Greetings yachties,
Welcome to Yachtyakka, a look behind the wall at the SlimStat tells me that many people are visiting for the first time. If you are new to my Yachtyakka, take a few moments to click on the first timer guide ( top left ). be sure to watch some live yacht racing on Sail TV and join Yachtyakka on facebook. Enjoy my collection of yachting news and events 
In this issue:
Sailing News TV,
Abby Sunderland
Russell Coutts talks about AC34
Max Ranchi at the GP42
Audi MedCup – Coastal Race – watch live racing here
M34
Latitude 38 – latest issue Lectronic Latitude here
Newport to Bermuda – where are they now? – latest news here – latest images here
Newport to Bermuda – forums on Sailing Anarchy here
Giraglia Rolex Cup,
Laura Dekker,
The Foxer,
Coutts Quarter Ton Cup,
Waka Racing,
Scuttlebutt - latest issue here,
Scuttlebutt Europe – latest issue here,
Sail-World Australia - latest issue here,
Sail-World USA – latest issue here,
Fawlty Towers now on YouTube,
Enjoy
Outdoors, action and adventure
Pete Thomas & company provide the inside scoop on what’s happening outside
Reporter who sailed with Abby Sunderland shares perspective
I don’t know Abby Sunderland as well as those close to her, but I think I know her better than other reporters and columnists know her.
I’ve interviewed the Thousand Oaks teenager several times, and before she set out to chase a dream and try to circle the planet on a 40-foot yacht, I sailed with her through the night aboard that yacht, Wild Eyes, which by now probably rests at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
Same goes for Abby’s older brother, Zac. While working for the Los Angeles Times, I followed his 13-month around-the-world odyssey from the beginning, providing frequent blog posts and newspaper updates.
And yes, I’ve met the parents, and the brothers and sisters. I never became close to the family; my interactions were all during story assignments. But I gained some insight that other reporters and columnists do not have as they digest and regurgitate information regarding Abby’s recent rescue, after Wild Eyes was slammed in heavy seas between Africa and Australia.
Thus, because Abby and her family have become such a curiosity and so glaring a target, here are a few observations, quotes and anecdotes that might provide a better understanding of Abby, 16, and the sailing Sunderlands:
– This might not have been reported but a representative from child protective services interviewed Abby for nearly two hours at her home before her Jan. 23 departure from Marina del Rey. Marianne Sunderland, Abby’s mom, told me about this a few weeks after Abby’s departure. The interview was to make sure the high school junior was not being coerced into making this voyage.
– People have argued that Abby was too young to have tried to sail around the world by herself, and some have suggested her parents are guilty of child endangerment. This was a family decision and sailing around the world was Abby’s dream before it was Zac’s. Abby and her parents believed she was capable and she did sail more than halfway around the world before Mother Nature intervened. Abby is not the first global sailor to have been stopped by foul weather, nor will she be the last.
As for child endangerment, the same charges could be leveled at any parent placing their child in a midget racing car or on a motocross track or a bucking bronco, encouraging careers along those lines. Those are high-risk sports guaranteed to produce serious injuries and occasional deaths
The father of teen sailor Abby Sunderland told The NY Post that he’s broke and had signed a contract to do a reality show, “Adventures in Sunderland,” about his family of daredevil kids weeks after she set off on her doomed and dangerous solo sail around the globe.
Laurence Sunderland, a sailing instructor who lives in the middle-class Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks with his pregnant wife and seven kids, opened their home to film crews four months ago.
FoxNews Story here
The studio didn’t reply to e-mails and calls for comment yesterday.
Sunderland insists Abby’s trip wasn’t just a stunt.
The reality show was, he said, “the last thing on my mind.
“The wheels in motion for this trip had actually started when Abigail was 13 years old,” he added.
Sunderland also defended his decision to let his daughter take the risky journey.
“I love my daughter dearly,” he said. “I love the passion of sailing dearly, and this was about Abigail following her dream. She followed the criteria that I had set out, and met all the requirements to embark on this trip.”
Yesterday, Abby blogged that she was undaunted by her misadventure, and was considering writing a book.
Time for a Reality Contestant Screw-Up Tax
By Frankie Stone
Published: June 15, 2010
One clip caught my attention. Looking like a bad outtake from “Paranormal Activity,” Zac moves in tight to the camera and mugs his way through an anecdote about a dangerous moment he’d survived with eye rolls, hair tosses, lip biting, grimaces and heavy sighs.
Oh, that’s it: He’s playing reality show participant.
Sure enough, media coverage from Zac’s return confirms that a show was one piece of a grand marketing plan being pursued by his parents, along with heavy-hitter corporate endorsements and a Zac-the-adventurer personality franchise. But all apparently went the way of Abby’s boat. Zac’s website currently boasts a self-produced DVD, a few discounted tchotchkes and press clips recalling past glory.
Makes you wonder about the real motivations and goals behind Plan B.
When Abby was lost, a PR strategy was ready to roll. It started with Zac as the sole family member granting interviews. Were their parents locked away, heartbroken? Or did someone with a creative POV explain that Zac provided the best natural narrative link whatever Abby’s outcome?
The elder Sunderlands then emerged post-rescue with a few carefully rehearsed media appearances. Not perfectly rehearsed, however. Especially when they announced that they were “broke” and wouldn’t reimburse the Australian government any of the $300,000 it had spent in rescue costs (about which Australian citizens are furious), but cavalierly suggested the U.S. government just write the Aussies a check.
Then, as we’ve come to expect, everything starts imploding
PerthNow
Abby Sunderland seeks cash to save her boat Wild Eyes from the Indian Ocean
By Carly Crawford and Michael Harvey
THE family of US solo sailor Abby Sunderland are seeking public donations to save her crippled boat Wild Eyes from the Indian Ocean, despite claims they don’t have the money to compensate the Australian Government for her $300,000 rescue.
An appeal launched on Abby’s blog site called Save Wild Eyes asks visitors to help raise the money necessary towards the cost of towing the stricken vessel from the Indian Ocean back to the nearest port.
According to the site, every dollar donated will be put towards the cost of recovering Wild Eyes.
The appeal has so far raised $2,460 from 75 members from the public, mostly from the USA. Donations have also come in from Canada, the Netherlands, Germany and New Zealand.
The site is also hosting a poll asking visitors if Wild Eyes should be saved and brought home to be reunited with Abby, with 61% of the 10,000 respondents saying yes and 39% saying no.
Chatter on the forums here
Boat In General
previous owner:
“Having sailed numerous times on Wildeyes (former owner), she is by no means a “questionable” boat. Yeah, the 40s are slow, which is why the BOC dropped them, but they are very seaworthy. However, she is a bitch to try and get going up wind. Overall, she is a good boat, extremely well built, and without a doubt will be able to take her around, the only thing that can stop the boat from going around again (as Alan Paris’ BTC Velocity for 2002 Around Alone) is Abby.”
original owner:
“Abby’s boat was designed and built for the Around Alone 2002 – 2003 yacht race in which I sailed her around the world…..slowly !! In many ways this boat is solid as a rock and built to an old IMOCA Class 50 ( yes Class 50 ) rule which includes 110% bouyancy, inverted instability rules, 5 water tight compartments blah blah. There is kevlar in the entire hull as well as 3 large sections filled with foam.
Downwind in 60kts she is just fine ( my highest velocity was just over 60 ) Upwind she is useless and requires great care. So Abby if one of your friends or family reads this, be VERY conservative of lee shores and expect to be able to at best attain a close reach of 80 degrees AWA.”
more here scroll down to post 69
Sailing Anarchy forum here
What tack to take on Abby Sunderland’s tale?
It remains unclear whether any type of film or reality TV show will emerge from the teenager’s aborted around-the-world sea voyage. Is she a victim — or heroine?
“It’s not at all about money,” the father said. “It’s about a passion for sailing and loving your kids so much you want to be part of their dream.”
What the market is for the Abby Sunderland brand and whether the accident that ended her trip has increased the potential audience remains unclear.
Her story has great marketing potential as a documentary, an audiobook and even a movie, said Scott Sternberg, a veteran TV producer. A documentary would depend on how much footage is available of her journey, up to her final days at sea.
Russell Coutts updates us on the next Cup
Watch Live Racing here
TiPicture perfect coastal race. A rock’n'roll weekend?
Photo: Costera Marsella 2010 ©
Marseille so often delivers a broad range of wind conditions over the span of the regatta, and the coastal race is one of the most beautiful on the Audi MedCup Circuit.
Winds are forecast to be up to 20 knots today and that should make the TP52’s passage down to Cassis and back quite exciting and a different test to the first two days of racing.
In the GP42 Series the stronger breeze, due to increase during the afternoon, may just be on that transition between the preferred conditions of Iberdrola (ESP) which has dominated so far and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) which is better in the breeze. They are scheduled to do three races while the TP52’s race their second coastal race of the season.
At 39 miles the course is the same as last year but the breeze is a little more from the west, as opposed the demi Mistral, more northerly, which has blown the last couple of years.
Quantum Racing lead the regatta and won this coastal race last year.
Stronger winds are expected for the weekend, perhaps up to 30 knots.
Follow all the action live from both race course with Audi MedCup TV on www.medcup.org
Ray Davies (NZL), tactician, Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
“ We know this course reasonably well however today the wind is a little different to what we have had in the past. In the past it has been a little bit more NW’ly a semi-mistral direction, but today it is a little bit more westerly which means a bit more reaching, two-sailing and fetching and some of the legs in the past we would be VMG running and beating, so it is potentially quite different.”
“ What is common is that the windward-leeward, getting out of the bay is going to be critical because some of it will be a little bit processional however coming back up around the headland will be interesting. There will be a reach then a run to the variable mark, then a bit of beat back home. Nornmally when the breeze if a little bit more right then you get big right handers off the shore, but I am not so sure that they will be there this time.”
“ We are getting better. Every race we have improved. If you look at the results you can see it has been tricky. We have been working at getting a clean first beat and then taking it from there. This is a course area where you have to gamble a little bit. If you go up the middle and try to cover boats then you get hosed.”
“ It is good that is open. You really have to back yourself and not worry about the edges.
That is why the results are the way they are. People get a little bit conservative and are happy with their fourth round the bottom mark and try to cover, but then they just get passed on each side.”
“ It was very like that on the first day.”
“You have to realise that you have to sail the course, and not the boats. That is different from day to day. The systems are changing all the time and we will see some breeze. The boat likes that.”
“There is plenty of golf left in this game.”
A MAGIC RACE
Photos credit: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo
By sunset, which left the sea off San Remo in a smooth golden light, only 8 boats had crossed the finish line on the second day of the Giraglia Rolex Cup offshore race. The 12 to 15 knots breeze, that has accompanied the bigger yachts under blue sky the last few hours toward to coast, slowly fell asleep with the day’s end. At the same time, the Giraglia Rock checkpoint reported a large quantity of boats rounding the small islet off the northern tip of Corsica, with its Genoese tower, with its magic touch and impressive ancient history of the Mediterranean Sea.
This morning, after rounding the Giraglia rock at 07.00, the Swan 90 Solleone reported to have seen “lots of wonderful dolphins… but no croissants for breakfast”. These beautiful companions of the sea, which delight the toughest seaman’s heart have been following the yachts during the troublesome ride with wind shifts, thunderstorms, and sail changes from the Rock toward the finish line.
Sir Peter Ogden, owner / skipper of Jethou, enjoyed a romantic candle lit dinner on board with his crew, the evening before the start, due to a terrible thunderstorm that led to a complete loss of electricity in Saint-Tropez. And he experienced a romantic Giraglia rock rounding at night, after a great experience during the first part of the race: “this was the fastest we have been on the boat, 20 knots, but also the wettest we have ever experienced on the boat. Two people on board were always down below bailing water. It just filled up all the time. It was brilliant, unbelievable, it was just so fast all the way to the Giraglia Rock, the very best, the most fun we ever had.”
Laura Dekker in court – Photo by Valerie Kuypers
Laura Dekker would need to complete her trip by September 2012 to become the youngest person to sail around the world.
It will never be known how much impact US teenager Abby Sunderland’s dismasting in the south Indian Ocean had on their judgement, as Laura’s lawyers had been led to believe that, given she complete her school year and other training, that she would be allowed to depart.
Abby Sunderland was plucked from her stricken yacht after her dismasting amid much controversy, and is still on her way to the Reunion Islands to fly home. Her yacht has been abandoned. As Laura’s route takes here nowhere near the Southern Ocean, and the longest she would be at sea at any one time is around three weeks, the comparison is not valid. In addition, the route she has planned, keeping to mostly tropical parts of the globe and avoiding all hurricane and cyclone seasons, means the strongest wind she is likely to face is around 40 knots.
Ms Dekker had planned to set sail last September, but child welfare officials intervened, convincing the court to put a ban on her until July this year. In the meantime, the girl, with the help of her father, has purchased a larger boat, a Jeanneau Gin Fizz, and has been preparing it for departure.
At a hearing Monday, Dekker’s lawyer Peter de Lange argued that she has been working to meet 14 conditions imposed by the court nine months ago. Child welfare authorities had asked for a two-month ban, so it is still possible that Laura could be allowed to depart this year.
However, if she is to depart this year, she should be travelling south from Gibraltar at least by September, to avoid the winter gales which start soon after.
She has obtained a first aid diploma, practiced functioning with a lack of sleep, and arranged to follow schoolwork via Internet, he said. Last weekend she made a solo trip to England and back — 22 hours each way — to show her command of her small yacht and its seaworthiness.
Newport Bermuda Race
By John Rousmaniere
A good wind is predicted for the early stages of the 47th
Newport Bermuda Race, which starts on June 18 off Newport, R.I. The 184-boat international fleet is the third largest in the race’s 104-year history, with nearly 2,000 sailors on an often demanding course that runs 635 miles across the Gulf Stream to the finish off St. David’s Head, Bermuda. The race should take two to three days for the larger boats, over 80 feet long, and four to six days for the smaller ones of 33 to 40 feet.
“We expect a fine afternoon sea breeze of 10 to 15 knots to get the boats out into the Atlantic,” said Bjorn Johnson, chairman of the Bermuda Race Organizing Committee. “It may get lighter as the boats sail out into the Atlantic, but there will be a strong favorable current in a Gulf Stream meander carrying the boats toward Bermuda.”
The thousands of spectators at the start will include Bermuda’s Governor, Sir Richard Gozney, and Premier, Dr. Ewart Brown. When the starting gun for Class 1 is fired at 2 p.m. EDT, the two officials will be looking on from a motor yacht with Commodore Sheila McCurdy of the Cruising Club of America and Commodore Peter Shrubb of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the race’s two sponsors.
The 184-boat fleet is divided into five divisions whose final standings will be determined by factoring handicaps into the boat’s elapsed times. The largest with 103 boats is the St. David’s Lighthouse Division for predominately amateur racing crews. If the two-time defending champion, Peter S. Rebovich’s Sinn Fein, wins her third straight St. David’s Lighthouse Trophy, she will tie a record set in 1954-60 by Carleton Mitchell’s Finisterre.
The Foxer has become an iconic symbol of sailing in the Hamble River
The red, white, and black sails of Foxers zipping around the picturesque waterway is now a familiar sight to locals and visitors alike. Naval architect, David Thomas (designer of the Sigma 33, Hunter 707 and BT Global Challenge yachts) decided to create a yacht tender that can be rowed, motorised, or sailed. However, he probably never intended that his creation would be raced by national, international and world champion sailors.
The Foxer has become very fashionable amongst leading sailors living in the Hamble area and every year, the big event is the Foxer Nationals. “It’s challenging!” grinned Ian Southworth, helm of Gruntle, unwrapping his custom-made rudder. “It’s about balance, tactics and everything great about sailing.” Southworth should know, this year he won the event for the seventh time.
Sun, wind, great competitors and a tense finish that went right down to the closing seconds of the final race made the final day of the 2010 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup an absolute stunner.
Going into the final day Peter Morton’s Anchor Challenge, designed by Bruce Farr in 1980 and crewed by Kelvin Rawlings, John Newnham, Stuart Childerley and Jason Carrington, led the regatta by a narrow 1.5 point margin from 1990 Gonzalez-designed Cote with John Greenwood aboard Rob Gray’s 1990 Vrolik design Aquila third, Louise Morton sailing Anchor Challenge’s sistership Espada fourth, Bullet, designed by Fauroux in 1982 fifth and Ian Southworth’s Whiskers, a 1979 Joubelt Nivelt, in sixth.
The Race Committee delivered on their promise to run three final races, races seven to nine of the series, and laid on two excellent windward-leeward courses followed by a final Solent round the cans course with a spectacular running finish off Cowes. With every race there were changes on the leader board. Cote opened with a win whilst Anchor Challenge took a second putting Cote into the lead by half a point. Espada came third in moving them up into third place overall with Aquila now fourth and Whiskers fifth.
wakaracing
This post is tagged Abby Sunderland, AC34, Audi Medcup, Coutts Quarter Ton Cup, Fawlty Towers now on YouTube, Giraglia Rolex Cup, Google Display Network, Laura Dekker, Los Angeles Times, M34, maxranchi, Newport to Bermuda, russell coutts, Sail World Australia, Sail-World USA, sailing anarchy, Sailing News.TV, scuttlebutt, scuttlebutt europe, The Foxer, Waka Racing
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