Greetings yachties,
brainaid Ocean Racing will be doing weather services for Laura Dekker during preparation and her sail around the world.
Edwin Delaat, is very close to getting a ride to Fiji – he just needs to find some cash, If you would like to make a donation towards this young man’s sailing career please contact Edwin direct on his website.
Well done Edwin.
In this issue:
Stan Honey
Puma Ocean Racing – update
Franck Cammas
Paul Cayard a Portofino per la Nespresso Cup
Andrew Henderson – Speedboat.
1851 Cup
Jessica Watson
Figaro Transat – Where are they now?
Melges 32
MirskyRacingTeamTV
RC44
Winners are Grinner’s
Photos by Gilles Martin-Raget
Gmunden-
The wind came back to Lake Traunsee today and racing got underway on time at 1130. Race officer Peter Reggio got four races in again.
BMW Oracle continued to show dominance with both of their boats tied for first place in the fleet racing. No way back, last year’s overall winner, finished third. Onboard Katusha, with owner Guennadi Timtchenko at the helm for his first sailing ever, we were very pleased to finish the fleet racing in 8th place. We even finished second in one race today! This combined with our third place from the Match Racing puts us 5th overall for regatta. Guennadi was ecstatic. I think there is a fair chance he is hooked.
I am off to Portofino tomorrow for the Nespresso Cup. This should be a fun event with about 14 very large sailboats from the Wally Class. I think I am to sail on a different boat each day.
Following Portofino, I will be going to Cascais, Portugal for the Audi MedCup TP52 event there.
Paul
A moins dun mois de la première épreuve de la saison 2010 des Extrem Sailing Series Europe, les neuf équipages engagés affûtent leurs armes.
A Lorient, base du team Groupama, Franck Cammas et ses hommes ne dérogent pas à la règle.
Intervista a Paul Cayard a Portofino per la Nespresso Cup
Andrew Henderson walks us through all the fittings, halyards, sheets, and the rest of the running rigging of the Juan K 100 foot maxi Speedboat.
Inside The Maxi Speedboat – Guided by Jon Hildebrand
Valencia Sailing
Sir Keith Mills, Team Principal of TEAMORIGIN, has invited the America’s Cup holders, BMW ORACLE Racing, to Cowes this summer to compete in a match race tournament that will involve a race clockwise around the Island over the historic original course that saw the birth of the America’s Cup in 1851.
In that summer of 1851, fourteen British yachts raced a visiting US yacht called ‘America’, clockwise around the Isle of Wight. The American yacht won. Her owners were awarded a silver ewer, which became, and continues to be to this day, one of the world’s leading sports trophies – the America’s Cup.
Representing the Royal Thames Yacht Club, TEAMORIGIN is Britain’s America’s Cup team, and is preparing to compete in the 34thAmerica’s Cup. Some of the plans for the next America’s Cup will be made public on 6thMay next week by the current holder of the America’s Cup, BMW ORACLE Racing, representing San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club.
Named for the year of the original race The 1851 Cup is a new invitational match race regatta which will become a perpetual event that will be competed for by America’s Cup teams invited by TEAMORIGIN and the Royal Thames Yacht Club. This year the British and American teams will use their own ACC Version 4 boats, GBR-75 and USA-76, both are currently being prepared for shipping from Valencia, Spain to the UK.
Pieter Taselaar, reigning World Champion is in front
Scarlino (Grosseto), May 1, 2010 – Pieter Taselaar, reigning World Champion is in front of 17-strong Melges 32 fleet after six races completed in Scarlino. He has officially pierced the heart of the fleet, which seems, at this point seems customary to see him grabbing the best scores placing him atop the leader board at the 2010 Audi Sailing Series.
Taselaar and his Bliksem team appear to not only be the team to beat, but even in the most complex racing situations, advance around the course, climb through the positions and place well. B.LinSailing.com’s Luca Lalli and tactician Lorenzo Bressani are second overall, however they refuse to give an inch to Taselaar.
Saturday’s racing was characterized by a maximum of 18 knots of breeze at 180 degrees. Taselaar found success in the first race of the day with the help of tactician Jeremy Wilmot, further deeming they are the ones in charge. The windward beat was a lot like a great game of chess, where tacticians scrambled for options as the breeze shifted from the left side of the course and increased pressure by pointing to the right. Finishing close behind Taselaar was Lalli (whose high level of consistency is his best weapon). Overnight leader Filippo Pacinotti on Brontolo with Freddy Loof on tactics dueled to the finish taking third, just ahead of Francesco Martino’s Pilot Italia flanked by Vasco Vascotto.
Race two presented Lanfranco Cirillo on Fantastica as the winner. Eager to get back to the level of performance his team delivered in Lerici, Cirillo handed down great boat speed and the power required to win. Lalli challenged Cirillo yet settled for second and held off Taselaar who took third.
The wind increased for the final race of the day and the seas got larger. The fleet was feeling the pressure with two start attempts resulting in general recalls. The third start came about with black flag penalties in play, and unfortunately Pacinotti felt the full effect. Up until this moment, he was one of the teams that was doing quite well in the points standing. This toppled him from first to third after six races and a discard. Success was grand for 2009 Series Champion Carlo Alberini on Calvi Network winning without worry, special thanks to tactician Gabriele Benussi. Lalli placed second and Taselaar finishing closely in third.
Only racing will tell on Sunday, the final race day in Scarlino, as to whether or not Taselaar will be able to hold on to the lead and continue his record of most consecutive wins in the Audi Sailing Series. Will his winning streak continue or will it stifle his ambitions to be the most victorious Melges 32 in the fleet?
BMW ORACLE Racing wins the fleet race and conquers the RC 44 Austria Cup
There were only three points between BMW ORACLE Racing and RC 44 Challenge ahead of the last race. USA 18 finished three places ahead of USA 17, catching up on their opponent and grabbing the title thanks to the number of race wins. Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back finishes third.
May 4, 2010 – It went down to the last hurdle between BMW ORACLE Racing and their America’s Cup team mates on board RC 44 Challenge, with both teams separated by three points ahead of the last race. “We didn’t think we were still in a position to win the race”, confessed tactician John Kostecki at the end of the day. “If we had known this, I guess we would have done some things slightly differently”. Nevertheless, the tandem Kostecki / Spithill and their amateur helmsman Ian Vickers couldn’t have done much better in this last race, winning by a comfortable margin.
The outcome of the fleet race therefore unfolded behind, in a very tough battle between five teams competing for a podium position. BMW ORACLE Racing started the last race in the middle of the line and struggled to find clear air. The team then spent the regatta swapping places with No Way Back, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero and Ceeref, trying hard to keep as close as possible from the leader. BMW ORACLE Racing eventually crossed the arrival line in fourth, just a couple of meters ahead of the Spaniards after overtaking them during the last run; a move that proved to be synonymous with overall victory.
The fight for the third place of the podium also proved superb, with four teams separated by one point ahead of the last race. Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back – unlucky early in the day when it got stuck in a fishing line and had to send a crewmember in the freezing cold waters of Lake Traunsee to cut the line off – fought its way back up the ranking, finishing third of the last race and third overall ahead of Team Sea Dubai and Ceeref.
Both Artemis, Katusha and Team Aqua – used to the spotlights – suffered today. Team Aqua and Artemis – the winners of the last event in Dubai – finished respectively 9th and 7th of the fleet regatta. As for Katusha, 8th in the final ranking, its situation is quite different: the boat owner – Guennadi Timtchenko – started sailing for the first time during this regatta. He did a great job, staying in touch throughout the event thanks to the help of his coach, Paul Cayard.
Winner of both the match and fleet race, BMW ORACLE Racing conquers the RC 44 Austria Cup; a ranking based on the combination of both fleet and match racing. No Way Back finishes second and RC 44 Challenge third.
Thanks to their third place overall in Dubai and Austria, No Way Back currently leads the RC 44 Championship Tour 2010 ahead of Artemis and Team Sea Dubai.
They said:
Nicholas Verwilghen, helmsman, BMW ORACLE Racing: “I felt very bad when we finished the first race today in ninth… Then we won two regattas and finally secured the title in the fourth, so I come out of it OK. I absolutely loved it today, it was great. I hadn’t steered an RC 44 for over a year so it took me a little while to get the right feeling. I also found that Russell was much more relaxed than when I sailed with him in the past. But he still shouted at me when I messed a tack…”
John Kostecki, tactician, RC 44 Challenge: “The wind was quite shifty and it was difficult to control today: sometimes you take more risks if you try to cover another boat and I felt it was one of those situations. Having said this, if I had known that there were only three points between us and BMW ORACLE Racing in the last race, I would probably have done some things differently.”
Daniel Calero, owner, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero: “We had a great day today (2, 3, 5). The crew was fantastic, our tactician Gustavo Martinez Doreste did a great job and I was feeling well at the helm. Our level has definitely improved a lot since last year. We are much more competitive.”
Harm Muller Spreer, helmsman, Team Sea Dubai: “I needed some time to feel comfortable at the helm and today I am very happy that it happened. It’s an incredible feeling for me to beat guys like Terry Hutchinson. It’s the beauty of one-designs: all the boats have similar performances and the teams make the difference. It’s just the best.”
Igor Lah’s Ceeref wins the City of Gmunden Trophy
The leisurely long distance regatta took place this afternoon in light and fairly steady conditions. Igor Lah and his team onboard Ceeref managed the course perfectly and won the race ahead of Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back and Larry Ellison’s BMW ORACLE Racing.
May 1, 2010 – The ten RC 44’s involved in the Austria Cup competed this afternoon for the “City of Gmunden Trophy”, a long distance windward – leeward course across Lake Traunsee that doesn’t count for the Championship Tour. The sky was cloudy and the wind fairly light yet regular, allowing for a good regatta.
Igor Lah’s Ceeref, with Rod Davis calling the shots, took a good start and immediately headed for the favoured right side of the course, closely followed by BMW ORACLE Racing and No Way Back. Opting for the pin, Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis headed on its own to the left of the course – a choice that proved to be the wrong one.
Beating up alongside the eastern bank of the lake, Ceeref held on to its lead and made it first to the windward mark, closely followed by Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back and Larry Ellison’s BMW ORACLE Racing.
Today’s course didn’t offer many passing opportunities, and the distance between the boats kept increasing throughout the regatta. Ceeref crossed the arrival line first, ahead of No Way Back and BMW ORACLE Racing.
Team Austria sailed a good race and finished fourth, just ahead of Team Aqua – who had been recalled at the start and made a great come back.
The fleet race part of the RC 44 Austria Cup begins tomorrow and will last until Tuesday.
more later.. need to go out for a fish 
This post is tagged 1851 Cup, brainaid, Dire Straits, Edwin Delaat, Figaro Transat, franck cammas, Jessica Watson, Laura Dekker, Melges 32 Worlds, Mirsky Racing Team, Mr Clean, Paul Cayard a Portofino per la Nespresso Cup, Puma Ocean Racing, RC44 Austria Cup, sailing anarchy, Stan Honey
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