by SailRaceWin
The final day of the 5.5 Metre World Championships brought sunshine and sparkling waters off the Circolo Vela Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy, with more wind than earlier in the week.
Two races were able to be held, but it only took one of those to determine the 5.5 Metre World Champions for 2010. With a 5th place (their worst placing in the entire series), Flavio Marazzi (SUI), and his crew of Andrew Palfrey and Christof Wilke, took first place overall, and were able to sit out the final race, counting this DNC as their sole discard.
Kristian Nergaard (NOR) finished second, with a tie on points for third place split in favour of Kenneth Thelen (FIN) over Christoph Burger (NOR). Gavin McKinney (BAH) was first non-European boat in fifth place overall.
Final Overall Results (with 1 discard) 5.5 Metre Worlds 2010
1 SUI 224 Marazzi Flavio, Male, Palfrey Andrew/Wilke Christof, TYC & GYC Ali Baba 13,0 1 1 2 1 3 5 (dnc)
2 NOR 57 Nergaard Kristian, Male, Moberg Peer/Morland Pedersen P, Royal Norwegian Yacht Club Artemis XIV 21,0 6 2 5 2 5 (ocs) 1
3 FIN 66 Thelen Kenneth, Male, Hallberg Thomas /Nyberg Robert, Nyländska Jaktklubben Kan-Bej 2 28,0 5 4 1 7 (9) 2 9
4 NOR 65 Christoph Burger, Male, Marcel Simon/Mathias Daheman, TYC / GYC ODLO 28,0 2 3 4 4 7 8 (10)
5 BAH 19 McKinney Gavin, Male, Hauff Peter /Westergaard Bjorn, Nassau Yacht Club John B 33,0 4 6 8 (dnf) 1 7 7
6 SUI 214 bernard haissly, Male, bernard haissly/nicolas bertho, sng caracole 38,0 3 9 6 5 (14) 1 14
7 SUI 213 HANS-PETER SCHMID, Male, Gilbert Dürr/Jürg Baumgartner, SC MURTEN PUNGIN 41,0 8 7 3 8 (17) 13 2
8 FIN 49 Gullichsen Johan, Male, Lundberg Henrik/Telkola Timo, NJK addam 4 43,0 9 5 9 6 (10) 10 4
9 SUI 222 Jürg Menzi, Male, Léonard Gaume/Daniel Stampfli, TYC Thunersee Yachtclub, GYC G Marie-Françoise XVIII 45,0 7 10 (20) 3 11 11 3
10 NOR 64 Fjeld Petter, Male, Borgen Thomas /Johannessen C, Fredrikstad SF Clark Kent 45,0 12 (13) 7 12 6 3 5
11 NED 26 Arend Jan Pasman, Male, Ron Azier/Kin Chabani, Braassemermeer Feng Shui 46,0 10 8 10 10 2 (12) 6
12 NED 31 Victorine Bredero, Female, Jeroen Behrend/Wiebe de Witte, ws braasemermeer Duchess of B 69,0 11 14 (16) 9 15 9 11
13 SUI 210 Rolf KELLENBERGER, Male, Martin HUBER/Andreas KINDLIMAN, TYC SHAOLIN 71,0 17 11 14 (18) 8 6 15
14 SUI 211 Jörg Hotz, Male, Marc Dangel/Ernst Schiess, ZYC Forza Del Destino 82,0 15 17 (21) 21 4 4 21
15 GER 30 Andreas Christiansen, Male, Jens Rathsack/Andreas Föh, NRV CRIOLLO 90,0 13 15 (26) 15 13 16 18
16 SUI 215 Thomas TREIB, Male, Patrick RÜFENACHT/Katja SCHEID, YCB Yacht Club Bielersee RANA 91,0 14 (18) 15 17 18 14 13
17 GER 42 Queisser Hans-Juergen, Male, Kruse Gerhard/Blenckner Klaus, NRV RTYC SNR For Fun Too 94,0 18 16 12 19 (20) 17 12
18 BAH 20 Symonette Craig, Male, Vlasov Peter/Boisen-Moeller Je, Nassau Yacht Club Silver Fox 100,0 (dnf) dns 13 14 19 15 8
19 NOR 62 Huser Are Andenæs, Male, Ferner Car-Christian /Bellingh, KNS Plan B Redux 106,0 16 12 18 13 16 (ocs) dnc
20 ITA 73 Delli Alfredo, Male, Gianluca Marolli/Claudio Mazza, CVMV CARABELLA 118,0 19 20 22 20 (24) 21 16
21 GER 33 Lutz Dr. von Meyerinck, Male, Felix von Meyerinck/Oskar de F, SVAOe Blueprint 118,0 20 19 19 (dnf) 21 20 19
22 SUI 201 Tobias Isler/Jörg Sonntag, Male, Kaspar.Stubenrauch, SCE / WSV 1921 ZICCA 125,0 24 22 17 23 (26) 19 20
23 SUI 217 Jack Frei, Male, Thomas Frei/Roland Ledergerber, Yacht Club Romanshorn TOPAS III 127,0 (dnf) dns 11 11 12 dnf dnc
24 SWE 50 Gustafsson Jan, Male, Kellner Håkan/Kellner Rickard, Tulka SS Apriori 128,0 21 21 24 (dnf) 22 18 22
25 NED 11 van Opzeeland Piet, Male, Eijkman Tom/De Coster Dave, W V Braassemermeer Woelgeest 133,0 23 23 25 22 23 (dnf) 17
26 SUI 175 Frédéric de Rutté, Male, Frédéric Saudan/Matthieu MacGi, SNR Bellagioia II 148,0 22 (dnf) 23 16 25 dnc dnc
27 ITA 14 Pozzo Vittorio, Male, Marolli Enzo/Marolli Alessandr, C.V.P. MAVI 159,0 26 (dnf) 28 24 27 dnc 23
28 SUI 152 Gilbert-Xavier MARTINET, Male, Marc-Antoine MONNARD/Sébastien, SNR-Société Nautique Rolloise BARA-GWEN XI 176,0 25 (dnf) 27 dnf dnc dnc dnc
29 ITA 57 Leupold Richard, Male, Giorgetti Paolo /Rossi Andrea, CVMV Whisper 184,0 (dnf) dns 29 dnf dnc dnc dnc
30 AUT 21 Münnich Hans-Peter, Male, Werr Phillip/Rottner Bernhard, Union Yacht Club Wolfgangsee Schakal 186,0 (dnf) dns dnc dnf dnc dnc dnc
5.5 Metres
Saturday, 11 September 2010
Riverbanks at Full Capacity at the Hahn River International Match Race, Korea
by Reuben Corbett
The rain stole the show today with the river level centimetres from overflowing the banks. Authorities banned all sailing on the water so we have the afternoon to check out the city of Seoul.
On the racing front there is insufficient time to complete the current format so we expect to see some changes tomorrow morning. We are currently sitting top of the table but the Australians are in hot pursuit.
The team would like to thank the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron friends, and family for their support. Thank you!
Black Sheep Racing is Reuben Corbett, Brad Farrand, Tom Bentham, Nicolas Derberque and James Sandall.
Black Sheep Racing
The rain stole the show today with the river level centimetres from overflowing the banks. Authorities banned all sailing on the water so we have the afternoon to check out the city of Seoul.
On the racing front there is insufficient time to complete the current format so we expect to see some changes tomorrow morning. We are currently sitting top of the table but the Australians are in hot pursuit.
The team would like to thank the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron friends, and family for their support. Thank you!
Black Sheep Racing is Reuben Corbett, Brad Farrand, Tom Bentham, Nicolas Derberque and James Sandall.
Black Sheep Racing
Buddy Melges Challenge: Osborne (NZL) in Last Eight
by WIMRA media
The second day of racing at the Buddy Melges Challenge at the US Sailing Center Sheboygan in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA, was another interesting day for the 15 international teams in the Elliott 6ms. The winds decreased during the day from a high of 10-12 knots down to less than 5 by the end of the day. The Initial stage was completed and the top four teams in each group advance to the Quarter Final Round Robin while the bottom four teams in each group moved on to the Consolation Round Robin. Three flights of the Quarter Finals were completed and the results show no clear leader with four teams winning 2 of 3 matches and 4 teams winning 1 of 3. The top 8 have all to play for tomorrow with the top four teams advancing to the Semi Finals.
Quarter Final Round Robin:
Barkow (USA) 2-1
Spithill (AUS) 1-2
Mulder (NED) 2-1
Osborne (NZL) 2-1
Tunnicliffe (USA) 1-2
Meldgaard (DEN) 2-1
Souter (AUS) 1-2
Tulloch (USA) 1-2
Buddy Melges Challenge
The second day of racing at the Buddy Melges Challenge at the US Sailing Center Sheboygan in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA, was another interesting day for the 15 international teams in the Elliott 6ms. The winds decreased during the day from a high of 10-12 knots down to less than 5 by the end of the day. The Initial stage was completed and the top four teams in each group advance to the Quarter Final Round Robin while the bottom four teams in each group moved on to the Consolation Round Robin. Three flights of the Quarter Finals were completed and the results show no clear leader with four teams winning 2 of 3 matches and 4 teams winning 1 of 3. The top 8 have all to play for tomorrow with the top four teams advancing to the Semi Finals.
Quarter Final Round Robin:
Barkow (USA) 2-1
Spithill (AUS) 1-2
Mulder (NED) 2-1
Osborne (NZL) 2-1
Tunnicliffe (USA) 1-2
Meldgaard (DEN) 2-1
Souter (AUS) 1-2
Tulloch (USA) 1-2
Buddy Melges Challenge
Difficult Day: Light Winds and Waves, at the Buddy Melges Challenge
by Anna Tunnicliffe
It was a difficult day of sailing today in Sheboygan at the Buddy Melges Challenge. The wind started off quite well for the morning group who had four races to finish. When we finally got out on the water, the wind had died to about 6kts, but there was a 2-4ft swell left over from the morning winds, which made sailing quite challenging as the wind slowly died through the rest of the day to eventually die out during our last race.
We finished our last two round robin races 1-1 to take our overall record to 4-2. This seeded us 3rd in our group but still put us into the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal teams were drawn from the top four teams of each group. We completed three races today and finished 1-2. We were leading every race at some point, but small mistakes cost us the wins in two races.
Our first race was against Sam Osborne from New Zealand. With the lead flip-flopping numerous times, we were able to hold on to the lead we took up the second windward leg and start the series 1-0. Our next race was against Mandy Mulder from the Netherlands. Leading her off the line, we did what tactically we should have done and forced her to tack away, but unfortunately, the wind was getting light and spotty and we sent her towards a puff on the water we didn't see. Next time we came back together, she had passed us. From that point on we couldn't catch her again. This loss took our record to 1-1.
Our last race was against Katie Spithill from Australia. Up the first beat, we held the lead. At the top mark, we unfortunately rounded on the outside of a boat in another match and were sailed a bit high allowing Katie to gain some distance on us. She rolled over the top of us so we gybed away, and when we came back together, we were about one and a half boat lengths behind.
At the bottom mark, we were left with about 2 kts of breeze but still the same lumpy sea state. We tacked away to the right side of the course, and Katie went left to try and minimize tacks. When we came together, we had gained back control of the race and took a one and a half boat length lead. Again, she had a very strong position to pass us downwind. We gybed and gybed back to split tacks. When we came together at the bottom of the course we were bow to stern. We split gybes one more time and Katie drifted across the line in the waves to take the lead and drop our series score to 1-2.
Results After Day One:
Group A:
Sam Osborne-NZL 4-1
Sally Barkow-USA 3-1
Anna Tunnicliffe-USA 3-1
Genny Tulloch-USA 3-1
Juliana Mota-BRA 1-3
Ru Wang-CHN 1-3
Anne Marie Shewfelt-CAN 0-5
Group B:
Katie Spithill-AUS 3-0
Nicky Souter-AUS 3-0
Juliana Senfft-BRA 2-1
Lotte Meldgaard-DEN 1-2
Maegan Ruhlman-USA 1-2
Mandy Mulder-NED 1-2
Katie Abbott-CAN 1-2
Maggie Shea-USA 0-3
The forecast for tomorrow is for big breeze with four more races to go in the quarterfinals. There is live tracking and video on the regatta website along with the results.
We would like to thank Carmeuse and Trinity Yachts for their continued support of our campaign for the 2012 Olympics in London. We would also like to thank US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and its sponsors for their support.
Sail Hard,
Anna
Team Tunnicliffe
Buddy Melges Challenge
It was a difficult day of sailing today in Sheboygan at the Buddy Melges Challenge. The wind started off quite well for the morning group who had four races to finish. When we finally got out on the water, the wind had died to about 6kts, but there was a 2-4ft swell left over from the morning winds, which made sailing quite challenging as the wind slowly died through the rest of the day to eventually die out during our last race.
We finished our last two round robin races 1-1 to take our overall record to 4-2. This seeded us 3rd in our group but still put us into the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal teams were drawn from the top four teams of each group. We completed three races today and finished 1-2. We were leading every race at some point, but small mistakes cost us the wins in two races.
Our first race was against Sam Osborne from New Zealand. With the lead flip-flopping numerous times, we were able to hold on to the lead we took up the second windward leg and start the series 1-0. Our next race was against Mandy Mulder from the Netherlands. Leading her off the line, we did what tactically we should have done and forced her to tack away, but unfortunately, the wind was getting light and spotty and we sent her towards a puff on the water we didn't see. Next time we came back together, she had passed us. From that point on we couldn't catch her again. This loss took our record to 1-1.
Our last race was against Katie Spithill from Australia. Up the first beat, we held the lead. At the top mark, we unfortunately rounded on the outside of a boat in another match and were sailed a bit high allowing Katie to gain some distance on us. She rolled over the top of us so we gybed away, and when we came back together, we were about one and a half boat lengths behind.
At the bottom mark, we were left with about 2 kts of breeze but still the same lumpy sea state. We tacked away to the right side of the course, and Katie went left to try and minimize tacks. When we came together, we had gained back control of the race and took a one and a half boat length lead. Again, she had a very strong position to pass us downwind. We gybed and gybed back to split tacks. When we came together at the bottom of the course we were bow to stern. We split gybes one more time and Katie drifted across the line in the waves to take the lead and drop our series score to 1-2.
Results After Day One:
Group A:
Sam Osborne-NZL 4-1
Sally Barkow-USA 3-1
Anna Tunnicliffe-USA 3-1
Genny Tulloch-USA 3-1
Juliana Mota-BRA 1-3
Ru Wang-CHN 1-3
Anne Marie Shewfelt-CAN 0-5
Group B:
Katie Spithill-AUS 3-0
Nicky Souter-AUS 3-0
Juliana Senfft-BRA 2-1
Lotte Meldgaard-DEN 1-2
Maegan Ruhlman-USA 1-2
Mandy Mulder-NED 1-2
Katie Abbott-CAN 1-2
Maggie Shea-USA 0-3
The forecast for tomorrow is for big breeze with four more races to go in the quarterfinals. There is live tracking and video on the regatta website along with the results.
We would like to thank Carmeuse and Trinity Yachts for their continued support of our campaign for the 2012 Olympics in London. We would also like to thank US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and its sponsors for their support.
Sail Hard,
Anna
Team Tunnicliffe
Buddy Melges Challenge
Danish Open: BlackMatch well on track at Danish Open
Winding up for the start against Bertrand Pace's Aleph Sailing Team. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/WMRT.
by David Swete
We were involved in 5 matches today managing to win 4, including a very important and exciting win over the current World Tour Leader Mathieu Richard. Our victories today mean that we are definitely well on track to making the semi finals, however we still face a huge challenge ahead of us with three of the toughest races remaining of which we need to win at least two.
Although not as blustery as yesterday, conditions still built throughout the day and for our most important match of the day against Mathieu Richard, the breeze was gusting 25 knots. We still had the big overlapping number one genoas on, which made for some very powerful upwind sailing with surfing conditions downwind. The pre-start saw us gain a massive advantage with Mathieu copping a penalty after losing control in the dialup and sailing into the obstruction zone, while we then forced a second penalty on him when he tacked too close to us off the start-line.
Despite our great start and them having to take an immediate penalty they still managed to keep close enough to attack on the first downwind. While approaching the bottom mark they did a nice job of gybing onto our breeze and managed to roll over us. We continued to luff past the bottom mark to defend our lead, but the umpires deemed they had broken the overlap and thus we could not continuing to luff them, so we were handed a penalty and it was all square again. A fierce tacking duel ensued up the next beat and we dug in deep to defend our lead, which we held all the way to the finish to take what we are hoping will be a very important victory.
Our other victories today came against Betrand Pace, local hope Mads Ebler and the wild card all woman crewed team skippered by Susanne Ward. Tomorrow we face Torvar Mirsky, Ben Ainslie and Bjorn Hansen in our three remaining round robin matches, with the unenviable task of winning at least two of these. There are still 6 teams in contention for the 3 remaining semi final berths, while Francesco Bruni sealed his fate today winning 8 of his 11 races to be the only team so far to qualify.
Approaching the top mark. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/WMRT.
We would again like to say a special thank you to our sponsors FedEx Express and Events Clothing/Line 7. Owen Rutter from Events Clothing has supplied us with new sailing gear this season, keeping the boys looking very sharp. The ongoing support of our sponsors is helping make this opportunity possible for the BlackMatch boys and we would also like to thank Emirates Team New Zealand and Steinlager Pure.
BlackMatch Racing this week is Adam Minoprio, Dan McLean, Tom Powrie, David Swete, Nick Blackman and local boy Jonas Frank Hviid-Nielsen.
Round Robin results at end of Day 2
Bruni 8-3
Mirsky 7-1
Minoprio 6-2
Richard 6-2
Ainslie 5-3
Hansen 5-3
Gilmour 5-3
Pace 5-6
Tiller 4-7
Ebler 4-7
Ward 1-10
Buckley 1-10
BlackMatch Racing
World Match Racing Tour
Danish Open: Mirsky Racing Team still Up Top
Graeme Spence commanding the bow. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal.
by Kinley Fowler
Three straight wins on day two of the Danish Open keeps MRT up the top of the leaderboard, trailing only Italy's Team Azzura who have finished the first round with 8 wins and 3 losses.
The ruthless format of the Danish Open only allows the top 4 teams to proceed through to the next stage, so it is very important for the teams to hit the ground running in the first round.
MRT have managed to do so, only dropping one race yesterday in the breeze against Team Azzura who are currently sitting in first after finishing all of their first round races.
The first race of the day saw MRT rushing out to the start after the race committee jumped straight into the starting sequence with MRT still preparing the boat on the dock after it had been taken out of the previous match.
Luckily it didn't affect the result however, as MRT lead the local talent Mads Ebler around the track after a shaky start which saw Mirsky held out to windward of the starting line. The power of the right however brought the Australian's quickly back into the game, and they were able to push Ebler over to the unfavoured side of the course.
Tudur Owen gives an asseement
"The mood on the boat is good. Even when we were late for the start against Ebler, we were able to keep our composure and focus on the small gains throughout the race." Said MRT's pitman Tudur Owen.
"Mathieu Richard's team are sailing very well and have been very consistent this year, so we will be looking forward to a tight race with them tomorrow."
Mirsky Racing Team
World Match Racing Tour
Danish Open: Full Metal Jacket Racing Report on Day 2
by Will Tiller
It was a better day for the boys on the second day at the Danish Open, with an onshore breeze ranging from 15 – 18kts the racing was very tough sailing at the top end of the number 1’s. After a huge day, hitting the water at 9 and not getting in till 6, completing eight races we are all exhausted but stoked with the four wins we managed today.
In our first race we lead from start to finish extending all the way around the course. Next up we were against Peter Gilmour, after an even start we protected the right up the beat and held a solid 2-3 boat length lead for the majority of the race. Going into the final run we choose not to symo gybe him, this gave him the left and he picked up the puff of the day. Within about 2 lengths of the line he just managed to roll us and take the win which was tough for us.
We had some very close racing in our next three matches against Tovar Mirsky, Ben Ainslie and Francesco Bruni, pushing them all hard at stages but we came out on the wrong side going down in each.
However we picked ourselves up from these loses to win our final three races, beating Bertrand Pace and Bjorn Hansen in some very exciting racing including double penalties, rig clashes and intense tacking duels.
We would like to say thanks to our principal sponsor Chris Meads from Full Metal Jacket, SLAM, Aon New Zealand and The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
FMJ Racing is William Tiller, Harry Thurston, James Maloney, Jono Spurdle and Shaun Mason.
Full Metal Jacket Racing
World Match Racing Tour
It was a better day for the boys on the second day at the Danish Open, with an onshore breeze ranging from 15 – 18kts the racing was very tough sailing at the top end of the number 1’s. After a huge day, hitting the water at 9 and not getting in till 6, completing eight races we are all exhausted but stoked with the four wins we managed today.
In our first race we lead from start to finish extending all the way around the course. Next up we were against Peter Gilmour, after an even start we protected the right up the beat and held a solid 2-3 boat length lead for the majority of the race. Going into the final run we choose not to symo gybe him, this gave him the left and he picked up the puff of the day. Within about 2 lengths of the line he just managed to roll us and take the win which was tough for us.
We had some very close racing in our next three matches against Tovar Mirsky, Ben Ainslie and Francesco Bruni, pushing them all hard at stages but we came out on the wrong side going down in each.
However we picked ourselves up from these loses to win our final three races, beating Bertrand Pace and Bjorn Hansen in some very exciting racing including double penalties, rig clashes and intense tacking duels.
We would like to say thanks to our principal sponsor Chris Meads from Full Metal Jacket, SLAM, Aon New Zealand and The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
FMJ Racing is William Tiller, Harry Thurston, James Maloney, Jono Spurdle and Shaun Mason.
Full Metal Jacket Racing
World Match Racing Tour
Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup: Crunch Time
ALEGRE, Andres Soriano. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
by Jill Campbell
More often than not yacht races are won by minutes and seconds; today feet and inches played a part in the results on day four of the 2010 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. Two yachts touched hard unforgiving rocks that have caught out so many time and again on this seemingly benignly named emerald coast of Sardinia. Cutting corners when you draw close to five-metres is a game of chance involving the finest of margins. Whilst the campaigns of Rán (GBR) and Container (GER) ground to a jarring, gut-twisting halt, others continued to push onwards to their destiny. For those with aspirations of glory the penultimate day of racing was crunch time in more ways than one.
TITAN 15, SHOCKWAVE and RAN. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
Today’s skipping stones were: Y3K (GER) and Indio (ITA) in Wally, both scoring five points over their two windward-leeward races; OPS 5 (ITA) took advantage of a confused situation to scoop a first win in the Mini Maxi Rolex Worlds for a Racer/Cruiser yacht; Esimit Europa 2 (SLO) made use of her waterline length and mast-height to cruise to victory in Maxi. The Supermaxi match was secured by Gliss (SUI) and, in the J’s, Velsheda (GBR) finally showed her true colours getting the better of Ranger (CAY).
ESIMIT EUROPA 2 and BELLAMENTE. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
Going into the final race day, those in control of their fate are: Claus Peter Offen’s Y3K in Wally, with a three-point lead over Lindsay Owen Jones’ Magic Carpet 2 (GBR); Igor Simcic’s Esimit in Maxi with cushion of two-points over Irvine Laidlaw’s Highland Fling (MON); Hetairos (CAY) in Supermaxi is looking down on Hasso Plattner’s Visione (GER), one point back; John Williams and Ranger leads Ronald de Waal and Velsheda (GBR) by a whopping nine-points; and, in the Mini Maxi Rolex Worlds, Andy Soriano’s Alegre (GBR) has a five-point margin over Niklas Zennstrom’s Rán, whilst Brian Benjamin’s Aegir (GBR) looks most promising for the Racer/Cruiser title with a twelve-point gap to Massimo Violati’s OPS 5.
RANGER. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
The Wallys undertook two windward-leeward races of 8 and 8.8 nautical miles in light breeze. The piece of knotted string that had to be unwound by the Mini Maxis, Maxis, Supermaxi and J-Class was a convoluted 38 nautical-mile course, which ended being shortened for two of the classes after the wind in the middle part refused to entertain the biggest boats in the yacht racing world.
The long course comprised a short beat to a windward-mark, followed by a close reach down to the channel between Isola delle Bisce and Capo Ferro, a fetch to Secca di Tre Monti and then a sharp right turn to Monaci. Wind for this period was difficult, but by comparison to what lay ahead it was an easy piece of the puzzle. At Monaci everyone hardened up to take on a beat to Barrettinelli di Fuori in a dwindling supply of wind. The left turn into the archipelago and run down to Spargi, which was left to port, looked even worse. Thankfully, from Spargi onwards it was downwind, but not downhill in wind strength, all the way home to Porto Cervo.
TITAN 15, William I Koch past Barrettinelli di Fuori. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
If the beat to Barrettinelli was a head scratcher for the strategists, the rounding of Spargi may have led to a number jumping ship as the island formed a sponge sucking in the yachts, as a slow-moving tail back was established off its western shore. There was sufficient gas in the tank to keep boats moving, but painfully, painfully slowly for yachts more accustomed to having it all their own way. Esimit escaped the trap. Her time around the full course a staggering forty minutes faster than Highland Fling. The Mini Maxis and Supermaxis will be thankful that there were no yachts fast enough to beat the rapidly set shortened-course finish line at Secca di Tre Monti. In the Maxi class, Singularity (GBR), Farewell (ITA) and DSK Pioneer Investments (ITA) were forced to sail the complete distance.
Shockwave (NZL) was the first Mini Maxi to cross the line. Owner Neville Crichton viewed this as positive, but his overall result as a disappointment after a promising start. Shockwave was the only boat to reach Monaci before the 30.5 metre Esimit, no doubt a satisfying achievement for the blue boat’s former owner. Had she not been stymied subsequently by the wind, Shockwave would have been odds on favourite to reach the next turning mark in the lead too, so much was she in control.
Racing past Capo d'Orso. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
Crichton described his day, “we were leading all the way to Monaci. Then the boats behind carried the breeze up and three passed us. We had to fight our way back through coming down Bomb Alley. We got back in the lead, but only marginally, about ten lengths on Alegre, I guess. We needed the racetrack to keep going, but it did not work that way. It was a good day, though. At least we led from the beginning! With Rán hitting the rock, I’d say we’re back in for a crack at second (overall) tomorrow. Not first; Alegre just needs one good race to close it out.”
Licking their wounds in Mini Maxi are Container and Rán. At press time Udo Schutz’s Container is the worse off. Her racing series is definitely over after her encounter with the rocks off Isola del Bisce. According to the crew it was a total surprise to strike the hard stuff, the chart showed them to be in at least 10-metres of water. Perched on the mystery outcrop, the German mini maxi formed a temporary mark warning the passing fleet of the perils of Porto Cervo in a graphic manner.
For Rán the extent of the damage has yet to be determined and she is headed to Palau to be lifted and inspected. Tommaso Chieffi, who is as familiar with these waters as anyone, explained what happened, “going round Spargiotto, it was very light. We had just done a peel from Code Zero to A2 and were coasting past the island in a good puff. The navigator felt we had room to hold our course, but there is a little rock that sticks out a long way from the shore. We came to a sudden halt and it was that rock. It is fairly big but with the swell left over from the south-easterly we hoped we might lift over it. After hitting the ground three or four times, we decided to motor off in reverse. We’re not sure how bad it is, but we are hoping it can be fixed overnight and we can go sailing tomorrow.”
ALLSMOKE and WHISPER. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
The Racer/Cruisers certainly benefited from the travails of the Racing mini maxis, as Aegir’s owner, Brian Benjamin, confirmed, “we had a difficult start today as we were hit by Whisper. It was very patchy and the winds were difficult, so it was a long but beautiful day. It was strange for Porto Cervo because towards the back end the winds picked up. We were able to finish with quite good speed and had a really good result. We came third overall. Maybe we’ll be reclassified as a racing boat!”
Velsheda’s win in Supermaxi has done little to influence the outcome of the J Class battle. Ranger’s commanding position will have cheered the crew who, according to bowman Geordie Shaver, had the A1 up and down so many times it started to look like a venetian blind. Hasso Plattner has cause to be disappointed with today’s efforts on Visione (GER), which finished third. Hetairos pulled a superb victory out of the hat and now leads the division.
AEGIR, Brian Benjamin. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
With the struggles with wind and rocks unfolding elsewhere, the Wallys will have appreciated their decision to put a couple of short-course races into their programme. Y3K and Indio both accumulated five points over the two races, although the German yacht included a win in her scoreline. Her compatriot yacht Thomas Bscher’s Open Season took the other win.
On Indio, afterguard member, Jono Swain’s view was that they could have done better, “it was a tough day for us. We had a couple of opportunities to do better, but we did not capitalize on those opportunities. The wind didn’t pick up as much as we wanted; we go a little bit better when the wind is above 9 or 10 knots. The breeze was quite shifty as well, going through probably 15 or 20 degrees and up and down between 9 knots and 11.5 knots. You had to concentrate really hard, with everyone working together on the boat. We lost points to the leaders and the guys behind caught up a bit on us.”
Swain says they have not given up and will come out fighting tomorrow, “five points behind, anything can happen but it is going to be tough. We’re not pessimistic about it but we are trying to be realistic. We’ll go out there and just try to do our best. Hopefully the other guys can make some mistakes. We like both windward-leeward and the coastals, but you certainly make more gains or losses with two short races!”
Maxis beat upwind behind Tahiti beach. Image copyright ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
Tomorrow sees the final manoeuvres for the fleet. The Mini Maxis will hope to get in two windward-leewards, whilst the remaining classes will undertake a coastal course. Nothing is over until it’s over and, with the risks associated with sailing these waters brought home with clarity today, even those leading overnight face an uncertain future.
The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association (IMA). From the most luxurious, through the most traditional, to the most advanced monohulls afloat today, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is nothing if not an astonishing line up of sailing power.
Place, Boat, Skipper, Races 1-2-3-4, Total Points
Maxi Racing & Racing/Cruising
1) Esimit Europa 2, Igor Simcic, 1-2-1-1, 5.0 points
2) Highland Fling, Irvine Laidlaw, 2-1-2-2, 7.0
3) DSK Pioneer Investments, Danilo Salsi, 3-4-4-3, 14.0
Place, Boat, Skipper, Races 1-2-3-4-5, Total Points
Wally
1) Y3k, Claus Peter Offen, 2-2-2-1-(4), 7.0
2) Magic Carpet 2, Lindsay Owen Jones, (5)-1-3-4-2, 10.0
3) Indio, Andrea Recordati, (4)-3-4-2-3, 12.0
SuperMaxi/J Boats
1) Ranger, R.S.V. Ltd, 1-1-1-2, 5.0
2) Velsheda, Tarbat Investment, 2-3-7-1, 13.0
3) Hetairos, Rockport Ltd, 8-2-3-3, 16.0
Place, Boat, Country, Skipper, Races 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, Total Points
Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship
1) Alegre (GBR), Andy Soriano, 1-1-(4)-1-1-4-2, 10.0
2) Ran, Niklas Zennstrom (GBR), 6-2-1-2-2-2-DNF(25), 15.0
3) Shockwave (NZL), Neville Crichton, 2-3-2-(5)-5-3-4, 19.0
Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup
Trophée Clairefontaine: Franck Cammas Sets the Tone for La Grande Motte
Franck Cammas won everything in 2009 on the nautical stadium of La Grande Motte and has commenced with the same rhythm at this 21st Trophée Clairefontaine des Champions de Voile. Image copyright Jean-Marie Liot/SailingOne.
by Sophie Grimaud
Franck Cammas started the 21st Trophée Clairefontaine des Champions de Voile as he finished the twentieth - by winning! The leader of Team Groupama dominated this afternoon, under a force three wind in the Sailing Stadium of La Grande Motte, at the end of the eight Warm-up Rhodia Runs, which are, in fact, training legs. The outcome of these Runs is an independent ranking which is not taken into account in the Trophée Clairefontaine itself, the start of which will take place tomorrow at 10:30. Franck Cammas, the title holder dominated over Loïck Peyron and Armel Le Cléac'h.
The basic workings of the Trophée Clairefontaine are intact for this twentieth anniversary. It should be understood that the atmosphere is closer to a street fight than a regatta between yacht men. In eight regattas, each lasting about ten minutes, six different champions have collected the honours and a victory. This gives you an idea of the intensity of this yacht battle. Franck Cammas dominated twice, as did Loïck Peyron. Luc Dubois and Team Alinghi opened the dance. Pascal Bidégorry won the third leg. For his first time taking part in this super champions' game, Armel Le Cléac'h won the fourth leg. Nicolas Charbonnier also showed his abilities in the gusts of this summer breeze. There is no doubt; the 21st Trophée Clairefontaine has got off to a fine start.
Loïck Peyron (Oman Sail). Image copyright Jean-Marie Liot/SailingOne.
Today, Franck Cammas and Loïck Peyron demonstrated, more so than in previous years, that the difference is not to be made in the victories, which the champions share with ease, but in the less easy legs which handicap the skippers aiming at the higher steps of the podium. By observing the criss-crossing of the two champions, you will notice that Franck Cammas has never been ranked under sixth place, while Loïck Peyron has finished twice in seventh position. In short, to win the Trophée Clairefontaine, you need to store up a few victories, but, above all, to avoid being relegated to the back of the pack, even in just one leg. It is not always easy to be regular in top level racing, particularly, when all the crews have exactly the same equipment!
Luc Dubois (Alinghi). Image copyright Jean-Marie Liot/SailingOne.
Tomorrow, two Open races are on the champion's programme, at 10:30 and at 15:30. These are the traditional coastal regattas which last between 45 and 90 minutes. The sailing show will really begin around 16:00, when the eight champions will meet in the Sailing Stadium, in front of the crowd, to carry out a series of three Runs to the rhythm of Shakira, Katy Perry and David Guetta. This cleverly creates an atmosphere on the sea wall, since, on the body of water, the champions do not need the summer chart toppers to bring to life to the dance floor.
Armel Le Cléac'h (Brit Air). Image copyright Jean-Marie Liot/SailingOne.
Warm-up Rhodia Ranking:
1- Franck Cammas (3,5,6,2,1,2,4,1), 54 pts ;
2- Loïck Peyron (4,1,2,5,7,5,1,7), 45 pts ;
3- Armel Le Cléac'h (5,3,7,1,2,6,2,6), 44 pts ;
4- Luc Dubois - Team Alinghi (CH) (1,6,8,6,3,3,3,2), 43 pts ;
5- Nicolas Charbonnier (2,8,4,3,8,1,5,3), 41 pts ;
6- Pascal Bidégorry (6,4,1,4,6,7,8,4), 34 pts ;
7- Michel Desjoyeaux (8,2,5,8,4,4,6,5), 31 pts ;
8- Serge Madec (7,7,3,7,5,8,7,8), 20 pts.
In French:
Franck Cammas a débuté le XXIe Trophée Clairefontaine des Champions de Voile comme il avait terminé le vingtième : en gagnant ! Le leader du Team Groupama s'est en effet imposé cet après-midi par un vent de force trois sur le stade nautique de La Grande Motte, au terme des huit Runs du Warm-up Rhodia, c'est-à-dire les manches d'entraînement. Elles donnent lieu à un classement autonome qui n'entrera pas en ligne de compte dans le Trophée Clairefontaine lui-même, dont le premier départ sera donné demain à 10h30. Franck Cammas, tenant du titre, s'impose donc devant Loïck Peyron et Armel Le Cléac'h.
Les fondamentaux du Trophée Clairefontaine sont intacts en ce vingtième anniversaire. Comprenez que l'ambiance est plus proche d'un combat de rue que d'une régate entre yachtmen. En huit régates d'une dizaine de minutes chacune, six champions différents ont récolté les honneurs de la victoire. Cela donne une idée de l'intensité de la bataille navale. Franck Cammas s'est imposé deux fois. Loïck Peyron aussi. Luc Dubois et le Team Alinghi ont ouvert le bal. Pascal Bidégorry s'est offert la troisième manche. Pour sa première participation à ce jeu de super champions, Armel Le Cléac'h a remporté la quatrième manche. Nicolas Charbonnier a lui aussi fait parler la poudre dans les rafales de cette brise estivale. Pas de doute, le XXIe Trophée Clairefontaine est bien lancé.
Franck Cammas et Loïck Peyron ont mis en évidence aujourd'hui, plus encore que les années précédentes, que la différence va se faire non pas sur les victoires, que les champions se partagent assez facilement, mais sur les moins bonnes manches qui handicapent les skippers en route pour les plus hautes marches du podium. En effet, en observant le chassé-croisé des deux champions, on s'aperçoit que Franck Cammas n'a jamais été classé au-delà de la sixième place, alors que Loïck Peyron a terminé deux fois en septième position. Bref, pour gagner le Trophée Clairefontaine, il faut évidemment engranger les victoires, mais surtout ne pas se faire rejeter en queue de peloton, même sur une seule manche. Pas facile d'être toujours régulier au plus haut niveau, surtout lorsque tous les équipages disposent exactement du même matériel !
Demain, deux Raids sont au programme des champions. A 10h30 et à 15h00. Il s'agira de régates côtières traditionnelles qui dureront entre 45 et 90 minutes. Le show nautique débutera véritablement vers 16h00, lorsque les huit champions se retrouveront sur le stade nautique, devant la foule, pour enchaîner trois Runs sur les rythmes de Shakira, Katy Perry et David Guetta. Une habile façon de mettre l'ambiance sur la digue, car, sur le plan d'eau, les champions n'ont pas besoin des succès du hit parade de l'été pour animer le dance floor...
Classement du Warm-up Rhodia:
1- Franck Cammas (3,5,6,2,1,2,4,1), 54 pts ;
2- Loïck Peyron (4,1,2,5,7,5,1,7), 45 pts ;
3- Armel Le Cléac'h (5,3,7,1,2,6,2,6), 44 pts ;
4- Luc Dubois - Team Alinghi (Sui.) (1,6,8,6,3,3,3,2), 43 pts ;
5- Nicolas Charbonnier (2,8,4,3,8,1,5,3), 41 pts ;
6- Pascal Bidégorry (6,4,1,4,6,7,8,4), 34 pts ;
7- Michel Desjoyeaux (8,2,5,8,4,4,6,5), 31 pts ;
8- Serge Madec (7,7,3,7,5,8,7,8), 20 pts.
Trophée Clairefontaine
Trophée Clairefontaine: Four Big Names in France Come Together
Image copyright Jean-Marie Liot/SailingOne.
by Sophie Grimaud
The four big names of French sailing came together this morning in La Grande Motte to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Trophée Clairefontaine des Champions de Voile this weekend. Franck Cammas (Team Groupama), Michel Desjoyeaux (Team Foncia), Loïck Peyron (Team Oman Sail Masirah) and Pascal Bidégorry (Team Banque Populaire) will participate in the Trophée Clairefontaine on spectacular runs lasting less than ten minutes before the general public. With the wind forecast, the sailing show promises to be exciting.
No one has ever ranked the famous big names in tenors Placido Domingo, José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti together. Similar to them, the four big names in French sailing are incomparable, such is their excellence in their own register. However, the Trophée Clairefontaine is an equal opportunity race and moreover, one of them must stand on the top step of the podium on Sunday, among the crowd at approximately 16:00, unless the four other champions invited to this 21st Trophée Clairefontaine dominate over Neptune's musketeers. The betting is on.
The teams competing at the 21st edition of the Trophée Clairefontaine. Image copyright Jean-Marie Liot/SailingOne.
Franck Cammas, winner last year in La Grande Motte, but also in 2000 and 2006, will defend his title of "Champion of Champions 2009". He is holder of the Trophée Jules Verne (round-the-world record) on the giant trimaran Groupama 3.
Loïck Peyron, seven times winner of the Trophée Clairefontaine, only ever missed this important 1st of season meeting of champions in the year 2000.
Michel Desjoyeaux, the most titled single-handed sailor in the world, has already won the Trophée Clairefontaine four times (2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007).
Pascal Bidégorry is invited for his Atlantic Crossing Record (3 d, 15 ', 25"), the Speed Record in 24 hours (908 miles) on the maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V, and also for his recent Mediterranean Crossing record.
Team Alinghi, twice winner of the America's Cup (2003 and 2007) won the Valencia 2008 Trophée Clairefontaine (Spain). The Swiss crew is back this season, with Luc Dubois at the helm, Pierre-Yves Jorand and Yves Detray.
Nicolas Charbonnier, silver medallist in the Peking Olympic Games 2008 and silver medallist in the European 470 Championship 2010, is a driving force in the Trophée Clairefontaine. His contribution to the show is important.
Armel Le Cléac'h is invited for his victory in the Transat AG2R - La Mondiale 2010 on Brit Air and for his victories in La Solitaire du Figaro this summer and in 2003.
Serge Madec is back twenty years after opening the Trophée Clairefontaine honours list.
Since it began in 1990, and therefore for the 21st consecutive time, the Trophée Clairefontaine is the only event in the world to bring together champions from such a variety of disciplines in international sailing, with strictly equal opportunity, on spectacular and completely identical 7.65 metre (25 foot) catamarans exclusively designed and used only for this sailing event.
Trophée Clairefontaine
Friday, 10 September 2010
Régates Royales in Cannes, save the date…
Trophée Panerai
The Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai. Supplied image.
by Soazig Guého and Carla Anselmi
From September 20th to 25th, Cannes will be the heaven of Classic Yachting. The Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai will animate and cheer the streets and cocks of Cannes, where exceptional yachts will take the public on a magic journey.
The Cannes Yacht Club is turning 150 this year and preparing to welcome the beautiful Classic Yachts, Spirit of Tradition and Dragons boats. More than a hundred yachts have already confirmed their participation in the Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai. The Dragon fleet alone will bring together more than fifty competitors while the Classic Yachts will recreate the atmosphere the great era of yachting from the past with Mariquita, Moonbeam IV, Tuiga and Thendara all expected to unfurl once more their vast and immaculate sails in the bay of Cannes.
The Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai. Supplied image.
Eilean is back
2010 Régates Royales will be the stage for a very yearned for comeback: the magnificently restored and truly unconventional Eilean.
Built in 1936, Eilean crossed the Atlantic more than 36 times. From fame to neglect – since her owner could not pay for a refit - the yacht experienced many ups and downs in the Caribbean. Officine Panerai discovered this beautiful Fife design in 2006 and decided to bring it back to Italy for a complete restoration. After thirty months and 40.000 work hours, Eilean was back to her top form for her launch on October 22nd 2009. The ketch will take part in the Régates Royales - Trophée Panerai, a unique chance for media and classic yachts fans to see this jewel of a yacht sailing again.
The Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai. Supplied image.
The Régates Royales on shore
On the occasion of the international biodiversity year, the WWF association (World Wildlife Fund) will be in Cannes to inform the public and the sailors about serious environmental issues. The ambassador boat WWF Columbus will be moored in the harbour as she was last year and activities led by WWF will be presented on the association’s stand in the village. The public will be welcome to assist at three conferences:
Tuesday, 21 September at 17.00, a meeting with Serge Orru, Director of WWF France
Wednesday, 22 September at 17.00 with Charles Barine, on fishing and environment
Thursday, 23 September at 17.00 (speaker to be confirmed)
For the fourth consecutive year the organisers, in association with Cannes Yacht Club and the City of Cannes have set up an amateur photo contest which will run from September 20th to 25th, this year theme being “Régates Royales Beauties”. Sportsmanship, fair-play, friendship and tradition will be evaluated by the jury.
The Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai. Supplied image.
The Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai gathers some of the most beautiful yachts in the world.
From September 20th to 25th, the majestic sailboats will race in the bay of Cannes and around the Lerins islands.
Régates Royales
The Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai. Supplied image.
by Soazig Guého and Carla Anselmi
From September 20th to 25th, Cannes will be the heaven of Classic Yachting. The Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai will animate and cheer the streets and cocks of Cannes, where exceptional yachts will take the public on a magic journey.
The Cannes Yacht Club is turning 150 this year and preparing to welcome the beautiful Classic Yachts, Spirit of Tradition and Dragons boats. More than a hundred yachts have already confirmed their participation in the Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai. The Dragon fleet alone will bring together more than fifty competitors while the Classic Yachts will recreate the atmosphere the great era of yachting from the past with Mariquita, Moonbeam IV, Tuiga and Thendara all expected to unfurl once more their vast and immaculate sails in the bay of Cannes.
The Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai. Supplied image.
Eilean is back
2010 Régates Royales will be the stage for a very yearned for comeback: the magnificently restored and truly unconventional Eilean.
Built in 1936, Eilean crossed the Atlantic more than 36 times. From fame to neglect – since her owner could not pay for a refit - the yacht experienced many ups and downs in the Caribbean. Officine Panerai discovered this beautiful Fife design in 2006 and decided to bring it back to Italy for a complete restoration. After thirty months and 40.000 work hours, Eilean was back to her top form for her launch on October 22nd 2009. The ketch will take part in the Régates Royales - Trophée Panerai, a unique chance for media and classic yachts fans to see this jewel of a yacht sailing again.
The Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai. Supplied image.
The Régates Royales on shore
On the occasion of the international biodiversity year, the WWF association (World Wildlife Fund) will be in Cannes to inform the public and the sailors about serious environmental issues. The ambassador boat WWF Columbus will be moored in the harbour as she was last year and activities led by WWF will be presented on the association’s stand in the village. The public will be welcome to assist at three conferences:
Tuesday, 21 September at 17.00, a meeting with Serge Orru, Director of WWF France
Wednesday, 22 September at 17.00 with Charles Barine, on fishing and environment
Thursday, 23 September at 17.00 (speaker to be confirmed)
For the fourth consecutive year the organisers, in association with Cannes Yacht Club and the City of Cannes have set up an amateur photo contest which will run from September 20th to 25th, this year theme being “Régates Royales Beauties”. Sportsmanship, fair-play, friendship and tradition will be evaluated by the jury.
The Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai. Supplied image.
The Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai gathers some of the most beautiful yachts in the world.
From September 20th to 25th, the majestic sailboats will race in the bay of Cannes and around the Lerins islands.
Régates Royales
Black Sheep Lead the Flock in Korea
by Reuben Corbett
Day two of the Hahn River International Match Race started with an unusual briefing where all classes other than ours were held ashore. This was due to heavy overnight rain, an outgoing tide and a partial release of the dam upstream which formed a fierce current. The organising authority was concerned for the safety of the smaller yachts as the current could potentially sweep them away. Today’s breeze was unlike yesterdays as we had light puffy patches with the odd solid spurt coupled with that ever increasing current.
We won all three of our races today but there was plenty of drama. The first race was clean, nice start, sailed for the pressure and stayed in phase to take the gun. In race two, again we had a good start but the breeze died out completely near the separator mark allowing the boats astern to catch up, however we kept our lead until the bottom mark. The Korean team took the lead at the bottom mark but they copped a penalty in doing so. We kept the game close and passed them moments before the finish, penalty still outstanding.
Race three was a top of the table clash, Australia vs New Zealand. After controlling the early exchanges in the prestart, Reuben misjudged the tidal effect in a dial up forcing contact from where we were rightly penalized. However, we kept control for the remainder of the prestart to shut the Aussies out at the start boat. Starting with a sizable margin we grew our lead to complete the penalty turn on the second beat and remain ahead to notch the win.
The race committee will no doubt plan to finish the round robin tomorrow and start the semi finals.
The team would like to thank the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, friends and family for their support. Thank you!
Black Sheep Racing in Korea is Reuben Corbett, Brad Farrand, Tom Bentham, Nicolas Derberque and James Sandall.
Black Sheep Racing
Day two of the Hahn River International Match Race started with an unusual briefing where all classes other than ours were held ashore. This was due to heavy overnight rain, an outgoing tide and a partial release of the dam upstream which formed a fierce current. The organising authority was concerned for the safety of the smaller yachts as the current could potentially sweep them away. Today’s breeze was unlike yesterdays as we had light puffy patches with the odd solid spurt coupled with that ever increasing current.
We won all three of our races today but there was plenty of drama. The first race was clean, nice start, sailed for the pressure and stayed in phase to take the gun. In race two, again we had a good start but the breeze died out completely near the separator mark allowing the boats astern to catch up, however we kept our lead until the bottom mark. The Korean team took the lead at the bottom mark but they copped a penalty in doing so. We kept the game close and passed them moments before the finish, penalty still outstanding.
Race three was a top of the table clash, Australia vs New Zealand. After controlling the early exchanges in the prestart, Reuben misjudged the tidal effect in a dial up forcing contact from where we were rightly penalized. However, we kept control for the remainder of the prestart to shut the Aussies out at the start boat. Starting with a sizable margin we grew our lead to complete the penalty turn on the second beat and remain ahead to notch the win.
The race committee will no doubt plan to finish the round robin tomorrow and start the semi finals.
The team would like to thank the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, friends and family for their support. Thank you!
Black Sheep Racing in Korea is Reuben Corbett, Brad Farrand, Tom Bentham, Nicolas Derberque and James Sandall.
Black Sheep Racing
ISAF Publish 2012 Olympic Qualification System
by ISAF media
ISAF has published the 2012 Olympic Qualification System as approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition to be staged in Weymouth and Portland will feature 380 athletes competing across the following 10 events:
Men's Windsurfer
Men's One Person Dinghy
Men's One Person Dinghy (Heavyweight)
Men's Two Person Dinghy
Men's Skiff
Men's Keelboat
Women's Windsurfer
Women's One Person Dinghy
Women's Two Person Dinghy
Women's Match Racing
The total quota of athletes per National Olympic Committee (NOC) is 16, nine men and seven women (maximum 1 boat per event).
The Qualification Pathway states that 75% of each event's entry quota shall be qualified from those best ranked NOCs in each of the relevant events at the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships (Perth 2011).
The remaining 25% of each events entry quota shall be qualified from each events 2012 World Championship or other event sanctioned by ISAF, to finish by 1 June 2012 at the latest.
Those NOC's already qualified from the previous qualifying regattas shall not be considered. The 2012 Women's Match Racing qualifying regatta will be sanctioned by ISAF but does not need to be a World Championship.
ISAF will inform NOCs and Member National Associations (MNAs) of Olympic quota places following the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship and each qualification regatta.
All NOCs, including the host country must confirm to ISAF the use of all quota places by 1 June 2012. After this date the unconfirmed quota places will be allocated by the ISAF Qualification Committee with ISAF confirming the reallocation of unused places by 18 June 2012.
ISAF
ISAF has published the 2012 Olympic Qualification System as approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition to be staged in Weymouth and Portland will feature 380 athletes competing across the following 10 events:
Men's Windsurfer
Men's One Person Dinghy
Men's One Person Dinghy (Heavyweight)
Men's Two Person Dinghy
Men's Skiff
Men's Keelboat
Women's Windsurfer
Women's One Person Dinghy
Women's Two Person Dinghy
Women's Match Racing
The total quota of athletes per National Olympic Committee (NOC) is 16, nine men and seven women (maximum 1 boat per event).
The Qualification Pathway states that 75% of each event's entry quota shall be qualified from those best ranked NOCs in each of the relevant events at the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships (Perth 2011).
The remaining 25% of each events entry quota shall be qualified from each events 2012 World Championship or other event sanctioned by ISAF, to finish by 1 June 2012 at the latest.
Those NOC's already qualified from the previous qualifying regattas shall not be considered. The 2012 Women's Match Racing qualifying regatta will be sanctioned by ISAF but does not need to be a World Championship.
ISAF will inform NOCs and Member National Associations (MNAs) of Olympic quota places following the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship and each qualification regatta.
All NOCs, including the host country must confirm to ISAF the use of all quota places by 1 June 2012. After this date the unconfirmed quota places will be allocated by the ISAF Qualification Committee with ISAF confirming the reallocation of unused places by 18 June 2012.
ISAF
Buddy Melges Challenge: Day One
by WIMRA
Day one of the Buddy Melges Challenge at the US Sailing Center Sheboygan in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA, saw some great racing amongst the 15 international teams in the Elliott 6ms. The winds were light but that did not keep the sailors from putting on a display of great match racing for the spectators.
Results After Day One:
Group A:
Sam Osborne-NZL 4-1
Sally Barkow-USA 3-1
Anna Tunnicliffe-USA 3-1
Genny Tulloch-USA 3-1
Juliana Mota-BRA 1-3
Ru Wang-CHN 1-3
Anne Marie Shewfelt-CAN 0-5
Group B:
Katie Spithill-AUS 3-0
Nicky Souter-AUS 3-0
Juliana Senfft-BRA 2-1
Lotte Meldgaard-DEN 1-2
Maegan Ruhlman-USA 1-2
Mandy Mulder-NED 1-2
Katie Abbott-CAN 1-2
Maggie Shea-USA 0-3
Racing continues tomorrow with Group B followed by Group A to complete Stage 1. The Quarter Finals will follow.
Live tracking and video is available during racing on the US Sailing Center Sheboygan website
Buddy Melges Challenge
Day one of the Buddy Melges Challenge at the US Sailing Center Sheboygan in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA, saw some great racing amongst the 15 international teams in the Elliott 6ms. The winds were light but that did not keep the sailors from putting on a display of great match racing for the spectators.
Results After Day One:
Group A:
Sam Osborne-NZL 4-1
Sally Barkow-USA 3-1
Anna Tunnicliffe-USA 3-1
Genny Tulloch-USA 3-1
Juliana Mota-BRA 1-3
Ru Wang-CHN 1-3
Anne Marie Shewfelt-CAN 0-5
Group B:
Katie Spithill-AUS 3-0
Nicky Souter-AUS 3-0
Juliana Senfft-BRA 2-1
Lotte Meldgaard-DEN 1-2
Maegan Ruhlman-USA 1-2
Mandy Mulder-NED 1-2
Katie Abbott-CAN 1-2
Maggie Shea-USA 0-3
Racing continues tomorrow with Group B followed by Group A to complete Stage 1. The Quarter Finals will follow.
Live tracking and video is available during racing on the US Sailing Center Sheboygan website
Buddy Melges Challenge
Freshie Racing Team finish second in the MIPC Match Race Cup 2010
Freshie Racing competing in Slovenia. Supplied image.
by Travis Keay
The Freshie Racing Team (skipper Peter Nicholas, Royal Freshwater Bay YC) finished second in the MIPC Match Race Cup 2010 in a tight fought final against Jure Orel from Slovenia last weekend.
Racing in the beautiful town of Isola in Slovenia the team finished the split round robin with 4 wins and 1 loss in very light conditions. We finished equal 1st in our group qualifying for the final six.
In the final six stage we raced the top three skippers from the other group. We sailed very strongly in good conditions with the wind ranging from 10 to 15 knots. We were only defeated by Jure Orel who is ranked 34th in the world. In a very interesting pre-start we sailed all over Orel who obtained a penalty on the start for failing to avoid us. Then we were pushed over the line and had to go around the committee boat with Orel gaining a significant advantage, but the umpires agreed not to red flag the incident, so they didn't have to do their penalty immediately.
The final against Orel was some of the closest racing we have done all European tour. We came from behind in the final downwind leg to win by half a metre. In the second race we were defeated in a race full of incidents. It then came down to the final race - winner taking all.
We won the start at the pin end and controlled the first upwind leg, before we engaged in two large luffs downwind resulting in contact. The umpires green flagged the first incident and then a green flagged second contact at the bottom mark. The last two legs of the race were very close with Orel getting the upper-hand at the top mark and managing to hold us off right to the finish.
The team is now in Korea to compete in the Han River International in Seoul.
Freshie Racing would like to thank Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, North Sails Western Australia, Zhik, Ron Tough Yachting Foundation and Peter Chappell for their great support.
Freshie Racing Team
RSHYR: First applications received for Rolex Sydney Hobart 2010
Matt Allen's Jones 70 Ichi Ban during the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart. Image copyright Daniel Forster/ROLEX.
by Jennifer Croooks
Within minutes of the release of the Rolex Sydney Hobart 2010 Notice of Race, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia had received its first five applications for entry, and within 24 hours this figure had climbed to twelve.
Nicholas Bartels’ newly acquired Cookson 50 Terra Firma from Victoria was the first entry, closely followed by Immediate Past CYCA Commodore Matt Allen’s Jones 70 Ichi Ban.
Stepping up from his Sydney 47 of the same name, Bartels is pleased with the Cookson 50’s performance in two recent regattas.
“Since purchasing the boat earlier this year we’ve optimised her for IRC performance racing. We started to show some good form at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, but the weather conditions didn’t really suit the smaller boats in the IRC Grand Prix division,” Bartels said
“We’re looking forward to the Rolex Sydney Hobart and the lead-up regatta, the Rolex Trophy Rating Series. We have a great crew that includes Barney Walker and we’ve already started our race preparation and crew training,” he added.
Once Terra Firma returns from the sunny Whitsundays next month, she will be based in Sydney and will compete in some of the CYCA’s Blue Water Pointscore races.
Nicholas Bartels' Cookson 50 Terra Firma. Image copyright Andrea Francolini.
Matt Allen’s Jones 70 Ichi Ban is always well campaigned in the tough 628 nautical mile race. After losing her mast on the return journey to Sydney from Hobart last year, Ichi Ban has spent most of the year on the hardstand at Azzura Marine in Newcastle.
Allen is currently awaiting the arrival of his new rig from Spain and is in the midst of getting the boat ready for this year’s race. Ichi Ban’s best results include second across the line to Wild Oats XI in 2006 and third over the line in 2007 and 2008. This will be Allen’s 22nd race to Hobart.
CYCA member Greg Zyner’s Radford 12m Copernicus was another of the early applications. “My goal for this year’s race will be to have a better start and finish than last year! We had some issues getting out of Sydney Heads and got stuck at Iron Pot for six hours,” Zyner confessed.
“We got into the Derwent River just on sunset and we could see the sun and the breeze dropping. It was a very frustrating time from 8pm until 1am with no breeze, the only things keeping us going were the hot chocolate and the 16 other boats around us at the time.
“I have a good crew again with Felicity Nelson, Jim Nixon and Bob Moore onboard – all who’ve sailed with the legendary John Walker on his boat Impeccable,” Zyner added.
Commenting on the number of applications for entry received to date, Commodore Garry Linacre said: “It’s encouraging to see the strong number of applications received so quickly. The introduction of online entry is proving popular with skippers and boat owners. Within 15 minutes of the application for entries going online we received five entries.
Copernicus’ owner Greg Zyner agreed. “The online entry system was really quick and easy to use – everything was at my fingertips which made the entry process very smooth!”
Of the expected entries, the Commodore said: “We are anticipating a strong fleet of 90-100, with competition tight from well campaigned yachts such as Stephen Ainsworth’s RP63 Loki and Ray Roberts’ new STP65 Evolution Racing in the running for the overall win. The level of interest from around Australia and overseas is strong,” the Commodore said.
Four Victorian applications have been received, including Terra Firma, which is sailing under the burgee of Sandringham Yacht Club, together with Calm, the TP52 owned by Jason Van der Slot, Graeme Ainley and John Williams; Paul Buchholz’s DK46 Extasea representing Royal Geelong Yacht Club and Andrew Lawrence’s Bakewell-White Z39 Jazz Player, representing Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron.
Applications for entry have also been received for David Cutcliffe’s Beneteau First 36.7 Crossbow from Sydney’s Balmain Sailing Club, Rob Reynolds’ DK46 Exile and Grant Dawson and Brent Lawson’s Kerr 11.3 Kerisma, both sailing under the Middle Harbour Yacht Club burgee, Rod Skellett’s Pogo 40 Krakatoa II representing the CYCA and Murray Wilkes’ Bavaria 39c Sassy representing the race finishing partner Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.
An application for entry was received late yesterday from leading line honours contender Wild Oats XI, the 100ft super maxi owned by Robert Oatley.
“The 628 nautical mile Rolex Sydney Hobart is renowned as one of the most significant and toughest ocean races in the world,” Commodore Linacre said.
“It is an iconic Australian sporting event and each year the race throws out the gauntlet of new challenges to participants.
“On behalf of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia it’s my pleasure to invite owners and charterers of eligible boats to participate in the 66th running of the Rolex Sydney Hobart which will start from Sydney Harbour at 1pm on Boxing Day, 26 December,” the Commodore concluded.
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will be preceded by the Rolex Trophy, to be conducted on the waters off Sydney Heads. The racing for the one design classes, including Farr 40’s and Sydney 38’s will take place between 10 – 12 December and the IRC and Performance Handicap boats between 16 and 19 December 2010.
The Rolex Trophy Passage Series will take also take place on 18 and 19 December. The Notice of Race for the Rolex Trophy will be published later in the year.
Rolex has been the principal sponsor of the Rolex Sydney Hobart and Rolex Trophy since 2002 and recently renewed its sponsorship of the blue water classic and its associated regattas for a further five years, up to and including the 2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
The start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will be broadcast live on the Seven Network throughout Australia and webcast live to a global audience on Yahoo!7.
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2010 Notice of Race is now online at http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/editorial.asp?key=1711 with applications for entry being accepted online.
Applications for entry for the Rolex Sydney Hobart 2010 close on 1 November 2010 at 1700hrs AEST.
Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
Light Winds, 3-1, First Day, Buddy Melges Challenge
by Anna Tunnicliffe
Racing got underway very early today at the Buddy Melges Challenge, with the first race just after 9am. The temperature was in the low 50's but the wind was steady, blowing around 6kts. We had a great morning with some good racing. We finished the day 3-1 in our group, and we have two more races tomorrow to finish the round robin off.
We started off the day with a bye race due to the odd number of teams in our group, but then got to the racing with our first two races against Ru Wang from China and Anne Marie Shewfelt from Canada. After good prestarts with both teams, we took control of the races early and led to the finish. Our third race of the day was against our USSTAG teammates Genny Tulloch. We split ends on the start with us on the right and Genny taking the left. Both boats came back together half way up the beat with Genny being about one and a half boat lengths ahead.
We had a short tacking duel for the second half of the beat and closed the gap to be less than a boat length behind at the top mark. Downwind, Molly did a fantastic job of keeping the spinnaker full through the gybes despite the light winds. We managed to pass her and round the leeward mark one and a half boat lengths ahead. Upwind, we lost a little of our lead but again on the downwind leg, pulled ahead and took the win to take our record to 3-0.
Our last race was against Samantha Osborne from New Zealand. We had a great start and led her around the whole race course until the last leg. We made a mistake on where we placed our gybe and she rolled over us. Because the wind was so light, she maintained her speed and we lost a bit and consequently, she pulled ahead of us.
We made a strong attempt at re-passing her and we closed a considerable amount of distance on her at the finish, but couldn't quite get it all back and lost by one boat length. It was a good race and she did a excellent job of keeping close to us upwind so she could be in a strong attacking position downwind. We know where we made our mistake so hopefully we've learned from it and won't do it again.
Tomorrow we finish the round robin, when the top four teams in each group will go into the quarter-finals and the bottom four teams in each group go into a round robin for 9th-15th place. You can check the regatta results on the regatta website. There is also live video and tracking so you can follow along live too.
We would like to thank Carmeuse and Trinity Yachts for their continued support of our campaign for the 2012 Olympics in London. We would also like to thank US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and its sponsors for their support.
Team Tunnicliffe
Buddy Melges Challenge
Racing got underway very early today at the Buddy Melges Challenge, with the first race just after 9am. The temperature was in the low 50's but the wind was steady, blowing around 6kts. We had a great morning with some good racing. We finished the day 3-1 in our group, and we have two more races tomorrow to finish the round robin off.
We started off the day with a bye race due to the odd number of teams in our group, but then got to the racing with our first two races against Ru Wang from China and Anne Marie Shewfelt from Canada. After good prestarts with both teams, we took control of the races early and led to the finish. Our third race of the day was against our USSTAG teammates Genny Tulloch. We split ends on the start with us on the right and Genny taking the left. Both boats came back together half way up the beat with Genny being about one and a half boat lengths ahead.
We had a short tacking duel for the second half of the beat and closed the gap to be less than a boat length behind at the top mark. Downwind, Molly did a fantastic job of keeping the spinnaker full through the gybes despite the light winds. We managed to pass her and round the leeward mark one and a half boat lengths ahead. Upwind, we lost a little of our lead but again on the downwind leg, pulled ahead and took the win to take our record to 3-0.
Our last race was against Samantha Osborne from New Zealand. We had a great start and led her around the whole race course until the last leg. We made a mistake on where we placed our gybe and she rolled over us. Because the wind was so light, she maintained her speed and we lost a bit and consequently, she pulled ahead of us.
We made a strong attempt at re-passing her and we closed a considerable amount of distance on her at the finish, but couldn't quite get it all back and lost by one boat length. It was a good race and she did a excellent job of keeping close to us upwind so she could be in a strong attacking position downwind. We know where we made our mistake so hopefully we've learned from it and won't do it again.
Tomorrow we finish the round robin, when the top four teams in each group will go into the quarter-finals and the bottom four teams in each group go into a round robin for 9th-15th place. You can check the regatta results on the regatta website. There is also live video and tracking so you can follow along live too.
We would like to thank Carmeuse and Trinity Yachts for their continued support of our campaign for the 2012 Olympics in London. We would also like to thank US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and its sponsors for their support.
Team Tunnicliffe
Buddy Melges Challenge
WMRT: Satisfactory Start for BlackMatch at the Danish Open
Adam stays cool through the broach. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/WMRT.
by David Swete
Today was the opening day of the 2010 Danish Open World Match Racing Tour Event and with 2 wins from the 3 races we were involved in, it was a relatively good start for the team. We come into this event off the back of a 3rd placing only last week in St Moritz and are looking for a big result here to get our season back on track. This is the 7th leg of the World Tour and this year it is being held in a new venue on the island of Bornholm, located south of Sweden in the Baltic Sea.
Tight broach across the finishing line! Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/WMRT.
Conditions today were some of the windiest and toughest seen on the World Tour this year, with action a plenty of which we were definitely part of. In our second race of the day against US wild card entry Mike Buckley, we managed to roll him on the final run before both boats were involved in a spectacular ‘broach’ right on the finish line. We had just gained the lead while approaching the finish at speed when we gained ‘mark room’ at the pin end of the line. The US team had to gybe to give us room, while we had to also gybe to make the finish line, however a huge gust hit and both boats were violently laid over on their sides. We actually finished the race on our side, with the spinnaker at the top of the rig... and it can all be seen in the video below:
Video from the WMRT of Mike Buckley broaching over the top of Adam Minoprio:
There were plenty of other incidents today including two men overboard, one being Olympic Gold Medalist Iain Percy from Ben Ainslies Team Origin, which just proves how trying the conditions were. There was also a major upset which again involved the US wild card and world number 665 Mike Buckley, who managed to defeat the current World Tour Leader Mathieu Richard.
Iain Percy goes for a dip. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/WMRT.
Our other win today came against fellow Kiwis William Tiller and his Full Metal Jacket Racing Team, while we had a loss to veteran Peter Gilmour. Not only are the conditions tough here but it is an extremely tough format, with only a single round robin and the top 4 teams progressing through to a semi final, so every win counts.
Crew of Mads Ebler testing the Baltic water temperature. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/WMRT.
We would again like to say a special thank you to our sponsors FedEx Express and Events Clothing/Line 7. Owen Rutter from Events Clothing has supplied us with new sailing gear this season, keeping the boys looking very sharp. The ongoing support of our sponsors is helping make this opportunity possible for the BlackMatch boys and we would also like to thank Emirates Team New Zealand and Steinlager Pure.
Results at the end of day one in Denmark:
Mirsky (AUS) 4-1
Gilmour (AUS) 3-0
Hansen (SWE) 3-2
Ainslie (GBR) 3-2
Bruni (ITA) 3-2
Minprio (NZL) 2-1
Richard (FRA) 2-1
Pace (FRA) 2-3
Ebler (DEN) 1-2
Buckley (USA) 1-2
Tiller (NZL) 0-3
Ward (DEN) 0-5
BlackMatch Racing this week is Adam Minoprio, Dan McLean, Tom Powrie, David Swete, Nick Blackman and local boy Jonas Frank Hviid-Nielsen.
BlackMatch Racing
World Match Racing Tour
WMRT: Mirsky Racing Team on Top at the Danish Open
Windy Weather on the first day of the Danish Open sees MRT on top of the leaderboard with a 4-1 scoreline
Mirsky Racing Team fly downwind at the Danish Open. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/WMRT.
by Kinley Fowler
Blustery conditions off the coast of the small island of Bornholm tested the skills of all of the teams in the Danish Open, but it was the Mirsky Racing Team who came out on top.
The only loss came against Team Azzura who managed to roll MRT on the first downwind and fought well to defend their lead across the difficult race track.
"These boats are really loaded up, especially in these conditions in Borholm so you have to work really hard to keep the boat under control but keep going as fast as possible" said Mirsky's trimmer Kinley Fowler.
"It's funny though, because the whole day was such a big learning curve for all of us. If we hadn't been rolled by Azzura, we wouldn't have been able to beat Ben Ainslie in the next race when he tried to roll us on the final downwind because we wouldn't have fully worked out all of our systems."
Tomorrow looks to bring more wind, so the learning curve will continue to climb up as MRT look in good form to make the top 4.
Video from Mirsky Racing Team at the end of day one:
Mirsky Racing Team
World Match Racing Tour
Mirsky Racing Team fly downwind at the Danish Open. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/WMRT.
by Kinley Fowler
Blustery conditions off the coast of the small island of Bornholm tested the skills of all of the teams in the Danish Open, but it was the Mirsky Racing Team who came out on top.
The only loss came against Team Azzura who managed to roll MRT on the first downwind and fought well to defend their lead across the difficult race track.
"These boats are really loaded up, especially in these conditions in Borholm so you have to work really hard to keep the boat under control but keep going as fast as possible" said Mirsky's trimmer Kinley Fowler.
"It's funny though, because the whole day was such a big learning curve for all of us. If we hadn't been rolled by Azzura, we wouldn't have been able to beat Ben Ainslie in the next race when he tried to roll us on the final downwind because we wouldn't have fully worked out all of our systems."
Tomorrow looks to bring more wind, so the learning curve will continue to climb up as MRT look in good form to make the top 4.
Video from Mirsky Racing Team at the end of day one:
Mirsky Racing Team
World Match Racing Tour
WMRT: Full Metal Jacket Racing on Day One of the Danish Open
by Will Tiller
Today was the first day of the Danish Open, the seventh stage of the World Match Racing Tour being held on Bornholm Island situated between Sweden and Denmark. Joining us for this regatta is our big man Jono Spurdle on the pit and Shaun Mason running the bow. It was our first time racing the DS37s in challenging fresh conditions and after over a month of racing in less than 10kts we were excited to go for a send. We raced in the first three races of the round robin and went down in each match, we spent the remainder of the day off the boats with byes.
The wind was consistently blowing 25 kts with gusts of up to 30 kts at times. We learnt quickly that these boats are overpowered with big mains and very physical. We raced against Mads Ebler, Mathieu Richard and Adam Minoprio ranked 13th, 4th and 1st respectively in the world.
Our best race of the day was against Mathieu Richard. In the prestart we ended up coming to the line with the French to windward but we were happy with the left. Off the line it was a long starboard tack and we did well to work up into them but not quite quickly enough and they tacked away on port lay. We followed tacking right onto a left shift so we were to windward breathing clear, Richard kept closed hauled well over lay and we both ended up flapping head to wind well above the mark.
Coming close to an obstruction they bpre away and we followed. The downwind was very gusty and we were able to make small gains and were right on his tail around the bottom mark tacking as soon as we could. A tacking dual ensued but nearing the top we got on the wrong side of a couple shifts and were unable to be close enough on the run to make a pass.
We were happy to see that our boat speed was good against the world number 4 and are excited about the remainder of the races in the round robin.
We would like to say thanks to our principal sponsor Chris Meads from Full Metal Jacket, SLAM, Aon New Zealand and The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
Full Metal Jacket Racing
World Match Racing Tour
Today was the first day of the Danish Open, the seventh stage of the World Match Racing Tour being held on Bornholm Island situated between Sweden and Denmark. Joining us for this regatta is our big man Jono Spurdle on the pit and Shaun Mason running the bow. It was our first time racing the DS37s in challenging fresh conditions and after over a month of racing in less than 10kts we were excited to go for a send. We raced in the first three races of the round robin and went down in each match, we spent the remainder of the day off the boats with byes.
The wind was consistently blowing 25 kts with gusts of up to 30 kts at times. We learnt quickly that these boats are overpowered with big mains and very physical. We raced against Mads Ebler, Mathieu Richard and Adam Minoprio ranked 13th, 4th and 1st respectively in the world.
Our best race of the day was against Mathieu Richard. In the prestart we ended up coming to the line with the French to windward but we were happy with the left. Off the line it was a long starboard tack and we did well to work up into them but not quite quickly enough and they tacked away on port lay. We followed tacking right onto a left shift so we were to windward breathing clear, Richard kept closed hauled well over lay and we both ended up flapping head to wind well above the mark.
Coming close to an obstruction they bpre away and we followed. The downwind was very gusty and we were able to make small gains and were right on his tail around the bottom mark tacking as soon as we could. A tacking dual ensued but nearing the top we got on the wrong side of a couple shifts and were unable to be close enough on the run to make a pass.
We were happy to see that our boat speed was good against the world number 4 and are excited about the remainder of the races in the round robin.
We would like to say thanks to our principal sponsor Chris Meads from Full Metal Jacket, SLAM, Aon New Zealand and The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
Full Metal Jacket Racing
World Match Racing Tour
5.5 Metre Worlds: 5 Races Completed - Marazzi (SUI) Leads
by Thierry Huguenin
The 5.5 World Championship is valid: five races as of today, with two races sailed this morning.
A picture-perfect day of sailing for the 5s on Lago di Garda. Early start at 09:00, a sunny day and northerly winds at about 18-20 knots. Some crowded mark roundings, a few breakdowns and Flavio Marazzi increasing his lead with a first and a third place and 8 points. Bahamian sailor Gavin McKinney "John B" experienced a spinnaker crash in the first race and did not finish but he led the entire second race and got the bullet!
Results after five races:
1 SUI 224 Marazzi Flavio, Male, Palfrey Andrew/Wilke Christof, M, TYC & GYC Ali Baba 8,0 1 1 2 1 3
2 NOR 57 Nergaard Kristian, Male, Moberg Peer/Morland Pedersen P, M, Royal Norwegian Yacht Club Artemis XIV 20,0 6 2 5 2 5
3 NOR 65 Christoph Burger, Male, Marcel Simon/Mathias Daheman, M, TYC / GYC ODLO 20,0 2 3 4 4 7
4 FIN 66 Thelen Kenneth, Male, Hallberg Thomas /Nyberg Robert, M, Nyländska Jaktklubben Kan-Bej 2 26,0 5 4 1 7 9
5 SUI 214 bernard haissly, Male, bernard haissly/nicolas bertho, M, sng caracole 37,0 3 9 6 5 14
6 FIN 49 Gullichsen Johan, Male, Lundberg Henrik/Telkola Timo, M, NJK addam 4 39,0 9 5 9 6 10
7 NED 26 Arend Jan Pasman, Male, Ron Azier/Kin Chabani, Braassemermeer Feng Shui 40,0 10 8 10 10 2
8 SUI 213 HANS-PETER SCHMID, Male, Gilbert Dürr/Jürg Baumgartner, M, SC MURTEN PUNGIN 43,0 8 7 3 8 17
9 BAH 19 McKinney Gavin, Male, Hauff Peter /Westergaard Bjorn, M, Nassau Yacht Club John B 50,0 4 6 8 dnf 1
10 NOR 64 Fjeld Petter, Male, Borgen Thomas /Johannessen C, M, Fredrikstad SF Clark Kent 50,0 12 13 7 12 6
11 SUI 222 Jürg Menzi, Male, Léonard Gaume/Daniel Stampfli, M, TYC Thunersee Yachtclub, GYC G Marie-Françoise XVIII 51,0 7 10 20 3 11
12 NED 31 Victorine Bredero, Female, Jeroen Behrend/Wiebe de Witte, M, ws braasemermeer Duchess of B 65,0 11 14 16 9 15
13 SUI 210 Rolf KELLENBERGER, Male, Martin HUBER/Andreas KINDLIMAN, M, TYC SHAOLIN 68,0 17 11 14 18 8
14 NOR 62 Huser Are Andenæs, Male, Ferner Car-Christian /Bellingh, M, KNS Plan B Redux 75,0 16 12 18 13 16
15 SUI 211 Jörg Hotz, Male, Marc Dangel/Ernst Schiess, M, ZYC Forza Del Destino 78,0 15 17 21 21 4
16 GER 30 Andreas Christiansen, Male, Jens Rathsack/Andreas Föh, E, NRV CRIOLLO 82,0 13 15 26 15 13
17 SUI 215 Thomas TREIB, Male, Patrick RÜFENACHT/Katja SCHEID, M, YCB Yacht Club Bielersee RANA 82,0 14 18 15 17 18
18 GER 42 Queisser Hans-Juergen, Male, Kruse Gerhard/Blenckner Klaus, M, NRV RTYC SNR For Fun Too 85,0 18 16 12 19 20
19 SUI 217 Jack Frei, Male, Thomas Frei/Roland Ledergerber, M, Yacht Club Romanshorn TOPAS III 96,0 dnf dns 11 11 12
20 ITA 73 Delli Alfredo, Male, Gianluca Marolli/Claudio Mazza, C, CVMV CARABELLA 105,0 19 20 22 20 24
21 BAH 20 Symonette Craig, Male, Vlasov Peter/Boisen-Moeller Je, M, Nassau Yacht Club Silver Fox 108,0 dnf dns 13 14 19
22 GER 33 Lutz Dr. von Meyerinck, Male, Felix von Meyerinck/Oskar de F, C, SVAOe Blueprint 110,0 20 19 19 dnf 21
23 SUI 201 Tobias Isler, Male, Kaspar Stubenrauch/Jörg Sonnta, M, SCE / WSV 1921 ZICCA 112,0 24 22 17 23 26
24 NED 11 van Opzeeland Piet, Male, Eijkman Tom/De Coster Dave, E, W V Braassemermeer Woelgeest 116,0 23 23 25 22 23
25 SUI 175 Frédéric de Rutté, Male, Frédéric Saudan/Matthieu MacGi, E, SNR Bellagioia II 117,0 22 dnf 23 16 25
26 SWE 50 Gustafsson Jan, Male, Kellner Håkan/Kellner Rickard, C, Tulka SS Apriori 119,0 21 21 24 dnf 22
27 ITA 14 Pozzo Vittorio, Male, Marolli Enzo/Marolli Alessandr, C, C.V.P. MAVI 136,0 26 dnf 28 24 27
28 SUI 152 Gilbert-Xavier MARTINET, Male, Marc-Antoine MONNARD/Sébastien, E, SNR Société Nautique Rolloise BARA-GWEN XI 145,0 25 dnf 27 dnf dnc
29 ITA 57 Leupold Richard, Male, Giorgetti Paolo /Rossi Andrea, E, CVMV Whisper 153,0 dnf dns 29 dnf dnc
30 AUT 21 Münnich Hans-Peter, Male, Werr Phillip/Rottner Bernhard, M, Union Yacht Club Wolfgangsee Schakal 155,0 dnf dns dnc dnf dnc
5.5 Metre Worlds
The 5.5 World Championship is valid: five races as of today, with two races sailed this morning.
A picture-perfect day of sailing for the 5s on Lago di Garda. Early start at 09:00, a sunny day and northerly winds at about 18-20 knots. Some crowded mark roundings, a few breakdowns and Flavio Marazzi increasing his lead with a first and a third place and 8 points. Bahamian sailor Gavin McKinney "John B" experienced a spinnaker crash in the first race and did not finish but he led the entire second race and got the bullet!
Results after five races:
1 SUI 224 Marazzi Flavio, Male, Palfrey Andrew/Wilke Christof, M, TYC & GYC Ali Baba 8,0 1 1 2 1 3
2 NOR 57 Nergaard Kristian, Male, Moberg Peer/Morland Pedersen P, M, Royal Norwegian Yacht Club Artemis XIV 20,0 6 2 5 2 5
3 NOR 65 Christoph Burger, Male, Marcel Simon/Mathias Daheman, M, TYC / GYC ODLO 20,0 2 3 4 4 7
4 FIN 66 Thelen Kenneth, Male, Hallberg Thomas /Nyberg Robert, M, Nyländska Jaktklubben Kan-Bej 2 26,0 5 4 1 7 9
5 SUI 214 bernard haissly, Male, bernard haissly/nicolas bertho, M, sng caracole 37,0 3 9 6 5 14
6 FIN 49 Gullichsen Johan, Male, Lundberg Henrik/Telkola Timo, M, NJK addam 4 39,0 9 5 9 6 10
7 NED 26 Arend Jan Pasman, Male, Ron Azier/Kin Chabani, Braassemermeer Feng Shui 40,0 10 8 10 10 2
8 SUI 213 HANS-PETER SCHMID, Male, Gilbert Dürr/Jürg Baumgartner, M, SC MURTEN PUNGIN 43,0 8 7 3 8 17
9 BAH 19 McKinney Gavin, Male, Hauff Peter /Westergaard Bjorn, M, Nassau Yacht Club John B 50,0 4 6 8 dnf 1
10 NOR 64 Fjeld Petter, Male, Borgen Thomas /Johannessen C, M, Fredrikstad SF Clark Kent 50,0 12 13 7 12 6
11 SUI 222 Jürg Menzi, Male, Léonard Gaume/Daniel Stampfli, M, TYC Thunersee Yachtclub, GYC G Marie-Françoise XVIII 51,0 7 10 20 3 11
12 NED 31 Victorine Bredero, Female, Jeroen Behrend/Wiebe de Witte, M, ws braasemermeer Duchess of B 65,0 11 14 16 9 15
13 SUI 210 Rolf KELLENBERGER, Male, Martin HUBER/Andreas KINDLIMAN, M, TYC SHAOLIN 68,0 17 11 14 18 8
14 NOR 62 Huser Are Andenæs, Male, Ferner Car-Christian /Bellingh, M, KNS Plan B Redux 75,0 16 12 18 13 16
15 SUI 211 Jörg Hotz, Male, Marc Dangel/Ernst Schiess, M, ZYC Forza Del Destino 78,0 15 17 21 21 4
16 GER 30 Andreas Christiansen, Male, Jens Rathsack/Andreas Föh, E, NRV CRIOLLO 82,0 13 15 26 15 13
17 SUI 215 Thomas TREIB, Male, Patrick RÜFENACHT/Katja SCHEID, M, YCB Yacht Club Bielersee RANA 82,0 14 18 15 17 18
18 GER 42 Queisser Hans-Juergen, Male, Kruse Gerhard/Blenckner Klaus, M, NRV RTYC SNR For Fun Too 85,0 18 16 12 19 20
19 SUI 217 Jack Frei, Male, Thomas Frei/Roland Ledergerber, M, Yacht Club Romanshorn TOPAS III 96,0 dnf dns 11 11 12
20 ITA 73 Delli Alfredo, Male, Gianluca Marolli/Claudio Mazza, C, CVMV CARABELLA 105,0 19 20 22 20 24
21 BAH 20 Symonette Craig, Male, Vlasov Peter/Boisen-Moeller Je, M, Nassau Yacht Club Silver Fox 108,0 dnf dns 13 14 19
22 GER 33 Lutz Dr. von Meyerinck, Male, Felix von Meyerinck/Oskar de F, C, SVAOe Blueprint 110,0 20 19 19 dnf 21
23 SUI 201 Tobias Isler, Male, Kaspar Stubenrauch/Jörg Sonnta, M, SCE / WSV 1921 ZICCA 112,0 24 22 17 23 26
24 NED 11 van Opzeeland Piet, Male, Eijkman Tom/De Coster Dave, E, W V Braassemermeer Woelgeest 116,0 23 23 25 22 23
25 SUI 175 Frédéric de Rutté, Male, Frédéric Saudan/Matthieu MacGi, E, SNR Bellagioia II 117,0 22 dnf 23 16 25
26 SWE 50 Gustafsson Jan, Male, Kellner Håkan/Kellner Rickard, C, Tulka SS Apriori 119,0 21 21 24 dnf 22
27 ITA 14 Pozzo Vittorio, Male, Marolli Enzo/Marolli Alessandr, C, C.V.P. MAVI 136,0 26 dnf 28 24 27
28 SUI 152 Gilbert-Xavier MARTINET, Male, Marc-Antoine MONNARD/Sébastien, E, SNR Société Nautique Rolloise BARA-GWEN XI 145,0 25 dnf 27 dnf dnc
29 ITA 57 Leupold Richard, Male, Giorgetti Paolo /Rossi Andrea, E, CVMV Whisper 153,0 dnf dns 29 dnf dnc
30 AUT 21 Münnich Hans-Peter, Male, Werr Phillip/Rottner Bernhard, M, Union Yacht Club Wolfgangsee Schakal 155,0 dnf dns dnc dnf dnc
5.5 Metre Worlds
Black Sheep Racing Back in Business at the Hahn River International Match Race, Korea
by Reuben Corbett
Black Sheep Racing are in Korea competing in the Hahn River International Match Race after having a refreshing week off in New York. We were back into the routine this morning with registration, weigh in and training. Racing commenced after half time with the race committee completing three flights. The format includes a single round robin, semi finals, petit finals and a grand final.
Competitors
The organisers have limited the number of entries to eight, the competitors include:
Koralev Nikolay (RUS)
Byeong Ki Park (KOR)
Gun Woo Park (KOR)
Peter Nicholas (AUS)
Tae Jung Kim (KOR)
Tiffany Koo Yee Chin (MAS)
Seung Chul Lim (KOR)
Black Sheep Racing (NZL)
Results: Day One
We competed in flights one and two to take victory in both. We started ahead and extended our lead in each race by covering tack for tack. There is plenty more sailing to come and we have a number of issues to sort out before tomorrow’s racing.
The team would like to thank the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, friends and family for their support. Thank you!
Black Sheep Racing in Korea is Reuben Corbett, Nicolas Derberque, Brad Farrand, Tom Bentham and James Sandall.
Black Sheep Racing
Black Sheep Racing are in Korea competing in the Hahn River International Match Race after having a refreshing week off in New York. We were back into the routine this morning with registration, weigh in and training. Racing commenced after half time with the race committee completing three flights. The format includes a single round robin, semi finals, petit finals and a grand final.
Competitors
The organisers have limited the number of entries to eight, the competitors include:
Koralev Nikolay (RUS)
Byeong Ki Park (KOR)
Gun Woo Park (KOR)
Peter Nicholas (AUS)
Tae Jung Kim (KOR)
Tiffany Koo Yee Chin (MAS)
Seung Chul Lim (KOR)
Black Sheep Racing (NZL)
Results: Day One
We competed in flights one and two to take victory in both. We started ahead and extended our lead in each race by covering tack for tack. There is plenty more sailing to come and we have a number of issues to sort out before tomorrow’s racing.
The team would like to thank the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, friends and family for their support. Thank you!
Black Sheep Racing in Korea is Reuben Corbett, Nicolas Derberque, Brad Farrand, Tom Bentham and James Sandall.
Black Sheep Racing
BWR: Alex Thomson Racing Announces co-Skipper for the Barcelona World Race
HUGO BOSS. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/HUGO BOSS.
by Kassi Denham
Alex Thompson Racing today announced that Volvo Ocean Race sailor, Andy Meiklejohn, will join Alex Thomson as co-skipper for the 2010 edition of the Barcelona World Race.
Alex Thomson and Andy Meiklejohn. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/HUGO BOSS.
Andy (34), from Auckland, New Zealand has over 100,000 ocean miles to his name, and has sailed extensively offshore, including the round the world 2004 Oryx Quest and the 2005/06 Volvo Ocean Race.
Andy Meiklejohn. Image copyright Guy Bell/HUGO BOSS.
Alex and Andy have known each other for many years, having first raced together in The Commodores Cup in 2004. Andy joined the Alex Thomson Racing team earlier this year with overall responsibility for the boat performance and he has been a key part of the team that has launched and developed the new HUGO BOSS. Together with Alex he has now covered over 10,000 miles onboard the yacht.
Alex Thomson. Image copyright Billy Black.
Alex is positive they have created a winning formula, “Andy is a confident, professional sailor with broad experience in the racing field. He has accumulated many offshore miles and has invaluable onboard technical experience within an offshore race environment. We compliment each other’s abilities and both have the attitude and drive to win.”
HUGO BOSS. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/HUGO BOSS.
Andy has been professionally racing for over ten years. Starting in dinghy sailing, and progressing up to the America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race, Andy is used to extreme racing conditions. Referring to his recent appointment, Andy commented, “I’m excited to be accepting the Co-Skipper role onboard HUGO BOSS for The Barcelona World Race and to be able to do this race with a good friend. The boat itself is incredible, it has the same power and sail area as a fully crewed VO70, so the challenge of racing on the boat with only two of us when I’m used to ten will be a demanding but exciting prospect. Alex and I can both learn from each other and I will be able to help enhance the boat’s capability and performance for The Vendee Globe in 2012.”
HUGO BOSS. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/HUGO BOSS.
Stewart Hosford, Managing Director at Alex Thomson Racing commented, “I believe the partnership between Alex and Andy teamed with the speed and capability of HUGO BOSS, creates one of the strongest entries in this year’s BWR. We had a couple of candidates in mind for the position but we were always gravitating towards Andy as his skill set was the perfect fit against Alex’s.”
HUGO BOSS. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/HUGO BOSS.
Following his success in the last Barcelona World Race Alex has his eyes set firmly on the top spot and, with his new co-skipper and new boat, he is confident they have the ability and determination to make this happen.
HUGO BOSS. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/HUGO BOSS.
Alex Thomson Racing
Barcelona World Race
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