In Key West (Florida, USA) werd vorige week de Key West Race Week gevaren en ook dit jaar was Quantum Sails de hoofdsponsor. In diverse klassen waren er mooie resultaten voor Quantum Sails. Hieronder volgt een overzicht:
52 class (IRC2 - 8 boten) 1. Quantum Racing, Doug DeVos, USA
IRC 3 - 5 boten 2. Vitesse, Jon Halbert, USA 3. Cool Breeze, John Cooper, USA
Farr 40 (one design - 7 boten) 1. Barking Mad, James Richardson, USA 5. Charisma, Nico Poons, Monaco 6. Groovederci, John Demourkass, USA
Farr 400 (one design - 5 boten) 3. Meridian X, W.S. Shelhorse, USA
High Performance (4 boten) 1. Carbonado, Rob & Sany Butler, CAN 3. Big Booty, Pat Eudy, USA
Melges 32 (one design - 19 boten) 2. Pisces, Benjamin Schwartz, USA 5. Warpath, Stephen Howe, USA 6. Heartbraker, Robert Hughes, USA 9. Mojo, Steve Rhyne, USA 10. Sicktrix, Geoffrey Pierini, USA 11. Flat Stanley, T. Sheehan, USA
Melges 24 (one design - 15 boten) 9. Zingara, Richard Reid, USA 12. Tramp, Rhomas Ritter, USA
Farr 30 (one design - 7 boten) 1. Groovederci, Deneen Demourkas, USA 2. Theend, Richard Goransson, SWE 3. Mummbles, Brad Kauffman, USA 6. Rhumb Punch, John & Linda Edwards, USA
J/80 (one design - 18 noten) 5. Church Key, Chris Chadwick, USA 10. Cool J, A. Kraus, USA 11. Andale, A. Poindexter, USA 13. Courageous, Gary Panariello, USA 14. Blind Faith, Kristen Berry, USA 16. Bear Instinct, Dave Manheimer, USA 17.Frivolious, D. Goldberg, USA
PHRF 1 (ToD - 10 boten) 3. Thres Hombres, 1D35, USA 4. Rush, J109, USA 5. Wicked 2.0, J/111, USA 7. Revolution, 1D35, USA
PHRF 2 (ToD - 11 boten) 3. Kalevala II, Grand Soleil 37 B&C, USA 6. Still Crazy, J/95, USA 7. Island Flyer, Centurion 40s, USA
J/boats Subclass (ToT - 7 boten) 2. Rush, J/109, USA 4. Wicked 2.0, J/111, USA
If Ben Ainslie fails to win a gold medal this summer, something will have gone drastically wrong.
The 34-year-old will go into the 2012 Games as the red-hot favourite to claim a fourth straight Olympic sailing title.
If Ainslie should triumph in Weymouth, to add to the silver medal he won on his debut in 1996, he will become the most successful Olympic sailor ever, surpassing Dane Paul Elvstrom's four golds. more...
America's Cup rivals and training partners Luna Rossa have been in Auckland for a fortnight but rather than look ahead to next year's big series of races in San Francisco, the priority for Grant Dalton is getting more speed out of Camper in the Volvo Ocean Race.
Emirates Team NZ chief executive Dalton, who has sailed the gruelling ocean race six times and won it twice, is determined to improve Camper's performance and is putting more resources into doing so. more...
At age eight, Paul Cayard started sailing on Lake Merrit in Oakland, California after a friend introduced him to the sport. With the assistance of a borrowed El Toro, which was complete with Cox cotton sails, the youngster who had no previous sailing experience, encountered an instant addiction.
Father Pierre, a master woodworker with the S.F. Opera and Ballet Company, believing it was just a phase, labored after work in his garage to build Paul his own El Toro. Hull no 6168, lovingly built in 1968, was became Paul’s road to independence. more...
A right-of-way boat need not act to avoid a collision until it is clear that the other boat is not keeping clear. However, if the right-of-way boat could then have avoided the collision and the collision resulted in damage, she must be penalized under rule 14. more...
Today is what everyone dreams about when sailing Key West. Gorgeous light bouncing off the pearl white sands creating a neon blue water color. Steady, oscillating ESE gradient breeze with near trade-wind like consistency flowing along at 10-15 knots. Solid race committee and PRO management making for fun, fair racing on mostly windward-leeward courses. One cannot imagine that anyone would be disappointed by such spectacular weather conditions. more...
I have to admit that this has been one of the strangest months of my life. Never mind my sailing career.
Not in a million years did we ever think that our sailing yacht would be on a ship not once, but three separate times during this race so far. We never thought we would have approximately a month in between ocean sailing legs. I just had one of the nicest weeks vacation of my life catching some serious R & R with my wife, Kathy. We started this leg (part 2) in a now disclosed location (Male, Maldives) between a makeshift flag on the shore and a radio tower across a channel. And now we are off. Sailing the leg that really nobody looks forward to when they sign up for this race. Upwind for about a million miles! more...
Life in Miami’s always-bustling Coconut Grove neighborhood was punctuated today by the added activity of 529 sailors from 41 countries preparing for tomorrow’s start of US Sailing’s Rolex Miami OCR. The six-day annual regatta, which will be sailed on Biscayne Bay for its 23rd time, is the second of seven 2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas and, as such, plays host to elite sailors from around the globe, with an emphasis on those preparing for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. more...
The Best Way to Raise and Lower a Square Top Mainsail......
The Doyle Anomaly Headboard solves a long existing problem with the handling of square top mainsails. Previously, when hoisting a square top main on slides it was necessary to attach the headboard to the carriage or install the gaff batten for each hoist, with the process reversed every time the sail is lowered. The angle of the gaff prevents the square top main from lowering completely to the boom as is normal with a conventional mainsail. The gaff batten effectively holds the sail up when the luff end of the gaff batten comes to rest on the slide stack and the top edge of the sail is retained at the mast by the head preventing the sail from lowering further. more...
(Newport, RI)– The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) announced today that the new J/70 will be featured at the 2012 NYYC Invitational Cup U.S. Qualifying Series (USQS). The J/70 will join the NYYC’s fleet of Sonars when 24 of the nation’s most competitive yacht clubs compete in the NYYC Invitational Cup USQS off Newport, RI from September 4 to 8, 2012. The top three finishers will earn the right to compete in the 2013 NYYC Invitational Cup presented by Rolex. more...
Tony Bull offers advice on one of the most crucial manoeuvres in yacht racing.
It is justifiably the most harrowing manoeuvre to undertake on a yacht. A lot can and often does go wrong. Anecdotes and imagery abound of horrendous wipe-outs and roundups from gybes gone awry on windy days. No wonder so many sailors approach it with trepidation. more...
Key West, Fla -- It was a frantic finish at Quantum Key West 2012 as several boats snatched victory with strong performances on the fifth and final day.
Barking Mad pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in the 25-year history of the regatta, winning the Farr 40 class despite suffering a dreaded DNF. Barking Mad, skippered by Jim Richardson of Newport, R.I., did not finish Race 2 after a scary man overboard incident.
That type of result usually proves fatal in a no-throwout series, but the Barking Mad team kept plugging away - winning three of the final five races to pull out an improbable one-point victory. more...
Ben Poucher and Tim Fetsch of Icarus Racing have set their sights on winning the Atlantic Cup
Ben Poucher and Tim Fetsch are gearing up for the 2012 Atlantic Cup, and they’re planning to take home the lion’s share of the prize purse. This race, which will be sailed in Class40s, starts May 11 in Charleston, SC. Ben and Tim, who competed in the first ‘proof of concept’ Atlantic Cup in 2011, will be co-skippering their boat, Icarus Racing, against the world’s best Class40 teams. more...
The final finishing gun has sounded, the Green Parrot has run out of rum, and the roosters of Duval Street have given a final cocka-doodle-doo to mark the end of the 25th anniversary of Key West Race Week. What inadvertently turned out to be one of the greatest editions thus far with perfect sailing conditions and a lay day due to lack of wind in the middle of the week, this event never fails to disappoint and the only shame is that more US sailors were not here to partake; it’s the best event our country has to offer and for reasons that cannot be pinpointed, the weekend warriors that are the lifeblood of US Sailing are watching from afar. more...
The Quantum Key West Race Week concluded over the weekend in Florida USA, with Groovederci dominating the Farr 30 division, finishing with a perfect scorecard of ten straight wins.
The yacht’s performance has been hailed as 'one of the most impressive performances of the regatta', which attracts high profile yachts and professional sailors from all ends of the globe.
The ten-race series started on Monday and saw a range of wind conditions over the five day event. The first day of the regatta saw gusts of up to 22 knots, reaching the upper wind limit for the Farr 30 class and creating exciting challenges on the water. more...
It is 35 degrees up here in Annapolis, and from where I sit it looks like, except for a day of the light stuff yesterday, the weather gods have been kinder to my workmates in Key West than to me here in the office. On my plate this week is a new order for a Tripp 77, a full inventory for a Matt 12 in Australia, and finishing up some final details on a Swan 100 order. Just because it seems like every Quantum employee is at the regatta, the truth is we are a big company and the orders continue to roll in, and designs have to be done in order for the production team to do their job! more...
Following a series of meetings held during Quantum Key West Race Week, members of the TP52 class are pleased to announce its plans for grand prix racing in 2012 and beyond.
Rob Weiland, TP52 Class Manager, says the class is forming a management group owned and controlled by members that will be responsible for event management, event marketing, sponsor and media coordination as well as recruiting new teams to join 52 racing. more...
The last day of racing at Quantum Key West 2012 brought total championship victory to John Kilroy aboard Samba Pa Ti, along with tactician and multi-Melges 24 World Champion Lorenzo Bressani, Harry Melges, Federico Michetti, Martino Tortarolo, Justin Smart, Luca Faravelli and T. Max Bulger. Throughout the ten race series, nothing seemed absolutely certain for Kilroy until that last downwind run, battling the likes of event runners-up Benjamin Schwartz on Pisces and Vincenzo Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino. more...
Nine of Britain’s London-bound sailors are set to compete in their first regatta of this Olympic year when World Cup series racing gets underway in Miami on Monday (23 January).
Paul Goodison (Laser), Nick Dempsey (RS:X Men), the women’s match racing trio of Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Kate Macgregor, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (470 Women) and the newly-selected 470 men’s pair of Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell are among the 24 Skandia Team GBR sailors who’ll be on the startline at this Rolex Miami OCR, competing across nine of the 13 Olympic and Paralympic classes over the six days of competition (23-28 January). more...
We are just back from Buenos Aires, Argentina and The 2011 J/24 Worlds-what a great event they put on down there at Yacht Club Argentina! It was like the movie “Ground Hog Day”, meaning each day seem to be exactly the same weather wise… wake up to a warming sun with some early but dying breeze. The real wind comes in around 1pm from the southeast, shifting from the northeast to east then settling into the se-gradient and building. So, the best sailing was in the late afternoon. more...
I feel like everyone who has ever taken sailboat racing seriously has been to Key West Race Week. It’s simply a staple event on the calendar. With world-class sailing conditions and an always-entertaining social venue, it’s no surprise why people travel across the globe for this regatta. Hats off to Quantum for their support in keeping the event alive. more...
Luna Rossa are back in Auckland and ready for a year of testing and training alongside Emirates Team New Zealand.
But while Max Sirena, the skipper of the Italian America's Cup syndicate, admitted today to becoming emotional on arrival last week, he said there would be no room for sentimentality on the water.
The groundbreaking testing and knowledge-sharing partnership between the Prada-backed Luna Rossa and Team New Zealand was announced in November last year and involves a pooling of resources ahead of next year's America's Cup in San Francisco. more...
Etchells World Champion Bill Hardesty (San Diego, Calif.) and ISAF (International Sailing Federation) Sailing World Champion Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) today were named US Sailing’s 2011 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year. A shortlist of eight male and seven female sailors – determined from nominations submitted by members of US Sailing – was evaluated by a panel of sailing journalists who selected these two sailors for the noteworthy distinction. The winners will be honored on February 22, 2012, during a luncheon at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, when they will be presented with specially-engraved Rolex timepieces. more...
A boat is not required to anticipate that another boat will break a rule. When a boat acquires right of way as a result of her own actions, the other boat is entitled to room to keep clear. more...
With the New Year in full swing, racing sailors are finalizing plans to compete in the St. Thomas Yacht Club’s 39th annual International Rolex Regatta, the oldest regatta in Rolex’s yachting portfolio and most venerable of Caribbean spring events. A quick look at the roster of entries shows several hot new boats and first-time entries signed up for the three-day event, which begins Friday, March 23, and mixes island-style fun with hard-core IRC, CSA and one-design racing on courses that showcase the breathtaking coastlines of St. Thomas and nearby St. John. more...
With the youth worlds qualifier going on this weekend and the second semester of school starting shortly Rule #3 is opportunely timed as sailors fill up their calendars for 2012. For sailors young and old, planning for regattas is a part of the game. Whether it means finding somebody to help put the Laser on top of the car for a trip across town to interclub racing, or finding somebody to help ratchet a Star trailer in a shipping container for a trip across the world for a major championships, there is some level of advanced planning going on in everybody’s head. more...
Over the past decade or so, the winning playbook formula says you get down to Key West early and get 3-4 good days of practice in. If you are going course racing, you need to practice course racing, and this is how almost all the top teams approach the problem. If things go well, you get to end practice early and take Sunday afternoon off to watch football. This year on Sled Shellhorse’s brand new Farr 400 Meridian we took the old school approach and did the 160 mile Ft. Lauderdale to Key West feeder race. more...
Although it takes place in an environment with a number of potential dangers, sailing is statistically a surprisingly safe sport. The key to staying safe is to know your limits, which means you can look after yourself and crew, without getting your boat into situations for which it was not designed, or placing yourself in a position in which there’s a risk of getting incapacitated through exhaustion or cold. Equally it’s important to be able to recognise and avoid situations that you don’t yet have the skills to handle — education is key. more...
We just finished up two days of training, getting ready for Quantum Key West Race Week. Key West is once again showing that it is one of the best sailing venues in the world. A bit cool and breeze-on wasn't exactly what we were hoping for to integrate a mostly new crew for our first foray into IRC sailing for Quantum Racing. There was a lot of carnage out on the water, as crews were shaking off a few months of downtime. Things looked surprisingly crisp on the Quantum Racing in spite of the challenging conditions. more...
There's been a flurry of activity at the various marinas around the Conch Republic as boats and crews prepare for Quantum Key West 2012.
Tourists disembarking from the cruise ships have been gawking at the high-tech big boats berthed at the docks in front of the Westin Hotel while crews tune rigs and load sails. Vacationers renting jet skis in front of The Galleon have dodged the many Melges 32s heading out of Government Cut to go practice. Couples having lunch at the Half Shell Raw Bar have watched Farr 30 teams return to docks of Historic Seaport after a day on the water. more...
Every sailor and every team has its own way of preparing for high-level competition. What I find interesting is how this varies from sailor to sailor and team to team.
For some, the preparation ritual consists of a precise and calculated procedure of logistics, boat work, pre-regatta tuning, looking at new sails, video debriefs, strategy meetings, etc…The high performance teams have this scheduling down to the minutes and seconds of the day. On the other hand, you have the sailors who prefer to wing it or sink their nerves at the beer tent the night before. more...
King Marine, based in valencia Spain, have announced that they have a deployed a construction team to Sweden to construct the first AC72, for Swedish based Artemis Racing the Challenger of Record for the 34th America's Cup.
One of the world's top boatbuilding companies, King Marine built the current leader of the Volvo Ocean Race, Telefonica.
An announcement on the King Marine reads
In early December, King Marine relocated a portion of its work force to the Artemis Racing operations base, near Gothenburg, Sweden, to begin the construction of the team's AC72 catamaran designed by Juan Kouyoumidjian. Artemis Racing, Challenger of Record for the 34th America's Cup, represents the Royal Swedish Yacht Club / Kungliga Svenska Segel Sällskapet (KSSS). more...
The Jury Decision in Case AC06, issued on 28 December 2011, has made it clear that Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) and Luna Rossa can not proceed with all of their publicly announced plans without violating the Protocol for the 34th America’s Cup. This substantiates Artemis Racing’s understanding of the Protocol and the basis for the team’s filing of Case AC07, submitted on 16 November 2011. more...
30+ seconds before the start two boats overlapped with the windward boat being slightly forward are being pushed above the committee boat.
As time winds down to the start both boats are behind and to windward of the committee boat when the starting gun goes off. So the question is at this point does the leeward boat have to give room to the windward boat? more...
Melges Performance Sailboats has agreed to sponsor this year's Winter Inland to be held the 10-12th of February at Chenequa Country Club in Chenequa, WI, and thanks to the Bilge Pullers sponsorship we have Dave Perry joining us to share his sailing expertise.
NEW THIS YEAR: SPECIAL SESSION FOR JUNIOR PROGRAM ORGANIZERS The event will begin Friday afternoon with Dave Perry leading a session for Junior Program organizers to begin at 3:00 pm followed by youth fleet (Optimist, X, 420 and Youth Development) meetings from 5-8pm. Snacks & cash bar will be available. Chenequa's famous Friday night dinner will be available at 8pm to anyone wishing to stay. This will require a reservation, which will be made available on the registration form, which will follow in the Fall Winter edition of Scow Slants due out in January.
Happy New Year! With the new year comes the time for planning your 2012 Bell's Beer Bayview Mackinac Race, the 88th consecutive running of this Blue Water Classic and the Jewel of July. We have some exciting new changes in store. more...
I love this place. I’ve been coming to Key West since I was a kid, and it still has that great “outside of mainstream U.S.” tropical feel in some parts of town. We sailed into town a couple days ago after a pretty brutal race down the coast from Fort Lauderdale on the Rambler. We had 12 of the 21 team members who survived the capsize of the R100 in last summer's Fastnet Race. more...
In the famous words of biographer Walter Isaacson referencing Steve Jobs’ early tenure at Apple Computers — the Melges 32 fleet is ready to ‘turn on, boot up and jack in’ to Quantum Key West 2012. Nineteen teams, originating from six nations — United States, Japan, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Italy, and Austria — have registered and confirmed participation in Key West, anxiously awaiting the careful and articulate direction of PRO Peter ‘Luigi’ Reggio. more...
Marathon day in Sharjah to load “Telefónica” and the rest of the fleet onto the heavy ship that will transfer them to the safe haven port
With the first stage of the third leg complete: a 100 mile dash between the Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, with “Telefónica” finishing in fourth place, there has been no time for resting for the crew leading the Volvo Ocean Race standings: the Spanish Team Telefónica crew. more...
Overall standings in the Australian 29er National Championship remain tight with just three points separating second and sixth places. Felix Grech and Jack Hubbard have maintained their lead over second place by four points after the third day of racing at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron. more...
Continuing our series of new-year interviews with sailing’s top personalities, we catch up with Paul Cayard, CEO of Artemis Racing, the 34th America’s Cup Challenger of Record. The legendary American sailor gives an update on his team and comments on the latest developments in the America’s Cup, including Ben Ainslie joining Oracle Racing and the important decisions of the Jury that, in his view, deal a serious blow to Emirates Team New Zealand’s alliance with Luna Rossa. more...
Racing Vipers on Biscayne Bay has deservedly been described as a dress rehearsal for heaven on earth. Crystal blue water, breeze from 10-18 day after day, followed by an evening among the bars and restaurants of tropical Coconut Grove. What could be better in the middle of a cold winter??
We've been working hard and we've finally established a Miami winter series with mast up storage. In 2013 we will have 3 events, but for this year, we have two events scheduled. We now have a home at the US Sailing Center in Coconut Grove, which will provide storage and launching for the Viper Class from now on. All Viper attendees can store and launch out of one location. more...
The 37th Annual Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race is complete . Of 47 registered boats, twenty sailed to the finish. All boats are accounted for and some crews are present in Key West even if their boats are docked elsewhere. Progress was slow, but made throughout the evening and night. Some turned the key and motored to the dock. Several of the PHRF boats rounded the Key West Sea Buoy in the wee hours and spent up to 4 hours tacking to the finish line near daybreak. more...
A deal struck with Luna Rossa will help Team New Zealand compete against the eye-watering budgets of the billionaire-funded America's Cup teams.
The Italian team's arrival in Auckland this week marks the beginning of the first formal collaboration between two teams in 160 years of the America's Cup. more...
Resurgent Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing made it two victories in two days on home waters on Saturday as they clinched first place in a thrilling Leg 3 Stage 1 sprint from Abu Dhabi up the coast of the United Arab Emirates that marked the start of Leg 3 that will see the boats sail from Abu Dhabi to Sanya, China. more...
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing scored a commanding victory on home waters on Friday, taking top spot in the Etihad Airways In-Port Race to the delight of thousands of ecstatic fans at the Volvo Ocean Race’s first Middle Eastern stopover.
Abu Dhabi, skippered by Ian Walker, produced a faultless performance along the eight nautical mile course to win in a time of 57 minutes 51 seconds ahead of Groupama sailing team in second and CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand in third. more...
Miami was the setting for a Melges 20 weekend clinic coached by Scott Nixon, Farley Fontenot, Jonathan McKee, Ed Baird and Morgan Resser. The focus on Saturday was on rig-set-up, boat-handling maneuvers and on-the-water drills. more...
After several years of newer handicap rating systems, including last year that saw a slew of normally long-course boats defect to the shore course to sail under the PHRF system, the Bells Beer Bayview Mackinac Race is returning to the PHRF rating system for all classes.
Also this year, host Bayview Yacht Club is making a couple of minor safety changes in the wake of WingNuts capsizing in last year's Chicago race, killing two Michigan sailors. This year, all sailors will be required to carry a knife that can be opened with one hand, and have a quick release tether with the quick release end attached to the sailor, not the boat. more...
British sailor Brian Thompson has broken the record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world in a yacht as a member of the crew on board Banque Populaire V.
The 14-man crew clocked 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds, more than two days inside the old mark.
Thompson became the first Briton to circle the globe non-stop four times. more...
One of my projects the last couple years has been directing the CISA Advanced Racing Clinic for young sailors ages 13-19 who are serious about improving to the top level of junior sailing. The clinic has a tradition of outstanding coaching and an intensive learning environment. It’s a four day clinic consisting of workouts each morning with Annapolis Sailing Fitness trainer Harry Legum followed by a full day usually with two sailing sessions off Long Beach, California, briefings held at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club and evening programs bringing the likes of America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race and Olympic veterans to make presentations to the sailors. more...
Only three points today separated the first three boats at the end of a magnificent regatta on Sydney Harbour to decide the 2012 World Championship for the International Yngling one-design keelboat class, with victory going to defending champion, Maarten Jamin, from The Netherlands. more...
When one boat breaks a rule and, as a result, causes another to touch a mark, the other boat is to be exonerated. The fact that a starting mark has moved, for whatever reason, does not relieve a boat of her obligation to start. A race committee may abandon under rule 32.1(d) only when the change in the mark’s position has directly affected the safety or fairness of the competition. more...
Emirates Team New Zealand America’s Cup sailor Glenn Ashby is described on the Team website as a multihull specialist.
You could say that.
Since 1996 he has won 14 World championships across three multihull classes, including seven in the A Class. At the 2008 Olympic Games he won a Silver medal, sailing a Tornado with fellow Australian Darren Bundock. He has been sailing and coaching in the Extreme 40 class and was head coach with BMW Oracle’s 90ft trimaran for the 33rd America’s Cup win. Glenn is now the Emirates Team New Zealand 34th AC campaign wing trimmer and a member of the design team. more...
International Fireball World Championship, hosted by Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club, final day of racing could not have been scripted to be more tense or exciting.
Tom Gillard and Sam Brearey of Great Britain went into the final day with a four point lead over arch rivals, Robin Inns and Joel Coultas of Australia. But there was another element to the equation in the form of a second discard after race nine was completed. more...
When North Sails released their video on design, starring Michael Richelsen above, I thought it was a bit over the top. But then again, it’s hard to explain how much time, effort and money that goes in to all those tools.
Being both an avid sailor and an engineer (M.Sc. Computer Science) I want to dig deeper to really understand what’s going on. When North introduced 3Di, I went to Nevada to try to explain why this could be the biggest thing in sailmaking since 3DL. Al major websites republished the article and it even ended up on Norths owns sites as “3Di Explained”. more...
Recently I came across a fellow who was arguing the position that “Barging” on the Start line as we know it (or as I know it) doesn’t exist. He argued that the boat or boats that are barging at the start are entitled to “Buoy Room” because they are the inside boats. He also argued that the committee boat becomes an obstruction and that the other boats that are close hauled going towards the starting line must give the “barging” boat room to clear the obstruction (in this case the Committee Boat even if it is surrounded by navigable water). more...
He quietly, politely introduces himself as James Spithill. At 19, he was the youngest helmsman ever in an America’s Cup campaign. At 30, the youngest helmsman to win the Cup. Now at 32, he is the man on whom software magnate Larry Ellison, the City of San Francisco and the US sailing community have pinned their hopes of keeping the Cup in North America. more...
Team New Zealand are confident they have the boat to win the Volvo Ocean Race, despite being unable to match the speed of the leading boats in the short sprint to Abu Dhabi overnight.
The final part of leg two was completed overnight with a fast and furious 98-mile sprint along the United Arab Emirates coast from Sharjah to Abu Dhabi. more...
After eight races in the nine race series, Glenn Ashby, seven times A Class Catamaran World Champion, has won the 2012 John Cootes Furniture A Class Australian Championships being sailed on Lake Macquarie, NSW.
First into the boat park after the completion of the day’s racing, Ashby was smiling. ‘Every National win is important but this field, with so much depth of talent and competition, is definitely the strongest fleet I have ever sailed against in the A-Cats at ANY level. more...
Is winter air heavier than summer air? Of the various time honoured sailing debates, the link between wind strength and temperature is one that is frequently contested between those that understand how their boats feel and those that understand the science behind it.
But for all the technical experts that have tried to dispel the view that there is a difference, it is hard to ignore the comments of the world's most experienced sailors. Shortly after finishing Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race Camper's skipper Chris Nicholson was describing the brutal conditions that his team had endured on the last night of the leg and comparing them to the start of the race, a similarly boisterous 24 hours. more...
Ray Godwin, LBYC, ran down the smaller slower boats in his Farr 40, Temptress, and took first place Sunday in the 2012 Two Gates Pursuit Race hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club
A pursuit race is where all boats race each other based on their PHRF handicap rating… but in a reverse start. The slowest boats start first and it moves up the ladder until you get to the big boats. In some cases the bigger boats gave more than an hour of time to the smaller boats but still caught them at the end of the 13.2 nautical mile course. more...
The Delta Flag was raised at 10.41, meaning that racing would start at 11.41. It didn't take the 210 sailors long at all to get out onto the water. The wind was very mild, around 10 knots, but the sun came back out again. more...
From 12-15 April 2012 over 400 sailors will compete in Dublin Bay in seven different classes (Laser Radial, Laser 4.7, 420, Feva, Topper, 29er and Optimist). For youth sailors, this event is the most important event in the annual calendar as it is the decider for the top Irish sailors to compete internationally during 2012 and is the pathway for future Olympic sailors. more...
First and foremost, the IM32CA is proud to welcome you to this year's Key West Race Week. What a great way to kick off 2012! Please review carefully the following Melges 32 Class competitor items below designed to make your entry and experience in Key West easy, organized and more enjoyable.
CREW DECLARATIONS Every team is required to submit a crew declaration for Key West Race Week to the Class Admin. Crew declarations are due no later than the close of business on Friday, January 6, 2012. more...
CRASH AT 2:13. Iceboating on New Years Eve Day 2011 on Lake Minnetonka off Gail's Island. Skipper and crew of the boat were both injured but walking, and sailed home after the crash. I confirmed that they were not severely injured, then retrieved their helmet which flew down the lake (Check your chinstraps, people!), then helped pull their boat out of the hole. more...
He quietly, politely introduces himself as James Spithill. At 19, he was the youngest helmsman ever in an America’s Cup campaign. At 30, the youngest helmsman to win the Cup. Now at 32, he is the man on whom software magnate Larry Ellison, the City of San Francisco and the US sailing community have pinned their hopes of keeping the Cup in North America. more...
Blur has again had an impressive day with another first place at the 69th Sharpie National Championships on day three of racing. Conditions at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron were light and shifty with 8 to 14 knots from the south east. more...
Hosted by Mandurah Offshore Fishing & Sailing Club the Fireball class enjoys its 50th anniversary this year and 65 boats from 7 countries took to the waters of Comet Bay in Mandurah, Western Australia for the opening day of the 2012 International Fireball Worlds. Two races were held under partly cloudy skies but ideal 10 – 16 knot breezes, building later in the afternoon with gusts to 18 knots. more...
THEY competed against each other in the recent Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, and now father and son Greg and Josh Torpy are set for another head-to-head duel at the upcoming Etchells World Championship in Sydney.
For Josh, a Mooloolaba Yacht Club member, the event will provide him with another chance to get bragging rights over his Olympian father after he helped crew Living Doll to second place in the overall handicap category at last week's Sydney to Hobart. more...
eXtasea, skippered by ORCV Committee Member, Paul Buchholz, has taken Line Honours in the 40th running of the mighty Westcoaster - The race they said could not be run, all those years ago!
Crossing the Battery Point finish line at 07:37:08 this morning, the reigning Offshore Champion also holds IRC and AMS, provisionally. Performance Handicap was also part of that equation until earlier this morning, so it will be interesting to see if the fickle breezes return that particular title back to eXtasea and allow them the complete sweep to really stamp their mark on this historic event. more...
Postcard conditions today on Lake Macquarie, NSW for the start of the 2012 John Cootes Furniture Australian A Class Championships.
After a general recall in the first race, Principal Race officer Tony Outteridge gunned the fleet away just before 12:30 in a steady 14 knot east north-easterly sea breeze.
At the top mark for the first time it was dual 49er World Champion and Moth World Champion Nathan Outteridge ahead of Tom Slingsby but Slingsby capsized just after the clearing mark. Bundock sailed into third, Simon McKeon was fourth and ahead of Glenn Ashby. more...
The 2011 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was notable for an unexpected winner of the coveted line honours trophy, a worthy overall winner and a slow passage home for the smaller boats.
The Boxing Day start of the 628 mile race south to Hobart was spectacular, with the 88-strong international fleet setting off from the heart of Sydney Harbour, with its iconic bridge and Opera House as a backdrop. The Heads and shoreline were teeming with spectators as news helicopters flew overhead. Leading the charge on the beat out of the Harbour was Bob Oatley’s maxi Wild Oats XI, the line honours winner in five out of the last six Rolex Sydney Hobarts. more...
Balboa Yacht Club’s 2012 Corona del Mar to Cabo San Lucas (CDM to CABO) International Yacht Race is accepting entries and is scheduled to take place in early spring 2012. The first boats will start on Friday, March 30, 2012, with the second start on Saturday, March 31, 2012.
The 2012 CDM to CABO Race is an invitational race with a variety of pre and post-race activities. Additionally, Cabo San Lucas is a superb finishing destination which offers fun for all participants. The race will start off Newport Beach, Calif. and the course will run approximately 800 nautical miles (nm) to finish in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. more...
The wildest sailboat ride I ever had was not on a wing-powered catamaran. It was on a “simple” Star.
What Tom Blackaller once told me about sailing in an Olympic Trials on San Francisco Bay—
“It was like going into a fire hose that’s shooting 40 knots.”
and
“I just sailed it under.”
—crossed my mind.
The wind on the final day of the 1972 Star Class trials went way-doggies off the curve, even by the community standards of windy San Francisco Bay. Think 40 knots, gusting to 45. The Olympic Circle was a mass of whitecaps, and yes, despite the best efforts of the man who would become the 1974 and 1980 Star world champion, he “just sailed it under.” There’s a series of classic shots of Blackaller and crewman Bill Munster swimming alongside the soon-to-disappear transom of Star 5550, Good Grief . . . more...
