Yachting News Black Friday November 2009
Greetings yachties,
or nu…..I’m beached as bro…so beached
BT distress beacon activate,
Jessica Watson,
Asian Match Racing Championship 2009,
Dogzilla – 19knots at 20 apparent,
Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur,
Jules Verne Trophy – Maxi Banque Populaire V,
Glacier retreat creates new carbon dioxide store,
Asian Match Racing Championship – New Zealand Team leads,
Enjoy
BT distress beacon activated. Rescue process under way.
At approximately 10:20hrs GMT today, BT crew Sébastien Josse and Jean-François Cuzon activated their EPIRB distress beacon after having suffered major damage following a night battling it out in fierce seas and winds reaching 60 knots at times. The skippers are in regular contact with TJV Race Director Jean Maurel, and have reported significant damage to the coachroof, and water entering the boat. The MRCC are coordinating operations with the Transat Jacques Vabre Race Direction and the BT shore team, to ensure the safe recovery of the skippers. MRCC Falmouth confirmed that the RCC Azores have sent a helicopter and a Navy vessel towards BT, whilst emitting a satellite broadcast alert to shipping in the area. BT was positioned 210 miles North of the Azores, 42 10º N – 27 50º W.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Squally Sailing
Sorry it’s been a little while without an update.
I was told that this has become the most watched blog in Australia and stage fright has left me a bit speechless! No just kidding it’s all good. Well actually it’s pretty amazing and more than a little hard for me to comprehend out here all alone. Well, physically alone. It really is amazing to be able to share the voyage with so many wonderful people. To me, it is just sharing my journey with you, in what is sometimes a not very exciting life. Plodding along out here, taking whatever is thrown at us, just feels completely normal. I know I’m going to get a million cries of disagreement. But think about it. How strange would it feel to you to be describing to the world all the ins and outs of your everyday life? It is all a bit surreal. That said, thank you all for your support!
And talking of those little ins and outs, Ella’s Pink Lady and I have been making good progress for the last few days. The latitude read out now puts us in the single digits – wow!
Robertson Takes Asian Match Racing Championship To Earn World Tour Spot
©Gareth Cooke/Subzero Images/Monsoon Cup
Asian Match Racing Championship 2009
Terengganu, Malaysia
In a thrilling series, New Zealand’s Phil Robertson and his WAKA Racing Team beat Australian Michael Dunstan and his SLAM Racing Team, to win the Asian Match Racing Championship on Thursday afternoon.
As a result Phil Robertson (NZL) will be sailing in the final round of the 2009 World Match Racing Tour, the Monsoon Cup to be held in Terengganu, Malaysia from 1-6 December 2009.
On what is now truly the home of Asian Match Racing, the Pulau Duyong Basin in the Terengganu River, teams from New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong progressed to the semi-finals this afternoon after the completion of two full round robins.
Robertson and his WAKA Racing crew; tactician Garth Ellingham, trimmer James Williamson, muscleman Samu Bell and Australian bowman Adam Martin cruised into the semi-finals with an impressive 11-1 record.
Michael Dunstan (AUS) and his SLAM Racing team kept improving throughout the event to place second on the ladder with a 9-3 result, ahead of Team J.F.P (JYMA) skippered by Kan Yamada (JPN), 8-4 and Team Hong Kong (Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club), skippered by Martin Kaye (HKG), 6-6.
Local Terengganu team Taring Pelangi (TESA) skippered by Hazwan Hazim (MAS) finished the round robins with a 5-7 result, while Team ‘EM’ (Royal Varuna Yacht Club) skippered by Morten Jakobsen recorded a 2-10 result. MAF 1 skippered by Mohamad Razali bin Mansor (MAS) completed the event at 1-11.
Robertson went into the semi-finals without tactician Ellingham who was not able to race due to heat stroke. David Gilmour (AUS) replaced Ellingham.
For WAKA Racing, it was a 3-0 result against the Hong Kong team of Kaye. In the final match Kaye was pushing hard trying to get back into the race but when he collected two penalties it was all over.
Emirates Team New Zealand wins first round robin at Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur
One match remains to complete the round and it has significant implications for the standings
Emirates Team New Zealand won the first round robin at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur despite losing the anticipated showdown match against England’s TEAMORIGIN.
TeamOrigin, with founder and CEO Sir Keith Mills riding as 18th man, won the thrilling race by 32 seconds. That gave the British team an opportunity to win the round robin outright, but it dropped to third when it lost to Italy’s Azzurra in its second match of the day.
Azzurra’s 1-minute triumph put it tied with Team New Zealand for the lead at 6-1, but the Kiwis won by beating Azzurra in Flight 5. TeamOrigin placed third with a 5-2 record.
“It was always going to be a tough match against TeamOrigin,” said Emirates Team New Zealand skipper, Dean Barker. “It was disappointing to lose the race, but you always learn more in your losses than your wins. We’re pleased with the way we’re sailing and we can do better.”
Round Robin 1 drawing to a close at Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur
© photo Credit Bob Grieser/outsideimages.co.nz | Louis Vuitton Trophy, Nice Côte d’Azur.
Today was a case of one match, one win for three of the top four teams at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur.
Emirates Team New Zealand, Azzurra and Artemis each won their lone match of the day, which was shortened to two flights as light winds in the afternoon turned the Baie des Anges off Nice into a virtual mill pond.
After day six, Emirates Team New Zealand still leads the event with 6 points on a perfect 6-0 record. Skipper Dean Barker and mates defeated BMW ORACLE Racing by 48 seconds in their lone match and have one remaining in the round against TEAMORIGIN. Based on the standings tonight the Kiwis need to win that match to win the round.
“We’re happy with how it’s been going,” said Barker. “We’ve been sailing with the same crew. You run the risk of injury or illness, but we’ve had the same crew throughout.”
Photo © Franck Socha | Louis Vuitton Trophy, Nice Côte d’Azur.
Round Robin 1 : Flights 12-13 summaries
FLIGHT 12
Wind: 7-9 knots
Course axis and range: 345 degrees, 1.3 NM
M1: Emirates Team New Zealand d. BMW ORACLE Racing – Delta: 48 seconds
Team New Zealand controlled this match throughout, although it was close around the first lap of the two-lap course. The Kiwis have attempted to start to leeward on starboard in every match, and got that position again. They believe that tacks late in the sequence are costly because smaller, No. 2 genoas are being used rather than the giant overlapping No. 1s. That makes the boats underpowered in the light winds.
Team New Zealand led by 13 seconds at the first windward mark as both boats took port jibe on the first run. Approaching the halfway point of the run BMW Oracle seemed to be getting its bow to leeward of New Zealand’s line and closing a bit. That’s when Team New Zealand threw a fake jibe at its rival, but BMW Oracle didn’t bite. Moments later the Kiwis made another fake jibe, going so far as to bring the boom to centreline with the mainsail battens popping from port to starboard, but then turned back to port when BMW Oracle completed the jibe to starboard. A minute later Team New Zealand completed a jibe to starboard and had clear air to the leeward gate, which it rounded to port in a jibe douse. BMW Oracle held starboard around the right-hand mark. Up the second beat Team New Zealand sailed free and clear and increased its lead to 47 seconds at the second windward mark. The run to the finish was a foregone conclusion.
The Maxi Banque Populaire V is entering the stand-by period!
It has been a bit more than a year since the Maxi Banque Populaire V has been launched and this incredible multihull is now ready to conquer the Jules Verne Trophy. After having triumphed over the Atlantic and on the 24 hour distance, Pascal Bidégorry and his crew are now prepared to set off and steal Bruno Peyron’s record established in 2005 aboard the maxi catamaran Orange 2. From now on, the skipper of Maxi Banque Populaire V and his Team scrutinize any weather opportunity to undertake this circumnavigation around the globe in less than 50 days, 16 hours and 20 minutes.
In time and in good shape!
After a two month refit and one month of training and of physical preparation, Pascal Bidégorry is a satisfied and confident skipper: “I’m so glad to be here, with everything we have accomplished. I am really pleased and appreciate the work achieved by the whole Team of Banque Populaire. We just took the appropriate time to reach the right level of preparation and we actually fully comply with the planning” explained Pascal. They are even ahead of schedule with the stand-by mode being announced 3 days before the planned date. The skipper carried on: “we have tried in recent weeks to step back from everything that can happen on board and all our embedded systems. We knew they were effective but there were still some issues to solve in the perspective of sailing around the world on this boat. Today, I feel everybody serene.”
Antarctica glacier retreat creates new carbon dioxide store
Antarctic Peninsula Map
Large blooms of tiny marine plants called phytoplankton are flourishing in areas of open water left exposed by the recent and rapid melting of ice shelves and glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula. This remarkable colonisation is having a beneficial impact on climate change. As the blooms die back phytoplankton sinks to the sea-bed where it can store carbon for thousands or millions of years.
Reporting this week in the journal Global Change Biology, scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) estimate that this new natural ‘sink’ is taking an estimated 3.5 million tonnes* of carbon from the ocean and atmosphere each year.
Lead author, Professor Lloyd Peck from BAS says,
“Although this is a small amount of carbon compared to global emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere it is nevertheless an important discovery. It shows nature’s ability to thrive in the face of adversity. We need to factor this natural carbon-absorption into our calculations and models to predict future climate change. So far we don’t know if we will see more events like this around the rest of Antarctica’s coast but it’s something we’ll be keeping a close eye on.”
EQUATOR BECKONS FOR JESS
Despite a lack of wind over the past week, Jessica has passed the 2,500 nautical mile mark and is possibly within one week of reaching the equator.
Whilst it’s still very much weather-dependant as to what date she crosses the line, Jessica’s meteorologist, well renowned Kiwi Bob McDavitt, predicts next Wednesday, 18 November. This would mark exactly one month since Jessica departed Sydney.
Jessica’s mum Julie was in New Zealand earlier in the week visiting family and took the opportunity to meet with Bob.
“It was great to finally meet Bob. He showed me through all his planning for both the immediate forecasts and the longer-term planning for Jess. Is was very informative and from weather patterns over the next week, we expect Jess to pass the equator in a week or so, which will be a wonderful milestone for her,” said Julie.
Jessica was also genuinely excited about approaching the equator.
“I can’t wait. It will be a very significant moment. If all goes according to plan over the next week, then that will be another box ticked and we can head back down south,” said Jessica.
Jessica’s original schedule had her passing the equator at the 35 day mark. The 18 November prediction will be 32 days, placing Jessica three days ahead of schedule, in spite of the lighter winds over the past week.
In a recent blog, Jessica referred to the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) which she is now in – this is an area of confused wind conditions on each side of the equator. Jessica will pass through the ITCZ twice, as it occurs on each side of the equator. It is characterised by periods of complete calm, with storms and rain squalls which mostly develop overnight. Catching the edges of squalls is the best hope for finding wind.
Once Jessica passes the equator, she will be able turn to a southeast heading on a course back to the South Pacific, bound for the infamous Cape Horn. This component of the voyage is estimated at 38 days.
Asian Match Racing Championship – New Zealand Team leads
By Rob Kothe of Event Media
In the 2009 Asian Match Racing Championship, 22 year old Auckland sailor Phil Robertson finished the first round robin with a perfect 6-0 score on the Pulau Duyong basin course in Kuala Terengganu this morning and then went out and repeated the dose in the afternoon, with another four wins and no losses. . </b>
It was postcard sailing conditions for the championship fleet, with a gradient north easterly blowing at six-eight knots when Principal Race Officer John Taylor sent flights 7-10 away.
The Terengganu local team Taring Pelangi, skippered by Hazwan Hazim Dermawan, had started this event with a bang taking two early wins yesterday, but they faded today losing to Dunstan, Robertson and the second Malaysian team, Team Malaysian Armed Forces, skippered by Mohd Razali Mansor.
These two teams will compete again at the Malaysian Match Racing titles on 23rd to 26th November along with another dozen teams and the winner of that event will sail into the Monsoon Cup line up.
The Japan Match Racing Champion Kan Yamada and his Team J.F.P. finished yesterday with a perfect 4-0 winning record. Today it was not so easy. Pre-event, Yamada had signalled that Michael Dunstan and his SLAM Racing team would be hard to beat and so it was, with Yamada going down to the three time Australian Match Racing champion.
more later – got to go yachting today and tomorrow 
