Thursday, November 29, 2007

Going Solo


Click on image to enlarge Copyright onEdition 2007©
Mike Golding (GBR) onboard Open 60 ECOVER 3 at the start of the ECOVER Transat BtoB race from Salvador de Bahia (Brazil) and Port-La-Foret (Finistere, Brittany), as part of his 2008/09 Vendee Globe campaign.

Click on image to enlarge Copyright onEdition 2007©
Dee Caffari onboard AVIVA, after stopping briefly due to technical problems at the start of her first solo open 60 race.

Getting Ready


Copyright onEdition 2007©
Dee Caffari oversees the repairs to AVIVA before setting off on her first solo open 60 race, the 2007 Transat Ecover-BtoB, a transatlantic sailing race between Salvador de Bahia, Brazil and Port-La-Foret, Finistere, Brittany.
The 4,340-mile race signifies the next step of Caffari's rapid development into competitive Open 60 racing as she prepares to compete in the Vendee Globe 2008/09 and become the first woman to sail solo around the world in both directions.

ECOVER 3 Transat Jacques Vabre Overview

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Back to the Future....








Here are a few concept designs that have been floating around on the internet. Some are promising while others just are way out there!

J Lauritzen Dragon Championship update





Another beautiful day of sailing in Punta Del Este, Uruguay. Here are the results after the first day of sailing.
1 GBR725 Tim Tavinor, Andrew Norden & Eduardo Caro England Danish Blue 3 2 2 7
2 GER996 Thomas Muller, Vicent Hoesch & Max Scheibmayr Germany Sinewave 1 8 3 12
3 GER990 H.W Zachariassen, Michael Kurtz & Andreea Supperleggera 4 4 8 16
4 DEN380 Peter Warren, Lars Wegener & Thomas Sorensen Denmark Lil 8 7 7 22

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Wally World


Fano, Italy - The advanced composite construction of the hull of the Wally 101 is completed at WallyEurope yard.
The large yet light hull of the new super yacht was successfully turned and re-positioned inside the shed, to start the next phases of the building process: the outfitting and the installation of the deck.
The construction is on schedule and the launching is due in spring 2009. - Wally.com

Monday, November 26, 2007

Tasty


Day 13: Bilou and Jean-Luc with their flying fish©Veolia Environnement

Day 12: Michèle eating onboard Temenos II©Temenos II
Just another day on Barcelona Round the World Race.

SKOOLED BY THE MASTER


Rod Davies drove the last nail in the coffin on Dean Barker in the finals of the New Zealand Match Racing Championships on the Waitemata Harbour. It's also good to see that Chris Dickson is still alive and out racing!
Final Placings
1st Rod Davis – ETNZ / RNZYS
2nd Dean Barker – ETNZ / RNZYS
3rd Laurie Jury - Kiwimatch
4th Chris Dickson - RNZYS
5th Adam Minoprio – Blackmatch / RNZYS

Digging himself a hole

If he has not dug a big enough hole with this America's Cup crap, Brad Butterworth is pissing off his new neighbors by removing half the hillside for his new $1.3 million dream home on Waiheke Island in New Zealand. The home will have three bedrooms, a study, two bathrooms, a pool and a spa pool. Wow! Next you will see him on MTV Cribs.

Photo: Work is carried out on Brad Butterworth's property. Photo / Megan Clark.

No it can't be true

Britain's team Origin said yesterday that their status as an official challenger in the 33rd America's Cup is in doubt after the postponement of the regatta originally scheduled for 2009 in Spain.

Damn it... I was looking forward to the Spice Girls crewing for Team Origin.

Dropping the Hammer!!!





Photos by ©JM Liot/DPPI/Idec
Not even Tom Cruise could keep up... Idec, three days out and on a record setting pace for the Solo Round the World record attempt.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Dragon descend on Punta del Este





The J. Lauritzen Dragon Championship South America 2007.
Will be held in the Yacht Club of Punta del Este, Uruguay. Starting Nov 26 - Dec 1. The ocean transportation for all the Dragon’s was fully sponsored by J. Lauritzen. The Dragon's where picked up from two different European ports, Hamburg and Fos Sur Mer, and complete a four-week journey to arrive at the port of Montevideo. - What a sweet deal and great location to race! More news to come... http://www.sadragoncup.org/

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Estrella Damm’s Jonathan McKee


IN BRIEF:
Estrella Damm has had a tough run over the last few days as she tries to keep up with her competitors in the Barcelona World Race. Estrella Damm’s Co-Skipper Jonathan McKee gives us an honest account of what life has been like on board Estrella Damm since her passage through the second gate at the Canary Islands.
“It has been tough for the last four days to be honest…We’re trying not to take it personally…Predicating what the wind is going to do is a pretty inexact science, probably more so when you have a sailor trying to interpret the data.”
“I really enjoy the double handed, I think it’s the future. It just makes so much more sense than single handed for me. These are big powerful boats, there’s no questions about that, it’s a lot of boat even for two people, you just have to be smart about how you do things, and pace yourself and take things carefully.”
“You realise just how precarious of a position you are in when five minutes before, everything seemed totally under control. Things can go bad in a hurry. It’s just a very delicate game. The loads are pretty big. It puts the human in the way of a lot of power so you have to be pretty careful.”
“You realise these guys that we’re up against have been doing this for ten years and we have been doing this for three months. They are great boats to sail and it’s a fantastic race and when we have a moment to breathe we’re having a good time.” - http://www.estrelladammsailingteam.com/

All in

Frenchman Mathieu Richard and his Saba Sailing Team are on fire having won the last two stages of the World Match Racing Tour. After taking wins at the Bermuda Gold Cup and the recently completed Brazil Sailing Cup, Richard has taken an 8 point lead going into the fifteenth and final stage of the World Tour. Richard is in prime position to be the second Frenchman to win the ISAF Match Racing World Championship at the Monsoon Cup in Kuala Terrenganu, Malaysia which starts next week, November 28 – December 2nd. However, there are still five teams that could win the World Championship title in Malaysia.
The top six skippers on the leader board will be attending the Monsoon Cup which is worth double the points of a regular World Tour event and must be counted in the skippers final score. Mathieu Richard leads with 140 points followed by Team Pindar's, Ian Williams on 132. Italian Paolo Cian of Shosholoza is in third place with 115 followed by Frenchman Sebastion Col on 93 and Bjorn Hansen on 87. However, each skipper will drop there worst race and count the final score making the scores even tighter. With a drop the score line reads:

Matthieu Richard (FRA) - Saba Sailing Team: 130
Iam Williams (GBR) – Team Pindar: 122
Paolo Cian (ITA) – Shosholoza: 107
Sebastion Col (FRA) – Areva Challenge: 89
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) – Team Apport.net: 87
Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST: 66

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!


Photo by underthesunphotos.com
For those of you in United States Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Been There, Posted That


Like 3 days ago! It's nice to know that SA is on top of things... Nice work Ed - cool hair btw!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

THAT'S RAD






This kite-powered yacht, designed by Stefani Krucke, brings kite sailing technology into the luxury category of leisure yachts.

Blow Here



The University of Minnesota has recently teamed up with JTW Associates to develop the Nebulus Emergency Flotation Device. It is a self-inflating case that set ups quickly and allows a water or ice rescue to be executed by single individual without waiting for help.

How it works? Once the rip-cord is pulled, two pressurized carbon dioxide bottles pump up an enclosed lift bag which is proficient in providing momentary flotation for up to 1,000 lbs of the sunken vehicle and riders. The Nebulus Emergency Flotation Device will likely be used for snowmobiles and ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles) smash into thin ice. You can even use it on your boat when your canting keel snaps off to save your crew! http://www.nebulusflotation.com/

Monday, November 19, 2007

Melges 24 King's Day | ACC

Florida Yacht Club; Jacksonville, Florida - Bora Gulari at the helm for Chuck Holzman on 'Flyer' played his trumph card today as they took the Melges 24 King's Day Atlantic Coast Championship title by one point. "This is great," said Holzman. "We come down here every year and we have such a great time, we really enjoy it. The race committee had a very challenging job this year. I'm not sure what was more challenging — being on the committee boat or being one of the race boats, but this was tough." Holzman attributed his entire crew in addition to Gulari — George Peet, Wally Cross and Todd Jones for their success this weekend.

Day two of the 2007 King's Day Regatta Melges 24 Atlantic Coast Championship was bound to be a showdown. Going into the day, Bill Hardesty at the helm for Dave Ford on 'Lightwave Nano' had the overall lead with a 3-2 first day score over Brian Porter on 'Full Throttle's' 6-1 finish. And to no surprise, Gulari\Holzman were seated in third. The teams headed out to the course bright and early on Sunday morning under once again, sunny skies and a light breeze. Just when everyone thought it was just enough to get things going on time, the air bottomed out and the fleet went into postponement.
Race one finally got underway around midday with a great start. As if the deep talent in this fleet wasn't enough to deal with, it was played a great game of breeze and current on the first upwind beat. First to the mark was Cary Siegler on 'Cre843' with Traverse City's Mike Down on 'Flying Toaster' hot on his heels. As the fleet slowly progressed around the mark, the situation looked grim for the overnight leaders. Hardesty and Gulari/Holzman were furthest front, while Porter and Mark Ivey driving for David Ford on 'Lightwave Micro' struggled desperately in the disappearing air. Downwind the overnight leaders picked up some positions. As the fleet headed back-upwind, with a last minute shortened course, Dow took the win in stride. It was Joe Blouin on 'Wicked Witch' the launched a surprise attack taking second place, Siegler settled for third. Gulari/Holzman was fifth. - Joy Dunigan

TOP TEN RESULTS (Overall) 01.) Bora Gulari/Chuck Holzman; Flyer 02.) Bill Hardesty/David Ford; Lightwave Nano 03.) Terry Hutchinson; Quantum Racing 04.) Mike Dow; Flying Toaster05.) Mark Ivey/David Ford; Lightwave Micro 06.) Kelly Gough/Shawn Grisham; Bulls-Eye (c) 07.) Brian Porter; Full Throttle 08.) Alan Field; WTF 09.) Geoffery Pierini; Gazoo 10.) Steve Kopf; Blur

Sloop Nationals





Photos by http://www.gtsphotos.com
REGATTA HIGHLIGHTS: 2007-2008 ICSA Sloop National Championship
Friday: Sailing got underway at 11 am with sunny conditions and breeze from the south at 18-26, with higher gusts. Courses were W2's with a leeward gate and ran about 40 minutes per race. There was 1 breakdown (broken headstay, St. Mary's). There were also a few spectacular wipeouts downwind (Navy and St. Mary's), Racing resumes again tomorrow morning, I will post updated results then. Forecast is more southerly, but with less velocity. RC is hoping to complete the rotation tomorrow.

Saturday was a lighter affair. We had excellent breeze in the morning, but it died to nothing after lunch and did not return until after 3. Teams were AP'd to shore while the RC waited, more races could have been attempted, but they would have been of poor quality and not a fair test of skill. There were no protests or breakdowns. The wind looks on the lighter side again this morning (5-10), but enough to finish the rotation if it holds. Teams are rigging up now.

1 St.Mary's 12
2 Boston College 19
3 Navy 25
4 Western Washington 36
5 Texas A&M Galveston 40

800 miles to go...


ECOVER view Groupe Bel on the horizon© Mike Golding
With just over 800 miles to go until the finish line in Salvador de Bahia, Brasil Bruno Dubois reported a fair night aboard ECOVER 3 as he and skipper Mike Golding count down the final miles of the Transat Jacques Vabre double handed race from Le Havre searching for the best sail, ballast, keel and daggerboard combinations on the new boat.

“I think we found the right combinations fairly quickly downwind but reaching like this we are always trying and changing and I don’t think we have it hard yet. We have not got the same conditions as the guys in front so it is a little hard to tell, the rich are getting a little richer. But it is OK.” Said Dubois this morning. With the top six boats almost lined up in a straight line on what appears like a drag race to the finish, only second placed Jean Le Cam and Gildas Morvan on VM Materiaux look exposed as they are still well to the west of the pack. It does look like the wind will soften as the leaders approach the coast, and most predictions are of a finish around Tuesday lunch time. - Mike Golding on Ecover

French Fry



VITÓRIA BRASIL SAILING CUP

French yachtsman defeats his country fellow Philippe Presti by 3 x 2 in the final and is now eight points ahead of Ian Williams (GBR), who became the Tour runner up - Only one stage to go, in Malaysia, for the 2006/2007 season champion.

Good News / Bad News


Jonathan McKee sends us a update from BRW:
The bad news is that we got really hammered yesterday, and it is going to get worse today relative to the fleet. We sat in little or no wind all day and most of the night, often barely moving. That was rather frustrating to say the least, especially when you know others have wind. So it was a pretty tough day onboard. More bad news is that we are still struggling to get out of the light air bubble, currently just 6 knots, while most of the fleet have good breeze and are sailing away.
The good news is that there is still 24,000 miles of racing to go (you may not consider that good news). Hopefully this won't turn into a permanant fleet separation, although that is a possibility, and there will be other opportunities to get back into the race. That remains to be seen. The other good news is that we did not freak out or have a fight or anything else permanatly damaging. So we are still racing hard as a team, a bit frustrated but doing the best with what we have. We also got some boat work done in the calm weather! And the dolphins have been excellent.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Stacked


The mighty Panache racing Hot Run Series in San Diego, CA. Let the good times roll! Photo by http://www.da-woody.com/

We're Going To Disneyland!!!


Sally Barkow, Nashotah, WI USA celebrating her team's victory
at the Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship - La Porte, TX, USA
Skipper/Crew: Sally Barkow, Nashotah, WI USA; Debbie Capozzi, Bayport, NY USA; Amanda Callahan, Canton, MA; Annie Lush, Poole, UK. Club: PLYC 2007 Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship © ROLEX/Dan Nerney