Yachting News 11th September 2009

Sep 11th 2009
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Greetings yachties

Rolex Big Boat – San Francisco

World Match Tour – Denmark

BlackMatch

Audi Med Cup

IBI – Sweden’s Nimbus Group

Artemis Ocean Racing – Mini650

Istanbul

Enjoy, but first

CLASS LEADERS EMERGE ON DAY ONE ON SAN FRANCISCO BAY

September 10, 2009

In Italian, the word Vincitore means ‘the winner’ so Jim Mitchell and his multi-national crew took the theme to heart by winning both races in IRC A class on the opening day of the Rolex Big Boat Series. Over 1,000 sailors on 97 boats in 11 classes are competing through Sunday, September 13. “I wouldn’t miss this regatta for anything,” said Mitchell, who grew up in Chicago but now calls Zurich (SUI) his home. “It was one of our crew’s birthdays yesterday, Dallas Kilponen, and I think our two bullets are the best present we can give him.” All of the IRC class leaders – Kjeld Hestehave’s Velos, Daniel Woolery’s King 40 Soozal and Gerard Sheridan’s Elan 40 Tupelo Honey – joined the two-bullet club today, in the IRC B, IRC C and IRC D classes, respectively. All four divisions of IRC handicap-rated boats also are competing for the Rolex US-IRC National Championship.

The other two groups vying for national championships are the Express 37 and Melges 32 classes. For Burt Benrud, this is not only his first Rolex Big Boat Series but also his first season in the Grand-Prix one-design class. “This is our first big outing and we could have not picked a better location,” he said. Benrud, with co-owner Andy Lovell from New Orleans, La. and crew on the Melges 32 Rougarou, won the day’s first race, took a second in the second and now sit in first overall in the six-boat class. “We are sailing under the Southern Yacht Club flag, and we are very proud to be able to represent our hometown.” Don Jesberg, the recent winner of the class’s North American championship, is in second place overall on his Viva, followed by Stephen Pugh’s Taboo.

“We actually had our first Express 37 National Championship regatta in 1986,” said Bartz Schneider, the class fleet captain and president, and skipper of Expeditious, currently in fourth place overall. “This is our 20th national championship at the St. Francis. In 1990 we had our first National Championship as part of the Big Boat Series, and except for 2001, we have had it as part of the regatta every year.” Leading the nine-boat class is Kame Richards’ Golden Moon, with Elan, owned by Bill Reiss, in third. Schneider summed up the fleet leaders: “Golden Moon will be tough, with Bay tide guru Kame Richards at the helm. Elan will be very competitive. And Blade Runner, with their name already on the trophy several times, is always a possible threat.”

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DENMARK DISHES UP DIFFICULT DAY

Collision and chaos for Jes Gram Hansen and fellow Dane Peter Wibroe. Image: Per Heegaard
Difficult conditions provided top match racers with a number of challenges

Aarhus, Denmark, 10 September 2009 – Uncharacteristic summery conditions for September in Aarhus, Denmark were perhaps a little too summery for the opening day of the Danish Open, organised by the Royal Danish Yacht Club. The wind off Marselisborg Havn was not only from the northwest, and offshore, but in the morning it was painfully light too, making for a day of extreme challenges for the opening matches of the round robin.

Aboard the familiar DS37 yachts that are regularly used at the top match racing events in Scandinavia, the 12 Danish Open skippers were able to sail eight flights, PRO Mads Korsgaard keen to get as many races in as possible, with similar conditions forecast for tomorrow.

Of the first six who sailed each other, it was local match racing hero Jes Gram-Hansen who came out on top, dropping just one race of his five to young Dane, Peter Wibroe. This was a top opener, considering that Gram-Hansen has had a year’s sabbatical from match racing.

“It is fun to be back, but we had really difficult conditions today – it has been up and down,” said Gram-Hansen, who has twice finished third overall in the World Match Racing Tour.

With the giant shifts, that became bigger still (between 40-60 degrees) in the afternoon when some threatening rain clouds passed overhead, so today was mostly about guessing the shifts right up the first beat and less about match racing prowess. “Rasmus (Kostner) did a fantastic job today in getting us to the right side,” said Gram-Hansen of his tactician. “Sometimes you might not want the start that looks good, but you just want to go to the first shift.”

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Hi all from BlackMatch,

After an astonishing fight back last week to take out the St Moritz event, it was a case of déjà vu today with yet another terrible start to a regatta that saw us managing only a single victory in five matches, on the opening day of the Danish Open.

Our win today came against the reigning Danish Open and current World Champion Ian Williams who also had a day to forget, also managing only one win. Aside from our match against local legend Jes Gram Hansen who totally dominated us in the shifty conditions, our matches were extremely close and in fact two were lost on the final downwind leg.

It is not a good feeling to be leading a race right up until the final run to the finish and in the extremely light conditions today it almost paid to be behind at the final top mark rounding, but we know what we are capable of and are hoping to put this behind us and come out fighting tomorrow.

This regatta has an extremely tough format, a single round robin where each team races each other once and then only the top four qualify for the next round. This format makes it important to get underway to a good start which we have not and essentially means we will have to go unbeaten tomorrow to secure a semi final berth.

When the Bribón crew won the penultimate regatta of last season in Cartagena, Murcia, they set themselves a tough act to follow. Now as the iconic Spanish team head back to Cartagena for the Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy, they do so not only as the holders of the Murcia Trophy, but having won at least one regatta each season with their Judel Vrolijk design which won on her debut in 2007 in Alicante. Ignasi Triay reflects on Cartagena, both as Bribón Project Manager and Audi MedCup Circuit Director…

“It was a great regatta last year, very tight and absolutely down to the last gybe with Matador. We wanted to win an event this season, and so this is it.” Recalls Ignasi Triay, Bribón’s (ESP) Project Manager and trimmer, and Audi MedCup Circuit Director.

“We still have to prove to ourselves that we can do. Without a doubt last season we were one of the most consistent teams, this year in some ways we have been the one of the most inconsistent.”

“Last year the regatta there was interesting because for the first four days the wind was strong and easterly and that brings big waves, but it is very tricky on the course area because the waves are across the wind. The last days were more typical of what we would expect with a lighter sea-breeze.” He recalls. “There is that transition which is not easy. The last four weeks or so it has been blowing consistently NE’ly or E’ly”

For Triay, Bribón still have to prove they can do it. Even with the eldest boat in the fleet now he believes they can do enough to win again.

“For sure the standard is higher, but you really can’t predict how it will go. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), you would think, are in a comfortable position and will sail relatively safely, and of course they could still lose it with a bad regatta. And then you have Matador (ARG), Artemis (SWE) and Quantum Racing (USA) all close together, so it could be very exciting and opens the door for us maybe.”
“If we have the perfect race, and I mean perfect with no mistakes, then we can finish in the top three in a race, so it’s a big ask.”
“The GP42’s are more open and will be a very exciting competition, certainly with three boats who you could not choose between.”

As Audi MedCup Circuit Director…
The Audi MedCup Circuit Director is delighted to see the season’s finale hosted in Cartagena: “They really took the Circuit to their hearts and have such a passion for it, it’s inspiring. It’s a city and an area which has a real passion for the seas and for sailing, a real tradition that goes back to their roots. And they have never really had the opportunity before to host big, world class sailing events. So I think this year will be fantastic. They have so many parallel events running… It will be very impressive and a lot of fun as well.”

And looking to the future of the class, and the Audi MedCup Circuit, he is cautiously optimistic: “It has been quite stable this season really and next season should be similar at least. We are hearing talk of maybe one new boat, and possibly two new teams with secondhand boats. But it will be very exciting with the new configuration for the TP52. The boats will be a little stiffer, slightly bigger mainsail and much bigger spinnakers on the bowsprit. When you can’t brace the pole back then it completely changes the way you sail downwind, a new technique and of course spinnaker shapes will change as well as the sails being bigger. You cannot play with the height of the pole to control the luff entry and open the leech, so there is a lot of work to do, and budgets and time will still be tight. It is going to be very interesting again.”

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Record summer for Nimbus

By IBI Magazine/Lars-Åke Redéen

Sweden’s Nimbus Group claims to have sold more boats than ever in July — 150 boats in one month. The biggest improvement was for the more expensive boats, and interest remains steady.

“We have had good sales during all of 2009, but increased interest during the summer surprised even ourselves,” says Nimbus managing director Magnus Andersson.

Compared with the same period last year, the value of orders from this summer’s sales has doubled.

“Both Ryds, which is a part of the group, and Nimbus have had good sales, but this is especially significant for Nimbus,” Andersson adds. “This also says something about the market and that bigger and more expensive boats are those that are doing the best in sales. Exports have also increased a lot. We are moving in on the French market, especially on the Atlantic coast, and this week we’re shipping a couple of boats to Australia.”

One of the reasons for the record interest in Nimbus boats during the spring is the presentation of several new models: Nimbus 335 coupé, Nimbus 365 coupé, Nimbus 43 nova and Paragon 31.

In August, 22 dealers from almost as many nations visited Nimbus’ headquarters in Gothenburg to test-drive the new boats.

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Small boat, huge adventure for Ollie Bond in the Artemis Mini!

Ollie bond
On Sunday, 13th September, Ollie Bond will take the start of the “Mini Transat” from the French port of La Rochelle flying the Artemis Ocean Racing Team’s colours against a huge 85-boat strong fleet. And Artemis Ocean Racing teammate, Samantha Davies, will be at the start to see Ollie off in her role as ‘godmother’ to the race, as well as official starter. Crossing the Atlantic single-handed aboard a tiny 6.50-meter long monohull is an incredible adventure as well as a fantastic sporting achievement, and the skipper of the Artemis Mini is among the race favourites – British hopes are high for this year’s event!

Created by Englishman Bob Salmon in 1977, the Mini Transat originally started from Penzance (Cornwall) and finished in Antigua after a stopover in Tenerife (Canary Islands). It gave birth to one of the most innovative and active class of ocean racers, and quickly became a major stepping-stone for aspiring professional skippers. Salmon’s idea was to go back to ocean racing’s “Corinthian” roots, the financial excesses of the OSTAR (Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race) prevented most amateurs from entering never mind standing a chance of ending up on the podium. Taking a radical approach, Salmon decided to limit the boat length to 6.50 meters (21.3ft), which ensured that budgets would remain reasonable and, at the same time, gave the newborn category the ‘insane’ factor it is still famous for. If, on today’s ocean racing scene, a class still embodies the original spirit of pioneering adventures, it has to be the Mini Transat!

Over its 32 years of existence, the Mini Class has seen the birth of more than 700 boats, some of which featured groundbreaking solutions that later made their way to bigger racers. Michel Desjoyeaux’s prototype, notably, was the first ocean racer to feature a canting keel, and that soon became the norm for round-the-world IMOCA 60 footers. All the greatest names in offshore racing competed in the Mini Class before going on to win major TransAtlantic races or capture victories around the globe, and if the Mini has always been dominated by the French, the most prominent British racers have taken part with convincing results: Ellen MacArthur, Brian Thompson, Sam Davies – skipper of the Artemis Ocean Racing IMOCA 60 for the Transat Jacques Vabre – but also Phil Sharp or Artemis Ocean Racing’s Nick Bubb, currently competing on the Artemis Figaro in the Tour de Bretagne, to name just a few. This year, hopes are high for the Brits on the Mini Transat, thanks to a certain Mr Bond…

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Dans la foulée de l’arrivée de Kito de Pavant et ses hommes à bord de Groupe Bel, grands vainqueurs de la deuxième étape de l’Istanbul Europa Race entre Nice et Barcelone, les arrivées se sont succédées au port. Les équipages de Foncia (Michel Desjoyeaux) et de 1876 (Guillermo Altadill) complètent le podium à l’issue du parcours méditerranéen le plus court (420 milles) de ce grand tour de l’Europe. Retour sur une journée haute en couleur sous le soleil de la grande cité espagnole, connue pour adhérer avec une audace très singulière à la modernité européenne et qui a accueilli comme il se doit Marc Thiercelin et les siens (DCNS). Longtemps englués dans les petits airs, ils ont finalement coupé et fermé la ligne, dans les eaux catalanes, à 20h49’18

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