Lastest yachting News September
Gitana 13 claims seventh record
At 06:22 local time yesterday the maxi-catamaran completed its seventh passage – Hong Kong to London – breaking the previous record held by Philippe Monnet since 1990. The new record time is 41 days 21 hours 26 minutes 34 seconds, meaning the team covered the 15,312 miles at an average speed of 15.23 knots.
Gitana 13′s arrival in the city marks the end of a long adventure, which began back in January. Setting out to sail across the world’s seas for nine months, the maxi-catamaran covered nearly 40,000 miles, and seven out of seven record attempts were transformed into outright records.
Skipper Lionel Lemonchois commented: “This project was a real challenge for me. More familiar to racing single-handed, I was looking forward to driving a crew like that of Gitana 13. The seven records gleaned are clearly a great satisfaction but I am particularly proud of the human success story that has come about as a result of this long record campaign. We relished the idea of bringing some maritime routes, which have a real historic value, back into favour.”
Gitana 13′s records
Route de l’Or (New York – San Francisco, via Cape Horn): in 43 days 3 minutes 18 seconds (February 2008)
North Pacific Crossing (San Francisco – Yokohama): in 11 days 12 minutes 55 seconds (April 2008)
Tea Route (Hong Kong – London): 41 days 21 hours 26 minutes 34 seconds (September 2008)
Yokohama – Dalian: 3 days 20 hours 19 minutes and 11 seconds
Dalian – Qingdao: 23 hours 50 minutes and 20 seconds
Qingdao – Taiwan: 3 days 52 minutes and 15 seconds
Taipei – Hong-Kong: 1 day 58 minutes 27 seconds
Press Report/Yachting World, 26 September 2008
Stolen from Crew.org
Rule One:
If you pull into my driveway and honk you’d better be delivering a package, because you’re sure not picking anything up.
Rule Two:
You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter’s body, I will remove them.
Rule Three:
I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don’t take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots. Still, I want to be fair and open minded about this issue, so I propose his compromise: You may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes too big, and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact, come off during the course of your date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten your trousers securely in place to your waist.
Rule Four:
I’m sure you’ve been told that in today’s world, sex without utilizing a “barrier method” of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate, when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.
Rule Five:
It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is “early.”
Rule Six:
I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry.
Rule Seven:
As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process that can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don’t you do something useful, like changing the oil in my car?
Rule Eight:
The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there are no parents, policemen, or nuns within eyesight. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka – zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided; movies which features chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay. Old folks homes are better.
Rule Nine:
Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a potbellied, balding, middle-aged, dimwitted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the house. Do not trifle with me. Rule Ten:
Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper coming in over a rice paddy near Hanoi. When my Agent Orange starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit your car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car – there is no need for you to come inside. The camouflaged face at the window is mine.
Waiotemarama Falls Lodge
P.O. Box 104
356 Waiotemarama Gorge Road
Opononi, Northland
New Zealand
27 September 2008
From Laser Sailor to Lodge Keeper ……..
About three years ago I enjoyed sailing and racing my laser on the Waitemata Harbour and the great camaraderie of the Tamaki Yacht Club. Combined with a bit of “yacht-rocket” racing (thank you, Steve Alloway!), the NZ Women’s Maritime Association activities and the ladies races from Bucklands Beach, it was the closest thing to a sailor’s heaven for me. But something was calling me back up north, to the Hokianga Harbour. I was well ready for a break from many years in stressful full-time jobs and home never looked or felt sweeter!
I first arrived in the Hokianga in 1976 after emigrating from San Diego, California, where dinghy racing and intercollegiate sailing were my primary passions. Since then I have raised a family, taught science and skippered the historic MV Sierra on the Hokianga Harbour for ten years. It’s here in the Hokianga where one has the time, the peace and the pace to do some serious thinking. Together with enormous mental, physical and spiritual support from my partner, Rawiri, a plan forward began to emerge. Basically, all we needed to do was build another house on our 50 acres of bush-clad land and convert the original house to an exclusive, peaceful lodge, nestled in the native bush. And that’s just what we have done.
When guests arrive at the Waiotemarama Falls Lodge they are greeted with the sounds of waterfalls, streams and the prolific birdlife, which can be viewed from every window. Tui, fantails, kingfishers, and pigeons are abundant. Hawks glide graciously close to the Lodge, enabling an eye-level view of these beautiful birds. We inform guests about the things that go “bump” in the night, such as possums, kiwis and wild pigs. We can also arrange fishing charters, harbour cruises, sand-boarding, pig/goat/possum hunting, nighttime kiwi spotting in the Waipoua Forest, Maori cultural experiences and so much more.
The large rooms, spacious couches and extensive library invite you to relax and take in the view. Indeed, the nautical section of the library alone might keep you glued to the couch! We usually accommodate up to 4 guests per group. There are two bedrooms with en-suite toilets and showers, a laundry room with washer and dryer and a fully equipped kitchen adjoining the open plan lounge. The wood-burner and a stack of firewood add to the cozy country warmth. And for those indoor times there are games and puzzles for all ages in the cupboards. If you prefer not to cook, we have a tasty menu on offer. The key ingredients in our cuisine come from our large year-round vegetable garden. Visitors receive (or can plant) their own native trees and purchase local art, plants and produce, including jams, preserves, soaps and the famous Hokianga Elephant Garlic, grown annually on the property for over 27 years.
What about the sailing? Within 10 minutes you can be launching at the Opononi beach or boat ramp. And there is nothing quite like the exhilaration of reaching across the Hokianga Harbour, helming a laser toward the magnificent sand-hills or the impressive Warawara Forest of the north Hokianga.
Come along and enjoy our paradise bush and beach escape, privacy guaranteed. Our website, www.WaiotemaramaFalls.com, is friendly and regularly updated with events, special rates and videos. And the laser is ready to go!
www.WaiotemaramaFalls.com
Tel. 64-9-405-8702
email: cpettus@rocketmail.com
Salvage crews round up hundreds of vessels
By Rhiannon Meyers
The Daily News
Published September 21, 2008
Technically, Cliff Rodrigue’s offshore fishing boat is still tied to the same dock where he left it before Hurricane Ike roared ashore.
But now, the dock and Rodrigue’s boat, Hot Sauce, are resting on the shoulder of Interstate 45, yards away from the marina.
Rodrigue, who bought the offshore fishing boat six months ago, had never gotten a chance take it for a spin.
Across the island, salvage crews are trying to move hundreds of boats from their new resting places, where they were pushed inland by Ike’s tidal surge. There are boats in roads, in yards, in parking lots, in medians and on the base of the causeway.
Working to clear the paths for rescue crews, debris removal crews unceremoniously shoved landlocked boats, worth more money than some homes, into piles along roads.
Boat salvage crews, when they were finally allowed back on the island, hastily recovered what was left.
Boats docked at Payco Marina, 501 Blume Drive, washed ashore at the base of the causeway, dragging with them pieces of pilings and piers.
State authorities told salvage crews they had until Monday to clear the wreckage before they demolished what was left, said Chris Cotter of Land and Sea Services, a boat salvage company based in La Marque.
On Saturday, Cotter’s crew worked frantically to lift fishing boats and luxury yachts to safety. They first calculated how to position a 95-ton, over-the-road crane in the ditch next to the causeway so they could safely retrieve the vessels. The crew then used shovels to dig earth from underneath the boats and slipped thick lifting straps and miniature air bags underneath the hulls.
They inflated the airbags, lifting the massive boats ever so gently from the hard ground.
Slowly and carefully, crane operators lifted the boats in their harnesses, making sure they didn’t take a violent roll to one side.
Swinging the crane, operators lowered the vessels onto waiting tractor trailers and trucked them to any available dock space. Crews spent hours trying to lift some boats.
Vessels were trucked to marinas and placed atop blocks if it seemed they could be salvaged. If they were in good enough shape to stay afloat, salvage crews set them afloat.
Most were so damaged that crews trucked them to yards and laid them on their sides so their owners could identify them and make insurance claims.
Some boat owners weren’t afforded the luxury of a last look at their prized possessions. Cotter estimated 25 percent of the boats on the island sank.
At Galveston Yacht Club and Marina, 601 N. Holiday Drive, hundreds of boats were burned in a fire that raged uncontrollably during Ike’s landfall. Many of the docked sailboats were dragged away during the storm.
“It looks like an atom bomb was dropped on this place,” said James Foley, who lives and works at the basin.
Foley, who has been working security at the basin since the storm hit, said Saturday boats were still falling off their slips into the water, leaking diesel and gasoline into the bay and sinking. Foley, who was working the front gate, tried unsuccessfully to describe the deafening 15-second crash of a boat falling into the water.
Foley had planned to ride out the storm in his boat tied to a dock at Galveston Yacht Club and Marina. He stayed until Friday morning when the water rose to his waist. He tossed his possessions into a wheelbarrow and floated to safety. He left, expecting the worst. He came back to find his boat in surprisingly good shape.
“I was just praying,” he said. “I said: ‘Lord, this boat is yours. If you want to take it down, do it. If you want to leave it, that would be just fine.’”
Crews estimate some boats they salvaged were worth up to $4 million.
BRAD BUTTERWORTH : “THE SPORT OF SAILING IS FAR TOO COMPLICATED”
While the America’s Cup community awaits it’s next chapter, we caught up with America’s Cup veteran and Alinghi tactician Brad Butterworth on his views about the current state of the sport of sailing.
* Brad, what do you consider as the key issues the sport of sailing faces at the moment?
BB: There are too many conflicts with the race calendar. Many yachtsmen would like to compete more, but they can’t because the regattas take place at the same time.
The sport of sailing is also far too complicated and it just can’t be properly televised and understood. It definitely needs a good shake up in order to become more user-friendly.
* WYRF: Where do you think the complications are specifically?
BB: Well, there are many reasons but to start with, the rules are far too complex. The problem behind this is that sailing’s governing body, ISAF, has a long history of making rules. Every time we want to change something, it ends up in a Committee. The sport is not run by the sportsmen, but by Committees.
* WYRF: What about other issues?
BB: Sailing is not a TV friendly sport and a good example is the last Olympic Games, where it was just impossible to properly follow a regatta.
There are also far too many classes and this is diluting the sport.
Finally, there is a serious problem with the racing calendar. In order to avoid overlaps, there should be an independent governing body. The ISAF could do this, but it is very difficult to find a body of truly independent people.
* WYRF: Do you think junior & Olympic sailing programs prepare young sailors well for a professional career?
BB: There are a lot of very good yacht clubs that help young people to get into the sport. However the problems arise when they reach their late teens and loose the parental support they had until then. They usually go from single handed dinghies such as Optimists or Lasers to double-handed or crewed boats. The transition is not easy and it is hard to keep people into the sport.
* WYRF: What advice would you give to young sailors?
BB: They should not be shy; they should dare to ask the good teams in their clubs for a ride, and they should be available to jump on the opportunities. Because the opportunities are there.
* WYRF: What’s your feeling towards the current Olympic classes?
BB: It is disappointing to see the Olympic classes evolving towards slower boats. The races are boring to watch, whereas they should be fun & exciting and more athletic for the competitors.
* WYRF: The World Yacht Racing Forum will obviously be a good opportunity to debate these issues?
BB: It certainly won’t hurt.
Monaco is a great venue, and it is also great that the Yacht Club Monaco is encouraging this initiative. Meeting and talking will certainly be a good start.
Brad Butterworth will be a speaker at the World Yacht Racing Forum in December. He will debate the future of the America’s Cup alongside Bruno Troublé, Sir Keith Mills, Salvatore Sarno, Alessandra Pandarese and Paul Cayard.
© Ivo Rovira / Alinghi
© ValenciaSailing.com
Alicante (Spain) – 23 September 2008 – Training begins again today in Alicante for the Media Crew Members – the embedded reporters who will, for the first time in the history of this race, sail onboard each boat in the fleet racing in the Volvo Ocean Race, which starts from Alicante on 4 October. Visitor numbers to the race village in Alicante over the weekend soared and at the last count were approaching 60,000 as the locals in Spain came down to soak up the atmosphere and watch the preparations.
To keep both the public and the media engaged in the race once it has disappeared over the horizon, each team has to have onboard a specialist person responsible for capturing all the action. Known as the Media Crew Member (MCM) this role is perhaps one of the most difficult jobs to carry out onboard and is pivotal: the world’s media will be relying on the action transmitted back from each boat by this key member of the crew.
Using the HD video cameras, both fixed and handheld, the MCM will record the rollercoaster ups and downs of life onboard – from the huge rush of elation when a crew is doing well, to the depths of despair when things are going wrong. They will then edit the material and transmit it to Volvo Ocean Race Head Quarters (RHQ) in quantities ranging from 95 minutes for the longest leg and 10 minutes for the shortest leg.
In addition, they will:
* Take high quality stills photographs and transmit 60 for the longest leg and 10 for the shortest leg back to RHQ.
* Record audio interviews
* File written stories and crew blogs
* Collate all video footage and stills captured during the leg
What can they do?
* Carry out all media duties
* Carry out all environmental duties
* Cook (meals, drinks and refreshments)
* Empty the bilges
* Placement of body weight where required.
What can’t they do?
They are NOT permitted to help in the sailing of the boat in any way.
Environmental Study
In addition to their main role as provider of the media, the MCM has an important environmental role to play. At a pre-determined time each day, the MCM will take a seawater sample and test it with a ‘Luminometer’ which, after adding certain chemicals to the sample, measures the amount of life in the water. This is recorded along with temperature, cloud cover, water temperature and the GPS positon of the boat and then this information is sent back the Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s laboratory in Goteborg, Sweden as part of an international study on the discharge of ballast water from ships.
Ike’s Damage
Hurricane Ike’s Devastation Across Miles of Texas Coastline is Still Being Assessed.
By Tom Tripp
Updated September 17, 2008
Although efforts have already begun, it will be many days – perhaps even weeks – before boat owners and insurance appraisers begin to tally the damage to thousands of vessels and dozens of marinas in the Houston area wrought by Hurricane Ike.
Many of the worst-hit communities are still locked down, and many more have 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfews, hampering accounting efforts. What is clear is that the impact was significant, even though the storm didn’t live up to worst-case forecasts. As one official put it, “there is some pretty terrible damage.”
As one official put it, “there is some pretty terrible damage” as boats were tossed ashore and sunk.: U.S. COAST GUARDU.S. COAST GUARDAs one official put it “there is some pretty terrible damage,” referring to the boats that were tossed ashore or sunk.
Photos and footage show boats that were sent to the bottom, tossed on shore or tangled hiddeously in their marinas, where winds topping 100 mph and a storm surge of 15 feet in some areas pounded vessels together.
http://www.madmariner.com/seamanship/weather/story/HURRICANE_IKE_DAMAGED_BOATS_091808_SW
Delta Lloyd arrives in Alicante. 17 September 2008.
Photo coyright Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race
Valencia Sailing goes to Alicante
Good morning from Valencia.
There will be no updates till late in the afternoon as we go to Alicante for the official inauguration of the Volvo Ocean Race Village. From what we hear it is impressive, unlike any other built for the round-the-world race.
Stay tuned for our full report.
Labels: Alicante, Volvo Ocean Race
Photo Gallery 2007 – 08 AsianYachting Grand Prix Championships
http://asianyachting.com/
Refresh the memory by viewing the best photos taken during the eight regatta’s that made up the 2007 – 08 AsianYachting Grand Prix Championships. Many thanks must go to the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Guy Nowell, Rolex and Carlo Borlenghi for their respective China Coast Regatta and Rolex China Sea Race images that have been added to the collection. Relive all the action that stretches from the shores of Thailand, through Malaysia and Singapore, across to the Philippines and up north to Hong Kong at: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?aygp0708 Totaling 135 images they capture all the on the water action, prize presentations and some interesting shots in between.
The 2008 – 09 AYGP Championships gets underway early October with the China Coast Regatta (10 – 12 October) and the Biennial HK to Vietnam Race starting on 15th October being included for the first time. The three-day regatta will be held in the waters south of Hong Kong. A strong entry list is expected. Organizers report that racing class entries Hi Fi, FfreeFire 52, Fortis Mandrake, Full Metal Jacket, Jelik and Ambush have committed. Ray Roberts is bringing his canting keel Cookson 50 Quantum Racing from Australia. Paul Winkelmann’s is returning from the UK with his TP52 Island Fling to have another bash at Asian events and Bill Bremner’s TP52 Foxy Lady IV might be making his way from Singapore to compete in Hong Kong for the first time.
Photo Gallery 2006-07 AYGP ChampionshipsThe AYGP first came together during the 2002-03 season when Peter Ahern and YO! became the inaugural Asian champion skipper and yacht. He then followed it up during the 2003-04 season and Sam Chan’s Freefire took out the Yacht of the year with higher points but as he shared the skippers role with his sailing master did not score enough points to become the Skipper of the year. Neil Pryde completed the double during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons with Hi-Fidelity and Hi-Fi Team Pryde respectively. In 2006-07 Frank Pong’s Jelik clinched victory as it came down to the last race at the final event at Koh Samui. Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing became the winner of the sixth running last season after pushing the envelope on several occasions only to just miss out by a few points each time.
