Written by WINDSURFING – Many kids around the world join the biggest windsurfing class every day, but not all of them have an experienced coach who can help them to learn. Thanks to BIC sports international and International windsurfing association and with help from Mauro Covre (Techno 293 Italian national coach) they can learn with this instructional video.
LUNA ROSSA ASKS FOR CHANGES IN AMERICA’S CUP
AC NEWS - Bertelli, chief executive of Prada and a longtime challenger for the Cup spoke at a news conference last Friday at the team’s temporary base in Alameda, Calif. asking for changes to the AC rules. For those of you who missed the conference, here is a quote and video of the news conference.
“In order for a boat to be safe, the crew must feel safe, and they need to trust their boat; this is primordial,” Bertelli said. “I have asked our sailors if they trust the boat, and our sailors have told me they do trust the boat and that they can sail on it. Obviously, we are going to look at technology and any tools that can help us to be safer. Also it’s very important to reduce the wind limits to around what we ask and to race as per the protocol and the class rule.”
“We will not tolerate the bending of the rules using as an excuse the latest fatality, and we will respect the rules of the protocol and the class rule as they have been approved. We are absolutely in favor of discussing with all the other teams to try to find common solutions to the problems we face, but we will not accept any imposition.”
‘CHALLENGED AMERICA’ NEEDS VOLUNTEERS
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE – ATTENTION! – Sailors from Santa Barbara to San Diego, ‘CHALLENGED AMERICA’, needs your help.
All that is remaining to complete and bring the motor yacht “Challenged America” (a classic Grand Banks 42) to its home dock at Sunroad Resort Marina are a few volunteers willing and able to paint the top cabin.
We’re anxious to have the Challenged America program’s Flagship operational; you’re help is needed today.
For additional information on participating in the Sanding & Painting Party in San Diego, phone or email the Challenged America office today, and we will contact you right away to make arrangements.
Office: (619) 523-9318
Email: [email protected]
Thank You,
Urban Miyares, co-founder
VOLVO SAYS “TRY SAILING!”
PROMOTING SAILING – Continuing its long-term support for British Sailing, Volvo Car UK has launched the ‘Volvo Sailing Academy’ initiative – a series of free, family-friendly sailing and powerkiting experiences to introduce beginners, young and old, to the sports. Here Olympic silver medalist, Saskia Clark treats guests to an exclusive sailing experience at Hayling Island Sailing Club open day www.volvocarssailing.co.uk/sailing-academy
GLOBAL OCEAN RACE GETS NEW HEADQUARTERS
Written by 
GLOBLA OCEAN RACE – Haslar Marina is the new Head Quarters for the Global Ocean Race. With the Global Ocean Race 2014-15 starting and finishing in the Solent – the traditional home of round-the-world racing – the natural Head Quarters for the Race Organisation is Haslar Marina in Gosport, Portsmouth. The GOR’s offices are within metres of Haslar’s sheltered, 600-berth marina which will also form the base for the event’s corporate and sponsor sailing on Class40s throughout 2013 until the start of the race on September 21st 2014.
Already a base for inshore and offshore racing teams, Haslar Marina’s location close to the mouth of Portsmouth Harbour permits quick access to the Solent for the GOR’s teams to train and boat test in the run-up to the start of the 30,000-mile circumnavigation in 2014. “Haslar Marina is at the hub of South Coast sailing and the marine services in the area are world class,” says Josh Hall, Race Director of the GOR. “I’m certain that many of our European entries will choose Gosport and Haslar Marina as a base prior to the start in September next year and our international teams will find the practical and social attractions of the location and the proximity of the GOR’s start in Southampton a strong incentive to base here,” he adds.
“The management and staff at Haslar Marina have immense experience in dealing with racing yachts and have a deep understanding of the needs and requirements of the skippers and crews,” says Hall. “It’s a great pleasure to welcome Richard Reddyhoff, Ben Lippiett and their team at Haslar Marina as Race Partners in the GOR.”
“We are delighted to welcome Global Ocean Race to Haslar Marina,” says Ben Lippiett, Marina Manager. “This confirms our belief that we are attracting top quality tenants not only to our marina, but to Gosport as a whole. Gosport is increasingly being viewed as the home of ocean racing, with a choice of quality deep water marinas, easy access to the Solent and convenient transport links to London,” Lippiett continues. “Together with Alex Thomson Racing on site and Brian Thompson running a short-handed sailing academy out of Haslar, we are quickly becoming recognised as the location of choice for serious ocean racing.”
BACK IN THE GAME
52 SUPER SERIES – Quantum Racing look to return to winning ways with Terry Hutchinson and Jordi Calafat set to sail in the 52 SUPER SERIES European regattas. “We want to win the European 52 SUPER SERIES.”
That is the stark, keynote objective for the coming months, as stated by Ed Reynolds (USA) director of the Quantum Racing 52 programme, and as the American flagged team complete their final days of training off Barcelona this week in preparation for Thursday’s start to the Trofeo de Vela Conde de Godo, it is clear the highly motivated crew are ready to rise to this challenge.
Two significant changes bolster the team line up. Terry Hutchinson (USA), who skippered Quantum Racing to win the MedCup title in 2008 and lead the crew through until 2011, returns to the line up, this time in the role of tactician.
He will be joined by 1992 Barcelona Olympic gold medallist and America’s Cup winner Jordi Calafat (ESP) who sails as Quantum Racing’s strategist.
Even as experienced and honoured as they both are, integrating the two new afterguard members has been one of the primary goals of the pre-regatta training period. Although of course Baird (USA) and Calafat sailed together as America’s Cup winners with Alinghi, Hutchinson and Baird are new to each other and so have been putting in some racing hours to optimise their partnership.
In mid April Baird and Hutchinson sailed together at the Congressional Cup off Long Beach finishing second. In fact that was Ed Baird’s first monohull match racing event since July 3rd 2007 when he drove Alinghi to win the 32rd America’s Cup against Emirates Team New Zealand on which Hutchinson was tactician.
“This is going to be really fun to be back with the guys on Quantum Racing,” Hutchinson smiles, “I was a little bit involved at the end of the World Championships in Miami when I watched them racing there. There are some very high quality teams as we saw there, like Azzurra and Rán Racing as examples which for the most part have shown they are capable of winning, and so I cannot wait to get out there and get racing in the fleet again.”
“I am looking to just help along the great work that Ed Baird has been doing. We jump started things by doing the Congressional Cup together and that was really good. We were mainly looking at developing our communications, getting to know how Ed likes things to be communicated as things unfold. My impression is that he is very comfortable with the boat and the way things are going, but the biggest challenge will be integrating us into the sailing team. The new appendages on the boat seemed to be working and for us it will be about not upsetting the applecart. This is a great team with a good track record and my role is to help and support where I can, maybe making sure eyes are guided where they should be if I see particular things I think can help.”
“I have the impression from Miami that Ed drives the boat very well, keeping it fast all the time. That may sound simplistic but it is very easy to get bogged down from time to time in this fleet. We worked on our communication and I understand more clearly what he wants, narrowing down 10 or 12 words to two or three words, short quick conversations is the big thing for us.”
Although Quantum Racing have not won a 52 regatta since Sardinia last year, Hutchinson says he does not feel any additional pressure coming back into the team to find a win.
“I always want to win, I always crack the whip to win and want no more or less.”
“The thing that stood out for me in Miami was that at certain times the boat could sail out of bad situations. It looked like the boat is going really well.”
Meanwhile team director Ed Reynolds is delighted with the strength of the afterguard that they have for the four European regattas of the 52 SUPER SERIES :
“I just could not be more excited, I am thrilled with the team we have. There were some conflicts which necessitated changes and so we took advantage of the opportunities to do so. Terry, Ed Baird and Jordi as an afterguard should be fantastic. Jordi grew up in Palma, sailed to a gold medal here in Barcelona and probably has sailed as much as anyone in the fleet has in Ibiza so I am sure he will bring a lot of local knowledge input.” Said Reynolds,
“We are very happy with the changes we made to the boat, boatspeed is just not an issue. After the last few events we feel we have eliminated some more variables, now I will be surprised if we are not going the right way most of the time. We don’t think we have to win regattas to win the 52 SUPER SERIES, but what we want is to show absolutely top level consistency. Now, with this fleet, you have to win races and that is a change and we have changed the mode of the boat to make more sure we can do that.”
Racing starts for the 52 SUPER SERIES in Barcelona from Thursday 23rd May and runs through to Sunday 26th. Follow the racing with live tracking, commentary and comment on www.52superseries.com
TORNADO EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS FINAL RESULTS
Photo by Martina Barnetova.
TORNADO CLASS – With light winds early in the morning the postponement flag went up for the Tornado Class and the sailors remained on shore watching the A Class’ float out to their racing area. Around 1 hour later the race officer removed the postponement and the sailors got ready and went out onto the water.
It was Roland and Nahid Gaebler who held the lead going into the last day and they were hoping there would be no racing because the Greek team of Iordanis and Kostas could discard a 5th if there was further racing in the championship.
Soon after there were 32 Tornado’s drifting toward the start boat waiting for the race officers instructions, it didn’t look good with the postponement flag on the front of the committee boat struggling to fly in the light airs.
One hour later the wind had disappeared and two hoots were what the sailors were waiting for after a challenging series of racing. It was time to head home and pack up ready for the road home.
Roland and Nahid Gaebler are the new Tornado European Champions, knocking the Greek Red Bull sailors off the podium they have held since 2008. Roland’s last European Championships victory came in the 1990’s.
A big thank you to the Yacht Club Rheindelta and everyone involved in organising the Championships, it has been a great few days for the sailors with a good mixture of social and sailing.
The next major Championships for the Tornado Class is the World Championships being held in Ibiza in late September, the planning is already well underway. Before that there are a variety of races being held around the World which also include the Austrian Championships in Attersee next week.
Full results can be found on the Tornado Championships website www.tornadochampionships.com
KOREA CUP DAY 3
SAILING NEWS – For the 25 teams competing in the 2013 Korea Cup International Yacht Race, today was all about the inshore race series.
The inshore race course was set as a downwind upwind course starting in front of Ulleung port and going around Juk-do island, to the north, before returning upwind to Ulleung.
A NEW HOME
TEAM EMIRATES – Building a new base in San Francisco
SNATCHING DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY
SAILING ABOARD GRYPHON SOLO2 – Here is an onboard acount of the Atlantic Cup race from Gryphon Solo2:
Hello friends,
Well… we came pretty darn close to winning this one but somehow manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
As we approached Montauk and Block Island in first place, we studied the Eldridge tide tables, pulled down weather info and finally decided to go around Block Island to the East, hoping for stronger winds and a more neutral (less unfavorable) tide. We also thought the pack of boats we were leading – Bo Dream, Le Coq Cuisine and Forty Degrees were going the same way. As it turned out, we bet wrong. Once we committed to the eastern path, Bo Dream and Le Coq peeled off to leeward, telling me later that they did not think they could catch us so they opted for the westerly route.
The distance sailed in that route is slightly less than on our easterly route, so as we came back together just past point Judith, Bo dream was slightly ahead and we were about even with LeCoq. However, they had a slightly hotter sailing angle to Newport and they ended up finishing slightly in front of us, so we took third place instead of first. Disappointing.
Oh well – we hit the dock at Newport Harbor Hotel, congratulated all competitors, as everyone had sailed well and finished within 46 minutes of each other, which is pretty amazing after more than 260 miles of racing. The whole group retired to the Clark Cook House on the waterfront in Newport for burgers and beers and it was nice to unwind and get out of the rain.
So, in retrospect, the good news is that we sailed the boat well and confirmed that we have boat speed comparable to any boat given the right sail choice, ballast configuration and trim, so we go into the inshore series optimistic for better result. We currently sit in third place, and hope to move up in the standings over the six inshore races in Narragansett Bay.
So, thanks as always for tuning in - it was pretty darn exciting racing on the water and I hope everyone enjoyed the action on the race tracker
We will be back on the airways on Friday with an update.
Cheers
Joe Harris
For more updates on the Atlantic Cup visit http://atlanticcup.org. And you can find an in-depth look at Joe’s expectations for the race at http://www.gryphonsolo2.com. Best of luck to all racers!
TP’s IN BARCELONA
52 SUPER SERIES – The boats are here and the crews are getting ready to start racing.
LUNA ROSSA DEFIES RACE OFFICIAL’S ORDERS
AC NEWS – Luna Rossa AC72 sailed for the first time in San Francisco in the bay this weekend where the Louis Vuitton Cup and America’s Cup regattas will take place starting July 7th.
With an early morning roll out, Luna Rossa sailed in light winds (3 knots) that increased up to 12 and allowed the crew to carry out an extensive number of maneuvers.
The training session lasted about three hours.
Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 skipper Max Sirena declared: “The weather today was ideal for our first trial out on the water; from a technical standpoint it allowed us to test safety measures, loads and maneuvers.
However the really significant aspect was psychological: it was important for the crew to resume sailing on the AC72 and to get back into its normal training mode to prepare for the upcoming races. In the next few days we will continue with our training and development program as scheduled.”
LIGHT AIR RACING IN KOREA CUP
KOREA CUP – After two days of inshore races on 16 and 17 May, the first offshore leg of the 2013 Korea Cup International Yacht Race got underway on Saturday 18 May from the city of Uljin.
This first of two offshore legs, took the 25 teams on a challenging 86 nautical mile race track offshore to the volcanic island of Ulleung, with light conditions dominating the early stage of the race and really testing the crews as the boats inched forward in the easterly swell and southerly waves.
The race got underway at 1400 hours local time, with separate starts for the ORC fleet and Open Class, under the watchful eyes of the team on the Koreana, a 42 metre four masted schooner which must be one of the most impressive Race Committee boats.
As the fleet headed offshore, away from the eastern coastline of South Korea and out to the East Sea, they were bunched closely together, with no team able to find an advantage as they headed downwind in the light breeze. Fortunately, the breeze increased further offshore and first to seize an advantage were the all Korean crew on the race favourite Linda Vista, an Open 60 who broke free of the pack and increased their lead as they heading off on a northerly track. Behind them, the majority of the fleet opted for a more southerly route, including the other likely contender for line honours, Team Bare Essentials, a 56 foot custom build with a crew from Korea, New Zealand and the USA on board. Equipment damage in the increasing breeze for the crew of Diva, who ripped their spinnaker and were quickly forced into a sail change to stay in the game.
The breeze continued to build further offshore, with the yachts fully powered up and driving downwind with the prospect of faster leg times and an earlier arrival on the volcanic island of Ulleung. As night set in,
more teams joined the tussle at the front of the pack, including Team Bare Essentials whose option to take the more southerly route had rewarded them with the lead at the halfway stage of the race. As expected though, the game changes increased under cover of darkness, and after a long night of racing by morning Linda Vista had reclaimed the lead and went on to take the race line honours.
The teams will race an inshore series on Monday 20 May, before heading to the next stop of the race, Dokdo island, from where the second offshore leg back to the city of Uljin gets underway on Tuesday 21 May.
About the Korea Cup International Yacht Race
The Korea Cup International Yacht Race takes place off the eastern coastline of Korea from 16-22 May. 2013 marks the 6th edition of this week long event, which is Korea’s largest and most renowned yachting event, attracting sailors all over the world, including Asia, Europe, Americas and Oceania, to race in a series of inshore and offshore races.
Event Website: www.koreacup.org
IAN WILLIAMS WINS IN GERMANY
AWMRT – Lake Constance left it right until the last moment to get uncooperative at Match Race Germany. An ominous-looking rain cloud was on its way across the third largest lake in Europe from Switzerland, sucking all the wind out of the vicinity and causing PRO Rudi Magg to draw proceedings to a close.
This handed victory at Match Race Germany to British helm Ian Williams and his American/Australian crew of Mal Parker and Bill Hardesty, supplemented on this occasion by stand-ins Graham Spence and Willem Van Waay. Williams’ GAC Pindar crew won today’s single Finals match against Adam Minoprio and his all-Kiwi Team Alpari FX crew of Nick Blackman, Chris Main, Tom Powrie and David Swete; reigning Alpari World Match Racing Tour champion (Williams), up against the 2009 champion (Minoprio).
A little slow out of the blocks in the Semi Finals yesterday, Williams was 1-2 down against Johnie Berntsson’s Stena Sailing Team crew as proceedings came to a close last night. However the GAC Pindar crew fought back this morning to take the next two points, to gain their berth in the final.
In his Semi Final match Minoprio had less to do this morning, scoring a come-from-behind win against France’s experienced Mathieu Richard and his GEFCO Match Racing Team to take him through on a 3-1 scoreline.
“We had a nice lead, maybe 8-10 boatlengths during the first run,” explained Richard after a long team de-brief. “But then we ran out of wind, and completely stopped while they had a little breeze coming from behind. Often in those conditions it is not too bad to be behind and they showed us that today as they were able to overtake us. It is very disappointing and a bit frustrating, but that is how it is.”
Otherwise the Frenchman, who heralds from La Baule on the Atlantic coast, was pleased with the performance of his GEFCO Match Racing Team in what is their first Tour event since St Moritz last year. Richard will be back for Korea Match Cup next week followed by Stena Match Cup Sweden at the beginning of July.
In this afternoon’s only Finals race, held once again in very light winds, Minoprio held up his hand, acknowledging that he had made a meal of the pre-start. “I forgot how long these boats take to gybe and I wasted a minute doing two gybes so we were late for the line. It was my mistake, I was kicking myself at the start of the race.”
From there all he could do was chase the GAC Pindar crew around the course, who in turn did an immaculate job of covering their Kiwi opponents.
Minoprio felt the Race Committee was correct to draw racing to a close prematurely and was gracious in defeat. “There is no wind at the moment,” he observed. “Ian sailed better than us in the one race we had and he won Qualifying – he deserves the win here. We sailed very poorly in that final race against him and we didn’t deserve it.”
However Minoprio reckoned it was a solid start to his come-back season. “Second is good points for the overall Championship and puts the pressure on everyone else.”
Williams was pleased with victory, a first in his lengthy match racing career at Match Race Germany, even if the last part of the event was curtailed. He felt he sailed the last race well.
“It was really light which meant manoeuvres were really costly. We did a nice job of keeping Adam down – he had to do a couple of gybes in the last minute before the start and that cost him a bit of speed which allowed us to be faster and closer to the line at start time. Then we did two less tacks on both beats and that is what allowed us to draw away by the finish.”
Victory at Match Race Germany, makes for a solid start to Williams and the GAC Pindar team’s campaign to win the Alpari World Match Racing Tour for a record setting fifth time.
“I haven’t been here in Langenargen for a couple of years,” admitted Williams. “They put on a great show here. The conditions are often difficult, but I like the big boats, they are impressive. Plus there is a good crowd turn-out here and the event works well for the local economy, so long may it continue.”
James Pleasance, Executive Director of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour felt that the beginning of the 2013 season had gone well: “It has been a fantastic week for the first stage of the 2013 Alpari World Match Racing Tour, and a good shakedown event for all the teams. The boats here are bigger and heavier and the teams have really had to find their stride in the variable lake conditions. But a great win for Ian and GAC Pindar, and against a former Tour Champion in the final as well. This Tour season is going be very close indeed.”
FINAL RESULTS
Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar vs Adam Minoprio (NZL) Team Alpari FX 1-0
PETIT FINAL RESULTS
Mathieu Richard (FRA) GEFCO Match Racing Team vs Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Stena Sailing Team 1-0
FINAL SEMI FINAL RESULTS
Mathieu Richard (FRA) GEFCO Match Racing Team vs Adam Minoprio (NZL) Team Alpari FX 1-3
Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar v Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Stena Sailing Team 2-2
LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 1 – MATCH RACE GERMANY
1 Ian Williams (GBR) – Team GAC Pindar 25
1 Ian Williams (GBR) – Team GAC Pindar 25
2 Adam Minoprio (NZL) – Team Alpari FX 22
3 Mathieu Richard (FRA) – GEFCO Match Racing Team 19
4 Johnie Berntsson (SWE)- Stena Sailing Team 16
5 Taylor Canfield (ISV) – USone 14
6 Björn Hansen (SWE) – Mekonomen Sailing Team 12
7 Karol Jablonski (POL) – Jablonski Sailing Team 10
8 Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) – Vannes Agglo Sailing Team 8
9 Phil Robertson (NZL) – WAKA Racing 4
10 Keith Swinton (AUS) – Black Swan Racing 2
11 Philip Buhl (GER) – STG/NRV Youth Team 0
12 Sven Erick-Horsch (GER) – NRV Match Race Team 0
For more high resolution images of the day: http://wmrt.photoshelter.com/
Password: awmrt
ITALIANS WIN PORTO ERCOLE EDITION
MELGES 20 RACING – Porto Ercole, Italy – Congratulations to Achille Onorato, tactician Lorenzo Bressani and crew Stefano Ciampalini aboard Mascalzone Latino Jr. as he has won the Porto Ercole edition of the 2013 Audi Melges 20 Sailing Series. Onorato now leads the overall Series after two events by a slim margin also. Celebrating second overall is American Russell Lucas on Shimmer, and Rob Wilber’s Cinghiale finished third.
Saturday was void of racing, but the twenty-nine Audi Melges 20 teams lived it up on Sunday squeezing in four races after an early 09.00 start. With a perfect 10-15 knots of breeze, Wilber was the first out of the gate with a big win in Race One. Claudio Dutto’s Asante Sana took second, followed by a photo finish between Marco Zaoli on Shadow, Alessandro Rombelli’s STIGand Guido Miani’s Out of Reach placing third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Race Two saw Lucas up front early but lost his winning edge to Vincenzo Adessi on Raffichetta and Federico Albano’s3Menda. Adessi went on to take the win, followed by Rombelli in second and Lucas in third.
By the time Race Three rolled around, Rombelli was on an obvious upswing and in a heated duel with Albano. Rombelli eventually overtook for the official lead and win, Albano was second and Onorato improved his scoreline to take third place.
The final race of the day delivered more great turns, twists and plenty of fun downwind planing conditions. At this point, Rombelli appeared to have a solid grasp on the top position, but a disappointing thirteenth place finish forced him to settle for fourth overall. Miani was his next best rival, he too found it impossible to finish better than tenth. Once again, Onorato proved to be the team to beat with an impressive second place finish behind Mirko de Falco’s Peccere, moving him into the overall lead position to win. Wilber finished strong in third.
As the season progresses, everyone is reminded to download the Audi Sailing Series App for free at Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Download it today to receive reports in Italian, German and English, photos, videos and much, much more!
Now that Porto Ercole is complete at Circolo Nautico e della Vela dell’Argentario, the 2013 Audi Sailing Series season moves ahead to Portoferraio on 8-9 June and Torbole on 6-7 July. Fleet numbers will be on the rise as it pushes onward to Porto Rotondo on 29 August – September 1 for the first ever European Championship since the classes inception as an ISAF International Recognized Class. Many of the teams are looking forward to competing at the 2013 Audi Melges 20 World Championship taking place in Key Largo, FL at Ocean Reef Club on December 11-14.
TOP TEN RESULTS (After four races)
1.) Achille Onorato/Lorenzo Bressani, Mascalzone Latino, Jr.; 7-7-3-2 = 19
2.) Russell Lucas/Harry Melges III, Shimmer; 6-3-8-6 = 23
3.) Robert Wilber/Anthony Kotoun, Cinghiale; 1-16-4-3 = 24
4.) Alessandro Rombelli/Paul Goodison, STIG; 4-2-1-13/ZULU = 26
5.) Guido Miani/Gabriele Benussi, Out of Reach; 5-6-5-10 = 26
6.) Saverio Bifulco/Paolo Scutellaro, Noi di Notte; 10-9-9-5 = 33
7.) Claudio Dutto/Fabio Zeni, Asante Sana; 2-10-18-4 = 34
8.) Federico Albano/Giulio Desiderato, 3Menda; 16-4-2-18 = 40
9.) Marco Zaoli/Gabrio Zandona, Shadow; 3-13-17-7 = 40
10.) Francesco Farneti/Alberto Bolzan, ITA-157; 13-5-10-12 = 40
View Full Results
TOP FIVE SERIES RESULTS (After two events, ten races)
1.) Achille Onorato, Mascalzone Latino Jr. = 36 pts.
2.) Guido Miani, Out of Reach = 38 pts.
3.) Alessandro Rombelli, STIG = 55 pts.
4.) Federico Albano, 3Menda = 63 pts.
5.) Francesco Farneti, ITA-157 = 64 pts
View Full Series Results
View Full Entry List
View Full Photo Gallery – Stefano Gattini (BPSE)
GC32 AND MISS SWITZERLAND MAKES LONG DISTANCE RACE DEBUT
GC32 RACING - With Flavio Marazzi at the helm, Marwin Sailing Team’s high-tech GC32 catamaran dominated a fleet of more than 120 boats in one of Switzerland’s iconic and traditional races, after spectacular boat christening with former Miss Switzerland Jenny Ann Gerber (pictured above).
Thanks to a combination of clever tactics and remarkable boat speed, it took 3 hours and 22 minutes for the spectacular catamaran to sail from Zurich to Rapperswil despite the extremely light and challenging conditions.
Organized by the Zürcher Segel Club, the lake race from Zurich to Rapperswil, or Züri-Rappi as the locals call it, is more than a simple regatta. It’s one of Switzerland’s most popular long-distance races.
The 2013 sailing season for Marwin Sailing Team got off to a great start on Lake Traunsee in Austria, and this weekend the GC32 catamaran clearly dominated the fleet and took line honors. The victory was the result of excellent tactical calls and the GC32′s notable speed in different conditions. The start of the race was given under a complete lull and the fleet struggled to find even the smallest puff. Crews were constantly on the hunt for that elusive dark patch on the lake’s surface.
Marwin Sailing Team got the upper hand by sticking close to the shore as dozens of boats got stuck in the dying breeze in the middle of the lake. In the final stretch to the finish line, the GC32 reached its top speed of 19 knots, more than 2 times the true wind speed. Despite this being the team’s second regatta, crew coordination and boat handling improve by leaps and bounds, setting the foundations for a season that will include a number of record-breaking attempts.
The next challenge for Marwin Sailing Team is coming up shortly, from May 30th to June 2nd in Lindau, Germany. Flavio Marazzi and his team will compete at the Rund um Bodensee on Lake Constance and Marwin Sailing Team will aim at taking line honors once again and, if conditions are favorable, breaking the current race record.
TORNADOS HIT THE WATER!
TORNADO EUROPEANS – When it was time to hit the water the wind was building with choppy water and big waves. The race officer got the fleet off to a quick start for the first race, another clean start. It was Iordanis Paschalidis and Kostas Trigonis who led the fleet all the way round the race course to take victory. They were followed by the Gaeblers in 2nd and Nikos and Alex (GRE 11) in 3rd position.
During the race there was plenty of action on the water with a couple of capsizes, some interesting bare aways at the top mark and some minor breakages in the strong conditions.
The second race was started in the same conditions with only 15 boats starting the race and 11 finishing. Again the strong wind specialists Iordanis and Kostas took the victory followed by Roland and Nahid, then the Swiss pairing of Marcel and Jorg Steiner. A consistent series puts them into 6th place moving into the last day of racing.
The fleet were then sent back into shore to wait and see what the wind did. The race officer decided to delay for 1 hour 30 minutes, after that period at 2pm the wind had died off to nothing with the sailors left waiting.
At 5pm the race officer took the postponement flag down and the fleet were back out onto the water for more racing. It was like another location from the mornings sailing, beautiful sunshine and around 6 knots of breeze.
The boats were then drifting back to shore less than 30 minutes later because the wind had disappeared. An interesting and varied day of racing for the competitors of the European Championships.
Further down the fleet 20 points separate 7th and 11th place and the rest of the fleet spread out below that in the table. In 12th place are Sepp and David Gunkel who are sailing the Gold Medal winning boat from Beijing. Below them in 13th are the Australian pairing of Allan Gamble and Damien McAlinden.
There is a local battle between 19th and 20th place with Dietmar having the advantage over Roland by one point leading into the last day.
The race for 1st place is currently lead by The Gaeblers who lead the Greek Red Bull team by 3 points. Roland and Nahid will be hoping for a light wind day to knock the Greeks off the podium they’ve held since 2008.
Top 10 Results
1. Roland and Nahid Gaebler
2. Iordanis Paschalidis & Kostas Trigonis
3. Nikolaos Mavros & Alexandros Tagaropoulos
4. Veit Hemmeter & Nico Lutz
5. Martin and Julia Rusterholz
6. Marcel and Jorg Steiner
7. Jean-Marc Cuanillon & Gregor Schmucki
8. Jurgen Jentsch & Manuel Sciarra
9. Michael Schonleitner & Philipp Rukuschan
10. Wilfried Jodorf & Michael Hinz
For more information on the Tornado Class please have a look at our website www.tornado-class.org <http://www.tornado-class.org> .
More photos from the day can be found on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/tornadoclass <http://www.facebook.com/tornadoclass>
CLOSE FINISH TIMES AT ATLANTIC CUP
THE ATLANTIC CUP – NEWPORT, R.I. –The Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing completed its second leg of offshore racing with #118 Bodacious Dream, skippered by Dave Rearick and Matt Scharl, crossing the Jamestown FiSH Finish line first with an elapsed time of 30 hours 9 minutes 39 seconds on Sunday, May 19, to complete the 231 nautical mile leg from New York Harbor to Newport, R.I. The race, featuring an international fleet of Class 40s competing in the only carbon neutral sailing race held in the United States, saw Bodacious Dream beat out#121 Lecoq Cuisine (30:14:38) by 4 minutes 59 seconds, followed 5 minutes and 12 seconds later by #106 Gryphon Solo 2 (30:19:50).
The second leg of the Atlantic Cup set sail at 2:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 19th from New York Harbor en route to Newport Shipyard with international competitors from the USA, France, Great Britain and New Zealand. After starting in a light southerly, the teams raced the entire way down the Jersey Shore in short course fleet racing mode. After the turning mark, the teams were within sight of each other through to the finish. The major decision of the race came at determining which way to round Block Island deciding on wind (to the east) or current (to the west). Those choosing to round Block Island to the west saw that decision pay off. The last five miles to the finish were incredibly tense as the first three teams to cross the finish line were separated by 10 minutes and 11 seconds.
Bodacious Dream skipper Matt Scharl: “We’re pleased with our performance, but it was a very tough race. Halfway through the second leg all the boats were within a half a mile. There’s just no let up, you just can’t take any breaks during the entire thing.”
Bodacious Dream skipper Dave Rearick: “It was a lot of hard work, we hung in there until the end and it turned out we came out on top”
Scharl added, “We wanted to go right from a historical point of view around the Island, but once we found that they (Gryphon Solo 2) were passing us going to the right, we threw up a spinnaker that we probably shouldn’t have that forced us all the way to the left and they (Gryphon Solo 2) let us go which is the miracle of the race.”
Photos of the first teams to finish can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/od4ekruvl3ghnu7/Xe-CFALGng with comprehensive results available here: http://atlanticcup.org/race/2013-results/
Photo by Billy Black
LIGHT AIR RACING IN 59TH STAR TROPHY URNERSEE
STAR RACING – Daily Sailing News - The first two days of the 59th Star Trophy Urnersee delivers some very close racing. Check out the video action above
HOW TO DRAW A SAILBOAT
THE ART OF SAILING - Leonardo Pereznieto shows us how to draw a sailboat and the sea in under 4 minutes. Check it out!
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