Saturday 26 March 2011

BWR: Poker Faced

Was Virbac-Paprec 3’s decision to opt for ‘stealth’ mode something of a double bluff?


Andy Meiklejohn and Wouter Verbraak on board HUGO BOSS. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images.

by Barcelona World Race media

As Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron re-emerge in this evening’s position report, the French leaders appear to have essentially just carried on. No sudden departure to the North African shore, no determined dive north, certainly no radical westerly course – Virbac-Paprec 3 are still making 10 knots on a north-easterly track.

In a conversation to his team Loick Peyron today reported that they were sailing in uncomfortable conditions of 20-25 knots on the nose, with a heavy sea on their way towards Canary Islands. “"We sailed to the east of the anticyclone. There were no opportunities to pass it to the west; it is far too spread out, you would have to go back to the Azores,” he explained. Peyron added that they had not made huge progress as they have been sailing around the edge of the high pressure system, but “the positive thing is that we have always had wind.”

Still under their invisibility cloak, MAPFRE’s position remains unknown, with the Spanish duo having apparently tacked sharply east before they concealed their course from this morning’s early rankings. They will reappear tomorrow at 1500hrs (UTC).

Dee Caffari (GBR) on GAES Centros Auditivos has also been hidden away, but in a rather less comfortable scenario, as she explained by email today: “I have spent the last two days sanding carbon either in the sail locker or with my head actually inside the ballast tank. The high temperatures and carbon dust flying everywhere do not make for pleasant working conditions and my skin is massively itchy and painful as a result. It is a job that has to be done and thankfully the sea temperatures are warm enough now that bucket showers are easy to come by.”

GAES Centros Auditivos are currently making around 9 knots, having – rather ironically – so far avoided the slow down that befell Renault Z.E., Estrella Damm and Neutrogena. This trio, now all in the northern hemisphere, are currently sailing at 8-10 knots although average pace remains much lower as they exit the Doldrum conditions.

Meanwhile Hugo Boss have had their own run-in with an unseen adversary, as Wouter Verbraak (NED) reported this morning: “’There is something on the rudder!’ It is the middle of the night, and lots of turbulence with white foam coming from the leeward rudder. The boatspeed has dropped from 18 to 9 knots. This is more than a little piece of seaweed, that’s for sure.

“‘I can’t get it off with the boathook, we will have to stop the boat,’ replies Andy after a few minutes struggling to leeward. We furl the spinnaker and back the boat down. Now with the boat hook we can remove the rather large piece off the rudder. As it floats away we can see fins and a meter long fish…on closer inspection with a torch it turns out to be a shark! Poor fellow, not sure how well he will have survived our nightly encounter...hope it is fine. It reminds us we are not alone out here!”

Note from SailRaceWin: The shark was maybe after one of the tuna wraps that the guys took on board in the Falklands for lunch... :-))

Barcelona World Race

MOD70: Images Out of, and Into, the Water


Steve Ravussin with the first MOD (MultiOneDesign) 70, Race for Water. Image copyright Yvan Zedda/Sea&Co./www.zedda.com


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Multi One Design SA

Congressional Cup Day 4: Finns Through to Semi-Finals


Dark clouds retreated from the water for a brilliant fourth day of racing in the 47th Congressional Cup. Image copyright Rich Roberts.

by Rich Roberts

Friday's weather: wind 14k SW; high temp. 52 F.
Saturday's forecast: Partly cloudy; wind 13k SW; high temp. 63F.

Not much was going Finland's way at first in the Long Beach Yacht Club's 47th Congressional Cup. The Finns' finishes were lousy - first in only one of the first six races Tuesday, and then tactician Nils Bjerkas slipped overboard Wednesday, but that was OK because it marked a turning point.


Berntsson (l.) tangles with Lindberg. Image copyright Rich Roberts.

Staffan Lindberg's team still won the race and, rolling past the rough early stages this week, found enough of its form to win eight of its last 12 matches, including one by 10 seconds against 2009 champion Johnie Berntsson in a Scandinavian showdown Friday.


Lindberg (10) starts as another match finishes. Image copyright Rich Roberts.

A final runaway win against struggling Taylor Canfield leveled their double round robin record at 9-9 and ushered them into the fourth and last slot in Saturday's best-of-three semifinals, where they'll meet defending champion Francesco Bruni (17-1), while 2007 winner Mathieu Richard of France (13-5) goes against Great Britain's Ian Williams (13-5).


Berntsson (2) and Lindberg (10) point their bows at the starting line. Image copyright Rich Roberts.

The tall and taciturn Lindberg skipper said, "I think we were too bad in the beginning, but we got better and better. We had nothing to lose. This was our first sailing [since last September]. I'm pretty sure we'll make a run [Saturday]."

The problem for everyone has been stopping Bruni's charge. The Italian has won his last 10 races since losing to Williams Wednesday---by one second---and seems to be making all the right moves.

"We've never had such a good feeling on the boat," he said. "I hope our luck is not over. You need some good luck to go 17 and one."


Berntssnón vs. Perry. Image copyright Rich Roberts.

As was his option, Bruni picked Lindberg, as his semifinals opponent, although with some reservations.

"He's sailing better and better every day, and we know that," Bruni said.

A day earlier Bruni noted, perhaps ominously, "Over the last five years in Grade 1 [match racing] events, the opponents picked have won 70 per cent of the sailoffs."


Luffing match. Image copyright Rich Roberts.

The weather Friday was ideal. A heavy storm that was heading south toward Long Beach the previous two days suddenly veered east into Nevada, leaving a steady 13-knot southwesterly that was expected to continue into Saturday.

The downside was two more crew members hitting the drink: pitman Matt Clark off Canfield's boat and tactician Andrew Campbell off Dave Perry's boat. Both were quickly retrieved, although their races were lost.

The same happened to Williams a day earlier when the skippers raced singlehanded Naples Sabots against junior sailors in the Junior Congressional Cup in the marina channel. His little boat flipped and totally dunked him.

Meanwhile, Jack Berg, 11, won the race and the trophy.


Berntsson upwind. Image copyright Rich Roberts.

Racing is scheduled to start around noon off Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier in east Long Beach, well inside the breakwater of the outer Long Beach Harbor. There is public parking at the base of the pier and free shuttles out to the end, where there is expert commentary, limited seating, a snack bar, restaurant and comfort stations.

The total purse is $40,000, with $10,000 for the winner.

Ullman Sails is the sail sponsor. Friedman's Appliances is the pier sponsor. Time Warner Cable is the media sponsor. Hotel Maya is the official host hotel. Other sponsors are Yamaha, Farmers & Merchants Bank, City National Bank, Union Bank, Newmeyer & Dillon, Press Telegram, Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, Port of Long Beach, Gladstones, MCA, Creative Productions and Catalina Yachts. Visit all sponsors


Fans greet Finland's Staffan Lindberg after he makes the semifinals. Image copyright Rich Roberts.

Standings
18 flights


1. Francesco Bruni, Italy, 17-1.
2. Tie between Mathieu Richard, France, and Ian Williams, Great Britain, 13-5.
4. Staffan Lindberg, Finland, 9-9.
5. Dave Perry, USA, 8-10.
6. Tie between Johnie Berntsson, Sweden, and Simone Ferrarese, Italy, 7-11.
8. Evgeny Neugodnikov, Russia, 6-12.
9. Tie between Taylor Canfield, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Phil Robertson, New Zealand, 5-13.

Friday's results


Richard and Bruni spar off the pier. Image copyright Rich Roberts.

Flight 16
Bruni d. Richard, 2 seconds.
Williams d. Ferrarese, 0:20.
Perry d. Canfield, 0:12.
Lindberg d. Berntsson, 0:10.
Robertson d. Neugodnikov, 0:02.

Flight 17
Canfield d. Ferrarese, 0:14.
Perry d. Berntsson, 0:03.
Neugodnikov d. Lindberg, 0:20.
Bruni d. Williams, 1:19.
Richard d. Robertson, 0:06. .

Flight 18
Ferrarese d. Perry, 1:05.
Lindberg d. Canfield, 1:17.
Berntsson d. Robertson, 0:13.
Bruni d. Neugodnikov, 0:11.
Williams d. Richard, 0:06.

Congressional Cup

SAP 505 Worlds Start Today



by Di Pearson

Most of the crews from the 87 entries entered in the 2011 SAP 505 Worlds enjoyed two days of downtime on tropical Hamilton Island ahead of the Championship which starts today on the Island’s famous Catseye Bay.

Not all took in the delights the Island has to offer, such as snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, golf at the Island’s new course on Dent Island, helicopter rides, sight-seeing, or just relaxing by the pool, some chose training and last minute tweaking, hoping that bit extra might just give them the edge in this highly-competitive class.

As International 505 Class President Pip Pearson pointed out, “You’ve got champions from a lot of different classes and countries here, people like the current world champion, Wolfgang Hunger from Germany, who also won the World’s in 2001 and 2003. He also represented at the ‘84, ’88 and ’92 Olympics in the 470 class.”

“Ian Pinnell has won 38 world, national and European titles and it still took him 15 goes to win the 505 Worlds (in 2008),” said Pearson of the British sailor who is here, along with Hunger, with dreams of another title to add to their growing lists.

The international jury too, were up earlier this morning, their fun is also over. At a World Championship of such magnitude, it is inevitable that there will be protests and the jury know that. “Here we go again,” said experienced jury member Tim Went at breakfast this morning.

International Race Officer Kevin Wilson was gathering his race management crew together for a final briefing. They are ready, having had two day’s practice at the SAP Pre-Worlds.

So, can Australia, with its 48 entries, overcome challenges from the USA (14), Canada (2), France (3), Hong Kong (1), Germany (11), Sweden (1), Great Britain (5) and Denmark (2)? By the end of the nine-race series on April 1, that question will be answered.

Family and fans can follow the fleet live via the tracker with SAP analysis, video and more on the official site at: www.505sapworldchampionship2011.com

SAP 505 Worlds 2011

MOD70: Images of the Launch




Image copyright Yvan Zedda/Sea&Co/www.zedda.com


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Multi One Design SA