Yachting News 21st June 09

Jun 20th 2009
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Hello from BlackMatch in Portugal,

Today we went unbeaten winning all 3 of our races and qualified for the quarterfinals in 5th position, not a bad birthday present for the BlackMatch skipper Adam Minoprio, who turned 24 today.

We had some very close racing today, including exciting wins against fellow Kiwi Phil Robertson and eventual round robin winner Philippe Presti.

Our race against Philippe saw the birthday boy nail the start, we gained a two boat length lead and were heading to the favoured right hand side of the course as the wind gusted up to 25 knots. The Frenchman did a great job of staying close to us in the blustery conditions, managing to make significant gains down the first run as we both surfed downwind. Nearing the bottom of the run they gained an inside overlap and sailed us past the bottom mark however following the gybe back to the mark and the spinnaker drop we still had the lead and inside rights. The world number 6 then failed to give us room at the bottom mark and was handed a penalty by the umpires while we had a great rounding and sailed defensively for the remainder of the race to seal the win.

The end of the round robin saw an in form Presti finish on top, with fellow Frenchman Mathieu Richard in second and veteran match racer Peter Gilmour in 3rd. Presti had the first choice of who to race in his quarter final match and chose Torvar Mirsky, while Richard chose bottom qualifier Bjorn Hansen. Gilmour was next to choose and in a repeat of Monsoon Cup 2007, he chose us.

The other quarter finals are now underway and will continue until the sun goes down while the sea breeze is pumping, however our match up with Gilmour will not happen until tomorrow due to there only being 6 boats and we are hoping the breeze will kick in again tomorrow.

BlackMatch would like to again thank their sponsors FedEx Express and Line 7 New Zealand. We would also like to thank our yacht club the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Emirates Team New Zealand.

more here

more images from Subzero here

The Lynx and her crew will have a very active schedule in advance of and following the Transpac Race. The public will have a chance to tour and sail aboard this magnificent sailing vessel June 18 – 28, when she is docked at the Pine Avenue Pier in Rainbow Harbor, Long Beach prior to the start of the 2009 Transpac Race. Once she arrives in Ala Wai Harbor on Oahu, Lynx will keep the same touring and adventure sail schedule from July 15th through July 31st, although she will be closed on Mondays. Then she’ll move to Ko Olina for more tours and sailing before her departure for San Diego on August 18th. Bookings for adventure sails and the return trip from Hawaii to San Diego can be made online. — Lynn Fitzpatrick

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looks like a nice little beat next week

Entries to date:

Limit, Reichel Pugh 63′ Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA)

Living Doll, Farr 16.7m Royal Yacht Club Victoria (RYCV)

REVS, Ross 40 Opua Cruising Club (OCC)

Bird on the Wing, Beneteau First 50 Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS)

Wild Card, Schumacher 50′ Kerikeri Cruising Club (KCC)

Bare Essentials, Robinson 55′ Onerahi Yacht Club (OYC)

Internautic 6, Dufour 44′ Cercle Natique Caledonien (CNC)

Lagoon Ozone, Archambault 40′ Cercle Natique Caledonien (CNC)

Mustang Sally, Farr 46′ Fremantle Sailing Club/ Gulf Harbour Yacht Club (FMC/ GHYC)

Bullrush, Elliott 12 Bucklands Beach Yacht Club (BBYC)

Antaeus, Davidson 65′ Royal Akarana Yacht Club (RAYC)

Outrageous Fortune, Beneteau 45′ Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS)

Route 66, Young 11 Cercle Nautique Caledonien (CNC)

V5, Andrews 52 Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS)

Lion New Zealand, Holland 80′ Kawau Yacht Club (KYC)

Ran Tan II, Elliott 50

follow the race here

and here

Genmar to expand into wind turbine business

By IBI Magazine

Genmar chairman Irwin Jacobs told IBI that he intends to open three to five factories in the US to manufacture wind turbine blades. He estimated revenues would be between US$450m to US$750m per year.

Jacobs said he would use his VEC Technology subsidiary, which is not included in Genmar’s bankruptcy filing, to manufacture the blades.

Jacobs acquired the rights to VEC in 1999, and in 2004, VEC Technology became a freestanding company valued at about US$350m. Genmar is the majority shareholder, with 93 per cent ownership. Interplastic Corp, a St Paul manufacturer, owns seven per cent.

“We have the only process in the world that can build an exact blade,” Jacobs said. “There is no other blade, or manufacturing process, that will give the exact replica each time. We’ve created a science, but not an art to this.”

Jacobs said Genmar has manufactured more than 85,000 boats using VEC from its Little Falls, Minnesota facility.

Multiple firms are interested in investing in VEC’s expansion. “We are talking about a possible direct investment in VEC, launching an IPO, or financing the boat business,” Jacobs said. He is also traveling to Europe to meet a potential client. “This is an important individual who owns many businesses and happens to be in the wind blade industry,” said Jacobs. “They have visited our facilities and intrigued. He wanted to talk to me personally.”

Genmar is the second major US boatbuilder to announce its entry into the wind turbine industry. On Monday, the owners of Tiara Yachts announced that they were entering the industry and would be using their boatbuilding facilities in Holland, Michigan, to build the turbines.

Jacobs said he is looking around the US for potential factories for the wind turbine business. The Little Falls facility would not be considered, Jacobs told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, because the wind turbine blades can measure up to 150 feet long. But he said it was “highly probable” that the Larson and Glastron facilities would make smaller associated parts because they already have VEC manufacturing capabilities.

Michael Reese, director of renewable energy research at the University of Minnesota, told the paper that short-term demand for wind turbines has dropped “dramatically” because of the global recession. But wind energy, thanks to incentives written into US federal legislation and new standards among individual states, has a “great upside” for 2010 and beyond. “A lot of states have renewable energy standards that they must meet,” he told the paper.

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order yours here

stewart34dinner@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
19 JUNE 2009

EIGHT GO THROUGH

Eight teams qualify for Quarter-Finals, but Hansen and Presti are already on the ropes

Troia, Portugal (19 June,2009) – After a long day stretched to the limits of sunset, Round Robin racing has been completed along with three flights of two pairs in the Quarter Final stage of the Troia Portugal Match Cup. Eight teams have advanced to this next stage in the competition out of 12 who came here for a slice of the 50,000 Euro prize money purse at the beautiful Troia Resort.

After a fitful start in the morning and an entire flight of matches abandoned for lack of wind, the westerly seabreeze finally filled to perfect strength, with 8-14 knots available all afternoon to complete the six flights of three matches left in the Round Robin. Emerging from the pack as winner of this stage on the strength of 9 wins was Philippe Presti (FRA) and his French Match Racing Team, though he went 1-1 on the day. His success in this stage was also due to a tie-break with fellow member of the French Match Racing Team Mathieu Richard.

Others advancing to the Quarter-Finals include, in order of finish in the Round Robin, Peter Gilmour (AUS) and the YANMAR Racing Team, Ian Williams (GBR) and his Bahrain Team Pindar, Adam Minoprio (NZL) and his Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch team, Sebastian Col (FRA) and his French Match Racing Team/K Challenge, Torvar Mirsky (AUS) and his Mirsky Racing Team, and Bjorn Hansen (SWE) and his Team Onboard.

While finishing in 9th place and therefore not advancing to the next stage, its noteworthy to mention the extraordinary efforts put in by Phil Robertson (NZL) and his WAKA Racing team. In his matches against two other young Down Under talents, fellow Kiwi Minoprio and Aussie Mirsky, Robertson was extremely tough, taking both to their limits amidst heated pre-start and mark-rounding action. He and his team got beaten for not having quite that extra polish the others have in having spent the last two years in Tour competition, but his performance today certainly makes him one to watch for the future.

Quarter-Final pairings will be as follows: Presti vs. Mirsky; Richard vs. Hansen; Gilmour vs. Minoprio; and Col vs. Williams. And as the sun started descending into the Serra Arrabida, three flights of the Quarter-Finals were completed for the Presti-Mirsky and Richard-Hansen matches.

With the depth of talent here at this event, it is perhaps of no surprise that the Round Robin winner is already on the ropes, as Presti has lost two to Mirsky in the first-to-three point round. Mirsky showed excellent timing and near-flawless teamwork to win his first two before falling to Presti in the critical third match.

Meanwhile it is Richard who has Hansen in a must-win situation for their first encounter tomorrow, having won the first and third matches in this stage. Their matches were particularly contentious, with furious tacking and gybing duels, numerous lead changes, and even a penalty in the first against Richard which he was just barely able to shed on the finish line.

Quarter-Final action resumes tomorrow morning at the Troia Portugal Match Cup.

Estes são os resultados a esta hora: / Results for day 3

Philippe PRESTI (FRA), French Team 8-1
Sébastien COL (FRA), French Team/K-Challenge 6-3
Peter GILMOUR (AUS), YANMAR Racing 6-1
Mathieu RICHARD (FRA), French Match Racing Team 5-1
Ian WILLIAMS (GBR), Bahrain Team Pindar 5-3
Torvar MIRSKY (AUS), Mirsky Racing 4-4
Adam MINOPRIO (NZL), ETNZ/BlackMatch 4-4
Bjorn HANSEN (SWE), Team Onboard, 3-4
Phil ROBERTSON (NZL), WAKA Racing, 3-6
Andrew ARBUZOV (RUS), 2-5
Ian AINSLIE (RSA), Team Proximo, 1-8
Álvaro MARINHO (POR), Seth Sailing Team, 0-7

ISAF Match Racing World Championship Leaderboard
(Top eight teams after Stage 3 of 10)

1. Adam MINOPRIO (NZL), Emirates Team New Zealand/Black Match Racing, 41 points
2. Ben AINSLIE (GBR), Team Origin, 40 points
3. Mathieu RICHARD (FRA), French Match Racing Team/ French Team Spirit, 35 points
4. Ian WILLIAMS (GBR), Bahrain Team Pindar, 34 points
5. Damien IEHL (FRA), French Match Racing Team, 32 points
6. Paolo CIAN (ITA), Team Shosholoza, 32 points
7. Peter GILMOUR (AUS), YANMAR Racing, 23 points
8. Torvar MIRSKY (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team, 21 point
Líderes definidos para os Quartos de final – 2009-06-19Líderes definidos para os Quartos de final – 2009-06-19
Skipper português somou duas vitórias

Depois de horas à espera do vento que só passou a soprar do quadrante sul por volta das 12h.no rio Sado, os skippers a disputar a fase Round Robin da Tróia Portugal Match Cup conseguiram finalizar os restantes “flights” e definir os classificados para os Quartos de final. Os três primeiros colocados são os franceses Philippe Presti e Mathieu Richard e o australiano Peter Gilmour.

O último “flight” da fase Round Robin, com o vento a soprar com mais força do quadrante sudoeste, foi extremamente competitivo, sendo que quatro equipas disputavam as demais posições da tabela geral para a próxima fase de competição. Assim, a classificação entre os 4º e 7º lugares ficou definida com as presenças do inglês Ian Williams, do neozelandês Adam Minoprio, do francês Sebastien Col, do australiano Torvar Mirsky, e, em 8º lugar, o skipper sueco Bjorn Hansen.
Entretanto, o velejador português Álvaro Marinho, da equipa Seth Sailing Team, registou duas vitórias nesta primeira fase de competição. Uma delas frente ao skipper russo Andrew Arbuzov, na primeira regata do dia, e outra contra o skipper britânico Ian Ainslie. “Na prova com Arbuzov só conseguimos a liderança no primeiro percurso a favor do vento. Já na regata com Ainslie, cruzámos a linha de largada em 1º lugar, enquanto Ainslie foi penalizado por entrar na área de pré-largada prematuramente”, explicou Marinho que, ao final do dia, defrontou-se com o veterano skipper australiano Peter Gilmour.

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Portugal Match Cup 2006 – HOMENS/MULHERES from portugalmatchcup on Vimeo.

Troia Portugal Match Cup 2007 – HOMENS/MULHERES from portugalmatchcup on Vimeo.

Troia Portugal Match Cup 2008 from portugalmatchcup on Vimeo.

Gildas Mahé 6ème de la Quiberon Solo

Le rideau vient de tomber sur la Quiberon Solo, deuxième épreuve du Championnat de France de Course au Large en Solitaire. Au terme de trois journées de parcours en baie de Quiberon et d’un tour de Belle-Ile-en-Mer comptant double au classement final, le skipper du Figaro Banque Populaire en termine à la 6ème place sur les 33 figaristes en compétition. Malgré des conditions piégeuses sur l’épreuve, le brestois achève ce rendez-vous satisfait et est serein pour la suite de la saison et la 40ème édition de la Solitaire du Figaro.

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Similar to a big, off-road skateboard, you stand on a landboard (also known as Mountain or All Terrain boards) and use the wind to surf.
Kite Landboarding has all the thrills of Kiteboarding without getting your feet wet! This fast-moving, fast-growing sport brings together the best elements of skate, snow, downhill mountainboarding (ATB) and power kiting to make one of the most exhilarating experiences around. Kite Landboarding encompasses everything from cruising to big airs and freestyle tricks. Ideal as a stepping stone or skill-builder for Kiteboarding or as a sport in its own right.

Once you’ve mastered flying a 4 line kite, you can then use a larger size to generate sufficient power to pull yourself along. Before you know it you’ll be speeding along your local beach or field inches from the ground experiencing the exhilaration of using the power of the wind! Kite buggying is the original kite traction sport. Blast along on three wheels with just a couple of inches between the earth and your backside. Even going 5mph will feel like a lot faster!