Yachting News 23rd March 2010
Greetings yachties,
Sorry about the blank look on the home page, mothership updated the wordpress to the latest version and it looks like a piece of code is missing from the backend of the site, mothership is working with the wordpress guys to try and sort the problem. In the meantime enjoy my little collection of yachting news and random humour.
In this edition;
Blocksail talks to Peter Lester
The Bertarelli Foundation
AC34 – Larry’s thoughts
Jules Verne Trophy winners
Abby Sunderland – Where is she now?
Laura Dekker buys a ketch
Jessica Watson – Where is she now?
Puma Moth Worlds
TP52 – Audi MedCup
Clipper – Knockdown
Offshore Rules chats with Ed Baird
Enjoy 
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Launch of the Alinghi Swiss Sailing Grants
The Bertarelli Foundation, in collaboration with the Swiss Sailing Federation and the UBS Foundation for Social Issues and Education, is proud to announce the creation of the annual Alinghi Swiss Sailing Grants aimed at financing sailing projects in Switzerland.
A fund of 150,000 Swiss Francs will be distributed every year to projects in the “elite”, “junior” and “social action” categories. Submissions for the 2010 Alinghi Swiss Sailing Grants can be sent until April 23 and the selected projects will be announced before May 9.
For more information, please download the pdf with the full details and the submission form here.
But you’re the guy with the resources and who has shown the willingness to spend them. So you’re willing to make it so that people who spend only $5 million can compete with you?
You bet. If you look at the kind of sailing I’ve been doing lately, I’m sailing RC 44s. Last year I was on the international circuit, sailing RC 44s. What is that circuit? Every boat is exactly the same. Everyone’s got the same boat. Everyone’s got the same sails. I love that circuit, and it’s all professional.
The guy who won it last year was Jimmy Spithill, driving for one team, and I was second, with Russell as tactician. I was driving Russell’s boat. I love that kind of sailing. And I think we’ll do very well in an America’s Cup where sailing skill is at a premium.
Now, I don’t want to turn America’s Cup into one-design sailing, which is too much of a break with tradition. There should be some engineering aspects. But the engineering aspects should not be dominant or, as my legal friends say, should not be dispositive: I’ve got the fastest boat, therefore I win.
I want it to be a combination, where you’ve got a little bit of an edge with a slightly faster boat. But in the end it’s got to come down to how good is your sailing team and how do you sail and how well do you call the wind and how good are your tactics and how well do you trim and how well did you drive.
Won’t the size of your team alone make it impossible to keep to $5 million?
No. You wouldn’t need 50 design engineers, obviously, if you had smaller boats, and if the design rule wasn’t so flexible, if you limited how much of an engineering advantage you’d get. If the boats are smaller they’re much cheaper to build. The sails aren’t so expensive. The sails on these big boats cost half a million dollars. One sail.
So you’re committed to rules that will lower the bar?
Oh yeah. It shouldn’t be about money. It should be a little bit about technology and a lot about sailing. And it’s got to be a great experience for viewers. It’s got to be something kids want to watch. Quite frankly when I’m watching the Olympics I watch downhill racing. My kids watch the snowboarders. Okay. We’ve got to pay attention to that.
I kind of like monohulls. All my racing experience is on monohulls. But if what the kids want to watch is multihulls because it’s more exciting, we’ll go multihulls. We’ve got to make this a great sport from the point of view of the participant, especially the kid who’s just getting into the sport, and from the point of view of the viewer on television.
Franck Cammas:
“I think we could do a lot better but I’ll let someone else beat our record first as I don’t really see the appeal of battling against myself! It was a great relief to cross the finish line. We ended up with a great time, certainly better than we could have expected after crossing the equator with a day’s deficit. 48 days was an objective we set ourselves before the start and this proved to be the case even though we didn’t often have conditions that were favourable. In the northern hemisphere we had the right conditions in which to play catch up and end up with a very respectable time. I feel that I’ve put a great deal of energy and time into this project and getting to the end is fantastic. It’s down to the relentless work of a team and a partne, Groupama, who never gave up. It’s superb that it’s culminated in this way. The key to this project has been that when there are failures you have to make use of them and turn them into positive aspects which you can learn from. They all add to the experience, the awareness and reliability of the boat. We’ve proven that today. It was a lot more intense than I’d imagined, but that’s what we like and obviously we’ve had nearly 50 days of extremely strong emotions. We trusted in our boat and in the concept of the trimaran. It was a dream-team with a whole wealth of experiences and talents. Sometimes I had to put my feelings to one side and take onboard the ideas of everyone else. I learnt a vast amount, it was superb. The image which stays with us is the rounding of Cape Horn. We were like kids.”
The wind picked up to 25-30 knots with a large swell that unfortunately was on my beam. At about 2 in the morning, I was asleep down below when I woke up a little dazed, wondering how my dishes that were kept in the sink had made it all the way into my lap all the way across the cabin!
I then noticed that I was sitting on the wall, not my bed. (just goes to show you what a comfortable bed I have!) Well, my auto pilot went into standby mode and so I jumped outside and grabbed the tiller just in time to keep Wild Eyes from gybing.
While Sunshine Coast teenager Jessica Watson is half way across the Indian Ocean and on the home run, and Californian Abby Sunderland is in the ‘roaring’ 40′s in the Pacific Ocean and heading for Cape Horn, another still younger teenager is preparing for her own circumnavigation.
14-year-old Dutch girl Laura Dekker, forbidden by a children’s court from sailing until 1st July, has purchased a new boat for her own proposed circumnavigation which she has confirmed she plans to commence in July or August. Laura has purchased a Jeanneau Gin Fizz, an older style and fairly inexpensive but highly regarded ketch which she is preparing for her journey. Laura has called the yacht Guppy, like her earlier yacht, and is planning a two-year cruising voyage around the world.
Het is eindelijk eens wat warmer. Gisteren heb ik de verf voor mijn boot besteld, er gaat aardig wat verf op zo’n grote boot zeg. Wel 10 blikken!!! En dat is alleen nog maar de rode verf. Hopelijk kan hij volgende week geschilderd worden, want nu is hij wel een beetje saai,met die geschuurde romp. Binnen ben ik ook al begonnen met schuren,er moet namelijk veel opnieuw gelakt worden. Het is nu echt een enorme rotzooi, maar het moet eerst een rotzooi worden voordat het mooi word. meer
While the Gin Fizz is now out of production, the French-built yacht has a fine reputation as a solid and reliable cruising yacht. Laura’s new boat is 37-foot aft-cockpit fibreglass ketch designed by Philippe Harlé. It was produced from 1974 to 1980.
In the meantime this week Jessica is at 35 South, about 18,000 nautical miles and five months into her journey. She is hoping to reach Sydney by the middle of May, sailing her S&S 34, also a solid, if slow, cruising yacht, which was also chosen by Jesse Martin in his successful non-stop circumnavigation. In her most recent gale she had 15-foot seas and 40 knots of wind. With her feet above her head to wedge herself into her bunk, Jessica was alternating between typing her blog, and studying for her learners’ driving exam when she arrives home.
Tropical Storm Imani (Southern Indian Ocean)
Sailing Ella’s Pink Lady and Islands
On Friday there was another front that came through, bringing with it close to 40 knots of wind again, but that passed pretty quickly. After four days of overcast sky, today we’ve got lovely sunshine and a comfortable 15 knots of wind.
The good progress means that we’re now not far away from two little islands, Amsterdam and Saint Paul. So I’ve got my fingers crossed that the weather stays good so that I can pass close by and possibly even get a bit of a look at them.
All’s well out here with one tragic exception. The lollies supply is running low. Sure there’s still plenty spread out through the fortnightly food bags, but my additional stock for when I eat all the good stuff in the first few days (which is fairly often!) is down to just a few lonely packets. So now in the second part of the fortnight when I need a sugar hit, the only thing left to satisfy my craving is a sorry little pile of lollies called ‘Goo-hearts’, which taste about as good as you’d expect from the name!
Activity throughout the TP52 fleet has been building up progressively over recent months. Small changes to the TP52 Class Box Rule mean that all of the teams which plan to compete at this season’s five Audi MedCup Circuit regattas or the TP52 World Championships in October are required to have made the prescribed modifications to their existing boats: adding 150kgs of weight to the keel to compensate for the reduction in crew weight, moving to a ‘square-top’ mainsail with twin backstays and increasing spinnaker area and adopting bowsprits.
The Circuit organisers World Sailing Management, a division of Grupo Santa Monica Sports, are expecting to welcome the same number as 2009, or perhaps one more TP52 to the arena this season. Two new America’s Cup teams are well into their preparations.
“ We expect 10 to 13 boats in the TP52 class and five or six in the GP42 class, all in all a good line up considering the economic climate.” Comments World Sailing Management’s Nacho Postigo (ESP), Audi MedCup Circuit’s Technical Director.
“ The TP52 class has gone through the winter modifications without major problems.”
Great Britain’s TeamOrigin have their new Juan Kouyoumdjian (ARG) designed boat nearing completion at Salthouse Boats in Auckland. Theirs is the only new build TP52 this winter and they are due to ship the boat directly to Portugal.
Mike Sanderson (NZL), CEO of TeamOrigin said: “The schedule was always going to be tight but we are on time. The boat is due to leave New Zealand in the middle of March.
We have it booked on a fruit ship which means it is pretty reliable because if it gets late then the fruit goes rotten. We will ship it directly to somewhere close to the venue and do its final measurement there and will sail it there for the first time. It is not optimum for how we would have loved to have done it, but we always knew that, we knew that that’s what the schedule was going to be before started building it, so we are just going to have to hope that we can get it on the pace as quickly as possible. We are really looking forward to it. It is going to be an amazing year. We really can’t wait.”
Current Audi MedCup champions Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) completed their modifications in-house and have been trial sailing the new configuration on the waters off Auckland in excellent conditions. Otherwise, explains CEO Grant Dalton, the only change to their winning set up is the new paint job. They will sail with exactly the same core sailing team, with the exception of the reduced crew number.
Audi MedCup receives award in Murcia
Caja Mediterraneo Region of Murcia Trophy, 18 09 2009
The Audi MedCup Circuits Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy which was held last September, received the prize for the best Sports Event 2009 in the Region of Murcia, an award which places it alongside the Davis Cup Semifinals, which was also recognized with the same prize.
Organizers of the final event of the 2009 Audi MedCup Circuit last night received the prize for the Best Sports Event 2009 within the division of Sports Merit Awards 2009 in the Region of Murcia, an award which it shared with the Davis Cup Semifinals, also held in Cartagena.
Fernando Íñigo, marketing and communication director at Grupo Santa Mónica Sports and World Sailing Management, organizer of the Audi MedCup Circuit, revealed his satisfaction after receiving a prize which, Iñigo said,
“ It makes us really happy, and we are also proud of sharing it with the Davis Cup”.
Uniquely Singapore skipper, Jim Dobie, has telephoned the race office to report a knock down. All crew are safe and well on board.
A knock down happens when a wave hits the side of the boat, pushing it over on its side so the mast touches the water. After being hit by the wave, the yacht righted itself.
During the incident, Jim and round the world crew member, Jonathan Hays, who was on the helm at the time, were caught by the strength of the wave. As is standard practice, both were wearing lifelines and they were brought safely back on board.
Earlier round the world crew member Detlef Rueskamp was at the wheel when a wave broke in the cockpit and swept him off his feet. His lifeline stopped him and he was quickly pulled back onto the boat by his fellow crew.
In the latest report from Peter Stirling, skipper of Jamaica Lightning Bolt, it is clear that excellent progress is being made on board California after she was rolled in a major storm on Sunday evening.
The Jamaican entry was first on the scene, closely followed by the merchant ship Nord Nightingale. While the rival Clipper team remains to offer their support and provide a communication link back to the Clipper Race office, the merchant ship has departed for Los Angeles where crew member Clive Cockram can have his head wounds attended to.
The two yachts have now been joined by Uniquely Singapore and they are all making around 7 knots, sailing on the rhumb line (the shortest route) towards San Francisco. While California uses her engine, running to the most economical rev limit, the other two yachts are using wind power from just their staysails. Both Hull & Humber and Spirit of Australia are also closing in and should be on station by this evening UK time.
California skipper Pete Rollason and his crew have been busy preparing for setting up a jury rig and the section of severed mast held in place by the rigging has now been removed and safely stowed. The intention is to set up a type of square rig using the two spinnaker poles mounted in their usual position on the mast and held up at an angle to fly the Yankee 3 head sail. The boom and the remaining part of the mast will be able to fly the storm trysail in its usual position as a temporary main sail and the skipper of Jamaica reckons that this set up should deliver some good daily runs in the winds that are forecast.
OR: What would be your preference on the choice of boats for the next America’s Cup?
EB: I think the boats will be a natural evolution from the existing monohulls. Everyone from all the challenging teams last time seemed to agree that there was a need for something new and that’s where we went in Alinghi with our suggested Protocol. That of course got shot down, but nevertheless I think the spirit was out there from the potential challengers for newer, more modern monohulls which are faster and more exciting. That said, you never want to have a design rule which spreads the racing out too far and that’s the issue with the idea of super-high-speed multihulls. As a part of the world of sailors out there, I think we would all like to know sooner rather than later what is happenin,g so that we can all start planning.
OR: What is the current status of your involvement with Alinghi?
EB: Well Ernesto has shut down operations and is waiting to hear what is announced about the next Cup. It will be his personal decision whether to mount another Alinghi challenge. I know he is thinking hard about his options regarding the Cup in the future, but right now there is no clear path because nobody knows what the event is going to be.
OR: From a personal standpoint do you hope to be involved as a helmsman in the next America’s Cup?
EB: The America’s Cup certainly provides the best racing from my standpoint. The whole process, the management, the design and the orchestration of the team and the actual race itself – there is nothing else that provides a bigger challenge that the America’s Cup. It’s such a great event and yes; I definitely want to be involved again.
OR: Is there anything we can learn from what is going on down in New Zealand at the Louis Vuitton Trophy right now?
EB: That event is great, in that it shows that there are a lot of teams interested and there is great racing to be had. I think one of the things it really highlights is the importance of umpiring as a valuable tool, not only for America’s Cup racing, but for other types of racing too. Also the Louis Vuitton Series confirms that having reasonably short races keeps all the teams in hunt for as long as possible. What we did for America’s Cup 32, with the preliminary Acts, enabled all the teams to reach a higher standard long before the Cup itself. I think that made the Challenger Series and the Cup itself all the more exciting.
OR: What does your 2010 schedule look like right now? Any match racing planned?
EB: The schedule is not really formulated. Match racing is what I enjoy and I look for any opportunity to get out there and do that. I had hoped for some clarity on the future of the Cup before I started to set my schedule. It would be nice to at least know when the next Cup might be and in which boats, for instance.
The upside of this however is that I get the chance to bring my two kids to some US optimist events. I also love it because I get the chance to meet with some of the lifelong friends I have made in the sport of sailing and have their kids out there racing against mine.
OR: So is Ed Baird an archetypical Opti parent at regattas?
EB: Truly, I tend to spend most of my time at Opti regattas on the shore. The biggest criticism levelled at me as an Opti parent is that I tend to help the kids put the boats away more than some people would like to see. I find it is good therapy for me. Let the kids run off and enjoy themselves and I don’t mind helping pack up a little bit at the end of the day. When I go on the water, it usually because I have found a friend with a boat and a bottle of rum that we can go out, anchor up and watch the activities. There have been a few incidences when I have witnessed parents getting a little intense about their kids performances, but on average I think it is a great class. I enjoy being a part of it because it is great fun to see the kids enjoying their racing. The ones who are excited about it go out there and do a great job and the ones who are less excited still seem to have smiles on their faces. It’s good to be able to support my kids in their sailing and hope that they get to enjoy the sport even half as much as I have done. It’s going to be a great family summer.
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