Written by 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
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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!
GREAT START FOR LUCY
WOMENS RACING – The inaugural Women’s International Match Racing Series kicked off today with the first event in St Quay-Portrieux, France. Lucy Macgregor of Great Britain summed up seven straight victories, shining alone undefeated at the top of the scoreboard. But her day wasn’t at all as relaxed as the results may imply:
– No, we had a few close matches, also coming from behind, she comments.
One of them was the last match of the day, against fellow London Olympian Anna Kjellberg of Sweden:
– We started very badly in that match, and were left behind for a while. But good upwind speed got us back into the match, and on the last downwind leg we managed to do a couple of excellent gybes to get ahead of Anna and her crew, Macgregor says.
– We made a great start but then some things got stuck in the boat on the first downwind, slowing us down. And on the last leg we didn’t observe a major wind shift coming, when at the same time making a few bad gybes. Of course Lucy took the advantage of that, Anna explains, not too disappointed with her 2 – 5 score and eighth place so far.
Veteran Klaartje Zuiderbaan of The Netherlands is back in match racing after a few years break as a successful Paralympics coach (gold in London), now leading her international crew from France, Slovenia and Great Britain to second place so far in Saint Quay, with a 6 – 2 score:
– I’m so happy to be here! Today we really learned how to work together in the boat, she smiles.
In her match against young Stephanie Roble, both boats got penalized in the prestart. After a close match almost all the way around the course, Zuiderbaan managed to leave the American crew behind at the last top mark:
– My brain can still recall a few useful tricks, she admits, smiling again.
Stephanie Roble and her experienced crew from Chicago Match Race Center missed a plane and came in late to the event, without any time to do their practise session before racing. In their first match of the day they crossed the starting line too early, and had to turn back for a proper start:
– We clearly underestimated the current that pushed us over the line, Roble comments, happy with their 5 – 2 score and third place so far in the regatta.
Event standings after the first day of racing in Saint Quay Women’s Match Racing, the first event of the inaugural 2013 Women’s Match Racing Series. Place/name/nationality/victories/lost matches:
1. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 7 – 0
2. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 6 – 2
3. Stephanie Roble, USA, 5 – 2
4. Julie Bossard, FRA, 5 – 3
5. Alexa Bezel, SUI, 3 – 4
5. Claudia Pierce, NZL, 3 – 4
5. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 3 – 4
8. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 2 – 5
8. Milly Bennett, AUS, 2 – 5
10. Morgane Dreau, FRA, 0 – 7
The inaugural 2013 Women’s International Match Racing Series is a professional sailing circuit, hosted by the Women’s International Match Racing Association for the world’s leading women match racing sailors. In match racing the crews meet two by two in exciting duels that can easily be followed and understood by the spectators.
An overall prize purse of 50 000 USD will be distributed by the WIMRSeries at the final event in Lysekil, Sweden, in addition to the prize money at each of the five events included in the WIMRSeries (date, event name, location, boat type):
* May 15-19 – Saint Quay Women’s Match Racing – St Quay-Portrieux, France – Elliott 6m.
* June 6-9 – Busan Cup International Women’s Match Race – Busan, Korea – K 30.
* June 20-23 – Danish Open Ladies Cup – Copenhagen, Denmark – J/80.
* July 11-14 – New York Women’s Invitational – Oakcliff, New York, USA – SM 40.
* August 5-10 – Lysekil Women’s Match – Lysekil, Sweden – DS 37.
Images: A number of hi-res images are available for download on www.wimrs.com
More information about the Women’s International Match Racing Series:
WIMR Series Press Officer Joakim Hermansson, [email protected], +46 70 604 25 04
WIMR Series Manager Liz Baylis, [email protected], +1 415 691 6202
www.wimrs.com
http://www.facebook.com/WIMRSeries
http://www.twitter.com/WIMRSeries
TI PUNCH WITH A ‘PUNCH’
HAPPY HOUR FRIDAY – In this episode, Martin Cate, of Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, explains the culture of the Ti Punch from Martinique. If you order it on the Caribbean island, you might actually be in charge of making this cocktail yourself! Learn how to make a new cocktail while famed SF bartender Martin Cate.
AC REVIEW COMMITTEE SUSPENDS SAILING
AMERICA’S CUP – Following the first meeting of the America’s Cup Review Committee on Thursday in San Francisco, teams have been asked to suspend all sailing in AC72 and AC45 catamarans until the middle of next week. The Review Committee is scheduled to meet with the teams for the first time on Friday morning.
TEN RACES…TWO LEADERS
AWMRT – Langenargen, Germany (17 May 2013): A lengthy day on Lake Constance marked the start of Match Race Germany and the opening round of the 2013 Alpari World Match Racing Tour. With the wind off Langenargen just strong enough to sail but rarely getting above 10 knots, the organizers ripped through ten flights of the qualifying round, bringing all of the 12 international teams up to five races sailed.
With the sun getting low in the sky, at the end of play GAC Pindar skipper Ian Williams and his long term French rival Mathieu Richard of GEFCO Match Racing Team hold a 4-1 scoreline, along with Pierre Antoine Morvan’s Vannes Agglo Sailing Team. The three teams’ single losses were respectively to Adam Minoprio, Bjorn Hansen and Ian Williams.
“We were a little nervous because a lot of teams have sailed these boats before and we haven’t,” said Williams. “It is an unusual situation for us to be the less experienced team, but our upwind boat speed was really good.” The GAC Pindar crew narrowly won their match against Morvan after there was a big luff at the top mark and the Frenchman ended up picking up a penalty for going past head to wind.
US Virgin Islander Taylor Canfield and his USone team ended the day on three wins along with Keith Swinton’s Black Swan Racing, Bjorn Hansen’s Mekonomen Sailing Team and the Adam Minoprio-skippered Team Alpari FX.
Canfield won against Hansen, Robertson and Jablonski, but lost to Berntsson and Richard. “Light conditions in big heavy slow boats is always challenging and I don’t think we are totally comfortable with all of our manoeuvres and timing in these boats just yet,” admitted the 24-year-old. “As the day went on we started to figure it out a bit and got the boat going well.”
In Canfield’s match against Richard there was a long dial up and then, with 1 minute 30 to go, both boats were still a long way over the line but the Frenchman won the favoured committee boat end and it was game over from there.
USone had more success against Karol Jablonski when, after they had roundly dispatched the Polish former America’s Cup helmsman pushing him behind the committee boat, Jablonski retired, switched on his engine resulting in his receipt of a black flag from the umpires. Jablonski admitted that they had had a major communication breakdown on board. “We basically just retired and used the time to do a debrief. We are a new team and we don’t sail enough to get everything done the way I like to do it. When you do two events per year it is tough to compete with the best teams here.”
Adam Minoprio’s Team Alpari FX was initially docked a half point for a collision with Pierre Antoine Morvan during a tacking duel in Flight 2, when the stern quarters of the two teams’ boats touched as they attempted to separate. “In my mind it was a port-starboard and he didn’t start avoiding early enough and we had to avoid him and our sterns touched,” said Minoprio, providing his viewpoint of the incident. At the time the umpires took a different view and red flagged Team Alpari FX requiring them to carry out a penalty turn immediately, docking the Kiwi team the half point for causing damage. But at a hearing after racing neither Minoprio nor Morvan were found to have broken the avoiding contact rule (rule 14) and the half point penalty was removed from Minoprio’s scoreline.
The two German teams of leading Laser sailor Philipp Buhl and German National Match Racing Champion Sven Erik Horsch have yet to get off the bottom of the leaderboard, with Horsch on no wins and newbie match racer Buhl’s only victory taken off his fellow countryman. Johnie Berntsson is also on a single win as is Karol Jablonski.
Match Race Germany defending champion New Zealand’s Phil Robertson and his WAKA Racing team has also got off to a slow start on just two wins against Berntsson and Jablonski. “It was tough,” said Robertson. “We led around the top mark in four out of five but we lost it downwind. So we are just ironing out the creases.”
The qualifying series continues tomorrow with the start time scheduled for 0900.
For more high resolution images of the day:
http://wmrt.photoshelter.com/
Password: awmrt
STAGE 1: Match Race Germany – Qualifying Round
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 4-1
Mathieu Richard (FRA) GEFCO Match Racing Team 4-1
Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team 4-1
Taylor Canfield (ISV) USone 3-2
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing 3-2
Adam Minoprio (NZL) Team Alpari FX 3-2
Björn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team 3-2
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing 2-3
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Stena Sailing Team 2-3
Philip Buhl (GER) Deutsches Youth America’s Cup Team 1-4
Karol Jablonski (GER) Jablonski Sailing Team 1-4
Sven Erick-Horsch (GER) NRV Match Race Team 0-5
Watch the VODCAST from today
ITALIANS TAKE EARLY LEAD
FARR 40 RACING – It was a typically fluky day on the Chesapeake Bay, and surprisingly one of the European teams figured things out the best on the opening day of the 2013 Farr 40 East Coast Championship.
Four of the eight boats featured Annapolis sailors with extensive local knowledge of the Chesapeake and its shifty winds and unpredictable tidal currents. However, it was the Italian team aboard Enfant Terrible that most successfully avoided getting caught on the wrong side of the course and therefore put forth the most consistent performance.
Skipper Alberto Rossi steered Enfant Terrible to a couple of second place finishes as the Italian contingent took the early overall lead in the four-day regatta, being hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club. America’s Cup veteran Vasco Vascotto called tactics for Rossi, who was relieved to escape the unpredictable day with a point advantage over Barking Mad.
Skipper Alberto Rossi and the Enfant Terrible team posted a pair of seconds on Day 1 of the Farr 40 East Coast Championship, being held on the Chesapeake Bay.
“We sailed here for three days before the regatta to get a feel for the conditions. Today, the wind was very shifty so it was a challenge,” Rossi said. “Fortunately, we chose the right rig setup and the boat was fast, especially in the strong wind. We enjoyed the sailing today and are very happy about the results.”
Owner-driver Jim Richardson and the Barking Mad crew also had a solid day, winning Race 1 then placing fourth in Race 2 to total five points. Tactician Terry Hutchinson grew up sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and made a couple decisions that worked out well for the boat based out of Newport, RI.
Barking Mad and Enfant Terrible traded the lead twice in Race 1 with the latter rounding the second weather mark in first. However, Barking Mad retook the lead on the final downwind leg, crossing the finish line about a boat length ahead of Enfant Terrible.
“I thought the boat was moving fairly well and the crew work was good,” said Richardson, who was just as pleased with the fourth as he was with the bullet. That’s because Barking Mad rounded the first weather mark in last place and managed to pass three boats over the final three legs.
“That was a good comeback. We caught a few boats on the run and turned an eighth into a fourth. Those are the races that can make a difference in the end,” Richardson said.
Skipper John Demourkas also sported a smile on the dock after racing since Groovederci posted a pair of third place results. Demourkas and tactician Cameron Appleton weren’t pleased with the boat’s performance in the first two regattas of this year so they decided to return to the rig setup and sail inventory that Groovederci used last year when it captured the East Coast Championship off Annapolis.
“I think we’re getting our mojo back. Based on today, I’d say we’ve definitely made an improvement in speed and that helps build confidence,” Demourkas said. “We were able to come back today, which is something we haven’t been able to do.”
Race 1 started in a due southerly breeze of about 12-14 knots, but principal race officer Wayne Bretsch had to reset the top mark for the second upwind leg due to a shift of 35 degrees. By the time Race 2 got underway, the wind had come all the way back to the southeast at a heading of 175 degrees. The Annapolis Yacht Club race committee had to move the top mark again in the second race after the wind shifted 10 more degrees to the left.
Those shifty winds, along with a strong ebb tide and changes in wind velocity led to numerous lead changes. By the end of the second race, the wind had piped up to 18 knots with gusts over 20.
“It was left and right, up and down. You throw in the current and tide and it is very tricky,” Demourkas said. “I think the tide is the toughest thing to figure out because you don’t know how it affects the middle and the edges.”
Skipper Rod Jabin, tactician Gavin Brady and several other members of the Ramrod crew are longtime Annapolis residents who know the fickle nature of the Chesapeake Bay as well as anybody. However, that didn’t prevent Ramrod from experiencing both ends of wind shifts on Wednesday, finishing last in Race 1 and first in Race 2.
“It was very shifty and very challenging out there today. We got forced to the left on the first beat of the day and wound up buried,” Jabin said. “In the second race, we took everyone’s transom at the start so we bailed out and went hard right and it paid off. We got unlucky in one race and lucky in the other.”
Action continues Thursday with the early forecasts calling for light and shifty winds. Organizers with Annapolis-based Stagg Yachts, which manages the Farr 40 class, are hoping to complete 10 races by Saturday afternoon.
For the second straight year, skipper Hasip Gencer and the Asterisk-UNO team have traveled all the way from Istanbul, Turkey to Annapolis for the Farr 40 East Coast Championship.
2013 Farr 40 East Coast Championship (eight entries)
1. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, Ancona, Italy, 2-2=4
2. Barking Mad, Jim Richardson, Newport, RI, 1-4=5
3. Groovederci, John Demourkas, Santa Barbara, CA, 3-3=6
4. Ramrod, Rod Jabin, Annapolis, MD, 8-1=9
5. Plenty, Alex Roepers, New York City, 4-5=9
6. Struntje Light, Wolfgang Schaefer, Lueneberg, Germany, 5-7=12
7. Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, Annapolis, MD, 7-6=13
8. Asterisk-UNO, Hasip Gencer, Instanbul, Turkey, 6-8=14
EXTREME SINGAPORE
MORE EXTREME SAILING – Double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson brings you program 2 of the official 2013 Extreme Sailing Series TV series from the Act 2 Singapore. One of the most spectacular urban settings the global tour has ever visited saw the local entry Team Aberdeen Singapore line up with the seven full Series teams over fours days of tense, challenging competition from the 11-14 April. The Swiss team Alinghi had all the rights moves on Marina Bay, dominating from the first start gun and never relinquishing their lead.
The programme also includes an exclusive interview with Austria’s most decorated summer sports stars Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steiancher from Red Bull Sailing Team on their journey from Olympic champions to the Extreme Sailing Series, and SAP Extreme Sailing Team’s tactician Rasmus Kostner looks at the SAP data analysis of his teams performance as they deliver their first ever podium finish.
EXTREME MEETS EXTREME
EXTREME BOATS - SpeedDream teams up with the Extreme Sailing Series - SpeedDream to be publicly exhibited for the first time at the Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 4 in Istanbul, June 2013.
SpeedDream, the quest to build the world’s fastest monohull, has formed two strategic alliances to achieve this ambitious goal. First, recognizing that record setting is as much about radical design ideas as it is about pushing technology barriers, the SpeedDream team have strengthened their technological partnership with the Russian hi-tech giant Yandex and will be utilizing their enormous computing power to further refine the design concept.
Record setting is also about attracting the very best sailors and many of them compete at the highest levels of international competition in the Extreme Sailing Series, the original and global stadium racing circuit. To bring all forces together Yandex- SpeedDream will be exhibiting as part of Act 4 of the 2013 Extreme Sailing Series in Istanbul, Turkey from June 20-23, 2013.
Having expanded its presence to Turkey in 2011, Yandex is Russia’s leading internet company whose search portal alone attracts over 55 million unique users. “As a company on the leading edge of technology we look forward to associating with innovative projects that push the boundaries and hosting SpeedDream here in Istanbul” said Yandex. Turkey Chairman Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ. “We will all benefit from an exchange of ideas with the common goal of being the best and fastest in the world; SpeedDream on the water, Yandex in search and browsing the web.”
Last October the SpeedDream team launched and tested a 27-foot prototype of what will form the basis of a larger record setter. While continuing to test the first prototype, the SpeedDream team have already started research and development for a second stage 50–footer that will enable them to test their design ideas in real ocean conditions. A core of this program is Computative Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Research and Finite Element Analysis, which will be performed as a cooperative effort between SpeedDream designers and Yandex engineers.
“This is a giant step forward for the project,” said Vlad Murnikov, Lead Designer and project coordinator. “There is nothing like being able to simulate a design in a multitude of conditions and our team plans extensive CFD and FEA analysis using the incredible computing power and expertise that Yandex and their engineers can offer. We will take the empirical data collected from our prototype, extrapolate it into a larger design, and then run a variety of simulations over the next few months.”
The Extreme Sailing Series is now in it’s seventh season and has set new standards, both in terms of high-level competition and sporting entertainment. The award-winning Series has attracted some of the very best sailors from around the world and has been on the cutting edge of corporate sporting hospitality and sailing innovation. “Part of the Extreme Sailing Series philosophy is to welcome other interesting and innovative concepts in to our Stadium – the SpeedDream project will create some interest for sure, and if they develop a class of these in the future we could imagine having them as one of the additional classes racing at the event,” commented Mark Turner, Executive Chairman of OC Sport, the Series organisers. “So we agreed to test it out in Istanbul, the meeting point for Asian and European cultures, and now the meeting point for innovation in sailing!”
Yandex-SpeedDream will remain in Europe for the summer with plans to exhibit the boat in various locations where high performance, along with style and innovation are appreciated and celebrated.
Check out SpeedDream at http://www.speeddream27.com/main.html
TILT TO THE EXTREME
EXTREME SAILING – Team Tilt, the Swiss team selected for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup has announced their participation at the next two Acts of the Extreme Sailing Series to be staged in Istanbul, Turkey (20-23 June) and Porto, Portugal (25-28 July) as the global tour heads back to Europe for the summer months. Also new to the Series is SpeedDream, an ambitious project that aims to build the worlds fastest monohull, and will join the NeilPryde Windsurf Racing Series as warm-up acts.
Since Team Tilt’s qualification for the Youth America’s Cup, the team of young sailors have embarked on a demanding training programme which includes racing on different high-performance multihull classes including the Decision 35, M2 and the Extreme 40. Just last weekend, the team competed in the first Vulcain Trophy event of the season where they came up against the Extreme 40 crews and their Swiss countrymen onboard Alinghi and Realteam for the first time. Lucien Cujean, the teams skipper, who started sailing multihulls in 2007 alongside offshore legend Alain Gautier, himself a former Extreme 40 helm, commented: “The forthcoming Extreme Sailing Series Acts in Istanbul and Porto are a great opportunity for us and perfect to prepare ourselves as best as possible for our ultimate objective, winning The Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. The Extreme sailing Series has some of the best multihull sailors in the world and for us it will be a great opportunity to compete alongside these very talented sailors. It’s also a new racing format that we will have to quickly adapt to. So, we have a huge learning curve ahead of us.”
Team Tilt racing on the high-performance D35 © Loris von Siebenthal-myimage.ch
Cujean will be joined by Jocelyn Keller as tactician, Jeremy Bachelin mainsail trimmer, Thomas Mermod headsail trimmer, with the bowman’s position still to be decided between Mikis Psarosfaghis and Jonas Schagen. As well as giving Team Tilt the chance for some valuable multihull training, joining the Extreme Sailing Series will also give them the chance to size up the competition from the Kiwi Youth America’s Cup contingent onboard GAC Pindar, led by William Tiller.
ON STANDBY
RECORD BREAKERS – Francis Joyon is in North Cove Marina in New York taking care of his maxi trimaran IDEC. On Thursday 16th May, the official stand-by began as he awaits a weather opportunity to tackle the North Atlantic record between Ambrose Light and the Lizard. A legendary record.
Francis Joyon is in the thick of it. From Thursday 16th May, in association with his faithful router, Jean-Yves Bernot, the helmsman of the maxi-trimaran IDEC has been watching the weather closely. The goal is to find the right low-pressure area – or preferably one which strengthens off the Gulf of Saint Lawrence – to be able to sail straignt across the North Atlantic in under 5 days 19 hours and 29 minutes. Or in other words keeping up an average speed of 21 knots… These figures may appear beyond belief and out of reach of ordinary sailors. But Francis Joyon is not just anyone and the maxi-trimaran IDEC is not just any old boat. Fortunately, as when sailing solo, the task is truly reserved for an elite. We can remember how Ellen MacArthur just missed out on it, and indeed only five solo sailors have managed to improve on the record launched by Bruno Peyron back in 1987. A time beaten by Florence Arthaud, before Bruno Peyron grabbed the record back. Then, there was Laurent Bourgnon and yes, already up there, Francis Joyon. It was in 2005 aboard the first IDEC trimaran (6 days and 4 hours). In 2008, Thomas Coville bettered that time with the record that is still his today after completing the voyage in 5 days 19 hours and 29 minutes.
Heading for an unprecedented Grand Slam?
“This is not an easy record,” Francis Joyon warned us. “To keep up such a high average speed, you need to find the right weather and work hard at it all the time without any easing off.” So that is the real difficulty from a mathematical perspective… while in terms of sailing, he will also have to deal with the legendary mists, marine animals, shipping… and maybe also the wind dropping off as he approaches the coast of SW England.
For Francis Joyon and IDEC, this is a huge challenge. If he pulls this off, Joyon will become the only sailor ever to claim the Grand Slam of outright records. The skipper of IDEC already holds three other record times: the solo round the world record, the 24-hour distance record and the Columbus Route record. It will also be a way for him to gain his revenge after a failed attempt in 2011, when IDEC capsized at the start in New York. An incident that shows just how tricky the task of sailing this incredible wind-making machine can be, and indeed how scary it can be for a solo yachtsman. The North Atlantic record requires an all-out effort. However, that is something that attracts Joyon, who enjoys taking it to the limit, while making it all look so easy, giving the impression that he is just doing a normal sailor’s job. Two things that are far from being the case in reality.
The 5 record times so far set on solo crossings of the North Atlantic:
1987 : Bruno Peyron, catamaran, Explorer, in 11 days, 11 hours 46 minutes and 36 seconds
1990 : Florence Arthaud, trimaran, Pierre 1er, in 9 days, 21 hours and 42 minutes
1992 : Bruno Peyron, catamaran, Explorer, in 9 days, 19 hours and 22 minutes
1994 : Laurent Bourgnon, trimaran, Primagaz, in 7 days, 2 hours, 34 minutes and 42 seconds
2005 : Francis Joyon, trimaran, IDEC 1, in 6 days, 4 hours, 01 minute and 37 seconds
2008 : Thomas Coville, trimaran, Sodebo, in 5 days, 19 hours, 29 minutes and 20 seconds
NEW FORCE ENTERS OFFSHORE RACING
GLOBAL OCEAN RACE – One of motor racing’s engineering and design geniuses is to become an entrant in next year’s Global Ocean Race joining the eight teams already preparing for the start. Mike Gascoyne, famous for his work with several Formula One racing teams and now CEO of Caterham Technology and Caterham Composites, will be at the PSP Southampton Boat Show for the start of the round-the-world race in September 2014 with a new Class40 boat, Caterham Challenge, to be launched this summer.
Since the late 1980s, Mike Gascoyne has been at the highest level of F1 design and Caterham Challenge will bring the sport’s standards of technology, innovation and logistics to offshore yacht racing. Gascoyne’s team – which includes the UK’s most experienced round-the-world sailor, Brian Thompson – is building an Akilaria RC3 Class40 and their high-powered racing yacht will be launched on the South Coast in early August 2013 with sailing and training in The Solent and English Channel.
A press conference was held on Wednesday at the Caterham F1 Team’s HQ in Oxfordshire: “It is a very proud day for me with the announcement of the Caterham Challenge sailing project,” said Gascoyne. “Sailing has always been an important part of my life and the opportunity to combine my love of sailing with my experience of 24 years at the top of F1 motorsports is very unique.”
Mike Gascoyne is an experienced shorthanded and single-handed sailor and completed a solo transatlantic passage on a Class40 last year. Ahead of the round-the-world Global Ocean Race 2014-15, the racing programme for Caterham Challenge includes the double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre in November 2013. “With the launch of our new Class40 boat, the Global Ocean Race was a natural target for the project with the ultimate challenge of racing around the world,” Gascoyne continued.
Mike Gascoyne International (MGI) – Gascoyne’s engineering consultancy firm – will bring his team’s experience in F1, R&D and competitive sport marketing to yacht racing: “I am also very happy that MGI joins with the GOR as a Race Partner, which clearly demonstrates the commitment of MGI to the offshore sailing world.”
Britain’s most capped round-the-world sailor, Brian Thompson, joins Caterham Challenge as Sailing Director: “I’m very excited to be on board for the launch of the Caterham Challengeproject,” said Thomson, holder of 27 sailing world records and the only person to have circumnavigated the globe four times non-stop. “I will be combining sailing duties with Mike and also looking at the development of the whole sailing and racing program for the team. Class40 and the GOR are a great challenge, but just the start of the story for Caterham Challenge and the whole team.”
The Caterham Challenge entry brings the current total of GOR teams to nine. “Having Mike’sCaterham Challenge campaign alongside our other entries for the event next year shows the attraction of the Global Ocean Race to sailors from different countries,” comments Mark Howell, Media Director of the GOR. “This project brings F1 know-how, thinking and management to an offshore racing campaign adding another dimension to this international event.”
Josh Hall, GOR Race Director, has been working closely with the Caterham team: “Mike Gascoyne has augmented his already talented team with some impressive sailors,” says Hall. “He is a skilled and driven individual who creates a culture for success in whatever he does. This is what is making the race next year so exciting already. I am sure that Caterham Challenge will be in the fast lane in every respect. Welcome to the GOR.”
The GOR starts from the PSP Southampton Boat Show on Sunday 21st September 2014 and finishes in Gunwharf Quays Portsmouth in early May 2015 with the racing fleet making stopovers in Cape Town, South Africa; in Charleston, USA, before returning to Europe. The Australasian and South American stopovers have been confirmed and will shortly be announced officially.
BODACIOUS DREAM WINS BY JUST 8 MINUTES
THE ATLANTIC CUP – After racing 648 nautical miles over three days, the fleet of seven Class 40s competing in The Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing finished within four hours of each other and a mere 8 minutes and 28 seconds separated first place finishers Bodacious Dream from Lecoq Cuisine!
#118 Bodacious Dream, skippered by Dave Rearick and Matt Scharl, crossed the finish line first at 21:06:15 ET on Tuesday, May 15, with an elapsed time of 78:55:13 to complete the 642 nautical mile first off-shore leg of the Atlantic Cup from Charleston, S.C. to New York Harbor. The race, the first carbon neutral sailing event in the United States, saw USA’s Bodacious Dream finish 8 minutes 28 seconds ahead of #121 Lecoq Cuisine (79:09:43), followed by the English team of #90 40 Degrees (79:56:12).
For all of the results and a detailed explanation on the point breakdown you can visit: http://atlanticcup.org/race/2013-results/
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
AWMRT – Langenargen, Germany (15 May 2013): Part boat show, sponsor exhibition, picnic, food and music festival, with one of the nation’s largest sailing events attached, Match Race Germany sets sail tomorrow, the opening stage of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour 2013. 12 international teams will be competing off Langenargen on Lake Constance with the snow capped peaks of the Swiss and Austrian Alps as a backdrop.
One of the rising stars of whom great things are expected this season is US Virgin Islands sailor Taylor Canfield and his USone team. Canfield, 24, won both the Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda last year and then the season’s grand finale, the Monsoon Cup. He joins the Alpari World Match Racing Tour this season as a first time Tour card holder.
Canfield attributes his recent success mainly to his position as Sailing Director of the Chicago Match Race Centre. “That has allowed me to use the boats and just be around match racing non-stop, doing everything from sailing to coaching and umpiring. I have just been sailing all the time.”
Of his approach, now he is a Tour Card holder, Canfield says: “I guess there will be a bit more pressure, but we are going to go into it with level heads and will sail in the casual way we always have, taking one race at a time. You can’t really sweat the small stuff if you lose a race. Hopefully we’ll come in swinging.”
However he acknowledges this is his first time at Match Race Germany, sailing on Lake Constance in the Bavaria 40S.
At the opposite end of the age spectrum is Polish veteran match racer, America’s Cup helmsman and Match Race Germany wildcard, Karol Jablonski. The Match Racing World Champion in 2002 (on his 40th birthday), Jablonski says he is back because can’t stay away. “Match racing is like a drug for me, but in a positive sense. Match racing is the way of sailing I love – that’s why I am here.”
He believes his entry was accepted in order to ‘mix things up’. “Maybe I have an aggressive style of sailing, so I bring some more action into the game. Sometimes the young guys are thinking too much and you have to show them some things they have never done.” So expect some plain old fashioned aggressive match racing – although Jablonski acknowledges that there is a hefty damage deposit on the boats being used here.
German eyes will be on National Match Racing Champion Sven-Erik Horsch and the young blade Philipp Buhl. “Philipp is one of the biggest talents we have in Germany,” says Match Race Germany organiser Eberhard Magg, of the Laser sailor who has in the past been ISAF ranked #2 in the world in the Olympic singlehander.
Buhl is sailing mainly with fellow German Olympic sailors, but has some big boat experience in his crewman Mikael Seifarth. As to his match racing record, Buhl admits: “I have almost none. I’ve done three match races in Lasers, which are a bit different to these boats! But we have an international juror in Germany who knows about match racing and I asked him to talk me through it. Theoretically I know 80% of the moves, but doing it on these boats and sailing against the pros isn’t going to be so easy.”
Realistically Buhl doesn’t believe he will make it past the qualifying round. “Today in the training we saw that even in 5 knots when it is really calm and you have time in the manoeuvres, it was not too easy for us.”
For Eberhard Magg, this is the 16th Match Race Germany he has organised and he is looking forward to the start of the competition tomorrow. “We have a new generation of match racers here,” he says of the competitors. “It is a great line-up and anyone can win. There is no clear favourite at the moment.”
While conditions have been benign this afternoon, Magg anticipates that tomorrow with a depression over Italy the weather could be very different.
Over the next few days crowds will start gathering before the big numbers arrive over the Whitsunday bank holiday weekend. “They come because it is a different type of festival,” says Magg. “The Germans are known for beer festivals with the big steins and OOM TA-TA. This is different, with different food, not just the red sausages and fries and there are nice places to spend your time.”
There is plenty of things to do for families while Porsche World is popular with children and last year had queues of more than 100m. Bands are playing free concerts every night while on Friday there is a ‘typical Bavarian night’. Throughout there is commentary from leading German TV sports presenter, Nils Kaben, while Magg has set up other projects such as the venue becoming a trial horse for 4G, offering lightning speed internet for those with suitably enabled mobile phones.
CAPTION: Action from practice session at Match Race Germany © Photo by Brian Carlin / AWMRT
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DESTOPNEWS – This weekly edition takes you from Barbados to Thailand visiting Antigua and Palma along the way, but first, the Access European Championship in Switzerland.
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
Written by 
AMERICAS CUP – Organizers have confirmed that this summer’s events remain on track.
In parallel with completing the final arrangements for the America’s Cup, a highly experienced panel of sailing and safety at sea experts has been appointed and charged with reviewing the training and racing of AC72 yachts in the 2013 America’s Cup.
The Review Committee will make its recommendations following the loss of Artemis Racing crew member Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson (GBR) in a training accident on San Francisco Bay on Thursday of last week.
Members of the Committee – download bios here – have strong backgrounds in the sport at its highest levels as well as involvement in other reviews where an incident at sea has claimed the life of a competitor.
Iain Murray, the Regatta Director, will chair and lead the Review Committee comprised of:
- Iain Murray (AUS, Chair)
- Sally Lindsay Honey (USA, Deputy Chair)
- John Craig (USA)
- Chuck Hawley (USA)
- Vincent Lauriot-Prévost (FRA)
- Jim Farmer QC (NZL)
The U.S. Coast Guard supports this approach and will assist as appropriate. Lt. Jon Lane, with 26 years in the Coast Guard and 10 years experience as a marine casualty investigator will serve as liaison.
Tom Ehman, the Vice Commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club (the America’s Cup Trustee), said, “The America’s Cup will go ahead this summer. We will see the world’s best sailors racing at the highest level on one of the most iconic race tracks in sport.”
With regard to the Review, Ehman added: “The Committee brings immense experience and expertise to this Review. At a meeting in San Francisco this morning, the teams expressed unanimous support for this Committee and this process.”
The Review Committee will report as soon as possible, given that racing starts in seven weeks.
THEY’RE HERE
TEAM EMIRATES – Welcome to America! Our AC72 has touched the waters of San Francisco for the first time
McConaghy MC38 Autumn Cup
RACE NEWS – The McConaghy MC38 Autumn Cup held on Pittwater, Sydney, crowned John Bacon, Dark Star, as the winner this weekend. This is the second MC38 class victory for John Bacon after winning the Sevenstar MC38 Australian Championships.
Saturday offered some light and shifty breezes, but this did not dampen the spirits of the five boats competing. Howard Spencer and the Menace crew brought their boat over from New Zealand to compete in the MC38 events over the winter including Hamilton Island Race Week. Menace made sure that they showed the rest that they meant business winning the first race, a fantastic result for the newest boat of the fleet. “It was great racing” said Tom Faire from Menace ”we are really pleased with the boat and we are already looking forward to coming to the next event in June“.
Dark Star went on to win the rest of day one’s races and were the overnight leaders, however Chris Hancock’s Vino kept the pressure on securing two second places and only trailing behind Dark Star by three points going into day two.
Dark Star came into the second day in fighting form securing their third consecutive win for the series, however the tables soon turned “One thing we do know is you make one mistake and you are in last place” said Bacon and that is exactly what happened.
The sea breezes filled in and it was then Vino‘s turn taking first in the 5th race which moved them in to second place.
It was down to the last race with no one safe in their ranking, Menace and Leslie Green’s Ginger had a close series competing for third place. Conditions were very different for Ginger this weekend to the 30 knots that they raced in at Port Stephens last month. The Cone of Silence showed their potential in the sixth winning their first race of the series with Jono Morris at the helm.
There was some really close and exciting racing by the whole fleet which is evident from the results and if the results were just based on the last day then the rankings would be very different as 5th and 4th would have come in 1st and 2nd.
All owners were unanimous about how much fun they had on the weekend, and expressed their to thanks the RPAYC and the Volunteers.
The next class event will be in Sydney Harbour June 29th and 30th.
For more information on the MC38 and joining this fun and exciting class please contact McConaghy Boats.
ORACLE’S NEW CHASE BOAT
TEAM ORACLE – On the same day ORACLE TEAM USA launched its second AC72 in San Francisco, a new chase boat – YANMAR2 – was unveiled. Yanmar provides engines and drive systems for the team’s Naiad chase boats.
ALPARI TOUR FIRES UP
ALPARI MATCH RACING – The Tour this year comprises six events, starting with Match Race Germany from this Thursday until Monday, before moving to Korea, back to Europe with the Stena Match Cup Sweden in July, then Chicago Match Cup, the Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda, the season concluding in December with the Monsoon Cup, held in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.
For this, its 16th year, Match Race Germany is being held in Langenargen, located close to the Austrian border on Europe’s third largest lake, where the event sailed in Bavaria 40S.
As ever the Alpari World Match Racing Tour attracts the cream of the match racing world, all of whom are present in Langenargen ready for tomorrow’s practice sessions.
The line-up going to all the events – the Tour card holders – this year numbers eight rather than nine. Tour Director Craig Mitchell says the reduction is for reasons of simplicity. “It allows each event to have two qualifying invites and two wild cards. The last thing you want is a closed shop and it keeps the local interest up, which is vital.”
The 2013 Tour Card holders are reigning world champion Team GAC Pindar skipper Ian Williams and Swedes Johnie Berntsson (Stena Sailing Team) and Bjorn Hansen (Hansen Sailing Team), runner-up to Williams in 2012. From New Zealand are Phil Robertson, winner of Match Race Germany last year and Adam Minoprio, the 2009 ISAF Match Racing World Champion. France is represented by Pierre-Antoine Morvan and his Vannes Agglo Sailing Team while with the retirement of Peter Gilmour last year, Keith Swinton and his Black Swan Racing team are flying the flag for Australia. A highly anticipated new tour card holder this year is Taylor Canfield from the US Virgin, whose USone team impressively won the final two events last season.
One of the strongest contenders this year is likely to be Adam Minoprio, making his return to the Tour after taking two years off to compete with an Emirates Team New Zealand crew aboard Camper in the Volvo Ocean Race. After competing at the Bermuda Gold Cup and the Monsoon Cup last season the 27 year old has felt inspired to make his return this season and has been fortunate enough to get backing for from Alpari, his team now called Team Alpari FX.
“I am really excited,” said Minoprio. “I’m looking forward to this first event and getting back into the match racing this year. Last year I had a taste of it in Bermuda and at the Monsoon Cup and wanted to do some more this year. I am lucky to have Alpari help me get back on to the Tour.”
Minoprio has also managed to get the majority of his crew back including Tom Powrie, Dave Swete and Nick Blackman, with Chris Main join as trimmer, having last competed on the Tour a decade ago with GBR Challenge.
But Ian Williams and his Team GAC Pindar crew remain the benchmark. If Williams wins the Tour this year he will be only person in the 25 year history of the World Championship to have done so for a fifth time. Williams has the same crew as previous years, including Bill Hardesty and Mal Parker, but has lost Matt Cassidy and Gerry Mitchell for Match Race Germany, replaced by Willem van Waay and Graham Spence.
Both Minoprio and Williams have been attempting to fire up their campaigns prior to the Tour kicking off this week. Both had their full teams competing at the Congressional Cup in Long Beach in April where Williams came home third to Minoprio’s fifth.
“We’ve never won it before,” admits Williams of his record at Match Race Germany. “It is one of the few that we haven’t. In fact I think third is our best result there, so it is one we’d like to win at some point.”
Keith Swinton is back with his same crew as he’s had for the last couple of years, including trimmers Olof Lundgren (SWE) and Ted Hackney (AUS), pitman Jakob Gustafsson (SWE) and bowman Ricky McGarvie (AUS). Swinton’s north European home is Sweden, where he spent three years up until London 2012 coaching the Sweden women’s match racing team.
“Competition on the tour this year is going to be really tough – more difficult than last year,” says the skipper, who heralds from Perth, Western Austria. “There is one less tour card, which thickens the competition up and some of the wild cards are going to be strong,” he adds referring to Mathieu Richard.
As to Match Race Germany, Swinton says: “It is an interesting event. The boats are very big and quite slow. But it is the first Tour event of the season and we’ll take it as it comes. I’m sure we’ll improve during the week and if that happens, we’ll have the possibility of doing a really good result.”
Tomorrow crews get to practice before racing off Langenargen starts on Thursday.
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