Yachting News 25th July 2009

Jul 25th 2009
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Forza Kiwi

Emirates Team New Zealand’s boss and mast-man Grant Dalton (NZL) had his wish today as the Mistral breeze returned to present a final crescendo as the Kiwi team sailed cleanly through three final races to secure the Region of Sardinia Trophy, their second successive regatta title after also winning last month in Marseille, France.

Dalton spoke this morning of hoping for a decent wind-strength for the final day of racing, declaring his team were just trying to ‘hang on’ after Friday’s changeable sea-breeze conditions.

Not only did the New Zealand crew ‘hang on’, they sailed with exceptional patience and composure while their two principal rivals – Matador (ARG) and Artemis (SWE) – suffered their own, largely self inflicted problems.

In the GP42 Series Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) won four of the final five races to take the Region of Sardinia Trophy, needing only to finish in the final race to be sure of their first regatta win this season.

Artemis (SWE) made infringements in both the first and second races, while Matador blotted an otherwise strong day when they tacked too close to Emirates Team New Zealand and had also to take a penalty, then spectacularly hooked the windward mark and could not release it until 100 metres down the final run.

In contrast Emirates Team New Zealand sailed with precision across their races to score a third, a first and, as a final flourish in the 22 knot Mistral, a second place which ensured they topped the final standings by 14.5 points ahead of Matador. Artemis who started the day in second slipped to third place ifor the regatta.

After arriving in Cagliari with a lead of 16 points last week, the Emirates Team New Zealand’s second regatta triumph ensures they head for Portimao for next month’s Portugal Trophy having more than doubled their lead, whilst Matador have climbed to second overall at the expense of Quantum Racing (USA). The current Audi MedCup champions best race finish came today with a second in the second contest, but they ended the regatta in seventh place.

more final day news and results here

Hanging tough and winning ugly

Autonomous Region of Sardinia Trophy, 24 07 2009 Photo © Ian Roman/Audi MedCup

A fifth and second place from two contrasting races for Emirates Team New Zealand sees them top the leaderboard again while three back to back wins for Islas Canarias Puerto Calero gives them a two points lead

Four and a half points separates regatta leaders Emirates Team New Zealand from Artemis going in to the final day’s racing of the Region of Sardinia Trophy after two very different and challenging windward-leeward contests off Cagliari.

Fortunes ebbed and flowed between the two top teams. ETNZ’s Grant Dalton summarised it as ‘winning ugly’ after emerging in second place from a mentally bruising second race which saw Artemis recover from 10th to steal three places at the bottom of the final run.

Paul Cayard, Artemis’ tactician may have been frustrated by the sudden 50 degree windshift at the first weather mark and the private hole in the breeze, a windless no man’s land which swallowed them and Quantum Racing, but he arrived ashore to express his admiration at how the crack Artemis team had ‘hung tough’ together, battling to the finish to regain some of their lost places.

Emirates Team New Zealand scored a fifth in the first race which was won clearly and conclusively by Artemis who lead from the start line and proved once again how quick they are in the 8-10 knots of sea breeze conditions, ahead of Matador (ARG).

TP 52 Series Race 7: For Artemis, winning Race 7 of the series was the perfect way to continue after victory in yesterday’s coastal race. Cayard and strategist Hamish Pepper (NZL) combined to make a strong start and Artemis were able to extend first to the favoured left side early in the first beat, timing perfectly their cross to the right to gain again and lead Portugal’s Bigamist and Spain’s Bríbon around the first turning mark.

Both the second and third placed boats then made the mistake of gybe-setting, duelling briefly as they emerged from the turn to let Matador slip by to their right.
While the Argentine flagged winners of the Alicante Trophy went on to second and Bríbon third, Emirates Team New Zealand only just ran out of race track, challenging Bigamist on the finish line for the fourth place which would have kept them on top of the standings.

TP52 Race 8: After a long delay awaiting for enough of a settled breeze for a second race, the contest got under way in what appeared to be a decent, but slightly unexpected Easterly direction.
But at the windward mark a significant left shift, as the underlying Mistral influence made a brief appearance, regatta leaders Artemis and Quantum Racing were stranded on the edge of the breeze.
Artemis tried a jib for a short time in the headed breeze before the wind lifted progressively again to allow them to re-set a spinnaker.
But it proved an expensive experience for they reached the leeward turn in tenth, going on to recover to seventh.

GP42 Race 7: Islas Canarias Puerto Calero won the first race of the day ahead of Roma Mk 2 with Caser-Endesa in third.

GP42 Race 8: was affected by the same big windshift, lifting the fleet on their first leg which became extremely one sided for a period. But Islas Canarias were able to hold on to record their third successive win.

Emirates Team New Zealand go in to the final day, which is likely to yield two races at most, with a slender lead over Artemis. The forecast suggests another difficult set of wind conditions. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero lead the GP42 Series by two clear points ahead of the Italian duo Roma Mk 2 and Airis who have 21 points each.

Audi MedCup Circuit 2009
Region of Sardinia Trophy

TP52 Series
Overall – Day 4
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 1+1+1+5+4+3+5+2= 22 points
2. Artemis (SWE), 2+2+7+3+3+1,5+1+7= 26,5 points
3. Matador (ARG), 3+3+4+1+2+7,5+2+5= 27,5 points
4. Bribón (ESP), 5+6+3+7+8+4,5+3+3= 39,5 points
5. Bigamist (POR), 6+5+9+6+1+9+4+1= 41 points
…

GP42 Series
Overall – Day 3
1. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 3+2+3+4+4+1+1+1= 19 points
2. Roma (ITA), 2+5+1+1+3+4+3+2= 21 points
3. Caser Endesa (ESP), 4+4+2+2+1+3+2+3= 21 points
4. Airis (ITA), 1+1+4+3+5+2+4+4= 24 points
5. Turismo Madrid (ESP), 5+3+5+5+2+5+5+5= 35 points
…

Complete results: http://2009.medcup.org/results2/venue.php?trophy=3&class=tp52

Grant Dalton (NZL), CEO and Mastman on Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
On today “For a Kiwi it is comparing it with the test match which is just ugly, you are just winning ugly, trying to win. That was the story of today, everything was ugly. The sailing wasn’t good, the wind was light, the shifts were everywhere, so I think the thing with this team is that it just keeps its composure. We win some, we lose some, and today we end up further ahead than when we went out, but it doesn’t mean anything if tomorrow is going to be another day like today.”
“ I think that in this regatta now there are three players left, Artemis, ourselves and the Argentinians, and they are trying to gain more points for the season so they are trying to lay all over us and we end up letting Artemis get away this morning, so we end up screwing each other, so it is really difficult.”

On possible strategy for final day – go for wins or stay with opposition?:
“ If it is shifty and you try to play the opposition you end up stuffing yourself up. So the forecast is a little bit like today, it’ll be up and down, and so you just have to wait for what comes.”

Impressed by Artemis improvement since Marseille?
“ They had a really good regatta in Alicante, they were fast and sometimes you just have really bad regattas. Look at Quantum, they are having a shocker, and next one can be a good. And so I am just longing for those days when you get 20 knots of breeze, it’s not too shifty and you can get out and have a decent sail, but at the moment its is trying to win ugly”

Paul Cayard (USA) tactician Matador (SWE):
“We always knew that that second one was going to be a strange race. There was no forecast that anyone had for a wind coming from 090 degrees. So it was going to be marginal. Before the start we really felt that the left was going to be strong, that there was a lot more pressure in that bay, and we had a beautiful start second boat from the end, we were going really well to the left.”
“ I know everybody else felt the same way, because Emirates Team New Zealand who did not have a good start had to tack out and tacked right back, so everybody wanted left. And the breeze went 15 right, that’s sailboat racing. And then we had that strange situation at the weather mark, we tried to gybe set. With the wind 15 degrees right the gybe set made sense but there was some strange hole, the guys in front got a massive header and I thought it was a wholesale change in the wind going to the north, but actually five minutes later it was back to ninety again.”
“ We found ourselves in a tough spot, for sure, but I told the guys on the way in that today wasn’t even about winning the first race, but how we hung tough in the second race, kept in a clear lane, played a few shifts on the second beat, closed it up massively on the four or five boats in front of us, and then were opportunistic on the final run,. We beat three boats and that is three very valuable points for tomorrow.”

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Two More Open 60’s Go Up for Sale.

July 24, 2009 by admin
Filed under Business, France, Open 60, United Kingdom, Vendee Globe

Many sailing events run on long cycles with 2 or 4 years between races. The time between races, gives teams time to evaluate their commitment and plan for the future. Sponsors and sailors will analyse the options, opportunities will be created and chapters will be closed.

Since the end of the most recent Vendee Globe, the huge expense of Open 60 programs has started to bite. Even though they represent the pinnacle of offshore sailing, the backers of these campaigns are subject to the same sponsorship constraints as everyone else, and several have indicated that the sums might not add up.

So far, Ecover and Team Gitana have stepped away from Open 60 programs, focussing on the iShares Cup in 2009. Aviva, long time backers of Dee Caffari, seem to have switched to handing out wedges of cash to Hollywood stars rather than the double world record holder, backed up by a ‘tweet’ from Dee this week that said:

Sailing everyday for the rest of the week and I am very happy about that. It seems my sailing days are numbered.

Even long term sailing evangelist Andrew Pindar is taking a step back from the Open 60. Yesterday it was announced that the radical Juan Kouyoumdjian designed Open 60 yacht Team Pindar is up for sale.

Whilst the sale means a step away from the Open 60 class, the team continues to progress its ‘Sail Bahrain’ plans in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Andrew Pindar said:

“There is a definite interest and excitement in developing a comprehensive sailing programme in Bahrain. As an island nation, they are blessed with fantastic natural sailing conditions, however it’s not going to happen overnight. We have made extensive contacts in the region with people who share the ‘Sail Bahrain’ vision.”

Sam Davies, who provided sponsor Roxy with probably the best ROI of all competitors in the last Vendee Globe has signed on with Artemis Ocean Racing, who with the OC Group’s backing are comitted to the class. As a result of Sam’s step up, her old boat is also up for sale.

The Open 60 is a fantastic platform for any sponsor, but as new build costs start pushing £10 million, there may be an opportunity for boats like the Class 40 to grab a bigger share of voice and sponsorship money.

As the cycle goes around and the next Vendee Globe approaches, no doubt the teams and sponsors will shake out to provide another compelling race and in the mean-time, the Artemis Challenge during Cowes Week will give buyers and sellers of these amazing boats a chance to see them in action.

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Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Royal Yacht Squadron

START: Saturday 25th July from the RYS Cowes to the East

First Warning signal: 0750

This Saturday morning sees the start of the last RORC offshore race prior to the Rolex Fastnet Race in August. It is the last chance for competitors to tune themselves, their equipment and their yachts prior to this year’s big event. However, this is more than just a dress rehearsal. The Channel Challenge Cup is the overall prize and there are many other trophies including the Inter Service Trophy for the best Armed Services Yacht. Points are also awarded for this year’s RORC Season’s Points Championship. At this stage in the season it is impossible to predict the season’s winners but certain yachts are coming to the fore.

In IRC Class Super Zero Niklas Zennstrom’s JV72, Rán, makes its debut in RORC racing. The crew is a stellar cast of America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race sailors, skippered by Tim Powell and the Judel Vrolijk designed mini-maxi is quite a head turner. Talking of head turners, the IMOCA 60, Artemis Ocean Racing, will be racing with the highly talented Sam Davies on board, having just broken the Round Britain and Ireland Record with an all girl crew on Aviva. Sam will be accompanied by Sidney Gavignet who has just returned from Puma in the Volvo Ocean Race.

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