TP52 – AudiMed Cup Practise race result here
Greetings yachties,
Laura Dekker – latest news here – 170 from Canaries – facebook link here
Audi MedCup – video gallery here
Jessica Watson named Tourism Queensland’s 2010 – 2011 Sailing Ambassador,
Hamo update,
650 Mini update,
Little America’s Cup – images here
Enjoy,
A difficult opener for the TP52 teams today?
Audi MedCup Circuit © Ian Roman/Audi MedCup
The Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy, the fourth and penultimate regatta of the 2010 Audi MedCup season, gets into action today with points racing for the TP52 Series and the official Practice Race for the GP42’s.
The forecast for today’s breeze looks interesting, with a light offshore easterly wind anticipated, around six to ten knots, veering to the north of east during the afternoon. Three windward leeward races are programmed for the TP52 schedule, with the first start around 1330hrs after the GP42 fleet take in their two practice starts.
Yesterday’s practice race for the TP52’s proved that this is a tricky race arena in light winds, but today’s offshore easterly and north easterly breeze will likely be even more difficult due to the high cliffs which the breeze will be bouncing down off on to the race arena. The winds are expected to reach up to 11-12 knots.
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) head out on to the waters off Cartagena aware of the potential pitfalls of a light winds day here but with a measure of confidence knowing that they have an overall lead of 28.5 points on the Audi MedCup Circuit standings and that they are also the defending holders of the Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy
Celox 40, with six people on board, was among around 30 yachts that had started from the Royal Yacht Squadron line at Cowes on the gruelling RORC Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race. The mast and rigging went crashing overboard within sight of the start, as it was apparently racing along at 26 knots under full sail, including spinnaker.
Jessica Watson sails at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week
Photo Andrea Francolini
Life hasn’t slowed down for young round the world sailor Jessica Watson who was today named Tourism Queensland’s 2010 – 2011 Sailing Ambassador with her first official duty attending Audi Hamilton Island Race Week where she is also competing in the SB3 class.
Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Steve Wettenhall today announced Jessica’s ambassadorship at Hamilton Island where the 17 year old and her boyfriend, 18 year old British sailor Mike Perham, will join the rest of the 200 strong fleet on the water tomorrow for three of the four remaining days of Australia’s most awarded keelboat regatta.
“Jessica captivated the world during her seven-month quest to become the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world and now becomes the face of Tourism Queensland’s Season of Sailing,” Mr Wettenhall said this morning.
“The Premier, Minister and myself are thrilled to have Jessica on board to promote Queensland’s Season of Sailing, which highlights the state’s fantastic sailing events from Brisbane to North Queensland.
“Jessica is a genuine Queensland inspiration and has developed an international profile, which makes her the perfect fit for the Season of Sailing campaign.
The Trans-Tasman rivalry of the biennial South Pacific Cup is in full swing at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week with New Zealand currently leading the defending Australian two-boat team by three points at the half way mark.
The highly competitive Melbourne-based TP 52, Rob Hanna’s Shogun, racing this week with six-time Olympic sailor Colin Beashel calling tactics and North Sails’ Richie Allanson and Alby Pratt adding their weight, is up against New Zealand’s Georgia, skippered by ownerJim Farmer and Chris Meads.
Shogun recently won the NSW IRC Offshore championship while Georgia, a development of the Audi Med Cup winning TP52, Emirates Team New Zealand, is the current NZ IRC Champion.
Australia’s second South Pacific Cup team yacht is Bruce Absolon’s Hamilton Island-based Nikon Spirit of the Maid which isracing Kiwi Rob Bassett’s consistent 52-footer, Wired, in the Performance Racing class.
After a 10 year absence from Race Week, Auckland’s world class America’s Cup sailor Chris Dickson is calling tactics on Georgia. Returning to Hamilton Island this week, Dickson says he has noticed many changes both to the island resort and Australia’s premier keelboat regatta.
“It’s great to see how the island has matured and the regatta has come of age.
“Audi Hamilton Island Race Week is now considered a very prestigious regatta by world standards; it all just seems to happen flawlessly.
“When I was last here the regatta was trying to emulate and aspire to the major European regattas, now the tables have turned and I think the organisers of those regattas are looking at Hamilton Island.
“There’s a very high level of racing and calibre of sailor here this week,” Dickson commented.
Now retired from the long races, Dickson says his calendar is peppered with “good regattas sailing with good people”.
When he landed on the pontoon in Port Olona, Thomas Normand did not believe his eyes. It recently held a candle to most of the fleet with the exception of the Extra-Terrestrial Bertrand Delesne. He, the youngest of the race, tried hard to navigate as a sage, taking pleasure in every moment, adjusting his race to other conditions and performance of competitors. He nearly quit to withdrawing when his fuel cell run out after two days of racing. A stop in La Coruna, time to pick a generator, and Thomas leaves again, full of innocent enthusiasm to rally Horta. This second leg redeems all the disappointments of the round. It largely reflects the speed of adaptation of Thomas and his obvious talent.
Spithill, Ashby take aim at IC^4
Update: 1800 CET (1200 Newport, RI)
Racing for Day 1 of the International C Class Catamaran Championship has been postponed for the day. At decision time moments ago the race committee reported gusts up to 27 knots from the northeast on Narragansett Bay north of the Newport Bridge. The wind is forecast to subside tomorrow.
There are two parts to the event format, fleet racing and match racing. The Notice of Race calls for a minimum of three and maximum of 12 fleet races before the match racing. The top two teams in the fleet racing advance to the match racing final for the International C Class Catamaran Championship Trophy.
Original post: 1443 CET (0843 Newport, RI)
The occasion of the 25th International C-Class Catamaran Championship has attracted six international crews to Newport, R.I., to contest the event known unofficially and informally as the “Little America’s Cup.”
One of those crews is BMW ORACLE Racing team skipper Jimmy Spithill, who’ll be crewing for fellow Aussie Glenn Ashby aboard the 25-foot, wing-sailed cat Alpha, the Canadian boat that won the previous IC^4 (the event’s new abbreviated title) in Toronto in 2007.
This post is tagged 650 Mini update, Audi Medcup, Glenn Ashby, Hamo update, Jessica Watson, Jimmy Spithill, Laura Dekker, Little America’s Cup
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