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Elliott Open 50 looks fine in Sea Trials
Graham Dalton’s new Open 50 has begun
sailing and is working through some issues which have arisen as a result of
the sea-trials.
'A Southern Man – AGD', she is the first
Open 50 class yacht built in New Zealand and features a canting keel and
three-metre retractable centreboard amongst other high-tech gear to aid solo
ocean racing.
Her first ocean sail will be the Royal
Akarana’s Auckland to Fiji race with a four man crew. For an earlier story on A Southern Man - AGD click here:
A further photo gallery will be posted later:
KS260506 Gipsy Moth IV repairs start in Auckland
Gipsy Moth IV has
been taken to the Emirates Team NZ base in Auckland for repairs.
Chris Fewtrell, the
New Zealand co-ordinator for Gipsy Moth IV, explained that they expect to
have a launch date of around the 20th June, allowing for some sea-trialing
before the sail to Sydney. Sir Peter Blake’s son James is expected to be
aboard for the Trans-Tasman crossing. The sailing program is designed to
have Sir Francis Chichester’s yacht back in UK on the occasion of her 40th
anniversary of the solo circumnavigation.
Click here to see a full gallery of the first day of the Gipsy Moth IV repair project.
KS250506
Royal Netherlands Navy takes Hans Horrevoets home
Portsmouth, UK, 22 May 2006-- At 0837 GMT this morning off the English coast near Falmouth, the body of Hans Horrevoets was transferred to a Royal Netherlands Naval frigate from ABN AMRO TWO.
In winds of 25 knots, French skipper Sebastien Josse and his crew bid an emotional farewell to their much loved friend and team mate, holding a minute’s silence as Hans was taken off ABN AMRO TWO in a RIB to the Dutch frigate, HNLMS Van Galen. His body will now be taken back to his home town of Terheijden, in the Netherlands for repatriation and a funeral with family and friends. The transfer was achieved without any problems and ABN AMRO TWO have now resumed racing en route to Portsmouth.
Jan Berent Heukensfeldt Jansen, CEO of TEAM ABN AMRO, who will meet Hans in Holland and accompany him back to his partner and family, commented, “I am pleased that Hans can now return home to his partner, family and friends and the grieving process can begin. We have had tremendous support from the Volvo Ocean Race, the British Royal Navy, UK authorities and especially the Royal Netherlands Navy to guarantee a successful operation and to ensure Hans’ body is returned to Holland as quickly as possible. We would like to thank everyone involved for their cooperation.
“I have so much respect for Seb Josse and his crew for the mature and professional way they have handled all the events that have arisen on this dramatic leg. The seamanship displayed to recover Hans and then go to the rescue of fellow competitors is astounding. They are now continuing onto Portsmouth in the spirit of the race, as Hans would have wished.”
The HNLMS Van Galen is a multipurpose frigate of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The ship, with her 150 crewmembers, was in the area for six weeks training with the British Royal Navy.
Speaking from ABN AMRO TWO, British navigator Simon Fisher added, “It was a sad moment to see Hans leave the boat, but also a relief that he can now go home to his family. The last few days have been incredibly tough on everyone, but we are determined to cross the finish line as part of this race. We will finish this leg for Hans. Although conditions remain difficult, the crew is doing well, and we are of course all looking forward to seeing our friends and family back on land.”
Just prior to Hans Horrevoets being transferred off the boat, the crew of movistar also left ABN AMRO TWO and returned to shore in Falmouth. This transfer was completed at 8.15 GMT. Bouwe Bekking’s crew had been rescued by Seb Josse’s men when the Spanish boat was abandoned because of keel problems and deteriorating weather. The movistar crew are now all safely back on dry land and heading for Portsmouth.
Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Glenn Bourke, who was in Falmouth earlier today, said: “We are hugely indebted to Seb Josse and the crew of ABN AMRO TWO for their heroic role in the safe recovery and delivery of the movistar crew members to Falmouth. It can’t have been easy for Seb and the guys in the tragic circumstances in which they found themselves. It is measure of their courage and professionalism that they stood by the stricken movistar until the weather conditions allowed a successful transfer and then ensured their safe passage to Falmouth.
“It is a great relief to the ABN AMRO TWO crew that Hans is now on the way to his homeland where his family and friends are waiting and our thoughts are with them at this moment.” ABN AMRO TWO five miles from Falmouth ©Jon Nash
“I would like to extend my gratitude to the British and Netherlands Royal Navy, the Falmouth Coast Guard and the other rescue organisations for the expert manner in which they have dealt with the entire rescue operation,” he concluded.
There will be two press conferences in Portsmouth tomorrow, Tuesday 23 May. At 1000 local time, movistar Racing Team will host a press conference followed at 1100 by TEAM ABN AMRO.
ABN AMRO TWO resumed racing at 09:54 GMT today and is expected to cross the finish line in Portsmouth at around 1925 GMT tonight. At present, the yacht is 3.5 miles off Portland Bill on the Dorset coast.
Source: www.volvooceanrace.com KS230506 USA-87 springs bow surprise in Valencia
BMW Oracle Racing have christened their first new AC class yacht for the 2007 regatta in a ceremony and festivities at the team base in Valencia. BMW ORACLE Racing’s new America’s Cup Class yacht was named USA 87 in a spectacular christening ceremony tonight during the team’s new base opening festivities in Valencia. Sue Dickson, wife of BMW ORACLE Racing CEO and skipper Chris Dickson, smashed a magnum bottle of Moët & Chandon champagne across the bow of USA 87 to christen the team’s new racing yacht.
More than 500 guests, among them the families of the team, partners and sponsors and more than 100 members of the international media, witnessed the ceremony at the team base in the Port America’s Cup in Valencia.
‘This is a great moment and milestone for our team,’ Chris Dickson said. ‘A boat christening is always a moving event – for every designer and boatbuilder, for every sailor, for all of us who have the privilege to take part in such a magnificent campaign. USA 87 is the result of 1,000 hours of full-scale two-boat testing and 30,000 man hours invested by our boatbuilding team. Over the coming days and weeks, the challenge will be to tap the yacht’s full potential.’
Dickson thanked the BMW ORACLE Racing design team headed by Ian Burns, the BMW contribution of automotive engineering know-how, the boatbuilding team managed by Mark Turner, Tim Smyth and Mark Somerville, and the sailing team who will now be testing the boat to develop its full potential.
A feature of the USA-87 is the small bowsprit, of which we will no doubt hear a lot more in the future.
For more photos of the launching ceremony see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=22524
KS280306 McKay takes 85th Lipton Cup
The 85th Lipton Cup was sailed on
Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour on Saturday.
The Lipton Cup trophy, is from the same
silversmith as produced the Americas Cup. It was presented to the Ponsonby
Cruising Club by Sir Thomas Lipton and is proudly displayed in the Club's
trophy cabinet.
The start is always on the wind to a
laid mark and there after round nominated fixed marks and yesterday's course
was a good mix of windward beats and spinnaker runs which gave plenty of
opportunity for gains and losses amongst the minor places.
Tamarau is the newest of the fleet at
six years old and is the current holder. At seventy something, winning
skipper Jim McKay is one of the veterans of the small boat sailing and
boatbuilding scene, and has been sailing competitively for over sixty years.
Maquita takes Logan Memorial
Light winds delayed the start of the 2006 Logan Memorial Trophy, which was contested by 13 boats.
The Logan Memorial recognises the contribution of Arch Logan, a noted builder and designer of M-class who had a building shed in Stanley Bay. The Trophy was donated a year after his death in 1940. The M-class are an 18-foot kauri-clinker, unballasted sailing dinghy, first formed in 1922 following designs by Arch Logan and subsequently adopted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
The boats have been updated with modern Bermudian rigs and racing is still very competitive. This year, the Logan memorial was no exception with three boats being judged over the line at the start with only two returning.
The racing developed into a closely fought affair at the front of the fleet with the lead swapping several times in the building seabreeze which hit around 10 knots for a time during the 90 minute race.
First boat home was Marquita, skippered by Dave Bush, with Mach One (Ted Miller) in second and Marksman (Brian Craies) in third place.
Mach One was the winning boat last year and was expected to do the same again, however class veteran Dave Bush was able to work the harbour course to perfection and carried the day.
On handicap, Marksman (Brian Craies) was first with Marquita second and Motivator (Brian Houston) third.
Around 150 sailors and supporters turned up for the after-match function at the Royal Akarana YC, which was conducted in the usual Emmy style.
Leander Trophy to Auckland Veterans
Naval Point Club Lyttelton hosted the
56th running of the R Class Skiff National Championship from 9-12th March
2006.
What a contest!. There was everything
from light southerlies, strong blustery southerlies, shifty (NW influenced)
North Easterly and good old solid Lyttelton NE, making for an exciting
contest. The conditions were varied enough that wins were spread among three
boats.
Evans goes with Alinghi
Evans brings a wealth of experience to Alinghi, with four Cups behind him, three with Team New Zealand (including two wins) and one with the Japanese challenge.
The man grew up in Devonport, Auckland,
sailing at his local yacht club, Wakatere BC, in Sabots, Starlings and
Lasers earning several National Championships before later moving on to the
Olympic 470 class and representing his country for the 1984 and 1988 Olympic
Games. By 1992, he had a Match Racing World Championship to his name and in
1997 held the ILC40 World Championship title. Having met Brad Butterworth
while competing in the Europe Dinghy Worlds in Copenhagen in his teens, the
two converged again in 1992 in San Diego with Team New Zealand. ABN Amro takes the money, again
The team of professionals sailing ABN
AMRO ONE, with Mike Sanderson (NZL) in charge, remained focussed and foot
perfect throughout the whole of this, the longest leg of the Volvo Ocean
Race at 6,700 nautical miles.
They drifted across the finish line
today in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro at 00:18:23 local time (03:18:23 GMT)
after 20 days, one hour, 48 minutes and 3 seconds at sea to claim first
place. The team collected 3.5 points for passing the Cape Horn scoring gate
first, and seven points for the leg win, bringing their total now to 49
points and putting them solidly at the top of the overall scoreboard. The team of professionals sailing ABN AMRO ONE, with Mike Sanderson (NZL) in charge, remained focussed and foot perfect throughout the whole of this, the longest leg of the Volvo Ocean Race at 6,700 nautical miles.
They drifted across the finish line
today in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro at 00:18:23 local time (03:18:23 GMT)
after 20 days, one hour, 48 minutes and 3 seconds at sea to claim first
place. The team collected 3.5 points for passing the Cape Horn scoring gate
first, and seven points for the leg win, bringing their total now to 49
points and putting them solidly at the top of the overall scoreboard. Auckland Boatshow is a stunner
A stunningly luxurious 28.8 metre (95 foot) superyacht, the futuristic-looking bio-diesel fuelled Earthrace and, weather permitting, the new trans-Tasman speed record holder are all highlights of the 2006 Auckland International Boat Show in the Viaduct Harbour until Sunday.
Members of the public can for the first
time, be able to not only see the spectacular Earthrace, they can also tour
its interior and make a contribution to the success of the project. Big fleets for Auckland Champs
The 2006 Auckland Champs were organised jointly by the Glendowie Boating Club and the Howick Sailing Club over the weekend of March 11th and 12th 2006 at Eastern Beach. The first day of the regatta also included the Dirty Dog Regatta for the Optimist classes.
In the 420 class, 27 boats competed,
with main point of interest being the entry of Simon Cooke and Scottt
Illingworth. Cooke intends to sail in the 2007 420 Worlds at Takapuna and
finished third overall, placing in the top four in each race (except for one
where they had a DNF).
Two womens crews finished in fifth and
sixth overall in the Open fleet, with Sarah Bilkey and Rosie Sargisson
heading off the 2005 ISAF Youth combination of Georgina Hill and Michelle
Kennedy by two points.
movistar on the road, again
After two or three days out of the water, movistar has recommenced racing on Leg 4 of the Volvo OR. This excellent shot was taken just before her launch, by Oskar Kihlborg/ Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 KS070306 movistar, gone by lunchtime??
Movistar on the crane (just to the right of the blue ship) in Ushuaia, Argentina (Photo: Volvo OR)
MOVISTAR QFB LEG FOUR DAY 14 Work is underway on fixing the "bomb doors" which help seal the "wet-box" which contains the business end of the canting keel mechanism. The bomb-doors provide a flexible keel around the canting keel and stop the ingress of high-pressure water. (Photo: Volvo OR)
Most of the day we have been using our #4 jib, and the main remained down. We can't sail faster than 10 knots, because in case we hit a wave (and there are plenty) the pressure gets to high on the repair we did, and water starts coming in again. Another issue is that the connection from the rams to the keel head is sealed by rubber manchets, and of course the water is trying to come through there as well. Luckily we had extra manchets with us, so these were installed as an extra safety margin to prevent water coming into that way. I am very happy that we spent some extra kilos in this area, and would like to invite the other competitors to at least have a look at our design, as this worked well even under the tremendous water pressure.
Stu Bannatyne is coming here for the 2nd
time in his life, (dismasted with Silk Cut), again with mixed feelings.
The bomb door fairing removed before the repair (Photo: Volvo OR)
KS060306
movistar almost sinks at Cape Horn movistar enters port in South America after suspending racing
At 0315 GMT today, Bouwe Bekking reported that movistar was taking on water at a high rate and requested that the boats nearest to movistar, Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) and Ericsson Racing Team (Neal McDonald) should standby to offer immediate assistance. They were sailing in 30 – 35 knots of breeze with a jib top, small staysail and one reef in the mainsail, 242 nautical miles from the scoring gate at Cape Horn. movistar blasting before the sinking incident (Volvo OR)
Scenes from the "wetbox" (volvooceanrace.com)
“Capey (Andrew Cape) had already informed race-headquarters. After seeing
the amount of water, I decided to ask headquarters if other boats could
assist. Water and electricity don't like each other too much, so the circuit
breakers were popping off all the time. movistar running in heavy seas (VOR)
“Then the shout, PUMPS ARE RUNNING. Now we maybe have a chance to beat the
incoming flow rate, and get the level down.
Elsewhere in the fleet, ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) leads the chase towards Cape Horn, 62 nautical miles ahead. Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard) is in second place, 28 miles behind Sanderson, followed by Brasil 1 (Torben Grael), ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) and, bringing up the rear, Ericsson Racing Team (Neal McDonald).
KS040306 Shorty's Legacy
From: ABN AMRO ONE LEG FOUR DAY 11 It’s Shorty Alderman’s fault.
ABN Amro One passes Cape Horn (Volvo OR)
Shorty had been the second mate on the Falls of Clyde, one of the last
working full-rigged ships. Shorty had made several passages “Around the
Horn” and we were fascinated by Shorty’s stories. Chinese Anyone?
From: ERICSSON RACING TEAM LEG FOUR DAY
9 Anyone know what's for breakfast? A big wave aboard ABN Amro One (Volvo OR)
We broached last night with everything up: full size main, spinnaker and
staysail, I am sat in the nav station and I hear the rudder stall first; a
huge rush of air under the boat as it loses its grip on the fast flowing
water. This is accompanied by a very quick change of heading and a large
heel angle.
What's a Chinese Gybe? See this Quicktime video clip of of Grant Dalton in Amer Sport : http://www.nautorchallenge.com/html/play.asp?movieid=129&rs=0
The Cayard Chronicles - 2
From: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN LEG FOUR
DAY 7
We are traveling along at 20 knots average with the apparent wind angle (the wind you feel on your face) coming from 50 degrees off centerline which pitches the spray and wind in your face at about 35 knots.. The helm has a very light feel on the wheel as the front half of the boat is out of the water most of the time. Then you think about where you are, surfing across the bottom of the planet, thousands of miles from anywhere, and even you begin to think that this is crazy.
Countback decides Zeddie Nationals
Wellington sailors Ross Giblin and Chris McCarthy
have won the 2006 Z Class ‘Nationals’ held in Napier at the weekend. Part of the 20 strong fleet line up for the Zeddie Nationals (Photo: Hilary Parker)
Over the years they have been modified
to become highly competitive and demanding two-handed boats to sail and are
now mostly sailed out of Wellington at the Paremata and Plimmerton boating
clubs. Giblin and McCarthy (Hilary Parker)
KS270206 Kiwis on for top ten place in 18ft Worlds
Brad Marsh reports from the 18ft Worlds in Sydney: "Well we only have two more races to go. Yesterday was our lay day and many spent it recovering from a session at the Rag and Famish Hotel in North Sydney on Thursday night. (Photo: Andrea Francolini)
Finishing the race in fourth spot we
held off the series leaders Asko Appliances and our closest competitor,
Appliances Onlines. (Photo; Andrea Francolini)
Thank you to our sponsors,
www.fishersfinearts.co.nz ,
Helly Hansen, Southern Ocean Ropes, Dimension Polyant, SsangYong, CT
Sailbattens, Fyfe Sails and NZ Rigging KS250206 56th Leander Trophy Attracts New Boat, New Sailors
Organizers expect 15 boats on the starting line when the Leander Trophy heads to Christchurch March 9-12 at the Naval Point Club Lyttelton. Tradition dictates that it's the Canterbury R Class Squadron's turn to host the regatta (the location rotates among Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury each year). This year, however, it seems even more appropriate that the 56th running of the Leander be in the class's home waters.
Subwoofer and Dimension Polyant scream downwind
at last year's Leander.(Rclass.org) The R class, known for pushing the limits of yacht design and construction techniques, started in Canterbury in the 1930s when the Canterbury Yachting Association reorganized the T class as the R class. The new class invoked minimal design restrictions: a maximum length of 12'9", minimum beam of 4'6", sail area of 110 square feet, and a maximum spinnaker size of 100 square feet. Everything else – including crew placement, hull shape, and sail design – was left to the sailors' discretion. The class really came into its own in the 1950s when the likes of Graham Mander, Peter Mander, and Brian Wall brought about new innovations to the developmental fleet. Some changes were quite controversial, while others seemed like a natural progression in technology. Early boats featured cold-moulded construction, adjustable jib leads, and trapezes – all quite sophisticated for their time. In the 1960s, Gavin and Colin Cooke introduced the false floor and extremely low freeboard. Also in the 1960s, Brian Treleaven debuted twin trapezes in the class. One of the bigger recent additions came in 1985, with the addition of spinnaker prods. The L2 (left) and L3 (second from left) hull shapes are drastically different from one another. Compared to the hulls made from the Woof mould (the other four boats pictured),
the differences are even more
striking.(Rclass.org) The tradition of innovation will continue at this year's Leander when the newest R – with a hard chine, retractable wings, and all-carbon construction – makes its debut on the national scene. The boat, the L3 Nuplex Davie Norris, is the brain child of Diamond Harbour naval architect Dan Leech (who also crews on the boat) and builder Sean Milner, who believe it to be the next step in the evolution of the R. "When you see the L3, the Woofs, the L1 and the L2 all lined up on their sides, it's amazing to see how the design of the boats has changed in the last 10 years," Milner says. "With each design, you learn what works and what doesn't. Dan designed the L1 based on how he thought the Woof design could be improved. The L2 incorporated improvements on the L1. The L3 was a radical departure from the concepts tried on Rs before, but it seems to be working." While there's excitement about the new design's potential, the class is still challenged by a decline in numbers. It's the same story facing racing fleets around the country: too many races, too little time, and more shore-side commitments. (A schedule conflict with the 18' skiffs racing in Sydney will prevent at least two Leander regulars from attending this year's regatta). So it's also worth noting that at least three of the boats set to be on the starting line at the Leander are rookies: Michael Rhodes and Jamie White of Timaru in Crack R; Rhys Jones of Ashburton and a yet unnamed crew in Custard Square; and Josh and Daniel Hughes of Christchurch in Pork Sword. For the remainder of this story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=21874
KS250206 The Cayard Chronicles
From: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN LEG FOUR
DAY 4 Pirates of the Caribbean nailing it in the Southern Ocean. Photo Sally Collison/Disney
We smoked past the Chatham Islands in a
cloud of spray. Plenty white pointers up tharrrr, we didn't see one, but he
was lurking under us
No whales as yet, but ever optimistic the big blue fella might rear one day, never seen one in my life yet.
When the sky clears the atmosphere is "clear as crystal, and the white stars fairly blaze" at night, and the air is getting crisp at 52degS. Looking at the water maker filter, it is picking up very little in the way of silt or sediment, so the water is clean clean clean here.
So far its pretty nice for the fre-eco sheik, he's about the weirdest creature out here right now ! I'm cultivating my own festering kingdom betwx my toes, and it should be a full blown green culture blossom by the time we reach some tropical spring conditions round that cor-Horner.
Roll on, the wild animal kingdom..... For a wild ride in the Volvo OR click here: (either view online using Quiktime, or download, save the file, and then view offline on a large hi-res screen) KS230206 Volvo start coverage (Photo's by Tugboat - see URL's below for full gallerys of the Leg 3 finish, movistar repairs and Leg 4 Start)
Tugboat's start shots - Leg 4 Volvo Ocean Race
Peter Montgomery provided live commentary together with Ross Telford on Newstalk ZB.
The Volvo Ocean Race starts leg 4 in Wellington (by www.Volvooceanrace.com )
To hear the 'Voice of Yachting' click on
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/audio2/newstalkzb.asx and hear Peter
Montgomery live from 1420hrs NZT to 1500hrs NZT later you can go back into
the Archive and listen to the commentary on
http://www.newstalk.co.nz/weekondemand.asp?menu=2&menuitem=3
KS190206 Scene in Sydney The Kiwi 18ft skiff teams gear up for the 18ft Skiff World Championships in Sydney
Racing starts Saturday
KS180206 The Tugboat Files: Click here to see more of Tugboat's fine work from the Volvo OR "pitstop" in Wellington VOR2006 photo album - Photobucket.com or for the latest on repairs see Running Repairs
Ever wondered what it feels like to sail at 25knots plus on a Volvo 70? Click here to find out: http://www.piratesracing.org/Chopper_Pirates.mov or you can download the full file (4.7MB) and run offline using Quicktime
For TVNZ's Martin Tasker's report on the Leg 3 finish of the Volvo OR click here or to see his report a day from the finish click here
KS170206
Does it get any closer than this?
In the battle for first place, the Spanish entry, movistar, skippered by Dutchman Bouwe Bekking, finally broke the offshore domination of the Dutch yacht ABN AMRO ONE in the Volvo Ocean Race, by crossing the finish line in Wellington today, nine seconds ahead of the black boat, skippered by Kiwi Mike Sanderson from Auckland.
The finish canon signalled Movistar’s finish at 13:09:26 local time (00:09:26 GMT) with ABN AMRO ONE following at 13:09:35 (00:09:35 GMT). As he stepped ashore, winning skipper Bouwe Bekking said:
“This is a really sweet victory. We just managed to hang in there so we are really happy. We have a really fantastic team and a strong after guard in Stuart Bannatyne, Chris Nicholson and myself and it means that we could swap over so we all managed to get some sleep.
“This leg has been unbelievably tense. We managed to get a little lead and it was gone in no time. New Zealand is a nice leg to win and after the start we had to the race this feels particularly special.
“The boat is in good shape. We have no serious damage and nothing too dramatic has happened.”
Stuart Banatyne (movistar) from Wellington, said:
“That was an epic leg. It was unbelievable to be the first boat into Wellington. I never thought it would come down to a one boat length win, but a win is a win! This is where I grew up, where I learnt to sail, and it is just fantastic to be back here. This is just really awesome and so special to me.”
Mike Sanderson, skipper of ABNAMRO ONE, who finished second, commented:
“It was a bit sad for us but great for movistar. We lost a 40 mile lead and that is pretty tough but we have had some awesome racing over the last 24 hours so we are pleased that we managed to hang on. We can’t be upset, we have extended our lead by adding six points to our score and that is why we are here.
The dockside in Queen’s Wharf, Wellington, was lined with spectators, as the New Zealand Army performed the Haka, in honour of movistar. Helicopters buzzed over head as the climax to leg three, 1,450 miles from Melbourne to Wellington, became more nail-biting by the minute.
For the remainder of this story see; www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=21767 KS170206 Lead Changes in last Miles of Volvo OR
As leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race comes to a nail biting end, Bouwe Bekking and his crew on movistar has stolen ABN AMRO ONE’s (Mike Sanderson) top spot as the wind drops in Cook Strait. But will they be able to keep it up until the finish in Wellington, or will Kiwi Mike Sanderson celebrate a third offshore win in his home country? The answer is predicted to come by 2100 GMT tonight (1000hrs NZT). Johnathan Swain keeps an eye on ABN AMRO ONE from on deck on Volvo Open 70 movistar as the boats head in towards Wellington Leg 3 (Volvo OR)
For the remainder of this story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=21749 KS170206 Kiwis at Toshiba OK Dinghy Worlds Day 3 Aussies chase hard on day 2 of the Toshiba OK Worlds' Lynne Burton
What looked like a gentle breeze in the morning quickly turned in to one of the windiest days over both regattas with gusts of up to 28 knots and a short steep chop.
What many though would be a light regatta is quickly
turning into an event for the big boys!
Karl Purdie and
Greg Wilcox also put in good performances coming fourth and sixth
respectively. KS160206
OK Worlds - Great Day 2 for the Kiwis Greg Wilcox (522) winner of both races, is chased by Kevin Purdie (NZL) Lynne Burton
With a lighter breeze on the second day of racing in the 2006 OK Dinghy
World Championships, the New Zealand sailors stamped their authority on the
days racing. The wind was quite unstable and produced some major wind
shifts, especially during the second race.
KS160206
OK World Championship Day 1
'2006 OK Worlds Day 1 - Jorgen Lindhartsen (DEN) is chased by a pack of Australians and Kiwis' Lynne Burton
o 20 knots.
Overall we have ten Kiwis in the top 20.
KS160206
New champions in OKI 24 hour Race
The OKI 24 Hour Race was sailed on North Shore’s Lake Pupuke over the weekend. 40 boats competed in the OKI 24 hour race on Lake Pupuke' Richard Gladwell
KS200206
Belgians win NZ Tornados title at
Takapuna
Two races were sailed on the final day of the 2006 NZ Tornado Nationals,
with Takapuna turning on sparkling seas and an average breeze of 9 - 11
knots. KS200206
Christchurch crew take NZ 470 Nationals
Geoff Woolley and Mark Overington
KS200206
Battle for second goes to
Russell Wood
OK rounding windward mark final day' Lynne Burton
The overall title was already decided, but the other medal positions and top
ten were wide open. Second and third placed overnight Russell Wood (NZL) and
Nick Craig (GBR) were tied on 17 points with Andre Blasse (AUS) just four
behind them, while just nine points separated fifth to ninth. Zephyr Jubilee attracts over 80 competitors
Over 80 sailors competed in the 50th Jubilee Nationals for the Zephyr class off Milford beach, with race management provided by the Takapuna Boating Club. Class designer, Des Townson, sailing the original Zephyr class
The nine race series was shortened down to seven races after a combination
of light winds and a south westerly breeze in excess of 30kts on the Sunday,
tested the fleet and the race officer.
At the prizegiving for the Jubilee Nationals, Gilpin recalled receiving a
telegram of congratulation from Townson, back in 1951. With the passing of
time, the gesture had slipped Townson's memory, however Gilpin still has the
telegram and pulled the original out of the glove-box of his car for all to
see 55 years later!
KS160206
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RNZYS takes Hat-Trick at
Warren Jones Youth Regatta Fremantle SC's Torvar Mirsky to windward of Graeme Sutherland of the Royal Akarana YC (Photo: Greg Hocking)
The BlackMatch crew celebrate (Hocking photo)
For results and other coverage of the
Warren Jones Youth Regatta see:
www.sail-world.com/nz KS030206 Ready, Steady, Go!! The Ericsson Racing Team has been out training in Port Phillip Bay today with just two days to go until the Melbourne in-port race. Ericsson Racing rounds the first downwind mark in the In-Port Race, Cape Town. Photo Thierry Martinez, Volvo Ocean race
For remainder of this story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=21536 New R-Class hots up Christchurch sailing. Lifelong sailor Sean Milner of Lyttelton and yacht designer Dan Leech of Diamond Harbour have teamed up to campaign a new R Class skiff this season, and the result is turning heads around Lyttelton Harbour.
The newest version of
3.9 metre boat – called an L3 because it is Leech's third design to the R
Class specifications – is the result of a rule change approved by members of
this developmental class over the winter.
Though Leech is a
relative newcomer with only seven years' experience racing R Class boats,
he's hardly a rookie. He won the sprint series in 2000 and 2003. This is
Milner and Leech's second season racing together. Last year they teamed up
to campaign an L2, which Leech designed three years ago.
‘The Canterbury fleet
has been pretty supportive of the new boat because they see how excited
people get when they watch it sail. And once they have a chance to get on
the boat and feel how it moves, it's pretty hard to go back to sailing a
more traditional boat.’ KS310106 Big Bang ends Harbour Festival
For more of the Harbour Festival firework display KS290106 From the Mahurangi Regatta
(Photo: L. Gladwell) Report and results to follow, we hope. KS290106 Go Girls!!
The faces tell it all, as a Mt Maunganui try to get up to speed at their - for more shots from the Surfboats at Mt Maunganui click here KS290106 Slater leads Finns at Rolex Miami OCR Dan Slater (NZL) leads the Finn class at the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta after two days of racing. Light winds prevailed for the racing on Day 1 of the Rolex Miami OCR (Photo: Dan Nearney)
KS250106 Kiwis to the fore on first day of Auckland Match Racing Cup
Two New Zealand skippers top the leaderboard after Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour dished up challenging racing conditions in the first day of the Auckland Match Racing Cup regatta.
Emirates Team New Zealand’s crew, led by Dean Barker, finished today with five wins and one loss (5-1).
New Zealander Cameron Appleton, who recently excelled in the New Zealand Match Racing Championships, was celebrating an impressive opening day result with the same score.
The Auckland Match Racing Cup, hosted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, sees a lineup of 10 top international teams coming to Auckland to compete in the first Grade One match race contest held in New Zealand for four years.
Racing got under way today in the aftermath of a north-easterly gale which swept the city yesterday, causing widespread damage and preventing the teams from taking advantage of the only practice day.
Today’s conditions saw racing begin in a north-easterly breeze and end in a south westerly breeze, while strong tides and clumps of kelp, dislodged in the storm, created additional challenges for the racing teams.
‘Conditions were tough,’ said Chris Dickson, the other New Zealand skipper in the line-up.
Dickson, who skippers the BMW Oracle Racing America’s Cup team, ended day one win on 4-2, which he described as a satisfactory result given the challenges.
‘There were definitely no easy races out there,’ he said.
Terry Hutchinson, tactician for Emirates Team New Zealand, was also pleased with the team’s work.
‘Dean did a nice job in the pre-starts. In three out of six starts we left the line a couple of lengths ahead of the opposition. That makes it nice and easy. The wind and tide were tricky, but just as challenging was avoiding the kelp.’
If the weed lodges around the keels or rudders, it can slow the yachts significantly and Hutchinson said the teams had to make huge course alterations to avoid getting snagged.
Appleton was thrilled with his 5-1 result. ‘We wanted to start the regatta well, with as few mistakes as possible. We concentrated on doing the simple things well.’ Through the course of the opening day, Appleton’s team beat former world champion Bertrand Pace, Alinghi helmsman Ed Baird and Dickson.
For detailed results visit www.aucklandmatchracingcup.co.nz and remainder of this story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=21386 KS250106 Good start for some at Rolex Miami OCR
New Zealand Finn sailor, Dan
Slater reports that he has got underway to a good start in the regatta,
lying third overall in the 25 boat Finn fleet. However the accolades must go to the rookie Star crew of Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams who are lying in eighth place overall, after the first day with placings of fifth and 14th. There are 69 boats in the Star fleet - an extremely competitive class, and with some top names competing. Even more pleasing for Pepper and Williams will be that they are ahead of some other rookie Star crews, such as Brazil's Olympic Gold medalist and current world champion in the Laser class, Robert Scheidt. Dan Slater rounds the leeward mark at Rolex Mami OCR (Photo: Dan Nearny/Rolex)
KS240106 Launch of Sailing....Have A Go! Dean Barker and Barbara Kendall cross the finish line for Team Olympic at the launch of Sailing....Have a Go! on Saturday at Royal Akarana Yacht Club.
For a full image gallery from the launch of Sailing...Have a Go! see here: Sailing...Have a Go! KS220106 Brasil 1 dismasted!
At 06.30 UTC Brasil 1 dismasted in
position: 40,47.61S , 89,18.36E. She is currently 1200 miles from Fremantle
and 1300 miles from Albany, south western Australia. Skipper, Torben Grael,
sent the following statement:
‘Knowing Torben’s intensity during close
inshore tactics, everything is in place for the duel of the century, should
Wallenius Wilhelmsen decide to also join the inshore race in Melbourne, and
try to lee bow us at the start – overlap?’
The latest information is that Brasil has a jury rigged mast functioning and is proceeding to the nearest point of Australia at seven knots. As she had to restart this leg and has already lost considerable time, Brasil now has to get a new mast which will save time but cost more money, or get the existing one repaired which costs less money but may take more time. She has three deadlines to meet - firstly to finish Leg 2 - and it may be an option to take the points for passing the two gates and then get trucked or barged to Melbourne (depending on whether the jury rig is capable of taking her to windward). Secondly she has the points for in-port race in Melbourne on 4th February - which is 17 days away and then the third deadline is the restart date on 12th February - in about 25 days time. Another option is to get on a freighter in Albany, go to Auckland, get the mast and boat repaired where there are excellent facilities available including Southern Spars and then rejoin the fleet in Wellington. But we are just speculating, of course ...... KS190106 Pirates get their feet wet
Paul Cayard,January 12, 2006Last evening at 1845 the crew of the Black Pearl noticed cracks in the area of it keel support structure. Water was coming into the boat from those cracks and still is. The rate of water flow is manageable at this time.
Paul Cayard and Erle Williams check the keel
area for leaks Sail was immediately reduced. Photos and video of the cracks were recorded and sent to the designer of the boat. Several hours were spent discussing this issue with the designers of the boat. A certain level of comfort was achieved and we proceeded, with reduced sail, east at 12 knots through the night.
This morning we have reviewed the drawings of how this area was designed. It is not clear to us if this is structural damage or superficial. The fact that water is coming into the boat is not reassuring. We have a made a new video and photos in the daylight, and sent them off to the designers.
We have run tests with 0, 20 and 40 degrees of cant while inspecting the area. 40 degrees is definitely alarming. The cracks open and close as the loads change and the water flow is more and less accordingly. 20 degrees seems tolerable. It is not clear to us, and probably will never be clear to us or anyone, how serious this damage is until we reach land. We simply can't properly inspect the area out here. Black Pearl's canting keel is fitted in Southampton
On the weather side, the best winds to help us make the progress toward Australia are during the next 30 hours. We currently have winds from the northwest. Eventually, we will fall "off the back" of this system and be hit with less favorable winds from southeast. There is danger in being out here for long time.
Therefore, considering all of the above, I have decided to run the boat up to 80% of full speed at this time, with a maximum of 20 degree of cant, to make as much progress as reasonably possible in these conditions. Naturally we are taking all precautions necessary for any eventuality.
In general, all is well and stable onboard the Black Pearl. Paul Cayard - skipper
January 12, 2006 2300 UTC Another 12 hours on, we have had another round of phone calls and information exchange with the designers of our boat. We have damage to secondary support structure in the area of the keel. That means that the main structure is integral but the bits that bond it to the boat have been compromised, probably only slightly.
I hope and assume that assessment is correct. Again, we won't really know until we get the boat hauled out. My goals now are to get the boat and crew to the dock in Melbourne safely and without incurring any more damage, especially serious damage that could keep us out of the net leg. Black Pearl shows her keel (uncanted) during the self-righting test
Next goal is to do as well as we can in this leg. The reality is that the two ABN's are going quite well and with another two days of power reaching they will be further ahead. So what is at play here is third place. It doesn't make sense to me to break the boat for one place.
So, we will continue to sail at about 85% of full speed. This seems to be a speed that does not cause the severely violent landings and slamming that have caused what damage we do have.
We have maintained the watch system as usual and are doing regular maintenance of the boat. We have also affected some repairs in the area of the damage, mainly to slow the water ingress.
All is well onboard. The crew are upbeat.
Paul Cayard KS130106 Oh dear!
From Tuesday's racing at the 12ft skiff Interdominions - photo by Garrick Cameron For the image gallery from Races 3 & 4 click here and for Races 5 & 6 click here. All images by Garrick Cameron. For a quick trip around the boatpark and a close up look at gear and rigs click here. All images by Kiwi Spy. KS120106 Kiwis back on top in the 12ft skiffs Interdoms Brothers in Arms (Garrick Cameron)
KS120106
Volvo OR - 24 hour record goes again and again
ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) has pushed aside the GANT TIME 24-hour run record of 546 nautical miles, previously held by their senior brethren on ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) during leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race. Later in the period the record was stretched yet again by ABN Amro Two to a new mark of 558nm and then out to 563nm. However speeds have "slowed" a little in the Southern Ocean as ABN Amro Two cut back to a more leisurely 540nm on the last sked.
ABN Amro 1 hurtles through the Southern Ocean This young and relatively inexperienced crew has broken the record for a second time, achieving 558 nautical miles (and then 563nm) in the past 24 hour period. Her average speed was 23.3 knots. This record will be presented to the World Sailing Speed Record Council for official ratification.
Speeds are high throughout the fleet. The pirates on the Black Pearl (Paul Cayard) have achieved a run of 540 nm, and fourth placed movistar (Bouwe Bekking) has managed 510.
ING Real Estate Brunel (Grant Wharington) is suffering, now over 800 nm behind the leader, after suffering damage to their mainsail luff track.
This is the second time on this leg that the Aussie battlers have had a problem with the track. On the first occasion, they were able to make a repair which enabled them to either hoist a full mainsail, or a sail shortened to the second reef point. But, as they were pushing hard to get across the bottom of the low pressure which had formed in their path, they ripped the track off the mast again, this time at the second reef halyard lock which was far worse.
They are now only able to hoist the mainsail with a third reef in, which drastically reduces the sail area and therefore the boat speed. ‘What can we do out here?’ wrote a very frustrated Grant Wharington this morning. ‘Nothing. This is the kind of repair which gets done on the ground with the rig out. We will have to just battle on with what we have.’
From: www.volvooceanrace.com Aussies to the fore in 12ft skiffs Interdoms
The third and fourth races have been completed in the Interdominion 12ft skiff championships on the Waitemata Harbour, and an Australian crew has taken over the lead on the points table. However NZ still leads the teams event by a handy margin.
Held in a building northerly breeze, the final race gave the crews some excellent rides.
Upwind in both races, the fleet split, sailing either side of the Rangitoto Channel to avoid the worst of the tide, making a spectacular sight as the 35 boat fleet seemingly covered the harbour. After rounding the first mark in both races, there was a huge distance between first and last as the crews indulged in a parade of sail, dancing downwind under big rigs and straining kites.
Much as the first day’s racing was a close affair the second was similar. The results table saw many movements in both directions as skiffs who'd previously sailed well had more challenging days and vice versa.
Nuplex (Alex Vallings & Nathan Handley) was unable to complete Races 1 & 2 after an incident that resulted in a request for redress, the result was successful with Nuplex being awarded average points for both races. Alex and Nathan sailed two good races today, coming home with a fourth and a second, if the regatta ended today they would lead the table with a total of 12 points.
Yabba Dabba (Nick Press & Brad Yabley) was the winning skiff on the water today with a first and a fourth. ending the day leading the points table on 17 points.
Race 4 presented another example of how close the racing is in this year's fleet with the fourth different winner. Nice Action (Hamish Hey & Mike Candy) achieving their first ever Interdominion race win.
It was a good day to be an Australian, the team regaining points against New Zealand. The current points are NZ: 699 and AUS: 586.
For points table and photos see www.skiff.org.nz
KS110106 Sanderson comes out swinging for Volvo 70 As ABN Amro 1 passed the first scoring gate on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, skipper Mike Sanderson (NZL) came out very solidly in defence of the Volvo 70 design and concept which has attracted much comment, on the back of a high attrition rate in the race, thus far. With calls being made for the fleet to be recalled to South Africa for a full inspection and review, and then a restart of the race in 12 months time, Sanderson is in the best position to make comment, having been through the development process of this new concept and then taking it to the front of the fleet in both legs sailed so far. Three Volvo 70's set or broke the existing 24 hour monohull distance record in 2005 (Jon Nash/ABN Amro)
And oh, by the way, ABN Amro One set a new world monohull 24 hour distance record towards the end of the first leg - a feat that will almost certainly be eclipsed by another of these flying machines later in the Volvo OR.
In a boatmail from ABN Amro One Sanderson commented:
"I heard through the grape vine that there is a growing concern that these boats are dangerous and that we are being reckless out here. I just want to take this opportunity to say that I will happily sit down with anyone and explain to them the thousands of hours that have gone in to the making of Team ABN AMRO's keel systems as safe as possible. We need the keels to stay where we want them during the race for two reasons, and the good news is that they both go hand in hand. Firstly we need them to stay there for the safety of the guys. But the good news is that you also need them to stay there so that you can keep racing and the team that can finish all the legs without a break down and pick up the points bonus, as all legs count.
"So the safety of everyone is at the top of the list no matter how you look at it. Every Volvo 70 that has had a problem so far since the first boat was launched in January last year has got back in to port without assistance. In the Open 60 Solo race that I did last year, three boats had to receive aid from rescue boats, one guy was picked up by a container ship as his carbon keel had snapped and two had to be rescued from the mid Atlantic by chartered support craft with broken masts. Now we are not allowed carbon keels in the Volvo , and the rig weight is adequate that unless you break something then the rig should stay up, whereas in the Open 60's there is a massive rating advantage in having a high modulus mast. In fact there rigs are more Grand Prix then an America's Cup boat.
"People, everyone, called for a more exciting boat, both the public and the sailors and guess what we got it.. to think that these boats have gone out at just 70 feet long and broken the 24 hr record now three times that was set by Mari Cha IV, a boat very dear to my heart. I was involved with it from conception, and the conception that it was built for the purpose of beating records just blows me away...
"Volvo has supplied us with a rule that makes just fantastic boats, the fact that we are having a not so high attrition rate is only the teams and designers fault. The breakage's are all from weight reduction decisions that have been made by either the design team or the racing team.. we all knew the whole time, that we needed a big bulb on the keel to win the race, and we also knew that we needed to finish the legs to win the race, and it will be he who has walked that fine line correctly at the end of the day that will come out on top and we’re not going to know who that is for another seven months yet."
For more reports on the Volvo OR and other Boatmail see www.sail-world.com
KS110106 Kiwi consistency pays in 12ft skiffs
New Zealand crews won both races
sailed in the Interdominion 12ft skiff championship today on the Waitemata
Harbour. Martin Hughes (Macintosh/Fyfe) won Race 1
In the second race class veteran, Greg
Roake and crew Adam Miller take the gun, sailing Hi Rev. In almost a place
swap with Martin Hughes, Roake and Miller finished 12th in the first race
and lie in fourth place overall.
Hi Rev (Roake/Miller) took Race 2
KS090106 Wellington crew win Invitation Race in 12ft skiffs Shaun Sheldrake and Craig Anderson winning the 12ft Skiff Interdom Invitation Race
The race was delayed for almost an hour while the race committee waited for a stable breeze to start the race in. After around an hour and a half of racing the decision was made to shorten the race as the tide flowed more quickly and the breeze threatened to drop away. The battle for line honours was a close one with less than a minute separating the top four skiffs, second was Paul Macintosh & Ken Fyfe (Martin Hughes Design), third Murray Press & Ben Gemmell (Gemell Sails) and fourth James Francis & Rob Bell (Steve Jarvis Motors).
The contest proper begins Sunday afternoon with races 1 & 2 starting from 1.00pm. Good viewing is available from Orakei Wharf or Torpedo Wharf (Devonport) check the website (www.skiff.org.nz) for a full list of results.
For more excellent shots see New Zealand 12 Foot Skiff Association - sponsored by P&O Nedlloyd
KS080106 Wetting the Baby's Head - Southern Ocean Style!!
Stu Bannatyne and the crew of the Volvo 70 "Wet the Baby's Head" in the Southern Ocean during Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race to celebrate the birth of his daughter born after the start of Leg 2. (Photo: Volvo OR) KS080106 Outstanding effort by Peter Burling wins Starling Double
The Nuplex Starling Nationals and Match Racing series have concluded in New Plymouth.
Ten races were sailed in the 140 boat Starling fleet which completed in a real variety of conditions from the first two races of below 6 knots to over 20 knots and 5 metre plus swells on the ‘exciting’ day.
Tauranga sailor, Peter Burling turned in an outstanding performance to once again win the Match Racing and Nationals double title and is the first ever sailor to win the double twice. Even more impressive is that he won his first aged 14yrs and only had his birthday on New Years Day.
Burling also won the prize for the youngest sailor in top 10 for the second year in a row (last year was more than two years younger than any other top 10 sailor). He is also younger than nine of the 10 top sailors in the P class nationals.
In the 27 races of the fleet and matchracing Burling was only beaten over the line twice. – He was second in both these races and had let the winner go to concentrate on beating Bruce Kennedy (second overall) over the line.
Although the Starling fleet at the last nationals in Tauranga may have stronger with sailors competing who between them held nine P class and Optimist national titles. The New Plymouth fleet did not have so many ex-champions but the gold fleet sailing was extremely close and tough.
Burling currently holds every major Starling trophy – and has only ever been beaten once in a Starling regatta.
Bruce Kennedy also from Tauranga was easily second overall – his worst counting race was a third.
Tauranga had five sailors in the top 20 (Peter Burling, Bruce Kennedy, Sam Meech, Jason Saunders and Darren Kennedy).
These sailors trained off the main Mt Maunganui beach to get used to ocean swells. At one point during this training when surfing in 2metre waves between the surfies, Peter miscalculated and broke a mast during a capsize and Bruce crushed one side of his boat.
However the experience gained through this type of exercise was invaluable in learning the skill of catching and getting off waves.
As those sailing the Volvo 70’s have also found out, preserving the boat was also important. Specialist coaching was provided in Tauranga from Andrew Brown and John Morgan.
In 2005, Kennedy and Burling teamed up in the two-handed 420 class, winning the NZ nomination for the Boys two handed class at the ISAF Youth Worlds in Korea, where they finished out of the top ten overall, but went onto to compete in the 420 World Championships in Brest, France finishing 6th overall and leading the regatta in the early stages. Burling is also the current National Champion in the Elliot6.5metre sportsboat class.
KS080106
Volvo OR - casualty update.
Two competitors have suffered gear and structural damage overnight and are returning to South Africa. Brasil1 has experienced structural failure in her deck, and Ericsson Racing has damaged a piston on her canting keel ram. For full details and updates see www.sail-world.com/nz At night aboard Brasil1 with crew head-lights
Sent: 5 January 2006 To: DUTY OFFICER Hi. News isn’t good, of course.
We had a great start for the second leg, with light winds while leaving from Cape Town. We were fighting for the first place with the Spanish boat until the first mark, placed close to a big container ship. At this point the wind was almost gone. We were the first to get to the buoy, but with the current and no wind we got trapped by the shadow of the ship, watching the other boats get close to us. Structural damage aboard Brasil1
sail change. The crew didn’t have the time to put on the weather gear and we got soaking wet, boots included. The wind speed was up to 28 knots in a second.
When we reached the Cape of Good Hope we were cutting the advantage from the Spaniards and had a good margin for the third placed Pirates.
From that point on, we got great navigation from Marcel and the boat’s performance was great. We started moving south in order to get into a front that was getting close to us. We were not the closest boat to the finish but we were exactly where we wanted concerning the front.
Unfortunately, during the second night we faced not so strong wind but really tricky waves, coming right into our faces. Brasil 1 got some really strong hits, changing directions every time a big wave got near.
Above deck damage on Brasil1 One of these waves was especially hard but in the dark we couldn’t find anything wrong with the boat. As the sun appeared and the wind slowed down, Kiko found a big depression on the deck with a fissure next to the cabin. We lowered the headsail and reduced the main, to get some pressure off the mast.
After a quick evaluation of the size of the problem, knowing that we had 6.000 miles ahead and this was the last chance to come back, we decided to return to land. If we had continued we could put our lives and our boat in danger.
We have now 100 miles to Port Elisabeth, where Horacio Carabelli and our shore team will analyze the boat’s condition and the time needed for repairs. With this info and the weather data we will get, we will make a decision on what to do.
If we forfeit this leg and ship the boat to Melbourne, we will get one point for the last place in the leg. If we set sails again, we can collect two points, adding half a point for each of the scoring gates.
Hope to write again soon, with better news.
Good winds, Torben Grael - skipper
KS050106
Volvo fleet off into the Southern Ocean!
It was the calm before the storm as Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 got underway today in light north westerly winds.
Photo: Thierry Martinez/Ericsson Racing
The departure dock this morning was a
mixture of emotions as the teams loaded their final personal items onboard
and said their farewells to family and friends. Wives waved goodbye to their
husbands and children blew kisses to their dads making for a tearful scene
as the seven Volvo Open 70’s headed out to the start line in Table Bay. ABN Amro One chases Ericsson Racing
ABN Amro 1 is the overall leader going into Leg 2
KS030106 Evans wins Nuplex Tauranga Cup
Auckland's Carl Evans has taken out the
prestigious Tauranga Cup regatta's for P Class yachts.
KS030106 Wild Oats wins Rolex Sydney Hobart Trifecta
This fantastic shot of Wild Oats rounding the Iron Pot on her way to breaking the record for the Rolex Sydney Hobart. Photographer: Crosbie Lorimer
LATEST: Wild Oats achieves historic Trifecta - Line, Overall and Record Wild Oats becomes the first boat to achieve the trifecta of Line, Overall and Race Record. Sail-World reports: "By 5am this morning it had become clear that IRC Division D leader, Graeme Wood’s Sydney 47CR Wot’s Next, still 14 miles north east of Tasman Light could not make the time needed to challenge the Oats, nor could Bill Wild’s HW42 Wedgetail, at that time already around Tasman Light."
For full reports, updates and images from Crosbie Lorimer and other photographers on the Rolex Sydney Hobart see: Sail World: Sail and sailing, cruising, boating news KS281205 Evans wins Nuplex Tanner Cup
Carl Evans from Auckland won the Nuplex
2006 P Class Inter-Provincial Tanner Cup being hosted by the New Plymouth
Yacht Club.
For full results see: www.npyc.org.nz/Results.htm
KS291205 Evans leads Nuplex Tanner Cup after Day 2 Carl Evans from Auckland leads the P
Class Inter-provincial Tanner Cup contest being hosted by the New Plymouth
Yacht Club after 4 races. KS291205 Alfa Romeo leads Rolex Sydney Hobart At 2120hrs NZT, Alfa Romeo (NZL) led Wild Oats (AUS) by 2.1nm and the leader had 543 miles to travel to Hobart. They were traveling at around 13 knots and there are four boats inside Nokia's 1999 race record. The leaders were located just south of Jervis Bay and to seaward of the rhumb line, which at that point is close to shore. Sail-World is predicting the race record to be chopped by four hours, however it will depend on how the winds hold up overnight. The current record stands at one day and 19 hours. Start of the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race on Boxing Day . (Photo Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex )
Wild Oats XI won the race out of Sydney Heads this afternoon, in a picture-perfect start to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Skipper Mark Richards is known for his strong starting and match race abilities, and crossed the pin end of the line slightly earlier than the bookies' favourite for line honours, Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo. These two were neck and neck on their way out of the Harbour, with the massed spectator fleet dutifully staying outside the runway marked out by numerous security launches and marker buoys. At the first Rolex mark through the famous entrance to the harbour, Wild Oats led Alfa Romeo by less than two boat lengths. It was a rapid exit from Sydney Harbour for the leading boats, and the improvements in big boat technology these past two years could be measured by the size of the gap back to the other three maxis in this race. Skandia was already some way behind the two Reichel/Pugh boats, even after just the first 10 minutes that it took to break out into the Pacific Ocean. Not far behind was AAPT, the 92-footer which last year won line honours in this race in her former guise of Nicorette. Konica Minolta had made a second row start off the line and so she was already some way behind her maxi rivals by the first mark.
Wild Oats and Alfa Romeo in the Rolex Sydney Hobart (Photo Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex )
As the forecasters had predicted, east to southeasterly breezes of about 8
to 10 knots brought a gentle start to this year's race. The larger yachts
made majestic progress down the New South Wales coast, sailing with sheets
slightly cracked on port tack, with the leaders achieving speeds in excess
of 15 knots. Grant Wharington made an early call for a Code 0 headsail which
took Skandia flying past a Bondi Beach packed with Boxing Day sunbathers,
while the two leaders held to a more seaward course about two miles
offshore. Gradually Alfa Romeo got back on level terms with Wild Oats and
had taken up a narrow lead two hours after the start. At this early stage,
all three leading maxis were well ahead of record pace set by the Volvo 60
Nokia six years ago. To follow the race check the following links: www.sail-world.com/nz and click on the Rolex Sydney Hobart icon. Sail-World are featuring the audio of the start commentary and build-up, which is excellent listening. Sail-World also has the links to the race tracker and Rolex Sydney Hobart Race website. There were also several interviews and coverage commentary from Peter Montgomery on Newstalk ZB this afternoon, see: www.newstalk.co.nz go to the On Demand section in the Archives and listen from 3.00pm onwards on Saturday for Peter Shipway's race commentary and interviews with key Kiwi Sailors.
Then there is the Google Earth race tracker cyca_rshyr_yachtrace.kml - however you will need to have Google Earth loaded on your machine which can be obtained from http://earth.google.com/ this tracker is very graphic and will show the race data for each boat when you zoom in and click on the boat name. The official tracker is a little tricky for some. To view the fleet, click on Zoom, drop the cursor a little back from the section of the fleet you want to see and them move down to the head of the fleet. This should set out a clear box covering the boats, which will then expand when you click off. You will note that they are showing the 1999 position for the Volvo 60, Nokia -the current race record holder.
KS 261205 Snow-Hansen takes first race in Nuplex Tanner Cup The 2006 Nuplex Tanner Cup kicked off
in New Plymouth today with competitors revelling in fresh SW 14-18 knot
conditions and rolling 3m swell. The Invitation race was won by Carl Evans
of Kohimarama followed by Daniel Willcox and Paul Snow-Hansen. KS281205 ABN Amro One takes Volvo OR InPort Race One week before the Volvo Ocean Race sets sail for Melbourne, Dutch yacht ABN AMRO 1 has consolidated its position at the top of the leaders board with a dominant victory in the in-port race in Cape Town, South Africa. ABN Amro One powers upwind to win the second InPort race
'Apart
from the three broken battens (on the mainsail) we were quite fast downwind.
The boat is set up for ocean racing, probably more so than the others.' Black Pearl (Paul Cayard) loses control in the torrid conditions
It was a confidence-boosting return to the water for movistar, which
includes Australians Andrew Cape, Chris Nicholson, Noel Drennan and Peter
Doriean on its crew, after the Spanish yacht was forced to retire from leg
one of the race with structural damage.
'We
are pretty happy with our day’s sailing, especially that we didn’t wipe out
on that first downward leg and we didn’t push the boat that hard,' said ABN
AMRO 1’s skipper, New Zealander Mike Sanderson.
Under control, Black Pearl goes downwind at powerboat pace
'The wind got up to 40 knots and that is tough work for 11 guys, but we
wanted to make sure we got in here first so we didn’t push too hard.' Brasil 1 nears the sound barrier
For further Volvo Ocean Race coverage see: www.sail-world.com All photos courtesy of Volvo Ocean Race - www.volvooceanrace.com KS271205 Venue change for 2007 ISAF Youth Worlds?
The Australian 420 website is reporting that the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) has dropped San Diego as the venue for the 2007 ISAF Youth Worlds and would seem to have invited proposals from other countries to stage the event. Ben Ainslie is one of many Youth World Gold medalists who has gone on to win Olympic Gold medals
For full story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=20672 KS241205 Murdoch wins Lasers at SIRS Four days of racing on Sydney Harbour has seen 220 competitors race from 13 countries and all Australian states in the 2005 Sydney International Regatta (SIRs). Krystal Weir (AUS) won the Laser Radial
Top
performance for New Zealand came in the Laser class where Yachting NZ
Olympic Squad member, Andrew Murdoch sailed well on the last day to beat
Australian Tom Slingsby by five points with fellow New Zealander Michael
Bullot finishing very strongly for third overall. Canadian Michael Leigh
ended up in fourth after the 10 race series. Going into the final day,
Murdoch trailed Slingsby, as he had done on the three days of the regatta.
However after being black flagged at the start of Race 9 and scoring a ninth
place in the final race, Slingsby fell foul to the consistent Murdoch who
finished with a pair of fourth placing sin the 50 boat fleet.
High diving in the 49er class
Tornado action - most of the racing took place close to shore
For full report see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=20624 KS211205 SIRS proves good warm-up for Kiwis Day three of racing at the 2005 Sydney International Regatta (SIRs) had a number of classes without changes in the leader board in the 12 classes racing. The afternoon’s races had a lighter sou’ west breeze on a crystal clear summer’s day. Scott Kennedy and Scott Illingsworth (NZL 506) get a pin-end star
Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby continue to dominate the Tornado class with the next two positions having remained the same for the first three days of racing with world number 2 ranked Leigh McMillan and William Howden in second and the Greek pair of Iordanis Paschilidis and Trigonis Koscancinos maintaining third place. NZ Olympic Squad members, Bruce Kendall and Aaron McIntosh lie in fourth overall - also their best placing in a race to date. t Tom Slingsby has maintained his overnight lead in the Laser class with a five point separation from New Zealander Andrew Murdoch. Canadian Michael Leigh completes the top three places after eight races. New zealand's Michael Bullot has improved to lie fifth overall after three days of racing. Close racing in the Olympic Laser radial class After eight races and three days of racing positions in the Finn class have remained the same with Anthony ‘Nocka’ Nossiter leading Ed Wright from the UK with New Zealand’s Nik Burfoot in third. Mathew Belcher and Nick Behrens, fourth in the 2005 World Championships, go into the final day with just a three point lead in the 470 men’s class from New Zealanders Geoff Woolley and Mark Overington. Western Australian team of Elise Richichi and Tessa Parkinson sailed well today to manoeuvre in front of previous leaders of the 470 women’s class Lauren Jefferies and Rike Ziegelmayer.
Nathan Outteridge and Ben Austin maintained their overnight lead in the 49er class to hold off Emmett Lazich and Phil Manning while Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page slipped back to fourth behind Clynton Wade Lehman and Tai Elliott. The two New Zealand crews of Jake Bartrom/Chris Prentice and Scott Kennedy/Scott Illingsworth lie in sixth and seventh place overall, respectively.
Rohan Veal has led from the start of
SIRs in the Moth class with Scott Babbage maintaining second over the last
three days and Mark Robinson from Singapore is in third place. For full report see www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=20605 Kiwi Double win in World Laser Radial Youth Championships in Brazil
New Zealand Youth sailors, Blair Mclay (left) and Cushla Hume-Merry have won the Open and Womens World Championships at the Youth Radial Worlds in Brazil. (Photos LC Moreira)
Blair Mclay of New Zealand has won the World Open Youth Radial Championship in Fortaleza, Brasil.
In a Kiwi Double, Cushla Hume-Merry from
Wellington won the Womens World Youth Radial title. Both Mclay and
Hume-Merry have staged come from behind wins, as they were in second place
in their respective world championships going into the final day of racing. For further reports see: www.sail-world.com/nz Go Croaky!
Neville Crichton's supermaxi, Alfa Romeo 2 flies downwind in the Rolex series off Sydney, today. She renewed her duel with Wild Oats (Bob Oatley). taking the win today by just seven seconds. (Photos by Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex )
For full reports and more photos from the Rolex series see Sail-World.com/nz and sign up for the Free newsletter KS161205 Pepper goes for a Star
2004 Olympic representative in the Laser class, Kiwi Hamish Pepper has announced that he will campaign a Star keelboat in an effort to win qualification and representation for the 2008 Olympics.
Pepper, along with crew Carl Whiting
have purchased a Star from Denmark, and will be training in Valencia while
both pursue their respective America’s Cup campaigns. KS141205 2006 YNZ Olympic Squad Named Yachting New Zealand has announced the 2006 Olympic Sailing Squad. Nine sailors in six classes have been named in the Squad
The Squad is: KS141205 Sir Peter Blake Memorial Torbay Regatta - simply the best.
Over 350 boats ranging from Green Fleet Optimists to 50ft keelboats competed in the Sir Peter Blake Memorial Torbay Regatta - the racing was great and the comradeship even better.
This from the Optimist course where KiwiSpy had his camera today. Full image gallery available here if you see a shot you would like please drop a line (with the shot number) to kiwispy@kiwispy.com and we'll send it to you by return email - free! For full results see Torbay Sailing Club KS111205 Both Kiwis drop out of top ten on Day 4 of Olympic Laser Radial Worlds
The wind is gradually increasing day by day as the the Laser Radial World Championship moves into it's final stages.
The competition is also increasing now the fleets are split into gold and silver. Getting to the first mark in first position is only the first step in getting a good finishing place as Jo Aleh from New Zealand found out in the first women's race of the day. In open sea conditions and a 15 knot wind the positions at the first mark were reversed by the end of the race. Aleh dropped to 9th at the finish whilst Sarah Blanck AUS worked her way through to win from Solenne Brain FRA and Anna Tuncliffe USA. In the second race of the day there were new faces at the front. Gintare Volungeviciute from Lithuania made up for a poor first race by leading Evi Van Acker BEL and Lisa Westerhof NED at the first mark. Van Acker, held her position to the finish whilst others around swapped places in the exciting racing.
Defending champion, Krystal Weir AUS, had her best day of the championship. She made places on the reaches to score a win which, added to her 4th in the previous race, has fast tracked her up the leader board from 16th to 5th overall. She said ‘The stronger winds and waves were good for me. It was just like Brisbane (the venue where she won her title)’.
Only four other sailors scored less than twenty points across the first two of six 'finals' races. Two of these were the USA pair, Paige Riley and Anna Tunicliffe. Riley retains her overall lead with two eighth places and Tunicliffe moves from sixth to second overall after scoring a third and ninth for the second best total score of the day.
In the men's fleet Brad Funk USA is also in the express elevator up the leader board moving from seventh to second overall after matching the new leader Eduardo de Magalhaes Couto BRA each scoring a second and third place. Blair Mclay NZL and Martin Jenkins ARG led the seventh and eigth races from start to finish. Couto and Funk were up with the leaders in the first race of the day but both had to do a lot more to get through the fleet in the second race.
Source and Full results: www.laserinternational.org
SsangYong 18's Worlds Trials this weekend This weekend and next weekend at the Auckland Sailing Club is the the SsangYong 18 Foot Skiff Auckland Champs and New Zealand Team Trials.
The format has been changed to one days racing each weekend with racing starting around 1 o’clock. Racing will take place on Sunday the 11th and Sunday the 18th of December at the Auckland Sailing Club on Tamaki Drive. General Public are invited to come down to the yacht club around midday if they wish to see these boats all rigged up on the ramp. Four places are available to NZ crews at the 18ft Worlds
Brad Marsh 081205 Sir Peter Blake Memorial Torbay Regatta already the biggest yet.
With the discounted entries already exceeding the total entries for last year the 2005 Sir Peter Blake Memorial Torbay Regatta promises to live up to its expectations of being a huge spectacle, in memory of one of New Zealand's, and for that matter the world's, sailing and ecological heroes.
Contestants have entered from as far as Japan, Switzerland, Germany, and New Caledonia, and interest from USA, with kiwis coming from as far as Invercargill and KeriKeri . With entries rolling in from 17 different classes including classics such as Zephyrs, Mistrals 2 handed, 3.7s, Hobies, plus the normal Opti, P class, Starling, Laser and not to forget the keeler entries from Gulf Harbour Yacht Club the event is shaping up to be the yachting event of the season.
Proudly supported by The Sir Peter Blake Trust , Australis Marine Insurance and a host of other worthy sponsors the regatta will be sailed over 8 courses in the waters off Torbay and the East Coast Bays with the Multihulls, Etchells and other keelers sailing further out towards TiriTiri and Rakino.
As this regatta will be open to all classes any who still may wish to be included may contact the organiser Peter Webster on 09-4755459 or 021-715331
Entries will be accepted on the day and NOR and Entry form are on Torbays Web site www.torbaysailingclub.org.nz Winther works through Olympic Single hander Worlds Top NZ sailor in the Olympic Laser Radial class fleet is Sara Wither who has improved her place overnight and holds sixth place going into the finals of the Olympic Laser Radial World Championships in Brazil. Five of the six Kiwis sailing in Brazil have made the Gold fleet for finals. Paige Railey leads on Day 2
'Winther has sailed a nice consistent regatta concentrating on and doing the basics well and sailing fast,' says Neely. 'Aleh has struggled to hit her straps but today started to look a little more in tune with her normal way of sailing. Both girls have only started looking confident and comfortable today and I expect to see them sail to their ability for the rest of the regatta.'
Paige Railey (USA) top Qualifier in the Olympic Laser Radial Worlds
Conditions have been surprisingly light in Brazil where competitors arrived expecting strong breeze.
'We have had strangely light winds here in Fortaleza,' says Yachting New Zealand Academy Coach Ian Neely. 'In fact historically record breaking light winds. Day 1 was sailed in 6-8 knots, day 2 in 4-6 knots and today in 7-10 knots. With big waves and plenty of current the conditions have been tricky and have left many of the more favoured bigger girls struggling at the back of the pack. We are expecting stronger winds tomorrow and for the rest of the finals.'
The leader after Day 2, Sarah Blanck
(AUS) had a disappointing day on the water with a 13th and 16th places and
was able to discard the latter, however she has lost her lead to the current
ISAF Youth and current European champion, Paige Railey (USA).
From the Int Laser Assoc report on
Day 3: Two perfect races in 11 to 14 knots of wind gave the 165 sailors at
the Laser Radial World Championship a chance to stretch their legs after two
days of light winds. At the mid point of the championship and the end of the
first round the leader board in both fleets is starting to sort itself out
as the sailors can now discard their worst result.
YNZ & KS071205 Vallings and Handley take 12's The trials to select the NZ team for the Interdominion 12ft skiff championship were held off Auckland Sailing Club over the weekend. Nuplex racing on Sydney Harbour
After two days of racing, five different
winners from six races, the 12 skiffs to make up the NZ team this summer was
decided. From: Shaun Sheldrake KS071205 Kiwi Round the World Tradition continues:
At 1324 GMT on 1st December, an ecstatic Mike Sanderson, from the Onerahi yacht Club, brought ABN AMRO ONE safely into Cape Town to claim leg one of Volvo Ocean Race. After 6,400 nautical miles, and 19 days, 24 minutes and 2 seconds at sea, this team, which also holds the new monohull 24-hour world record, now leads the Volvo Ocean Race by one point, clocking up a total of 11.5 points so far. Everyone had a slow slide into Cape Town at the end of leg 1 of the Volvo OR
‘It’s unbelievable to be here,’ said
Sanderson as he brought the boat into the dock. ‘Team ABN AMRO has worked so
hard on this. Before we started we were told by our designer Juan
Kouyoumdjian, that we would average 16 knots on this leg and we a laughed.
We have averaged 15.95 knots and put in nearly 400 miles almost every day of
this leg. I am not sure if I could call it fun. It seemed very high stress
but to see Table Mountain is always a pleasure and we are really looking
forward to our time here.’ ABN Amro One set a new world monohull 24hrs distance record on Leg 1
This was followed on day three by a small fire onboard. A bolt had dropped into the battery box and lodged between a battery terminal and the carbon fibre structure. The resulting short circuit took out the wiring and systems in the navigation, communications and media stations onboard. Once the fire was controlled, navigator, Stan Honey (USA) managed to re-wire the damaged areas. Mike Sanderson is interviewed dockside by the waiting media
The breeze filled in the following day, and ABN AMRO ONE picked up her skirts and flew towards Cape Town, collecting the monohull 24-hour world record on day 16, when the team passed the magic barrier and sailed 546 nautical miles in 24 hours.
‘I am over the moon. We have been
working so hard on this for so long and we have had our ups and downs. We
had to tough it out for the in-port race in Spain but we believed in the
boat, and this is huge, really huge, as we always wanted to be the first
into Cape Town.’
It was also hats off to the relatively
inexperienced crew of ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse), who crossed the finish
line to finish this leg of the Volvo Ocean Race in second place at 1956 GMT
in Cape Town, just over six hours behind their team mates on ABN AMRO ONE.
Words and Pictures: Volvo Ocean Race Media www.volvooceanrace.com ‘
Barker wins NZ Match Racing Championships Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Dean Barker sailed into today’s finals with a clear lead over the competition. Barker selected to race 22 year old Simon Minoprio (Vision Yachting) in the semi-finals. This left BMW Oracle racing skipper Chris Dickson to sail Cameron Appleton (K-Challenge).
Close racing on the final day of the NZ Match Racing Championships In the first race Barker beat Minoprio by 35 seconds, but in the second race Minoprio lead from start to finish taking the win by 9 seconds. Race 3 and the winner would go through to the finals. It was a tough battle right from the start, with Minoprio leading Barker to the top mark for the first time. Minoprio then picked up a penalty for hitting the top mark.
At the top mark for the last time Minoprio had a 5 boat length advantage and there were numerous gybes and luffs on the run as Minoprio tried to clear his penalty by getting one on Barker. Coming into the Committee Boat Barker got the inside and was able to sneak home as Minoprio completed his penalty turn on the line. This secured a finals place for Barker & crew. Umpire call required - finals of the NZ Match Racing Championship.
In the petit final Appleton beat Minoprio by 12 seconds in the first race and 6 seconds in the second to secure 3rd place for the regatta.
In the finals Dickson & Barker went head to head for 5 straight matches leaving the decider to the 5th and final match. The lead changed numerous times but Barker sailed home to win the final race by 12 seconds and the New Zealand championships for the 3rd time.
Following his 3rd place, Appleton will be invited to fill the last available spot in the International Sailing Federation-sanctioned and grade one Auckland Match Racing Cup, which will take place between ten skippers and their crews on the Waitemata Harbour across five days beginning January 25. Barker and Dickson have already been invited to take part.
In January, Appleton will compete against some of the best sailors in the world including number one-ranked Ed Baird (Team Alinghi) and Sebastian Col (K-Challenge).
Event website www.rnzys.org.nz For full story and results see www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=20233 For more photos of today's racing click here KS271105 A Wild Day at the Races!!
One flight got underway today in the second Round Robin of the NZ Match Racing Championships, before officials pulled the pin. The shot above is the aftermath of a gybe wipeout. They recovered to lead around the bottom mark and were halfway up the next beat, when they were given the message about the AP flag that was flying.
See gallery of photos of today's action
KS261105 Barker undefeated after 14 races
Chris Dickson crosses ahead of Takumi Nakamura Safety at Sea) and Tom Powrie (North Sails) Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Dean Barker is still undefeated after 14 races, and goes into Day 3 a clear leader of the New Zealand Match Racing Championships. In second place, both on 11 wins is 22 year old Simon Minoprio & BMW Oracle skipper Chris Dickson. In fourth place, with 9 wins is Cameron Appleton (K-Challenge).
Those top four look untouchable but local sailors Laurie Jury, Simon Dickey & Adam Minoprio are all desperate for a semi final spot.
Racing begins tomorrow at 9.30am.
See gallery of photos from today's racing KS241105
NZ Match Racing Championships - the Master vs the Apprentice Showing no respect for experience, top youth program skipper Tom Powrie (1994) takes on BMW Oracle Racing's Chris Dickson (1996) on the opening day of the NZ Match Racing Championships organised by RNZYS. Dickson went on to win by 41 secs. Full results available on the RNZYS website
KS241105
ABN Amro One - life in the fast lane. ABN Amro One rounds the waypoint at Fernando (from www.Volvooceanrace.com )
Our pay day will come when we get to
turn left at the bottom of the high and get too roar across the South
Atlantic, the forecast looks like we are in for some breeze , hopefully not
scary amounts, but just some good fast sailing. Geant finishes the Transat Jacques-Vabre
KS231105 Coming soon to a town near you NZ Match Racing Nationals
Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Dean Barker is back to defend his title but has some tough competition from fellow America’s Cup skipper Chris Dickson (BMW Oracle racing) and the hottest local match racing talent. Chris Dickson (Harken) establishes a controlling leeward position in the start of the final flight of the Qualifying Round
KS231105 OK Summer Series at Turangi Sixteen sailors made the trip to Turangi this past weekend to compete in one of the longest running regattas of recent times. This was the fourth event of the OK Dinghy Summer Series, run by the Turangi Yacht Club. Steve McDowell competing in the OK Worlds in Denmark earlier this year
Steve McDowell 221105 2005 TQ3 Sailor of the Year Awards
Northland's top offshore and ocean racing skipper, Ray Haslar, one of the legends of NZ Yachting won the TQ3 Sailor of the Year Award for his efforts in winning the Auckland Suva Race in Jive Talkin' and also for the instrumental role he plays in the organisation of the popular Bay of Islands Race Week regatta each year.
Junior Sailor of the Year was Paul Snow-Hansen, who is the first ever
competitor to win the Tanner and Tauranga Cups and the Optimist Nationals in
the one year.
TQ3 Navigant Sailor of the Year 2005 Finalists:
Haslar’s name will be added to the Sir Bernhard Fergusson Trophy sitting alongside the likes of Sir Peter Blake, Barbara Kendall, Grant Dalton and Team New Zealand. It is over forty years since the trophy was first presented and the title represents the best of the best in New Zealand sailing recognising achievement and service in the sport.
Haslar took TQ3 Navigant Sailor of the Year over three other finalists all of whom have achieved significant results in their particular fields in the past year.
Also from Northland,
Sharon Ferris lead a newly formed crew to a silver medal at the Yngling
World Championships in Austria this year and was part of the winning crew
aboard Doha in the Oryx Round the World Quest.
Competition was extremely tough in the
Young Sailor of the Year category for 2005. Paul Snow-Hansen took the title
over the six other finalist nominees which included Peter Burling of
Tauranga and Splash sailor Andy Maloney from Kerikeri.
The other Young Sailor of the Year Finalists were: Peter Burling; Carl Evans; Bruce Kennedy; Andrew Maloney; Blair McLay; New Zealand Optimist Team to the World Championships 2005 (Luke Deegan, Carl Evans, Jason Saunders, Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox ).
Yachting New Zealand Merit Awards
went to six individuals and teams for performances over the past year. Two
teams to be presented with the Award of Merit are the New Zealand Optimist
Team of 2005 and Team Inspiration, who claimed the silver medal at the 2005 Yngling World
Championship.
KS111105
V8's on the Water - 18's come back to Auckland
For a more shots from the Auckland 18ft fleet click here KS101105 Transat Jacques-Vabre - all over for Four Flyers
Both ORMA and IMOCA fleets are converging today, hurtling south towards the Canaries, all the crews finally able to set their spinnakers and full mains, and also get repairs done to equipment and material which broke or disconnected during the violent slamming the boats endured during the front. With this wind shift to the North East, everyone in the fleet has at some point gybed onto starboard today and the speedometer has risen to between 20 – 25 knots for the 60ft trimarans, and 15 – 17 knots for the 60ft monohulls.
• Leaders at 14:44 GMT: Virbac-Paprec (IMOCA
60), Groupama-2 (ORMA 60), Gryphon Solo (Open 50 Monohull), Crepes Whaou !
(Open 50 Multihull)
MULTIHULL UPDATE: ORMA 60 & CLASS 2
IMOCA 60 CLASS UPDATE & OPEN 50 CLASS 2
UPDATE
The forecast shows that the Azores High is extending and the best wind pressure is to be found off the African coast…The first boat to gybe was Skandia (Thompson / Oxley) at the end of the morning, followed by Ecover (Golding / Wavre) not long after, then Pro-Form (Thiercelin/Drouglazet) at midday. The other leading boats, Virbac-Paprec, Sill &Veolia and Bonduelle waited longer on starboard tack, perhaps because they wanted to gain more westing and get closer to the direct route and position themselves to leeward of their rivals. But not too west in case they are caught in the extended grip of the Azores High. The game is to keep sailing on a fast wind angle as close to the rthodromic route as possible and retain the ability to loff the boat if the wind begins to die. These first gybes are revealing as to each team’s strategy in the long term.
Leader Virbac-Paprec (Dick/Peyron) is
furthest in the West, with Sill et Veolia (Jourdain/MacArthur) inside them
in 2nd, Ecover now to the east in 3rd with Bonduelle tracking 8 miles behind
her wake in 4th. Golding explains how he sees things on the water: "It is
definitely easier when you are ahead because you can dictate where you want
to go. We are a little disappointed to have let Sill et Veolia and
Virbac-Paprec get to the right of us in the gybing tactics - but that is the
way of things, and we just have to think that what goes around comes around.
We went as close as we dared to the high pressure system before gybing and
managed to close the gap a little."
The top 4 places are taken by the four new generation boats but 30m behind and leading the second generation boats is Skandia, the Anglo-Australian pair having a good duel with Pro-Form 10 miles behind. The all-female crew on Roxy are hoping to make their comeback after suffering various problems, including a lack of power for two days, which forced them to go ‘back to basics’ onboard as Miranda explained: "It was physically very tough yesterday with lots of manoeuvring, and due to the lack of power Anne and I had to relay between each other on the helm, and we were hand-steering a lot so it’s been really tiring. Roxy is a beautiful boat and we were doing really well until we got these problems, so we weren’t really doing her justice, but we will now!"
In
the Open 50 fleet, Josh Hall and Joe Harris on Gryphon Solo are gripping
onto the end of the 60ft fleets, also heading down the Portuguese coastline
and trying to get some westing back into their route on a fast sailing angle
as they clock the highest boat speed in their class 56m ahead of 2nd placed
Vedettes de Bréhat. Stone and Owen set off on Artforms at midnight and have
already got mostly across the Bay of Biscay, now 376m behind the leader but
sailing 2 knots faster. Top 50 Guadeloupe, Defi Vendeen and Paul Metcalf and
Ryan Finn on Polarity Solo are all passing Cape Finisterre. For more reports and photos of the racing and rescues see: www.sail-world.com/nz or click on the race ticker at the top of this page.
Source: Event media, Transat Jacque-Vabre
KS101105
Wild times at Worser Bay Hurricane Classic
The Worser Bay Hurricane Classic was the third regatta in the OK Dinghy Summer series and it would be fair to say that the wind lived up to its reputation! Or as one of the competitors put it; ‘it just blew steaming monkey nuts’.
Saturday saw the wind come from the
north and Sunday from the south. Competitors were assured by the locals that
this was an ‘easing breeze’ however in Wellington double-speak the phrase
‘easing breeze’ really means that the wind will eventually ease off, but not
until it has increased to such a level that the aero-dynamics of the OK rig
completely break down, several boats are broken and the whole fleet is
battered and worn and sitting in the clubhouse having a few beers. Only then
will the wind ‘ease’ having itself a well earned rest to prepare itself for
more ‘easing’ on the next day!
For remainder of this story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=19862 Alistair Deaves 081105 Volvo Madness: ABN Amro style
For an interview with Mike Sanderson, ABN Amro 1's NZ skipper see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=19822
The first port race has been won by Ericsson Racing, who had John Kostecki (USA) aboard as a specialist tactician .
Kostecki was recently replaced aboard the sailing crew of the AC campaign of BMW Oracle Racing, and has been freed to pursue other projects. Ericsson racing intend to use him aboard each of the new in-port races, which count for 20% of the points allocated for the Volvo Ocean Race.
The first trans-ocean leg starts on Saturday, and the competitors will sail from Spain to South Africa - a distance of 6,000 miles. Currently there are seven entrants in the race, however one of these, Grant Wharrington's entry from Australia. The entry is known to be tight for funding, and has said they have sufficient sponsorship for one leg however Rumour Control has it that they have received a funding injection from an unannounced source and will be competing for the whole race.
Wharrington is a very iconic figure in offshore racing - best known for his performance aboard 'Wild Thing' in the Sydney Hobart race and latterly with his supermaxi , Skandia which lost its keel and capsized in the 2004 Sydney Hobart. She was righted and repaired competing in the 2005 Rolex Fastnet Race.
For a full report and other Volvo Ocean Race news see: www.sail-world.com/nz
KS061105
Tanner Cup Trials - Day 3
Race 2 start (Photo: John Ellingham)
Paul Snow-Hansen sailing at his home club, Wakatere, won the North Harbour Tanner Cup Trials from Daniel Willcox. Snow-Hansen won three of the four races sailed on the final day.
Carl Evans has won the Auckland Tanner Cup Trial from a fleet of eight boats.
For full results see: www.sail-world.com/nz
KS051105
Reach for the Sky!
A couple of 18ft skiffs and a 12 were out
training tonight
KS031105 The Numbers Game
The end of each month is a small milestone for websites and their statistics. Most look at where their numbers are going in terms of hits, visitors, where the traffic is coming from and how they rate against others, both locally and internationally.
KiwiSpy.com effectively hit cyberspace on Queen Birthday weekend when I sat down with a book on my knees and put together a sailing website with about 12 hours of work to build a basic framework. I did this primarily because I though sailing was getting a very raw deal in the NZ media, and the good stories just weren't being told. My frustrations were felt by others, and things just grew from there.
From zero in June 2005, KiwiSpy. com has grown to the point where we had just under 10,000 visitors in October - 9,940 to be precise. Surprisingly it wasn't our best month which was in August, just three months after going to air, when we were just short of 11,000 visitors at 10,833!!
We've blown our capacity twice in spite of increasing by 35%, I think the next step is to go to a full commercial site rate which is getting ridiculous!!
A lot of my effort is now going into Sail-World.com for which I am also the NZ Editor. We are using Kiwispy.com to road test a number of developments that are coming down the track in Sail-World. You'll notice above the new results ticker which is available for download now. We also have just developed a facility where you will be able to view archived Sail-World newsletters - which is like flicking through a bunch of old free sailing magazines. Then there are screensavers (updated by regatta) and so on.
We have been working with a couple of events/campaigns on Sail-World NZL and have checked the traffic increase when we run a story about their event/campaign on Sail-World. They all report a big increase in visitors when the story appears, which demonstrates that the the trickle down effect does work, and the success we have on both KiwiSpy.com and Sail-World.com can be transferred into Olympic campaign and event websites - which is achieving the primary objective that I set.
So the future is now in your hands. We've proved over the last five months that we can deliver the traffic, and that this can be greatly expanded. Your club, event and campaign can also benefit from our success, as we always mention your event/campaign website URL - which helps you justify the coverage your event/campaign receives to your sponsors.
You can play your part by signing up for the Sail-World.com newsletter, New Zealand edition and can see the archived newsletters here. (The newsletter is fully customisable for your requirements, and we do a duplicate check, automatically before each mail-out.)
So go on have a browse, look at the other SW regions, too, sign-up and show the world a bit of Sailor-Power and help us to help Sailing!!
Good Sailing!
Kiwi Spy
KS041105
Captain Charlie reflects on things Maximus
Maximus co-owner, Charles Brown spoke to Sail-World NZL on the decision not to enter the 2005 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, the dismasting and the future campaigns for Maximus.
Knowing that that the pin was about to be pulled, but not confirmed for Rolex Sydney Hobart, Sail-World spoke to owner Charles St Clair Brown about the Maximus campaign to date and what the options ahead: Charles Brown, co-owner of Maximus, sponsored by SLAM for the Maxi Boat Rolex Cup (Photo www.supermaxi.co.nz)
For Maximus's achievements in the 2005 season, Brown and Buckley, are one of the four nominees for the Yachting New Zealand Sailor of the Year Award. The winner will be announced at a dinner in the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron on Friday 11th November.
For the full text of this story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=19756
KS311005 Tanner Cup Trials - Days 1 & 2
Defending Tanner Cup holder, Paul Snow-Hansen (Wakatere BC) looks to have an uphill battle ahead of him to defend his title after being disqualified from Race 2 of the North Harbour Trials. Left to right: Dan Willcox(MBSC), Paul Snow-Hansen(Wakatere), James Poore(MBSC), Susannah Pyatt(MBSC) at the beginning of the last race on Sunday (Photo: Christine Hansen).
Day 1 of the NH Tanner Cup Trials took a while to get started. Eventually a nice 10 to 12 knot NE wind settled in allowing 2 of the 3 scheduled races to be completed. Paul Snow-Hansen won the first race while Dan Willcox took the second.
Over at Howick Sailing Club, Carl Evans is still leading, but by a narrow two point margin ahead of Luke Deegan. Six races have been sailed in the Auckland tanner Cup Trials, compared to five in the North Harbour series.
The final races will be held next weekend.
KS311005
Willcox and Burling win in Nuplex P-Class and Starling North Islands
Daniel Willcox (Murrays Bay) and Peter Burling (Tauranga) have convincingly won the respective Nuplex P-Class and Starling North Island Championships.
Two races were sailed on the final day of the Nuplex North Island Championships at the New Plymouth Yacht Club. Racing was initially delayed due to light variable winds. When racing did get underway it was in an eight to ten knot northerly breeze – which is an onshore direction at New Plymouth.
In both fleets there were two general recalls before the Race Officer hoisted the Black Flag, indicating that any premature starters would be disqualified from that race. The flag had a salutary effect on the competitors, and the starts were much more controlled.
In the P-Class, Daniel Willcox (Murrays Bay) started the day as the points score leader, and sailed a very consistent final day to finish with a first and second, and took the title by a margin of nine points. The real contest was for second between Carl Evans (Kohimaramara) and Paul Snow-Hansen (Wakatere).
Going into the final day, Snow-Hansen was in runner up position by virtue of Evans carrying an OCS (premature start points) and could not afford another serious error. Competitors were allowed to discard their worst place once five races were completed, and having made this cut, Evans score moved him up to third and within striking distance of Snow-Hansen.
Race six was the decider between the two with Evans finishing the better of the two with a third place, giving him the silver medal over Snow-Hansen, who finished seventh, and third overall in the regatta.
For full story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=19657
For full updated results from the end of Day 3 see: Nuplex North Island P and Starling Championships
KS241005
Stars take a tumble in Nuplex P-Class and Starling North Islands
Some of the top competitors in both fleets in the Nuplex P-class and Starling North Island Championships have been picked up as early starters and have dropped down the points table as a result.
Wade Gatfield (2016) keeps a good leeward position on Bruce kennedy (1040) - Photo NPYC.org.nz
In the Nuplex P-class, it was Carl Evans (Kohimaramara) who was caught along with 11 others in the 57 strong fleet. The infractions occurred in the first race of the day, and were the only 'early starter' call in the three races sailed today.
Placings in the regatta have proved to be something of a mixed bag in the winds of 6 - 13 knots that prevailed for today's racing. At the top of the fleet, Daniel Willcox (Murrays bay) has consolidated his lead, scoring a first, a second and a sixth, to day to give him 10 points - eight points clear of Paul Snow-Hansen (Wakatere), who had an indifferent day by his standards scoring 4th, 10th and 1st for the day. When a discard is applied, these three connect up again, but still Willcox is proving to be the more consistent and even with discards has a four point lead. The other big mover today was Susannah Pyatt (Murrays Bay) who bounced back from a 13th place yesterday to win the first race of the day and then scored 8th and 11th placings and lies in third place overall. When the discard is applied, Willcox, Snow-Hansen and Evans will have a clear jump on the remainder of the fleet.
In the Nuplex Starling fleet it was the overnight leader, and class national champion, Peter Burling (Tauranga) who was caught on the course side of the starting line, and has dropped back to 22nd overall. However to underline his prowess in the class, the 14 year old won both the other two races sailed today, and also counts his win from yesterday. Once discards are applied Burling should regain the overall lead, which is currently held by Michael Langley (Howick) who was the only skipper to place in the top five in each of the three races sailed today.
P-Class await their start on Day 2 of ther Nuplex NI Championships
Second overall is Mike Snow-Hansen (Wakatere) who finished the day with a 10, 9, 3 scorecard. Third overall is Andy Maloney, bronze medallist at the 2005 Splash Worlds in Poland, who had a very consistent 2,3 , 7 scorecard. In the same vein, Burling and fifth placed Bruce Kennedy (Tauranga) teamed up to finish sixth in the 2005 420 Worlds in Brest, France this year. So this is a very classy fleet, with some top international sailors competing.
Racing concludes tomorrow (Monday) which is a public holiday in NZ
For full updated results from the end of Day 2 see: Nuplex North Island P and Starling Championships
Full report later tonight
KS231005
Coutts makes Final Four in Bermuda Gold Cup
Defending champion Russell Coutts, American Ed Baird, Australian James Spithill and Staffan Lindberg from Denmark won through to the semi-final round of the the Investors Guaranty presentation of The King Edward VII Gold Cup today (Saturday).
Chris Dickson chases Ed Baird (Photo: Bob Greiser)
For remainder of this story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=19645
Laurie Fullerton, Event Media, Bermuda Gold Cup
231005
Winds disrupt Nuplex P-Class/Starling NIs
The first day’s racing has concluded in the
Nuplex North island P-Class and Starling Championships in New Plymouth. The fleets race on the Tasman Sea against the backdrop of snow-covered Mt Taranaki
Conditions for the start of the first race started at 18-22 knots and
reduced to 10-12 knots as the race progressed.
For full results see here: Nuplex North Island P and Starling Championships Results
KS221005
Coastal Classic in a Tornado - Yeah Right!
Olympic medallists, Aaron McIntosh and Bruce Kendall, have completed the 120nm Coastal Classic course sailing their Line 7 sponsored Olympic Tornado catamaran.
The Line 7 Olympic Tornado is framed by Konica Minolta and X-Factor , just after the start
For the rest of this story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=19625
KS211005
Easing winds kill hope of double record in HSBC Coastal Classic
Hopes for both records to be broken in the HSBC Coastal Classic have been dashed, as the leading boats had to sail hard on the wind for the final stretch. Konica Minolta soon after the start of the HSBC Coastal Classic
The first boat, Rogntudjuu, rounded Cape Brett at
the entrance to the Bay of Islands at 1633hrs and had to finish by 1722hrs
in order to beat the record held by the Given designed catamaran Split Enz. "Custard Truck", an unofficial entry in the HSBC Coastal Classic, heads for Tiri Channel
At the time of writing, (1815hrs) Konica Minolta
was yet to finish but was reported to be about ten minutes from the finish
and would shave about an hour off the monohull race record. Sail-World NZ spoke to Sundreamer skipper Phil Hart, who reported that the breeze was blowing about 20 knots and was from the southwest. They were making 11 knots through the water, at the time.
When asked about the record, Hart said that he had never really believed that it was seriously on. ‘It was all gybing downhill for the first part of the race, and then the wind was very variable in strength’, said Hart. ‘The record was set in a screaming easterly, and then the boats had a spinnaker ride into Russell from Cape Brett.’
KS211005
HSBC Coastal Classic - Record gone by lunchtime??
Well it won't quite be gone by lunchtime - but conditions certainly look to be "on" for a serious hit at the record. Konica Minolta stretches out going into the Tiri Channel about 40 minutes after the start of the HSBC Coastal Classic
At a distance of 119nm and a monohull record of just over nine hours, these conditions should be made for the supermaxi Konica Minolta - particularly if the breeze swings west and the course turns into more of a reach.
At the mental halfway point at Tutukaka, the records seemed to be very much under a serious threat, with Konica Minolta likely to take two hours off the monohull record and Rogntudjuu looking set to cut the multihull record by about an hour.
Conditions continue to be fresh in the race area, and provided the breeze stays south, the leaders should have a fast leg through to the finish from the turning point of Cape Brett.
There has already been some damage with a 28ft catamaran capsizing off Takatu Point and Diablo being dismasted.
It is likely that others will pull into a safe port if the winds increase to the 40 knots predicted later in the day by forecasters.
The official website is www.coastalclassic.co.nz and reports and photos from the start can be found on www.sail-world.com/nz
KS211005
High Riders - when are these coming to NZ?
Shots from the International Moth website www.int-moth.org.uk there's plenty of video, crash shots, designs and how to do it ...
KS191005
Billy appointed Skipper of Alinghi
Ernesto Bertarelli, head of the Alinghi syndicate, nominated his vice-president and tactician, Brad Butterworth, to be the skipper of Alinghi at the base opening on Saturday. Brad was modest in his acceptance: ‘It is a great honour to be put in a position where he [Ernesto Bertarelli] gives me this sort of trust.’ Brad Butterworth indulges in his great pastime - Golf. Ever the character of the crew - he tees off during the 1992 Challenge (Photo: NZ Yachting)
For the remainder of this story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=19593
KS191005
Seriously Quick - New Mile record set for Sailing
Nominee for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award Finian Maynard (IVB) set the mark for the Outright One Nautical Mile Record, reaching 39.97 knots on Walvis Bay Lagoon, Namibia. Finian Maynard at speed in Walvis Bay (Photo: ISA2005)
Valerie Ghibaudo (FRA) set a Women’s Outright One Nautical Mile mark of 33.69 knots, both subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC).
Earlier this year Maynard raised his 500 Metre
Course record to 48.70 knots in Saintes Maries, France. For full story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=19586
KS181005
V5 makes its racing debut on the Waitemata
(Photos: Scott Wilson) Simon Hull's Victoria (V5) the first TP 52 in NZ, competed in the RNZYS Gulf Race on Saturday. V5 is an Alan Andrews' design to the original version of the TP 52 rule. She has been retro-fitted with canting keel and centreboards. Hull previously owned the Ross design M1.
KS141005 Volvo Race - Start Ericsson Racing - One month to go
Ericsson Racing Team skipper Neal
McDonald: ‘One month to the start - it’s the calm before the storm’ Ericsson stretches out during sea trials (Photo: Rick Tomlinson/Ericsson Racing)
There are a lot of decisions that we
have made so far and we won’t really know the full extent of their effect
until some way into the race. We hope that we have got them right!’ For full interview see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=19567
KS171005 Alfa Romeo 2 - the Smart Supermaxi Sail-World NZL had the opportunity to look over the new Reichel/Pugh designed supermaxi Alfa Romeo 2, which is currently in Auckland. It is hard not to keep drawing comparisons between her and the Greg Elliott designed supermaxi Maximus.
The cockpit has a very clean layout due to the lack of grinder pedestals. Beam is just over 5 metres on a length of 30 metres
Alfa Romeo is a hydraulically driven boat – meaning that there are no grinder pedestals – all winches and power comes from the engine, which must be constantly running while sailing.
When talking to the sailing master, Murray Spence, there is constant reference to the PLC – which those in the IT field will know stands for Process Logic Controller. This is the heart, or rather brains, of the boat. PLC’s are in common use in industry and are basically a closed box computer noted for its speed of processing, reliability and lack of human intervention. This one has a expected no failure time of about once every 30,000 hours.
The PLC is capable of taking the inputs from various functions throughout the boat and coordinating these so that the systems and boat runs smoothly and in synchronisation.
Spence gives the example of canting the keel between tacks – a process that takes 11 seconds. The PLC controls the swing process of the keel driving the hydraulics controlling the motor revs so that the required power is available when required, and the controls the power and the swing of the keel so that it cants in a smooth process without sending the usual shock through the boat.
Similarly with the retractable propeller which is also pulled into the boat under PLC control, coordinating a number of functions along the way.
Alfa Romeo 2 features CBTF – (Canting Ballast Twin Foil) technology, which means that she has a forward rudder to provide both steerage and lateral resistance (reduces leeway/provides lift). The boat is steered using a conventional rudder, however the forward rudder is also linked to the movement of the aft rudder again by the PLC which mimics the movement, or operates in a reduced way depending on the choice of the helmsman. (In this area Maximus is quite different using a centreboard and trim tab, located a lot further after in the boat and with manual control only – there is no linkage to the helm.)
The canting mechanism is covered with polycarbonate, with the spray sprinkled unit covering the wet-box
Although she is eight feet longer than her predecessor, Alfa Romeo 1, the latest iteration is only a tonne heavier , has the same amount of ballast and carries 30% more sail – a significantly quicker package.
She draws 5.1 metres and the keel will cant to 40 degrees from the centre.
All halyards are locked off in supermaxi fashion to reduce rig compression load and allow the sails to be tensioned hydraulically. In the case of the jib, the luff is tensioned with the aid of an A-frame which is neatly contained in a well in the bow. The hydraulic lines run forward in a sealed deck trench – a very nice way of concealing the lines and stopping hydraulic leakage below decks. The navigation station is a very simple and well designed area with seating for two.
The standing rigging is all PBO rope, chosen for its weight saving,
supporting a fixed 45 metre long Southern Spars mast. For full story see Alfa Romeo 2
KS121005
Assistant Manager/Sailing Instructor
The Canberra Yacht Club is looking for a full
time GISBS Assistant Manager/ Sailing Instructor for its large Sailing
School.
Matthew Owen Canberra Yacht Club Manager Director - Canberra Yacht Club Sailing School Phone: 6273 4777 Fax: 6273 7177
KS141005
Opening Day! On Sunday, many clubs opened their summer season - a couple of shots from the ceremony at Wakatere Boating Club on Auckland's North Shore.
KS121005
Laser Masters, Day 7: Double World Championships for Kiwis!! Former ISAF Youth rep, Murray Thom has done it again - almost thirty years on, winning the Masters division (the "Main Event") at the 2005 Laser Masters Worlds in Fontaleza, Brazil.
NZ's two latest world champions, Murray Thom (left) and Mark Orams
Thom won the tenth race in the regatta, to slip over the two discard
threshold which cuts in after race 10, and is in an unbeatable position on
points with two races left in the regatat. Second will be the Australian
Peter Conde, however Conde now cannot win the series even if he won both
remaining races and Thom did not start - attracting maximum points.
Further report later in the day when racing is concluded. Also see: www.sail-world.com for further news on this event.
KS091005
Comin' at ya!
Shots from the Grand Prix Cap l’Orient and the ORMA 60's
Superb final day in the Grand Prix Cap l’Orient. Steady northern wind permitting Gitana 11 to take another round, and where Gitana X managed to cause a spot of bother for Groupama-2 and Foncia upwind ! Third after nine rounds, largely due to technical hitches, Frédéric Le Peutrec and his crew had ups and downs throughout the competition. Thierry Duprey du Vorsent affirmed the excellent standard of his crew of bright young things.
All copy from www.gitana-team.com
KS081005
Big breeze for Icebreaker
The strong winds reduced the fleet to a
handful of boats, and while conditions were quite sailable at the start,
winds have steadily increased throughout the day.
Results will be posted later on the RAYC website: www.rayc.org.nz
Laser Masters, Day 6: Thom leads Anzac Charge
With eight of the scheduled 12 races sailed in the 2005 World Masters Laser Championships, New Zealand’s Murray Thom has established a good points lead, after winning another race overnight.
Sailing at Fortaleza, Brazil, Thom now leads the Master event from Peter Conde (AUS) who finished fourth again overnight. Thom scored another win, and has eased out to an eight point lead over Conde, with the third placed Kurt Miller (USA) a massive 25 points behind Conde.
The Masters fleet is the biggest in the regatta with 53 entries from 20 countries.
There is one more day of racing scheduled in the regatta, and at this stage it is not known where the organisers will try and catch up the race schedule or run the series out to just ten races. The decision is critical for Thom as a second discard is allowed after ten or more races are sailed, and in spite of his good points lead it is not sufficient to be able to count a DNS as a score in a fleet of this size. Given that Thom has a score of six wins and two seconds he may have a race up his sleeve, however Peter Conde has been very consistent in spite of Thom’s dominance and it is more likely that the championship will go right down to the wire with a fleet of this size, and the impact that a poor race, or non-finish, can have on points.
In the other divisions, New Zealand’s Mark Orams leads the Apprentice Masters radial fleet with a score of 9.0 points having scored five winds and three seconds, to be ahead of England’s Stephen Cockerill by a two point margin. These two are having a similar match race to Thom and Conde and have a ten point margin over the third placed Brazillian.
Australia’s Mark Bethwaite is dominating the Grand Master fleet of 29 competitors with a near perfect score card of seven wins and one second. He leads England’s Nicolas Livingstone by a ten point margin.
Fellow Australian, Brett Bayer leads the Apprentice fleet again with a seven win, one second scorecard, but only enjoys a six point margin over Xavier Leclair (FRA) in the twenty strong fleet.
A third Australian, Kerry Waraker is in charge of the Great Grand Master Radial fleet with and 11 point margin over USA’s Peter Seidenberg. There are 25 competitors in this fleet.
In the Grand Master Radial fleet, Peter Heywood (AUS) has a 14 point lead over his countryman, Gary McCrohon.
Russian Alexander Nikolaev breaks the Antipodean domination of the regatta, leading the Radial Master fleet by 13 points from Australia’s Adam French.
A further update is expected later in the day.
KS081005
Boardsailing Medalists announce Olympic Tornado campaign
The Olympic Tornado campaign of Aaron McIntosh and Bruce Kendall was launched in a function at Royal Akarana Yacht Club, this evening. Attended by a mix of sailors, supporters and media, the two Olympic boardsailing medallists spoke of the task ahead of them.
Aaron McIntosh (left) and Bruce Kendal will be backed by Line 7 and Southern Spars for their Olympic Tornado campaign
The launch was opened by Yachting NZ CEO, Des
Brennan, who welcomed the campaign to the Yachting NZ fold, and went on to
background some of the recent developments on the NZ Olympic Yachting scene
over the past few months. “It has been a fairly big ten days in yachting as
far as we are concerned. We have this campaign coming together. We have had
Andrew Murdoch win a Bronze medal in the world Laser Championships in
Brazil, along with some other fantastic results this year. We have also had
the announcement of $6.1million of funding for our High Performance and
Olympic program – which wasn’t something that was easily achieved.’
KS071005
YNZ High Performance Funding Announced.
TV One News tonight (Tuesday) reported that Yachting NZ has received funding of $6million (NZD) for its High Performance sailing programmes. According to the item, the funding, variously described as a “shot in the arm” and a “hand-out”, is given in the expectation that the programme will, deliver two medals from the Beijing Olympics in 2008. It is also reported that $1.2million of the funding is for “talent development” geared towards the 2012 Olympic Games in Weymouth, England.
The funding is in line with that provided for Rowing, Swimming and Cycling for Olympic and Commonwealth Games campaigns.
Two medals is a big step ahead from the performance in Athens, where the Kiwi team returned home without winning any medals – this first Games that this has happened for 20 years. However the writing had been on the wall since 1992, which is when New Zealand last won medals in classes outside the Boards, now known as the Windsurfing events.
The 2004 result focussed attention on the fact that a formula which had been developed for the 1984 Olympics and rolled on through 1988 and 1992, had run its race, and could no longer deliver - with the addition of a dollop of hope and some fine tuning.
Even so, New Zealand’s record in that 20 year period, prior to Athens, was second only to USA in terms of medals won, and even now NZL stands in third place with 13 medals across five Olympiads.
The Boards were the recent saviour of NZ’s Olympic sailing pride delivering one medal in 1996 and two in 2000.
The much vaunted Olympic Trial system which had been a cornerstone of NZ sailing excellence, failed to deliver in 2004, as competitor numbers dropped, and the regatta was only held for those classes which did not have a crew in the top five in the world (with the second being outside the top ten).
The conclusion of the trials triggered a selection brouhaha which was ultimately determined by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The lack of focus created by this process was reflected in the Athens results, which then triggered various reviews within Yachting NZ and the sport generally.
Rather than turning into a witch-hunt the review process has been very positive for the sport coupled with a number of former Olympic medallists putting their hands up to volunteer to be part of the renaissance.
For the remainder of this article please see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=19375
KS051005 Medalists team up in Cat
New Zealander's Aaron McIntosh and Bruce Kendall have joined forces once again to campaign the Tornado Catamaran for the Beijing Olympics 2008.
This new team already has three Olympic medals and four Olympic Class World Championships to their credit and they are looking for more. Bruce and Aaron built a team relationship in the Olympic Windsurfing Classes; this teamwork propelled them to the top, now in the same boat they will focus on creating the package that will have them in contention by 2008. Together Aaron and Bruce have the ideal weight and skills to be more than just competitive in this class.
Kendall and McIntosh training on the Waitemata
For remainder of this story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=19359
The campaign web site will be on line from 12.am Tuesday the 4th October (NZT) www.aaronmcintosh.co.nz
AM031005
Olympic Gold Medallist successful as YNZ President
Olympic Gold Medallist Rex Sellers has been elected President of Yachting New Zealand. He takes over from Geoff Thorpe who retires after a five year term.
In the election for the Board, incumbent Board members Denis Mowbray and Jim Murdoch were returned for a further two year term. Outgoing President, Geoff Thorpe congratulates Rex Sellers (right)
KS270905
Kiwi Big Boats and Match Racing
RNZYS announce new International Match racing series for Waitemata
The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron today announced that a five day international Grade 1 Match Racing event would take place on the Waitemata Harbour from January 25 – 29, 2006. The new trophy, The Auckland Match racing Cup donated by Ross George
The event is owned by Springs Promotions and the prizemoney will be
USD100,000, and they are confident the event will become an annual event.
RNZYS Commodore, David Charlesworth with Grant Dalton and the event logo
Further announcements are expected from the Council and RNZYS on a Festival
of Sails regatta slated for Auckland’s Anniversary Weekend.
Auckland Mayor, Dick Hubbard announces the event
KS220905
12-Metre World Championships won by KZ-5
It was a sight for sore eyes as the largest-ever collection of 12-Metres to assemble for a regatta in the U.S. sailed the East Passage of Narragansett Bay and out to their old stomping grounds off Brenton Point this past weekend. KZ-5 wins the International 12-Metre Association World Championship sponsored by The Jibe. Photo by: Billy Black
Winning seven races and thus the North American Championship Grand Prix also earned Edgar Cato (Charlotte, N.C.) the Chandler Hovey Memorial Trophy as winner of the 2005 12-Metre World Championships aboard Hissar. Host for the event, the New York Yacht Club, accepted the stunning Azzurra Trophy as the club of the world champion. Hissar's crew included Mike Toppa and Chris Cantrick (both Ft. Lauderdale, Fla), Bob Slattery (Minneapolis, Minn.), Crayton Waters (Charleston, S.C.), John Moran (Boston, Mass.), David Calverly (Tampa, Fla.), along with Brad Read, Mick Harvey, Jason Carr, John Von Swartz, Todd Myer and Rome Kirby (all Newport, R.I.). Finishing second overall was the Brazilian team aboard Wright on White driven by Roger Wright; third was Kiwi Magic with Bill Koch (Osterville, Mass.) at the helm.
Weatherly one of the Classic 12's competed in the International 12-Metre Association World Championship sponsored by The Jibe. Photo by: Billy Black
Eye Candy - 12 Metre style, at the end of the International 12-Metre Association World Championship sponsored by The Jibe. Photo by: Billy Black
Material provided by Jan Harley, Media Pro International
For full story see: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=19175
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