ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2009

World Sailor of the Year trophy

©Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex

Nominations Invited
Southampton, UK

Nominations are now invited for the 2009 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards, the most prestigious award of recognition in the sport of sailing. The nominees and winners since the first presentation in 1994 form an exceptional roll call of the world’s top sailors from all disciplines of the sport.
There is only one male and one female ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year, who will not only win the coveted Rolex timepiece and trophy, but receive true recognition of their achievement from their peers across the world.

Nominations may be made by anyone and the only criteria are that sailors must have performed an “outstanding achievement in the sport of sailing” during the qualifying period of 1 September 2008 to 31 August 2009. Nominations should be sent in to ISAF by 12.00hrs (UTC) on Wednesday 9 September 2009 on the Official Nomination Form which may be found here

The past nominees and winners of the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year include the highest achievers in the sport, with the winners’ roll call reading:
2008     Ben Ainslie (GBR)     Alessandra Sensini (ITA)
2007      Ed Baird (USA)      Claire Leroy (FRA)
2006      Mike Sanderson (NZL)       Paige Railey (USA)
2005      Fernando Echavarri & Anton Paz (ESP)      Ellen MacArthur (GBR)
2004      Robert Scheidt (BRA)      Sofia Bekatorou & Emilia Tsoulfa (GRE)
2003      Russell Coutts (SUI)      Siren Sundby (NOR)
2002      Ben Ainslie (GBR)      Sofia Bekatorou & Emilia Tsoulfa (GRE)
2001      Robert Scheidt (BRA)      Ellen MacArthur (GBR)
2000      Mark Reynolds & Magnus Liljedahl (USA)      Shirley Robertson (GBR)
1999      Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL)      Margriet Matthijse (NED)
1998      Ben Ainslie (GBR)      Carolijn Brouwer (NED)
1997      Pete Goss (GBR)      Ruslana Taran & Elena Pakholchik (UKR)
1996      Jochen Schümann (GER)      Lai Shan Lee (HKG)
1995      Russell Coutts (NZL)      Isabelle Autissier (FRA)
1994     Peter Blake (NZL) & Robin Knox-Johnston (GBR)       Theresa Zabell (ESP)

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Société Nautique de Genève statement on challenger’s Custom’s House Registry hearing

Statement from the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) following today’s hearing regarding the timing of delivery of Golden Gate Yacht Club’s (GGYC) Custom’s House Registry for their challenging vessel for the 33rd America’s Cup:

“We are pleased that after almost two years of withholding the information, counsel for the GGYC disclosed in Court today that the boat BMW Oracle has been sailing for almost a year is USA, their America’s Cup challenging vessel. USA must match the dimensions listed in GGYC’s Certificate of Challenge. While the judge reserved her ruling on when the GGYC must issue the Custom’s House Registry, we are confident that the Court will uphold the Deed of Gift. We are pleased to have a further degree of certainty regarding the GGYC boat and we look forward to the 33rd America’s Cup in February 2010 in Ras al-Khaimah,” said Lucien Masmejan, lead counsel for the SNG. “As we told the Court, our goal is to have an exciting race on the water and we are willing to assist the Challenger with any queries it has with regards the measurement procedures so that we and GGYC can be sure USA matches the dimensions in the Certificate of Challenge. We want to get the America’s Cup back to the water and out of the court,” he added.

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IMMEDIATE RELEASE

10 AUGUST 2009

The Tour catches up with Adam Minoprio after his recent success of becoming ISAF ranked number one match racer.

Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch

Congratulations Adam, you’ve just hit the Top of the ISAF Rankings.

How does that feel? Feels like warm apple pie.

It seems like your path to the top started at the Monsoon Cup 2007, tell us a bit more about how you put your plan together?

3 Years ago BlackMatch Racing was a group of mates that joined together to do some events. We ended up winning the qualifier to the Monsoon Cup 07. We did the event, saw where we wanted to be and came up with a team plan from there of winning the World Match Racing Tour by 2010.
You have a pretty consistent crew, talk to us about the team and how you all came to sail together?
Most of the team have been sailing together since completing the Royal New Zealand Youth Training Program in 2006, and it has been a great combination. Our team consists of Dave Swete, Nick Blackman, Tom Powrie and new member Dan Mclean who helped us out when Nick was injured and is now our 5th man. One of our strengths is our consistent crew as we all working towards the same goal.

What issues do you have as a team and how do you overcome them?

Deciding what match racing events to do other then the World Tour can be difficult, as they often clash with other sailing events or result in a lot of time away from home. We tend to make decisions as a team, weighing up the pros and cons and trying to keep everyone happy, while ensuring whatever we do will help us win the World Tour.

Who does what within the team to cover all the bases of running the project?

I organise the financial side of the team, as well as regatta entries.
Dave is our media liaison, writing daily media reports during regattas.
Nick organises our team kit, through Line 7 one of our main sponsors.
Tom ensures we all have enough of the right stuff to eat and drink at regattas, as well as all the small bits of gear required on board such as tape and tools.

The ISAF Rankings have their idiosyncrasies, is there a way to go about getting to the top?

Due to fact that regattas are counted over two years, it takes a year and half of good sailing to see the results on the ISAF rankings. We had a really successful year last year and are only now seeing the effects of that, by gaining points with every new ranking release this year.

You are now second in the Tour after leading for the first four events. How do you plan to get back ahead?

With two events back to back coming up, we are confident we can again have a strong showing in St Moritz, and hope to improve on a disappointing result last year in Denmark. As long as we are near the top going into the final event in Malaysia, we feel confident we have a good chance of taking out the title.

There must be things that you’ve done on the way that you would do differently if you had a second chance. What one piece of advice would you give to others with aspirations of getting to the top?

When flying with Ryanair, always ensure you have checked in online and printed your boarding pass, otherwise this can be costly at the airport.

What do you and the team do when you’re not match racing to take your mind off things, both when you’re at events and between events?

At events we all enjoy a beer after racing, and between events we try to do as much sailing as possible to further our sailing knowledge.

What about girlfriends? Living out of a suitcase can make things tricky?

At the moment I have no time for girlfriends as I am trying to do as much sailing as possible to get my name out there in the sailing circles. My crew on the other hand have very understanding girlfriends that let them off the leash for Match Racing Events and more.

How did your association with ETNZ come about?

Emirates Team New Zealand had no representation on the world Match Racing Tour due to other commitments, so we approached them hoping to change this. It benefits both parties by lifting the profile of our team, and ensuring ETNZ is represented on the World Match Racing Tour.

What’s next? What does the future hold for BlackMatch?

Our main goal currently is to win the world Match Racing Tour, and after that who knows…

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9 August 2009

2009 Moth Wolrds in Cascade Locks (Oregon-USA)

47 sailors will take part of 2009 Moth International World Championship from 9 to 15th August, in a fabulous place: Cascade Locks-Oregon.

On 6 and 7th August most of sailors have been racing in US National ( Pre-Worlds) regata.

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LUNDI 10 AOÛT 2009 – 14H38

Gildas Mahé à l’assaut de Dingle !

C’est aujourd’hui, lundi 10 août à 13h00 que le départ de la troisième étape de la Solitaire du Figaro a été donné. Au menu, pour Gildas Mahé et ses concurrents : 485 milles en direction de l’Irlande avec un départ sous vent faible et une arrivée au portant qui devrait s’avérer musclée… C’est un Gildas Mahé plus motivé que jamais qui reprend aujourd’hui les rênes de sa monture bleue et rouge. Arrivé 7e de la dernière étape, le skipper du Figaro Banque Populaire compte en effet continuer son ascension dans le classement. Pascal Bidégorry, skipper du maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V – et fraîchement détenteur du record de l’Atlantique Nord – était présent à Saint Gilles Croix de Vie pour soutenir le figariste, il gardera un œil bienveillant sur le brestois tout au long de cette avant-dernière étape.

C’est parti pour la flotte des figaristes ! Après trois jours de repos bien mérités, les concurrents se sont élancés en début d’après-midi de Saint-Gilles Croix de Vie en direction de Dingle, au sud-ouest de l’Irlande. Dans les grandes lignes, ces 485 milles s’apparentent pour les trois quart à une navigation au près dans des vents faibles et un final plus musclé au portant. Entre un front qui se désagrège, les effets thermiques, les courants de la pointe Bretagne et le passage d’une dorsale anticyclonique, Gildas Mahé, sur son Figaro Banque Populaire aura de quoi s’occuper ces trois prochains jours ! Le brestois, qui hier encore discutait tactique et stratégie avec Pascal Bidégorry venu sur place lui apporter son soutien, quittait ce matin les pontons de St Gilles Croix de Vie, avec une seule envie : mettre en application son savoir-faire et grimper dans le classement général.

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Photo credit: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo

BOUND FOR THE ROCK

August 10, 2009

After a tricky first night at sea, the mid-fleet in the Rolex Fastnet Race have experienced a rainy grey day at sea as they slog upwind westward along the English south coast.

As expected the big boats have broken away with Mike Slade’s 100-foot supermaxi ICAP Leopard, rounding Land’s End at around 0930 GMT and by 1500 she was halfway to the Fastnet Rock turning mark.

“It is a nice sunny day outside here, it could be a lot worse,” commented Slade, adding that the sea was flattening out after a bumpy ride up the Channel. Since rounding Lands End, with the wind from the west, ICAP Leopard, as well as the boats chasing her, have headed on a more northerly course, compared to the direct route to the Fastnet Rock.

As Volvo Ocean Race navigator Simon Fisher explained from on board Team Pindar, third placed in the Open 60 fleet and 41 miles from Slade’s race leader: “Big picture, the wind is going to come around to the northwest eventually. So we are off to the right in the hope that we have a nice shift, while trying to get into the best position relative to the other boats around us, in order to make the most of that.” The question for the boats presently mid-Celtic Sea is when the wind will veer from the west to the northwest and if they can lay the Rock in one tack when this shift comes.

At 1500 GMT, ICAP Leopard was just 25 miles ahead of Karl Kwok’s Farr 80 Beau Geste and 34 miles ahead of Niklas Zennstrom’s Judel-Vrolijk 72, Ran 2.

“We expect the breeze to come down a little bit, particularly once we have rounding the rock and are heading back. So, we have to be careful we don’t fall in a hole,” Slade continued. “But the boat is loving this bouncy stuff. We are going at 11.75-12 knots doing about 42deg TWA, and we are enjoying ourselves. I am looking forward to a beer in Plymouth, but I will have to wait a day and a half I have the feeling!” To date the most wind ICAP Leopard has seen is 22 knots.

Despite her length advantage, even ICAP Leopard experienced a hard time last night as she negotiated the English Channel. “The hardest part was the sloppy seas and light air in Lyme Bay, and trying to avoid being sucked up north at Start Point or into Plymouth Bay, and trying to get down around the Lizard. Ray Davies and Hugh Agnew have done a great job and have kept us out of trouble,” said Slade. ICAP Leopard’s ETA at the Fastnet Rock is expected to be 0100GMT.

Slade believes that this year the Rolex Fastnet Race will favour the small boats as was the case in 2005. “The breeze is going to fill in behind us once we are round the Rock. It looks like it will fill in for the next day and half to two days and it will bring the small boats in on handicap.”

Behind, the leading Open 60s are doing well to stay in contact with the larger Mini Maxis. Sam Davies and Sidney Gavignet on board Artemis Ocean Racing continue to lead, but with less than four miles separating her from Marc Guillemot’s Safran and Pindar. Their ETA at the Fastnet Rock is around 0500-0600 GMT tomorrow morning. Some such as Alex Thomson’s Hugo Boss have not been so fortunate – Thomson’s black boat some 47 miles behind the leaders at 1600.

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This post is tagged Adam Minoprio, alinghi, banque populaire, Blackmatch Racing, Copa del Ray, Fastnet Rock, ICAP Leopead, ISAF Rolex World Sailor 2009, La Solitaire du Figaro, Moth, NZsail Finance, Rolex Fastnet Race, Societe Nautique de Geneve, World Match Racing Tour