Greetings yachties,
Abby Sunderland
Groupama 3 gybed off Madeira
Louis Vuitton Trophy
Who let the dogs out?
Where is Jessica Watson now? latest news here
Transat Jacques Vabre 2009
more later – day job and Stewart Sprints tonight
Enjoy
Actual capsizes, the two co-skippers are safe and sound
Actual is reported to have capsized while to the north of Cherbourg
Actual, the new trimaran of Yves le Blevec and co-skipper Jean Le Cam is reported to have capsized in a position approximately 22 miles north of Cherbourg around 1645hrs GMT.
Reported to have been making around 20 knots of boat speed in approximately 23 knots of wind, the boat is reported to have pitch-poled.
The two co-skippers are reported to be safe, are inside the boat and OK and have requested help but did not issue a Mayday.
The pair are awaiting assistance from the lifeboat which should reach them in around 1.5 hours.
I’ve come to realize a bit better how much work Wild Eyes will be; she’s a great boat, and designed for single-handing, but she is a race boat. It takes more than twice as much work to do anything on her than on any other cruising boat – but its worth some extra work. That rough night on Wild Eyes wasn’t at all bad – it was actually kind of fun. We were making great time going at around 15 knots and once getting up to 24kts surfing down a wave. We were down to the third reef in the main and healed right over, though it was nothing compared to what I will get into. I will get a lot of weather like that in the Southern Ocean and it was good to be able to see how the boat handles in that sort of thing.
708 miles in 24 hours
Jules Verne Trophy 2009 – 2010
In a single day, Groupama 3 has succeeded not only in making up yesterday’s deficit on the reference time, but also gaining almost a day on the course adopted by Bruno Peyron in 2005! It’s been an excellent weekend for all Franck Cammas’ crew with over 700 miles covered over the past 24 hours.
First of all, Stan Honey is a lot better. Groupama 3’s navigator has been taken in hand by the crew and thanks to dried Swiss meat and a highly favourable weather situation, the American has been able to get on with his work at the chart table in the best possible conditions. The trimaran is also on a favourable course for tackling the Doldrums from Monday evening… In fact, this is the latest objective for Franck Cammas’ crew, who haven’t had as easy a day as all that despite the supersonic speeds this Sunday: the trimaran has managed to rack up nearly 708 miles in 24 hours!
Diving off the Canaries
Jules Verne Trophy 2009 – 2010
The NE’ly tradewinds have been much in evidence since Groupama 3 gybed off Madeira on Saturday evening. With an average speed of over thirty knots, Franck Cammas and his crew are diving due South towards the equator, which they are set to cross early this coming week.
Groupama 3 – © Yvan Zedda
It promised to be a good weekend: it should be an excellent one! Indeed 700 miles in 24 hours is on the programme this Sunday as Groupama 3 is benefiting from some very stable conditions with a favourable angle to the wind in order to tackle this descent of the Northern Atlantic. After having to curve out a course to the West due to the gradual rotation of the wind from the NW to the NE, Franck Cammas and his nine crew gybed on Saturday, just as they completed two full days at sea, at around 1550 UT… Since then the giant trimaran has been clocking up an average speed of over thirty knots on steady seas with perfect conditions in terms of temperature
Round Robin 1 : Day 3 match summaries
Posted: 1130 CET
Flight 1
M1: Azzurra d. BMW ORACLE Racing – Delta: 2m:56s
Azzurra scored the victory it was denied on Saturday when it defeated BMW Oracle Racing. The crews took split tacks off the start line, with Azzurra heading right and BMW Oracle sailing to the left. Azzurra tacked to starboard on the right side of the course and into a lift. The Italian crew, led by skipper Francesco Bruni, won the first cross by about two boatlengths and never looked back.
M2: Emirates Team New Zealand d. Synergy – Delta: 25 seconds
This match easily was the most exciting of the regatta that is still in its early days. It featured an OCS and four lead changes in winds that shifted as much as 90 degrees and ranged in strength between 0 and 9 knots. In the end, Team New Zealand extended its winning streak to three races, but only due to the grace of a private puff in the final stages of the match.
Synergy seemed destined to claim its first win in two races. After being OCS at the start, Synergy passed the Kiwis on the first upwind leg and led around the first lap. The wind shifted around to the east/northeast on the first run, but Synergy was able to maintain its lead on the second upwind leg by being to the right of the Kiwis.
The Russian crew, led by Polish skipper Karol Jablonski, kept its lead more than three-quarters of the way down the run to the finish but then sailed into a “wall.” Team New Zealand still seemed done, but skipper Dean Barker and crew found a saving puff about 10 boatlengths from the finish line and sailed over the top of the Russian yacht, which was dead in the water. Less than two lengths from the finish the Kiwis’ spinnaker blew back into the rig, so the crew dropped the sail on deck and shot the finish line without a headsail.
Round Robin 1 : Emirates Team New Zealand – All4One, breaking news
POSTED: 0940 CET Day 2 starts with the Kiwis v All4One.
The first match this morning started after Emirates Team New Zealand and All4One had done a sail past the Promenade des Anglais on the Nice seafront, where thousands of runners were setting out on the Nice to Cannes Marathon Race.
Then it was time for battle, with the Kiwis and French/German team on a split-tack start, Dean Barker taking the left and Jochen Schumann the right. However, the traditional ‘power of the right’ in match racing did the German skipper no favours as the New Zealand team, on GBR-75, hooked into the first windshift from the left.
Barker crossed Schumann comfortably on the first cross and sped away to a safe lead up the first beat.
Things went from bad to worse for All4One when the hook that holds the mainsail to the top of the mast gave way. After effecting a quick repair and rehoisting the mainsail, the Franco-Germans eventually decided to retire, handing an easy win to Dean Barker and Co.
Living on the other side of the world, and with much notice that this event was happening, it must have been quite a logistical exercise mobilising Emirates Team New Zealand to come and compete in Nice…
We’re very fortunate with Emirates that they get us up here in good style, and it’s been an interesting year. We’ve done a lot of TP52 sailing throughout the year, but yes, moving the 28 people that we have here for this event is still a big logistical exercise. Fortunately we’ve had a lot of practice with Louis Vuitton Acts in the past at moving things around.
There is a lot of new teams here who are still getting used to each other’s company, still learning the ropes, but with Emirates Team New Zealand you don’t have that excuse. You’re here to win, right?
Yes, absolutely, we’re here to win and we have high expectations. But it’s still hard, because you feel rusty, and we haven’t had the ability to sail much in these boats. The last time we set foot in one was Auckland for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series earlier this year. A lot of rust does creep in and so you try to iron out as many bugs as you can in the practice time that you have available. We’ve been a bit short of that practice time though.
In the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, two of those boats were your own, and the other two were provided by BMW Oracle Racing. Here you’re sailing boats that you don’t know very well at all, so how much does that change the game?
It is different because the boats are not the same, but within reason the characteristics of the boat are still the same. It’s about understanding the appendages and how the boats will react. Putting the boats on a shorter course also has quite an effect, the speed is less important and it’s more like general match racing. Provided you understand what you’ve got, and you know your limitations and you’re not getting too clever, you can figure out how to sail a different boat reasonably quickly.
Sunday Start For Transat Jacques Vabre
Hussle and bustle in the race village ahead of Sunday’s start
Photo ©MOCHET Marcel/AFP
Transat Jacques Vabre 2009
Heavy hail showers left Le Havre’s Paul Vatine dock under a temporary white blanket as the co-skippers and their shore-teams completed their final checks and preparations before Sunday’s Transat Jacques Vabre race start.
But, while some may have taken a brief respite to throw a few friendly snow or slush balls at each otheracross the dock, today’s almost wintery weather was not so much on their minds as what lies ahead over the first week of this ninth edition of the race.
Both the Multi 50’s and the IMOCA Open 60 monohulls start tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon. The multihulls will be set off at 1400hrs localtime with the Open 60’s half an hour later. France’s minister of state for sports Madame Rama Yade will speak with Michel Desjoyeaux and Marc Thiercelin on the pontoon before she heads out to fire the starting gun to set the race on its way.
This post is tagged Abby Sunderland, Emirates Team New Zealand, groupama 3, Jean Le Cam, Jessica Watson, Jules Verne, Louis Vuitton Trophy, Transat Jacques Vabres, Yves le Blevec
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