Yachting News 7th July 2010
Greetings yachties,
In this issue:
Minoprio and Gilmour Waver,
Tour de France,
F18,
Des Top News,
Jessica Watson,
Lectronic Latitude,
Westward Cup Regatta,
MaxSea & VELUX 5 OCEANS,
Scuttlebutt Europe – latest issue here
Enjoy
Minoprio and Gilmour Waver at Stena Match Cup Sweden
Marstrand, Sweden – 6 July, 2010 – Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Team and Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra at Stena Match Cup Sweden © Loris von Siebenthal-myimageThe wind switched on early for day one of Stena Match Cup Sweden. The 16 teams were separated into Groups A and B with flights concentrated into one morning race session. Five fast flights were completed in a stable 15 knots with stand out scores from Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team and Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar on a clean 4-0.
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team and Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team are next up at a respectable 3-1. The Swedish contingent experienced a brutal day afloat, both Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team and Björn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team are yet to score having lost all four of their races to date. Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN and Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra are tied at 2-2. While Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing and Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing are both in a precarious position testing their fans nerves currently in cliff hanger spots at 1-3 which could see either of these Tour card holders leave Stage 5 earlier than anticipated.
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar and Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN at Stena Match Cup Sweden © Loris von Siebenthal-myimageWilliams smiled his way back to the dock and ran through his final match of the day where he slammed a win over Gilmour, “We actually lost 3 out of 4 starts and in the last match against Gilmour we were behind up the first beat, he got good pressure out of the left to get ahead of us. I guess with Gillie having done well on the left we thought we would give it a try on that side and it came out well for us, we managed to get back into him and get a piece of him on port and then they put a leebow tack in onto port underneath us and we were then able to lift to windward. We got very close to the windward mark and he did a big luff and then we did a couple more luffs. When we eventually peeled away we did a slightly nicer job of the speed build and managed to cross him on port when we came back together
“Last week two big men swam out to my boat and came aboard WanderLust 3 at about 4 a.m. They pulled me (still sleeping) from the bed to the floor and stomped on my arms. The little man said, ‘I know you are rich, where is your money?’
“I replied, ‘My money is in the bank, but I will give you my credit cards.”
“The little man said, ‘I want all your cash, where do you hide your cash?’
“I said, ‘I only have cash in my wallet, you can have all that’s in there.’
“The little man told the big black man to “Stick him!” so the big man put the tip of the harpoon to my forehead and pushed.
“I raised my right arm and grabbed the end of the spear and then with the left arm, I pulled the spear out of his hands and bent the spear end across my knee. The men kicked me and grabbed for my arms, but I was able to slug a good one to the little man and kicked the big man in the balls. They took their revenge by getting an arm across my neck and choked me while the big man kneeled on my arms and was told to, ‘Knock Him OUT!’
“They beat me, and choked all the air out of me, so I passed out. Just before I went out, I thought ‘Someone finally killed me after all.’
FOUR GO RACING IN COWES!
Big Class yachts will go head to head in the inaugural Westward Cup Regatta
Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK: 2nd July 2010
Next Tuesday, 6th July, will see the first of four days of racing off Cowes as four of the most beautiful Big Class classic yachts will be racing against each other competing to win the inaugural Westward Cup. The Regatta has been organised by three of the most prestigious yacht clubs in the world, the Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) and two partner Clubs, the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) and Yacht Club de Monaco (YCM) and in collaboration with Boat International Media.
Depending on the weather conditions, the schedule may include a race around the Isle of Wight. With the advent of 21st century tracking technology introducing yacht racing to a far larger, global audience, armchair enthusiasts will be able to follow the yachts’ progress online
at here as they sail their courses each day as each boat will carry a Yellowbrick Tracking device.
History in the making
The schooner Westward was launched on March 31, 1910, as hull number 692 at the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA.
She was designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, the “Wizard of Bristol”, the designer of the America’s Cup defenders that turned back all six challenges from 1893 to 1920.
Westward was arguably one of the most famous and best-known racing schooners in the world. Less than a month after her launch, she sailed to Europe to challenge the world’s fastest schooners racing in the regattas in England and Germany. With Charlie Barr at the helm, and Charlie being one of the finest racing skippers in the world, she took first place in all eleven starts during her first season.
In the following years, and especially during the last eleven years of her racing career (1924 –1935) under the ownership of Mr. T.B. Davis, she raced successfully against the leading yachts of the era, including King George V’s cutter Britannia. According to the will of T.B. Davis, she was scuttled in 1947 in the English Channel, near the spot where Britannia was sunk in 1935 according to the will of King George V.
Eleonora sailing at speed in the Solent; taken from the Island Sailing Club, Cowes. © Nicky Wells / Sycamore
Marine navigation software pioneer MaxSea has joined forces with the VELUX 5 OCEANS race management team for the 2010/11 edition of the race.
Industry leaders since launching in 1985, MaxSea will work with the race direction team by providing a complete navigation software and electronic chart package that will link with the race entrants’ onboard trackers, allowing real time monitoring of the fleet for safety and up to date progress reports of the competition as it unfolds.
Experts from MaxSea will also assist and train the VELUX 5 OCEANS race management team in the use of their products and supply technical assistance when required during the race.
VELUX 5 OCEANS race director David Adams said: “It is great to have MaxSea onboard for the VELUX 5 OCEANS and the provision of the necessary routing software to the race management team will be a real asset for the safety and watch keeping of the fleet. MaxSea’s products are used and trusted by some of the best sailors in the world and we have every confidence they will perform outstandingly in the 2010/11 VELUX 5 OCEANS.”
RESPECTONS LA TERRE IN THE VELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11
She has already completed five round-the-world voyages – and now legendary French yacht Respectons La Terre is to embark on her sixth circumnavigation of the globe in the VELUX 5 OCEANS.
A legend in the sailing world, Respectons La Terre is probably better known around the world as Le Cigare Rouge. She is one of the most proven boats in the Eco 60 Class – and will be one of the yachts to watch in the 2010/11 edition of the VELUX 5 OCEANS.
Respectons La Terre Association, a group established to promote sustainability through adventure sports, will enter a skipper from their team of experts to skipper the yacht for the 30,000-mile VELUX 5 OCEANS. The decision on a choice of skipper will be confirmed by the end of July, at which time the new skipper will undertake the required qualification passage onboard Respectons La Terre, currently undergoing a refit programme in La Rochelle.
French adventurer Charles Hedrich, founder of the Respectons La Terre Association, said: “We are delighted to enter our Eco 60 Respectons La Terre in the VELUX 5 OCEANS. She is a wonderful boat with a rich solo sailing heritage, and this circumnavigation will be her sixth. A skipper from our team will take the helm of Respectons La Terre for the race and we will make further announcements in due course.”
Respectons La Terre was built for the 1992 Vendée Globe race by French VELUX 5 OCEANS legend Jean-Luc Van Den Heede and sailed under the name of Groupe Sofap-Helvim finishing second. One of the pioneering Open 60 yachts, she was painted bright red and was so narrow she earned the nickname Le Cigare Rouge – the red cigar.
The boat did three more Vendée Globes after VDH’s: in 1996 she was skippered by Catherine Chabaud, in 2000 by Joe Seeten and in 2004 by Karen Leibovici. Le Cigare Rouge also provided British sailing heroine Ellen MacArthur’s first experience of sailing an Open 60 when she did a delivery back from the OSTAR with Alan Wynne-Thomas.
The yacht was taken on by the Respectons La Terre Association in 2008 and is now sailed by some of the top sailors in France. Respectons La Terre is a known winner that will no doubt cause a stir in the VELUX 5 OCEANS.
The VELUX 5 OCEANS, run by Clipper Ventures PLC, starts from La Rochelle in France on October 17 and features five ocean sprints. After heading from La Rochelle to Cape Town, the race will then take in Wellington in New Zealand, Salvador in Brazil and Charleston in the US before returning back across the Atlantic to France.
