Yachting News 2nd November 2009
BOR 90 Dismasted
Pictures of the mess from Scuttlebut
Greetings yachties,
Alinghi – Société Nautique de Genève has nominated Graham McKenzie (NZL),
IBI News – British hostages offered as exchange for prisoners,
Wakatipu Yacht Club, Christmas Regatta,
Abby Sunderland – New boat,
Melges 24 – Larson holds his nerve – Winner
Clipper – update,
Groupama 3 – Jules Verne,
Jessica Watson – Last Orange,
Enjoy
Graham McKenzie nominated as SNG expert witness for NY Supreme Court hearing
Graham McKenzie, AC Jury member
Société Nautique de Genève has nominated Graham McKenzie (NZL) as an expert witness for the New York Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday 4 November.
McKenzie was a member of the 32nd America’s Cup Jury and has sailed both competitively and for leisure in New Zealand on a wide range of yachts.
He retired as partner from Bell Gully, a New Zealand law firm, in 2006 and is a Notary Public. McKenzie is a Barrister and Solicitor in New Zealand and Queensland, Australia, and is a Director of several public companies. He is also Deputy Chairman of Saint Kentigern Trust Board and a Trustee of the Bruce McLaren Trust.
McKenzie and the Golden Gate Yacht Club’s appointed expert will chose a third to assist Justice Kornreich with the technical issues still pending for the 33rd America’s Cup.
British hostages offered as exchange for prisoners
By IBI Magazine/Practical Boat Owner
News agencies are today reporting that the group holding British yacht owners Rachel and Paul Chandler have demanded the release of captured hijackers in return for the couple captured on Friday, October 23.
According to The Daily Telegraph, “the kidnappers are torn between asking for a ransom or the release of their comrades.”
News reports stated that an initial demand for $7m has been followed by a request for the release of seven pirates captured by EU forces on Tuesday attempting to hijack a fishing vessel.
Mr and Mrs Chandler, 59 and 55, were taken hostage in the early hours of Friday, October 23 around 60 miles from Victoria in the Seychelles.
After being forced to motor towards Somalia, they were transferred from their 12m (38ft) yacht onto a hijacked Chinese container ship before being transferred onto land. They are now thought to have been moved further into the country’s interior.
Wakatipu Yacht Club racing on Lake Wakatipu CREDIT: Rilean Construction
Sponsorship helps Christmas Regatta set sail
By Rilean Construction
51 views
QUEENSTOWN
Lake Wakatipu will once again host competitive sailing these summer holidays thanks to the support of one of Queenstown’s leading construction companies.
Rilean Construction has stepped up to the plate to sponsor the Wakatipu Yacht Club Christmas Regatta, an event that has not been held for 15 years. The two-day regatta is expected to attract dozens of different craft and keen sailors to Queenstown from all over the South Island for some exciting racing.
Rilean Construction director Stephen McLean said his team included a number of keen local yachties, which had prompted the company’s support.
“Project manager Hamish Jackson and Gavin Shaw, a senior carpenter, love to get out on the water and we’ll be cheering them on from the shore,” he said.
“The lake is such a big part of life in Queenstown, especially in summer, and we’re delighted to help put the Christmas Regatta back on the events calendar,” he said.
Wakatipu Yacht Club Vice Commodore Andrew Husheer said the club thought the time was right to bring the regatta back to life.
“There’s nothing else like this in the region over the Christmas and New Year period so we’re hoping to attract up to 100 sailors and their families to come along. The races will be great fun but still very competitive. The main aim is to get people out on the lake to enjoy their sport at a perfect time of year,” he said.
Abby Sunderland: Have boat, will sail
Written by Elizabeth Ellis
Laurence Sunderland says Abby isn’t sailing Intrepid because it made more sense to get the Open 40 rather than prepare a 37-year-old boat for it’s second circumnavigation in less than two years.
“It is a little harder to see your daughter go off on [a voyage] like this,” says Laurence, a shipwright and owner of Sunderland’s Yacht Management in Marina del Rey. “But she’s got the experience to see this through.”
Abby has done solo deliveries for her father’s company since she was 13, says Laurence. Sailing is a way of life for the Sunderland family, so she is qualified for the circumnavigation, he says.
Newsletter_102909_05″[This trip] is dangerous, but most things in life are dangerous,” says Laurence. “How many teenagers die in cars every year? With her upbringing, she will overcome the rough times and bring the boat safely into port.”
Abby says she has been training to prepare for the physical rigors of single-handing a racing yacht around the world. “My biggest concern is fatigue, which is something every sailor goes through,” she says. “Sometimes you’re exhausted, and that’s really hard to deal with. Sailing is always a risk, even for the most experienced sailors.”
Wild Eye’s equipment list includes radar, an EPIRB, high-frequency radio, life raft and satellite phone, among other gear. And there will be backup systems, she says. And, of course, she has her big brother to turn to for firsthand advice.
“I have tried to knock her confidence by telling her my scary stories, mostly so she will better understand what she is getting into,” says Zac, who is joining Abby and Dad on the sail to Fort Lauderdale. “She is still confident and totally focused on going.”
Larson Holds His Nerve To Take Melges 24 World Title
Chris Larson and his West Marine Rigging and New England Ropes team celebrate their World title success
©Perrick Contin
Sheehy Lexus of Annapolis Melges 24 World Championship 2009
Annapolis, Maryland, USA
American skipper Chris Larson and his West Marine Rigging and New England Ropes team remained cool under pressure to take the title at the Sheehy Lexus of Annapolis 2009 Melges 24 World Championship.
The 51 international teams, who had travelled from across North America and Europe to compete in the Sheehy Lexus of Annapolis 2009 Melges 24 World Championships, finally got the welcome opportunity to race in double-digit breezes on the final day of the regatta. Despite the Championship racecourse being shrouded in appropriately Halloween style mist for most of the day, the Race Committee successfully banged off two four-leg races in winds which peaked at around fourteen knots.
Chris Larson at the helm of ‘West Marine Rigging and New England Ropes’, who had led the regatta on-and-off for much of the week, took a 17-point lead into the final day on Saturday and looked odds-on to take the title. However with the potential for three races to be sailed on the final day, Larson was always potentially vulnerable to attack from second placed Gabrio Zandona at the helm of the Italian entry ‘Joe Fly’.
It’s one of the mantras of the Clipper Race that is drummed into crew and skippers from the outset: look after your boat and your boat will look after you. The teams that do best are those that look after themselves and their equipment. You can’t sail it like you stole it and rock up in port expecting to have whatever you’ve damaged in the process replaced without some kind of payback. The rules of the race are designed to reward good seamanship. This isn’t the kind of race where the team with the biggest budget does best – the boats are identical, all of them have the same kit, the same sail wardrobe, the same budget and the rules are there to ensure that the racing is as fair as it can be.
No one is realising the truth of this more strongly than the crew of Cork, Ireland, who shredded a kite on Leg 1. It was judged beyond repair in Rio so they are now without the most valuable of their three spinnakers – just when they really need it.
Skipper, Richie Fearon, says, “We have had our spinnaker up now for just over a day and a half now and we are finally feeling as if we are moving. Since we shredded our medium weight kite on Leg 1 due to a nasty wrap we only have our lightweight and heavyweight. Currently we are running with our lightweight but the increase in wind is posing the dilemma of whether to change down or not. The lightweight is bigger but the winds aren’t strong enough to justify the heavyweight yet. We have a steady Force 4 but it’s occasionally touching Force 5 and is holding a 5 more often now. If only we had our medium weight kite which is the same area as the light but with thicker material…”
Nevertheless, Cork is posting some of the fastest 12-hour runs of the fleet and moving up through the rankings as their southerly routing puts them in an excellent position to take advantage of the winds. They could well move ahead of erstwhile leaders Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Jamaica Lightning Bolt whose more easterly route has lost the breeze.
“We’re seeking to gain any advantage we can. Setting out from Brest will be easier from a maritime viewpoint, both in terms of hoisting the sails in the lee of the harbour, and making for the start line off Ushant with what we expect will be a fairly strong N’ly wind” explains Franck Cammas.
For this final sail between Lorient, the home port for the Groupama trimarans since 1998, and Brest, five of the ten Jules Verne crew were aboard. Boat captain Loïc Le Mignon was naturally in position, as well as Bruno Jeanjean, Lionel Lemonchois and finally Thomas Coville, who knows the port at the tip of Brittany like the back of his hand: “I have a lot of memories of this place. Some good, some bad, but none that have left me feeling indifferent”.
Groupama 3 and La Boudeuse in Brest – © Team Groupama
Moored in the new port of Le Château, just in front of La Boudeuse, Groupama 3 is making the most of the fine facilities in Brest to finish off the vast amount of preparation: “We still have to remove the propulsion engine and lift out the propeller shaft” explains Yann Mérour, a native of Brest in charge of logistics. He adds: “The supplies will be loaded as soon as the bilges are clean, on Wednesday or Thursday”.
Responsible for keeping an eye on Groupama 3, Yann and his team will be making regular return trips between Lorient and Brest: “There are always a few details that can be improved on; a boat is never ready” he concludes, though he is not averse to making the most of the stand-by period in Brest to invite his friends along to admire the maxi trimaran. Meantime, some of the other members of the team will be deciphering the grib files on a daily basis, in search of the right weather window…
Well that’s it, the last of my fresh fruit. I’ve just been savoring my last orange and I’m sure going to miss fresh fruit! And on the subject of food today I pulled out my first new food bag. A food bag lasts 14 days. It feels like a bit of a milestone and I’m looking forward to dinner tonight because I get first pick of meals. By the end of the week all the good stuff will be gone and I’ll be back to eating all my second favorites.
Progress has been a little slower today with the wind dropping right out to pretty much nothing for a while last night, then coming round on to Pink Lady’s nose this morning. But we’re still eating away at the miles and getting very close to the edge of the chart. So I pulled out a new chart and spent the afternoon looking over it studying up on areas we’re sailing into. It feels
like we’re really getting into unfamiliar waters now, I’ve never sailed this far east before so it’s all new and exciting stuff from here.
Ella’s Pink Lady is sitting on a close reach plodding along at a steady 6knots. After passing reasonably close to Minerva Reef.
[...] Excerpt from: Yachting News 2nd November 2009 [...]