Posts tagged mod70 european tour news

SPINDRIFT WINS LAST LEG BUT FONCIA WINS OVERALL

Tuesday
Oct 02
2012 Leave a Comment

Written by XS Editor 2

MOD 70′S EUROPEAN TOUR – Spindrift racing won the fifth and final leg of the MOD70 European Tour 2012 this morning in Genoa, Italy, after a one day and 15 hours of tense battle between Marseille, Minorca and Corsica.

Yann Guichard’s bold bet to win the leg and hope for at least one boat to interfere between him and overall leader Foncia (Michel Desjoyeaux) did not materialize, as Foncia managed with a bit of luck to overcome two boats, Musandam – Oman Sail and Race for Water only two miles before the finish line.

“Only an little while ago, we thought we had it made” says a slightly disappointed Guichard. “We’ve sailed an almost perfect race, taking bonus points in Marseille, and coming from behind through tricky storms off Corsica.” Spindrift racing team, with Leo Lucet, Jacques Guichard, Pascal Bidégorry, Sébastien Marsset and Erwan Tabaly to back up skipper Yann Guichard shows an impressive record in this five legs European Tour. Two wins and two victory in City races are testimonial to the spirit and quality of the crew.

“It’s been a fantastic adventure, long, tiring and very satisfying” explains Guichard ; “The MOD70 has definitely lived up to our wildest expectations ; the crew has been awesome, all we need now is a little rest, and a major sponsor to help us with our future plans…”

MOD70 European Tour ranking

1- FONCIA (Michel Desjoyeaux) 12+53+10+46+8+53+43+11+48 = 284 points
2- Spindrift racing (Yann Guichard) 11+47+12+52+11+43+ 41+12+53= 282 points
3- Race for Water (Stève Ravussin) 8+38+9+35+9+46+48+9+42 = 244 points
4- Musandam-Oman Sail (Sidney Gavignet) 9+34+8+42+12+38+50+10+39 = 242 points
5- Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Sébastien Josse) 10+44+11+41+10+36+34+8+34 = 228 points

Posted in News, Racing - Tagged mod70 trimaran, sailing

NO WIND

Thursday
Sep 20
2012 Leave a Comment

Written by XS Editor 2

MOD70 EUROPEAN TOUR – While the start gun was due to be fired at 1000 UTC (1100 local), for now the crews of the five MOD70 trimarans are having to be patient. The Race Committee has delayed the start until 1300 UTC (1400), by which time the breeze is forecast to have filled in from the southwest. When this occurs the 1071 mile long leg, through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean and on to the south of France, will get underway.

The routing for leg four is suggesting it will take even the breathtakingly quick MOD70 trimarans four days to complete the course.

At present there is a weak depression located over northwest Spain, while some 1000 miles to the west, out in the middle of the Atlantic, ex-cyclone Nadine has been reaping havoc around the Azores, although this is due to track south over the next few days. Between Nadine and the Portugese coast lies a giant ridge and this easing east later today will cause the wind to veer dramatically into the north or NNW overnight. Forecasters suggest that on the opening section of the course down to Cape St Vincent and probably beyond there will also be localised calms to be avoided.

Into tomorrow morning the northerlies look set to settle, backing into the northwest as the MOD70s cross the Bay of Cadiz en route for the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Strait itself is always a dilemma, a choice to stick to the Moroccan shore or the Spanish coastline. Fortunately the latest meteo has the strong easterly headwinds forecast a few days ago as having abated with little pressure when the boats arrive in the Alboran Sea between south Spain and Morocco, but building the further they head east – a classic case of the rich getting richer.

While the forecast is showing the conditions to be decidedly fickle and changing, the outcome of Leg 4 could also prove decisive overall in the MOD European Tour. With six points now separating leaders FONCIA from Spindrift racing the pressure is on Yann Guichard’s team to reduce that deficit as much as possible.

In Marseille there are two days of intense City Race and just the final offshore, Leg 5, to Genoa left as scoring opportunities. So, although the event has only just passed its midpoint, time is running out and the final finish is on the horizon.

This will be a very tactical leg, with many opportunities to break away from the fleet and do something different.

Whether teams are now prepared to push the risk and reward equation more and try to break away, or whether they will do the opposite and stick closely to their nearest opposition will be very apparent on this leg.

In these sometimes random conditions it will hard for teams to control their opponents. The transitions will be difficult and the leaders’ life always the most stressful.

In the bigger picture when once there was a hierarchy of three boats at the top of the fleet, now it is much more open. Musandam-Oman Sail and Race for Water have proven they are now well capable of winning offshore and inshore. Stève Ravussin’s team took second on the short offshore, Leg 3, only 5 minutes and 50 seconds behind FONCIA, and of course Musandam-Oman Sail won the Cascais City Race series. So the level has risen visibly, and that high level is evenly matched through the fleet.

Posted in News, Racing - Tagged mod70 trimaran, sailing

MUSANDAM-OMAN SAIL WINS CASCAIS CITY RACE

Monday
Sep 17
2012 Leave a Comment

Written by XS Editor 2

MOD70 TOUR NEWS – Just a few days ago Musandam-Oman Sail edged on to the podium after finishing 3rd in offshore leg 2 from Dublin, Ireland to Cascais, Portugal, so this – their first win – is a welcome step up for the relatively inexperienced team.

“It’s just so good. You know I would like to party with the team but we cannot because tomorrow we go again. That’s the rhythm and the pace of this European Tour. But it’s great. We won three races of the six. It’s a great win. We are very glad,” said Gavignet.

“It is hard to pinpoint one improvement. I mean we are improving from the beginning. We started far behind but we improve. From the beginning we had some trouble. We lost one of our crew to injury, another was sick and we lost our daggerboard in Dublin. But we kept going with a positive spirit. We are just trying to make some progress little by little and that’s it you know. Nothing special. We are just trying to work well in a good atmosphere to get the best out of everyone.

“The Omani sailors still need to progress a lot, just like all of us. I am hard with them and hard on myself and it’s a balance between pushing them too much and keeping them very positive. I need to show them what the problems are so they can learn so it is a constant discussion, sometimes pushing, sometimes being softer, but always trying to help them improve.

“It is a great adventure. It is not easy every day but it is a great adventure to sail on the Omani boat, to sail with Omani crew and with an international team,” said Gavignet.

Oman’s Moshin Al Busaidi was delighted with the result today as he watched his crew mates Fahad and Khamisget thrown into the water in celebration.

“We had been leading the group here in Cascais and we were torn about racing today and the possibility of losing our position! But I think the team and the skipper have worked very hard to stay in first place.

“Coming third in Leg 2 gave us a boost and made us feel more positive and optimistic. We did a good job and I hope tomorrow, in the 3rd leg, that we will do better again,” said Al Busaidi.

Musandam-Oman Sail was top of the leaderboard in Cascais from Friday through Saturday but a fifth place in Sunday’s first race of the day saw them slipping by just one point to Spindrift racing. However the win in the sixth and final race put them back up to the top spot with a two point lead over Spindrift racing.

It was a nail-biting finale to the Cascais City races as three boats, FONCIA, Race for Water and Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, were called over the start line early. Musandam-Oman Sail managed to emerge from the melee with the lead and stay ahead around the two lap course. But not without pressure from Race for Water who after making a good recovery at the top end of the first windward leg were breathing down the neck ofMusandam-Oman Sail until the finish.

Thick fog and very light five knot winds delayed the start of racing on Sunday. The first race was shortened as the sea mist started to roll in again. Racing was postponed for a further thirty minutes for conditions to improve and for the tide to turn before Sunday’s second race, the sixth and final race of the series finally got away in building 8-10 knot breeze.

Monday sees the start of the MOD70 European Tour Leg 3 which will take the fleet around Portugal on a course from Cascais to Porto back to Cascais to Sines and back to Cascais for the finish on Tuesday afternoon. Weather depending the Sines leg may be dropped.

Cascais City Race results after six races

1 Musandam Oman Sail 64 pts (10, 10, 12, 12, 8, 12)

2 Spindrift racing 62 pts (11, 11, 9, 10, 12, 9)

3 Groupe Edmond de Rothschild 59 pts (12, 9, 10, 9, 9, 10)

4 Race for Water 58pts (9,12, 8, 8, 10,11)

5 FONCIA 57pts (8, 8, 11,11, 11, 8)

Posted in News, Racing - Tagged Oman Sail, sailing

MUSANDAM-OMAN SAIL ON TOP

Friday
Sep 14
2012 Leave a Comment

Written by XS Editor 2

MOD70 EUROPEAN TOUR – Musandam-Oman Sail is top of the Cascais City Race leader board after winning their first race of the MOD70 European Tour and posting two third places on Friday’s opening day of racing in Portugal.

“Of course it is nice to win. It is nice to get a pay off for our hard work and to come ashore knowing we did good work. We have a lot more racing ahead of us and a lot more work to do, but today felt good, the team is progressing,” said skipper Sidney Gavignet.

Today’s three races were the first of eight scheduled for Cascais, the coastal resort made famous in the past for being the Portuguese Royal family’s holiday destination of choice and more recently as host to high profile sailing events including the Olympics, the Volvo Ocean Race and the America’s Cup World Series.

Musandam-Oman Sail’s successful day of racing which puts them one point ahead on the overall standing in Portugal so far comes on the back of their podium third place in the 975 mile Leg 2 of the MOD70 European Tour from Dublin to Cascais.

“I am very proud of my team and my skipper and our achievement for Oman on Leg 2. We are getting better and better, but we have a long way to go still. It was a great feeling to finish on the podium for the first time during the European Tour. Today was also great with two thirds and a first for the first time. We are very happy and are looking forward to tomorrow,” said Mohsin Al Busaidi.

For all the results click HERE.

Posted in News, Racing - Tagged Oman Sail, sailing

SPINDRIFT WINS LEG 2

Wednesday
Sep 12
2012 Leave a Comment

Written by XS Editor 2

MOD70 EUROPEAN TOUR – Three days after securing an important victory at the Dùn Laoghaire City Races, Spindrift racing remains on a winning streak, adding early this morning in Cascaïs Leg 2 of the European Tour to its score board.

With this nail biting victory over Foncia by another tiny margin, Guichard and crew jump on top of the provisionnal overall ranking. But beyond these great satisfactions, Guichard underlines his crew’s spectacular progress in handling the big 70 feet trimaran launched late in january. With little navigation time, Spindrift racing has already won the Krys Ocean Race in July. The European Tour gives the crew more sailing time and every man on board seems to melt into a cohesive unit able to successfully deal with all the situations thrown at them.

Anything could have happened in the last hours on leg N° 2 between Dublin and Cascaïs. Once again,Spindrift racing took an early lead when Guichard rounded in first place the Fastnet rock. Making the best out of the shifting westerly winds across the Gulf of Biscay, the big black and white MOD70 stayed ahead of the fleet until the expected high pressure ridge that brought the fleet to an almost stand still off the city of Porto. Plenty of maneuvers and brainstorming made out most of yesterday aboard each of the 5 big tris. When the Northerly winds finally settled in, each crew tried to head south as fast as possible. A decisive gybe had to be made by nightfall and Spindrift racing was the first to gybe on port side, heading straight for the mouth of the Tage river.

This move at first seemed to give Guichard a winning edge. But history likes to repeat itself and in a scenario similar to what happened in Dùn Laoghaire, all five trimarans became becalmed only a few miles away from the line. “Our boat speed dropped within seconds from 30 knots to 2 !” says a triumphantGuichard. “It took a lot of gybing and patience as well as a bit of luck to hit that final faint breeze that took us all the way to the line.”

A jubilant crew enjoys this morning not only a great victory, but also the perspective of a good 48 hours rest, as the Cascais City Races are only scheduled to start on Friday. About halfway through this MOD70 European Race, Guichard marvels at his fantastic crew. “Every one onboard works hard in such a cohesive manner. We’ve come a long way since our first race in Kiel and we’ll go on improving until the end.”

Spindrift racing crew for Leg 2 :
Yann Guichard, Jacques Guichard, Léo Lucet, Yann Eliès, Pascal Bidégorry, Thierry Douillard.

Time in Cascais (French time)
1-Spindrift racing (Yann Guichard) Septembre 12th in 7 days, 37 mn, 36 sec. : 970 miles in 2 days 15h 37’ 36 at 15,5 knots average
2- FONCIA (Michel Desjoyeaux) à 8h 26’ 49 : 2j 16h 26’ 49
3- Musandam-Oman Sail (Sidney Gavignet) à 8h 33’ 22 : 2j 16h 33’ 22
4- Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Sébastien Josse) à 8h 37’ 36 : 2j 16h 37’ 36
5- Race for Water (Stève Ravussin) à 8h 53’ 30

MOD70 European Tour Provisionnal ranking
1- Spindrift racing (Yann Guichard) 11+47+12+52 = 122 points
2- FONCIA (Michel Desjoyeaux) 12+53+10+46 = 121 points
3-Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Sébastien Josse) 10+44+11+41 = 106 points
4- Musandam-Oman Sail (Sidney Gavignet) 9+34+8+42 = 93 points
5- Race for Water (Stève Ravussin) 8+38+9+35 = 90 points

Posted in News, Racing - Tagged sailing

CLOSE RACING AGAIN IN MOD70 FLEET

Tuesday
Sep 11
2012 Leave a Comment

Written by XS Editor 2

MOD70 EUROPEAN TOUR UPDATE – JUST IN! – We reported Oman-Sail was in second place this morning but they have now just pulled into the lead! Check out the latest report below:

Latest position reports show the Omani flagship with a 1.2 mile advantage over former leaders Spindrift but with just eight miles separating all five trimarans, the celebrations are not likely to start just yet, according to helmsman Brian Thompson.

“We are not punching the air because you have to be in the lead at the finish so we are just concentrating on going fast and not making any mistakes but it feels good and is a pay off for all our hard work so far,” Thompson said.

“It shows you how close the MOD 70 racing is and we have seen on this leg with Race for Water how a small problem can set you back though they are back in sight now. We are in a good position but when things are this close, it’s important we stay focussed.”

The remaining 350 miles of the second leg from Dun Laoghaire in Ireland to Cascais are likely to present a few hours of frustration with the strong breeze likely to ease later on Tuesday when the fleet is set to grind to a halt with progress uncertain.

For the moment though, the temperatures are rising as they move south and, charging along at more than 27 knots, Sidney Gavignet’s crew on Musandam-Oman Sail are maintaining the highest speeds in the fleet.

Omani helm Fahad Al Hasni has made a significant contribution to their progress with some fast driving undergennaker while Moshin Al Busaidi has been key to the smooth sail changes and running all the systems on board.

Both crew members were excited by the current success of Musandam-Oman Sail though understood there was a lot of work to be done to protect their position until the finish line.

“I feel very happy and hope we can stay in the lead right to the end,” said Al Busaidi.

“The whole team is working very hard to hold our position – I think we are working together better than ever and we are seeing the results.

“It would mean so much to us if we could win this leg but we know there is not much wind ahead so we have to carry on working hard.”

Posted in Article, News, Photos, Racing - Tagged Oman Sail, sailing

SPINDRIFT AND FONCIA SHOWDOWN

Wednesday
Sep 05
2012 Leave a Comment

Written by XS Editor 2

MOD70 EUROPEAN TOUR – The stage is set for a breathtaking showdown late tonight, or early tomorrow morning, as the conclusion of the first leg of the European Tour is about to be written.

Yann Guichard and his crew aboard Spindrift racing still manage despite dying winds off the coast of Ireland to maintain a tiny yet important edge over Foncia (Michel Desjoyeaux) and Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Sébastien Josse). With less than a 5 miles lead, Spindrift racing will be the first to sail within the becalmed waters of the Celtic Sea. His opponents are fully aware that Yann cannot control them all. They will try their luck to the east or west of the course followed by the leader.

As Guichard predicted earlier today, « It’s gonna be a very tense situation. The wind will ease at the end. The finish into Dùn Laoghaire will be complicated and so anything can happen there. Our lead is certainly not enough to be secure.. »

Spindrift racing took the lead early Monday morning at the Northern point of the Danemark peninsula.Guichard’s boys have managed to stay on top of the rankings ever since. They’ve fought hard on the rough Northern seas and last night in a record setting pace across the English channel, and are certainly in no mood to give up even one inch of the remaining course…

Ranking at 03:00 PM September, 5th 2012

1. Spindrift racing
2. Foncia (4,9 miles)
3. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (5,3 miles)
4. Musandam-Oman Sail (20,1 miles)
5. Race for Water (20,4 miles)

Posted in News, Photos, Racing - Tagged sailing

SPINDRIFT LEADS BY 7 MILES

Tuesday
Sep 04
2012 Leave a Comment

Written by XS Editor 2

MOD70 EUROPEAN TOUR – If you missed what the MOD70 European Tour is all about, check it out above. As they close in on the finish line here is the latest update:

As they close the final 50 or so miles to the bottleneck that is formed by the Strait of Dover, the busiest shipping lanes in the world, the 70 foot trimaran fleet on Leg 1 of the MOD70 European Tour has continued to move well considering they have headwinds of less than 10 knots, but they will likely slow down even more before they can escape the worst of the small high pressure cell which is effectively guarding the entrance to the English Channel.

After passing the half way point on the 1238 miles stage from Kiel to Dublin, the fleet remains very closely matched, all making very similar speeds – around 10-12 knots of boat speed.

Winds may be light but the pressure remains very intense on this second full afternoon at sea. Knowing that whichever crew can break through the barrier of light winds first and escape into the channel might gain the decisive advantage. Once through the light winds zone the leaders will break into a progressively building breeze from the N’ly quadrant. Accelerating faster and faster, with the prospect of completing the Dover to Land’s End passage in some 12-14 hours, the key tactic this Tuesday afternoon is not to be left behind in the Strait.

Brian Thompson from Musandam-Oman Sail reported this morning: “Everyone is concentrating on getting the best speed out of the boat, and we can see that today is a critical day as the wind is going to fall sharply near the Thames Estuary and the fleet is likely to compress. Who gets out of the light patch first may have a lead till approaching Ireland.”.

And the fleet remains very closely matched: “We saw Groupe Edmond de Rothschild in the morning yesterday; and although we went entirely different routes all day, and were up to 50 miles apart, we saw them again in the evening! This morning we can see them about 6 miles away – exciting racing.” Continued Thompson.

Seeking a chance of additional thermal sea-breeze activity closer to the coast is one possible strategy, but conversely those erring too close to the high land may also lose out when the breeze blows from the forecasted more offshore direction.

Spindrift racing, the leaders since the first night of racing, continued to hold a delta of about five miles on second place, but Sebastien Josse’s Groupe Edmond de Rothschild has made a good inroad into FONCIA during the late morning and afternoon and were less than half a mile behind Michel Desjoyeaux’s crew.

Having proven a thorn in the side for the FONCIA crew in last month’s KRYS OCEAN RACE, it will have been a source of some bemusement to again see Groupe Edmond de Rothschild’s dark blue pattern sails looming ever larger from the horizon today.

Guichard and crew on Spindrift racing have split closer to the English coast mid afternoon, diverging temporarily away from the second and third placed MOD70’s engaged in a Pas de Deux in the final reaches of the Pas du Calais. But with just 23 miles between first and fifth placed Race for Water, the fleet remains tightly grouped.

Ravussin’s Race for Water struggled with an electronics problem, which has meant they were initially unable to get and use high-resolution weather information. This compounded their initial errors, struggling with a bad sail change during the first late evening. But from being more than 70 miles behind, Ravussin, Cammas, Coville and Co have kept chipping away and are now very much in touch with the leaders and passed Musandam-Oman Sail to steal fourth. “We have sailed less than our rivals and so it does not come so easily, but we are getting there.” Reassured Ravussin when contacted at midday.

Standings at 12h45 UTC 4th September

1- Spindrift racing (Yann Guichard) at 504,4 miles from Dun Laoghaire
2- FONCIA (Michel Desjoyeaux) at 7,1 miles from leader
3- Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Sébastien Josse) at 7,4 miles from leader
4- Race for Water (Stève Ravussin) at 14,1 miles from leader
5- Musandam-Oman Sail (Sidney Gavignet) à 16 miles du leader

Posted in News, Racing - Tagged sailing

SPINDRIFT LEADS BY 5.5 MILES

Monday
Sep 03
2012 Leave a Comment

Written by XS Editor 2

MOD70 EUROPEAN TOUR - After a thrilling exit Sunday afternoon from Kiel, Germany, a high speed chase through the islands to the east of Denmark, an interlude of 27-30 knot headwinds potentially boat breaking conditions off Skagen point at the north corner, the leaders of Leg 1 of the MOD70 European Tour are now set to have their first ever real encounter – as a racing fleet -with very, very light winds.

Through the first 24 hours of this opening stage from Kiel to Dublin, via the English Channel, the fleet had already covered more than 450 of the 1238 miles, enjoying sustained bursts of 32-34 knots through the islands in the dark of Sunday evening, but an elongated high pressure system centred over the south of England and extending into the North Sea looks set to offer an entirely new challenge for the crews.

Winds over the next 24 hours may be as light as two or three knots for the new fleet of one design trimaran speedsters.

The only similarity to July’s remarkable high speed Transatlantic dash, the KRYS OCEAN RACE is that the same top three boats are presently led, again, by Yann Guichard’s Spindrift racing which managed to pass Michel Desjoyeaux’s FONCIA team in the small hours of Monday morning.

“In an area where the wind died down for a few miles, we were expecting it to come back and did not set more sail. And it didn’t….so the bolder Spindrift took the chance to overtake us.” Recalled Desjoyeaux today.

Spindrift stayed some four miles further off the Danish coast and managed to power pass FONCIA to earn a lead, which they had grown to five miles by Monday afternoon. Seb Josse’s Groupe Edmond de Rothshild lay third, just 14.2 miles behind the leaders, on the same SW’ly track.

The passage down and across the North Sea into the Channel had already seen Race for Water – with the combined talents of Stève Ravussin, Franck Cammas and Thomas Coville in play – making an early move to the NW from their trailing position, seeking to try and stay with the remnants of the breeze for longer by avoiding the centre of the ridge.

Mid-afternoon Monday the leading duo still had some 175 miles to make to the entrance and were progressively slowing, ready to deal with the slalom of marks and buoys marking out shipping lanes, wind farms, oil platforms, which Desjoyeaux calls the ‘Pas de Calais gymkhana’

Race for Water’s 25 miles hitch to the NW was matched a few hours later by fourth placed Musandam-Oman Sail. Sidney Gavignet’s crew were just under 50 miles off the lead, ruing some small mistakes during the first night, but all well aware that there are at least three major transition zones where the fleet is likely to compact again before they reach Dublin.

Recent weather models show it might be Tuesday afternoon or early evening before a more stable, meaningful NW’ly breeze returns for the MOD70’s, so patience and focus will be tested to the extreme over coming hours. ETA Dublin is still late Wednesday, early Thursday but that may be ambitious given the evolution of the weather over the next few days.

Standings at 1230hrs UTC Monday 2nd September
1-Spindrift racing (Yann Guichard, EUR) at 780,4 miles from Dun Laoghaire
2-FONCIA (Michel Desjoyeaux, FRA) at 5,5 miles from leader
3-Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Sébastien Josse, FRA) at 14,2 miles from leader
4-Musandam-Oman Sail (Sidney Gavignet, FRA) at 49,3 miles from leader
5-Race for Water (Stève Ravussin, SUI) at 70,6 miles from leader

Posted in News, Racing - Tagged mod70 trimarans, sailing

Posts tagged mod70 european tour news

SPINDRIFT WINS LAST LEG BUT FONCIA WINS OVERALL

NO WIND

MUSANDAM-OMAN SAIL WINS CASCAIS CITY RACE

MUSANDAM-OMAN SAIL ON TOP

SPINDRIFT WINS LEG 2

CLOSE RACING AGAIN IN MOD70 FLEET

SPINDRIFT AND FONCIA SHOWDOWN

SPINDRIFT LEADS BY 7 MILES

SPINDRIFT LEADS BY 5.5 MILES

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