S. World University Games Team - Sailing are Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.); Anna Tunnicliffe (Norfolk, Va.); Brendan Fahey (Kingston, Wash.); and Jennifer Gervais (Charleston, S.C.). The Team will be accompanied by coach Gary Bodie (Hampton, Va.), US SAILING's High Performance Director and Head Coach of the US Sailing Team.
Organized every two years by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), the World University Games bring together thousands of top-level collegiate athletes from around the world to compete in at least 10 sports (the number of sports fluctuates every Games). This year, 15 sports will participate in the Games, marking the second time that sailing is part of the Summer World University Games since FISU organized the first Games in 1959. USA sailors won a bronze medal at the 1998 Summer World University Games when they were held in Palma, Spain.
About the Team-members:
Andrew Campbell is a current member of the US Sailing Team and a junior at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. majoring in International Affairs. At age 21, Campbell already has numerous impressive singlehanded sailing titles to his name, including 2002 Youth World Champion, U.S. Youth Champion (2000-2002), College Singlehanded Champion, High School Singlehanded Champion, among others. Campbell is a member of the Georgetown University Sailing Team and has been a College All-American every year since he entered college.
Like Campbell, Anna Tunnicliffe is a current member of the US Sailing Team. Tunnicliffe, a recent graduate from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. with a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting and Decision Sciences, has been competing in regattas at home and abroad. In June, she was named College Sailor of the Year by the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association and has been a College Women's All-American throughout her college sailing career. This year, Tunnicliffe was also named a College Coed All-American, a feat very few other women have accomplished.
Brendan Fahey, who will be a senior at the University of Washington this fall, has competed in several national and international regattas in the last few years. A member of University of Washington's sailing team, Fahey trains three days week with the team and competes in regattas on the weekends. Fahey is majoring in Earth and Space Science.
Jennifer Gervais plans to graduate in 2006 from St. Mary's College of Maryland, where she is a member of the sailing team. The team finished 11th overall at the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association's Women's Dinghy Championships in June. Gervais is majoring in Religious Studies with a cross disciplinary study in African and African-American Diaspora.
August 9, 2005
FASNET: Hellomoto Slipping in 7th
At sunrise this morning, Conrad Humphreys and his Motorola Ocean Racing team onboard Open 60 HELLOMOTO had smiles all round when they saw that they had pulled up the fleet overnight and even had Skandia in their wake. Always a satisfying feeling after a hard night’s driving in the dark, changing sails and making good calls, all the while keeping inshore on the right hand side of the course.
However, it was all change just 4 hours later in this intensely close race of snakes and ladders thanks to the light, tricky weather conditions, and HELLOMOTO had slipped back 2 miles and also behind Skandia again. One bad gybe later after getting stuck in Mount’s Bay in little wind for too long, and HELLOMOTO was back on pace in 7th place.
Conrad called in at 1600 BST to report that things had taken a turn for the better since: “We’re reasonably happy, although it could be better, as we’ve pulled back on Ecover and Skandia, we’re about 1m behind them. I can’t see Hugo Boss right now. We seem to be quick in these conditions, very slippery, HELLOMOTO’s moving through the water nicely and we’re making gains all the time.
“We’re passing North of the Scilly Isles, and now laying the Fastnet Rock, which lies 150 miles to the North West. We’ve got the full main and lightweight Code 5 up, going 6.5 knots in a steady 6 knot NE breeze. We’re going to have to work our way to the left hand side of the course though, as the forecast is for there to be more pressure there, but it’s a question of how far left to go..
“The team is in the groove, Nat Ives and I are making the big picture decisions, but the whole team is working well together and getting enough rest and Joff’s excellent bacon sarnies to keep the energy levels topped up!”
View Open 60 fleet progress, cartography and animations at http://www.netandsea.com/fastnetrace/
Open 60 Leading Positions at 1500 GMT
Pos Boat Latitude Longitude Speed Hdg DTF* DTL**
1 PINDAR 50 20.36' N 6 46.04' W 6.4 301 371.2 0.0
2 SILL 50 19.28' N 6 44.36' W 6.2 298 372.7 1.5
3 VIRBAC 50 15.16' N 6 45.56' W 6.1 301 374.3 3.1
4 CHEMINEES 50 09.12' N 6 44.16' W 7.1 302 378.4 7.2
5 ECOVER 50 06.08' N 6 30.28' W 7.8 292 387.5 16.2
6 SKANDIA 50 05.88' N 6 30.36' W 8.1 293 387.6 16.3
7 HELLOMOTO 50 03.68' N 6 27.00' W 7.0 291 390.6 19.3
* Distance to finish ** Distance to Leader
HELLOMOTO position & performance data are updated on the Race Console feature launched from the homepage at www.o6t.com
Listen in to Conrad Humphreys’ daily phone-in to the Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Devon at 0730 BST from Monday 8th August
Open 60 Leading Positions at 1500 GMT
Pos Boat Latitude Longitude Speed Hdg DTF* DTL**
1 SILL 50 32.28' N 2 04.76' W 10.4 240 560.9
2 PINDAR 50 38.88’ N 1 49.88’ W 10.6 273 561.2 0.4
3 ECOVER 50 30.72’ N 2 00.96’ W 10.9 211 562.7 1.9
8 HELLOMOTO 50 32.44’ N 1 57.48’ W 8.7 221 565.3 4.5
9 HUGO BOSS 50 24.20’ N 1 51.44’ W 9.6 221 567.3 6.4
* Distance to finish ** Distance to Leader
Skandia Mid-Fleet at Halfway Mark
SKANDIA skipper, Samantha Davies, looks like she is settling into the first leg of the 1,710 mile four-leg Solitaire du Figaro marathon, after an unsettling start yesterday. SKANDIA hit some rocks less than two hours into the race and Sam immediately hoisted a red flag to protest another competitor who had not given her sufficient water to stay clear. But Sam appears to have recovered well, gaining ground on the boats in front through the night. By this morning Sam had moved up nine places to 24th place out of the 46-boat fleet, just 7 miles behind the leader Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel), Yann Elies (Groupe Generali Assurances) in 2nd and Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) in 3rd. After holding the lead from the start, Michel Desjoyeaux, skipper of Geant, lost his lead this morning after his spinnaker ripped, and this afternoon was in 13th place.
After a night of downwind sailing, the fleet turned the corner at Ushant and are now reaching across the Bay of Biscay towards their final destination at the Spanish port of Getxo-Bilbao – the latest ETA is midday tomorrow for the leaders. The pace has been fast and furious in windy ENE conditions and rough seas – there is no option but for full wet weather gear. Leaving the helm for any length of time is almost impossible, forcing the skippers to grab food and snatch some sleep when they can in the shortest possible time. At 1500 BST today the Figaro Beneteau fleet were on the same longitude as Port Bourgenay [the final finish port of Leg 4] in 15-20 knots of breeze under mainsail and either genoa or solent ,averaging around 9 knots of boat speed. The majority of boats are in sight of each other with SKANDIA positioned in 26th place - practically bang, smack in the middle of the fleet - at the1500 BST poll. Only 10 miles separates Sam from the leader, Kito de Pavant, and this close combat means little down-time as the skippers helm nearly full-time to keep an edge on their competitors.
At the half way mark of this 390-mile first leg, SKANDIA has 195 miles to go to Getxo-Bilbao. The wind is due to increase to 27 knots tonight, and the sea state will become quite rough bringing another fast and wet night of sailing for SKANDIA. Sam will be hoping to arrive by early tomorrow afternoon, as tomorrow night could see the forecasted NE 18-22 knot breeze disappear as thunderstorms off the coast of Bilbao develop bringing variable winds both in direction and strength.
A knee injury has forced Jacques Einhorn out of the race, reducing the fleet to 45 boats.
LEG 1 POSITIONS: PERROS-GUIREC TO GEXTO-BILBAO (1500BST 8/8/05)
1. De PAVANT Kito / GROUPE BEL 185.6miles to finish
2. MORVAN Gildas / CERCLE VERT 186miles
3. EMIG Marc / TOTAL 186.7miles
4. PELLECUER Laurent / CLIPTOL SPORT 186.9miles
5. TABARLY Erwan / THALES 187miles
6. ELIES Yann / GROUPE GENERALI ASSURANCES 187.2miles
7. CAUDRELIER Charles / BOSTIK 187.4miles
8. DUTHIL Fréderic / BROSSARD 188.3miles
9. KRAUSS Olivier / ESPOIR CREDIT AGRICOLE 188.3miles
10. BERENGER Nicholas / KONE Ascenseurs 189.4miles
--
26. DAVIES Sam / SKANDIA 195miles
For latest positions, go to http://classements.lasolitaire.com/
LA SOLITAIRE AFFLELOU LE FIGARO 2005
Leg 1
Sunday 7th August - Perros-Guirec to Getxo-Bilbao, Spain (390 miles). ETA 9 August.
Leg 2
Friday12th August - Getxo-Bilbao, Spain to La Rochelle (368 miles). ETA 14 August.
Leg 3
Wednesday 17th August – La Rochelle to Cork (Crosshaven), Ireland (456 miles). ETA 20 August.
Leg 4
Tuesday 23rd August – Cork, Ireland to Port Bourgenay Talmont-Saint-Hilaire, France (496 miles). ETA 26 August.
August 8, 2005
Volvo Introduces Five Sailboat Engines
Volvo Penta is introducing five new engines for sailing and displacement boats: D1-13, 20 and 30, D2-40 and D4-180. All of the new engines feature low rpms, powerful torque, freshwater cooling, powerful alternators and emissions that complies with the emission requirements introduced in the EU and USA as from 2006.
In just a few years, Volvo Penta has introduced a completely new engine program for sailing and displacement boats. The engines in the new D-series are modern, low-emission engines that complies with the emission requirements introduced in the EU and USA as from 2006.
With eight engines ranging from 12 to 180 hp, Volvo Penta now has the market’s most modern and complete engine range for displacement boats and semi-planing boats.
When the worldwide Volvo Ocean Race begins in November of this year, all racing yachts entered in the competition will be equipped with standard models of Volvo Penta diesel engines. The proficiency and capacity of the engines was proved under the most difficult conditions during the previous race four years ago.
Low rpm and high torque
An engine that works at low rpm provides better comfort and is easier to maneuver than an engine that operates at high rpm. All engines in the sailboat program have a maximum revolution speed of 2,700-3,200 rpm, which means they maintain less than 2,500 rpm at cruising speed.
The torque of the engines is high across the entire speed range. This provides good maneuvering qualities at low rpm and prevents the engine from losing power, for example in choppy waters.
Effective battery charging
Today’s boats are equipped with an increasing range of electrical equipment, which places greater demands on the battery charging capacity. Volvo Penta’s engines have a standard alternator of as much as 115 A, with a built-in charging sensor that guarantees the correct charging voltage to the battery. (D3 engines have 140 A generators without charging sensors). The high torque of the engines also create a more effective charge in idling speed.
Another new feature is that all engines are now also equipped with electrical stop, which enables the engine to be started and turned off easily with the ignition key. It also provides better comfort, since a traditional mechanical stop wire feeds noise and vibrations into the cockpit.
All the engines are equipped with freshwater cooling as a standard feature, which increases service life and provides opportunities to install warm water and/or heating onboard.
Saildrive, reverse gear and propellers
Volvo Penta’s saildrive, which creates low resistance under sail and high efficiency during power, is available for engines up to 75 hp. A wide range of reverse gears with straight or down angle shafts make it easy for boat builders or the owner who repowers with a new engine to find the best transmission.
Volvo Penta also has a complete range of propellers. The patented three and four-blade folding propellers for engines up to 120 hp provide the best performance standards for yachtsmen. Thanks to its unique elliptical form, the traction force is extremely high, even in reverse, while resistance under sail is minimal.
Volvo Penta’s engine program for sailing and deplacement boats
D1-13: 2 cylinders, 12 hp (new)
D1-20: 3 cylinders, 19 hp (new)
D1-30: 3 cylinders, 28 hp (new)
D2-40: 4 cylinders, 40 hp (new)
D2-55: 4 cylinders, 55 hp
D2-75: 4 cylinders, 75 hp
D3-110: 5 cylinders, 110 hp
D4-180: 4 cylinders, 180 hp (new)
All of the engines comply with the emission requirements introduced in the EU and USA as from 2006 and the local requirements for Lake of Constance (BSO).
For all of your Volvo engine parts needs, you may see the Torresen - Volvo Marine Diesel Direct website at: http://www.marinedieseldirect.com/volvo/
For sailboat repower information visit the Torresen Marine Diesel Direct repower site at: http://www.marinedieseldirect.com/repower/
Spirit of Canada Sponsorship Announced
CGC Inc, a USG Company, today announced its support of Spirit of Canada Ocean Challenges and skipper Derek Hatfield as he sets his sights to win the 2006 5-Oceans global sailboat race. CGC will provide financial support at the Gold Partnership level.
Construction of the new ocean racer, Spirit of Canada is underway with the laying up of the light weight hull and deck. The boat is due to be launched in the spring of 2006 and will take approximately 22,000 hours to construct. Hatfield says that “Spirit of Canada Ocean Challenges is proud to be supported by such a world class company. The fact that CGC has its roots in the Maritimes is a fitting combination”.
Spirit of Canada is the first Open 60 ever built in Canada, as well as the first all pre-preg carbon fiber boat made here. Hatfield will be the first Canadian to race around the world twice solo.
Chi-Mac Results Declared Final
Janet Crabb, principal race officer for the 2005 Chicago to Mackinac Race announced last week that the race's resulta are now final.
According to a release form the committee, "All finish time adjustment errors, which occurred while applying jury assigned redress, are now corrected and the Race Committee apologizes to all participants."
The changes affected the Place-in-Division finishes of several boats as well as the second and third place finishes in the Chicago-Mackinac Trophy Division.
~ Wooton 2 - Second Place Overall - Chicago-Mackinac Trophy Division
~ Perseverance – Third Place Overall - Chicago-Mackinac Trophy Division
Hellomoto Hunts Down Hugo Boss
The 12 strong Open 60 fleet in the Rolex Fastnet 2005 race had a ‘stop-go’ start as they sailed off the Royal Yacht Squadron line at Cowes in a shifting and gusty breeze. HELLOMOTO, steered over the line by ex-‘Enigma’ Fastnet winning helmsman Ben Cooper, stayed closer to the Island side in stronger following tide, and crossed in the top pack of boats. Despite a slightly unlucky initial transition, where the Northerly gradient wind shifted to a SW sea-breeze and the leaders Pindar Alphagraphics and Ecover were the first to catch this shift and push out a lead, Conrad Humphreys and team were back on pace and in 8th place at the latest position report after hunting down Hugo Boss.
Conrad rang in to update on their progress since the start: “It was a difficult exit out of the Solent when the Northerly gradient wind shifted to the sea breeze and we all got caught up together. The first boats to get that shift are out 5 miles in front of us, but we’re neck and neck with the winning Vendée boat, now called ‘Roxy’, and have Virbac ahead to leeward. We’d hoped to reel in Hugo Boss – Ben’s driving really well – but Skandia, the boat we measure up with has got good pace up ahead. The French boats mostly went inside the North Channel marker and stayed with the Northerly gradient, so Stamm for one is doing well.”
Commenting on the next few hours ahead: “We’re all going upwind, not the favourable angle for these boats, the tide’s with us, but I doubt we’ll get round Portland Bill before it changes. When the sea breeze dies and the Northerly comes back it’s due to go very light after about 7pm tonight. It’ll be a tough call whether to go on the right side of the course or sail offshore to stay in the breeze. Around 8pm tonight we’ll kick into our watch system. I’m on with Simon, and Joff with Ben, Nat is floating between the two. We’re all looking forward to some ready made home-cooked stew for supper tonight!”
Conrad penned his initial thoughts for the first 12 hours of the race in a diary before the off: “The Rolex Fastnet is a tough, tactical race and the early signs are that this race will be no different. The forecast is looking decidedly tricky, with a high pressure ridge set to dominate southern Ireland and drift across the race track. Combine the light forecast and the typically strong tidal currents found on the south coast of England and I think we will see some big splits in the fleet after the first night at sea.
“The first 24 hours of the race in terms of the weather is going to be very interesting. Two years ago the first dozen boats that passed Portland before the tide turned went on to dominate the podium positions. My gut feel is that this race is shaping up to be the same.
“It’s great fun to be sailing with a team again. The last couple of years my focus has been on the solo sailing and there is a big difference between having your team around you on the water rather than on the end of a satellite telephone!”
Sailors Come from Near and Far for Fastnet Start
Hundreds of crew are making final preparations in Cowes before the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race on Sunday morning. It is a nervous time for some, particularly those venturing out to the Fastnet Rock for the first time. Jo Cackett barely knew one end of a sailing yacht from another before this year, but as an Australian living in London and working for a British sailing magazine, she felt she really ought to know more about life at sea.
Talk about throwing yourself in at the deep end, embarking on nothing less than one of the great offshore races. But Cackett says she feels confident. "It's great getting a chance to do something like this, when there are sailors far more experienced than me, who would love to get this opportunity." She is one of a number of Fastnet rookies that will be sailing with experienced owner/skipper Ali Smith aboard the Reflex 38, Puma Logic.
Cackett has undergone a steep learning curve to ensure she is prepared for whatever weather or problems are hurled in their path during the 608-mile passage. She has certainly come a long way since taking her RYA Competent Crew course at the end of last year. "We've done four offshore races this year, and we've done a lot of training. I just hope that the first couple of days out of Cowes are light winds, as I've discovered I tend to get sea sick. I'm praying the weather is gentle with us so we have time to get used to it."
Presumably seasickness is not a problem for Alex Whitworth and Peter Crozier. These Australians raced their 33-footer Berrimilla in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race last Christmas time, and then sailed half way around the world to compete in the Rolex Fastnet Race. Having completed this race, their plan is then to return to Australia via Cape Horn at the bottom of the African continent, in time to race in this December's Rolex Sydney Hobart. For most sailors, sailing out to the Fastnet Rock off Ireland's southern coastline, and back to the finish is Plymouth, is exhausting enough as part of a team. Whitworth and Crozier, however, are one of a number of double-handed teams contesting this race.
One of the most experienced competitors will be 2001 winner Piet Vroon who, at the age of 70, will be sailing in his 23rd Rolex Fastnet having just sailed his brand new Lutra 56, Formidable 3, across the Atlantic. Almost every one of the 286 boats entered has a story to tell, and if they don't now, they certainly will by the time they reach Plymouth. For the big boats such as the 100-foot racing Maxis, Skandia Wild Thing and ICAP Maximus, they might cover the 608 miles in two or three days. For the smallest yachts, the 32-foot Contessas and Sigma 33s, it could take anything up to a week before they hear the finish gun in Plymouth Sound.
Mike Broughton has competed in many past editions of the Rolex Fastnet, but this year is sitting onshore providing weather analysis for other teams. He predicts a long, slow race this year. "The first few days of this race are going to be dominated by a big high pressure system. The skill is going to be all about seeking the best wind. And with the strong spring tides that exist at the moment, people should have their kedging anchors at the ready." Kedging is one of a sailor's least favourite pastimes, the act of dropping anchor to stop being pushed back the wrong way by an adverse tide. For some sailors, this will be a hugely frustrating process, but for the more experienced racers in the fleet, kedging is just one of the many and varied skills that the Rolex Fastnet Race will demand over the coming days.
The first signal for the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race sounds at 1050 on Sunday 7th August. In addition to the two main prizes - the Fastnet Challenge Cup and the Fastnet Rock Trophy, there are more than 30 trophies to be awarded at the conclusion of this year's Rolex Fastnet Race. The prizegiving will take place at the Royal Citadel, home of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, in Plymouth on Friday 12th August.
Aera Wins Needles Matchout of the Solent
Many top-rated boats fell foul of a tricky game of snakes and ladders with the fickle breeze in the Solent, at the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race today. With the tide just on the turn as the seven divisions of the 285-boat fleet departed the Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes, it was a tough call knowing whether to aim for the mainland or the island shore of the Solent. The double Olympic medallists in the afterguard of TP52 Patches, Shirley Robertson and Ian Walker, won their start at the Cowes end of the line. Eamon Conneely's new yacht accelerated off the line, leaving her arch rival Aera in her wake. Nick Lykiardopulo's team could only watch as Patches and other yachts such as the 100-foot ICAP Maximus stole their breeze.
ICAP Maximus's great rival for line honours, the newly refurbished Skandia Wild Thing, was two minutes late for the start at the windward end of the long start line, over by the mainland shore at Calshot. Her participation in the race had been cast into severe doubt just hours before, when a routine check of the rig revealed serious damage to the top of the mast. The crew made a makeshift repair to the mast using carbon and epoxy, and a crewman was still perched aloft just minutes before the start, using a hot-air gun to dry the hardening epoxy as much as possible.
Despite Skandia's late start, owner Grant Wharington soon found good pressure on the mainland shore and was eating into ICAP Maximus's lead. At least ICAP Maximus, owned by Charles St Clair Brown and Bill Buckley, had made ground towards the mainland side of the Solent. Others that held the island shore, such as Patches and the Maxi yacht Leopard of London, found themselves increasingly stranded in fickle winds. Every so often, a zephyr of breeze would offer them some hope of redemption, but ultimately the breeze was more reliable to windward.
The Volvo Open 70 Movistar held a high line along the shore by Lymington and hit 14 knots boatspeed as the wind puffed up to 10 knots on the beam. She started to make big inroads into ICAP Maximus's lead as the yachts approached Hurst Castle at the western end of the Solent. Skandia Wild Thing was also making back ground on the leaders until her gennaker broke. She was forced to sail bareheaded until the crew could put up a replacement. Things really aren't going her way so far.
With the fleet sent off in staggered starts, the bigger yachts had just about caught the leading cruiser/racers of IRC divisions 2 and 3 by the time they passed the Needles. It was here that the breeze difference between the island and the mainland shores was at its greatest. The obstruction of the Shingles Bank created a fork in the road as the fleet poured out of Hurst Straits into Christchurch Bay. What the sailors would have given for a bird's eye view at this point, because it soon became apparent that the mainland shore was definitely the place to aim for now. Two foreign entries made the most of this advantage, Harry Heijst's Dutch S&S41 Winsome stealing a march on her rivals, along with Night & Day, a French J/105 skippered by Pascal Loison. These two were the first yachts past the Needles.
Meanwhile, Aera had dug herself out of her windless hole at the start and having sailed up behind her competitors to the mainland shore, emerged into Christchurch Bay over a mile ahead of Patches. It was a remarkable turnaround of fortune between these co-favourites for IRC handicap victory. Having stayed close to the island shore all the way along the Solent, Patches and Leopard were committed to passing to the south of the Shingles, drifting close by the Needles. While the likes of Aera and the others that aimed to the north of the Shingles were sliding along in a healthy Force 2, the glassy water by the Needles signified a complete disappearance of breeze for Patches and those around her. After a great start, the early miles of this race have not been kind to the much-fancied Irish boat.
Further back was the 14-strong Open 60 fleet, with Mike Sanderson helming Pindar into a useful lead over Roland Jourdain's Sill as they sailed past the Needles. Another half mile behind, Skandia, Ecover and Hugh Boss were in a closer battle for third.
Mike Broughton, a long-time competitor in the Fastnet as a navigator, is this time sitting ashore and watching the weather closely. He is standing by yesterday's prediction of a very slow race. "The first few boats might just make it past Portland this evening before the tide turns against them," he said. But it will be a close-run thing, even for yachts as fast as the 100-foot canting-keel Maxis or the VO70. "The wind is blowing 6 knots from the south-west at Portland, and they have positive current only until 7pm." If the leaders can break through this tidal gate before it shuts, they will gain a substantial advantage over the rest of the fleet.
The Rolex Fastnet Race entails 608 miles of racing from Cowes to Plymouth, via the Fastnet Rock off the southern tip of Ireland. In addition to the two main prizes - the Fastnet Challenge Cup and the Fastnet Rock Trophy, there are more than 30 trophies to be awarded at the conclusion of this year's race. The prizegiving will take place at the Royal Citadel, home of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, in Plymouth on Friday 12th August.
Presentation of Breitling Medcup 2006 Calendar
The Copa del Rey-Aguabrava Trophy, fourth of the five events that make up the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit, has been the stage for the launch of the Breitling MEDCUP calendar for 2006. Following the meeting for the TP52 owners on Thursday 4th of August, it was decided that for 2006 five or six scored events would be held, many of new creation, aimed specifically at the needs of the increasing Transpac fleet in Europe.
Over 20 offers were handed in to the Mediterranean TP52 Fleet Association to host the events for these Formula 1 of the sea, for the second Breitling MEDCUP TP52 season.
The spectacular nature of these titans of the sea, the excitement of real time racing (first to cross the finish line wins), and the presence of the leading figures in the world of sailing has attracted much attention from the both national and international clubs. The proposal, which is not yet confirmed is as follows: Ibiza (Spain) – A Regatta would be planned for the end of April-, Punta Ala (Italy) –end of May-, Porto Rotondo (Italy) –beginning of June-, Barcelona (Spain), Palma de Mallorca (Spain) –with the Breitling regatta and the Copa del Rey, which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary- and Athens (Greece).
The definitive calendar for 2006 will be announced in the coming weeks, following final discussions with the Clubs proposed for the Circuit. There will also be six to eight TP52s heading towards the USA early next year, to begin preparing for the first Transpac 52 World Championships. The TP52 fleet which already has 9 new boats in construction, will soon be made up of approximately 20 vessels, with the added incentive of the 2007 World Championships to be held in European waters.
Lexus-Quantum Makes History
The very first Copa del Rey for the Transpac Class now has an owner: LEXUS-Quantum Racing has written a page in sporting history, by winning one of the most coveted trophies in international sport.
The close competition and similarity of the vessels has been a key feature in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit, and as ever it has been a dominating aspect of today’s racing, the final day of the Copa del Rey.
There was a out and out war between Movistar, with the Vascotto-Campos duo onboard, and Lexus, with Russell Coutts, Mark Reynolds and Peter Isler. The battle appeared to have been won by movistar at first, until a great mistake with a manoeuvre meant that the lead in the general rankings went to Lexus. Orlanda-Olympus closed the Copa del Rey with a well deserved victory in the last race of the regatta.
FOUR CONTENDERS FOR ONE CUP
The signs were clear, that this was going to be a truly breathtaking day, with four vessels: Movistar, with Vascotto-Campos, Lexus-Quantum Racing, Coutts, Atalanti with Cayard and Barker, and Caixa Galicia with Bermudez de Castro all in a close battle which even the America’s Cup would have been proud of.
Although the start was fairly calm, this wouldn’t be the case for the rest of the race. Lexus-Quantum, with three times America’s Cup winner, Russell Coutts at the helm, protected the right side of the course, along with Caixa Galicia, and the Greek vessel, Atalanti XV with duo Cayard-Barker onboard, whilst the left side of the course was chosen by Vasco Vascotto on Movistar.
The first windward mark of the race was the first indicatuion of the excitement to come, with light southerly winds blowing as Orlanda Olympus rounded the mark first, followed Orlanda-Olympus with Tomasso Chieffi, then the Americans Bambakou, Movistar, Cristabella, Caixa Galicia, Bribón, Atalanti and Lexus. The last group to round the mark was made up of Aifos, Siemens and Balearia.
Although it seemed at the first mark that victory would go to Vascotto and team, surprise arrived at the moment the spinnakers were lowered, as Movistar suffered the loss of many positions as they committed a crucial manoeuvre error, dashing their hopes of winning the coveted Copa del Rey.
With Orlanda Olympus leading in the race, the clash between the four contenders was reduced to a tacking battle between Russell Coutts and Paul Cayard, setting the pace of this decisive race.
Orlanda stayed ahead throughout the race, with Bambakou 24 seconds behind, and Caixa Galicia 30 seconds away. In fourth place Atalanti XV fought with all their might to distance themselves from Lexus, who rounded in fifth place, while Movistar said goodbye to the race.
The last leg was a true match race encounter between Atalanti XV with paul Cayard, and Emirates Team New Zealand star Dean Barker on Lexus-Quantum. Nerves of steel and perfect precision dominated in the last leg. Lexus controlled Movistar from a distance and kept a close eye on Cayard’s team.
At the finish line victory belonged to Lexus, although Orlanda Olympus crossed first, followed by an extraordinary Caixa Galicia, Bambakou, Atalanti XV, Lexus, Cristabella, Bribón, Movistar, Aifos, Siemens and Balearia.
Victory in the Corinthian Class went to Bribón with José Cusí, followed by Cristabella owned by John Cook, Bambakou, with owner-driver John Coumantaros and the Sapnish Royal Navy boat Aifos
In the Breitling MEDCUP general rankings the lead is still in the hands of Pisco Sour- Movistar, with Caixa Galicia, owned by Vicente Tirado second , followed by Lexus Quantum, owned by Jaime Yllera.
Rankings Copa del Rey-Agua Brava
1.Lexus Quantum Racing 5, 11, 11, 11,7, 7,7, 7(66)
2.Atalanti XV 4, 9, 8, 9,9, 10, 8, 8 (65)
3. MoviStar 10, 10, 5, 6, 8, 11, 10, 4 (64)
4. Caixa Galicia 11, 8, 10, 8, 4,9,4, 10 (64)
5. Orlanda-Olympus 3, 4, 7, 7, 10, 8, 9,11 (59)
6. Bribón 7, 3, 4, 5, 11, 5, 11, 5 (51)
7. Cristabella 8, 7, 9, 10, 1,2, 5,6, (48)
8. Bambakou 6, 6, 6, 4,6, 3, 2, 9 (42)
9.Siemens 9, 2, 2, 2, 2, 6, 3, 2 (28)
10. Aifos 2, 1, 3, 3, 5, 1, 6, 3 (24)
11.Balearia 1, 5, 1, 1, 3, 4, 1, 1 (17)
Bribon Gains Another Victory
The start for the coastal race in the bay of Palma was given with a nice breeze of 12 to 13 knots taking the Transpac 52 fleet to a mark set at Cape Enderrocat, then on to Cabo Blanco, Island of Sech, and setting course to the finish line in front of Palma’s Cathedral. The course had an approximate length of 30 miles.
Siemens, skippered by Jim Allsop was the protagonist of the start, although a wind shift in the upwind leg pushed them back to the tail of the fleet. In the meantime Bribon sailed up to the lead for the rest of the race. Behind Jose Cusi’s boat, Atalanti rounded the offset mark, followed by a compact group (Movistar, Orlanda-Olympus, Caixa Galicia, Lexus and Bambakou) all fighting for the third place in a boat length’s distance of each other.
The fleet then hoisted their Code Zero Sail and set course to Cape Regana. The difficult trim of this sail provoked complex situations for the fleet although Bribon and Movistar made the most of this sail and maintained their lead of the fleet. Caixa Galicia’s hopes were dashed when she was forced to take a complicated penalisation with the Code Zero hoisted.
Bribón crossed the finish line first, followed by MoviStar, skippered by Vasco Vascotto and Pedro Campos, which has put them in the lead in the overall rankings, Orlanda Olympus third, followed by Atalanti XV, Lexus-Quantum, Aifos, Cristabella, Caixa Galicia, Siemens, Bambakou and Balearia.
Quotes:
Dee Smith, tactician Caixa Galicia, on a poor day for the team: "It's really been a "bad day at the office" today. We had a problem at one of the buoys and the penalisation made us lose the race. Mathematically, we still have a chance of winning tomorrow, but it's tough."
Ross MacDonald, tactician, Bribon, on their victory in the coastal race. "It's been a great race, and we really enjoyed it. The master key to the race was the first upwind leg. The fact that we went to the right of the course, as well as a small shift in wind, ut us in the lead from start to finish."
Vasco Vascotto, skipper Movistar, on the possible victory in the Copa del Rey tomorrow: "The battle is very tough, with four possible boats to win. The tactics for tomorrow will be simple, but at the same time complex...sail as relaxed as we have today."
Results of Copa del Rey-Agua Brava TP52
1.MoviStar 10, 10, 5, 6, 8, 11, 10 (60)
2.Lexus Quantum Racing 5, 11, 11, 11, 7, 7 (59)
3.Atalanti XV 4, 9, 8, 9,9, 10 , 8 (57)
4.Caixa Galicia 11, 8, 10, 8, 4, 9, 4, (54)
5.Cristabella 8, 7, 9, 10, 1, 2, 5 (42)
6.Orlanda-Olympus 3, 4, 7, 7,10, 8 , 9 (48)
7.Bribón 7, 3, 4, 5, 11, 5, 11 (46)
8.Bambakou 6, 6, 6, 4,6, 3, 2 (33)
9.Siemens 9, 2, 2, 2,2,6, 3 (26)
10. Aifos 2, 1, 3, 3,5, 1 , 6 (21)
11.Balearia 1, 5, 1, 1, 3, 4, 1 (16)
Rocky Start for Sam Davies
Yesterday, Sunday 7th August, SKANDIA skipper Sam Davies began the 2005 Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro, the 1,710 mile solo marathon between France, Spain and Ireland. At 1000 BST this morning, Leg 1 from Perros-Guirec, France to Getxo-Bilbao, Spain (390 miles)got underway in a 10-knot north-easterly breeze. According to Race Director Christian Gout it was “an excellent start” with just one individual recall for Lionel Péan on L’Esprit d’Equipe.
Solo offshore legend, Michel Desjoyeaux (Geant) nicknamed ‘The Professor’ led the fleet round the first race mark, the AGF buoy, followed by Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) and Laurent Pellecuer (Cliptol Sport). With just half a mile separating the fleet as they rounded the mark, SKANDIA was positioned in the middle of the fleet.
But just 1 hour and 40 minutes later, Sam suffered an unnerving incident when the keel of SKANDIA hit the rocks close to the “Pierre du Chenal” tower, just in front of Perros-Guirec. Sam immediately hoisted a red flag to protest against another competitor for not giving her sufficient clear water.
Race Director, Christian Gout, and the Race Committee agreed to allow a member of the organisation on board SKANDIA to assess the damage to the boat. The initial assessment was that the boat was not at risk so Sam decided to continue with her race. Sam’s boat preparateur, Erwan LeMeilleur, reported that the structure of the keel appears undamaged but on arrival in Getxo-Bilbao, Sam and Erwan, will be able to fully assess if there is any other damage.
Eric Drouglazet also ran aground after the start but appears to have suffered no damage to his boat CREDIT MARITIME, so he will also continue with his race.
The fleet will be racing downwind under spinnaker towards Ushant on the north-west corner of France. At around midnight tonight, the wind is expected to increase up to 30 knots from the east bringing fast reaching conditions but Sam may feel the need to sail more conservatively than usual as the worry of damage will weigh heavily on her mind especially when the fleet cross the nototrious Bay of Biscay.
As they approach the north coast of Spain, thunderstorms are forecasted that can suck away the breeze and leave the Solitaire skippers totally becalmed. The Figaro fleet is due to arrive in Getxo-Bilbao on Tuesday afternoon (9th August), which leaves two days for any repair work to be completed before departing on Leg 2 of the race to La Rochelle on Friday, 30th July.
SAM ON LEG 1 OF THE SOLITAIRE DU FIGARO RACE:
“We will end up dodging the rocks in the first night as we head around Portsall against the strong current, trying to get shelter from the tides and perhaps find the eddies. If there is little wind, it is guaranteed that we will be anchoring here, and that is a very daunting prospect. Then there is the shipping at Ushantt to contend with, before a long crossing of the Bay of Biscay, which can produce some angry seas if we are in a low pressure system, or frustratingly fickle winds if the ridge of high pressure is in place.”
LEG 1 POSITIONS: PERROS-GUIREC TO GEXTO-BILBAO (1500BST 7/8/05)
1. BEYOU Jérémie / DELTA DORE 367miles to finish
2. DESJOYEAUX Michel / GEANT +1mile
3. EMIG Marc / TOTAL +1mile
4. MORVAN Gildas / CERCLE VERT +1mile
5. De PAVANT Kito / GROUPE BEL +1mile
6. PELLECUER Laurent / CLIPTOL SPORT +1mile
7. AUDIGANE Sebastien / D'AUCY CULTIVE LA VIE +2miles
8. CAUDRELIER Charles / BOSTIK +2miles
9. DROUGLAZET Eric / CREDIT MARITIME +2miles
10. ELIES Yann / GROUPE GENERALI ASSURANCES +2miles
--
32. DAVIES Sam / SKANDIA +4miles
For latest positions, go to http://classements.lasolitaire.com/
LA SOLITAIRE AFFLELOU LE FIGARO 2005
Leg 1
Sunday 7th August - Perros-Guirec to Getxo-Bilbao, Spain (390 miles). ETA 9 August.
Leg 2
Friday12th August - Getxo-Bilbao, Spain to La Rochelle (368 miles). ETA 14 August.
Leg 3
Wednesday 17th August – La Rochelle to Cork (Crosshaven), Ireland (456 miles). ETA 20 August.
Leg 4
Tuesday 23rd August – Cork, Ireland to Port Bourgenay Talmont-Saint-Hilaire, France (496 miles). ETA 26 August.
Ericsson Racing Team Adds David Peter Rolfe
The Ericsson Racing Team has today named highly experienced New
Zealander David Peter Rolfe as a crewmember of Ericsson's entry in
the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06.
David "Dingo" Rolfe is a highly respected and experienced sailor
whose experience and personality will add to the strength of the
Ericsson Racing Team.
Neal McDonald, skipper of Ericsson's entry, says Rolfe's varied
experience made him a natural choice for the crew. "Dingo is a man
who has sailed in just about every position on these types of boats -
bowman, trimmer and helmsman. Add to that his vast sail making
experience and he is a must-have guy for this type of race,"
McDonald says.
McDonald, a veteran of four round-the-world races, and Steve Hayles,
as navigator, will lead the Ericsson crew. The brand new Volvo Open
70 racing boat was launched on June 30 and Rolfe and the rest of the
crew have been training on the water since then.
"I respect Neal and the team he has put together and was lucky enough
to be offered a position on this project," Rolfe says.
Rolfe has competed in the last two Volvo Ocean Races and is really
looking forward to the challenge of racing the new Volvo Ocean 70s.
"In the VO 60 you are on the edge 10 percent of the race - these
things will be more like 60 percent, so hold on," says Rolfe.
The Ericsson Racing Team is supported by Semcon as design and
development partner.
"The team is now based in Vigo, Spain, and we are very pleased with
how the team is coming together and how preparations are
progressing," says Dusyant Patel, Operating Officer of Ericsson
Racing Team.
August 7, 2005
Bekking after Race Win for 'movistar'
"I have won line honours in the
Sydney-Hobart Race and the Rolex Fastnet Race is another major ocean race which of course I would like to win", commented Dutch sailor Bouwe Bekking as his team onboard the Volvo Open 70 'movistar' were making their final preparations to leave the dock.
Today was the first time that one of these new 'machines', that are making their debut in the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race, would be seen racing in the Solent and at 12 20 pm when the start gun went for the 2005 Rolex Fastnet Race, there would finally be the chance to see how she fared on the race course.
Although none of the other Volvo Open 70's are taking part in the race, 'movistar' sees it as a good opportunity to gauge the performance of the boat and the crew work, as Spanish crew member Pepe Ribes explained, "Taking part in this race is just another step forward to allow us to get our performance up to 100% in preparation
for the Volvo Ocean Race. Competing in the Rolex Fastnet Race enables us to place ourselves in an actual competition situation and race against other world-class teams. We have done a lot of miles on the water and hours in the gym but this will be the first time that we will actually compete."
Bekking, a veteran of ocean sailing, managed to steer the boat into a good position at the start of the race. Dodging the many spectator boats that had come out to watch this classic event, the crew hoisted the spinnaker just after the start line and although there was just nine knots of wind, 'movistar' managed to glide gracefully through the water and soon picked up boat speeds of ten knots in the
light airs.
By the time the fleet had passed Lymington 'movistar' had overtaken many of the smaller boats that had started over an hour ahead of them and were second boat on the water in their class behind the giant 100ft 'ICAP Maximus' which had opted to stay in on the Isle of Wight shore and was just in front of 'movistar'. With the winds getting lighter all the time, 'movistar' managed to keep wind in her sails and with the spinnaker still flying as the boat passed Hurst Castle she was only minutes behind 'ICAP Maximus' which is almost 30 feet bigger.
Before the start Dutch sailor Bekking had commented "This boat is fantastic and lives up to all our expectations" and as the boats sailed on past the Isle of Wight, in the direction of Lands End, it was easy to see what he was talking about.
The conditions into the night look like they will continue to be light which will not be ideal for record setting, but Bekking's aim of adding the Rolex Fastnet Race to his already impressive sailing CV, which includes four round the world ocean races, could well be a possibility.
'movistar' is expected to complete the 608-mile race sometime on Tuesday 9 August in Plymouth before she continues back out to sea for another week to continue testing their new boat.
August 5, 2005
Lexus Keeps the Lead
After a well deserved rest following the offshore race, it was back to work for the TP52 fleet taking part in the 24th Copa del Rey, fourth event in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit. A beautiful day opened up over the bay of Palma, with perfect conditions for sailing. Lexus, with Russell Coutts were leading the rankings, with just a one point advantage over Caixa Galicia
Although the day began with the fight for the Copa del Rey Trophy wide open, at the close of today’s racing the battle was boat on boat between four of the participants. Lexus kept her lead on 51 points, whilst in second place is Movistar (previously Leche Pascual), on 50 points. Caixa Galicia are in third place, also on 50 points, and in fourth place is Atalanti XV, only two points away from the leader. The weekend presents itself with excitement ensured, as four possible TP52s could steal victory in the 24th Copa del Rey- Agua Brava.
Bribon finds its feet
There are still many points still in play, and history is waiting to be written for the brand new TP52 Class. The Copa del Rey racing committee programmed two windward-leeward races for the day. The first race began with 24 knots of breeze, and a dominant Bribon, owned by Spaniard Jose Cusi. The team were untouchable throughout the course, and remained firm against the advances from their closest rivals.
The regatta was decided with a tactical choice made in the first of the four legs, where the decision to keep to the left of the course was the key to winning the race. Bribon were first at this point, with recently launched Balearia behind, and Aifos, the Spanish Royal Navy vessel close behind, then Atalanti XV with duo Cayard- Barker onboard. Caixa Galicia rounded in fifth place, and Movistar, despite their strong start rounded in sixth place.
While Bribon were comfortably enjoying their lead, in the next leg, Italians Orlanda Olympus, with Tomasso Chieffi at the helm, took second place, with Caixa Galicia stuck to their stern like glue. Balearia were losing positions and Cristabella and Bambakou were involved in an incident, which would result in a protest later in the day.
The finish was tricky with the boats switching positions constantly. Bribon were superb in a race that had their name on it from start to finish, as they fought off Orlanda-Olympus with Chieffi, Cayard and Barker on Atalanti XV, Vascotto-Campos on Movistar, and Coutts on Lexus. Behind this group were Bambakou, Aifos, and Caixa Galicia who went from fourth place to eighth due to a mistake in a manoeuvre with the spinnaker. In ninth place were Balearia, followed by Siemens and Cristabella who paid heavily for their errors.
Movistar reclaim victory:
Bribon lead the first race with force, but in the second race, it was Movistar who lead for the start. The wind, which picked up to 20 knots added to the dramatic performance of the fleet. In the first rounding of the buoy, behind Movistar, Atalanti XV was tacking, manoeuvred by the Greek team, with seven time world champion Paul Cayard onboard. The Greek vessel were in close battle with a threateningly close Caixa Galicia, and Orlanda following, with Aifos and Cristabella behind. At the leeward mark, after a spectacular rounding of the buoy, the positions were still in the air, except for the Chilean vessel Movistar, who were followed by Atalanti XV, then Caixa Galicia, Orlanda-Olympus and Lexus who were fighting against one another in match race style at certain points. At the finish line the victory was clearly Movistar’s, with Atalanti taking second position after a close race with Caixa Galicia who were third, followed by Orlanda, Cristabella, Lexus, Siemens and Bribon.
1.Lexus Quantum Racing 5, 11, 11, 11, 7, 7(52)
2.MoviStar 10, 10, 5, 6, 8, 11 (50)
3.Caixa Galicia 11, 8, 10, 8, 4, 9 (50)
4.Atalanti XV 4, 9, 8, 9,9, 10 (49)
5.Orlanda-Olympus 3, 4, 7, 7,10, 8 (39)
5.Cristabella 8, 7, 9, 10, 1, 2 (37)
7.Bribón 7, 3, 4, 5, 11, 5 (35)
8.Bambakou 6, 6, 6, 4,6, 3 (31)
9.Siemens 9, 2, 2, 2,2,6 (23)
11.Balearia 1, 5, 1, 1, 3, 4 (15)
10. Aifos 2, 1, 3, 3,5, 1 (15)
Skandia Open 60 Gearing up for Fastnet
On Sunday 7th August, at 1230BST the Open 60 SKANDIA and 13 other Open 60s will be under starters order for the 2005 Rolex Fastnet Race, one of the world’s classic ocean races run by the Royal Ocean Racing Clubs. The race will start from the world famous yacht club, the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and finish at the Royal Western Yacht Club, Plymouth.
The 14 competing Open 60’s represents the largest Open 60 fleet to ever compete in this classic offshore race that first started in 1925. Open 60 skippers are from far and wide with entries from Australia, France, Brazil, Switzerland and the UK. SKANDIA will be up against some of the best Open 60s on the circuit today including UK’s Mike Golding’s ECOVER and Alex Thomson’s HUGO BOSS, and French entries SILL & VEOLIA (Roland Jourdain) and CHEMINEES POUJOULAT (Bernard Stamm).
SKANDIA skipper, Nick Moloney has competed in this race five times onboard IRC 40’s and Whitbread 60’s including Viper in 1995, Toshiba in 1998 and Open 60 Skandia Set Sail in 2003. He will be teaming up with boat captain Matt Lees (RSA) and four other crew to tackle the biennial Rolex Fastnet Race that sets a challenging 608-mile course from Cowes to the Fastnet Rock and back into Plymouth.
An estimated 286 boats from six different classes will tackle the demanding course that will take the fleet south-west down the Solent, past the Needles and out into the English Channel along the south coast of England - Anvil Point, Portland Bill, Start Point, The Lizard and Lands End. They will then head north-west across open ocean to the Fastnet Rock with its mythical lighthouse, before returning to Plymouth, via Bishop Rock Lighthouse on the south side of the Scilly. Tricky tidal currents and changeable weather conditions will fully test the competitors. The Open 60 race is shaping up to be very competitive and they should complete the course in 2-3 days dependent on weather conditions.
There are many trophies up for grabs, the most prestigious being the Fastnet Challenge Cup for the overall winner. In 1999 Catherine Chabaud’s Open 60 Whirlpool-Europe 2 won the Fastnet Challenge Cup for Best Overall for BCT/IRC classes in 5 days, 22 hours and 59 minutes. In the 2003 Fastnet Race, five Open 60s competed including SKANDIA but it was France’s Sebastien Josse who took victory on board VMI in an elapsed time of 2 days, 15 hours and 25 minutes.
FROM NICK
Weather: "At the moment the forecast is changing quite a bit. We are at the leading edge of a high pressure system which will be the case on Sunday with light northerly winds of 5-10 knots, slightly NNW and windier on the first night from the north. The next morning at around lunchtime we’ll have around 10 knots from the north still, which will get lighter as we sail towards Lands End. It should swing round to be NNE by the time we get there. At midday on the 9th, our ETA at Fastnet rock, it is forecasted to be light all the way round. There is expected to be no wind as we go round so it will be light and very trying. Then we should have light downwind sailing all the way back home. It should take us about 3 days but this could all change especially with the light winds forecasted."
Strategy: "We’ll end up trying to utilise any sea breeze during the day and land breeze in the evening. We’ve also got to keep in mind that the tides will have a huge effect, especially closer to shore – when we go past Portland Bill – so we’ll head inshore or offshore depending on the current. It will be really tricky, the fleet will be split – there’ll be some guys offshore and some guys near the beach. We’ll pick the guys who we know are the most knowledgeable and hang with them to see what they do. For example, I know that Jean-Yves Bernot will be sailing on Sill et Veolia - he is one of sailing’s top weather experts and has an impressive nautical track record so we’ll be reading a lot into what they do. Mike and Conrad know the coast very well so we’ll be keeping an eye on them too."
Team:
"I’ve sailed around the Fastnet rock before but mostly when I’ve been training alone so I’ve always gone offshore as far away from land as possible. I’ll be relying on my team quite a lot. Matt is very good and knows these water very well. Although Craig hasn’t spent much time sailing in the UK, he has done plenty of Fastnet races. Lisa is very clued up about the south coast and a great sailor so it is really good to have her onboard. It’ll be a cool race – we’ll be racing against some top boats and some very experienced sailors, so it will be very competitive. Can’t wait to get out there and race again!"
SKANDIA OPEN 60 CREW:
Nick Moloney (AUS)
Matt Lees (RSA)
Paul Anderson (AUS)
Lisa MacDonald (USA)
Craig Satterthwaite (NZ)
Jonathan Brown (GBR)
2005 OPEN 60 ENTRY LIST FOR THE ROLEX FASTNET RACE
(Boat/skipper)
BEST WESTERN CHAMONIX: Benoit Parnaudeau (FRA)
CHEMINEES POUJOULAT: Bernard Stamm (SUI)
ECOVER: Mike Golding (GBR)
GALILEO: Walter Antunes (BRA)
HELLOMOTO: Conrad Humphreys (GBR)
HUGO BOSS: Alex Thomson (GBR)
MARE VERTICALE: Joe Seeten (FRA)
PINDAR ALPHAGRAPHICS: Emma Richards (GBR)
PROFORM: Marc Thiercelin (FRA)
ROXY: Anne Liardet (FRA)
SILL ET VEOLIA: Roland Jourdain (FRA)
SKANDIA: Nick Moloney (AUS)
UUDS: Hervé Laurent (FRA)
VIRBAC-PAPREC: Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA)
Check www.nickmoloney.com for updates throughout the race. Position updates will be posted on the site every four hours.
START TIMES 2005 ROLEX FASTNET RACE (BST)
IRC Class 3 - 1100
IRC Class 2 - 1120
IRC Class 1 - 1140
IRC Class Z - 1200
IRC Class SZ - 1220
Open 60 - 1240
Multihulls - 1300
Movistar Completes its Crew
The movistar Round the World team has completed its crew selection to take part in the Rolex Fastnet Race, with the addition of five new members. Five professional yachtsmen who are now training to develop the VO 70 for its major challenge: the: the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006.
We have shown how serious we are about this project with the crew members announced to date remarks Pedro Campos, general manageer of the movistar , combining know-hhow and experience with energy and youth, a cocktail that has already proven its worth with the world record for distance sailed in 24 hours. We now want to add some spice to the combination with the presentation of five yachtsmen who will undoubtedly add consistency to the crew as a whole.
Richard Clarke, Mike Jouvert and Peter Doriean are simply the answer to my dreams for their posts skippeer Bouwe Bekking proudly adds . Pablo Igglesias and Alberto Viejo are real specialists in inshore regattas and experts in sailing the waters of Galicia, two virtues that are especially important for us at this stage of the movistar training program.
Richard Clarke (Toronto, Canada, 1968), Watch Captain. Born into a family of yachtsmen his fatherr sailed Finn class dinghies in the Olympic team at the Munich Games in 1972 -, Richard has been sailing since he was four. He followed in his father's footsteps and has competed in the Finn class at four Olympic Games. He was world number 1 in the class in 2000. His experience in ocean races includes winning the last Volvo Ocean Race aboard “Illbruck, which also won its class in the Rolex Sydney-Hobart in 2000 and came second in the Fastnet Race 2001.
Richard has long experience – emphasises Bouwe Bekking. He is a magnificent helmsman and an excellent watch captain, apart from being highly optimistic and very happy, which is a positive influence on the team.
The VO 70 is fantastic remarks Richard when assked about the new boat. It has alreadyy broken one record and I am convinced that it will break many more. You always run risks if you are on the cutting edge of technology and I am sure that we will see many breakages in the Volvo, but it is an honour for me to be part of the crew aboard a boat like this. We have several advantages on the movistar: First of all, the people, we have a team of excellent professional yachtsmen; the second is time in the water as we have sailed more miles than any other team. We are sure that we will be ready to compete when we get to the starting line next November, whereas other teams may only be ready to sail.
Pablo Iglesias (Vigo), Trimmer. Much of his sailing career has been with the movistar team, with which he has won serveral world titles; the last of these was the World Nations Championship in 2004, in the Sardinia Rolex Cup. Pablo is an experienced trimmer, but he has also won many regattas for the movistar as helmsman.
Pedro Campos has been sailing with him for several years: Physically, Pablo is exactly what you need in a Round the World Race, he is strong and knows the boat like the back of his hand, with long experience as a trimmer and as a helmsman. Although his speciality is inshore racing, he has also shown that he is highly efficient in long distance races too, in the 2003 Admiral's Cup.
Taking part in the Rolex Fastnet Race aboard the VO 70 movistar is a dream come true for me admitted Pabloo shortly before leaving Sanxenxo bound for the Isle of Wight. It will be my most immportant offshore race and doing it aboard this boat is very special. I have already had the chance to train with the rest of the crew, especially up wind-down wind trial manoeuvres, which is where I can make a contribution. I have already discovered that everything aboard the VO 70 is over sized, hence requiring far more physical exertion than on IMS boats. I am especially surprised by its capacity for speed. The summary could not be more positive.
Mike Joubert (East London, South Africa, 1972), Mastman. If Richard Clarke has been sailing since he was 4, Mike started at 7. His long record as a professional crewman includes two Round the World Races 2001-2002 aboard the Asssa Abloy, and 1997-1998 with the Brunel Sunergy three Fastnet Races and several seasons with the maxi Alexia, just to give a few examples.
Bouwe Bekking describes him as simply “one of the best bowmen in the world, although you only have to see him in action to realise that he is totally at home at any post aboard.
Mike enjoys what he does, and he is very sure of the standard of the movistar team: Since we reached our base in June, we haven’t stopped evolving the boat he says . The shore team has done a spectaacular job, because everything we ask them to improve, they improve. So everyday we sail is easier than the day before, the boat gets better and better.
The VO 70 is both impressive and terrible at the same time. Fortunately, with the miles we have sailed, we are use to the rhythm and the sensations, but the risk with these boats is that they go so fast that by the time you realise you have made a mistake … it's too late!.
Mike is clear about the possible advantages of the movistar over the other teams: In order of importance? First, time in the water; second, time in the water; third, time in the water…. Experience is crucial in this kind of boats.
Alberto Viejo (Ourense, 1969), Trimmer. He is another stalwart of the movistar team, with which he has won two world IMS championships. He has been a regular crew member on Bribon since 2000, and he competed on the Transpac 52 circuit for the first time this year, with this boat. Apart from his sailing experience with cruisers, Alberto has also won two world Vaurien titles and a national one too.
Alberto is one of those people that you want by your side on the boat remarks Pedro Campos . He is is very good, both physically and strategically, as he has shown for three years at the helm of the Bribon and the movistar. He is very tenacious in what he does, and completely professional.
Alberto talks to us from Palma de Majorca, where he is sailing aboard the TP 52 Bribon in the Copa del Rey: I am all fired up with this project. As soon as I have finished the Copa del Rey, I'm going straight to Sanxenxo to wait for the VO 70 to arrive and start training with the rest of the team.
Peter Doriean (Australia, 1971), Trimmer. He sailed in the last season of the Volvo Ocean Race (with the News Corporation and the Djuice Dragons). Working on America's Cup projects, he has done the mythical Sydney-Hobart race no less than 17 times and holds several IMS, Mumm 36 and Maxi world titles. Apart from an excellent trimmer, Spike is a respected yachtsman, with broad experience after working in North Sails in Australia for 10 years.
Bouwe Bekking defines him as very Autralian: the tougher the conditions, the better he does his job, while for his crewmate Mike Joubert he is first and foremost, very competitive; he will always go the extra mile to win.
With these five signings, the VO 70 movistar now has a full crew, a team of professionals that includes Olympic gold medalists, world cruiser champions, world dinghy champions, winners of the Round the World, America's Cup winners … And they all have a common goal: to sail the movistar to victory.
August 4, 2005
J-35 Top of the Lakes Race Results
SAIL NO. NAME OWNER FINISH
42968 - Mr Bill’s Wild Ride - Wildner Jr - 1-3-2-3-1-2 = 12
32851 - Bozo Circus - Metcalf - 8-1-3-1-4-1 = 18
43828 - Falcon - Bayer, Welch - 3-2-1-2-5-5 = 18
35234 - Aftershock - Newman - 4-4-5-4-2-3 = 22
42525 - Night Train - Herriges - 2-5-6-6-3-4 = 26
32776 - Touch of Gray - Schell - 7-6-4-7-8-7 = 39
40937 - Time Machine - Gordenker - 5-8-10 DNS-5-6-6 = 40
25770 - PDQ Express - Quincy, Penn - 6-7-7-8-7-8 = 43
25187 - Cross Check - Scott - 9-9-8-9-9-9 = 53
Maritime Festival Benefit on Tall Ship Windy
Thursday, September 1, 2005
Aboard the tall ship Windy
7:00-9:00 pm
$50.00 (+ tax)
Contact: 312-595-5472 or tallshipwindy@aol.com
No senior/child discounts
Light seafood fare courtesy of Don's Dock Seafood, Des Plaines, IL
Soft drinks and water also provided
Proceeds benefit the Chicago Maritime Festival. For the last three years, the Chicago Maritime Festival has offered the most diverse maritime program ever presented in the Great Lakes. It is organized
by the Chicago Maritime Society, Chicago Historical Society and Common Times. The festival is a celebration of Chicago's maritime community. The seminars, workshops, concerts, and exhibits are presented by a wide variety of from the maritime communities of Chicago, the Great Lakes and the World. The festival also offers in house student concerts as well as outreach programs into area schools, libraries and senior centers.
FEATURED PERFORMERS:
PINT & DALE
Currently residing in the Pacific Northwest, William and Felicia, whose father was a sea captain, have traveled the world using their powerful harmonies and dramatic instrumental work on guitar, hurdy gurdy, mandolin, penny whistles, and various other exotic instruments, to evoke the music and myth of the people who live by the sea. They perform in English and French and have released several recordings on the Waterbug label.
TOM & CHRIS KASTLE
Tom and Chris are singer, sailors, songwriter, and storytellers,
internationally acclaimed for their interpretations of traditional material as well as their original works. They have crewed aboard various tall ships on the Great Lakes; Tom is a licensed captain (including relief captain for the tall ship Windy). They have performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and New Zealand. Their latest recording, Familiar Waters, features songs from across the Earth's oceans. They are also the directors of the Chicago Maritime Festival.
For more information about the Chicago Maritime Festival call 773-774-7216 or visit www.chicagomaritimefestival.org
Lexus-Quantum Rule in Offshore Race
Lexus-Quantum, skippered by Russell Coutts, was the first Transpac to 52 cross the finish line after the 93,8 mile offshore race in the 24th Copa del Rey-Aguabrava. The victory was double for the team, as the points are added to the result at the first finish line at the halfway point in the race, where Lexus also finished in first place. Lexus is now top of the general rankings for the Copa del Rey-Aguabrava event, one point ahead of Caixa Galicia.
The offshore race, which is divided into two separately scored legs, with results registered at the line near the halfway point of the race, and then again at the finish line after almost 94 nautical miles, has demonstrated the close competition in the TP52 fleet. Also, it was evident that in a race of these characteristics the standard of the crew, and the careful choice of sails were crucial to achieving results.
After the first part of the race, where Lexus-Quantum came in first, followed by Caixa Galicia and Cristabella, the fleet headed towards the area of Cabrera. The breeze fell from 14 knots to close to 6 knots at Cabrera, and the competition between the fleet was evident throughout the course. Lexus dominated for most of the race, but Caixa Galicia were hot on their heels right up until Cabrera, where a problem with the code zero furler meant that the team lost a few positions. Lexus demonstrated their prowess throughout the close to one-hundred mile course, thrashing the rest with a double victory in each of the part of the race. It is easy to see exactly why the New-Zealander at the helm is the holder of no less than three of the coveted and prestigious America´s Cup Trophies.
Second to complete the course was Cristabella, owned by John Cook from the UK, who have clearly achieved the desired results following the previous event, the Trofeo SM La Reina in Valencia. The team compenetration and the modifications made to the vessel seem to be key to the success of the English team. Cristabella were third in the first part of the race, behind Lexus and Caixa Galicia. The revitalised Greek Atalanti XV crew, with Dean Barker at the helm, and Paul Cayard as tactician, managed to climb up a position in the second part of the race. They finished third, ahead of Caixa Galicia, who had lost their lead in the Copa del Rey-Agua, the fourth event in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52, which went to Lexus, with a four point advantage.
Orlando Olympus, with Francesco Bruni at the helm, finished fifth in both parts, whilst Movistar, with duo Vascotto-Campos finished sixth, having gained a position in the second part of the course. The results have meant that Lexus-Quantum are dangerously approaching the leaders in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 general rankings, which have so far been dominated by Vascotto and team, following their fantastic performance in Valencia. Lexus are just one point from the Chilean vessel.
Bribon, who are leading in the Corinthian (amateur) category, finished seventh, followed by their closest rival, the American boat Bambakou. Bribon stayed in the lead positions throughout the race, sailing close to land, yet an error, small as it may have been, meant that the vessel lost six positions. The close rivalry between the vessels is clear, and mistakes are heavily paid for in this competitive Circuit. Aifos finished ninth, Siemens tenth, and Balearia were the last to cross the line, showing it is still not quite up to its full capacity, having recently been launched.
Quotes
Mark Reynolds, Lexus-Quantum tactician: “The first windward leg was nice. We got around the first mark with the lead, then there were many close times all around the course. Sometimes we got ahead and we felt comfortable and they caught right back up again and then there was a couple of times when we were in a boat length of quite a few boats…it was scary.
The hardest part was the first little island, before the lighthouse island and it was dark. It was light for a while, and it got really tight, all the boats from behind caught up a little bit and we were only a boat length ahead at this point, and we were able to keep our lead.”
Results Copa del Rey-Agua Brava
1.Lexus Quantum Racing 5, 11, 11, 11 (38)
2.Caixa Galicia 11, 8, 10, 8 (37)
3.Cristabella 8, 7, 9, 10 (34)
4.MoviStar 10, 10, 5, 6 (31)
5.Atalanti XV 4, 9, 8, 9 (30)
6.Bambakou 6, 6, 6, 4 (22)
7.Orlanda-Olympus 3, 4, 7, 7 (21)
8.Bribón 7, 3, 4, 5 (19)
9.Siemens 9, 2, 2, 2 (15)
10. Aifos 2, 1, 3, 3 (9)
11.Balearia 1, 5, 1, 1 (8)
Update on Singlehanded Trans Superior Race
Twelve skippers have answered the call to participate in the inaugural running of the Singlehanded Division of the Trans Superior International Yacht Race. The race, which is run on the odd years since 1969, is a 380 mile dash from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to Duluth, Minnesota.
This year marks the first time that the event will have a Singlehanded Division. The Great Lakes Singlehanded Society in conjunction with the Trans Superior Race Committee agreed to screen entrants and adjust the rules and requirements of the Trans Superior Race committee as they would apply to the solo skipper for this event. The Singlehanded Division will now be run by the Trans Superior Race Committee along with the fully crewed entrants.
Initially it was hoped that there would be four or five entrants but to everyone's surprise a total of 12 entrants have been screened and approved by the GLSS Board.
All contestants will lock through the American Locks Saturday morning, August 6th and set out for the start near the Gros Cap light. An awards ceremony for all participants will be held on Saturday August 13th in Duluth. SInglehanded finishers who record a successful finish with the TSRC can then apply to the GLSS for additional recognition by that organization at the annual meeting on January 21, 2006 at Bayview Yacht Club.
More information and tracking of the fleet during the event can be found at the Trans Superior International Yacht Race web site http://www.transsuperior.com as well as at the Great Lakes Singlehanded Society Web site http://www.solosailor.org/.
TVNZ and OLN Win Rights to Broadcast America's Cup
Television networks in two countries, which have combined to host the America's Cup for 30 of the 31 times the trophy has previously been contested, have each recently acquired the television rights for the 32nd America's Cup.
Television New Zealand (TVNZ) has obtained the rights for New Zealand whilst the OLN will televise America's Cup programming in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean basin.
The two agreements mean there are now 14 rights-holding broadcasters or networks for the 32nd America's Cup, covering most of Europe and North America along with New Zealand and Africa.
"The United States is a very important territory for the America's Cup, both commercially and sentimentally as the country that first won and then successfully defended the Cup for 132-years," said Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of the organisers of the 32nd America's Cup. "New Zealand is also important for us as it has been the heart of the America's Cup since its victory in 1995. These two agreements are good for the event, as well as for the teams based in each territory."
Television New Zealand
Television New Zealand (TVNZ) has been involved in every America's Cup since the 1986/1987 contest in Fremantle, Australia, and acted as host broadcaster for the last two Matches in Auckland.
Programming, under the free-to-air ONE SPORT banner, will include highlight coverage of each of the opening pre-regattas, the Louis Vuitton Acts in 2005, 2006 and 2007, along with live action from the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger selection series and America's Cup Match in 2007.
"For us it's a continuation of the involvement TVNZ has had over several America's Cups," said Murray Needham, General Manager of ONE SPORT. "We are naturally very excited that our involvement will continue into 2007."
OLN
In North America, OLN, available in more than 64-million homes in the United States, will show magazine programmes, along with weekly highlight programming of the Louis Vuitton Acts.
OLN will continue to carry highlight programming through each of the Louis Vuitton Acts and the round robins of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger selection series in 2007. The network will begin showing live coverage of the races with the Semi Finals and Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup, and concluding with the 32nd America's Cup Match itself in June 2007.
"There are certain events that, as a sports fan, you can't miss, and the America's Cup is one of them," said Gavin Harvey, President of OLN. "These crews go through years of intense preparation in anticipation of this race. Our coverage will tell the story of the race itself, but also the crews who dedicate their lives to winning it."
OLN covered the previous edition of the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2002/2003. The next races of the 32nd America's Cup will come from the Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Acts beginning on the 25th of August.
Tough Competition on Front Row of Rolex Fastnet
There is more than one way to win the Rolex Fastnet Race. One is to be fastest around the 608-mile course, to be first past the post in Plymouth. This Sunday the battle for line honours is likely to come down to a high-speed duel between two Antipodean Maxis, Skandia Wild Thing and ICAP Maximus. Another way to win the Rolex Fastnet is under the IRC handicap system, and this is a possibility open to almost all of the 286 boats competing in the fleet this year - which, by the way, is the largest fleet to compete since 1979.
While the theoretical possibility exists for any boat to win, many of those 286 crews have not come to Cowes with thoughts of victory, but simply to take part in one of the great ocean racing classics. One team with its eye very much on handicap success, however, is the newly launched Irish TP52 Patches, owned by Eamon Conneely. With a crack crew headed up by two double Olympic medallists, skipper Ian Walker and helmswoman Shirley Robertson, this lightweight 52-footer has been tearing up the Solent over the past week at Skandia Cowes Week.
The measure of her dominance these past few days has taken the racing world by storm. After all, the TP52 is not designed specifically to the IRC rule and yet its handicap performance is proving staggeringly competitive. Robertson, enjoying a break from Olympic campaigning in small keelboats, is loving her job at the wheel of Patches. "She is probably the most responsive yacht I've ever sailed," she says. "As soon as you crack her off the breeze, she lights up and takes off. If we get reaching conditions in the race, then I think we can do well."
That too, is the assessment of Patches by Jeremy Robinson, helmsman of one of the TP52's chief rivals for IRC honours, Nick Lykiardopulo's 55-footer Aera. "In downwind conditions, Patches will be off, we won't even see her," admits Robinson. "But if we get a lot of upwind work then we could do well." Aera certainly proved her ability to tough it through the rough stuff in a wild and windy Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race at the end of last year, when Lykiardopulo's team beat a fleet of 116 boats on IRC handicap.
The Rolex Fastnet Race brings back the winning team from downunder, with 11 of the 15 Hobart crew reunited under former Volvo Ocean Race skipper Jez Fanstone for an assault on the Fastnet. "We've got a very strong team, four very good drivers which is vital in a race like this," says Robinson. "But you also need the luck of the weather in a race like this. All you can do is put the bits in place and see if it works for you."
While the two big swing-keeled Maxis are primarily gunning for line honours, Robinson has not ruled them out of the handicap race. "Looking at the weather, it could suit the big boats. If they get around the [Fastnet] Rock and there is a shutdown in the wind, then you could quite easily see one of the Maxis win line honours and handicap."
Then again, there are a number of interesting machines that could upset the predicted dominance of the 100-foot Maxis, not least the Volvo Open 70 Telefonica Movistar. Skipper Bouwe Bekking and his crew set the 24-hour monohull record of 535 miles earlier this year, so what she yields in length to the Maxis, she may well make up for in her awesome power-to-weight ratio. A fleet of 14 Open 60s will also enjoy a high-speed ride to the Fastnet Rock and back, with a number of round-the-world specialists such as Mike Golding, Nick Moloney, Marc Thiercelin and Bernard Stamm among the line-up.
Aside from the desire to win, the reasons for competing in the Rolex Fastnet Race are many and varied. Some sailors think of it in terms of their 'personal Everest'. For Simon Le Bon, lead singer with pop group Duran Duran, it is a matter of unfinished business. Twenty years ago he and his crew were rescued by the RNLI after his Maxi yacht Drum capsized in stormy weather off the coast of Falmouth. Now reunited with the same boat, renamed Arnold Clark Drum after her current owner, and with much of his old crew, Le Bon is back to complete the course. One of his reasons for competing is to bring more awareness to the volunteer body that saves hundreds of lives around Britain's coastline every year.
The first signal for the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race sounds at 1050 on Sunday 7th August. In addition to the two main prizes - the Fastnet Challenge Cup and the Fastnet Rock Trophy, there are more than 30 trophies to be awarded at the conclusion of this year's Rolex Fastnet Race. The prizegiving will take place at the Royal Citadel, home of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, in Plymouth on Friday 12th August.
New Farr Design for Virbac-Paprec
The Farr design office announced yesterday that they would be in charge of designing Jean-Pierre Dick's new 60 foot monohull. At the finish of the last Vendée Globe, JP said "I'll be back". Supported by his sponsors and his team, he will be taking the helm of his new boat after the Route du Rhum 2006. The Virbac-Paprec Team wants to be equal to the next race in 2008. "By launching themselves into this new adventure, our team shows its desire to progress and the goals it must achieve. This project is being launched early, to be ready for the start of the next Vendée Globe and to be competitive", said Jean-Pierre Dick.
What helped you to make your choice?
JPD: We thought about whether we were going on a new boat or not. The one that I have at the moment is very powerful. We want to keep up with all the innovations for the next Vendée Globe. It is now our goal to have a new monohull with the latest technology. In addition, I have a highly motivated team that wants to work on designing a new boat. It is fascinating to build a new boat!
What are you expecting from this project?
JPD: Farr is one of the best design offices, that is why we have decided to continue to work with them. Since the last Vendée Globe, I am better aware of my needs and capabilities. With Luc Bartissol (technical manager) and Loïck Peyron, we have drawn up a very precise set of specifications. The aim is to be able to manoeuvre easily, to be able to sail with ease… My present monohull is good, but with the new one, we should gain in performance on several small details which will be very important for everything that follows, particularly with regard to results!
It is soon the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race (7 August), isn't it?
JPD: Yes, I'm very happy to be on the starting line, particularly since I took part in it 18 years ago, for the Admirals Cup. We came 5th. It's a legendary race. It is technical because we sail very close to the shore. We will have to be careful of stone-grating! Among others, I will be sailing with Dominique Conin, a weatherman who knows the English coasts inside out. Jim Schmicker, from the Farr yard will be there, with the design of the new 60 footer in view. My goal is to progress further, to learn new methods and to prepare for the coming programme. This weekend, we'll be in the line-up, but we're aiming for the podium!
August 3, 2005
Lexus-Quantum Rules in Offshore Race
Lexus dominated the first part of the offshore race crossing the first finish line well ahead of the rest in today’s offshore race. At the end of the the 93.8 mile course there will be another finish, which will mark the second classification and the end of the offshore race. The fleet are forecasted to finish around midnight tonight. Second to cross the line was Caixa Galicia, also maintaining their position well.
After a good start and an excellent first upwind leg, Lexus-Quantum, skippered by three-time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts, has taken the lead, maintaining it as far as the mark which signals the first part of the classification. At this point the positions were registered and the points are calculated as if it were a complete regatta, although the boats must carry on to complete another race to complete the Offshore part of the competition. With 10 knots of breeze, increasing to 14 knots, the fleet departed with Lexus imposing from the start. Caixa Galicia was towards the back of the fleet, but managed a good upwind leg to move into third place, very close to US boat Bambakou, who Caixa overtook in the first downwind leg.
If the first leg was spectaular, even without position changes, the following leg was even better, a visual feast of competition. Movistar, who had been in fourth place, suffered somewhat due to a broken asymmetric spinnaker sail. The consequence was a crew member climbing to recover the sail from high up the mast, which meant the loss of various positions as they moved down into tenth place at the next mark. Orlanda Olympus were in fourth place, taking advantage of Movistar’s bad luck. In this leg the choice of sail was a determining factor and played a big role in the fleet’s positions.
Following the triangular course inside the bay de Palma, and rounding the buoy at San Juan de Dios, the fleet headed towards the island of Dragonera. On the way to the small island of el Toro (literally “the bull”) Lexus were still leading the fleet, although, the distance between them and the rest of the group were considerably shortened; Caixa Galicia, MoviStar and Bribon. Rounding the mark at Dragonera Lexus was holding onto their lead, with Caixa Galicia almost 40 seconds behind them, and Movistar 2 minutes away from the leader, followed by Orlanda Olympus.
At the finish of the first part of the race, opposite the island of el Toro, halfway point of the complete race course, Lexus crossed the line first, followed by Caixa Galicia, second, Cristabella, third, Atalanti, fourth, Orlanda Olympus fifth followed by Bambakou, MoviStar, Bribón, Aifos, Siemens and Balearia. The wind had dropped somewhat, and the fleet were facing a much tougher second part of the race, where anything may happen as both night and the wind fall…
Quotes
Peter Isler, Lexus, about the role of a navigator on an offshore race:
“My role as navigator really changes as we go into the offshore race, as it’s more important in terms of what I do for the boat and the impact I can make. Not only will I plot the course, so we don’t get lost, but also I have to figure out the fastest way to the next mark with respect to the winds and the currents. I have a lot to do on the boat, as it has a lot of sails to chose from, in terms of helping the crew to select the sail for the next leg. I will be monitoring not only the performance – how we’re doing on the leg, but also when we change and go around the mark, as we need to prepare the crew so they’re ready for the next manoeuvre, All in all it’s a lot of fun being a navigator and it’s even more fun in an offshore race.”
Robert Hopkins, Caixa Galicia, navigator, about today’s offshore race:
“We’ve listened to the met briefing by the organisers and our own guys, and looked at the numbers on the web. It looks like a light air race, so we’re trying to decide whether to take a bit of weight off the boat. How to get back after midnight is the hardest bit of the race, as well as the light air.
There are 3 courses between 80 and 100 miles, so I think they’ll choose a 90 mile course. We’ll probably sail with a nice sea breeze in the bay and then go outside of the bay and the wind will get lighter and lighter and eventually die altogether, and that will be the tough part.”
Spectacular Launch of Volvo Extreme 40
After months of hard work the 40 foot long catamaran, the Volvo Extreme 40 sailed her first mile. The boat was launched on the windy waters of Vastervik in Sweden (about 100 miles south of Stockholm). Today there were only 12-14 knots of wind, but that was enough for the monster catamaran to easily reach 22 knots under gennaker.
Rinus Reefman, Managing Director of Holmatro, the world leaders in hydraulic rescue equipment, was delighted: “It is nice to see this cat sailing and we’re so proud to have the first one afloat.”
A team of top sailors have been involved in the project; Englishman Derek Clark, Team GBR America’s Cup Project Manager, was (again) the Project Manager; Creator Mitch Booth (two times Olympic medallist); Designer Yves Loday (gold medallist from Barcelona 1992) and World Champion and the man behind the whole idea Herbert Dercksen.
Dercksen said: “The Volvo Extreme 40 is designed for Grand Prix Harbour racing. After boat shows in Holland (IJmuiden, at the end of August) and Southampton (end of September), five of these catamarans will be prepared for their first race in November. During the stopovers in the participating cities, people can see these catamarans sailing inside the ports themselves.”
The Volvo Extreme 40 weighs 1250 kilo’s and the mast length is 62 feet with a sail area of 125m² upwind and 220m² downwind. Today six men made up the crew and even though there was only a light breeze it was easy to fly on one hull, which was very impressive. Skipper Mitch Booth said: “This cat [amaran] is like a sports car. She sails so fast, so easily and reacted quickly too. Really impressive.”
August 2, 2005
Repeat Win for Independence Cup Champs
The defending champions of US SAILING's U.S. Independence Cup/North American Challenge Cup (IC/NACC), one of the premier disabled sailing regattas in the country, had reason to celebrate yesterday after winning the event once again. For doublehanded sailors Karen Mitchell (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) and Kerry Gruson (Miami, Fla.), it was their third consecutive time winning the Championship, sailed in Freedom 20s. For US Disabled Sailing Team-member Nick Scandone (Fountain Valley, CA), it was only his second time competing in the event and his second victory in the singlehanded event, sailed in the 2.4mR. The Championship is hosted by Chicago Yacht Club, where it will be held again next year.
In the doublehanded fleet, racing was close throughout the three-day regatta. Karen Mitchell and Kerry Gruson took the lead on the second day and managed to hold on to it for the remainder of the event. With six points total, the winners finished 12 points ahead of second-place finishers Bob Jones (Issaquah, WA) and Ken Kelly (Victoria, BC). In the singlehanded 2.4mR fleet, Nick Scandone came prepared to win, taking the lead on day one and never relinquishing it. Fellow US Disabled Sailing Team-member Rick Doerr (Clifton, NJ) finished eight points behind Scandone.
"The racing in the gold fleets of both classes was highly competitive this year," said Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.), coach of the US Disabled Sailing Team and clinic instructor at the U.S. Independence Cup. "I think this was the strongest competition we've seen at this event," she added.
With their third consecutive win of the U.S. Independence Cup, Mitchell and Gruson enter the history books of US SAILING. This is the first time in the history of the event, held annually since 1990, that a team has won the event for three consecutive years. Robie Pierce (Newport, R.I.) has won the singlehanded event three times, but not in consecutive years.
By winning the U.S. Independence Cup, Californian Nick Scandone continues what has been a very successful year thus far. He started 2005 with a third place finish at US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR in the 2.4mR, he was the top U.S. finisher in the event. He then finished fourth at the Disabled Midwinters and the combined finishes at both events put him in first place for the US Disabled Sailing Team in the 2.4mR. The U.S. Independence Cup served as great preparation for Scandone, who leaves for Denmark later this month to compete in the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship. In September, Scandone will travel to Italy to compete in the 2.4mR Open World Championship.
Nation's Best Junior Sailors Coming to California
After training and competing in regattas all summer long, the time has come for the country's top 60 youth sailors in the U.S. to show off their sailing skills at the competitive US SAILING U.S. Junior Singlehanded and Doublehanded Championships. Both the U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship, sailed in Club 420s for the Bemis Trophy, and the U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship, sailed in Lasers for the Smythe Trophy will be hosted by Newport Harbor Yacht Club in Newport Beach, Calif. The events take place August 9th and continuing through the 12th. Demonstrating its strong commitment to youth sailing, Vanguard Sailboats is providing brand-new boats for both events. In conjunction with the U.S. Junior Singlehanded and Doublehanded Championships, the U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championship will be held in Corona Del Mar, Calif.
In order for these young sailors to compete in the National Championships they had to sail in local and regional regattas to qualify. Only 60 sailors are able to qualify, 20 competitors for the Singlehanded Championship (20 boats); and 40 competitors for the Doublehanded Championship (20 boats). The young sailors come from all over the U.S. including Hawaii for the prestigious event.
Previous winners of these Championships have gone on to become world-famous sailors, competing in the Olympic Games, World Championships, the America's Cup, and many more. Kevin Hall, currently on the US Sailing Team and a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team, won the U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship in 1985 and 1986. Mikee Anderson-Mitterling won the U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship in 2000 and is now a member of the US Sailing Team in the Men's 470.
IMOCA Class Head to Far East in 2006
The Open 60 monohull class association, IMOCA, has announced the result of a three-way bidding contest for the rights to run the proposed Europe-China race in 2006. All three bids, from Monaco, Brest and London were of excellent quality and the decision was a difficult one for the Executive of the Class. Finally the bid of Extreme Sailing, a company associated to skipper Mike Golding, was awarded the rights to run the 2006 inaugural event, which will see the Open 60’s race, short-handed, from London to Shanghai, with possible stopovers in Brittany and Qingdao (site of Olympic sailing in 2008). Over 17,000 miles of hard ocean racing on a completely new track for the Open 60s. A new course but one that in maritime history has been a very important trade route, including the famous Tea Clippers of the 19th century. With rapid economic growth in China, a key market for many global brands, this inaugural race to the Far East is innovative step by the international Open 60 fleet.
“All of the dossiers were excellent, which is a great indication of the attractiveness of the world’s largest ocean racing class to event organisers and sponsors” commented IMOCA President Luc Talbourdet, “The calendar looking forward to 2009 is already of excellent quality, and very attractive for boat sponsors international, competitive and rich in variation, sailing on almost every ocean of the planet.”
The IMOCA Class is increasingly present around the world. This coming weekend, 14 Open 60s will race in the classic Rolex Fastnet Race, and a fleet of up to 25 IMOCA 50 and 60’ boats is expected to race this November in the Transat Jacques Vabre, from France to Brazil. These boats will head back to Europe in time for Christmas before preparing for the race to China that should depart late March, arrive in China by the end of May, and see the yachts shipped back to Europe in time for sponsor activities in the summer. IMOCA skippers and projects will then choose between the Route du Rhum in November 2006, or the 5-Oceans race (formerly the Around Alone / BOC).
Sailors To Compete For Oldest National Junior Trophy
Not too far from the where the U.S. Junior Singlehanded and Doublehanded Championships will be held simultaneously in Newport Beach, Calif., 33 of the best young triplehanded sailors will soon arrive in Corona del Mar, Calif. to compete for the oldest national junior trophy, created in 1921. The U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championship for the renowned US SAILING Sears Cup will be hosted by Balboa Yacht Club in Corona del Mar, Calif. Sailed in Governor's Cup 21s, the event will be held beginning August 9th and continuing through the 12th.
In order for these young sailors to compete in the National Championships they had to sail in local and regional regattas to qualify. Only 33 sailors are able to qualify, making up 11 very competitive teams. The young sailors come from all over the U.S. including Hawaii for the prestigious event.
Previous winners of these Championships have gone on to become world-famous sailors, competing in the Olympic Games, World Championships, the America's Cup, and many more. US Sailing Team-members Dalton Bergan and Morgan Larson have won the U. S. Junior Triplehanded Championship earlier in their sailing careers. Bergan won the Championship in 1994 and Larson in 1988.
August 1, 2005
MacArthur's <> Denied Chance to Race FastNet
The Royal Ocean Racing Club [RORC], organisers of the 2005 Fastnet Race starting on Sunday 7th August from Cowes, UK, have decided to enforce a 60-foot maximum length for multihull entries in this classic race, even though monohulls up to 100 feet are competing in the race. As such, the 75-foot trimaran <
"Whilst we respect the final decision of the RORC, we are very disappointed of course. <
The trimaran <
"We have changed our plans accordingly but both myself and the crew were really looking forward to the Fastnet. It was our chance to push her hard in a race environment and to test some of our modifications and systems on board," said <
Copa Del Rey Begins with Many Points in Play
For the first time the 11 vessels in the Transpac 52 fleet taking part in the Breitling MEDCUP will come together in their entirety for the most emblematic regatta in the Mediterranean.
Eleven Transpac 52s will ensure a lot of excitement in the 24th Copa del rey Agua Brava, which takes place in the Real Club Naútico de Palma from the 30th of July to the 7th of August. The crème de la créme of international sailing will be present in Mallorcan waters – America’s Cup yachtsmen, RTW, World champions, and Olympic medallists will be among those taking the reins of these spectacular vessels, to race for victory in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit, and for success in the Copa del Rey. The incorporation of the brand new Transpac 52, Balearia, owned by Olympic medallist Toño Gorostegui means that the all of the eleven TP52s in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit will be competing in this event.
THE BATTLE RESUMES FOR THE BREITLING MEDCUP, IN THE COPA DEL REY
The Copa del Rey is sure to be a challenging event for all teams. In the first event of the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit victory went to Spanish team, Caixa Galicia, with Roberto Bermúdez de Castro at the helm, whilst Vasco Vascotto and crew were untouchable in the Trofeo S.M. La Reina, and New Zealanders on Lexus fought till the very end to gain a well deserved win in the Breitling Regatta last week. The Copa del Rey is the true test for all of the vessels. There are many points in play, many different types of races; windward-leeward, coastal, and offshore races, and this event could propel any of the teams into the lead of the Breitling MEDCUP.
Caixa Galicia, owned by Spaniard Vicente Tirado, already know what it feels like to win the coveted Copa del Rey, being the holders of the record of victories in the event with three wins in different categories. In this edition, the first for the new TP52 vessel, the team have a clear objective.
“Our aim is to win the Copa del Rey”, comments Vicente Tirado.
“We are not really concerned at this stage with the general rankings. There are still a lot of points to be won, and we won’t focus on the Circuit itself until after the Copa del Rey. Our philosophy is to approach the Circuit event by event.” The owner of Caixa Galicia adds, “The Copa del Rey is a very important event, but I don’t think it will be decisive in terms of the Breitling MEDCUP. The Class is very equal, and things can change at any time, as the level of competition in the Class is truly extraordinary.”
Movistar –Pisco Sour-, also know the taste of victory with Pedro Campos in 2002. The duo taking the helm of movistar, Campos-Vascotto, know the bahia de Palma very well, knowledge which they will surely use to their advantage in the different regattas in the event.
The recently incorporated Balearia, with the four times winner of this event, Toño Gorostegui, also has the local knowledge which could be key in this competition. The team are currently working to get the boat into optimum condition for the races which begin on Monday.
“I am very happy with the boat,” comments Gorostegui, “We have been training out on the race course over the past few days, and the boat seems to be responding well in light wind conditions. It’s been tough, but the boat is almost optimised to race now.”
Among the latest additions to the crews, is Balearia’s Tactician Santiago López-Vázquez, who is also a member of the Spanish Desafío Español America’s Cup team.
The other TP52s are currently in Palma training for the event and familiarising themselves with the race courses. Lexus will yet again have 3 times America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts at the helm, and is involved in intensive preparations right now, along with the Italian team Orlanda-Olympus, with Tomasso Chieffi, who are also preparing for the races in Palma. For the Greek vessel Atalanti XV, the pressure is on to race a good regatta, after a broken stay forced them to withdraw from two of the races in Puerto Portals, meaning they must work even harder to recover the points lost in the last event. Siemens, a recent addition to the fleet, also have the benefit of knowledge of the bay of Palma, and the conditions which the boats are likely to face out on the regatta course.
Bribón, owned by José Cusí, and leader in the Corinthian category, must work hard to defend their title, as they face an optimised Cristabella, with John Cook, as well as Aifos and Bambakou, who are more competitive day by day.
General Ranking
RK BOAT Total
1 PISCO SOUR-Movistar 147
2 LEXUS QUANTUM 139
3 CAIXA GALICIA 134
4 BRIBON 112
5 ORLANDA 111
6 BAMBAKOU 105
7 ATALANTI XV 102
8 CRISTABELLA 67
9 AIFOS 49
10 SIEMENS 13
CREW LISTS AVAILABLE IN THE TEAMS AREA OF THE WEBSITE, AS WELL AS AN INTERVIEW WITH TOMASSO CHIEFFI –ORLANDA-OLYMPUS- IN THE MAGAZINE SECTION OF WWW.MEDCUP.ORG
Coast Guard Responds to Ludington Boat Crash
Coast Guard Station Ludington and Coast Guard Station Manistee responded to a boat crash at a breakwall less than a quarter mile from Station Ludington around 11:45 Friday night.
John Younes, the owner/operator of the 23-foot powerboat, hailed "mayday" at 11:43 p.m. after his boat, with two other people on board, hit a breakwall at a high rate of speed and went up onto the rocks, coming completely out of the water. Station Manistee's 47-foot rescue boat and crew were at Station Ludington at the time of the incident.
Station Manistee's boat crew along with a 30-foot rescue boat and crew from Station Ludington responded to the incident and arrived on scene within minutes. All three people were transported to EMS. From there, two were taken to Ludington Hospital to be treated for injuries.
Winners Named at Rolex Swan
The Rolex Swan American Regatta concluded today after a week of spectacular racing, in Newport, R.I. Thirty-nine Swan yachts competed in the biennial regatta, which began Monday, July 25 and concluded today with two races on Rhode Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Overall winners in each of the four class winners were awarded a Rolex Steel Submariner timepiece at the prizegiving ceremony, held at New York Yacht Club's Harbour Court.
In Class A, Frank Savage (Stamford, Conn.) and his Swan 56 Lolita lived up to pre-regatta expectations by scoring two victories on the final day's racing. Savage had been bullish about repeating his success at this regatta four years ago, but he struggled while the Swan 601 Moneypenny, owned by Jim Swartz (Edgartown, Mass.) sailed to a comfortable victory. It was a good consolation prize for Savage. "Today we sailed like the Lolita that everyone at these Swan regattas knows," said Savage. "I'm very, very pleased, so proud of my crew, and the boat was in excellent shape. The weather was perfect Swan 56 weather; 16-18 knots is a great wind range for us.
"We had a couple of new guys on board, and the team really came together today," Savage said. "For the first time we chose an all-asymmetric spinnaker inventory. That was a new move for us and we had to get used to the jibes. We've struggled with it, it's very difficult to jibe the boat, but everything turned out right today."
Moneypenny won every race of the week, except today. A 2,4 scoreline was still sufficient to hand Class A overall victory to Swartz by a comfortable margin. "It was a great week, we had a great start and we've had some fantastic sailing," said Swartz. "Today was a little more humbling. We came second by one second in the first race, and I'm not sure about the second race. It's been a little more challenging today. The boat has performed fantastically and I'm extremely happy with the boat, beyond my expectations. The crew has been fantastic - they just executed faultlessly all week. It was a great sight to see."
There was a very close three-way battle for second place in Class A, with Filip Balcaen (BEL) and his Swan 56 Aqua Equinox doing just enough to edge out Lolita. Lolita finished in third tied with the Swan 68 Chippewa, owned by Clay Deutsch (Newport, R.I.,).
Victory in Class B remained in the balance until the final race this afternoon, with Swan 44s Vixen and Crescendo duelling to the very end. John Wayt (Jamestown, R.I.) had the momentum to string together four consecutive victories for his Vixen. After winning the first race of the day over Crescendo by 30 seconds, Vixen topped the leader board by a single point. In the afternoon, Crescendo sailed to an easy victory, almost two minutes ahead of another Swan 44, Xenophon owned by Jeffrrey Rabuffo, with Swan 46 Cygne another 30 seconds further back.
"Today was a day of very competitive sailing," said Martin Jacobson (Greenwich, Conn.), co-owner of Crescendo. "It was a kind of a serious day, but a fun day. We had a little struggle on the first leg of the first race, but from then on we were able to sail pretty much to our racing plan. In the first race we finished second to Vixen, so we knew we had to really do well in the final race. We were able to sail to our plan, which is important, and we didn't make any mistakes."
In Class C, the nine-boat Swan 45 one-design division, William Douglass (New York, N.Y.) and his Goombay Smash went into the day with a very comfortable buffer over Massimo Ferragamo's (New York, N.Y.) Bellicosa. However, Ferragamo won the first race, Douglass finished fifth, and suddenly Goombay didn't look so comfortable. "Today we had a bit of trouble going upwind," said Douglass. "I think we had the wrong jib up on the first race and Bellicosa sailed a fantastic race. They were really trying to put the pressure on us. All of a sudden we realized that they just cut our lead in half so we still had our work cut out. Even the boats that weren't finishing in the top of the fleet were all of a sudden winning races, like Vixen and Yasha and it was really, really fun, close racing."
Yukihiro Ishida (Tokyo, Japan) looked set to take his first race win this morning with his brand-new Yasha, holding a 30-second lead around the penultimate windward mark. But that lead evaporated when the spinnaker wrapped around the forestay and dropped them back into the pack, finishing third.
Toward the end of the race, Douglass adopted a more aggressive strategy to protect his diminished lead against Ferragamo. "The second race we just decided we were just going to camp on Bellicosa, so we really weren't worried too much about the rest of the fleet," he said. "Bellicosa and ourselves did a lot of tacking, and we still ended up finishing fourth. The crew work has been fantastic and Brad Reed did a superb job of calling tactics - we just had a great time."
The next big regatta for the Swan 45 class is the Gold Cup, to be held during Key West Race Week this January." A fleet of 20 boats is expected there.
Joe Huber (Wynnewood, Pa.) dominated the non-spinnaker division, Class D, from start to finish. His Swan 44 Reef Points scored seven first places and discarded a fourth to win by 19 points over second-place Roland Bathory (Weston, Mass.) and his Swan 53 Amanda. Huber was delighted with the victory. "This is our first regatta together," he said. "The boat captain Jeff Gertzen pulled together the team, and he's the secret to getting the crew together and choosing a good team. We're a small boat in the class and it's hard to keep up with the others. But actually, the secret to our success is that we were fortunate to get to the weather marks with the big boats and then ride their quarter wake for speed downwind." Neal Finnegan (Cohasset, Mass.) finished third overall with his Swan 56 Clover III.
The Rolex Swan American Regatta 2005 concluded this evening with the final prize giving, held at the picturesque setting of New York Yacht Club's Newport clubhouse Harbour Court. Owners and crews congregated for champagne and canapés to share their stories of friendly rivalry from the week's racing. The final trophy was presented by ClubSwan, for best performance overall.
Preliminary Overall Results - July 29, 2005
Top 3 in all classes
Class A
Place, boat, type, owner, hometown, race finishes, total points
1. Moneypenny, Swan 601, Jim Swartz, Edgartown, Mass., 1-1-1-4*-1-1-2-4, 11 points
2. Aqua Equinox, Filip Balcaen, BEL, 3-4*-2-3-2-3-4-2, 19
3. Lolita, Frank Savage, Stamford, Conn., 2-3-5-8*-3-5-1-1, 20
*denotes the throwout race, does not count toward total
Class B
Place, boat, type, owner, hometown, race finishes, total points
1. Crescendo, Swan 44, Leon Christianakis/ Martin Jacobson, Greenwich, Conn., 1-1-1-3*-2-2-1, 10 points
2. Vixen, Swan 44, John Wayt, Jamestown, R.I., 3-2-2-1-1-1-4*, 11
3. Xenophon, Jeffrey Rabuffo, Middletown, R.I., 4*-3-3-2-4-3-3-2, 20
*denotes the throwout race, does not count toward total
Class C - Swan 45 One-Design
Place, boat, owner, hometown, race finishes, total points
1. Goombay Smash, William Douglass, Stamford, Conn., 1-1-1-2-1-3-2-7*-2-5-4, 22 points
2. Bellicosa, Massimo Ferragamo, New York, N.Y., 2-3-4-3-2-4-5*-2-1-1-5, 27
3. Plenty, Alexander Roepers, New York, N.Y., 5-5-2-1-7-1-8*-3-5-2-2-, 33
*denotes the throwout race, does not count toward total
Class D
Place, boat, type, owner, hometown, race finishes, total points
1. Reef Points, Swan 44, Joseph Huber, Wynnewood, Pa., 1-1-1-1-4*-1-1-1, 7 points
2. Amanda, Swan 53, Roland Bathory, Weston, Mass., 4-3-3-2-3-4-7-8*, 26
3. Clover III, Neal Finnegan, Cohassett, Mass., 14*-2-2-3-1.5-7-8-6, 29.5
*denotes the throwout race, does not count toward tota