Yachting News 29th April 2010
Greetings yachties,
brainaid Ocean Racing will be doing weather services for Laura Dekker during preparation and her sail around the world.
Just got some great news from Edwin Delaat, a ride to Fiji is looking good – he just needs to find some cash, he also gets a mention in the local mayors report. Well done Edwin.
In this issue:
Ken Read – Alicante – 29 Apr 2010
Northern Belle
RC44
Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta
Whitbread/Volvo navigator Andrew Cape
Solo Offshore Racing Club 2010
Jessica Watson
Portugal Trophy
Keep Turning Left
Stranded boater – Idiot
Sailing News TV
34th Americas Cup announcing details 6th May
Figaro Transat
Plastiki have landed on Christmas Island
Mirsky Racing Team
Enjoy
The captain of a sinking 75-foot fishing boat died after making a dramatic mayday call that saved his three crewmembers in the Gulf of Alaska.
“His actions, based on everything I’ve learned, saved his crew. Had he not gone into the cabin and made the distress call, the outcome of this would have been very dire.”
Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison take the lead on day one of the RC 44 Austria Cup
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Packed with protest flags, incidents and flogging sails, the first day of the RC 44 Austria Cup lived up to its promises. Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio decided to set up the course at the southern end of the lake, in search of a stronger breeze. The call proved right and the teams got blessed with a superb 10-15 knots very cold breeze blowing from the north.
The first flight of the day turned out to be a round of observation, with big distances between the boats and no serious incidents to report. But the situation rapidly changed, with the teams sailing more aggressively throughout the afternoon.
Absent from the Championship Tour since last year’s Portoroz Cup due to his America’s Cup commitments, Russell Coutts immediately confirmed that he hadn’t lost his magic touch, giving perfect advice to his helmsman Larry Ellison and winning his first three matches. The fourth one, against Paul Cayard’s Katusha, turned out to be the best one of the day, with the two teams staying in close contact throughout the race and inflicting each other all of match race’s dirty tricks. Paul Cayard won the match, but the duo Coutts / Ellison got its revenge in the next flight during another superb match, this time against James Spithill on board RC 44 Challenge.
Winner of the season’s first match race in the United Arab Emirates, Team Sea Dubai confirmed its great match race skills by winning four regattas today. Markus Wieser and his team are currently second of the provisional ranking, on a tie with Team Aqua. Also on great form, Cameron Appleton and his crewmembers could well be sitting on top of the leader board alongside BMW ORACLE Racing if they hadn’t lost a precious point to Islas Canarias Puerto Calero. After leading the entire race, Team Aqua was nearing the arrival line and only had a penalty turn to perform to grab the point. However, the exercise turned into a nightmare when the spinnaker fell in the water, stopping the boat and opening a precious gap for the Spaniards.
Five more flights will be sailed tomorrow, weather permitting. The forecast isn’t good; the temperature should drop whilst showers and light wind are predicted. Every new flight will be welcomed; however the tournament is already valid with the seven flights completed today.
Photos Gilles Martin-Raget / BMW ORACLE Racing
They said:
Russell Coutts, tactician, BMW ORACLE Racing: “I am really happy to be back on the Championship Tour. And obviously, it is good to be on top of the leader board. Larry also hugely enjoyed the day and had a great time. He likes this class very much and there is no doubt that we will see him a lot in the future.”
René Mangold, owner, AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team: “Our situation is quite different to the other team’s, who sail 300 days a year. We are pure amateurs; we have different jobs so it is difficult for us. As soon as we make a mistake we loose any chance to win a race. Our results today aren’t very good, but we hope to win several races in front of our public.”
James Spithill, helmsman, RC 44 Challenge: “This is one of the most beautiful venues that I know. Today’s races were great, but I am still a little bit rusty and not used to sailing monohulls anymore. Our team is also completely new, so we need to get used to sailing together.”
Paul Cayard, helmsman, Katusha: “We had a fantastic race against Russell, with many close situations, where he was yelling at me and trying to remind me how to sail well; he was probably quite right… I enjoyed today, and made the best of it because I am starting to know this lake: the conditions can change pretty quickly up here.”
THIS SHORT DOCUMENTARY UNLIKE MOST OTHER VIDEOS ABOUT REGATTAS. TELLS A STORY ABOUT THE EVENT.
Nothing on the water seems to hold ones attention more than a classic sailing yacht. Even non sailors take notice when they see one under sail. Vintage yachts of the early 1900′s have a style and grace that seems to please everyones eyes.
In April every year on the Caribbean island of Antigua, the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta takes place in Historic English Harbour. By most who have experienced this Regatta it is said, …”This is truly a magnificent celebration of classic sailing yachts.” Unlike similar events in the world the Antigua Classic offers brisk trade winds warm weather plus the wonderful atmosphere of historical English Harbour as the staging area. This Classic Regatta is truly an event not to be missed by anyone who would enjoy traveling back in time to experience for a few days the grace and glory of a by gone era of sailing.
Apart from the new additions, there is the traditional slog through the southern ocean on Leg ONE from Alicante to Cape Town – a journey well known to men like Cape. “That’s the good old normal leg with the equator and the Doldrums in the middle. There’s usually some pretty windy stuff in the southern ocean towards the finish in Cape Town. It usually shows who’s best prepared for the race,” he says.
Asked about the conundrum of a circumnavigation of Middle Eastern waters on Leg TWO from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi, he says: “On Leg TWO we will have to avoid Iran of course and the Gulf of Arabia will be tricky as well.
“But the course choice doesn’t worry me either way. A race is a race, and we are there to beat other boats so it doesn’t matter where we are sent.
“We still have to go upwind between Singapore and China (Sanya) and when we leave there we have to get round the top of the Philippines so there could be a nasty bit of sea and a bit of action there. After that it’s hopefully good sailing again.”
As for the inclusion of Auckland, New Zealand for the first time since the 2001-02 race, he says: “Auckland is a must for the race. Just the interest that is there in the Volvo in Auckland, it is important to go there. Having sailed within 50 miles of New Zealand last time to get to the scoring gate, it was disappointing not to go there.
“It’s good to have Auckland back and I’m looking forward to being there even though we only have a limited time there.”
Cape sees Leg FIVE from Auckland through the southern ocean and round Cape Horn to Itajaí, Brazil as a highlight. “That will be a great leg for the 70s. That will be the fastest leg of the race in terms of average boat speed.”
The opening race of the Solo Offshore Racing Club 2010 program was a cracker with the entry criteria of boats from 25 to 40 feet fully utilized with 25 starters from Richard Whitehouse’s 25ft Westerly Tiger up to Marco Nannini’s Class 40. On Friday night before supper in the ISC many benefited from an excellent 20 minute weather forecast AV presentation by expert Chris Tibbs – easterly light winds, more on the south of the Island and then going SE and dropping later in the day with poor visibility.
7am start at Gurnard was down tide with the predicted 7 knots easterly, the fleet setting port pole spinnakers. A few struggled with asymetrics as winds went lighter and Simon Curwen on Voador then led a few onto starboard jibe away from the island towards the middle channel. Stephen Thomas on Truant HOD 35 crossed to the mainland shore with less tide but a little more breeze paying dividends. Peter Olden on Solan Goose and Chris Rustom on Ding Dong worked the strongest tide in the middle. Next were J122s Jbellino (Rob Craigie) and Oojah (Peter Tanner), Marco on Sunguard Front Arena and Mike Saqui tagging along with Mustang 30 Restless.
……… last night things sure got interesting. I put the drogue (a parachute like thing that you trail behind the boat to slow you down in really big seas) out to stop us losing too much ground and to stop us being knocked down. The wind gusted at 55 knots and the sea was (and still is!) a total, gigantic mess, with 8-12 meter swells. Although the wind is easing now, the sea’s still rising.
Riding out the weather with the drogue out was a lot like my first gale in Ella’s Pink Lady because of the new motion and all the new noises. It didn’t make for the most relaxing night as I played around with the bridle to try and get us sitting at the right angle to the waves. Then when I did put my head down for a bit of sleep we were knocked down again when the lashing came off the tiller and a big wave caught us on the side.
This time we went more than 90 degrees over, port (left) side down for a change. No damage again but this time my big bottle of dishwashing liquid worked its way out of the locker and went flying, empting its contents absolutely everywhere! The whole cabin including the key board I’m typing on is covered in sticky, slippery, bubbly lemon fresh washing up liquid -lovely. Mum reckons that I have some sort of obsession with cleaning! And I’m starting to wonder why I bother drying and tidying the cabin anymore, as it
never lasts.
Jessica Watson talks with the host of Thursday Night Live as she heads toward Tasmania. Tune in to One HD on 29 April for another update
With two weeks to go before the Portugal Trophy, Cascais, the first event of the 2010 Audi MedCup Circuit, Audi (AG) have confirmed today a new contender for the TP52 Series.
German multiple Olympic medallist Jochen Schümann and French campaigner Stéphane Kandler have joined forces launching ?Audi A1 Team powered by ALL4ONE? forming an international team comprising sailors from seven countries.
The Franco-German ?ALL4ONE? squad was established originally by Stéphane Kandler and Jochen Schümann in September of 2009 and involves a number of international professional sailors: in addition to seven members from France and Germany, there are sailors from Spain, Italy, Australia, the Netherlands and Switzerland on board.
?We?ve been partnering with the Audi MedCup for several years now and are equally thrilled with the top-caliber sporting competition and the possibilities for presentations on water and along the coast?, says Lothar Korn, AUDI AG Head of Marketing Communications. ?The additional support of the Franco-German boat now provides us with close links to the team and enables us to offer our guests and customers an unforgettable sporting experience?.
Gillingham to Southampton – keep turning right
By Stewart Campbell
A boater had to be rescued after believing he could make it to Southampton without charts by keeping the coast to his right
Stranded boater
A motorboater who thought he was sailing around the coast of the UK but was in fact circling the Isle of Sheppey off the coast of Kent had to be rescued by the RNLI earlier this month after running out of fuel.
It is believed the 45-year-old gentleman bought his 20-odd-foot motor boat online, and set off from Gillingham thinking he could reach Southampton on one 20lt tank of fuel.
He didn’t take any charts or navigational equipment, instead thinking that if he kept the coast to his right, he could navigate into the North Sea, through the Dover Straits and onto the Solent.
But his plan came undone when he ended up sailing round the eight-mile-wide Isle of Sheppey for a day and a half before running out of fuel.
The crew of Plastiki have landed on Christmas (or Kiritimati) Island, one of the the 33 low-lying atolls that make up the Republic of Kirimati which sits on the equator as a part of the Line Islands, roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia. Kiritimati’s marine biodiversity is among the greatest in the world, including more than 150 species of corals and 550 species of fish. Something which the crew, especially Olav, the team’s resident diver, are looking forward to exploring.
The Island is one of the many oceanic territories facing the threats of climate change, in particular rising sea waters. Their President Anote Tong has been actively seeking commitments from developed countries to help accommodate the population if rising sea levels finally do make Kiribati uninhabitable.
Mirsky Racing Team (MRT) at Open de Espana, Practice day. Kyle Langford presents the first of the team’s daily updates.
