289 foot Perini Navi Maltese Falcon will be setting sail in Start 2, Wednesday, June 29. Image copyright Roddy Grimes Graeme.
by Kirsten Ferguson
Pick one of the many scenic spots around Narragansett Bay (Fort Wetherill and Beavertail in Jamestown; Castle Hill, Fort Adams, Goat Island or Brenton Point State Park in Newport) and bring your camera, binoculars, picnic blanket and snacks to witness one of this summer’s most anticipated events: the Transatlantic Race 2011 (TR 2011).
A warning signal at 1:50 p.m. will set in motion each of the three starts which will be held off Castle Hill in Newport, R.I. First up, an eclectic fleet will start on Sunday, June 26; followed by the luxury boats, including the 289 foot Maltese Falcon (pictured) on Wednesday, June 29; and, lastly, the pure racing machines, including the Farr 80 Beau Geste, the Volvo 70 PUMA mar mostro and the maxi Rambler 100, on Sunday, July 3.
The 2,975 nautical mile (Newport, R.I. to the Lizard, U.K.) race will see 26 entries hoping to sail into the history books, with the U.S. fielding 10 teams, Germany six, the U.K. four, and one each by China, Italy, Lithuania, Monaco, St. Barth’s and South Africa.
During the race, each yacht will be equipped with Yellowbrick Trackers, self contained units that transmit the position of each boat at regular intervals using GPS and Iridium (a global satellite phone network). Position reports will be available by using the Race Player Application at www.transatlanticrace.org, where regular race reports will appear along with Facebook and Twitter updates.
Throughout their journey, many of the boats will be posting blogs and sending back photos and videos to the TR 2011 website to keep fans in the loop with all of the racing action.
Sponsors of the TR 2011 are Rolex, Thomson Reuters, Newport Shipyard, Perini Navi and Peters & May.
