AsianYachting - November
2007
News and Views
Beijing
Olympic Games specialized media coverage
The IOC has granted AsianYachting.com
accreditation to cover the Olympic sailing competition in Qingdao from
9th - 24th Aug 2008. We are indeed honoured and now in a position to offer
National Sailing Authorities and International Media outlets exclusive
coverage of selected sailors and classes during the event. All we ask,
in return, is to sponsor the full round trip to China for our erstwhile
yachting writer Capt Marty. The service would include taking photos during
the racing, writing daily Race Reports then posting them on the AY
website and emailing out to the AY
Circulation List. The Race Reports can be tailored to suite the clients
requirements and include sponsors advertising with links to there websites.
Interested organisations in taking up this exclusive offer are asked to
email: info@asianyachting.com
with Olympics 2008 - AY Sailing Coverage in the subject
line.
Distribution: Emailed to over 2700 recipients on all points of the compass. Known to be read by sailors as far north as Iceland to the extremes of the Southern Ocean. Also found hidden away (For future consumption) on computers operated by some of Europe's business elite to visiting royalty at posh oriental Clubs in the far east.
AsianYachting.com is now a major yachting news provider in Asia which has up to 3000 page views per day.
CONTENTS
1.
EDITORIAL - Now
reaching the pointy end of the sailing season - Miri
Magic 8m being commissioned in Pt Dickson - Capt
Marty - AsianYachting
blogsite
2.
TEAM NEWS - The
latest from Singapore TP52 Foxy Lady IV
-
Who has the biggest One Design fleet in Asia? -
Is ACup about Gaining Immortality?
3.
AUSTRAL
- ASIAN NEWS - ALL
SOULS APPROACHETH
- Piracy
in modern Southeast Asia, Setting the record straight - Olympic
classes survey - WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
to close to call - Up next - Raja
Muda Selangor Int Regatta
(17-24 Nov) - Monsoon
Cup
(18
Nov - 2nd Dec)
- King's
Cup Regatta
(1st - 8th Dec)
4. INTERNATIONAL NEWS - IMOCA
Open 60 Class rules the waves
- The countdown has started for Francis Joyon and his 97ft trimaran IDEC
Up next - Follow the 118
Skippers starting the Transat
Jacques Vabre (3rd
Nov) -
Barcelona
World Race - Two crew, non-stop around the world
(11th Nov)
5.
WORLD SPEED RECORDS
-
Ken
Read, Rambler "You got to
know when to hold and when to fold" - Triumph for Alfa Romeo 2 at
Barcolana of Trieste
6. "Unluckiest sailors of the month"
-
Woes
on the Mini Transat Race
- Loki
drama was truly life threatening
- Pindar
dismasted again...
Goto Archived AY News & Views and Race Reports 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 2003-04 2002-03 2001-02 2000-01 98-99
1.
EDITORIAL
As we are now reaching the pointy end of the sailing season the pace is picking up fast. The annual island hoping and very challenging Raja Muda Selangor Int Regatta takes off from the Royal Selangor Yacht Club in Port Klang on Sat 17th and finishes up in the legendary and Duty-Free Islands of Langkawi on the 24th Nov. Closely followed by the Monsoon Cup in Terengganu from Nov 28th to Dec 2nd. At this International sailing extravaganza the World Match Racing Tour are holding the final round of the extended 2006-07 Tour season. The overall points race for the ISAF Match Racing World Championships is wide open (See Asian section) and with 200 points up for grabs at the Monsoon Cup, up to five teams have a shot of winning the World Championship title and taking home the prestigious Wedgwood trophy. Then its a big rush across the peninsula to Phuket in time for the first race of the King's Cup Regatta on 3rd December. Talk about juggling your time and pray that the internet connections are all up and running.
After
six months set-up time and guiding the workers through the stringent lay-up
techniques the first Miri
Magic 8m racing yacht built by JG
Boats
in Langkawi is being commissioned and launched in Pt Dickson this coming
weekend. (Photos to follow on separate Press Release). MM1 will then team
up with the present Miri Magic (ex Buzz 8) originally built in Thailand,
for a group of eight students on a two-day Introduction
to Keelboat Sailing course on the following weekend. These
boats are ideal for training as they have an excellent student/instructor
ratio of 5 : 2 and this multi purpose craft gives students an opportunity
to easily master the various disciplines of sailing (Coastal sailing,
match racing, team racing, fleet racing and disabled sailing). Any serious
racing teams at home or abroad interested in testing there skills on the
Asian racing scene, will be delighted to know that one of our Miri
Magic's can be made available for bare boat charter
to tackle the Raja Muda, King's Cup, Royal Langkawi
and Singapore Straits Regatta's.
Anyone passing through PD over the weekend is invited to drop in at PD
World Marina and check out the new addition to the family. You never know,
a test sail could be on the cards if you phone Hasslan 6 016 2564532 in
advance. More on AY
sailing courses, dates and online registration can be found at: http://asianyachting.com/AYmasters/classes.htm
In
keeping up with the times we have created a Capt Marty
- AsianYachting
blogsite at http://asian-yachting.blogspot.com/
for our readers to comment on any of the articles published in the News
and Views. Selected stories will be posted on the Blog where readers can
ask questions and add their points of view. It is very fashionable to
air much of the sailing worlds business and closest kept secrets on the
web
these days. As we are very familiar with sailing club gossip and
rumor mongering we have decided to experiment with the Blog and are quite
prepared to give an Asian prospective on any sailing subjects you can
throw at us.
Happy sailing where ever you are
Capt
Marty Rijkuris
2.
TEAM NEWS
2.1 Who has the biggest One Design fleet in Asia?
Event media at the inaugural China Cup Regatta claimed that the 11 Beneteau
40.7's racing there was the largest ever One Design keelboat fleet to
set sail in Asian waters. After it was splashed over the news headlines
Morten Jakobsen was quick to point out that in HK there are significantly
larger fleets of Etchells and at his home club, Ocean Marina in Pattaya,
Thailand, they regularly have 15 or more Platus competing at major events.
He also went on to say that a new 5 regatta series is being planned for
the Platu class next year. First of the rank is the Open Thailand Platu
Championship in March 08 followed by the Top of the Gulf - Coronation
Cup in May. International teams have expressed interest in joining and
there are still some boats available for charter on a first come first
served basis. More on The One Formula Platu Championship Series 2008 will
be incorporated into the http://www.topofthegulfregatta.com
site to promote the clubs activities.
2.2
The latest from Singapore TP52 Foxy Lady IV
Bill and Janis Bremner together with two good friends and longtime crew
members Sarab Singh and Andy Cocks have recently purchased the ex-Alta-Vita
/ ex-Lightwave / ex-TSquared and reportedly soon to be renamed Foxy
Lady IV. She maybe a 1st generation TP52 campaigned on the US East
coast by Commodore of the New York Yacht Club, Charles Townsend but being
built by Cookson's, New Zealand in 2002 for offshore racing - is not like
today's stripped out TP's racing in the Med. They are all very excited
and expect to take delivery in December and have her ready for the Royal
Langkawi Regatta and the Singapore Straits in January.
Rumor has it that another TP52 maybe coming to Asian waters soon. A US broker allegedly sold "Trader" to Aussie Geoff Hill ("Strewth" owner) a few weeks ago which will be another solid addition to the racing class start line both here and in Australia.
2.3 SAVE your boats POWER for COOL DRINKS!!!
Just replace the old power
wasting incandescent
light bulbs with the new LunaLed18.
Use your existing light housing. LunaLed18
fits into most anchor lights, mast-head tricolors and navigation lights.
It's simple! No wiring to change and
no
worries about polarity. Each
light only needs 0.2 Amps at 12V DC, so no worries about boat voltage
fluctuation affecting the brightness. Lunatronic
is offering LED lighting solutions, HF radios, PACTOR modems and on-board
PCs to send and receive e-mails at sea or from remote inland locations.
Visit http://www.lunatronic.net
or call them in Singapore at (+65) 97328710.
2.4
RC44's for Hong Kong
Boats numbers 16 and 17 have been delivered to their new owner Frank Pong,
owner of UK-Halsey Sailmakers in Hong Kong. Pong says that the boats will
be used for match racing locally and in China. He also confirmed that
he would be making the boats available to the Chinese AC team to practice
match racing. The new class was created with a strict one design and ethos
and was targeted at racing owners who wished to sail an exciting, high
performance, technically advanced boat. Coutts’s concept for the
RC44 was to produce a boat that would be challenging and exciting to sail
and also be powerful enough to race in the lighter conditions often found
in the European lakes and harbours. Sounds like just the thing for Asian
waters and despite the high cost of the all carbon vessel this could be
a quick way up the International racing ladder and before you know it
hob knobbing with the big boys.
2.5
Is ACup about Gaining Immortality?
While much has changed in the world's oldest and most prestigious sailing
event, the game really is still the same. What does it take to win the
modern America's Cup? Coutts, who knows better than anyone, says it's
still all about masts, sails, hulls, keels, rudders, trim tabs, rigging,
ballast bulbs, practice, time in the boat and those last-minute secret
upgrades that the very best teams keep under their hats until it's too
late for their foes to react. So it was and so it will be. It's a technology
game, played on a tilted field where the rich have a built-in edge, where
the commitment is immense and the rewards are laughably ephemeral: You
get your name, inscribed on a silver mug that sits in a glass case somewhere
gathering dust. In two words: Gaining Immortality.
2.6
AC90 Rule is born
31 Oct 07: AC Management, as scheduled, published the AC90 Rule marking
an exciting milestone in the path to the 33rd America’s Cup. This
rule has been crafted over the past six weeks through a design consultation
process with all entered challengers, the Defender, and headed by Tom
Schnackenberg as the class rule and competition regulations consultant
for ACM. Designers from all six entered teams have met regularly since
the design process began on 15 September. The AC90 Rule, in brief, will
be 90ft overall maximum length, 6.5m in draft whilst racing and will have
a displacement of 23tons. We now have to wait and see whether this will
be sufficient for GGYC and BMW Oracle to drop it’s court action
and let the existing challengers, as well as those waiting in the wings,
reach a position where they are able to present potential sponsors with
a concrete proposal. The full AC90 Rule can be downloaded in its entirety
at: http://www.americascup.com/multimedia/docs/2007/10/071031-ac90_rule_final.pdf
2.7
AY Sailing Gloves for all occasions
Keeping with the durable features that made the original AsianYachting
gloves a favourite amongst sailors all over the world, we have now added
a third layer of grippy Kevlar protection, to the two layers of durable
gray Amara. This extra palm reinforcement not only provides positive grip
but also extra protection when handling modern synthetic ropes. We also
have XS size available for the kids, so whether you are a weekend racer
or competing on the world stage we have something for you. We can also
supply in bulk to yacht clubs and event sponsors with their choice of
colour and print companies name with promotional logo on the wide wristed
Velcro tabs. Check out the new range at: http://asianyachting.com/Mall/AYGloves.htm
2.8
Phuket King’s Cup - Countdown Begins for this Year’s Races
"We are expecting a strong racing class again this year with Hong
Kong entries from Nick Burns and Fred Kinmonth sailing Mandrake, Sam Chang's
TP52 Ffreefire, Frank Pong's Jelik, and Neil Pryde's re-designed Hi-Fi
already confirmed. These will be joined by the newly launched DK46 from
Port Dixon and South African Philipp Gutsche's new yacht, commissioned
especially for this years event,” said Simon James, Phuket King’s
Cup Regatta Race Management Director. Philipp Gutsche and his crew are
known of course for winning the Mauritius to Durban race last year. He
has also won the South Atlantic Race in the past. Goto KC press releases
and Race Reports page at http://asianyachting.com/news/PKCR07.htm
to catch up with the rest of the classes and favoured competitors. This
year’s event, will be held to celebrate His Majesty the King of Thailand’s
80th Birthday.
3.
AUSTRAL
- ASIAN NEWS
3.1
ALL SOULS APPROACHETH
Eighteen keelboats and multi-hulls are already committed to the Royal
/ Heavylift All Souls Regatta in Puerto Galera on 2nd – 4th November.
Located at the northeast tip of Mindoro Island, Philippines, inside a
historic, natural typhoon shelter, in 2004 Puerto Galera was accepted
as a member of "The club of the most beautiful bays in the world".
Add to this the Hobie 16s from Taal Lake Yacht Club, two more Hobie 16s
from local sailors, plus the Lawin Dinghy fleet and you can see why Puerto
Galera is the best place to be at Halloween for fun and frolics on the
water. If you want to come and enjoy the fun but don’t know anyone,
simply telephone the yacht club (+63 43 442-0136) or email office@pgyc.org
or just turn up at 08:30 for breakfast-with-the-skippers on any racing
day and put your hand up when the bell rings for available crew. For more
information http://www.pgyc.org/ASR07.html
3.2
A tourism and yacht industry report - Part 1
Imagine ghosting along at sunset far from civilization on an extended
cruise of Southeast Asia and the tranquility of twilight is shattered
by the distant whirr of a powerful outboard engine. Within moments a high-speed
boat emerges from the shadows of a hidden cove on an intercept course
with your own hopelessly becalmed yacht. As the vessel closes in, you
see the silhouette of a group of men and they’re holding what look
like assault rifles. It’s every cruiser’s worst nightmare.
But how real is the threat?
3.3
Piracy in modern Southeast Asia, Setting the record straight. Part 2 &
3
Bianca Hein and Scott Neuman are both sailors and journalists - who are
addressing the piracy issue in Southeast Asian waters. An ambitious report
that covers all aspects of piracy as it relates to the modern day tourism
and yachting industry. The ancient mariner Warren Blake who has sailed
throughout the archipelago for over 40 years provides an interpretation
of their findings in Piracy Against Yachts...an Overblown Fear is worth
a read at the end of Part II as it contains some good advice for yacht
skippers and crew worried about cruising through the region. This three
part report is the definitive word on the subject. It is available for
reading online at: http://www.biancahein.com/projects.html
3.4 Olympic classes survey
If you care about the Olympics and what Events and Equipment should be
included in the Games for Weymouth 2012, SailJuiceBlog.com have produced
a 10 question Survey that can be filled in a matter of minutes. The subject
has aroused high passion in just about anyone who cares about sailing.
Not just those engaged in Olympic campaigns, but thousands of weekend
sailors too. The Olympic's is the one chance every four years to showcase
the sport that we all love, and we want to see it presented to the rest
of the world in the best light possible. On 9th November, just a few days
from now, the International Sailing Federation will vote on which 10 Events
will constitute the Olympic Regatta in Weymouth 2012. Go take a look at
the survey and add your voice to the debate at: http://sailjuiceblog.com/olympic-survey/
3.5
Quantum Sails just keep
getting better!
Quantum Sail Design Group designs, engineers and manufactures
sails for racers and cruisers who demand the highest levels of quality
and performance. Have you ever noticed that more and more photos of winning
boats at top events are wearing the familiar green
Q on their sails. That is because winning sailors now
prefer top quality products supported by a high level of personalized
customer service, recognized expertise, professionalism and a company
with the passion for developing the sport of sailing. Ray Roberts on Quantum
Racing is a shining example as they have won nearly everything in
their path both in Australia and Asian waters over the last few years.
The fastest sails are now available at 55 lofts throughout the world.
So now, more than ever, you can count on Fusion M delivering great boat-speed
and reliability. Goto: http://asianyachting.com/news/QuantumSails.htm
3.6
SingaporeSailing onto greater heights
The Singapore Sailing Federation is accelerating moves towards taking
sailing to a higher level by creating a Chief Executive Officer position.
Mr Andrew Sanders, the incumbent Executive Director, has been appointed
CEO of SingaporeSailing. This was announced with the signing of a new
extended contract till 2012. SingaporeSailing has made phenomenal progress
in the last decade, reaching new heights of success. They are now ready
for a new wave of development – to build on their strengths to bring
sailing to the entire country and step up onto the Olympic stage. SingaporeSailing’s
President Mr Low Teo Ping added “We are confident that Andrew will
lead SingaporeSailing successfully through the second cycle of development,
fulfilling our aspirations in bringing sailing to the masses and rising
to the Olympic challenge. We are extremely pleased with this contract
extension." For all the racing news from Singapore goto: http://www.sailing.org.sg
3.7
Diplomatic sailing in Singapore
Changi Sailing Club is home to the prestigious Ambassador’s Cup,
held in October for the last eight successive years. It is a phenomenal
success every year and this year was no exception. The winner of the Ambassador’s
Cup Challenge Trophy was HE Paul Madden, the British High Commissioner,
and family on board John Ramsden’s Elan 434, Sofa So Good. In Division
II (non Ambassadorial guests), the winners were Singapore’s Ministry
of Foreign Affairs staff, competing for the very first time, on board
Kung Siang Yo’s beautiful 44’ cruising ketch, Star Ferry.
The CSC Cat fleet had some close racing with the A-Class cats coming in
first and second. James Cole, first over the line, is off to the A-Cat
Worlds in Florida this month so watch out for him.
3.8
Ban on Burmese teak
The European Union (EU) has widened its sanctions against the military
junta in Burma, adding a ban on imports of timber, gemstones and precious
metals in response to the regime's crackdown on pro-democracy groups.
EU foreign ministers said in a recent statement it was 'necessary to increase
direct pressure on the regime' in Burma (or Myanmar, depending on your
politics). Unfortunately the timber ban will hit the UK leisure marine
industry because it will remove Burmese teak from circulation. While there
are teak substitutes available, it's unlikely high-end boat builders could
take the risk of not using top quality teak for decks and other woodwork.
As Neil Wason of Marine Hardwoods says: 'There is simply no substitute
for Burmese Teak and that has been proven by a 150 year precedent.' On
the other hand, companies that buy Burmese teak are being highlighted
by the Burma Campaign UK, which is fighting for human rights and democracy
in Burma. And those companies find themselves put onto a 'Dirty List'.
Full story at: http://www.boatingbusiness.com/
3.9
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP to close to call
With only one event on the World Tour prior to the final event, in Malaysia,
the points race for the Match Racing World Championships is wide open.
There are only 100 points available at the next event, the Brazil Sailing
Cup, November 14-18 in Vitoria, Brazil to be sailed in SM40’s and
then it’s on to the final event the Monsoon Cup, Nov. 28 –
Dec. 2 in Kuala Terrenganu, Malaysia. Teams count their best 7 events
out of 15 stages with the final event worth 200 points and it must be
counted in the final score. Team Pindar’s Ian Williams (GBR) is
still the World Tour leader with 130 points but Matthieu Richard’s
Saba Sailing Team (FRA) are the hottest team on the World Tour having
just won the Bermuda Gold Cup and moving to within 7 points of the World
Tour leader. “We are very excited to have the opportunity to go
to Malaysia with a chance to win the World Championship” With 200
points up for grabs at the Monsoon Cup, up to five teams could have a
shot to win the ISAF Match Racing World Championship title and the Wedgwood
trophy. At this point Williams can’t really extend his lead any
further as he is already counting all seven events and he will drop one
of his scores going into Malaysia. “We extended the season to not
conflict with the America’s Cup and to move to a calendar year season
in 2008 “ said Scott MacLeod, World Tour President “It’s
amazing to see how close the World Championship is after 13 stages, in
8 different types of boats and 10 different countries that anyone of the
top five could win. Monsoon Cup is going to be very exciting” Website:
www.worldmatchracingtour.com
3.10
Discover SE Asia's unique cruising destinations...
Sunsail Asia
have geared up for a bumper season this year from their Phuket base in
Thailand and Langkawi, Malaysia. New
Sunsail 43's and Sunsail 39's are already available and
you can choose from over
30 yachts ranging from 33' - 50' monohulls
and 39' - 41'
Catamarans. All yachts are available bareboat or as crewed yachts
on a daily, weekly or long term basis. For the less experienced, they
also operate a RYA
Sailing School offering 5 day sailing courses
from their Phuket base or join a MileCatcher
voyage to gain some valuable sea miles. For many years now they have led
the way in opening up new SE Asian destinations and are proud to give
you a chance to discover some of the most intriguing and unspoiled countries
in the Asian region. Check them out by Calling +66 76 239057 Fax:
+66 76 238940 Email: sales@sunsailasia.com
or visit http://www.sunsailasia.com
4. INTERNATIONAL NEWS
4.1
IMOCA Open 60 Class rules the waves
Three short handed round the world races to be held over the next four
years are competing for competitors and recognition by the IMOCA Open
60 Class. The first double handed non stop race, The Barcelona World Race,
starts from Spain on November 11. Nine teams will compete on IMOCA Open
60 Class boats, six of which are new. The Vendee Globe will be held in
2008 and the VELUX 5 Oceans in 2010 has been dropped by the IMOCA 60 class
calendar. The 2008/09 Vendée Globe is a single-handed non-stop
race around the world via the three capes without any external assistance
has already attracted a record number of 25 sailors have pre-registered
for the event, starting on Sunday 9th November 2008 from Les Sables d’Olonne,
France. Sixteen new IMOCA Open 60 Class boats and two completely refitted
will be at the start. Despite recent announcements that it had retained
sponsorship from VELUX, IMOCA, the international governing body of the
Open 60 Class, announced that the next edition of the VELUX 5 OCEANS in
2010 would not form part of their provisional championship calendar of
events. IMOCA cited their desire to offer a round the world race every
two years, focusing on the Vendee Globe in 2008 and the Barcelona World
Race, which will be moved to 2010. The race management team of the VELUX
5 OCEANS will continue discussions with IMOCA to explore any possibilities
of working together.
4.2
118 Skippers to start Transat Jacques Vabre
With 59 boats registered, the eighth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre
confirms the success of this race and its establishment as a major classic.
Created back in 1993 and held bi-annually since, this race follows the
historic route of the coffee trade and has grown continually both in terms
of its fame and sporting interest. For each new edition, the greatest
yachtsmen turn up to compete in the Transat Jacques Vabre. Monohulls start
from Le Havre, France on Nov 3rd with a swath of new IMOCA Open 60's and
over 40 boats have entered in the fast growing Class 40 fleet. Multihulls
start on Nov 4th with both ORMA 60's and Open 50's making up the bulk
of the multihull fleet. Staged prize-giving ceremonies will take place
in Salvador, Brazil on Tues 20th Nov for the first boats to finish, while
a second evening for the Class 40 boats on Tuesday 27th Nov. Follow this
extraordinary race at: http://www.jacques-vabre.com/
4.3
Barcelona World Race - Two crew, non-stop around the world.
Start: 11 November 2007, Barcelona
Finish: February 2008, Barcelona
A new two-handed non-stop round the world yacht race starting and finishing
in Barcelona, to be held every 4 years. For the first time this race,
the brainchild of Dame Ellen MacArthur's Offshore Challenges Group, will
see the world's best professional sailors from both solo and fully crewed
disciplines competing against each other in teams of two. Nine teams including
four new boats racing over 25,000 miles over 3 months across the planet's
most hostile and challenging oceans in high performance IMOCA Open 60
monohulls. "To my mind, this will be the toughest offshore race that's
ever happened." says Alex Thomson. "Never before has a two-handed,
non-stop round the world race been staged and there has never been a crewed
non-stop round the world race in monohulls. We'll be sailing nearer 100
per cent the whole time. You'll always be changing sails, always grinding.
There will be no let-up whatsoever. They are all pretty new boats and
nobody's used to pushing their boats for that long, so no-one really knows
what's going to happen. It wouldn't surprise me if everybody has a half
serious problem." added Thompson. This concept opens up a whole new
world of possibilities in the sport of extreme offshore sailing. All the
details at: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com
4.4
Warning to all offshore racers.
DK Yachts are warning all offshore racers to sit up and
take notice when one of their World Champion Mumm 30, Farr 40 or Mills
DK46 lines up on the starting grid. They just keep turning up and sailing
away with all the major prizes. Christopher Wuttke's DK 46 Guts ‘n'
Glory (GER) sailed most of the storm strewn Rolex Middle Sea Race
with only a trysail after their main gave out before she reached Stromboli.
In the end they were still ranked amongst the top ten finishers after
most yachts retired from possibly the strongest storm the Mediterranean
has seen in ages. Serious Yachts
for Serious Sailors can
be found at http://www.dkyachts.com
4.5
Volvo Ocean Race new free on-line TV.
The Volvo Ocean Race has marked the one-year countdown to the start of
2008-09 event in Alicante, Spain, with the launch of a new free on-line
TV channel allowing enthusiasts to enjoy the drama and history of the
great event on their home computers. The race’s further leap into
the multimedia age is in line with the race’s commitment to using
the latest in media technology to give a worldwide audience access to
the race any time, anywhere, during its 39,000 nautical mile odyssey around
the globe. The launch of the new channel is another milestone achieved
as race organisers piece together the complex race jigsaw which now embraces
a new route through the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and China.
"The pieces are slotting smoothly into place," said Bourke.
"We have a start and we recently announced a finish in St Petersburg,
the first ever visit to Russia." The in-port race will be held on
4 October while the fleet will head off to Cape Town on the first offshore
leg a week later. "And as for the pieces in between, Cape Town, Kochi,
Singapore, Qingdao, Rio de Janeiro, Boston, Galway, Goteborg and Stockholm
are all nearly in place," Bourke added. The new channel will be broadcasting
in wide screen and over the coming months will be progressively releasing
historical archive stretching back to the first Whitbread Around the World
Whitbread Yacht Race in 1973. Online viewers will not only be able follow
their sailing heroes, including Paul Cayard, Grant Dalton and Sir Peter
Blake, as they battled their way across the oceans but will also have
access to an extensive back catalogue of features exclusive to the site
at: http://www.volvooceanrace.tv
4.6
Getting ready for global warming...
A
Dutch building contractor, Johan Huibers, has built a scaled down Noah’s
Ark which is 70 meters long, 9.5 metres wide and nearly 13 metres high
and complete with life size plastic animals. The Ark is built on a platform
which is moved with a tug boat to different places in Holland. Visitors
can watch movies, play computer games and walk through a room that displays
Bible stories. Huibers invested 1.000.000 euros in the project. Johan
worked on the ark from 8am- 5pm, six days a week, assisted by his son
Roy who came to help after school. In an interview Huibers said: "Hired
hands could never work with the same "drive" on such a project.
And besides, with my impulsive way of working I would drive co-workers
crazy!" Take a guided tour at: http://www.arkvannoach.com/language/en/index.htm
5. WORLD SPEED RECORDS
5.1
You got to know when to hold and when to fold...
George David's Rambler skippered by Ken Read has set a new Rolex Middle
Sea Race Course Record of 47 hrs 55 mins and 3 secs. Eclipsing Robert
McNeill's previous Course Record on Zephyrus IV of 64 hrs 49 mins and
57 secs in 2000 by a massive 16hrs 44mins and 54secs. George David's crew,
has secured an historic treble - overall win, line honours and course
record - achieved only once before in the 39 year history of the race,
in 2000 - coincidentally by Bob McNeill's Zephyrus IV.
Hardly
in their wildest dreams could they have believed they would achieve such
a feat on the wind-lashed race course that saw so many retirements due
to the abnormally strong wind whipping up the rough seas. The weather
was cruel for Rambler too. Ken Read does not strike one as someone prone
to hyperbole, and when he describes the race as 'really windy' you get
the feeling he is not letting you in on the whole truth. This is confirmed
when he continues, "when we went around the north west corner of
Sicily heading out to the islands we actually took the mainsail down for
almost twelve hours. With a storm jib and mainsail in 45-knots it was
white out, you couldn't see. The boat was literally just flying off waves.
We found a really nice rig a bit unexpectedly, it was a storm jib on the
front-stay and a genoa staysail on the middle-stay." Rambler's record
breaking run was exceptional. She did the first half of the course to
Favignana in 1 day 5 hours 26 minutes, having had a great run all the
way to Messina and beyond to Stromboli. The second half of the course
took 18 hours, with a drastically reduced sail plan. Read's final remark
says it all about knowing when to hold and when to fold, "we could
have taken two more hours off [the record] but then again we could be
out there getting air-lifted off." Full event photos can be found
at: http://www.regattanews.com/photos.asp?eventid=172
5.2
Triumph and record for Alfa Romeo 2 at the Barcolana of Trieste
After only 55 minutes 30 seconds race and Neville Crichton wins in the
Triestine regatta with 1831 different sailing boats on the start line.
Crichton has won the race for the fourth time (2003, 2004, 2006 e 2007)
and raced ahead of the crowd alone carrying out a smooth and technically
perfect race: he waited to get clear before hoisting the gennaker, being
concerned not to cause any damage to any of the 25 thousand sailors in
the Gulf, and rushed ahead towards the first mark at a speed of over 25
knots. More than 5 minutes advantage over all other rivals, a good 16-knot
Bora wind, with gusts up to 35 knots, and Alfa Romeo had the victory in
her hands, but only the excellent precision of the owner and helmsman,
the boat's superiority enabled Crichton to break the record on the 16.5
miles course. Alfa Romeo 2 broke the record of 58'30'' set by Skandia
in 2005 finishing two minutes before and is the winner of Barcolana 39.
More at http://www.barcolana-press.com
5.3
Raimon
Land
has your retirement home in Thailand
Few
real estate companies in Asia enjoy the success of public-listed Bangkok-based
luxury property developer Raimon
Land. The company
has positioned itself as the developer of choice for buyers and investors
who seek the best in lifestyle developments that posses a
excellent track record of delivering quality residential projects.
From Bangkok to
Pattaya and Phuket the company has projects in all the
most sought-after areas
which proudly achieve high yield holiday rentals through their professional
management team. One aspect
that distinguishes Raimon Land
from its competitors is the company’s clear commitment to lifestyle
events and have made
a strong commitment to the yachting scene in Thailand by sponsoring
the Phang
Nga Bay Regatta, Top
of the Gulf Regatta, Evason
Phuket
Race Week the prestigious Phuket
King's
Cup Regatta and
the Koh
Samui Regatta More at: www.raimonland.com
or goto AY
Real-Estate page...
5.4
The countdown has started
At the end of October, Francis Joyon and his 97ft Nigel
Irens designed trimaran IDEC will be on stand-by, waiting for the best
weather window for a solo non stop round the world record attempt. The
record to be beat is Ellen MacArthur's time of 71 days, 14 hrs, 18 mins.
Joyon’s dream of setting out is to recapture the record he set in
2004 is fast approaching reality. The new 30 metre trimaran IDEC is ready
to go and so is her sailor, who hopes to achieve a sub-70 day time. On
the weather side, Francis Joyon – who did his own routing on his
first record breaking voyage – will be guided by "the wizard",
Jean-Yves Bernot, one of the best known routers in the world. Ferrari's
Jean Todt and Professor Gérard Saillant are the godfathers of the
new IDEC, whose mainsail will carry the colours of a noble cause, that
of ICM - Institute of the Brain and Spinal Cord - whose objective is to
try to solve the world problem of diseases of the central nervous system.
"On all my boats, I have always tried not to create sources of pollution.
I am too respectful of nature." said Joyon, who has no diesel engine
in the boat. The energy needed for IDEC’s equipment will be provided
by solar panels, a fuel cell and a wind turbine. Great photos at BYM news
http://www.bymnews.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=98
Or check out
IDEC's all French website at: http://www.trimaran-idec.com/
6. "Unluckiest sailors of the month"
6.1
Woes
on the Mini Transat Race
Over 20 knots of wind with even stronger gusts has caused many damages:
broken spinnaker poles, torn out rudder heads or folded masts… The
latest victim was Quentin Monegier sailing Tabon, after being winched
up by a helicopter belonging to the French army when an unidentified floating
object holed the boat and started to sink. The Italian Andrea Carraci
(Speedy Bonsai) dismasted north or the Ferde islands.
Despite
light winds at the re-start Leg 2 turned into the “survivors”
race. Just after the start Andraž Mihelin of team Adria Mobil collided
with David Le Carrou which resulted in Mihelin's return to the marina
and complete repairs before setting sail again. One after the other, the
first leg favourite's suffer - most of the time because of rigging failure.
Winner of the first leg Isabelle Joschke (Degrémont-Synergie) was
disappointed as she was forced to stop at Cap Verde. Samuel Manuard (Sitting
Bull) also had a serious problem and pulled into Mindelo where he met
up with Alex Pella (Generalitat Valenciana). Several other boats stopped
at Mindelo, after severe problems held them back since the Canaries, including
Xavier Haize (Fidelia Assistance), Sébastien Picault (Groupe Royer),
Yannick Allain (Centifolia Chaveta) and Stephan Bonvin (Fondation Theodora).
Most have managed to conduct repairs and rejoin the race to the finish
line.
6.2
Loki drama was truly life threatening.
Sailing along in 35-knots at 15/16 knots of boat speed there was a sudden
bang and the crew saw the rudder floating away behind the boat. Owner
Stephen Ainsworth explained how they brought the boat under some semblance
of control and made contact with Race Control to report their circumstances
at 1730 on Saturday evening. Atalanta II, the Italian mini-maxi of Carlo
Puri Negri, made the seriousness of the situation absolutely vivid. On
hearing of Loki's distress, Atalanta diverted back to see what assistance
she could offer, as Tomasso Chieffi explained, "sailing along side
with Loki, the first idea was to tow them but we did not have a rope that
was strong enough to do so. Furthermore, the sea was so high that sometimes
the waves were breaking over the mast. It was very difficult to go too
near to Loki, the rolling motion was so huge that it was absolutely too
dangerous." The Italian Coastguard scrambled two boats, but even
the larger of the two was unable to do more than standby the wounded Loki.
With
the lee shore of Golfo di Castallammare fast approaching and the weather
conditions atrocious the decision was eventually taken to evacuate the
crew by helicopter. The Italian Air force Base in Trapani sent a Sikorksy
HH3 F from 15 Wing to undertake the lift. Such was the motion of Loki
and height of her mast that the crew had to get into a liferaft for the
lift. The first eight crew members were picked up at about 10.20pm and
the second batch at midnight. Before leaving the stricken yacht an anchor
and about 200-feet of rode were laid and this morning it appears that
the anchor had held with Loki spotted floating off the coast in reasonably
deep water. Ainsworth reported that attempts to get back out to the boat
were being hampered by the continuing bad weather in the region. The saddest
news of the day was confirmation that the crew of Loki was unable to recover
the yacht before her anchor gave up the battle and she was blown onto
the rocky shoreline of Golfo di Castellammare. Whether or not she is now
recoverable at all has yet to be ascertained. Dramatic race photos can
be found at: http://www.regattanews.com/photos.asp?eventid=172
6.3
Pindar dismasted again...
Pindar, the Open 60 built and owned by print and electronic media company
Pindar, dismasted for the second time in a matter of months off the coast
of Le Havre, France on Thurs 25th Oct. Skippered by Brian Thompson, the
yacht was en route to Le Havre, prior to the start of the Transat Jacques
Vabre, in which she was due to start in eight days. The mast fell backwards
and then to windward onto the boat however there were no injuries and
the crew are all safe and well. The mast, rigging and sails were cut free
from the hull, which suffered minimal damage, to allow the crew to motor
safely into Le Havre. The mast suffered one clean break, just under halfway
up the 30 metre high mast, in a slightly lower position than the first
breakage suffered during Skandia Cowes Week earlier this year. Despite
the structural repairs made to the mast, followed by extensive testing
in the Solent and Atlantic including the 1000 nautical mile qualifying
sail for the TJV race, it appears that a further structural weakness in
the mast remains. Andrew Pindar commented 'It is important however to
reflect that ocean racing is always a challenge for the teams who compete.
Those challenges require commitment, courage and determination, from all
concerned. Our new boat has been developed to meet those challenges and
we have great confidence in our boat, which has shown superb speed and
winning potential, and with a new mast will be back racing with the best
and at the forefront of this sport in the near future.'
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