OLYMPIC SAILING – Short Promo video by Brian Carlin form Cube Images of Tiffany and Saskia starting on their long Olympic campaign for Rio de Janeiro 2016. Follow the girls on their journey to be part of the whole experience!
Music by Flight facilities – Crave you (Adventure club remix)
TEA OMAN – A tricky fog bound day ended in a stunning success for The Wave, Muscat who posted two outright wins to climb to the top of the leaderboard of the Extreme Sailing Series in China with an emphatic 12 point lead.
Teams were forced to wait in the race village for three hours when thick fog enveloped Qingdao’s Fushan Bay but just as officials were preparing to abandon racing for day, it lifted, leaving enough time for four races before it fell dark.
A slow start in the first race set the Oman Sail team back but they were able to turn things around dramatically in the second, to record their first win which they followed up with a second victory in the next.
“It was boring having to wait for three hours but it turned out to be a very good day for us because we were able to stay focused,” said Musab Al Hadi, one of the crop of talented young Omani sailors coming through Oman Sail’s unique sailing programme.
“We had some good starts and were able to get into clear air. We messed up the first one in a major way but decided on a less risky approach in the second and waited for the opportunity to apply some pressure and it worked out well for us.
“It feels good to be back in the game though it is too early to start thinking about winning because there are a lot of races tomorrow including a double points final race but we will relax and try our best.”
Delighted skipper Leigh McMillan whose plans were thrown into chaos earlier this week when one of his crewmembers, the Omani multihull star Hashim Al Rashdi was forced to withdraw with appendicitis, cautioned against raising expectations over winning in Qingdao when there was still so much to do.
“There are still 120 points up for grabs so there is a lot of work to do,” he said.
“We have a morning and an afternoon session tomorrow which means a lot races so if we are remotely off our form, a 12 point lead can be turned around in a couple of races so we have to keep on sailing well.
“At the moment it is probably between us and Alinghi but 12 points is only two bad races. If we sail well we have every chance of defending well here in Qingdao.
“Everyone is in good shape and we have things working well on the boat so tonight we will recap on things like communication and decision making to see how we can improve and tonight we will relax.
“Then tomorrow we will go out and reproduce the team work and performances we have produced so far but so far this has been a good event for us and I am really happy.”
“Alinghi had a couple of difficult starts and it made things difficult for them. Two races like that and they were locked in which gave us the opportunity to get clear.
“It was very tight with lots of tacks and lots happening but we were able to sail through and it paid off, massively.”
505 RACING - The SAP 505 Worlds have the German sailors Class Lehmann and Leon Oehme leading the pack with the American sailors Holt and Smit on the transoms of the Germans.
MELGES 32 RACING – Peter Island, BVI – Congratulations to Roberto Tomasini Grinover aboard Robertissima, as he is the first ever and newly crowned 2013 OTTERBOX® MELGES 32 VIRGIN ISLAND SAILING SERIES (M32VISS), CARIBBEAN CHAMPION.
Tomasini Grinover was accompanied by tactician Vasco Vascotto and crew comprised of Gaetano Figlia di Granara, Giovanni Cassinari, Gunnar Bahr, Armin Raderbauer, Pablo Torrado and Nevio Sabadin.
Second overall in the Series was Dalton DeVos on Delta with tactician Jonathan McKee, followed by Ryan DeVos with Ed Baird as tactician on Volpe in third.
Click on the link above for full results and pictures.
MELGES 24 – This week Balatonfüred’s Kolsoka Marina, on the shores of Lake Balaton in Hungary, is gearing up to welcome the International Melges 24 Fleet for the inaugural event in the 2013 Melges 24 European Sailing Series. The MVM Balaton Melges 24 Regatta is sponsored by the MVM Hungarian Power Company and will take place at their lakeside venue from 25-28 April
With the forecasters promising good breezes, lots of sunshine and daytime temperatures well into 20s the teams can expect fabulous conditions on the azure waters of Eastern Europe’s largest lake. Alongside the usual registration tasks and practice racing, Thursday 25 April will also feature a Tuning Clinic run by reigning Melges 24 World Ranking Champion Riccardo Simoneschi and his Audi Team crew. Racing for the Balaton Melges 24 Regatta will take place from Friday 26 to Sunday 28 April under the watchful eye of Race Officer Gert Schmidleitner and his highly experienced team.
Already crews from across Europe have entered with competitors travelling from Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Slovenia and Switzerland to join the strong local Hungarian fleet. The fleet also looks forward to welcoming its first competitors from the Slovak Republic in the shape of Daniel Kris and his team aboard SVK828 Infinity.
Ashore the organisers have been working with local suppliers and entertainers to create a relaxed and informal social programme with a truly Hungarian feel. On Friday evening the sailors and their guests will enjoy a Goulash and Hungarian Folk Dancing evening, where the Csopak Folklore Dance Group will not only entertain them but will also be teaching a few dance moves too! On Saturday night there will be a regatta dinner with entertainment provided by the world renowned and award winning Roma Talent Group, featuring young, disadvantaged, stunningly gifted Roma music talents who receive world-class training and mentoring to help them progress a career in music.
Lake Balaton will also play host to the 2014 Melges 24 European Championship from 2 to 9 May 2014 so this regatta provides the perfect warm up and familiarisation opportunity for teams planning to race in next year’s Europeans.
AMERICAS CUP WORLD SERIES – Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher (the ‘H’ and ‘S’ in HS Racing) are two of the most successful Olympic athletes in Austria. Sailing together, they’ve won two gold medals each in the Tornado Class catamaran at the Games in Sydney and Athens.
As living legends in the Tornado, it’s no surprise the multihull maestros had their interest piqued by the new form and format of the America’s Cup. Their role as Sports Directors for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup led to an opportunity to compete as HS Racing in the final America’s Cup World Series event in Naples.
“It was always a plan for us to go to the America’s Cup,” Hagara says. “So this is a good opportunity to show the outside world and our partners how it could work for us to compete. Hopefully, the America’s Cup is in the future for us, so this is a good chance towards that.”
The new style America’s Cup would appear to suit Hagara and Steinacher well. The boats certainly do. Hagara says the AC45s – the wing sail catamarans used at the America’s Cup World Series – are a pleasure to race, even if they’re physically very demanding.
“The AC45s are really nice boats. They’re quick, easy to handle and fun to sail. But they’re very tiring. There’s a lot on for all of the crew, especially for the guys on the front of the boat. It gets a little easier as you move back! But even for me as helmsman I’m pulling on the wing sheet, grinding, hiking, looking around for tactics, as well as steering. It’s not easy.”
It’s hard to consider double Olympic gold medalists as underdogs, but Hagara is realistic about his prospects this week.
“I think from race to race I want to see us improve a little bit and hopefully get some finishes near the top. The other teams have many more hours on the water than we do, but I think there’s a chance we could surprise some people.”
Farallones researcher Sophie Webb captured this eerie image of the stricken sloop while rescue operations were in progress.
© 2013 Sophie Webb
SAFETY AT SEA – Here is a post from our fellow sailors at Latitude 38 magazine on a subject close to all sailors…safety at sea. One year after the tragic Low Speed Chase incident during the Full Crew Farallones Race, in which five sailors died, survivor Bryan Chong reflects on that horrific event and the lessons he has taken from it:
“There’s nothing in life more absolutely devastating than the loss of a loved one. It creates a sudden vacancy once occupied by a meaningful connection, awakens us to our own mortality, and forces us to evaluate who we are, what we’ve done and where we’re headed. For the family, friends and survivors, the April 14, 2012 Low Speed Chase accident at the Farallones changed our lives forever.
“Alexander Graham Bell said, ‘When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us.’
“The door that opened for me catapulted me out of my old life and into a new one. It made me reflect on the decisions I’ve made in life and led me to readjust my priorities. It motivated me to stop procrastinating on things I’d do when I had ‘enough time.’ Instead of returning to work, I went on the road with my wonderful wife and infant son. We spent the summer driving 10,000 miles in our yellow Westy Vanagon around the West Coast visiting friends and places I’d always longed to see — Yellowstone, the Tetons, Glacier, Pikes Peak, Telluride and Mt. Rushmore, just to name a few. I finally saw a concert at Red Rocks and a rodeo in South Dakota.
“Then in September, instead of going home like responsible adults, we flew to Europe and kept adventuring until we ran out of good weather. All journeys eventually end, and in late January we finally came back to Marin. The trip afforded me the priceless chance to spend a year bonding with my wife and son. It also gave me time to reflect on life, the accident and those I’d lost. It was the trip of a lifetime and I wish I could have shared it with all my Low Speed Chase crewmates.
“Not a day passes that I don’t think about what went wrong that day at the Farallones and what can be done to prevent something like this from happening again. I was by no means an expert in safety before the accident, but since I’ve been home numerous sailing groups have invited me to share my thoughts on this topic. I always bring my tether and lifejacket with me to emphasize the basics, but I prefer to focus on the fundamental concept that safety only exists when everyone becomes a leader.
“Safety leadership isn’t always easy. It takes a willingness to speak up when others don’t. It’s choosing the safety of yourself and your crewmates over pride, appearance, comfort, costs or an engraved silver cup. It’s leadership by example and can be as simple as showing up early to make sure the safety equipment’s primed, double checking a teammate’s PFD cartridge and tether, tossing your favorite sailing hat in the water to force an MOB exercise, buying your friend a Spinlock lifejacket for their birthday, or setting the expectation that you’ll only crew on boats that take safety seriously. It’s investing in yourself by attending training, sharing what you learned with others, and following through when on the water.
“Over the past year, I’ve learned that sailors aren’t the only ones shifting their attention to developing a better safety culture. Tuesday morning, I spoke to the 200 person executive leadership team at PG&E, our local power company. Last year they lost five people to accidents that might have been prevented with the proper use of safety equipment
“I now routinely find myself in safety discussions in which I’m called upon to offer my opinion. I’m still not an expert on all the safety practices, but I do see three areas where we can start focusing.
Resolve to be a leader on safety issues. You don’t need to own a boat or be the most experienced sailor. You only need to care about the people aboard.
Take a sailing safety class. I recommend finding an interactive one with a small class size that requires attendees to calculate minimum depths using wave forecasts, set off flares, cut rigging, extinguish fires and enter the water with full gear.
If you’re in a leadership position for a yacht club or sailing team, recruit a safety instructor to host a seminar for your people.
“In 2007, Ashley Perrin and Paul Cunningham, who both specialize in preparing boats for offshore sailing, attempted to host an ISAF certified safety training class. Not enough people registered. Fast forward to today. In the 12 months since the Low Speed Chase accident, they’ve hosted seven classes at the San Francisco Yacht Club, all filled to capacity. Are we evolving as a sailing community? I’d like to believe we are.
“A door has opened for sailors to embrace safety. Many have already walked through that door and taken leadership roles on their boats. I’ve seen others pulled through by spouses demanding they attend a safety class before their next ocean race.
“This weekend, as we remember those we lost at the Farallones, let’s also keep in mind that this is our moment to cement a culture of safety by continuing to invest in training and equipment that will save lives. I truly wish for the memory of Alan, Marc, Jordan, Alexis and Elmer to be the spark that transforms this community of sailors.
“Be safe.” — Bryan Chong
As Bay sailors will recall, in the aftermath of the LSC tragedy, the Coast Guard’s Captain of the Port of San Francisco Cynthia Stowe took the unprecedented step of temporarily halting permits for all offshore races until a panel of experts could be convened to scrutinize the incident and make recommendations for safer operations in future offshore races.
As explained by author Michael Moradzadeh in the Sightings section of this month’s Latitude 38, a permanent advisory group called the Northern California Ocean Racing Council (NorCalORC) evolved from that process. “Improvements include greater consistency in race practices, education and information about core safety issues such as wave formation, gear lists that are practical and effective, and communications methods,” reports Moradzadeh. Read Michael’s complete report here.
This year’s Full Crew Farallones Race is scheduled for June 15.
CON CUP – In case you missed it…Into the semi-finals of the Congressional Cup went Williams, Baird, Richard and Ferrarese. And out came Baird and Ferrarese. But at the end, the last man standing was none other than Simone Ferrarese, the new Congressional Cup winner and proud owner of a Crimson Blazer…
HAPPY HOUR FRIDAY – Here is a very refreshing cocktail for the weekend. An easy to make drink using just grapefruit juice, vodka, salt and lime. Great for those hot days on the anchor. Francesca shows us all how to make a Salty Dog!
COOL BOAT DESIGNS - Following on from McConaghy Boats dominating their classes at the Quantum Key west race week held earlier this year, the MC38 will be exhibited by McConaghy at the Strictly Sail Pacific boat show in Oakland,California.
The show runs from April 11-14, Don Payan’s MC38 “Whiplash” (pictured above) will be on display, and Naval Architect Harry Dunning will be in town from Newport R.I. joined by McConaghy’s Ellen Pragnell-Rasch from Sydney for the duration of the show. Drop in and see The MC38, Harry and Ellen if you are in town.
For more on the builder go to:www.mcconaghyboats.com
BIG BOAT SERIES – Maintaining its leadership position in yacht racing, the St. Francis Yacht Club, host of the annual Rolex Big Boat Series regatta, announced today that it will employ the emerging Universal Measurement Form (UMF) for all handicap classes racing in the 2013 Rolex Big Boat Series taking place September 26-29, 2013.
While world rating authorities continue on the development of a cohesive and inclusive overall rating system, St. Francis Yacht Club will be using an element of that overall project – the Universal Measurement Form, which incorporates data elements from IMS and other rating rules, including IRC, ORR, ORC and HPR,” said Rolex Big Boat Series Co-Chair Norman Davant. “An integrated UMF will allow a single measurement to provide boat certification across multiple handicap rating rules so that a boat can be rated under any participating rule. Now with UMF, we can offer our competitors an easy solution to obtaining a rating based on certificate information they already have, eliminating the need for re-measurement.”
According to Stan Honey, Director of Technology, America’s Cup Event Authority and Vice Chairman of the ISAF Oceanic and Offshore Committee, “US Sailing has been working with ORC and RORC for several years and all agreed to jointly develop a Universal Measurement System (UMS) based on the data collected on a standard form. The UMS will allow boat owners to measure their boat once and race that boat under any handicap system, in any region of the world, without re-measurement. Many big boat owners view the worldwide adoption of the UMS as the most significant breakthrough in the administration of handicap racing over the last decade.” Additional information can be found at US Sailing’s Offshore Office at http://offshore.ussailing.org/Offshore_Home.htm
Current ORR or ORC certificate holders have virtually all the measurements needed to get a rating under any measurement rule. IRC certificate holders may require additional hull, rig and stability measurements in order to rate under additional systems. All boats entering the Rolex Big Boat Series will have their data recorded on the UMF. US Sailing maintains a large database of standard hulls and previous certificates, and is ready to offer a head start on getting boats measured using UMS. The Rolex Big Boat Series has, and will continue to feature handicapped racing under IRC, eliminating the need for current IRC certificate holders racing under IRC to obtain additional measurement data.
About the Rolex Big Boat Series
Regarded by sailors as one of the world’s premier sailboat racing events, the Rolex Big Boat Series is part of the Rolex Yachting Portfolio that includes over 20 world-class sailing events that take place around the world. In 1964, the St. Francis Yacht Club’s Big Boat Series was established to take place annually on San Francisco Bay. In 2005, Rolex Watch U.S.A. became the regatta’s title sponsor (it was presenting sponsor for three years prior), and since, the Rolex Big Boat Series has become widely recognized as one of the most important sailing events in the U.S. The event annually attracts world-caliber sailors, all of whom are eager to win one of the six specially engraved Rolex timepieces given to winners of the St. Francis Yacht Club’s Perpetual Trophies.
About the St. Francis Yacht Club
The St. Francis Yacht Club was founded in 1927 and has been host to many of the most prestigious national and international championships in sailing. With over 40 regattas on its calendar annually, and as home to the West Coast’s premier regatta, the Rolex Big Boat Series, the St. Francis Yacht Club is widely regarded as having one of the top racing and race management programs in the country.
RACE NEWS – Walk-ons welcome for Weekend Safety at Sea Seminar. It’s not too late to join the smart sailors for the Marion Bermuda 2013 Safety at Sea Seminar this weekend, March 23-24, at the University of Massachusetts/Boston campus. Register on-site Saturday morning or go online. Details and Registration may be found at www.MarionBermuda.com
Walk-ons are welcome at the 2013 Marion Bermuda Race Safety at Sea Seminar this weekend. Attendance at a US Sailing sanctioned safety seminar is required for a number of crew, skippers and watch captains in the ocean race. But you don’t have to be racing Marion to Bermuda or Marblehead to Halifax or Annapolis to Newport or any other offshore race to need this course.
You could be on the return crew from Bermuda or vacation cruising offshore with your family. Safety for any sailor comes first and a safe passage is an often unspoken, but absolute priority.
The Seminar is held March 23-24 at the University of Massachusetts/Boston campus. Details and Registration may be found at www.MarionBermuda.com.
On-site registration will begin at 0700, March 23, 2013. The program begins promptly at 0730 and is scheduled to continue until 1600. Sessions on Sunday, March 24 are staggered to allow completion of the full curriculum.
What you can learn at a Safety at Sea seminar may save your best friend’s life. It will help you anticipate problems and prevent them. At least, If necessary, what you learn will help you manage a crisis at sea safely. Couples sailing together should both take this course. All those sailors from the captain to the cook interested in improving their safety knowledge for long distance passage making should attend.
The agenda on Saturday, March 23, will once again be moderated by safety at sea expert, John Rousmaniere, and will include a very experienced group of speakers covering a series of topics of vital interest to all serious sailors… crew overboard recovery; communications; medical/seasickness; heavy weather; steering maintenance and repair; pyrotechnics, signaling and life raft inflation and more. In addition to the safety topics there will be special breakout sessions for the Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race and the Marion Bermuda Race.
Sunday, March 24 is comprised of Practical, Hands on Training Safety Seminars: Emergency Medical Care at Sea (Dr. Michael Jacobs), Understanding Weather & Gulf Stream (Frank Bohlen and Ken McKinley) and In-Water Training (Dan O’Connor/Life Raft and Survival Equipment).
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE - One week after Easter and 3 weeks before the N2E race the Border Run International Sailing Event starts on April 6th. Still time to plan and enter the race. Three Courses to Choose From: Newport to Dana Point. Newport to San Diego. Newport to San Diego via Coronado del Norte Island. Check out their cool 1-plus minute promo video then go to www.TheBorderRun.org
AC NEWS – Despite the rumours, the talking and the speculation no one actually knows how this next America’s Cup is going to unfold. We asked the sailors what they thought about it. What do you think? Vote on our XS POLL on the right to voice your opinion who will win?
EXTREME SAILING SERIES – If yesterday’s racing was all about the new talent, todays was about experience with the established teams using their knowledge of the short stadium style race courses to make the most of the light winds at the Extreme Sailing Series in Muscat, Oman. As the stage is set for the final day, the battle has a familiar mix of Red Bull Sailing Team, The Wave, Muscat and Alinghi who are vying for points at the top of the Act 1 leaderboard but it was Austria’s double Olympic winning light air specialist Roman Hagara who was the man of match, with four race wins for Red Bull Sailing Team which could have set his team on a course for their first ever Act win. And it was all broadcast to homes around the Sultanate of Oman live on national broadcaster Oman TV, national radio station Hala FM and to fans around the world through the online video stream.
Dockside this morning Hagara said he was looking for consistency and today he found it. “We had a good day and we’re some points ahead now which is quite nice for the last day. It will still be a hard day because the final race is double points, so in the end it can always change but we try to stay focused and then do our best for tomorrow. This team deserve to win their first event together, last year we were always close we had really good first days and then one bad day and dropped back so I think its time for our team and just maybe we can do it!”
In the light breeze, the starts played a critical role in the team’s tactics today, and with few gains to be made on the racecourse, mistakes were punished hard. By the defending champion Leigh McMillan’s standards, it was a disappointing day for his team on The Wave, Muscat, and even they fell victim to the light winds, picking up a penalty in the sixth race, which proved costly. The team have a 15 point deficit from Red Bull Sailing Team, but known for their ability to fight back on the final day, you can be sure McMillan will come out all guns blazing tomorrow. Dockside he shared his thoughts on the competition this year. Watch the video here.
Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi had the wind in their sails again today, and if it wasn’t for a sour twist on the end of a beautiful day for the Swiss America’s Cup winning team when they were given a penalty for hitting the mark causing them to fall from second to sixth, they would be in second place going into the final day. The team last enjoyed being on the Extreme Sailing Series podium in Almeria, Spain in 2011 where they won the Act and skipper Bertarelli is hoping tomorrow could be the day to turn that around. “We are happy that we are sailing better then we have in the past and it feels good to be in a podium position. We will see what happens. It is tricky in the light winds but we have a new tactician (Morgan Larson) and he is making some good calls. He won the event here last year and it is working well. The plan is to start ahead, stay ahead and finish first.”
Robert Greenhalgh has made quite an impact on his return to the Extreme Sailing Series and after a five year respite, the inaugural Series winner has lost none of his spark. Skippering the invitational team, Team Duqm Oman, the team are within punching distance of the podium, leading the second half of the fleet in fourth place. “I think at the back of my mind we would like to be flying towards podium positions, but we’re happy! It’s obviously such close racing, it’s very competitive and tough racing, it can go anywhere at any stage as you can see from the results, but as a new team, we’ve got to be pretty pleased! With lighter winds and very tight racing, its just all about learning and seeing what does and doesn’t work and that’s just about having the experience in the fleet.”
The new Kiwi skippers onboard Team Korea and GAC Pindar both had another solid day, and are quickly adapting to the Extreme 40 racecourse, with their respective skippers Olympic Silver medallist Peter Burling, and world number five ranked match racer William Tiller both securing finishes in the top half of the fleet. Realteam’s new skipper Jerome Clerc – a multihull expert in the D35, who was winning races in his first day on the Extreme 40 racecourse has struggled in the light breeze as have SAP Extreme Sailing Team, but known for their last day ability to deliver, particularly in the final double pointer, the battle is far from over.
And so the stage is set for the final day. Could Red Bull Sailing Team be on course for their first ever Act win? Will Alinghi finish on the podium for the first time since 2011? Will defending champion Leigh McMillan find his form tomorrow and pull it out of the bag? Or will one of the new skippers step up to the mark? As always nothing is a certainty and with the final double points race, it’s all to play for.
Results
Extreme Sailing Series 2013 Act 1, Muscat, Oman standings after Day 3, 21 races (7.3.13)
Position / Team / Points
1st Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Matthew Adams, Pierre Le Clainche, Graeme Spence 177 points.
2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Ed Smyth, Pete Greenhalgh, Musab Al Hadi, Hashim Al Rashdi 162 points.
3rd Alinghi (SUI) Ernesto Bertarelli, Morgan Larson, Pierre Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 159 points.
4th Team Duqm Oman (OMA) Robert Greenhalgh, Bleddyn Mon, Will Howden, Andrew Walsh, Nasser Al Mashari 129 points.
5th Team Korea (KOR) Peter Burling, Blair Tuke, Mark Bulkeley, Sungwok Kim, Matt Cornwell 120 points.
6th GAC Pindar (NZL) Will Tiller, Brad Farrand, Stewart Dodson, Harry Thurston, Shaun Mason 116 points.
7th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Kostner, Pete Cumming, Mikkel Røssberg, Nicolai Sehested 112 points.
8th Realteam (SUI) Jerome Clerc, Bryan Mettraux, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Cédric Schmidt, Thierry Wasem 107 points.
EXTREME SAILING SERIES – The original high-performance, stadium-style global racing circuit, designed for spectators, is set to come alight with a rash of new talent in its seventh season, as 8 international teams with some of the worlds best sailors prepare for Act 1 of the 2013 global tour, to the held at The Wave, Muscat Oman 5th-8th March.
Three new skippers and two completely new teams will bring a wealth of fresh talent to the Extreme 40 fleet in 2013, along with a set of credentials that will make predicting not only the outcome of the opening Act but the entire Series a near impossibility.
The public race village opens on the 6th March with Red Bull Free Runners, a dedicated kids zone, a football tournament for local teams and try sailing amongst other activities all staged at the The Wave, Muscat community beach.
Follow the action on the official event website, www.extremesailingseries.com
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MELGES 20 #2 – Marc Hollerbach Crowned 2013 Audi Melges 20 Winter Regatta Champion
Miami, FL – The 2013 Audi Melges 20 Miami Winter Series hosted by Coconut Grove Sailing Club (CGSC) named Marc Hollerbach aboard Fu with tactician Jonathan McKee and crew member Ben Allen overall champion for Event No. 2 of the series. Hollerbach, a former International Class Chairman, had a great weekend in Miami finishing day one second overall. On day two, Fu finished fifth in race four. His final race of the day was discarded, ultimately knocking off overnight leader Paul Reilly on Red Sky Sailing Team by one point who finished second overall respectively followed by Richard Davies’ Section 16 in third.
Race one of the day and four in the series, went to Mark Plaxton’s INTAC. Plaxton had a great start and lead rounding the first mark. Plaxton was able to build momentum extending to gain a huge win with major separation from the rest of the fleet. Tony Tabb’s Elevation Racing punched the line for a great start and was able to get out early finishing second. Rob Wilber’s Cinghiale was in the middle of the fleet for the majority of the race but was able to find a good line downwind and land a third place finish.
John Kilroy’s Samba Pi Ti took the final race honors despite a course change and inclement weather with dark clouds and patches of rain. Michael Kiss and crew sailing Bacio excelled this weekend coming in second for the last race of the series, putting up an impressive fourth place finish overall. Kent Haeger on Mach Schnell found his way on the podium for the last race rounding out the top three.
Additional congratulations are in order for John Brown’s Blind Squirrel with crew members Will and George Demand as they are 2013 Audi Melges 20 Corinthian Miami Winter Regatta Championship. Brown had a great weekend finishing fourth in race three which helped the team in the standings. Tied with equal points is the second place corinthian team Black Sheep owned by Jon Messenger with crew members Jeremy Edwards and Mark Goodyear. Andy Rasdal’s Valkyrie with Michael Anderson-Miterling and Greg Helias rounded out the top three for the corinthians.
OLYMPIC SAILING – It was a critical day of racing for the ten Olympic and two Paralympic classes at the 2013 ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami. As the fleet series winds down for these events and in some cases new racing formats go into motion, the time is now for sailors to make a run at the leaderboard.
Video produced by T2P.tv for US Sailing. All rights owned by US Sailing.
ANOTHER VENDEE UPDATE! - French skipper Jean-Pierre Dick crossed the finish line off Les Sables d’Olonne this afternoon at 15hrs 5mins and 40 seconds UTC/GMT to finish fourth in the Vendée Globe, the famous solo nonstop around the world race. His third participation has yielded his best ever result, despite having to race the final 2 650 miles without a keel on his IMOCA Open 60 Virbac-Paprec 3. Dick’s elapsed time for course is 86 days, 3 hours, 3 minutes and 40 seconds. He finishes 8d and 47m behind race winner François Gabart (MACIF).
His average speed for the theoretical course of 24,393 miles is calculated to be 11,8 knots. In reality he sailed 27 734 miles on the water at an actual average speed of 13,4 knots.
Double winner of the two handed Barcelona World Race and three times winner of the two handed Transat Jacques Vabre Dick was one of the possible favourites to win the Vendée Globe but in the end had to give up his third place position he was holding when his keel snapped off on 21st January. He fought on to the finish after making a 48 hours stop in the north of Spain to let a strong low pressure system pass to receive a warm welcome today back in Les Sables d’Olonne.
Comments on a great accomplishment:
18ft SKIFFS - Sunday’s final race of the 2012-2013 Australian 18ft Skiff Championship should produce a great finale to the series with three teams separated by only two points and the possibility of the final result being decided on a count back.
Defending champion Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Michael Coxon, Trent Barnabas, Dave O’Connor) is on 5 points and holds a one point lead over Gotta Love It 7 (Seve Jarvin, Scott Babbage, Peter Harris), but also holds the advantage of two wins so far to none by Gotta Love It 7.
Smeg (Nick Press, Dan Phillips, Dave Ewings), after two wins last weekend, is now just two points behind Thurlow Fisher Lawyers, in third place.
To complicate the positions, Smeg also has two wins so far in the championship, which could be critical in any count back situation.
The race should not only be a great finish to the championship, but it will also be a great pointer to the chances of these teams as we get closer to the Giltinan Championship, which begins on Sydney Harbour in two weeks.
A fleet of 33 skiffs have entered for the Giltinan 2013.
The Australian 18 Footers League will soon be announcing the extensive coverage which will be available throughout the Giltinan.
The club’s usual spectator ferry will follow this Sunday’s final race in the Nationals as well as all heats of the Giltinan Championship.
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