Yachting News 31st December 2011
Tsunami Debris Already Arriving, B.C. Mayor Says
The coastal community of Tofino, B.C., spent the Christmas season mentally preparing for the grim task of collecting, sorting and cataloguing debris from the tsunami that devastated parts of coastal Japan early this year.
Greetings yachties,
In this issue:
Laura Dekker – almost job done,
Volvo Ocean Race – Leg 2 part 2 – follow them here,
Crac-A-Jac Wins Rocky Bay Regatta 2012,
Australian A-Cat Nationals 2012 – Ashby fires the warning cannon,
Nico’s blog,
The best and worst job in the world here,
Nek Minnit,
MV Rena – latest news here,
Louis Vuitton & Americas Cup34 – 2013 courses here,
- follow the chatter on Sailing Anarchy here
Global Ocean Race,
Opti Worlds – latest news here,
Mark Foy Trophy – Auckland,
Jules Vern Trophy,
Lectronic Latitude – latest issue here,
Scuttlebutt Europe – latest issue here,
ETNZ – get paint ball guns here,
Enjoy
Introducing a new link on yachtyakka – a new online store – where you can buy online all you need to go sailing – check it out.
follow the latest updates here
follow the chatter on Sailing Anarchy here
Rocky Bay Regatta 2012 Trophy Winners
Power Boat, Keelyacht and Dinghy Race Winners.
Rocky Bay Regatta 2012
This years Rocky Bay Regatta saw the best of the local Waiheke Boating Club yachties do battle with the Rocky Bay Townsons and a guest appearance by Edwin Delaat and his Crac-A-Jac team back to defend their line honours Trophy from last year.
Local Gun boat Young 88 Red Rum, Pauni Stewart 34 (we all know how competitive these yachts are at mark rounding’s), current Wednesday night champ Elliott 10m Euphoria and the swiftly sailed trimaran Klis3 with the owner/skipper/designer, this fleet would be tough competition for Edwin and his Farr 727 from West Auckland. Let alone the Rocky Bay regulars. Eleven yachts entered the race.
Photos By Anna-Marie Alloway: Pre Start:
The event had been postponed to the 3rd of January after a wet and wild Christmas weather system had made mud pools at new years events around the north island.
Sally-Anne
The forecast breeze was for a gentle northerly with rain showers clearing for a fine afternoon.
Edwin Delaat and crew during pre start
Start time of 11:00 and the bay is full of yachts preparing for a sprint around Koi Island down to a buoy and back to C buoy which is tucked into the bay where the flickle winds saw places change. Then back to the bottom mark for a beat to finish. The start line needed to be moved further into the bay after Panui made contact with a little brick – it’s shallow in there Ian when the tide is out.
At the gun we have Panui and Red Rum behind. While Klis 3 reaches to windward of the fleet and rounds the first mark ahead. Meanwhile Crac-A-Jac is fighting for clear air after a realisation that the A buoy has been laid some 500 meters further west than the sailing instructions indicated. Thanks to the match fixing of Panui, who have set the fist mark where they would like it rather than where it is drawn on the chart. This is Waiheke after all and the commodore has veto over such things (the skipper of Panui is also the commodore).
Koi Island
No worries – just try and keep the inside at the mark, gybe and have clear air to the bottom mark. The handicapper on Alberti is our next problem. Alberti is a Davidson 35 in cruise mode casting a large wind shadow over little Crac-A-Jac. Behind Alberti are a cloud of Townson 34′s, Elliotts 10m, Nolex 25, H28 blocking the wind and sun from our poor 727.
Up Front: Red Rum, Klis 3 and Panui have found a nice little puff allowing them to extend on the chasing pack. Round the first mark and a quick gybe we are heading to the bottom mark trying to shake clear of Alberti and Euphoria when the 1st Townson is trying to sneak inside us. A quick trim on and we burst past them.
Ahead, Red Rum, Klis 3 and Panui are all about to round the bottom mark when we get a nice little puff. Very quickly it’s time to get the kite off and headsail up. Round the bottom mark, pole away, tack around and hard on to Koi Island.
This will be a big ask for our 20ft of water line to chase down the bigger boats.
Some inside pressure and Crac-A-Jac is climbing fast and high on Panui, Klis 3 is finding the wind holes and Red Rum is finally starting to stretch out on the fleet. Panui and Klis 3 cross ahead on port heading into the bay while we sale a bit further to keep our air clear before tacking. Cranking the main hard we are able to climb higher than Panui and round the top mark ahead in 3rd place, we are just behind Klis 3. A speedy kite hoist and Crac-A-Jac is quickly planing again.
By now the fleet of 11 yachts have spread out and we only have Panui and Alberti to keep clear of. Round A buoy for the last time we are still just ahead of Panui and Alberti.
Another clean gybe and we are opening up a gap on the chasing pair. Euphoria have got a nice puff to catch up a bit, however too little too late.
Another quick rounding of the bottom mark and it’s a beat to the finish. Panui are closing fast and with the building breeze they are able to sale past us.
Time to get some more inside breeze and head for the middle of the bay to keep it clean as well. Alberti have got a nice lift and we need to cross astern. Klis have also tacked into the bay and we cross just astern of them also. Tacking back onto starboard we have caught Panui and elect to tack early onto port and keep clear air. Panui have found some nice steady pressure to finish with. While staying right, we are able to cross just ahead of Klis 3 and Alberti. Panui have managed to find enough boat speed to cross in 2nd while we claim 3rd on line.
An action packed 50 minutes of sprint racing with Edwin to start the year with 
Left, 2012 Tropthy, Right 2011 Trophy
We are able to sale above our handicap to collect 1st on general handicap, a nice adition to last years 1st line and 2nd handicap.
Thanks to the Rocky Bay Regatta for organising a great event and another fantastic day on Waiheke Island.
Hannah Irwin P Class “Sea Eagle” and Connor Kennedy Opti “Jester”
Red Rum enjoy a rum or 2 after the race
Down the run it was an Ashby ‘master class’. He sailed away from the fleet and extended on every run.
James Spithill had a big grin. ‘That was great, just happy to beat Glenn around the first mark. He overtook me pretty quickly down the run. Tom (Slingsby) got me just on the line and Nathan (Outteridge) was just behind me. Had a swim on the second run, so that cost me a few places. Not sure what happened to JK (John Kostecki and Dirk (de Ridder).
‘But it was awesome, awesome, and just unreal. It does not get much better than that.’
Spithill was right – it was awesome racing and that was just the practice race. Watch this space!!
2012 John Cootes Furniture Australian A Class Championships commence January 3 and will continue until January 7 2012.
We’ve learnt our lesson and won’t make the same mistakes again. Have we fixed the problem? No, not completely but we have made good progress and I’m certainly confident that next time we come up against Telefonica and Puma in similar conditions we will have made a dramatic improvement.
However, the reality is also that with the boats configured so differently there will be certain points of sailing and wind ranges where we will enjoy a speed advantage over boats such as Telefonica and Puma and vice a versa. Watch closely in some of the legs coming up where there’s likely to be a significant amount of running and downwind work to see how the boat speeds compare. So right now our focus is on shoring up our weak areas, while not sacrificing our strengths.
I’ve said it before but if we can consistently get podium finishes in this race then we will be in good shape. Therefore to have a third, second, second and second after two legs and two in-ports leaves us pretty well positioned, but we can do much better. I’m quietly confident that with the lessons we’ve learnt from this last leg, and the improvement in our performance as a team that we’re set to deliver that better performance. Stay tuned!
Talk soon
Nico
Revenge of the freaks! Mermaid Parade organizers expand their carny empire
By Daniel Bush
Call it the revenge of the freaks — served cold.
Coney Island USA, the group behind the Mermaid Parade and Sideshows by the Seashore, has expanded its carny influence in the People’s Playground by scooping up Denny’s Ice Cream on Surf Avenue, a neighborhood staple, for a cool $1.3 million.
Brooklyn Bridge Realty
“We bought it for future expansion while property in the neighborhood is relatively affordable,” said Dick Zigun, founder of Coney Island USA, who hopes to turn the property between W. 12th Street and Stillwell Avenue into a multi-story arts center. “If we didn’t buy [the building] now I don’t think we’d ever be able to do it.”
The freak show expansion is in stark contrast to what’s currently happening at Coney Island: thrill ride operators Central Amusement International, with the city’s blessing, is in the process of turning the Boardwalk into a glitzy — and freak free — year-round resort town.
At 08:20:40 GMT (21:20:40 local) on Friday 30 December, the youngest team in the double-handed, Class40 Global Ocean Race (GOR), 28 year-old Kiwi, Conrad Colman and his 22 year-old, British co-skipper, Sam Goodchild, crossed the GOR’s Leg 2 finish line in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand, in first place on their Akilaria RC2 Class40, Cessna Citation after 30 days 22 hours 20 minutes and 40 seconds, netting the maximum of 30 points for Leg 2.
Colman and Goodchild rounded Cape Farewell at the northern tip of South Island at 14:00 GMT on Thursday (03:00 local on Friday), fighting against headwinds. With Cook Strait set for a 40-50 knot south-easterly blast, potentially gusting to 60 knots, the stretch of water separating South Island from North Island was not a location to be caught in. For the two leading, double-handed Global Ocean Race Class40s, Cessna Citation and BSL, there was no option and life became increasingly tough for the two teams. Fleet leaders Conrad Colman and Artemis Offshore Academy sailor, Sam Goodchild, with Cessna Citation tacked hard in 35 knots of south-easterly wind in extremely ugly seas ahead of the main gale, sailing close to d’Urville Island and Port Gore on the northern tip of South Island before they attacked the 14-mile wide wind funnel at the narrowest part of the strait between Cape Terrawhiti on North Island and Perano Head on Arapawa Island in Marlborough Sound at 06:00 GMT on Friday with 18 miles remaining to the finish line.
follow the chatter on crew.org here
“We’re getting the **** kicked out of us!” (30/12/11): Ross Field
Just before the wind instruments got blown off the rig it was 38 knots and then it got windier. Now we estimate a solid 30 gusting 40 with breaking seas.
Great place this Cook Strait. (yeh right)
The poor old boat has suffered some damage, it’s fill of water, wet sails and sailing gear – it’s a shambles but we have only 12 more hours left. The crew are suffering – Campbell has a black eye from head butting the forestay – I have bruises everywhere from being thrown around the boat.
Are we enjoying it? NO, but this is only a tiny percentage of some of the best sailing in the world.
Congratulations to Cessna. Conrad and Sam sailed billiantly and thoroughly deserve their win – bloody well done.
Come down later today and see us.
Cheers.
Ross
follow the updates from bondage guy here
follow the chatter on Sailing Anarchy here
The Maxi Banque Populaire V shatters the Equator to Equator time
Since 12 :17 :30 (French time) this Friday, Loïck Peyron and his men are back in the Northern Hemisphere, 38 days 2 hours 45 minutes and 48 seconds * after leaving Ushant. With this outstanding performance, the Maxi Banque Populaire V not only writes a new distinction to his logbook, but also improves the partial Equator to Equator with a lead of 3 days 18 hours 24 minutes over Groupama 3 in 2010 but above all, faster than any other sailing boat on this race. A good sign for the fourteen sailors entering their final week at sea.
With this new partial shattered, the Maxi Banque Populaire V carries on falling records on her attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy. 32 days 11 hours 51 minutes and 30 seconds * after entering the southern hemisphere, the fourteen record’s hunters shattered the time set in 2005 by Bruno Peyron aboard Orange II, improving it by more than one day. Still enjoying mild conditions, the crew of the Maxi Banque Populaire V, by the voice of his skipper, savors the moment of the crossing: “We crossed the equator at high speed. We are sailing at 35 knots, on a sea almost flat, it’s really fun ! The boat does not suffer, and men even less. Everyone is excited, especially the fresh Cape Horners. Hello northern hemisphere, that’s not bad at all this record! It will now be increasingly difficult to beat it but still feasible and that’s the good news …”. A natural enthusiasm shared by Thierry Duprey du Vorsent, helmsman / trimmer on board, who joined today’s radio vacation : “We are in the northern hemisphere for a few minutes and it already seems like being on our usual playground. It’s been thirty-two days since we left the Northern Hemisphere, which roughly accounts for three quarters of the time in the South and one quarter in the North. It brings us closer to home, which is good. The sailing conditions are beautiful, the sea is completely flat and it is almost straight on the road. There are very little squalls, the nights are quiet, starry … we really encounter exceptional conditions and we could not ask for more, including the boat. The weather conditions enable us to break the record but our anxiety is coming from the technique. We have sailed 20,000 miles without making any pit stop, we must keep the equipment in good shape.”
For Brian Thompson, this passage to the North was even more particular: “I was lucky enough to be on the helm doing 35 knots as we counted down 0.02S, 0.01S, 0.01N!! The 3rd small bottle of Champagne we have carried was opened, and some of the bubbly nectar is first given to Neptune, to thank him for a safe passage through the Southern Seas..Then comes the saucisson and the Toblerone, all being shared between the crew and that God of the Sea.”
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