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Boss – Hugo Boss,
Sail Rocket, – latest news,
Superyacht Business News, – latest issue here,
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Des Top News,
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nzl Sailing Team,
Jessica Watson,
IBI Magazine,
Gipsy Moth IV – For Sale,
Jaguar, and ,Alfa Romeo, Use Sailing to Promote Their Brands,
Auckland – Fiji Race, – where are they now? & latest news here
BlackMatch Win Match Race Germany,
How to be the best crew,
Louis Vuitton World Series,
Enjoy
hug a ginga day starts 28th May at 7am
Sweden and New Zealand are tied at La Maddalena
Emirates Team New Zealand won two races today at the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena to end the day first equal on points with Sweden’s Artemis, each with 4-1 records.
In other competition the Swedish boat skippered by Paul Cayard and steered by Terry Hutchinson lost today, the first time since the regatta in Sardinia started.
Crews in the ten international teams spent another long day on the water with the first race starting soon after 0900 and the last not finishing until 1730. There was wind all day from the west, shifty and with big speed changes on different parts of the course. There were gusts up to 20 knots near the weather mark.
The shape of the scoreboard changed in the first four races as the Kiwis, third equal yesterday with two points, deftly dispatched Azzurra and then ALEPH Sailing Team to claim second place. In the fourth race Mascalzone Latino trounced Artemis to advance Team New Zealand to first equal.
“It was tough losing a race to Luna Rossa (on Tuesday) but losses sometimes help kick-start the team and make us realize we’ve always got things to work on. I think we’ve been sailing a lot better since that race,” said Dean Barker, skipper and helmsman of Team New Zealand.
Mascalzone Latino slammed the door on Artemis with a strategy the Italian team had been refining for some time. “The guys on the boat made a great call for the left side and Gavin did a beautiful job of executing that,” said tactician Morgan Larson. “We spent a lot of time this morning talking about Terry Hutchinson’s weaknesses in the prestart. I think Gavin exploited that weakness. It was very close. Terry was really close to getting an overlap with us that would have shifted everything. If they got an overlap they would have got the left and probably won the race.”
Today is a very important day in the Alex Thomson Racing calendar, as we prepare to launch our new Juan K Open 60 at Canary Wharf in London. The boat has taken 4 months to refit to create a race yacht that will provide Alex with the best chance of winning, and as the most powerful yacht in her class she promises some very interesting sailing.
She will be officially named and launched on the 27 May at a glittering HUGO BOSS event, in front of 600 guests including media, VIPs and celebrities. The boat will leave directly after the launch for a summer of corporate hospitality, racing events, and HUGO BOSS parties, hitting hot spots such as The Hamptons, Sardinia and Ibiza, before heading back to base for the build up to the Barcelona World Race.
Check out our new website this week to see the boat launch and the first images of her sailing.
follow on twitter here and facebook here
Greetings all,
Well I reckon we are about 60% of the way to launch at the moment.
Despite the new boat looking increasingly more like an aircraft, she is still hanging onto her roots as a sailing craft by taking longer than expected and costing more.
Our biggest hold up at the moment is design. From a boat building perspective we are having to slow down as we can only go as fast as the drawings come out of the design offices. It is very frustrating as we are keen to see the finished pieces come out.
I watch over every aspect of the build to make sure that things are as they should be. This is the boat that will finish the dream for me and I don’t want it to fail for a silly oversight. In order to make the sailing easier, the new boat itself has become more complicated. This means that crashes themselves will be harder to repair. We are doing our best to make sure that crashes won’t happen… but this is a voyage of even greater discovery perhaps than the last.
I am hoping that we can drop her in the water in mid August so that she can be ready and waiting when we come back from competing in the next Little Americas Cup in Newport, Rhode Island. We have a busy few months coming up.
One thing is for sure, this boat is going to be tough. I haven’t been silly about saving weight in key areas. It has been built with big safety margins as overall it isn’t very weight sensitive… and I know she will have a punishing life.
In a week or so, Hydroptere will be in our backyard and today I received an e-mail offering me a sail. I have been joking that it is like being asked to a BBQ at the guys house who ran off with your wife… but I can’t help it, I love a BBQ! I have a good friend onboard in Jacques Vincent who was my watch leader in my last circumnavigation during the Oryx Quest… although I have known him longer than that. It will be great to see Jacques and swap war stories from our two competing projects. The boat itself is so different than ours that I doubt that there will be much to learn that will relate. I just hope the wind blows.
Now on the Home Page of Yachtyakka:
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Watch Live Yacht Racing
Latest video: The Louis Vuitton Trophy Crash
Hi Everyone,
Well it has been a busy few weeks since our last World Cup event in France last month.
The majority of the squad went to Spain to sail the Tom 28′s to lift the “regatta experience” amongst the squad.
We then spent a week in NZL with the squad doing some solid training. We were grateful to be included with our E6m in the local Bucks Beach Regatta. We appreciated lining up against the kiwi boys in our boats……thanks guys!
Our current team in Europe is Stephanie Hazard (helm), Jenna Hansen (main) and Samantha Osborne (bow).
We had a really successful training camp, run by our coach Laurie Jury, with the German team in Germany.
We have now set up camp in Medemblik, Netherlands,ready for the next World Cup event.
To follow the reports, photos and live updates, please refer to the regatta website: www.deltalloydregatta.org
We will send through our daily update throughout the event.
Many thanks for all the support,
Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Samantha Osborne
Australia’s golden girl Jessica Watson is set to return for her first public appearance in Melbourne, following her epic around the world, unassisted solo voyage.
As part of the Ella Bache Welcome Home Jessica Watson Tour, Jess will meet her fans and talk about her 210 day odyssey at the main stage at Melbourne Central from 1pm on Thursday May 27.
“It’s been amazing to be on this journey with Jess from the very start.” said Ella Bache CEO Pippa Hallas.
“She really embodies not only the true pioneering spirit of this nation, but also of the Ella Bache brand.”
Ella Bache, the major sponsor of Jessica Watson’s solo and unassisted around the world voyage aboard Ella’s Pink Lady, have always believed in inspiring people to be the best they can be and have a long association supporting female sailors. In 1990, Ella Bache also sponsored the skiff of Adrienne Cahalan, the first 18 Foot skiff female skipper to participate in the World Championships
To celebrate Jessica’s amazing feat of becoming the youngest person ever to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world, a unique memorabilia item (refer image below) offers you the chance to own a piece of this historic journey, with your very own piece of Jessica’s mainsail featuring prominently in the design.
This beautifully presented piece is strictly limited to the number of days Jessica spent at sea, 210. Each of the 210 magnificent pieces will be personally signed by Jessica and supported by an official Certificate of Authenticity.
Construction starts on Queensland Marine Precinct facility
By IBI Magazine
Construction of the Marine Precinct facility in Townsville, Queensland officially began yesterday. Transport Minister Rachel Nolan and Ross Dunning, chair of the Port of Townsville, turned the first sod of stage one. The government estimated the entire project to be A$110m.
Nolan told the Queensland Business Review that the project is a “strategic investment” by the state government in Townsville’s economic future. “The first stage of the Townsville Marine Precinct will be completed by end of 2011, preserving 500 existing jobs in marine industries, and generating 400 new jobs over the various stages of construction,” she said. The focus of the first stage will be to relocate the local commercial fishing fleet, marine fabrication and repair yards, and other marine operators.
For Sale: Gipsy Moth IV
One famous owner, recent restoration, interesting history… £250,000 ONO
News has just reached us that Gipsy Moth IV, probably Britain’s most famous yacht, really is for sale. She is, of course, the 53ft (16.2m) Illingworth and Primrose ketch that took Francis Chichester around the world solo, and into the history books, in 1966/7. She was the first round-the-world yacht designed specifically for that task, and perhaps the last to be a central part in such a popular tale of British patriotism. Chichester was knighted for his accomplishment, and on his return became a national hero on a scale unknown by the sailing heros of today.
Jaguar and Alfa Romeo Use Sailing to Promote Their Brands.
Car companies are working hard to woo sailors. While Volvo, Audi and BMW have large title sponsorship deals, other auto brands are putting their toe in the water too.
In Asia, Jaguar will unveil its All New XJ series at Six Senses Phuket Raceweek 2010. Jaguar Overseas Operations, Director, Mick Razza said of the sponsorship;
“It is with great pleasure that Jaguar will once again be showcasing the new range at Six Senses Phuket Raceweek 2010. In our inaugural year as co-sponsor in 2009 we saw a remarkable rise in sales off the back of our experiential marketing at the event. We deal with marketing strategies worldwide and with Paul Poole (South East Asia) Co., Ltd. we saw a first class 360° campaign that rivals any of the best platforms we have used in the past. We look forward with anticipation for another great week’s regatta at Phuket in July and showcasing this brilliant new car to the Asian market!”
Meanwhile, at Match Race Germany, the home of Audi and BMW – the iconic Italian brand, Alfa Romeo was on display for fans.
Greetings from BlackMatch,
Blue skies, not a cloud in sight and sunshine summed up the final day of Match Race Germany, however a lack of breeze for the entire day meant there was no racing and this left BlackMatch Racing in the top spot, taking out the regatta due to having qualified 1st equal during the round robin and Mathieu Richard losing out in his semi final against Jesper Radich. .
This was not the best way to win a regatta and to have no sailing for an entire day is nearly unheard of, but with our previous best result in Germany being 8th the team are extremely happy with the win that sees us leap into 2nd position on the overall World Tour standings.
With no sailing all day the highlight was definitely the celebration on the water. BlackMatches bowman Nick Blackman was unceremoniously thrown into the lake, but unfortunately he snagged his shorts on the way in and kiwi photographer Gareth Cooke was on hand to capture the action.
We are now looking forward to our next regatta the Korea Match Cup, which is in a fortnight and will be very keen to take the top spot of the World Tour leader board as we endeavour to retain our title.
2009 ISAF Match Racing World Champion Minoprio Wins Stage 2
Mighty Mother Nature Dictates Match Race Germany Champion
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ-BlackMatch Racing wins Match Race Germany © Subzero Images 2010
Langenargen, Germany – 24 May 2010 – Mighty Mother Nature was Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing’s best friend today as he took the Match Race Germany Trophy. The finals today at Stage 2 have been tortuous for the remaining racers. The wisps of wind that did strike the glassy lake today taunted the Tour’s competitors.
A jubilant Minoprio and his team shared their joy, “It’s unfortunate when no wind comes in. We felt we started sailing better as the regatta went on finishing the round robin on 8 wins with Richard and Williams. We have been fortunate enough today to take out the regatta”.
Semi final stage was cut short at midday after no morning racing; Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team went through to the finals over a disappointed Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team at 2-1. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing cemented his finals spot after yesterday’s score of 2-1 over ‘birthday boy’ Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team.
As the air temperature soared to 26 degrees so too did the tension on board the race boats. The yellow and black ‘standby flag’ hung limply on the race committee’s boat which further infuriated the skippers who desperately needed action to be in with a champion chance. The anxiety of waiting for wind is tough on a crew’s mental focus and motivation. “It plays with your head”, said Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing.
Current ISAF Match Racing World Champion, Minoprio, kept his fingers crossed and joked with his bathing beauty team mates throughout the waiting room ordeal. For the Kiwi no racing meant a guaranteed number 1 finish. Activity today was mostly online with the WMRT live blog and interactive social media feeds, Mark Chisnell, WMRT’s dedicated commentator, kept everyone positive and said, “It’s a lake and therefore things do change very quickly”.
13 Best Crew Practices “From the Experts”
Each crew position has its own specific responsibilities and requires a particular skill set, but there are some attributes common to all top crews.
by Dan Rabin
Sailing World
One evening a few years ago I had the opportunity to drive a J/24. I had logged countless hours as a tactician and bowman on the boat, but I’d never helmed it. I finally appreciated why J/24 skippers are so batty: they can’t see anything. We did well in that race, though it wasn’t because of my driving skills. I had confidence in each person doing their job, and focused on trying to keep my act together. I was the new guy, while the rest of the crew had a lot of time together, so their communication and trust level were high.
I’ve been fortunate enough to race in a lot of different classes in varying roles. While I’ve been able to develop relatively deep expertise in some positions on certain boats, I think some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned have come through switching roles. There are high-level requirements to be consistently successful as a crew, no matter what position. In addition, we tend to execute our deep expertise skills unconsciously, while letting some of the more general best practices slip.
1. Get physical Regardless of the physical demands of your primary ride or position, it always pays to be in good shape. Being physically fit improves mental focus, especially as the day and/or week wears on. Out-of-shape sailors are slow to recover when things go wrong. Maintaining a reasonable baseline of fitness makes it easier to change your weight as necessitated by different boats, without sacrificing your health. This opens up more opportunities.
2. Be prepared Be sure to glance at the forecast before leaving the house. Only bring gear you anticipate wearing, but make sure you’ll be warm and comfortable. Always bring a watch and a roll of electrical tape, regardless of position.
3. Don’t Delay Start racing when you get to the boat. There’s always something to do: start rigging, prep sails, organize down below, etc. If something’s wrong, or missing, you’ll catch it early and give your team time to rectify the situation.
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Collision sees French boat disqualified
A major start line collision knocked two America’s Cup Class boats out of action at the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena today and led to a one-race disqualification for the French ALEPH Sailing Team.
© Stefano Gattini/Azzurra
ALEPH struck the stern of the Italian entry Azzurra as the boats sped down the start line with 35 seconds remaining to the start gun. No one was injured but the bow of the French boat was knocked almost right off while the aft starboard quarter of the Italian boat was smashed in.
The two boats involved are the BMW Oracle Racing Team Version 5 ACC boats USA98 and USA87 which have been chartered to the regatta organisers for the event. Oracle boatbuilders and technical experts were still assessing the damage tonight.
“While unfortunate, this collision will not threaten the regatta,” said Bruno Troublé, spokesman for Louis Vuitton Trophy. “In Nice, one boat was damaged in a collision on the eve of the regatta, while in Auckland we had great racing with only one pair of boats. We will continue racing using the Mascalzone boats, while waiting for our very experienced team of 25 boatbuilders to complete repairs.”
Today’s conditions were perfect for racing with cloudless skies, bright sun, a westerly 12-14 knot breeze and flat seas, and Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio was able to complete five of six scheduled races.
The ALEPH team quickly published a statement apologising for the collision and subsequent damage.
In a day filled with surprises, the fledgling Synergy Russian Sailing Team beat the long-established Luna Rossa, while the undefeated Swedish boat Artemis continued her winning ways with a victory over winless BMW Oracle Racing Team. Emirates Team New Zealand went down to Luna Rossa as American Ed Baird, skipper of the Italian boat and former coach for the Kiwis, dished out another lesson to his old pupil Dean Barker.
Flight Ten, Race One: Synergy Russian Sailing Team def Luna Rossa, 00:15 – Nice start by both boats. Karol Jablonski claimed the right as both boats came off the line together on starboard. At the weather mark, Jablonski came in on starboard and dialed down to force Baird away and lead by 16 seconds. The Russians controlled for the next three legs.
Flight Ten, Race Two: Artemis def BMW Oracle Racing, 00:16 – The start was owned by Terry Hutchinson driving the Swedish boat Artemis. After chasing James Spithill round the start box, Hutchinson led back for a perfect start, at the committee, with Spithill trailing astern by a boat length. Oracle short-tacked relentlessly through two upwind legs and clung to Artemis on two runs but the Swedish boat prevailed.
Flight Eleven, Race One: TEAMORIGIN def All4One, 00:05 – All4One led to the line with a clean start, followed by TEAMORIGIN on his hip. Ben Ainslie steering the British boat quickly tacked away and Sébastien Col soon followed. At the top mark Ainslie on starboard shut Col out and carry him far above the buoy. Ainslie converted that move to a 150 metre lead which All4One chiselled down to 37 metres on the final run as the breeze freshened.
Flight Eleven, Race Two: Azzurra def ALEPH Sailing Team, 00:00 – The Italian boat won after ALEPH was disqualified following the collision. ALEPH was also assessed a penalty point and may face further sanctions.
The two boats were reaching down the start line with Azzurra leading when Bertrand Pacé, ALEPH’s veteran skipper, attempted to duck under his opponent’s stern in an attempt to control the start of the Italian boat. Azzurra, steered by Francesco Bruni was the right-of-way boat. There was hard contact about four metres from Azzurra’s transom.
On-the-water umpires immediately flew a black flag, disqualifying ALEPH from the race. They also docked her one penalty point. Tonight the jury will meet to consider whether further action is warranted. Azzurra was forced to abandon racing but was credited with a win.
“On our boat we had one guy calling the overlap, Tom Burnham, our non-Italian on board,” said Francesco Bruni, skipper of Azzurra. “He was calling that the boat was ‘blocked’ and yet two seconds later I see his bow coming down. Tom had his head smashed on the navigation roll bar on the back of the boat and he got some blood on his head – but just scratches, I think. We are partially happy about getting a point from today but we can’t enjoy the moment fully.”
Flight Twelve, Race One: Luna Rossa def Emirates Team New Zealand, 00:13 – Ed Baird on Luna Rossa claimed the right at the start but it was Dean Barker who started at speed on the left. In shifty conditions Luna Rossa took an early lead in the middle of the course while the Kiwis gained on the left. Baird carried them out beyond the port tack layline to round the top mark a boatlength in front. On the second beat the Kiwis again clawed back ground but Baird came across on starboard before the top mark to lock in the lead for the rest of the race.
Provisional win-loss leaderboard after Flight Twelve, Race One
=1. Artemis, 3-0, 3 points
=2. All4One, 2-1, 2 points
=2. Azzurra, 2-2, 2 points
=2. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 2-0, 2 points
=2. TEAMORIGIN, 2-3, 2 points
=6. ALEPH Sailing Team, 2-2, 1 point *
=6. Emirates Team New Zealand, 1-1, 1 point
=6. Luna Rossa, 1-3, 1 point
=6. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 2-1, 1 point *
=10. BMW Oracle Racing Team, 0-3, 0 points
* Penalty deducted by Jury/Umpires
Italian teams feature prominently at La Maddalena
Three Italian boats featured today in some of the closest and most contentious racing in a very long day on the water at the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena.
When the last race finished in fading light just after 8:00 pm local time, Mascalzone Latino was the top scoring Italian boat with a 2-1 record after losing today to All4One in a race that saw the umpires impose a red flag penalty on the local boat for a collision just before the weather mark. However she may be assessed a further scoring penalty – redress hearings are scheduled for Monday night. The Italian boat Azzurra won her first race of the series, beating Luna Rossa, and now has a 1-2 record. Luna Rossa’s loss today puts her on 0-2.
Francesco Bruni, Azzurra’s young skipper reported: “It felt very exciting. I did struggle a little bit on the start line today, but we drove the boat fast and kept the game close. I’m very happy because it was a group win, not down to one single department on board, but a team effort. We did a very beautiful Sambuca [tack, gybe, set] and the match was open again.
The cleanest record of any of the ten international teams competing in matched America’s Cup boats is the Swedish team Artemis with two wins and no losses.
Sardinia today offered up warm, sunny and windy conditions. The problem was not a lack of wind but a lack of consistent wind direction. Crews waited all day until the first of six match races started at 4:00 pm, local time.
Flight Seven, Race One: TEAMORIGIN def BMW Oracle Racing, 01:03 – Ben Ainslie steering TEAMORIGIN herded Oracle’s James Spithill in to the pin corner of the start box with time running out before the start. The America’s Cup winner struggled to escape but earned a penalty in the process. They split with Ainslie starting at the gun on port and eking out an early lead in a 6-8 knot breeze. At the first cross the British boat led by two boat lengths. Spithill kept it close for the first two legs but Ainslie stretched out to finish 160 metres in front.
Another win for Artemis today over the previously unbeaten Aleph Team of France.
After a long wait for wind this morning, racing finally got underway at 1430. In the first flight of the day, the Brits on TeamOrigin beat BMW Oracle by controlling the start and getting a penalty on the Americans. in the other match, the Russian team, Synergy won a closely fought match against the French/German team of All4One. The lead changed a couple of times in that one.
The conditions were 6-8 knots and very flat seas. We are racing inside the archipelago of La Maddalena, so the mountains cause plenty of volatile wind shifts which makes it challenging for the teams.
We made a change of call about 2.5 minutes before our start changing from “wide right” to “tight leeward” as our desired position off the line. It looked like the French were happy with the right so we each got what we wanted in the left. The first shift went left and we controlled the French as they tacked to port. From there we never let them have a sniff of the left as it got better and better of there. We won fairly easily in the end.
In the other match in our flight, Azzurra stole the win off Prada on the first run in another Italian battle.
Then in flight three, Emirates Team New Zealand beat TeamOrigin too in its first outing of the series and All4One beat Mascalzone Latino Audi Team in the other match. There was a red flag penalty on Mascalzone Latino at the first windward mark and that pretty much ended the race.
With two wins from two starts, we are starting out nicely on Artemis. But again, this is a tricky venue and anything can happen in any match. Tomorrow, we are up against BMW Oracle in the first flight of the day.
iPad piano app tested by concert pianist Stephen Hough
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