LVT: One Small Step Back for Team Azzurra

Azzurra on Day 3 off Auckland. Image copyright Stefano Gattini/Azzurra.

by Jill Campbell

Windy conditions today for the third match of the series for Azzurra, the Italian team of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda that suffered its first defeat in the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland. Azzurra lost to the French/German team All4One in a thrilling match held with a strong breeze of 20 knots. This is a small step back for the Italians but also an incentive to grow and move forward.

Francesco Bruni, helmsman of Azzurra aided by Tommaso Chieffi calling tactics, today faced an impressive line-up of sailors on board All4One led by celebrated skipper Jochen Schumann from Germany, who has two America’s Cup wins , three Olympic golds and one silver to his credit. The tactics are entrusted to New Zealander John Cutler who has great local knowledge and boasts five America’s Cup campaigns and one Olympic bronze in his resume; match race veteran Sebastien Col is at the helm.

Bruni, whose resume is also very impressive, with two America’s Cup campaigns and three Olympics, admitted that a few mistakes were made on Azzurra in today’s match, but reiterated that the Louis Vuitton Trophy series is only the starting point for this young team and that these regattas are an excellent training ground: “clearly I am not as happy as yesterday, but it’s been a great match sailed in a nice breeze. We won the start and did a good job for most part of the first beat, but then made a mistake due to some miscommunication and All4One took this opportunity to pass us. They sailed better than us, they kept a good control and they deserved their win. We made a couple of tactical and boat handling mistakes and we will take this as a lesson to improve. We have a long way ahead of us and we want to use every possible opportunity to grow from a technical and competitive standpoint.”

The 18th man on Azzurra today was a keen New Zealander sailor, Terry Wells, who won this fantastic opportunity at a competition sponsored by one of the most renowned Auckland restaurants, situated in the heart of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Village. The position of 18th man, which is highly coveted, is usually given out to VIPs, sponsors, celebrities and journalists. A spot in the finals of the Louis Vuitton Trophy will be reserved for the winner of the “Louis Vuitton Junior Trophy Regatta for Young Sailors” that took off today and attracts all the strongest young sailors from the clubs around Auckland.

In the other matches of the day, the local favourite Emirates Team New Zealand conquered their third consecutive win, confirming their strength and skill in these challenging races on America’s Cup class boats. Dean Barker and his crew defeated the British of Team Origin that had to retire from the match after breaking the spinnaker pole. The other Italian team, Mascalzone Latino Audi Team helmed by New Zealander Gavin Brady, gained its first point against the French of Aleph. The Swedes of Artemis defeated the Russians of Synergy led by Polish skipper Karol Jablonski.


Azzurra and ALL4ONE racing on Day 3. Image copyright Stefano Gattini/Azzurra.

Friday Azzurra will face Artemis, the team led by American skipper Paul Cayard who has seven world titles, five America’s Cup campaigns, two round the world races and two Olympics to his credit. Cayard has a very experienced crew with many sailors from the America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race and match racing arenas, including Terry Hutchinson from the US as helmsman and New Zealander Cameron Appleton as navigator. The forecast for tomorrow calls for 10-15 knots of wind, increasing to 25 knots in the afternoon.

The teams competing in the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland will take turns racing the two 2007-generation America’s Cup boats NZL 84 and NZL 92 in four matches a day to complete a round robin seeding series before a ladder elimination culminating in the finals on Sunday, 21st March.

Results after 3 matches
ALEPH Sailing Team (France) 1
All4One (France/Germany) 2
Artemis (Sweden) 2
Azzurra (Italy) 2
Emirates Team New Zealand 3
Mascalzone Latino Audi Team (Italy) 1
Synergy Russian Sailing Team (Russia) 0
TEAMORIGIN (Great Britain) 1

Azzurra Crew
Francesco Bruni – Skipper/Helmsman
Tommaso Chieffi – Tactician
Tom Burnham – Strategist
Bruno Zirilli – Navigator
Daniele De Luca – Mainsail trimmer
Stefano Rizzi – Jib Trimmer
Pierluigi De Felice – Spi trimmer
Gabriele Bruni – Runner trimmer
Piero Romeo – Runner grinder
Nicola Pilastro – Mainsail grinder
Massimo Galli – Left grinder
Francesco Scalici – Right grinder
Cristian Griggio – Pitman
Luca Albarelli – Mast
Pietro Mantovani – Mid Bow
Matteo Auguadro – Bowman
Michele Cannoni – Pit Assist
Gabrio Zandonà – Coach
Ben Durham – Reserve
Michele Gnutti – Reserve
Giuseppe Leonardi – Reserve

Azzurra
Louis Vuitton Trophy

LVT: Second Win for ALL4ONE in Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland!

ALL4ONE wins Race 3 of Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland. Image copyright Frank Socha/www.franksocha.com

by Stephanie Nadin

20 knots of wind today in Auckland, and still beautiful sun over the race course: ideal conditions are gathered for the eight teams taking part to the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland, and they offer a top level competition and really tight regattas for the great pleasure of the crews and the public.

Any team can win, and every match of the Round Robin is important for the next steps of the competition.

And what a 3rd match for ALL4ONE today against Azzurra! Great tactics, great manoeuvres from the French-German team, which remained very close on the first leg without giving anything away straight from the start. They finally managed to take over the advantage in the match when approaching the first mark upwind, that they rounded 11 seconds ahead.

ALL4ONE continued to increase their lead to end up 46 seconds ahead on the finish line.


ALL4ONE wins Race 3 of Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland. Image copyright Frank Socha/www.franksocha.com

After its first point scored on the first day against the other Italian team Mascalzone Latino, ALL4ONE confirmed its potential, with a team in good shape, very concentrated and 100% focused on the competition.

John Cutler, Tactician: "I think the key in this match was good crew work, good boat control, even when things were not going our way, everyone kept it together. We turned a difficult situation into the start to being close enough to put pressure on Azzurra up on the first leg. Good tacking, really good grinding, good driving by Sebastien Col: we just kept coming back at them, and at the end we managed to squeeze them out at the top mark, which was really good for us. We then kept control of the race, even if they were putting pressure on us.

"The Team is very motivated, as it is tough: we've been practicing in light conditions, waiting for the breeze. Then today we had to go straight into 15 to 23 knots of wind. It's a struggle to react, and we know it is going to be windy the next few days. So I think everybody is like "yep, we know how to sail when it's windy. We look forward to racing tomorrow and hopefully get another point." One day at a time!"

ALL4ONE will race against John Cutler's compatriots tomorrow for its 4th match in the Round Robin, that is to say Emirates Team New Zealand.

RESULTS DAY 3
Race 1: Emirates Team New Zealand wins over TeamOrigin (retired from race)
Race 2: ALL4ONE wins by 46 sec over Azzurra
Race 3: Mascalzone Latino wins by 55 sec over Aleph
Race 4: Artemis wins by 41 sec over Synergy

ALL4ONE
Louis Vuitton Trophy

LVT: Emirates Team New Zealand make it three in a row

by Warren Douglas

Emirates Team New Zealand has won its third straight race in the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta.

The match against TEAMORIGIN was as good as over when the yachts rounded the first leeward mark. Origin led into the mark with Dean Barker closing right in and applying enormous pressure on the British team.

Dean Barker: “We forced TEAMORIGIN into a tough manoeuvre. They made one mistake, broke the spinnaker pole and then couldn’t get their jib up. When the pressure‘s really on in these situations it’s very hard to recover.”

Barker said: “We were able to do our rounding without incident and, really, that was the race.”

Things started to go wrong for Origin as they began to drop the gennaker. The spinnaker pole went sideways across the deck and the crew was unable to either drop the gennaker or hoist the jib.

Emirates Team New Zealand’s crew worked flawlessly in the fresher conditions, dropping the genneker, hoisting the jib and taking off up the second beat as the Origin crew was working feverishly to sort out the problem.

Origin was forced to retire, handing the match to Emirates Team New Zealand. The race was sailed in 14-18 knot breeze.

Tactician Ray Davies sums up the race: “A match against TEAMORIGIN was always going to be a battle. We have sailed against them a lot – and it’s never easy.

“It was hard to have a clean, clear start plan because the wind was shifting so much. We were compromised at the pin when the wind went further left than expected and we were a bit slow at the start.

"'Origin tacked away on the start line, sailing straight into a right hand shift and started to make some good gains. We had to stay in touch and wait for the opportunity."

That came as the yachts neared the top mark. Ray Davies: “The wind because shifty and very tricky, but good for us. We gained a lot of ground. And were only 14sec behind as we rounded the mark and gybed.

“We compressed the action of the run and when we gybed on the approach to the gate, they had to follow and then make a last-minute call on which mark to take. Then came the error that ended their race.”

Friday's weather: fresh south-westerlies may affect racing.

Friday’s racing
Emirates Team New Zealand v ALL4ONE
Aleph v TEAMORIGIN
Artemis v Azzurra
Mascalzone Latino v Synergy

Emirates Team New Zealand
Louis Vuitton Trophy

LVT: TEAMORIGIN Lose to the Kiwis After a Dramatic Race

TEAMORIGIN forced to retire while in the lead: a pressurised manoeuvre casued a broken spinnaker pole in a dramatic race against the Kiwis



Emirates Team New Zealand excel in stronger wind conditions with seamless crew work to take their third win


Image copyright Ian Roman/TEAMORIGIN.

by Leslie Greenhalgh

Hotly tipped to be the race to watch of the Round Robin phase of the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Auckland – Ainslie v Barker; TEAMORIGIN v Emirates Team New Zealand, all eyes were on the Waitemata Harbour. With streaming sunshine, visibility clear as a bell, wind direction 235, wind speed 15/16 knots, the talk was of a building breeze so the aim was to get all four flights done by 15:00.

The warning signal went at 10:20 for the TEAMORIGIN vs ETNZ start. Both teams started circling in the start box almost immediately, with both talking of wanting the pin end of the line. ETNZ crossed the line slightly ahead but with TEAMORIGIN able to tack off and claim the right hand favoured side of the beat.


TEAMORIGIN leads Emirates Team New Zealand downwind. Image copyright Ian Roman/TEAMORIGIN.

TEAMORIGIN quickly went bow forward in good pressure on the right of the pair and at the first cross the advantage was to the British team. Both teams tacked off to their respective sides again with TEAMORIGIN maintaining control of the right. The second time the pair converged TEAMORIGIN’s advantage had grown allowing Ainslie and co. to extend, consolidate and keep control.

Approaching the windward mark TEAMORIGIN was forced to tack twice to get around wheras the New Zealanders had found a better layline and managed to gain back quite a bit of distance to round just 14 seconds behind. The pressure was back on and downwind, a wind shift meant both boats stayed on the same gybe until the bottom third of the run, ETNZ hustling to cast a wind shadow on the Brits but not quite managing to get close enough. As the pair approached the bottom gate, the pressure mounted on board TEAMORIGIN with ETNZ breathing right down their necks. A sudden but significant wind shift caused the afterguard of TEAMORIGIN to change the call on the spinnaker drop manoeuvre leaving not enough time for the foredeck crew to respond.


Pressure on at the bottom mark resulted in gear damage forcing TEAMORIGIN to retire. Image copyright Ian Roman/TEAMORIGIN.

In a few moments of drama, the change of gybe call caused the spinnaker pole on TEAMORIGIN to drop into the water and break – impeding the headsail from being hoisted and the spinnaker from being dropped. A huge calamity for the British team forcing them to retire from the race altogether leaving the Kiwis to sail away and gain a ‘come from behind’ victory – their third win of this series.

Mike Sanderson, Team Director gave his views on the day’s action: “Obviously a frustrating result, we did lots of the hard stuff well. We had a great start, a strong first beat on the side we wanted to be on and we led at the top mark. We then chose the aggressive option at the bottom mark and did not manage to pull it off. The more training we do, the more options we open up to chose from to react to situations and sadly we crossed that line today and could not pull off that manoeuvre. The positives of leading at the first top mark in all the races we have done so far is important and may make or break some of the races later on in this event.”

Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Helmsman, added his views: “A good start and a bad end. Everything happened very quickly at the end of the bottom run, we made a mistake of trying to do something we could not pull off – for sure a lesson learnt.”

Race results Thursday:
Race 1: ETNZ (NZL) beat TEAMORIGIN (GBR) – TEAMORIGIN retired
Race 2 : All4One (FR/GER) beat Azzurra (ITA)
Race 3: Mascalzone (ITA) beat Aleph (FRA)
Race 4: Artemis (SWE) beat Synergy (RUS)

Race wins/losses after day 3:
ETNZ 3 wins/0 losses
Azzurra 2 wins/1 loss
All4One 2 wins/1 loss
Artemis 2 wins/1 loss
TEAMORIGIN 1 win/2 losses
Aleph 1 win/2 losses
Mascalzone 1 win/2 losses
Synergy 0 wins/3 losses

Race schedule for Friday 12th March, is as follows:
Race 1: ETNZ (NZL) vs All4One (FRA)
Race 2 : Aleph (FRA) vs TEAMORIGIN (GBR)
Race 3: Artemis (SWE) vs Azzurra (ITA)
Race 4: Synergy (RUS) vs Mascalzone (ITA)

TEAMORIGIN
Louis Vuitton Trophy

LVT: High Tempo Sailing Action on the Waitemata

Whitewater on the deck, whitecaps on the Waitemata and warning whistles on the onboard overload alarms characterised the high tempo sailing action today at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta


TEAMORIGIN and Emirates Team New Zealand enjoyed a very close match on Day 3 until a last minute maneouvre and gear failure, including a broken spinnaker pole, put TEAMORIGIN out of the match. Image copyright Ian Roman/TEAMORIGIN.

by Hannah Davis

After three days of competition, Emirates Team New Zealand representing the host Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is undefeated with three wins while three teams each have a 2-1 record. They are the German/French team All4One, the Swedish team Artemis and Azzurra from Italy.

Racing moved closer to the city front today as the southwester funneled down the harbour, with puffs into the low 20-knot range as the day wore on. The weather mark was between the container wharves and the Devonport Dockyard.

Tipped as the highlight match of the day, the opening race between Emirates and Britain’s TEAMORIGIN came to a sudden end at the first leeward gate as a late tactical call on the British boat escalated into a firedrill that left spinnaker and jib draped over the foredeck and a broken spinnaker pole over the side.

Ben Ainslie at TEAMORIGIN’s wheel led at the end of the first beat after a fierce nine-tack duel up the short 1.2-mile weather leg in a puffy and shifty 13-16 knot southwesterly breeze. ETNZ was right on the British boat’s heels, just 14 seconds astern and began slowly clawing back the distance.

They came into the leeward mark with the Kiwis bow to stern with TEAMORIGIN and British hopes evaporated as Ainslie issued new last-minute orders.

“It was a bit of mess,” Ainslie said. “Things change very quickly at the bottom, but a big shift made us change the call and there wasn't enough time for the guys to react."

Barker had to sail around the hapless British boat. “It was all go coming into the bottom mark,” he said. “We have confidence in our crew work. If we get behind we’re able to keep the pressure on and keep fighting hard. Today it worked well. They made a mistake. Ignoring what happened, if they had been able to get around the mark it would have been an interesting race. We had made a big gain and it would have been some tough racing. They are sailing well.”


Synergy Russian Sailing Team on Day 3 of the Louis Vuitton Trophy - Auckland. Image copyright Paul Todd/outsideimages.co.nz

Race One: Emirates Team New Zealand def. TEAMORIGIN, Ret. – Ben Ainslie steering Britain’s TEAMORIGIN, fought for the right while ETNZ skipper Dean Barker went for the left. As they hit the start line, the Kiwi boat with a safe leeward forced their opponent away. However, the first beat belonged to Ainslie. Nine fast tacks later at the port layline, TEAMORIGIN enjoyed a three boat-length lead. The top mark margin was 14 seconds before Barker slowly soaked down on his opponent and picked up more ground with smoother sail handling. With ETNZ close astern and the pressure piling on, it all turned to custard on the British boat as they prepared to drop the spinnaker at the leeward gate.


Azzurra and ALL4ONE at the bottom mark. Image copyright Bob Grieser/outsideimages.co.nz/Louis Vuitton Trophy.

Race Two: All4One def. Azzurra, 00:46 – Race umpires had their work cut out with multiple incidents and protests in series of heavy-air skirmishes between Francesco Bruni steering Azzurra and Sébastien Col on the wheel of the German/French All4One. The Italian boat locked out her opponent above the line before the start but Col escaped at the last minute to get back and lead at the gun. Azzurra controlled from the right side but after All4One gained ground in a series of tacks, her tactician John Cutler forced the Italians beyond the starboard layline and above the mark. Col was able to lead back and rounded first in a flurry of protests, all green-flagged. With the wind over 20 knots and the boats pushing white water, they went down the run side by side. Cutler made the call to again take their opponents past the mark. The Italian sail handling suffered under the pressure and Azzurra trailed badly on the last two legs.

Race Three: Mascalzone Latino Audi def. ALEPH Sailing Team, 00:55 – Bertrand Pacé’s French ALEPH team used their starboard tack entry to advantage in a pre-start circling duel that took both boats deep into the starting box. The start, with both boats on starboard, was close but Gavin Brady steering ML Audi Team, enjoyed an advantage for a few seconds before ALEPH edged in front. The two boats swapped the lead several times up the first half of the beat until Brady, to weather of his opponent, pushed the French boat out beyond the starboard layline. The Italian boat led into the top mark and consolidated its gains on the next three legs.


Synergy bowman in 18 knots of wind on Day 3. Image copyright Bob is Grieser/outsideimages.co.nz/Louis Vuitton Trophy.

Race Four: Artemis def. Synergy Russian Sailing Team 00:41 – Skipper Karol Jablonski, steering the Russian boat, engaged Terry Hutchinson at the wheel of Paul Cayard’s Artemis in a lively pre-start duel only to be penalized for gybing too close. The boats hit the line together at speed with Artemis to weather. Seconds later Hutchinson tacked and split away and initiated a tacking duel that took the Swedish boat into the lead. The Russians pushed hard and kept it close around all four legs but finished 41 seconds astern after completing their penalty turn.

Provisional leaderboard after Flight Three:

1. Emirates Team New Zealand 3-0
=2. All4One 2-1
=2. Artemis 2-1
=2. Azzurra 2-1
=5. ALEPH Sailing Team 1-2
=5. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team 1-2
=5. TEAMORIGIN 1-2
8. Synergy Russian Sailing Team 0-3

LIVE Sport Sailing 103.0 FM is featuring all-day live coverage of the Louis Vuitton Trophy. On television, during the seven days of the round robin, TVNZ is carrying nightly reports on its sports news. From March 16, during the elimination rounds, TVNZ will feature nightly half-hour reports. For the finals on 20th and 21st March there will be live coverage of the racing from noon to 4:00pm.

Louis Vuitton Trophy

VOR: Finish port for Volvo Ocean Race is Galway in Ireland

Galway 'wins' the Volvo Ocean Race once more...


The Taoiseach, Brian Cowen TD, along with representatives from the Volvo Ocean Race, Failte Ireland and Let's Do It Galway, today welcomed the announcement that Galway has been selected as the finishing port for the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race. Pictured were John Killeen, President, Lets Do It Global, Redmond O'Donoghue, Chairperson, Failte Ireland, An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, T.D., Knut Frostad, CEO, Volvo Ocean Race, and Enda O'Coineen, Chairman, Lets Do It Global. Image copyright Jason Clarke Photography.

Following the huge success in Galway when it was the finish of the transatlantic leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, Ireland, will again feature in the new route for 2011-12. The fleet will race from Lorient in France back to Galway on Ireland’s west coast

by Sophie Luther

Galway, whose twin town is Lorient, has fought an intense contest against the other bidding ports to win back the event for a second edition and the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 will complete its lap around the globe in Ireland’s ‘cultural heart’, where the final prizegiving will be held.

The Taoiseach (the Prime Minister of Ireland, Brian Cowen), stated:
“The 2009 stopover in Galway made an abiding impression on the sailors, support crews, organisers and media, who were immersed in the warmth of an Irish welcome.

“Their presence, in turn, had an enormous beneficial impact on Galway, the west of Ireland and indeed the entire country. Their arrival here was spectacular and their visit helped generate a massive 55 million Euros for the regional economy, more than one third higher than the original projections


PUMA Ocean Racing, skippered by Ken Read (USA) at the start of leg 8 from Galway to Marstrand in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-9. Image copyright Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race.

“Given its economic benefits and its importance to Irish tourism, I am more than happy to welcome the return of the Volvo Ocean Race to our shores and pledge our support for the event.”

The stopover in Galway during May 2009 fuelled the public imagination as never before. Over 600,000 supporters visited the race village during the stopover, with the crowd peaking at 62,000 people on in-port race day alone. The seaside resort of Salthill drew a further crowd of 120,000 to watch the dramatic close combat race from the shoreline.


In-port practice race in Galway Bay 2009: Ericsson (SWE) and Green Dragon (IRE/CHN). Image copyright Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race.

Galway’s ‘home town boat’, Green Dragon, became Ireland’s second entry in the race - the first was NCB Ireland in 1989-90. Double Olympic medallist, Ian Walker, guided the team to a fifth place finish overall and claimed the third spot on the podium when the fleet crossed the finish in Galway, delighting the huge crowd that had gathered to welcome them.

“The interest in hosting the Volvo Ocean Race, particularly in Europe, has been quite overwhelming,” said Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad, as the last of the European ports was unveiled. “I am very proud to confirm Ireland’s participation and Galway will be a magnificent port to stage the finish of the event. We have already experienced the enthusiasm that abounds in Ireland for the race and we are looking forward to bringing the competition to its conclusion in a country that really knows how to celebrate,” he said.


Kylemore Abbey. Image copyright Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race.

This announcement completes the list of European cities hosting the event. The remaining ports will be introduced throughout March.

The Volvo Ocean Race traces its origins back to 1973 and is the world’s premier offshore sailing race. The Volvo Open 70 racing boat is sailed by professional athletes, who race around the world with the prevailing winds.

About The Volvo Ocean Race

• The next Volvo Ocean Race will start in the Spanish port of Alicante in the autumn of 2011
• Cape Town, Lisbon and Lorient have already been confirmed as stopover ports
• Galway’s twinned town is Lorient, France
• NCB Ireland (1989-90) was skippered by Joe English
• Green Dragon (2008-09) was skippered by Ian Walker
• Irish boatbuilder Killian Bushe was part of the NCB crew. Bushe built the winning boat in the last three Volvo Ocean Races (illbruck 2001-02, ABN AMRO ONE 2005-06, Ericsson 4 2008-09)
• 32 athletes from Ireland have taken part in the race
• The 2011-12 race will be the 11th edition of the event
• The design of the boat is regulated and the boat is built for speed
• The first 31,250 nautical-mile race first took place over 37 years ago (as the Whitbread Round the World Race 1973-74), testing the crews against some of the most ferocious elements that man can encounter

Volvo Ocean Race

Cape Town’s Signal Hill noon day gun releases Majan on Leg 3

In breathtaking style the giant A100 Trimaran ‘Majan’ shot across the Cape Town start line of the third leg of the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race just off Table Bay harbour’s breakwater at exactly midday (12:00 Local time) today to track a course down south to the treacherous seas of the Southern Ocean for her next stop in Fremantle, Australia


Majan sailing off Cape Town. Image copyright OC Events Asia.

by Lou Newlands

With skipper Paul Standbridge, one of the world’s top sailors and the former manager of South Africa’s America’s Cup Team Shosholoza, at the helm, and the start perfectly timed to coincide with the daily firing of the noon day gun from Cape Town’s landmark Signal Hill, the magnificent speed machine, which has utterly captivated Capetonians during her brief stay in the city, quickly built pace of over 23 knots in a brisk 14 knot south westerly breeze and dark rain threatening skies.

On the crew is world famous French round the world sailor Sidney Gavignet,crack French America’s Cup sailor Thierry Douillard, former Team Shosholoza sailor Michael Giles from Port Elizabeth, Omani sailor Mohsin Al Busaidi who became the first Arab to sail non-stop around the world last year, Mohammed Al Ghailani a young Omani trainee sailorand Olympic sailor Mark Covell who is the media crew on board.


Majan deck. Image copyright OC Events Asia.

Earlier the crew of Majan were given a rousing dockside farewell from family, newly made local friends and young sailors from the Izivunguvungu Foundation for Youth in Simonstown who were thrilled to tour the yacht and meet the crew just minutes before they cast off.

Cape Town is a designated as the first stopover for the race which is planned in 2012. Conceived by OC Events and campaigned by Oman Sail, the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race will be the first ever yacht race to link the Middle East, Africa, Australia and Asia and the first ever race of its kind in the Indian Ocean.


Majan sailing off Cape Town. Image copyright OC Events Asia.

It will feature “city start lines” in Muscat, Cape Town, Fremantle (Australia) and Singapore and five “Cape” finish lines - Cape Ras Al Hadd off Oman, Cape Agulhas, the most southerly point of Africa, Cape Leeuwin on South West Australia, Cape Piai, the southernmost point of Mainland Asia, just west of Singapore and Cape Comorin on the southern tip of India. This next leg to Fremantle which will involve racing across the frozen and treacherous Southern Ocean will be one of the most exhilarating and dangerous of the course, before reaching the warmth of Cape Leeuwin and Australia's west coast.

For sailors, the Southern Ocean is the vague term for the Southern Seas and the underworld where no land separates the oceans.


Majan sailing off South Africa. Image copyright OC Events Asia.

Below 40 degrees of latitude, a series of low pressure systems continuously ‘roar’ and move towards the east without being blocked by any land mass. Down there, the crew of Majanwill find themselves in the Grey World – one of the most remote and dangerous parts of the planet.

Writing on his blog while at sea soon after the start Mohsin Al Busaidi said: “As we waved goodbye to the new friends we made in Cape Town, it was time to mentally prepare ourselves for the toughest leg yet to Fremantle, Australia. It's an overcast, warm day. The wind is light, around 8 knots. We’re heading south out of Table Bay. The mood onboard is a mixture of excitement to be back on Majan and anticipation about entering the Southern Ocean - we have a great team and a great boat, it’s going to be an amazing adventure.”


Majan sailing off South Africa. Image copyright OC Events Asia.

The A100 trimaran ‘Majan’left Muscat, Oman, last month on 6th February and stopped briefly in the Maldives while en route to Cape Town to traces out this new course via 5 great Capes. She crossed the proposed new race finish line at Cape Agulhas – the second cape on the course - at 16:02:57 GMT, 13 days, 6 hours and 57 seconds after leaving the Maldives.

Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race