Yachting News 20th August 2009

Aug 20th 2009
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Greetings Yachties,

Class 40.

Audi Med Cup Practice Day & Day 1.

Waka Racing.

La Solitaire.

Sydney Hobart Notice of Race.

Hamilton Island.

Asean Para Games

Enjoy

Successful conclusion to ASEAN Para Games

18 Aug: The sailing competition held at Admiral Marina & Leisure Club in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan came to a successful conclusion yesterday. In the Female Access Liberty Class Singapore’s LIM KOK LIANG triumphed over CHERRY PINPIN from the Philippines. From then on the Malaysian Team white washed the scoreboard. In the Men’s Access 2.3, AL-MUSTAKIM MATRIN and SHAMSUL AZLI MOHAMAD took home the gold and silver medals while Singaporean JOVIN TAN and previous champion had to settle on the bronze medal this time. FARIDAH MOHD ABIDIN triumphed over Singaporean JOANNE TOH in the Women’s Access 2.3 Class. In the hotly contested Men’s Access Liberty Malaysia’s MUSTAFAH JUNELL scored Gold after overcoming a strong challenge from the Philippines ALSON TUMBAGAHAN (Silver) who just piped Malaysia’s AZMI ANI in the final races to score the Bronze Medal. The games aim to promote friendship and solidarity among persons with disabilities as well as to rehabilitate and integrate persons with disability into mainstream society through sports.

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more disabled yachting here

more Cowes Week here

Fifteen Crews Ready To Contend First Class 40 World Title

Chilean entry Desafio Cabo de Hornos of Felipe Cubillos
©Mike Jones – Pike Pictures

Class 40 World Championship 2009
Southampton, Great Britain
Competitors for the inaugural Class 40 World Championship arrived to blue skies and fair winds for the Practice Race day at Southampton, Great Britain.

The crews enjoyed a day of exploration, mainly of the local Hamble hostelries, before registration, scrutineering and the practice race kicked off on Monday.

Fifteen teams in total will be contesting the Championship title from Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany and Chile, including Tanguy de Lamotte fresh from winning his class in the Fastnet Race on his Initiatives Saveurs – Novedia Group.
De Lamotte and his team asserted their intentions by winning the practice race. Winning or indeed finishing the practice race is often seen as a bad omen, many of the competitors chose not to finish by passing the committee boat on the wrong side. Denis Lazat on Jumpa Lagi made it a French 1-2 with Felipe Cubillos on Desafio Cabo de Hornos from Chile in third

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The return of Quantum Racing

Portugal Trophy, 19 08 2009 © Richard Walch/Audi MedCup

After three good races off Portimao today Quantum Racing lead the TP52 Series fleet at the Portugal Trophy regatta.

Back on the waters where they won the 2008 Audi MedCup Circuit title a little less than a year ago, Terry Hutchinson and the crew of Quantum Racing gave themselves the best possible tonic after their disspointing seventh place finish last month in Sardinia when they won the first two races of the Portugal Trophy regatta today, then fought back to a well earned fourth place in the third contest to lead the event by three clear points.

It was an interesting, testing day for the ten TP52 crews off Portimao as the early, light sea breeze built for the first race before it gave way to the NW’ly gradient wind which offered two excellent races in which big gains and losses were available dependant on the shifty, puffy conditions presented racing closer to the Algarve shore.

Across the day it proved a comprehensive test, from the finesse and tactical racing of the light sea breeze to bursts of downwind planing in the third race the reigning champions proved to themselves they have the tools, skills and most all perhaps the confidence to win regattas. Their opening race win was their first winning gun since Marseille in June.

Their 1,1,4 for the day leaves them three points clear of 2007 champion owner-helm Torbjorn Tornqvist (SWE) and his team on Artemis who rolled out a consistent 3,4,2 to lead by two points a logjam of three teams on 11 points.

Local favourites Bigamist 7 lead the first race but failed to convert it to a winning gun, but they did make amends when they won the third race, holding off Artemis to lie third overall after the first day’s racing.

GP42 Series Practice Race
Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) who won last month in Sardinia and lead the series won the GP42 Practice Race after Roma 2, driven by Paolo Cian, got off to the best start in this closely matched fleet. The Canarias team led by helmsman Jose Maria Ponce (ESP) passed all at the leeward gate to take the lead and hold it to the finish.

Making his GP42 Series debut as tactician on Turismo Madrid (ESP), veteran match racer and French America’s Cup alumnist Philippe Presti shared his thoughts on racing in this small but intense fleet.

Audi MedCup Circuit 2009
Portugal Trophy

TP52 Series
Overall – Day 1
1. Quantum Racing (USA), 1+1+4= 6 points
2. Artemis (SWE), 3+4+2= 9 points
3. Bigamist (POR), 5+5+1= 11 points
4. Bribón (ESP), 6+2+3= 11 points
5. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 2+3+6= 11 points
…

GP42 Series
Practice Race
1. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP)
2. Roma (ITA)
3. Caser Endesa (ESP)
4. Turismo Madrid (ESP)
5. Airis (ITA)

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Portugal Trophy, 19 08 2009 © Richard Walch/Audi MedCup

Shirley Robertson was Europe gold medal in Sydney 2000 and Yngling in Athens 2004. She is also known for presenting the CNN Mainsail program in Eurosport. Have a look at her diary on Portimao…

“This is my first time at an Audi MedCup and it is lovely. In terms of the sailing it is what I expected because I know, and you can see the calibre of sailors that are here and the boats which are involved. But shore-side it is quite a surprise, it is quite Formula 1. It is great, it has a nice feel about it and the sailors are all around here in the regatta village. It is just very well organised and just very sensible. Like yesterday, even going out and having two practice starts for the practice, it just gives everyone a bit of extra practice.

The boats have come on a lot since I sailed them on Eamon Conneely’s Patches. I was quite surprised yesterday when I was steering Bribon. When I sailed them before they were still partly built for offshore sailing, and of course the standard of the sailing has got so much higher. They are chucking the boats around like they are dinghies now. When I started with Patches you felt a TP52 was quite a big boat, and yesterday it did not feel that at all.

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more Fastnet here

Hi Guys,

Thought it was about time you all deserved to hear from us and we do apologise for the lack of reports. The reason for this is that we haven’t been Match Racing since Slovenia back in June but we have kept up our sailing along with a bit of touring. We all parted ways after Slovenia to see the sites of Europe. Phil and Garth took a trip to Hungry again to do the famous ‘Blue Ribbon’ round the lake race in a Melges 24. After 16 hours and 100 miles on the board we finished in a solid 20th position out of 600. It was a sight to see off the start line(which was 5.2ks long) with 600 colourful spinnakers behind you. A month later the team meet up again in Hamble, UK to compete in the ever so popular Cowes Sailing Week. We competed in the hotly contested J109 fleet sailing some outstanding races in the challenging waters. Finishing in 8th place we were happy but would have been 5th if it wasn’t for the DNS in the last race for starting incorrectly. We have now just spent the last 9 days in Portorose, Slovenia launching a new RC44 and doing the much needed work involved to get it race ready. Hopefully all going to plan we will be able to compete in the Regatta back there in 6 weeks time.

This brings us to now. Flying to the USA tomorrow morning to continue with the Match Racing programme with 3 grade 2 regattas back to back. We have set our sights high with a big hunger to perform above ourselves. These will also be a great warm up for the boys before our second World Tour event in Denmark from the 8th-13th September. We will continue to send reports on the regattas but if you would like to follow the racing closer we will give regular updates on our site http://www.wakaracing.blogspot.com/.

Thanks again for all the support.

Waka Racing

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50 Miles from the Finish, and the Game Wide Open

19-08-2009
The suspense continues this morning as the fleet reach the middle of the English Channel, no more than 50 miles from the finish line in Dieppe. As the wind has died down in the small hours, so the leading skippers – Frédéric Duthil, Charles Caudrelier Benac, Michel Desjoyeaux et Yann Eliès – have come under attack from all sides.
Race Director Jacques Caraës, watching the scene unfold at sea, describes the situation : “It’s incredible, I don’t think we’ve ever seen this on La Solitaire du Figaro. The wind turned and dropped, but there was still some advantage in the west. The boats that were further back were going faster and could be pulling off quite a stroke. The rankings could be thrown completely up in the air. If the leaders don’t catch on to what’s happening, and it carries on, it could go very badly for them.”

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Notice Of Race And Application For Entry Available For 65th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

Start of the 64th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2009

Sydney, Australia

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, the organising authority for the 65th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, and Rolex SA of Geneva, the race’s naming rights sponsor, have announced the release of the Notice of Race and invite applications for entry.
Following the CYCA’s decision to extend the overall length limit (LOA) from 98 to 100ft, or 30 to 30.48 metres, the club anticipates entries from four 100 foot maxi yachts including Neville Crichton’s Reichel Pugh designed 100ft Alfa Romeo, Mike Slade’s British based ICAP Leopard and Robert Oatley’s Reichel Pugh designed Wild Oats XI, which is currently undergoing modifications to extend her LOA to 100ft. CYCA member Sean Langman plans to charter and lengthen the Greg Elliott designed New Zealand based Maximus.

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Will the fleet for this month’s Audi Hamilton Island Race Week top the magical 200?

It’s a distinct possibility as the closing time for entries looms.

The number of entries for the week of sensational sailing and exceptional social activities that starts on August 22 is now nudging 190.

“To have a fleet of around 200 is quite amazing and extremely satisfying,” said Hamilton Island’s CEO and world champion yachtsman, Glenn Bourke. “It confirms just how great Race Week really is.

“We would have been happy with a fleet of 150, especially in the wake of some tough financial times. But no: after last year’s hugely successful 25th anniversary Race Week the sailors have decided to come back once more. I guess it’s because we deliver the complete package – outstanding racing around deserted islands in a tropical environment, spectacular scenery, a wide-ranging social agenda, and you’re here at the venue the moment you step off the jet.”

The cluster of entries lodged in recent days reflects the diverse nature of the regatta. They range from Andrew Short’s 80ft maxi, Club Marine Shockwave, and Michael Hiatt’s hot new Farr 55 Grand Prix racer, Living Doll, through to Mike Blenkisop’s non-spinnaker cruising division entry out of Melbourne, Pelikan, and Tim Osborne’s well-known performance racer, Rising Farrst, from Airlie Beach.

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