Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team briefly led BMW ORACLE after winning the pre-start on Wednesday. Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget
"Choosing your opponent is not easy," Barker admitted. "It's a bit like choosing your own poison. But we see this as an opportunity to race against a boat that has a lot of innovative features."
Friday's matches: Racing in the semi-finals is scheduled to begin on Friday afternoon. Each semi-final series will be won by the first team to earn two points. The results from the round robin aren't carried forward.
"Even though we have won the round robin, a couple of poor races could mean that we finish the regatta in third or fourth place," observed Grant Dalton, after his Emirates Team New Zealand emerged top of the table with a perfect round robin record.
On Wednesday evening, the top skipper in each division chose his opponent for the semi-final matches, with Kiwi skipper Dean Barker surprising many when he elected to face BMW ORACLE Racing. Emirates Team New Zealand has won three of the five previous contests between the two dating back to last season.
Desafío Español selected Shosholoza, a team it has beaten in four of five previous matches, "We chose Shosholoza because in our opinion this boat is very fast and competitive," Jablonski said. "We would like to match it against our boat."
While Areva Challenge chose China Team. The French are 4-1 against the Chinese.
In the other top division pairing, Alinghi is matched with Luna Rossa Challenge. The Swiss defender is just 3-2 against the Italians. Similarly, Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team holds a 3-2 edge over Victory Challenge, while +39 Challenge has never lost in five previous matches against the Germans.
The +39 Challenge request for Redress with the Jury, claiming that the tie-breaking mechanism the Race Committee employed to break the three way tie between Shosholoza, Areva Challenge and +39 Challenge was incorrect -- was denied this morning [Thursday].
Racing in the semi-finals is scheduled to begin on Friday afternoon.
Crew applications for Roy E. Disney's Morning Light film project have closed with 538 young sailors, including about 50 from foreign countries, hoping for a position on the team that will sail a Transpac 52 in the 2007 Transpacific Yacht Race. Candidates for "the youngest crew ever to sail Transpac" are already being pared down to the 30 who will participate in selection trials on Catalina 37s in Long Beach Aug. 5-13, all expenses paid by Pacific High Productions. The final team of 15 will be announced at the end of those trials and will undergo four months of training on Morning Light in Hawaii starting Jan. 1. They'll race the boat from Los Angeles to Hawaii on their own in July.
"We really must have touched a nerve out there," Disney said. "It's going to be really hard to pick the best of a really outstanding group of people. There wasn't a turkey in the lot. Aside from being the youngest, it probably will be the most diverse crew ever to sail Transpac. Sailing team manager Robbie Haines said, "We're looking for diversity, a crew totally inclusive concerning race and gender." The aim is to have a crew younger than the seven young men who sailed on Jon Andron's victorious Cal 40, Argonaut, in the 1969 Transpac that averaged 22.57 years of age. Two of those crew members were 17, but the minimum age for Morning Light will be 18. All applicants will be notified of their current status on or before July 4.
Disney recently purchased Morning Light, the Transpac 52 formerly named Pegasus, from software developer Philippe Kahn. The film, scheduled to be released in 2008, will chronicle the recruitment, training and performance of the crew through the race in 2007. None will be actors. There will be no script and no preconceived outcome. -- http://www.pacifichighproductions.com/
Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team briefly led BMW ORACLE after winning the pre-start on Wednesday. Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget
June 28, America's Cup Act 12. Valencia, Wednesday - Emirates Team New Zealand knocked off Alinghi and BMW ORACLE Racing to run a perfect record in the round robin portion of Louis Vuitton Act 12. This earns the Kiwis the right to choose their opponent for the next stage of the competition.
To complete its perfect run, Emirates Team New Zealand had to navigate its way through treacherous conditions on a difficult day of shifting winds and variable pressure on the waters off Valencia. The team made bold decisions in both races and were rewarded with handy leads.
The racing on Wednesday was important up and down the table. Desafío Español won both its matches to claim fifth spot overall and top of the 'second division'. The Spanish will also choose their opponent. Shosholoza backed into the final second division placing, losing both its matches on the day, but advancing from a three-way tie break over Areva Challenge and +39 Challenge.
The French Areva will top the third division and pick its opponent for racing in the semi-finals which is scheduled to begin on Friday afternoon on the waters off Valencia.
At 19:45 this [Wednesday] evening, when the protest time limit for the day expires, and the Round Robin results are finalised, the teams will be officially divided into three divisions.
From this point of the competition forward, a team remains in its division until the end of Louis Vuitton Act 12. For example, no team in the top division can finish worse than fourth place, and no team in the second division could finish better than fifth place.
Following the expiration of protest time, at a press conference in the Port America's Cup Media Centre, the skipper of the top-ranked team in each division will choose his semi-final opponent from one of the remaining three teams in his division. The two teams left make up the other semi-final pair for that division. A coin toss will decide start box entry for each pair.
In a 'best of three' contest, the first team to win two points will be the winner of each semi-final, and advance to the division final. The loser advances to the division petit final.
FLIGHT TEN:
The symbol of New Zealand is a flightless bird called the Kiwi, but today Emirates Team New Zealand opened up its wings and soared above two of its biggest rivals, Alinghi and BMW ORACLE Racing.
The big showdown between Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand is always an exciting one. In the pre-start, Dean Barker had Peter Holmberg tied up in knots, Emirates holding up Alinghi above the line. In the end it wasn't a bad start from Alinghi next to the Race Committee boat, which left observers wondering whether the Kiwis could have pressed their advantage event stronger.
Early on it was even between the two teams but the Kiwis' position on the left was perfect for the next shift. They tacked and crossed SUI 75 comfortably, but rather than tacking to cover, the Kiwis continued out to the right. This brave strategy paid dividends as NZL 84 extended to a six-boatlength lead by the top of the leg. Alinghi never got a sniff of the lead and finished over a minute behind.
Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team briefly led BMW ORACLE Racing after winning the pre-start, but Chris Dickson brought the speed of USA 87 to bear on the Italians and eventually sailed to an easy win. China Team got the better start against Desafío Español 2007, but again the faster boat soon moved ahead, Spain winning by 45 seconds.
+39 Challenge sailed off to a good lead over United Internet Team Germany, but the shifting fickle breeze brought the Germans back into the Italians down the final run. For a moment it looked as though the wind would carry Jesper Bank past Iain Percy, but the Italians got the favoured breeze again and won by 21 seconds. In a one-sided match, Shosholoza started 10 seconds late, never giving themselves a chance of taking on the mighty Luna Rossa, who sailed away unchallenged.
FLIGHT ELEVEN:
It was a thrilling pre-start between Luna Rossa and Alinghi, with James Spithill pinning a penalty on Peter Holmberg. ITA 86 rolled off the left-hand of the line and sailed into a useful little lead up the first beat. However the Swiss kept the race tight, helped by the fact that the light and shifting wind was discouraging Luna Rossa from being drawn into a close cover. The lead was down to one boatlength up the top of the final beat, but the Italians held their nerve all the way to the finish, while the disappointed Swiss unwound their penalty just before the finish.
In the pre-start between Emirates Team New Zealand and BMW ORACLE Racing, Chris Dickson looked to have Dean Barker in all sorts of trouble. The Kiwis recovered admirably, however, as they launched across the line at full pace while the Americans appeared stalled and were 15 seconds late across the line. Barker immediately imposed himself on the flailing Americans. By the first run the New Zealand afterguard had played the shifts to perfection and now led by almost 400 metres. It was a disappointing showing for the Americans as the white boat finished 1 minute 14 seconds behind.
Victory Challenge very nearly squeezed out Desafío Español 2007 at the pin end of the start line. As the green boat struggled to scrape past the mark without hitting it, the black boat launched off the line and into attacking mode. Magnus Holmberg eked out a small but workable lead over Spain, but then, disaster. A problem with the gennaker left the sail trawled behind the boat. ESP 88 swept past and while the Swedes recovered, hoisting a new sail, the Spanish weren't going to yield their lead, and went on to win the race and the second division.
Team Shosholoza picked up a penalty in the pre-start against Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team but it was advantage to South Africa up the first windward leg. The South Africans stretched away from the Italians and with a 200-metre lead just before the finishing line, there was a good chance of being able to shake off that penalty in time for RSA 83 to cross first. It was a well executed manoeuvre but short of the line and as Tommaso Chieffi turned the wheel desperately for the finish, ITA 77 sneaked past. The delta was a frustrating 4 seconds for Shosholoza.
There was a similar scenario in the 'battle of the basement' between China Team and United Internet Team Germany, the two teams yet to score a point in the round-robin. China Team yielded a penalty during the pre-start versus Germany, but then Pierre Mas gave Jesper Bank all sorts of grief in the closing seconds, the Chinese leading off the line. There were luffing incidents between China and Germany as they sailed past the windward mark in a bid to lead around. China held a slim lead down the run, but as they dropped early for the leeward mark, Jesper Bank called for the German kite to stay up a few moments longer. GER 72 rolled over the Chinese and sailed all the way round the outside of the red and yellow boat after which Germany sailed to an unthreatened win.
Another potentially close match between Areva Challenge and +39 Challenge went to the French, with Thierry Peponnet finishing 1 minute 25 seconds ahead of Iain Percy.
Provisional Results and Points Leaderboard
Flight Ten
1. Victory Challenge beat Areva Challenge DELTA 01:33
2. Desafío Español 2007 beat China Team DELTA 00:45
3. +39 Challenge beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 00:21
4. BMW ORACLE Racing beat Mascalzone Latino Capitalia DELTA 01:12
5. Luna Rossa Challenge beat Shosholoza DELTA 01:57
6. Emirates Team New Zealand beat Alinghi DELTA 01:12
Flight Eleven
1. Mascalzone Latino Capitalia beat Shosholoza DELTA 00:04
2. Emirates Team New Zealand beat BMW ORACLE Racing DELTA 01:14
3. Luna Rossa Challenge beat Alinghi DELTA 01:13
4. Desafío Español 2007 beat Victory Challenge DELTA 00:59
5. Areva Challenge beat +39 Challenge DELTA 01:25
6. United Internet Team Germany beat China Team DELTA 01:20
Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12 - Provisional Leaderboard
Matches
Position sailed Won Points
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 84) 11 11 11
2. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 86) 11 10 10
3. Alinghi (SUI 75) 11 8 8
4. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 87) 11 8 8
5. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 88) 11 7 7
6. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 77) 11 6 6
7. Victory Challenge (SWE 63) 11 6 6
8. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 11 3 3
9. Areva Challenge (FRA 60) 11 3 3
10. +39 Challenge (ITA 59) 11 3 3
11. United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) 11 1 1
12. China Team* (CHN 79) 11 0 0
* China has sailed the whole series with old Défi [ex French America's Cup] boats, they are
currently building in China a state of the art boat for 2007...
Tuesday - Luna Rossa beats BMWOracle. June 27, America's Cup, Act 12. The Italian Luna Rossa Challenge stunned America's BMW Oracle Racing with a come-from-behind win on the final run to the finish. Chris Dickson's BMW Oracle team had done a great job of building a 27-second lead at the final top mark, but Luna Rossa found a favorable shift on the left side of the run, overhauling the Americans to win by eight seconds.
Racing was delayed for two hours on Tuesday afternoon and the race officials waited for a light Easterly breeze to fill in and stabilize. The match between BMW Oracle Racing and Luna Rossa was expected to be a humdinger of a battle, and so it proved. Both James Spithill and Chris Dickson nailed perfect, full-speed starts but USA 87 tacked off to the right almost immediately after the gun fired. The American and Italian teams went hunting for better breeze on opposite sides of the course.
When they came back together it was advantage BMW Oracle, who maintained a 10 second lead around the windward mark. Luna Rossa rolled into a gybe-set in search of different -- and hopefully better -- breeze but the strategy didn't work as the gap extended to 16 seconds by the leeward gate.
The Americans weren't going to give the Italians a sniff of the lead up the final beat. However on the final run, the Italians broke away to the left once more and Chris Dickson stuck to his guns on the right. This time Luna Rossa's strategy worked well. When the boats converged towards the finish it was ITA 86 that emerged ahead just meters from the finishing line.
FLIGHT 9 RESULTS:
Desafío Español beat +39 Challenge Delta: 0:36
Victory Challenge beat United Internet Germany Delta: 0:35
Areva Challenge beat China Team Delta: 2:58
Emirates Team New Zealand beat Shosholoza Delta: 0:30
Alinghi beat Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Delta: 0:52
Luna Rossa Challenge beat BMW Oracle Delta: 0:08
LOUIS VUITTON ACT 12 STANDINGS:
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL84) 9-0
2. Alinghi (SUI75) 8-1
2. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA86) 8-1
4. BMW Oracle Racing (USA87) 7-2
5. Victory Challenge (SWE63) 5-4
5. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP88) 5-4
5. Mascalzone Latino Capitalia (ITA77) 5-4
8. Team Shosholoza (RSA83) 3-6
9. +39 Challenge (ITA59) 2-7
9. Areva Challenge (FRA60) 2-7
11. United Internet Germany (GER72) 0-9
11. China Team (CHN79) 0-9
http://www.americascup.com
Long Beach Race Week Sunday. Photo: Rich Roberts
June 25, Long Beach Race Week, California. The only breeze left after a day of deteriorating conditions at Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week Saturday was the general sigh of relief from the 160 competitors that it was over.
Even Paul Sharp of Newport Beach, who sailed his bright yellow Reichel/Pugh 68, Taxi Dancer, to two wins and a fifth place to remain in first place among the biggest boats in the PHRF 1 class, said, "Three races in one day is a long day on a big boat."
Most of the fleets settled for two races when the brisk breezes left over from Friday quickly dissipated and shifted so severely that the race committees on the other two courses were compelled to call off the sailing, hoping to run the last three of the scheduled seven Sunday. Principal race officers Chris Ericksen on the small boats' inside course and Bobby Frazier on the midsize outside course described shifts of 80 and more degrees to the right within a matter of minutes.
Ericksen said, "The only water where we could have set the windward mark was the Belmont Pool" -- in other words, upwind was suddenly toward the beach. "And when we canceled racing for the day the entire fleet cheered," Ericksen said.
The biggest boats ran all three of the day's scheduled races, but Frazier's fleets split. The Schock 35s, J/109s and Beneteau 36.7s all got off, but then the wind swung hard right as the Melges 24s got under way. Six of the eight crossed the line early and Frazier signaled a general recall - the only one of the event so far, and as much because of the conditions as the confusion.
"It wouldn't have been a fair race, anyway," Frazier said, "with the line so far from square."
That was fine with Argyle Campbell, the Newport Beach veteran who had won the day's first two races to pull within two points of Dave Ullman, 60, for first place and two points ahead of Shark Kahn, 16, for second.
Until the wind "just stopped," Campbell, 57, said, "We got good starts and sailed smart races. There are not too many boats, so it's pretty easy sailing around the course without getting buried. And Vince Brun being on the boat doesn't hurt, either."
Brun, of San Diego, is a multi-world champion in the Melges 24 class, as well as several others. At the same time, the developments put a crimp in the weekend for Chris Raab, who is driving Todd Wetherbee's J/109, Commotion, from Dana Point. Commotion had won the first four races but slipped to fifth in the ensuing upheaval, although holding onto first place overall by a solid seven points.
Raab requested redress on grounds that the conditions were unfair and that a committee boat displaying course changes was out of position, but his request was denied.
Course changes were certainly the order of the day. Mark Townsend, PRO on the big boat course, said, "We had marks all over the place."
At one time in the day's third race, he said, when the wind shifted from 235 degrees to 315 his windward marks for various classes were spread over 1 miles, giving his mark-set assistant---his wife Robin---a busy day in her little boat.
Dennis and Sharon Case's J/105, Wings, from San Diego scored a first and fourth to slip into first place in the largest fleet of 20 boats by one point over Gary Mozer's Current Obsession (5-3).
"That's no lead at all," Dennis Case said, "but I'll take it. Those of us who were waiting to start [the day's third race] and watching that slow waltz the early starters were doing were not sorry the race was abandoned."
Three boats remained unbeaten: the Todd Downey/Larry Spencer Olson 30, Blue Star; Roland Fournier's J/80, Blue Moon 2, and Will Durant's chartered Catalina 37. But Downey was wary of his nearest rival, a veteran dominant force of the class, Allan Rosenberg of Alamitos Bay YC, sailing Intense with son Darren.
"Mr. Rosenberg is always a concern," Downey said. "Any time we sail in a lighter breeze Allan's a bit faster than we are."
After Friday's blowout breeze and Saturday's hall of wind mirrors, Sunday's weather appeared to be hanging in the balance.
Meanwhile, a correction on Friday's report: the J/80 that was temporarily grounded on the beach was Mitch Barney's Justa, not John Steen's Underdog, as reported. Justa suffered a spinnaker wrap while trying to douse the chute after finishing and couldn't stop before grinding onto the sand.
The is the last of four stops on the Ullman Sails Inshore Championship series, following the Ahmanson Cup at Newport Beach in April, Yachting Cup at San Diego in May and Cal Race Week at Marina del Rey three weeks ago.
Class leaders (after 4 or 5 of 7 races): PHRF 1 (10 boats)---Taxi Dancer (R/P 68), Paul and Laura Sharp, Newport Harbor YC, 1-2-1-1-5, 10 points. PHRF 2 (11)---Arana (Dencho 51), John Carroll, California YC, 1-1-1-3-3, 9. PHRF 3 (16)---Tabasco (1D35), John Wylie, San Diego YC, 1-1-1-1-3, 7. J/120 (7)---CC Rider, Chuck Nichols, San Diego YC, 3.5-1-1-1-2, 8.5. REYNOLDS 33 (5)---Double Trouble, Bob Long, American Legion YC, 2-6-1-3-1, 13. J/105 (20)---Wings, Dennis and Sharon Case, San Diego YC, 2-2-1-4, 9. MELGES 24 (8)---Pegasus 505, Dave Ullman, Balboa YC, 2-1-2-3, 8. SCHOCK 35 (10)---Whiplash, Ray Godwin, Long Beach YC, 1-2-1-2-1, 7. OLSON 30 (6)Blue Star, Larry Spencer/Todd Downey, Pacific Corinthian YC, 1-1-1-1, 4. J/109 (7)---Commotion, Tony Wetherbee/Chris Raab, Dana Point YC, 1-1-1-1-5, 9. BENETEAU 36.7 (8)---Tangerine, Tom Hirsh, Southwestern YC, 2-2-2-2-3, 11. CATALINA 37 (5)---Cat 37, Will Durant, Long Beach YC, 1-1-1-1, 4. PHRF 4 (19)---24 Carat (Wylie Wabbit), Greg Byrne, Cal SC, 2-6-1-3, 12. J/80 (8)---Blue Moon 2, Roland Fournier, Long Beach YC, 1-1-1-1, 4. J/29 (6)---Macs, Eric and Steve McClure, Alamitos Bay YC, 1-1-2-3, 7. MERCURY (14)---Wingman, Mark Comings, Cabrillo Beach YC, 2-2-1-7-2, 14.Complete results and more at www.lbrw.org
The BMWOracle Racing on Sunday.
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget
America's Cup, Act 12, Valencia, Spain. Sweden's Victory Challenge was the story of the day in Valencia on Sunday when skipper Magnus Holmberg's team was able to beat the defender of the America's Cup in a hard fought match. It was a tremendous win for the Swede's who handed Alinghi just its fifth loss from 51 starts.
The unexpected win is almost like a bonus point for Victory Challenge while Alinghi's loss clears the top of the leaderboard for Emirates Team New Zealand, who are now the only team with a perfect record after four days of Louis Vuitton Act 12.
Conditions were excellent for racing on the waters off Valencia. A moderate to strong sea breeze developed, the 14 to 19 knot Southeasterly whipping up choppy waves outside the Port America's Cup.
Victory Challenge enjoyed a hero's welcome on their return to the Port, the large crowds lining the balconies on the Veles e Vents building cheering their momentous win over the Swiss defender of the America's Cup. With Monday a scheduled reserve day, the Swedes can enjoy their celebrations well into the Spanish night.
FLIGHT SEVEN:
In the battle of the Holmbergs, Peter Holmberg at the helm of Alinghi nearly drove Magnus Holmberg and Victory Challenge over the start line. The Swedes just managed to squeak over the line as the gun fired and they accelerated up to level terms with the defender as they broke out to opposite sides of the course. While everyone expected Alinghi to put the hammer down and eke out a lead from Victory, it never happened as the Swedes revelled in the strongest breeze of the Louis Vuitton Acts this year.
Victory continued to lead down the run, although a fluffed spinnaker drop at the leeward gate nearly handed the lead back to Alinghi. Once again up the beat the Swedes seized control, until the very final stages when Alinghi climbed back into contention and launched into a luffing match. But Magnus Holmberg wriggled free and steered around the final mark in front. The Swedes were the faster boat downwind and sailed to an unexpected 21-second victory over the formidable Defenders.
When +39 Challenge stuck a penalty on BMW ORACLE Racing in the pre-start, there seemed a good chance that a close match would ensue. However Chris Dickson showed the true speed of USA 87 to speed away up the track, to the point where he was far enough ahead to offload the penalty up the final beat, with a safe lead still intact. The Americans escaped embarrassment by the thrusting Italian team, as they sailed to an easy victory.
The match between Desafío Español 2007 and Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team was billed as the 'battle for fifth', but things went surprisingly easily for the Spanish whose new boat looked fast in the breeze. When the Italians trawled their spinnaker at the windward mark, the Spanish extended even further and won by half a kilometre.
Monday is a scheduled reserve day
provisional Results and Points Leaderboard:
Flight Seven:
1. Luna Rossa beat Areva Challenge DELTA 00.43
2. Eirates Team New Zealand beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 01.59
3. Desafío Español 2007 beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team DELTA 01.20
4. BMW ORACLE Racing beat +39 Challenge DELTA 00.48
5. Victory Challenge beat Alinghi DELTA 00:21
6. Shosholoza won China Team DNF CHN DNF
Flight Eight:
1. Luna Rossa beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 02.00
2. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team beat Areva Challenge DELTA 01.02
3. Emirates Team New Zealand beat Desafío Español 2007 DELTA 00.43
4. BMW ORACLE Racing won China Team DNS CHN DNS
5. Alinghi beat +39 Challenge DELTA 02.03
6. Victory Challenge beat Shosholoza DELTA 00.35
Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12 - Leaderboard Sunday:
Matches
Position sailed Won Points
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 84) 8 8 8
1. Alinghi (SUI 75) 8 7 7
3. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 87) 8 7 7
3. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 86) 8 7 7
5. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 77) 8 5 5
6. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 88) 8 4 4
7. Victory Challenge (SWE 63) 8 4 4
8. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 8 4 4
9. +39 Challenge (ITA 59) 8 2 2
10. Areva Challenge (FRA 60) 8 1 1
11. United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) 8 0 0
11. China Team (CHN 79) 8 0 0
The BMWOracle Racing Team on Saturday.June 24, America's Cup, Act 12, Valencia, Spain. It was all on today [Saturday] as Alinghi lined up with the Challenger of Record, BMW ORACLE Racing. The Defender has won 4 out of 5 match races against the American team since the beginning of the 2005 racing season and the gloves were off in the start box.
Alinghi came in on starboard with speed and on time, dialed up, flicked back and forth from port to starboard before peeling off first and seeming to fight for the right hand side. The Alinghi weather team called a left hand phase 5 minutes before the start, on board the crew took the left off the line and gained an early 3 second advantage. BOR followed, then tacked back to port,
Alinghi tacked to cover, keeping the Challenger of Record close. The Swiss team took the first cross ahead of BOR and raced to the right hand side of the course, with only a boat length between them. Alinghi bounced the American team out to the left, guarding the right hand side to sweep into the top mark on starboard and 10 seconds ahead. Alinghi raced down the right, jibed away first, scraping BOR off their tail, holding a slight advantage coming into the centre and on into the leeward gate. Alinghi tried to cross, but BOR closed and made Alinghi jibe back, both boats jibed again and Alinghi took the left mark losing the advantage over BOR, who pulled away as the breeze filled in from the right getting to them first.
In a reverse to the first upwind leg, BOR now had the right and bounced Alinghi off to the left. Not for long... The Swiss clawed them back, finding a puff in the approach to the mark they snatched the lead back off the Americans to round the 2nd topmark 8 seconds ahead. Downwind Alinghi carried the race out to the right, BOR split off to the left allowing the Swiss to extend the lead to cross the finish line 20 seconds ahead.
provisional Results and Points Leaderboard:
Flight Five:
1. Victory Challenge beat China Team DELTA 01.24
2. Shosholoza beat Areva Challenge DELTA 00.54
3. Alinghi beat BMW ORACLE Racing DELTA 00.20
4. Desafío Español 2007 beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 01.20
5. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team beat +39 Challenge DELTA 00:16
6. Eirates Team New Zealand beat Luna Rossa DELTA 00.11
Flight Six:
1. +39 Challenge beat Shosholoza DELTA 00.46
2. Alinghi beat China Team DELTA 03.31
3. BMW ORACLE Racing beat Victory Challenge DELTA 01.10
4. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 00.30
5. Luna Rossa beat Desafío Español 2007 DELTA 00.42
6. Emirates Team New Zealand beat Areva Challenge DELTA 00.37
Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12 - Leaderboard Saturday:
Matches
Position sailed Won Points
1. Alinghi (SUI 75) 6 6 6
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 84) 6 6 6
3. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 87) 6 5 5
3. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 86) 6 5 5
5. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 77) 6 5 5
6. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 88) 6 3 3
7. Victory Challenge (SWE 63) 6 2 2
8. +39 Challenge (ITA 59) 6 2 2
9. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 6 2 2
10. Areva Challenge (FRA 60) 6 1 1
11. United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) 6 0 0
11. China Team (CHN 79) 6 0 0
Photo: Rich RobertsLong Beach Race Week, California. Anyone who thinks sailboat racing is dull should have seen Friday's opening day of Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week. The wind blew up to 22 knots as 160 boats thrashed through waves of 3 to 5 feet. One was dismasted, another beached. Two catamarans flipped upside down. And, competition chairman/principal race officer Mark Townsend said, "We were arrested by the Coast Guard!"
The latter incident bordered on the bizarre and may have marked a first for Long Beach's long and hallowed history in sailing.
Early in the first race on the big boat course outside the Federal breakwater a U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat---one of those orange inflatables with a machine gun on the bow -- pulled alongside the event photo boat at the windward mark as the PHRF 1 class rounded to go downwind. An officer said that the race course, set into the southwest, intruded on the commercial shipping lane into Long Beach Harbor. The photo boat referred the Coast Guard to Townsend at the other end of the course.
According to Townsend, the officer told him by radio, "Tell all of these sailors they can't sail there."
Townsend told the officer there was no way to tell them once the race was under way. Then, as one of the overturned Reynolds 33 catamarans bobbed nearby, its crew sitting helplessly atop the hulls but in no immediate danger, the officer ordered the committee boat to hoist anchor and proceed downwind to be boarded. Townsend assigned a mark boat to take the committee boat's place at one end of the finish line, and the race proceeded as the matter was discussed on board the committee boat.
"So [the Coast Guard officer] finally said, 'OK, you can stay out here . . . you'll just have to move [the windward mark],' " Townsend said.
The course was moved for the second race, the Coast Guard had done its job, and everybody was happy---especially the sailors who love big winds.
They would include locals Gary Mozer and Doug McLean, whose new J/105, Current Obsession, won both races in the event's largest class in its first serious competition. The initial success recalled Mozer's racing debut in a J/109 of the same name two years ago. He won the class, then repeated last year.
"Doug drove and Stan Gibbs did an incredible job setting up the boat," Mozer said. "We spent the right amount of time to prepare and practice. It was all communication and consistency."
It was also dealing with the ornery elements. Veterans Dennis and Sharon Case of San Diego logged two seconds behind Current Obsession, and he said, "We had more than enough breeze and were overpowered most of the time, so we did the usual things: tighten the headstay rock solid, move the [jib] fairleads back and set up the sails with a twist to widen the [steering] groove through the waves."
Mike George's Martin 242, 9 Lives, suffered the day's most serious damage when it broke its mast in a collision with Don Weimer's Catalina 38, Bilbo Baggins---not a nice experience for one of the event's sponsors, especially one who hosted a "Martini" party for the sailors Friday night. George was granted redress for average points should he be able to continue.
In another unusual episode, John Steen finished third in his first race but, flying through the line with his spinnaker full, was unable to stop before grinding onto the beach, flopping over on one side. Somehow the crew got the boat afloat in time to place fourth in the second race.
Three races are scheduled Saturday and two Sunday for a total of seven. The is the last of four stops on the Ullman Sails Inshore Championship series, following the Ahmanson Cup at Newport Beach in April, Yachting Cup at San Diego in May and Cal Race Week at Marina del Rey three weeks ago.
Complete results and more at www.lbrw.org
32nd America's Cup Match. Friday marked the point where the 12 America's Cup teams are one year out from the 32nd America's Cup Match. The countdown is on - 365 days to the first race of the 32nd America's Cup Match, when the Defender of the Cup, Alinghi, will be towed from the Port America's Cup to race against an as yet unknown opponent.
The identity of the ultimate challenger is not of course known, but it is among the 11 challengers competing against Alinghi over the next 10 days in Louis Vuitton Act 12. To earn the right to battle Alinghi for the America's Cup next year, the challenger must first win the Louis Vuitton Cup selection series, beginning on 18 April, 2007.
'There is no second'. From America to Alinghi features 30 model replicas of all the winners or Defenders of the America's Cup since 1851. There are also short descriptions of each match, photos or lithographs of the racing, charts of the race courses and line drawings of the boats. The model collection belongs to French sailor Olivier de Kersauson and this is the first time it is on public display. It will remain open to the public until the end of the 32nd America's Cup next summer.
The next year will be incredibly busy for each team. For the Defender, Alinghi, it will strive to build a strong enough team to successfully hold on to the Cup. The 11 challengers are preparing for the challenger selection series, the Louis Vuitton Cup, the first cut eliminates seven teams after two round robin series. The remaining four are whittled to one ultimate challenger who, through the rigour of the competition should prove a worthy opponent for Alinghi in the Americas Cup Match. The 'one year to go' milestone falls in the middle of the current competition, Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12, where all of the Cup teams are racing in a match racing series.
One year out from the America's Cup Match, the teams are already in their third season of competition. To this point, the 32nd America's Cup has offered 11 Louis Vuitton Acts with racing in Marseille, Malmö-Skåne, Trapani, and the host city of Valencia, Spain. Never before in the long history of the Cup has the competition stretched over such a period of time across the length and breadth of a continent.
Sadly the final race of the Crew Clothing Co. Etchells European Championship in Cowes had to be abandoned as there was insufficient wind to start by the 1330 cut off time. The crews had spent the morning waiting by their boats or drinking coffee on the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club's terrace and staring out across the Solent praying for breeze. Unfortunately their prayers were not answered and as a result the Championship comes to a close with six of the seven scheduled races completed.
Stuart Childerley and his crew Simon Russell and Roger Marino are named Crew Clothing Co. Etchells European Champions 2006 winning the regatta by 7 points. Second place goes to Andy Beadsworth, crewed by Jonathan Taylor and Mo Gray who finished just one point ahead of Ante Razmilovic, crewed by Mike Wolfs and Stuart Flinn. Antes brother Nils Razmilovic with crew Brain Hammersley and Adam Turk finished fourth while Tom Hughes and crew Jamie Stewart and Ron Rosenberg of the USA were fifth. Tonight the teams will enjoy a gala prize giving dinner where they will also be presented with a Crew Clothing Co jacket and gift voucher for every team member.
Results & Photo Gallery are available at www.rcyc.co.uk/da/27898
June 23, Crew Clothing Co. Etchells European Championship in Cowes. The third and penultimate day (Friday) brought a welcome change of pace for the 33 competitors. After two heavy airs days the crews were delighted that this morning dawned sunny and almost calm with perfect Solent sea breeze conditions. Following a short postponement to allow the sea breeze to develop, racing started at 1100 in 6 knots from 260 degrees, slowly backing to 250 for the second race. Races five and six in the series were completed with the wind increasing to a maximum of 12 knots during the second race.
In the overall standings Stuart Childerley consolidated his lead with a win in race five and a hard earned fourth in race six. With five races now completed the discard comes into play and so he currently counts 9 points overall. Andy Beadsworth had a less than great fifth race finishing ninth, his worst result of the series so far, but redeemed himself with a win in race six so retains second place with 16 points, just one point ahead of Ante Razmilovic who scored 6 and 3 today. Nils Razmilovic remains in fourth but the points gap has opened slightly as he got a 10th in the fifth race and a second in race six so counts 23 points overall. Tom Hughes of the USA is in fifth place on 30 points with John Brinkers sixth on 32.
Tomorrow's forecast is for very light airs so competitors will be hoping for sea breeze for the final race of the series which is scheduled to start at 1100.
Results & Photo Gallery are available at www.rcyc.co.uk/da/27898
BMW ORACLE Racing speeds away from Desafío Español. The Spanish lost both races on a difficult day against BMW ORACLE Racing and Alinghi; the new Spanish boat, ESP 88, wasn't enough to make in-roads against two of the top America's Cup teams on the planet.
One year out from the first race of the 32nd America's Cup Match, Alinghi is still a dominant team over all but the best challengers. But some challengers who spent time near the bottom of the table last year are rapidly moving up for consideration. Shosholoza, for example, earned a straightforward win over United Internet Team Germany and followed that up with a close 20-second loss to Alinghi; a performance which would have been unthinkable in the Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts last year at this time.
In a disappointing turn of events, China Team was ahead and looking for its first win of the season when crew member Olivier Herledant fell overboard. He was picked up by a chase boat, and the Umpires were obliged to assess the team a penalty, allowing +39 Challenge to jump into the lead.
It was another day of light to moderate sea breeze conditions on the waters off Valencia. Racing was conducted in 7 to 10 knot Easterlies.
FLIGHT THREE:
There were some closely-matched pre-starts in Flight Three of Louis Vuitton Act 11. With the 8 knot breeze shifting significantly throughout the afternoon, there appeared to be significant opportunities for an upset, for one of the less-fancied teams to topple one of the 'big ones'.
But it wasn't to be, with all of the matches running to form. Alinghi sailed away from Desafío Español's new boat ESP 88, with Spanish Prince Felipe riding as 18th man. Shosholoza defeated United Internet Team Germany, and BMW ORACLE Racing beat Areva Challenge convincingly.
Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team defeated China Team very easily, as did Emirates Team New Zealand over Victory Challenge. The match showing most promise was the Italian derby between +39 Challenge and Luna Rossa, and while Iain Percy's team did well to hang in there with their rivals, James Spithill's superior firepower pulled them ahead to a comfortable lead by the finish.
FLIGHT FOUR:
Following three flights of racing where the favourites prevailed, Flight Four showed promise of some real upsets. China Team tied +39 Challenge in knots during an aggressive pre-start, with Pierre Mas dictating the approach back to the line. The red and yellow Dragon controlled the Italian team nicely up the first leg and looked set for a famous first victory for 2006.
However, a man overboard incident during the first mark rounding resulted in a penalty given against the Chinese. Teams rarely go back to pick up a man overboard, leaving the sailor to be picked up by a chase boat. But the price for not recovering a sailor to the race yacht is an obligatory penalty. In any case the Italians split from the Chinese down the run and came back marginally ahead. When China Team made a poor spinnaker drop at the leeward gate, the Italians sailed away to a clear victory.
BMW ORACLE Racing led Desafío Español by a narrow margin up the first windward leg, but Karol Jablonski got close enough to Chris Dickson to luff the Americans and get a penalty against USA 87 for failing to keep clear as windward boat. This was shaping up to be an intriguing match, until the Americans found an extra gear and sailed away from ESP 88. By the second windward leg, Dickson had gained sufficient distance to be able to shake off the penalty and still lead the Spanish home comfortably.
A particularly aggressive Dean Barker steered NZL 84 in circles around a slower Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia, handing a penalty to the Italians from which they never recovered. Emirates Team New Zealand notched up their second easy victory of the day.
Alinghi was never seriously troubled by Shosholoza, although the Defender never broke far away from the slick South African team, who are looking very strong with their boathandling and tactics. Victory Challenge appeared not to have made many mistakes against Luna Rossa, although the margin of victory for the Italians was considerable by the finish. Magnus Holmberg will be looking forward to getting into a new boat later this year. Meanwhile, Areva Challenge found good speed to sail away from United Internet Team Germany in a one-sided match.
Provisional Results and Points Leaderboard:
Flight Three:
1. Alinghi beat Desafío Español 2007 DELTA 00.55
2. Shosholoza beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 01.35
3 BMW ORACLE Racing beat Areva Challenge DELTA 01.27
4 Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team beat China Team DELTA 01.50
5. Emirates Team New Zealand beat Victory Challenge DELTA 01.38
6. Luna Rossa beat +39 Challenge DELTA 01.02
Flight Four
1. Alinghi beat Shosholoza DELTA 00.20
2. Areva Challenge beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 01.28
3. BMW ORACLE Racing beat Desafío Español 2007 DELTA 01.12
4. Luna Rossa beat Victory Challenge DELTA 01.11
5. Emirates Team New Zealand beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team DELTA 02.17
6. +39 Challenge beat China Team DELTA 03.44
Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12 - Leaderboard
Matches
Position sailed Won Points
1. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 86) 4 4 4
1. Alinghi (SUI 75) 4 4 4
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 84) 4 4 4
1. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 87) 4 4 4
5. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 88) 4 2 2
5. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 77) 4 2 2
7. Victory Challenge (SWE 63) 4 1 1
7. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 4 1 1
7. Areva Challenge (FRA 60) 4 1 1
7. +39 Challenge (ITA 59) 4 1 1
11. United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) 4 0 0
11. China Team (CHN 79) 4 0 0
BMWOracle - Thursday at Valencia. June 22, America's Cup Act 12, Valencia, Spain. The final competition of the 2006 America's Cup season began with two full flights of racing in the Louis Vuitton Act 12 -- a match racing regatta, complete with round robin, semi finals and final. In this sense, it mimics the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger selection series, which will identify the ultimate challenger to face Alinghi in the 32nd America's Cup Match.
It was a tense day on the water for the Spanish team who are alone among the 12 competitors in racing a new boat, ESP 88. Desafo Espaol earned two wins from two starts, but was behind in the second race until the Umpires assessed three penalties to Areva Challenge for a flagrant foul. The jury is still out on the speed potential of the new boat.
Making his 2006 racing debut for Luna Rossa Challenge was Torben Grael, aboard as tactician. The 'Brazilian magician' lived up to his moniker early as Luna Rossa was able to throw two penalties onto Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia during the first pre-start; Grael showing no signs of fatigue after completing a round-the-world race just this past weekend.
Conditions were perfect for racing on Thursday with sunny skies generating a good sea breeze. By race time there was a 10 knot Easterly on the two race areas and this held for the two flights of racing.
FLIGHT ONE:
This marked the competitive debut for Desafo Espaol's new boat, ESP 88. In the pre-start the Spanish did a nice job of controlling the South Africans and the new green boat led comfortably off the line as the gun fired. However, while the Spanish remained in command of this match they never stretched away from Shosholoza, who held ESP 88 to just 19 seconds by the finish.
There were problems for +39 Challenge during their pre-start against Victory Challenge when halyard problems caused the jib to fall suddenly to the deck. The foredeck crew did a manful job of rectifying the fault and Iain Percy got ITA 59 back into a controlling position by start time. Magnus Holmberg on the other hand was struggling to get SWE 63 up to speed for the start, but the Swedes were let off the hook when the Italians broke the start line a fraction too early and had to go back to restart. The Swedish seized the advantage and when jib halyard problems came back to haunt Iain Percy on the final upwind leg, it was game, set and match to Sweden.
There was more pre-start drama in the Italian derby between Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team and Luna Rossa. Mascalzone twice failed to keep clear of their rivals while on port tack and yielded two penalties before the race had even started. This required the red boat to take one penalty immediately after crossing the line, handing an unchallenged lead to Luna Rossa.
The other big teams all won their matches with ease. Alinghi beat Areva by just over two minutes, BMW ORACLE Racing beat United Internet Team Germany by a similar margin, and Emirates Team New Zealand bettered China Team by almost three minutes.
FLIGHT TWO:
The second flight of racing on the day produced one of the most dramatic matches yet witnessed in any Louis Vuitton Act. Could Areva Challenge, racing one of the oldest boats in the fleet, match the brand new boat of Desafo Espaol? Thierry Peponnet put the French team in a great position after winning the start and sailing off towards the left hand side, with the Spanish on his windward hip. A tacking duel ensued all the way to the top of the windward leg, with both teams working to their physical limits in a bid for supremacy.
Eventually the French made their narrow advantage pay and rounded the first mark 13 seconds in the lead. Areva added to their lead a little more down the run, and dropped their spinnaker early in readiness for a gybe around the leeward mark. However some of the sail ended up in the water, allowing the Spanish to gain an overlap and earn room to round the mark. But Peponnet luffed up to close the door on Jablonski's attack, shutting the door to the point where Jablonski was forced to luff ESP 88 to the wrong side of the mark in order to avoid a collision.
The French aggression appeared to have paid off, until a few seconds later when the Umpires imposed a double penalty on Areva. The French duly took their first penalty but were still ahead of the wronged Spanish boat and the Umpires imposed a further penalty which Peponnet was also forced to take immediately. By this time Desafo Espaol was back in the race with a slim lead. Jablonski went on to race across the finish line untroubled by the French who, by the time they had unwound their third penalty, finished 1 minute 30 seconds behind.
Shosholoza gave BMW ORACLE Racing a good run for their money in a close match. Chris Dickson took the lead up the first beat, but when he gybed off downwind and allowed Tommaso Chieffi to get to the right of him, the South Africans took the lead for a while. However, the shifting breeze came back into BMW ORACLE's favour and they led for the rest of the match, beating South Africa by 53 seconds.
In the match that most would have expected to be the closest, Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia made relatively easy work of their race against Victory Challenge, who closed the gap towards the finish but still crossed 50 seconds behind.
China Team won the start against Luna Rossa but that was the only time they threatened the Italians, who cruised away to a very comfortable win of almost three minutes. Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand also enjoyed untroubled victories in their respective matches against United Internet Team Germany and +39 Challenge.
Provisional Results and Points Leaderboard:
Flight One:
1. Emirates Team New Zealand beat China Team DELTA 02.53
2. Victory Challenge beat +39 Challenge DELTA 02.39
3. Luna Rossa beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team DELTA 01.55
4. Alinghi beat Areva Challenge DELTA 02.01
5. BMW ORACLE Racing beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 01.58
6. Desafío Español 2007 beat Team Shosholoza DELTA 00.19
Flight Two:
1. Emirates Team New Zealand beat +39 Challenge DELTA 02.08
2. Luna Rossa beat China Team DELTA 03.38
3. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team beat Victory Challenge DELTA 00.50
4. Alinghi beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 02.01
5. BMW ORACLE Racing beat Team Shosholoza DELTA 00.53
6. Desafío Español 2007 beat Areva Challenge DELTA 01.30
Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12 - Leaderboard:
Position Matches
sailed Won Points
1. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 86) 2 2 2
1. Alinghi (SUI 75) 2 2 2
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 84) 2 2 2
1. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 87) 2 2 2
1. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 88) 2 2 2
6. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 77) 2 1 1
7. Victory Challenge (SWE 63) 2 1 1
8. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 2 0 0
8. Areva Challenge (FRA 60) 2 0 0
8. United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) 2 0 0
8. +39 Challenge (ITA 59) 2 0 0
8. China Team (CHN 79) 2 0 0
June 21, 12 teams will battle for supremacy in Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12. The stage is set for the final act of the 2006 America's Cup competition season, Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12, which begins on Thursday. At stake is the 2006 America's Cup Class season championship, along with Louis Vuitton Ranking points for the challengers.The Port America's Cup is ready to receive an influx of hundreds of boats and thousands of spectators each day, while the teams have completed their final preparations and are ready to compete.
One of the highlights of the week is sure to come on Friday 23 June. That day marks 'one year to go' to the first race of the 32nd America's Cup Match. In light of that, Act 12 is significant for the Defender, Alingh; this is their last match racing competition against the challengers before the Match next year.
"It's been good for us because we've got to sail against other teams all the way since the last Cup in Auckland," said Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth, referring to the opportunities the Louis Vuitton Acts have afforded for racing between challengers and Defender. "It's been good for us and I think it's been good for the challengers as well."
Louis Vuitton Act 12 differs from previous Acts in format - it's almost like a mini Louis Vuitton Cup, with a round robin, semi final and final. The difference is that here the Defender, Alinghi, is competing and no teams are eliminated after the round robin. Instead, at the conclusion of the round robin the 12 teams are ranked and grouped into three divisions of four boats. Each division races its own semi finals, final and petit final to determine placings within the group. Each semi final and final is a 'first to win two' series.
At the pre-Act press conference on Wednesday, Desafío Español tactician John Cutler said the team is excited to be using its new boat, ESP 88, but the decision wasn't taken lightly.
"We thought long and hard about whether to use ESP 88 for this regatta, but we're trying to improve and we felt that getting the boat out there and learning more about how to race it would be the best thing. We'll see in two weeks whether or not that was the right call," he explained.
Racing is expected to be close; although there are definite divisions between the top and the bottom of the fleet, everyone has a close opponent. There will be no easy races.
"Version 5 of the rule makes the speed of the boats very close," said Bertrand Pacé of BMW ORACLE Racing. "It's a lot of work to increase the speed just one metre per minute. So you need to have a good start, and good tactics and probably half of the fleet could beat each other quite easily."
Among other races, the first day pairing list features an all-Italian match up between ACC season championship leader Luna Rossa Challenge and up and coming Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team who are sitting in fifth place.
Racing for the first match of flight one, Emirates Team New Zealand against China Team, is scheduled to begin at 14:10 on Thursday.
June 20, Volvo Re-think. Volvo's home town of Gothenburg staged not just the conclusion of the Volvo Ocean Race but the end of the round-the-world classic as we know it.
Paul Cayard's Pirates of the Caribbean pipped Seb Josse's ABN Amro Two to win the 48-hour ninth stage from Rotterdam, while the overall champions, Mike Sanderson's ABN Amro One crew, finished sixth and last.
No matter - they had cemented their crushing victory two stages before, in Portsmouth, with Sanderson deserving to be considered just as much king of the race as his illustrious New Zealand forerunners, Peter Blake and Grant Dalton.
Race chief executive Glenn Bourke announced that, in future years, a race that began as the Whitbread in 1973 will probably exclude stopovers in New Zealand, Australia and Cape Town, plus the Southern Ocean and the Great Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn.
The event is at risk of becoming a marketing platform on which a race will be staged - unlike the original, which drew sponsors on the strength of its sporting credentials.
Sensibly, the four-year cycle has been cut to two, even though this pits the next Volvo Ocean Race in 2008-09 against the solo Vendee Globe. The route is likely to link the Mediterranean, Middle East, Pacific and United States West Coast. Two firm entries have already been made for the race's next staging. Volvo race faces rethink -- By Tim Jeffery (Filed: 19/06/2006)
Click here for story on Daily Telegraph web site
June 19, Volvo Lives. Months of speculation over the future outlook of the Volvo Ocean Race abruptly ended Saturday morning when race organisers announced revolutionary changes to its route and four-year cycle.
The next race, to begin in 2008 in line with a new three yearly format, may now feature stops in Asia, the Middle East and America's west coast. A decision on who hosts the start will be made public in the coming days.
Bourke also confirmed two syndicates have already entered the 2008-09 race, with a number of others expressing strong interest.
Their haste is due in no small manner to the exposure the current race has received around the world. Recent estimates suggest a television audience of two billion people from 200 countries have tuned into the event so far, cementing its place within the upper tier of global sports coverage.
Bourke said, "In addition to the two confirmed entries we have had positive discussions with a number of potential syndicate sponsors. We fully expect some of the existing syndicates to confirm their participation over the coming months. Furthermore we are a long way down the road in negotiations with ports in the new territories we plan to visit - that includes Asia and the Middle East."
Discussing the reasons behind any proposed changes to the race track, Bourke said, "These boats have proven to be amazingly fast, cutting many days off some legs relative to previous races. For instance, the winning boat in 2005-06 completed the entire race in about 25 days less than the winning boat in 2001-02. That puts us in a luxurious position of being able to pick and choose what territories we earmark for future races.
"We know these boats are capable of covering vast distances in a short space of time. That has given us more options in choosing port stopover venues and has brought Asia and the Middle East into play. The die was cast to some extent because we started the 2005-06 race in Spain rather than in England, the traditional home of the Volvo Ocean Race start."
Pirates of the Caribbean comes up the Gota River after winning Leg 9. Photo: Martin Stockbridge/Volvo Ocean Race
June 17, Volvo Leg 9. Saturday; In the most thrilling of finishes, Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard/USA) finally crept past ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) in the closing moments of leg nine and crossed the final finish line of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 in Goteborg, Sweden, today at 13:44:06 GMT (14:44:06 local time) to a rapturous welcome by thousands of onlookers cramming the race village in Lindholmen.
On this beautiful Swedish summer's day, thousands of spectators lined the islands and surrounding shoreline as well as taking to the water to applaud the Pirates as they scored their first win of the event and in so doing, secured their position of second place overall in the event. ABN AMRO TWO finished in second place at 13:48:56 GMT, just four minutes 50 seconds after the American boat.
After leading for most of leg nine, Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) finally crossed the line at 14:32:15 MT to take the third podium position, and confirm her third place overall. This is a fantastic achievement for Brazil who has never had a team represented in this race until now.
On finishing, Paul Cayard said:
"This couldn't have been scripted better by anyone in Hollywood."
"I feel bad for the ABN AMRO TWO guys, but at the end of the day, we were racing to win, so we had to take advantage of the situation."
"This is the best welcome into any port that I have ever seen. Gothenburg couldn't have welcomed us any bigger and you can't go out on a higher note than that."
"We were one of the most consistent boats with 11 podium places. That's smart sailing. We were in last place a couple of days ago and we got lucky. It's all over now. We have a great group of guys, we've had our down moments, but no one quit and we just did what champions do and pull together."
Race patron HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden was waiting on the dockside to welcome the Pirates and to present the trophies to Paul Cayard and his team for winning this leg and also to Sebastien Josse for finishing second. Joining the Prince were Fredrik Arp, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation and Leif Johansson, president of AB Volvo.
Paul Cayard and The Black Pearl, the last of the racing yachts to be launched, initially took the offshore option in the opening stage of leg nine, but as the inshore route appeared to be more favourable, the team took the expensive decision to cut their losses yesterday and head towards the Danish coast, leaving Ericsson (Neal McDonald) and ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) out to sea. Their reward came slowly, but surely, as they started to overtake, first Brunel (Matt Humphries) and then Brasil 1.
For the young team on ABN AMRO TWO, the final few hours of leg nine could not have been more intense. As they ghosted to a halt at the head of the fleet, just 16 miles from the finish, they could only look over their shoulders as the Pirates bore down on them. Cayard's team maintained their speed and crept past the Dutch yacht, taking the lead at just after midday, GMT.
Brunel skippered by Britain's Matt Humphries beat Ericsson into Goteborg, Sweden this afternoon to score their best result in the Volvo Ocean Race when they finished in fourth position on this leg at 15:26:48 GMT.
Brunel missed the Southern Ocean legs of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 after the team temporarily withdrew in order to give the boat a substantial refit. With her new modifications and some adjustments to the crew, this team, which was hampered at the start by lack of funds and time on the water, has now proved competitive.
ABN AMRO ONE crossed the line in last place. But who cares? With a total of 96 points, the team has won the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 with two legs to spare, but it gives a certain piquancy that the team, which has been so dominant for so long, should come last in the last leg.
"It's my Everest, my Olympic rings, my childhood dream," said Mike Sanderson (NZ), the skipper of the Dutch boat the ABN AMRO ONE team affectionately call Black Betty, when he won leg seven in Portsmouth. This was the point in the Volvo Ocean Race when the team knew they could not be beaten, but they still had two more legs to complete before they could finish the race in Goteborg.
"Who cares about this leg", said Sanderson on the dock. "We have won the Volvo Ocean Race and that is what it is all about. There is nothing wrong with today and the result, I promise you that. Gothenburg is the home of the Volvo Ocean Race and it is just great to be here. It was a bit slow getting in, but being here is just fantastic.
"I am not going to make any promises now on the dockside, but the Volvo Ocean Race is a wonderful race. We all love it and there is a good chance that we will all be back."
And with that Mike Sanderson was ceremoniously thrown in to the water by the shore crew, swiftly followed by the rest of the team.
Volvo Ocean Race Leg 9, Day 3, Finish Points not Ratified:
Overall
Overall pts Race Standing
1. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, finished 2d 02h 44m 06s 73.0 2
2. ABN AMRO TWO, Mike Sanderson, finished 2d 02h 48m 56s 58.5 4
3. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, finished 2d 03h 32m 15s 67.0 3
4. AUS1 Brunel, Matt Humphries, finished 2d 04h 26m 48s 15.5 7
5. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, finished 2d 05h 10m 20s 55.0 5
6. ABN AMRO ONE*, Mike Sanderson, finished 2d 05h 26m 57s 96.0 1
*a minor keel problem plagued this leg for ABN AMRO ONE.
June 16, Volvo Leg 9, Day 2. This is the last leg in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 and therefore the last chance the teams have to improve on their overall standings. No team is leaving anything to fate in the last chance saloon.Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) needs to shake off the Pirates (Paul Cayard) to stand a chance of taking second place overall, while ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) are in with a chance of fourth place overall, provided they keep Ericsson (Neal McDonald) at bay.
But, instead of a dramatic mad dash to the finish in Gothenburg, Sweden, the fleet is tip toeing secretly around, under the cover of thick fog. "The light air battle up into the Baltic might not be perfect ABN AMRO TWO conditions," writes their navigator Simon Fisher, "but right now there is no longer time for excuses. We are looking beyond the limitations of our boat and doing all we can to secure a good position." ABN AMRO TWO is in first place and Ericsson is in fifth. "So far so good," says Fisher, adding, "but I'd hate to speak too soon."
The weather has continued to outsmart the fleet and resolutely refuses to do what the forecasts have indicated. The racing is down to using best judgement and clever brains to try and outsmart the rest fleet. The six hourly position reports are waited for nervously, as the teams look for some indication of gain or loss. Use of the radar has become very important with visibility less than two miles. Brasil 1 saw several echoes, as they approached the Amsterdam access channel, which they thought were anchored ships, but when they got closer they saw that they were massive wind turbines having their blades installed.
ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) is not in her customary first place. Her wings have been clipped in the form of the fairing between the steel and carbon part of their keel being knocked off. The damage is not structural, but it is slowing the boat down in conditions that Black Betty likes the least. "What a huge relief that we don't need a result in this leg to still win overall. With the conditions so fluky and going against the forecast, there must be some stressed people out here," says skipper Mike Sanderson.
Although the light airs are very reminiscent of leg eight, which took the fleet around Britain and Ireland, there is one major difference. None of the crews are hungry this time and there is no danger of rationing in the next 24 hours. "This alone is enough to keep us all smiling," says Simon Fisher.
This afternoon the fleet split into two arms. The offshore group of Ericsson and ABN AMRO ONE are limping in the lightest of breeze, and speeds are low, while just nine miles off the coast is the second group of four is streaming along at 11 knots with new leader ABN AMRO TWO showing the way. They currently have 42 miles to sail to Hanstholm at the entrance of the Skagerrak Sea.
Volvo Ocean Race Positions Leg 9, Day 1 at 1600 GMT Friday:
1. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, 166 miles to finish
2. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +6 miles
3. AUS1 Brunel, Matt Humphries, +9 miles
4. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +10 miles
5. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, +27 miles
6. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, +28 miles
Thursday Ericsson Racing Team clears the starting line and heads for open water at the beginning of Leg 9. Photo: David Branigan/Oceansport
June 15, Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 Grand Finale. Rotterdam, The Netherlands; 1600 GMT, Leg nine, the final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06, got underway from Rotterdam this morning and the fleet is now beating up the coast of Holland at speeds of around 11 knots, taking care to remain inshore of the traffic separation zones which are the super highways for some of the world's largest commercial shipping.
Already the fleet has separated into three groups. Twelve miles offshore is Ericsson (Neal McDonald), while furthest inshore is Brasil 1 (Torben Grael), just seven miles off the Dutch coast. ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) is ahead of ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) who is following in her tracks, while in another group, Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard) leads Brunel (Matt Humphries) who is sailing with only nine crew due to Graeme Taylor being prevented by illness from being onboard the boat for their final push for a podium position.
Brasil 1 leads the fleet which is currently 19 miles south west of Den Helder in the North Sea.
At the start of the 470 nautical mile sprint leg to the finish port of Göteburg, Sweden, all eyes were on Paul Cayard's Pirates of the Caribbean and Torben Grael's Brasil 1 at the start as it was expected that these boats would stay close together and match each other move for move. Cayard's tactic was to concentrate on his own game and he timed the line to perfection to win the start.
Overall race winners ABN AMRO ONE, skippered by Mike Sanderson, were a little over zealous at the start and broke the line early. Quick to realise, Black Betty was hastily turned around to re-cross the start line.
Later from the Pirate Ship - Today's forecast for the race is decent wind at the start and for the first 10 hours, then gradually getting lighter, almost to the point of drifting. The conditions approaching Gothenberg are supposed to be quite fluky and variable. This is Brasil1's dream forecast... anything but steady conditions is their best chance to get four boats between us, which is what they have to do. Brasil1 may be the fastest boat in the fleet in light air also, so I am sure they are feeling good about their chances. We will just have to keep it close and hope that what ever luck hits them, good or bad, hits us too.
Also, the leg is not a fixed course. The race committee can lengthen or shorten the course by sending us on about six different "loops" as we approach Gothenberg. They want to have the fleet enter the city as close to 1300 CET Saturday as possible. So we won't know for sure how much more racing there is left as we near the end of the race. So the best strategy for us is to stay close to Brasil1, if we have the speed to do so, and just let all these variables become irrelevant. That is the plan. -- Paul Cayard, Pirates of the Caribbean skipper
Volvo Ocean Race Positions Leg 9, Day 1 at 2200 GMT Thursday:
1. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 374 miles to finish
2. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +2 miles
3. AUS1 Brunel, Matt Humphries, +3 miles
4. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, +4 miles
5. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +4 miles
6. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, +4 miles
At present the boats are expected to arrive into Gteborg, Sweden, on the afternoon of Saturday 17 June.Current Leaderboard: [position/team name/skipper/race points to date] 1st ABN AMRO ONE, Mike Sanderson (NZL) 94.0 pts 2nd Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard (USA) 66.0 pts 3rd Brasil 1, Torben Grael (BRA) 62.0 pts 4th ABN AMRO TWO, Sebastien Josse (FRA) 52.5 pts 5th Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald (GBR) 52.0 pts 6th movistar*, Bouwe Bekking (NED) 48.0 pts 7th Brunel, Grant Wharington(AUS)/Matt Humphries (GBR) 11.5 pts * no longer competing
Wednesday; Team Hilfiger at Rotterdam, Netherlands.Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Rotterdam 9 - 14 June. After nearly 70 races, in five countries, during seven months it all came down to the last day to decide the winner of the Volvo Extreme 40 grand prix series. After a final head to head in Rotterdam, Motorola-CHR won the Rotterdam series while Team Tommy Hilfiger took the overall series trophy away with them.
On the final day it came down to three boats Basilica, Motorola-CHR and Team Tommy Hilfiger battled it out for the top spot this afternoon in three exciting races. A gusty breeze of around 15 knots came in to please the catamaran sailors today but brought torrential rain with it making the spectators lives a little harder. The best wind of the week made for a fitting end to the grand prix series as the cats could really show what they were made of.
Rotterdam Final Results: 1st Motorola-CHR (2,1,1,2,3,2,3,5,5,3,4,1,3,4,3,1) 114 pts 2nd Tommy Hilfiger (1,3,2,1,4,3,1,2,2,2,3,4,DSQ,2,1,4) 113 pts 3rd Basilica (5,4,3,DNF,2,1,2,1,4,1,2,3,1,DSQ,2) 112 pts 4th Holmatro (3,5,4,3,1,4,4,3,3,4,1,2,3,3,2,3) 102 pts 5th Volvo Ocean Race (4,2,DNF,DNF,5,5,5,4,1,5,5,5,(DNF),5,4,5) 72 pts Overall Series Rankings: 1st Tommy Hilfiger 40 pts 2nd Basilica 36 pts 3rd Motorola-CHR 36 pts 4th Holmatro 29 pts 5th Volvo Ocean Race 24 pts
Photo:Richard Blake
June 14, Volvo Extreme 40s at Rotterdam 9 - 14 June. Tricky conditions made the Volvo Extreme 40s day on the water very hard on Tuesday with a mix up of results in the first race and all to play for going into the last day of the round the world series.
Light winds below five knots plagued the fleet, with races being abandoned and postponed all early evening. The first race saw Motorola-CHR skippered by Conrad Humphreys get their own back on their biggest rivals Tommy Hilfiger and Basilica by winning the race. Team Motorola-CHR were joined today by round the world navigator Andrew Cape who is currently sailing in the Volvo Ocean Race. Holmatro upped the anti and came in second, a great result for the Dutch team in their home country. They were followed by Basilica, Tommy Hilfiger and Team Volvo Ocean Race.
Two races were then abandoned and a third postponed until finally the second and final race of the day started. This saw three of the cats fly off the start in a small gust of wind, leaving Holmatro and Volvo Ocean Race floundering for a minute or two. Tommy Hilfiger came back to win this race, shadowed by Basilica and Motorola.
With only one day left (Wednesday) before the overall winner of the Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix series, the teams are feeling the pressure. A protest between Motorola-CHR and Tommy Hilfiger occurred today which will be decided in the morning and could effect the standings. Tommy Hilfiger leads by eight points with Basilica in second only one point clear of Motorola-CHR in the Rotterdam Grand Prix.
Results, day 4 1st Tommy Hilfiger (1,3,2,1,4,3,1,2,2,2,3,4,1) 100 pts 2nd Basilica (5,4,3,DNF,2,1,2,1,4,1,2,3,2) 92 pts 3rd Motorola-CHR (2,1,1,2,3,2,3,5,5,3,4,1,3) 91 pts 4th Holmatro (3,5,4,3,1,4,4,3,3,4,1,2,4) 81 pts 5th Volvo Ocean Race (4,2,DNF,DNF,5,5,5,4,1,5,5,5,(DNF)) 64 pts Overall Series Rankings (after four events) 1st Tommy Hilfiger 32 pts 2nd Basilica 30 pts 3rd Motorola-CHR 26 pts 4th Holmatro 24 pts 5th Volvo Ocean Race 20 pts
Photo: A. Kingman/Schneider Electric
June 12, Pacific record from West to East broken. At 00h43 GMT Monday, after setting out from Yokohama in Japan on 29th May, the trimaran flying the colours of Capgemini and Schneider Electric crossed the finishing line for the Pacific record from West to East. Olivier de Kersauson and his crew of eight had taken 13 days 22 hours 38 minutes and 28 secs to carry out the 4482 miles of the voyage. Beating the former record held by Bruno Peyron by 18 hours and 44 minutes. So after smashing Steve Fossett's record from East to West the Capgemini/Schneider Electric team has just snatched away Bruno Peyron's from West to East.
They set sail with a window of opportunity that Olivier de Kersauson described as acceptable. Once away from the Japanese coast, which is clearly a disastrous area, the Capgemini/Schneider Electric trimaran began a crossing that was quite tough on the nerves.
Morning Light film project. Roy Disney has opened the door a bit wider for young sailors who want a chance to become a part of his Morning Light film project. The qualifications have just been modified to include more young sailors. Now, any candidate who turns 18 years of age before next January is eligible.
Morning Light a real-life adventure feature film, will be part of next year's 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii. Based on the premise of "the youngest crew ever to race Transpac," the film will chronicle the recruitment, training and performance of sailors through the next Transpac Race in July of 2007. Once the crew is selected, the young sailors will undergo months of intense training on the TP52 Morning Light in Hawaii. Then, the young crew will compete in the Transpac Race on Morning Light without adult supervision. There will be no script and no preconceived outcome.
The film, to be shot in High Definition theatrical quality, will be distributed by the Walt Disney Co. and is tentatively scheduled for release in theaters in 2008. Deadline for filing an online application is June 19. Click here for site & application form
18ft Skiff European Championship. The final day of the European International Championships for 18ft skiffs was held in perfect Lake Garda sailing conditions. A little less breeze than the previous two days although the wind did build during the afternoon. Three races were held, the last two of which were shortened to allow the fleet ashore early for those beginning the long journey home.
In the first race the Danish team Fleming Clausen, Thomas Ebler and Soren Clausen on GP Covers, looking to take the European Championship title and Howie Hamlin, Mike Martin and Trent Barnabas on Pegasus Racing, overall series leaders, took advantage of a pin end biased line and started on port tack, crossing almost the entire fleet before hitting the cliffs with a solid lead. Fleming and his team held the advantage until the windward mark but Howie took the lead on the downwind leg and opened up a sizeable gap on the rest of the fleet to take his eighth bullet of the series. After crossing the line the Pegasus team did not drop their kite but sailed directly back to the beach, the series in the bag with two races to spare, counting nothing worse than second place after discards. A truly impeccable display of high performance sailing and boat handling.
So ended an extremely successful event at one of the world08s greatest sailing venues. Not only did Campione see biggest gathering of 18ft skiffs outside Australia, but also a marked improvement in the quality and standard of the European and UK fleets, providing worthy competition to some of Australia08s and the world08s top skiff sailors.
Top ten (28 boats) 1. Howie Hamlin, Pegasus Racing, USA, 12 points 2. John Winning, Yandoo, AUS, 22.4 3. Clausen Flemming, GP Covers, DEN, 41 4. Grant Rollerson, De Longhi, AUS, 46 5. Peter Barton, Barron + Smithers, GBR, 49 6. Ed Browne, Sels, GBR, 52 7. Mason Woodworth, White Stuff, GBR, 67 8. Rob Dulson, Base 1, GBR, 71 9. Jesper Broendum, Ler Ole, DEN, 76 10. Tim Penfold, Fat Face, GBR, 77
Volvo In-Port-Race, Rotterdam, Holland.
Volvo In-Port-Race, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Saturday. New Zealander Mike Sanderson skippered ABN AMRO ONE to victory in the in-port race in their home port of Rotterdam.
ABN AMRO ONE, which is registered and christened in Rotterdam, worked her way into the lead in the early stages and did not look back. In front of a huge spectator crowd they crossed the finish line 3 minutes and 20 seconds in front of Torben Grael's Brasil 1.
After a postponed start due to a large wind shift just after the five minute warning signal fired, the in-port race got underway in 8-10 knots of wind. Neal McDonald's Ericsson was a little too quick off the line and had to turn back after starting prematurely.
ABN AMRO ONE hit the line with pace, hotly pursued by Brasil 1 and Paul Cayard's Pirates of the Caribbean who went on to challenge the Dutch boat all the way around the 20 mile race course.
With added confidence after winning leg eight yesterday, Brasil 1 was on top form and pushed hard throughout the leg, closing the gap to just 15 seconds at one point. A decision to split tacks from ABN AMRO ONE on the third upwind leg saw the Dutch team pull out a 1 minute 26 second lead. The Race Committee's decision to shorten course on the downwind leg due to the dying breeze, saw ABN AMRO ONE take line honours. Brasil 1 crossed the line in second place followed by Pirates of the Caribbean who finished 51 seconds behind Brasil 1 in third place.
Ericsson managed to recover from the start and came from behind to finish fourth which was helped by a boat handling error onboard Sebastien Josse's ABN AMRO TWO when they managed to twist their headsail during the second mark rounding, forcing them to drop it and re-hoist it again.
The Dutch/Australian entry Brunel skippered by Australian Grant Wharington for the in-port race moved up to finish fifth with ABN AMRO TWO sixth.
Overall, ABN AMRO ONE has an unbeatable lead and heads up the overall leaderboard. Brasil 1 maintains third place overall but managed to close the gap by half a point on second placed Pirates of the Caribbean.
Due to navigational error on leg eight, Brunel were forced to retire from the leg which results in ABN AMRO TWO overtaking Ericsson overall and holding fourth place with Ericsson fifth.
The fleet now have a few days to recover until they head off again on the final leg from Rotterdam to Göteborg on Thursday 15 June.
Saturday In-port race results: [position/team name/skipper/elapsed time] 1st ABN AMRO ONE, Mike Sanderson (NZL) 1 hr 55 mins 32 sec 2nd Brasil 1, Torben Grael (BRA) 1 hr 58 mins 52 sec 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard (USA) 1 hr 59 mins 43 sec 4th Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald (GBR) 2 hr 01 mins 17 sec 5th Brunel, Grant Wharington/Matt Humphries (AUS)/(GBR) 2 hr 07 mins 02 sec 6th ABN AMRO TWO, Sebastien Josse (FRA) 2 hr 08 mins 33 sec Current Leaderboard (Provisional): [position/team name/skipper/race points to date] 1st ABN AMRO ONE, Mike Sanderson (NZL) 94.0 pts 2nd Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard (USA) 66.0 pts 3rd Brasil 1, Torben Grael (BRA) 62.0 pts 4th ABN AMRO TWO, Sebastien Josse (FRA) 52.5 pts 5th Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald (GBR) 52.0 pts 6th movistar* Bouwe Bekking (NED) 48.0 pts 7th Brunel, Grant Wharington/Matt Humphries (AUS)(GBR) 11.5 pts * no longer competing...
Brasil 1Skipper Torben Grael (BRA) at the finish of leg leg 8 in the Volvo Ocean Race from Portsmouth to Rotterdam, Netherlands. Brasil 1 won the leg, ABN AMRO ONE came second and Ericsson third. Photo: 08Martin StockbridgeJune 10, Volvo Leg 8, Saturday. At 1104GMT this Saturday morning, Paul Cayard brought his team of Pirates, racing The Black Pearl, across the finish line in Rotterdam, Holland to complete leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race in fourth position.
Although this is a disappointing result for the team - the first time they have been out of the top three since March, enjoying a string of second and third placings - Pirates of the Caribbean retain their second place on the overall leaderboard.
The Dutch sponsored Brunel, skippered by Matt Humphries, became the fifth boat to cross the finish line in Rotterdam, Holland after completing leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started from Portsmouth, UK on June 2. Finishing today at 1246 GMT, the team had a promising start to the leg where they were in the top three. But the weather conditions did not suite the newly modified boat, which now has many of the characteristics of the TEAM ABN AMRO boats in that she performs better in more breeze, and this will be a disappointing result for Humphries and his team.
Leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race was concluded today when the second Dutch yacht, ABN AMRO TWO skippered by Frenchman, Sebastien Josse, crossed the finish line in their home port of Rotterdam at 1247 GMT. After keeping in touch with the fleet as the lead constantly reshuffled, a characteristic of this leg, it was on day seven that the fleet separated and the crew of ABN AMRO TWO found themselves relegated to the 'silver' fleet as the six boats in the fleet divided in to two distinct groups.
From that moment it was a battle for ABN AMRO TWO between Brunel (Matt Humphries) and Pirates of the Caribbean as the rest of the fleet sailed away and the trailing three were left wallowing helplessly in no wind.
Now, there are less than 24-hours to rest the crew and ready the boat for tomorrow's in-port race. But the crew's first priority will surely be some food, as this team was running low on provisions as the leg took longer than anticipated.
Sunday will be the final in-port race of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06, starting at 0900 (GMT), 1100 (local) and lasting around two and a half hours. The fleet will race off the Hoek van Holland and the fleet should be visible from the shore of the Hoek van Holland along to Schevningen.
LEG EIGHT LEADERBOARD Leg Standing
Yacht Leg Points Finish Time Elapsed Time Total Pts Overall Position
1. BRASIL 1 7.0 09/06/06 23:18:42 007d 06h 48m 42s 59.0 3
2. ABN AMRO ONE 6.0 09/06/06 23:21:52 007d 06h 51m 52s 90.5 1
3. ERICSSON 5.0 09/06/06 23:47:02 007d 07h 17m 02s 50.0 5
4. Pirates 4.0 10/06/06 11:04:47 007d 18h 34m 47s 63.5 2
5. BRUNEL 3.0 10/06/06 11:40:32 007d 19h 10m 32s 11.0 7
6. ABN AMRO TWO 2.0 10/06/06 12:47:51 007d 20h 17m 51s 50.5 4
Saturday 0000hrs GMT Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) won leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race from Portsmouth, UK, to Rotterdam, Holland, posting the best result so far for Brasil 1, the first Brazilian team ever to enter the Volvo Ocean Race.On crossing the finish line, skipper Torben Grael said: "We have had some good moments on this leg and some not so good moments, but the most important thing is that we were amongst the leaders for the whole leg. The crew work was excellent, the boat was very fast and everything went really well with the new sails we got in Portsmouth."
"I was really happy because we were competitive in all conditions. Normally we are not as fast as the ABN AMRO boats in the stronger wind, but ABN AMRO ONE did not seem so much faster in these conditions. We only knew we could win in the last moments of the race. The wind had increased and normally ABN AMRO ONE would over take in these conditions. We monitored their every move, but it wasnt until we saw the finish line that we knew that we had won."
The leg, which took the fleet around Britain and Ireland, has been a battle from start to finish between Torben Grael's Brasil 1, Mike Sanderson's ABN AMRO ONE and Neal McDonald's Ericsson.
The crew onboard Ericsson playing follow the leader...
Photo: Magnus Woxén
In the lightest conditions experienced in the Volvo Ocean Race so far, the top three teams had reshuffled their positions constantly, been in sight of each most of the time, and pressed as hard as humanly possible in the most trying conditions in their quest to claim the winner's points for this leg.
As the three boats flew towards the finish at 15 knots, it was a fight to the bitter end, culminating in a sweet victory for Grael and his team of Brazilian sailors who crossed the finish line at 2318 GMT Friday night in first place after seven days, six hours, 48 minutes and 42 seconds.
ABN AMRO ONE which had been closing quickly as the wind freshened, finished three minutes later. It was a delighted Mike Sanderson who brought ABN AMRO ONE into the team's home port of Rotterdam in second place in spite of the fact that, for the majority of the leg, the light conditions were completely unsuited to the fat bottomed boat they call 'Black Betty'.
Third place went to Neal McDonald whose team had led for much of this leg. After finishing second on the leg across the Atlantic, McDonald's team were to go one better, but had to settle for the final spot on the podium. Brasil 1's win tonight still leaves the team in third place overall, but the margin between the Brazilian team and Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard) in second place has been narrowed to just 4.5 points, assuming Cayard finished in his current position of fourth. With an in-port race and the final leg yet to come, it is achievable for Brasil 1 to move up to second place overall.
Ericsson's result tonight brings the team to within half a point of fourth place on the overall scoreboard, the spot currently occupied by ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse).
LEG EIGHT LEADERBOARD Leg Standing
Yacht Leg Points Finish Time Elapsed Time Total Pts Overall Position
1. BRASIL 1 7.0 09/06/06 23:18:42 007d 06h 48m 42s 59.0 3
2. ABN AMRO ONE 6.0 09/06/06 23:21:52 007d 06h 51m 52s 90.5 1
3. ERICSSON 5.0 09/06/06 23:47:02 007d 07h 17m 02s 50.0 5
Leg 8 Position at 0000 GMT Saturday:
4. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, 137 miles to finish
5. AUS1 Brunel, Matt Humphries, +11
6. ABN AMRO TWO, Sebastien Josse, +20
Early Friday: The crew onboard Ericsson played follow the leader with Brasil1 ahead of them and then ABN AMRO ONE - by 1600 hrs, it was Brasil1, then Ericsson with ABN AMRO ONE in third place!. Photo: Magnus WoxénVolvo Leg 8, Day 8. The last 12 hours of leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race are shaping up to be a drag race to Rotterdam between Ericsson (Neal McDonald) - looking for another strong performance in this penultimate leg, ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) - who would dearly like to lead the fleet into their home port, and today's leader, Brasil 1 (Torben Grael). The fight has never been so intense.
As the leading three yachts race on through the pea soup fog of the North Sea, one of the busiest shipping areas, they have been in eye contact for much of the time. Yesterday, Brasil 1 could see both boats until they sailed into the fog.
"We couldn't see much further than a mile," writes Horacio Carabelli. "The situation was so difficult that we almost hit a tug that was on a collision course with us. The tug wasn't caught by our radar. We just knew the position when we heard it on the VHF channel calling a vessel in a similar position to ours. The tug informed us that it was speeding up to pass us on starboard. The only thing we saw was the huge wave and the smoke from the engines."
A similar thing happened to Brunel (Matt Humphries) yesterday when they got a call on the VHF. "Sailing yacht, this is guard ship St John." The ship informed Brunel that ahead lay a huge cable laying vessel with eight cables running 2.5 miles astern of the vessel and that Brunel would have to make a substantial alteration of course to starboard to avoid the cables. The crew had no option but to agree.
"We shaved it as close as possible and rounded the eight 'trailing buoys' marking the safe passage with about 10 metres to spare. In doing the course change, we watched all our gains on Pirates and ABN AMRO TWO disappear and now we await the next sked with some trepidation," explained navigator Will Oxley.
In the 'silver' fleet, ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) is determined not to be last into Rotterdam, although they do have the pressing problem of getting back past Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard) and Brunel. Although they are chasing hard, hunger is dominating thoughts onboard.
"It is amazing how hungry you can be when you know there is nothing to eat. I am sure, if the day bag was full of goodies, then I wouldn't fancy anything at all right now!! Knowing that I have to wait hours before a tiny freeze dried meal however, has spurred my brain into playing games with me and my stomach," says navigator Simon Fisher.
Oh to swap places with Ericsson, who as well as being in the leading pack of three, are enjoying a few hot chocolates on deck and some beef jerky to sustain the crew. They have dug out their final rationings and are enjoying their favourite beef stew. The heater is working and they area welcomed to a cozy cabin during their off watch.
Now, with less than 12 hours until the winner of leg eight crosses the finish line in Rotterdam, it is still anyone's game and only five miles separates the top three in the 'gold' fleet. They are currently 60 miles north east of Cromer in East Anglia, 90 miles east of Grimsby on the Indefatigable Banks, 88 miles off the coast, with just over 100 miles to go to the finish. Pirates of the Caribbean leads the 'silver' fleet, which is 110 off the coast and still north of Newcastle.
Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 1600 on Friday:
1. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 106 miles to finish
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, +2 miles
3. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, +5 miles
4. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +120 miles
5. AUS1 Brunel, Matt Humphries, +127 miles
6. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +134 miles
Mark 'Becksy' Bartlett onboard Brunel as they pass one of the many outcrops off the coast. Photo: BrunelJune 8, Volvo Leg 8, Thursday 1600 GMT. While the leading pack in the Volvo Ocean Race are streaking away with fresh breeze, the trailing pack are frustrated, tired and hungry. Overnight, Ericsson (Neal McDonald), Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) and ANB AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) sneaked their way through the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth, but the back markers chose the Outer Sound and paid the price. Now, the front runners are nearly 100 miles ahead, and the tail-enders are less than impressed.
"We are hanging in there, despite how absurd this leg have gotten," said a cheesed off Paul Cayard from Pirates of the Caribbean. "We have been parked up at least once every 12 hours in the last two days."
The wind is still light and the leaders are nearly out of reach, romping away at 11 knots, while the three at the back - Pirates of the Caribbean, ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) and Brunel (Matt Humphries) are struggling to get more than four knots from their racing machines. Although the in-port race in Rotterdam has been rescheduled for Sunday morning, 1100 local time, the fleet may still not finish until Saturday. This means that food and diesel are running seriously short and both are being rationed.
Onboard The Black Pearl, the Pirates only have four meals left and just over 400 miles to sail to the finish in Rotterdam. They have rationed the food to one meal for every hundred miles. At their current speed, they don't eat often. They are also low on diesel needed to run the generator and to make electricity, so they have to conserve on things that consume power such as the computer screens, keel canting etc.
At 1600 GMT today, ABN AMRO ONE had stolen the lead from Ericsson by just a mile and Brasil 1 was a mile astern of Ericsson. The leading three are sailing at twice the speeds of the trailing pack which will add to their mounting frustration.
Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 1600 on Thursday:
1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 322 miles to finish
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, + 1 miles
3. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, + 2 miles
4. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +92 miles
5. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +98 miles
6. AUS1 Brunel, Matt Humphries, +99 miles
2006 18ft Skiff European International Championships at
Campione on Lake Garda. Day two (Tuesday) after a morning of absolute dead calm with
crews rigging and relaxing in the warm Italian sun the thermal breeze
kicked in like clockwork at 12.00 ready for the scheduled 1.00pm start.
Race managements intention was to hold at least three races. However,
Thor, or his Italian equivalent, once again had the final say in the
matter.The first race got underway in sparkling sunshine and a steady 12 knot breeze, enough to have the skiffs flat out three wiring. Racing was very close throughout the fleet with the start and windward and leeward mark roundings all aggressively contested, resulting in numerous incidents, several of which ended in the protest room.
Once again Howie Hamlin, Mike Martin and Trent Barnabas on Pegasus Racing showed why they were two times winners of the JJ Giltinan Championships and moved into the lead by the second lap, closely followed by John Winning, Andrew Hay and Geoff Bauchop on Yandoo and British team James Mears, Matt Gill and Stuart Mears on Pica. Unfortunately by this time the piled thunder clouds which had been gathering over the mountains on either side of the lake started to make their presence felt, this time cutting off the thermal wind entirely and creating a 180 degree shift at the bottom of the course. The race officer sensibly shortened the course after the second lap and sent the fleet back to shore to wait for the storm to pass.
Pass it did and shortly after 3.30pm the fleet was released again for more racing in a slightly reduced but steady breeze. Perhaps due to the passing influence of the thunder clouds the wind had backed slightly from the usual Ora direction. As a result the typical Garda strategy of banging the cliffs was not necessarily the way to go. A number of boats noticed this and continued left after the start, including the British team of Tim Penfold, Matt Alvarado and Will Penfold on Fat Face who rounded the first windward mark well ahead of the fleet and held their lead through to the finish, successfully holding off Pegasus Racing for four laps to take a very well deserved race win. By the time the race had finished the wind was starting to drop for the day and the race officer sent the fleet home.
Forecast for tomorrow: sunshine and no more thunder!
Standings after four races (one discard): 1. Pegasus Racing, Howie Hamlin, USA, 3 points 2. GP Covers, Flemming Clausen, DEN, 9 3. Fat Face, Tim Penfold, GBR, 13 4. De Longhi, Grant Rollerson, AUS, 13 5. Yandoo, John Winning, AUS, 14June 7, Volvo Leg 8, Day 6. With time running short and leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race taking much longer than originally predicted, the race committee last night shortened the course. The new course takes the fleet around Duncansby Head on mainland Scotland and through the Pentland Firth, rather than round Fair Isle which is situated between the Orkney and Shetland Islands.
Although this new course will save the fleet approximately 76 nautical miles, it raises a huge tactical and navigational challenge, enhanced by the light airs dominating the fleet. Ironically, there now appears to be more wind now in the north, which makes an interesting dilemma for the navigators: whether to sail a longer course in more wind, or take a short cut through the Pentland Firth in less wind.
Today the crews onboard are in no doubt about the part of the world in which they are sailing. Gone are the Caribbean-like clear blue seas and skies of yesterday. Today they are replaced with cold air and grey clouds. It is the Hebrides and very remote.
The fleet has rounded the lighthouse at the Butt of Lewis and the leading group has approximately 10 miles to sail due east before rounding Cape Wrath on the northern tip of Scotland. From Cape Wrath it is 54 nautical miles due east to the entrance of the Pentland Firth. If the navigators choose this course - the shortened course, then this will be the point of no going back - the no-going back zone.
The Pentland Firth separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland and the entrance is only 6.3 nautical miles wide. The exit is even narrower at 4.6 miles and the fleet has to navigate 11 miles of islands, headlands, rocks, tidal rips and whirlpools before they reach the safety of Duncansby Head at the eastern end.
The tides here are some of the strongest in the world and up to 16 knots have been reported. This will be a real issue for the fleet if the boats arrive here in light airs and a foul tide. The force of the tide creates overfalls and tidal races which can occur at different stages of the tide, and, in several areas of the firth, these can be very strong and extremely violent.
There are two routes through the Pentland Firth, the Outer Sound and the Inner Sound. The outer sound is the passage between the islands of Stroma and Swona. It is 2.5 miles wide, and is the usual route through the by day and by night. The inner sound is only 1.25 miles wide and is the passage between the island of Stroma and the Scottish mainland. The UK Admiralty advises that, with local knowledge, slow or small vessels can use this route to save time, but large vessels are not recommended to use the Inner Sound at any time. Which route will the Volvo Open 70s take? Even in calm conditions, there can be heavy turbulence in the races.
Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 2200 on Wednesday:
1. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 498 miles to finish
2. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, + 1 miles
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, + 1 miles
4. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +22 miles
5. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +24 miles
5.AUS1 Brunel, Matt Humphries, +24 miles
The in-port race in Rotterdam has now been rescheduled to start at 1100 local time on Sunday, June 11.Tuesday, Leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race is already taking longer than it should. With an in-port race planned for Rotterdam on Saturday, the Race Committee has shortened the course by 76 miles, which could, at the current pace, make the leg half a day quicker.
The change of course will occur at the northern tip of Scotland, by changing the rounding mark of Fair Isle to Duncansby Head. The fleet was informed of the proposed change late Tuesday afternoon, and once agreement from each boat had been sought, the change of course was confirmed officially.
The fleet will now leave Duncansby Head, which is a lighthouse situated at approximately 175 miles to the north of the fleet, to starboard.
Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 2200 hours yesterday (Monday):
1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 642 miles to finish
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, +2 miles
3. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +5 miles
4. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +11 miles
4. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +11 miles
6. Brunel, Matt Humphries, +23 miles
On board Brasil1 with Pirates of the Caribbean in sight astern. Photo: Brasil1June 6, Volvo Leg 8, Day 5. With the little increase in breeze this Tuesday morning, ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) is back in her customary position: at the head of the fleet, and Ericsson (Neal McDonald) is now in second position on leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race, the slowest leg of the race so far.
"I was hoping that ABN AMRO ONE was holding back, because it was the fabled 'not ABN weather' or that Moose (Mike Sanderson) had a rotator cuff problem from that bullet of a first pitch he threw at the Orioles game a couple of weeks ago in Baltimore that was somehow slowing them down. Or anything. But here they come. A little breeze is all they need," wrote Kenny Read from Ericsson rather ruefully.
"Clearly they have done their homework and have little to no offshore holds. Don't know what we can do to stop them at this point, which is a bummer, because the boys onboard have worked really hard in very light, trying conditions to keep our old girl in front," he added.
Even though leg eight is taking much longer than normal and the fleet is covering the ocean at a snail's pace, the racing continues to be incredibly tight, perhaps the closest racing yet.
"Currently we are sailing alongside Pirates of the Caribbean. For much of the morning they have not been more than a few hundred metres away and although we may be down in fourth or fifth place, there is absolutely no need for despair as the leaders are in view just a few miles ahead," says Simon Fisher from ABN AMRO TWO.
Lack of food is becoming a real issue. The leg was expected to last for six days but it is going to be a few more days before the teams can launch themselves into the Dutch fare. "We are going to have to go easy on the food for the next few days," says Simon Fisher. "This doesn't necessarily mean you have to go hungry, but on this boat you've got to be quick," he laughs.
Leg eight couldn't be more different from leg seven which brought the fleet across the Atlantic from New York to Portsmouth last month. Kenny Read from Ericsson says the huge stationary high pressure system on leg eight has created trying conditions in such a different way from the Trans-Atlantic leg that it is barely recognisable as the same game.
"I don't ever remember being on deck in leg seven without foul weather gear and being pounded by water while on deck was the norm. I actually wore my foul weather gear a lot of the time below as well - a necessity due to the water coming in the boat from the outside in every imaginable and unimaginable way possible. On this leg I haven't put my foul weather jacket on yet and I have done half the race with just socks on. Leg seven saw large periods of very little sleep for most during some heinous weather and hull slamming. This leg is breaking snoring sound barriers that have never been approached before," he describes.
This afternoon the fleet continues to make reasonable progress towards Fair Isle, the turning point at the northern tip of Scotland between the Orkney and Shetland Islands, but the wind is going to die again shortly and more park-ups and reshuffles in the fleet are to be expected.
Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 1600 GMT Tuesday: 1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 777 miles to finish 2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, +4 miles 3. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +6 miles 4. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +11 miles 5. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +12 miles 6. AUS1 Brunel, Matt Humphries, +26 milesClick here for web site
Left to right: Spithill, Baylis.
Photo: Walter Cooper
BoatU.S.Santa Maria Cup, Women's Match Racing Championship, hosted by Eastport Yacht Club, Annapolis, MD. Katie Spithill of Sydney, Australia is the champion of the 16th annual BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup Women's Match Racing Championship. Katie Spithill, age 24, is only the fourth non-American to win the title.
Spithill's winning crew included Stacey Jackson (main and tactics), Angela Farrell (jib), and Nina Curtis (bow).This Grade 1 event was held in Annapolis, MD, May 31 - June 3. Traditional light winds delayed racing Thursday afternoon and Friday, but Saturday's high winds made the competition exciting.
Phillippe
Photo: Walter Cooper
The semi-finals were shortened to first to win two points. Giulia Conti, World Rank 31 (ITA) and Katie Spithill, World Rank 12 (AUS) advanced to the finals with Liz Baylis, 2003 Cup winner, World Rank 39 (USA) and Christelle Philippe, World Rank 8 (FRA) in the petit-finals. Baylis won the petit-finals giving her third place overall.
Conti
Photo: Walter Cooper
The final races on Saturday were to be determined by the first team to win three races and were full of suspense. Winds ranged from 14-20 knots, gusting to 25, challenging the skills of all racers and umpires. The first two races were very close with Spithill in the lead. Conti took the next two, requiring a fifth race to decide the winner. Race 5 score was thrown out due to a committee boat breakdown causing contact with Conti. In the re-match race 6, Spithill defeated Conti, making a remarkable recovery, even after serving a penalty turn.
Final Results: Katie Spithill (AUS) D. Giulia Conti (ITA), 3-2 Petit-Final Liz Baylis (USA) D. Christelle Philippe (FRA), 2-1 Semi-Finals Katie Spithill (AUS) D. Liz Baylis (USA), 2-0 Giulia Conti (ITA) D. Christelle Philippe (FRA), 2-0 Round Robin Standings: 1. Liz Baylis (USA), 11-3 2. Christelle Philippe (FRA), 10-4 3. Giulia Conti (ITA), 9-5 4. Katie Spithill (AUS), 9-5 5. Katy Pilley-Lovell (USA), 9-5 6. Carol Cronin (USA), 7-7 7. Deb Capozzi (USA), 6-8 8. Jo Ann Fisher (USA), 5-9 9. Lorenza Mariani (ITA), 3-11 10. Jen Provan (CAN), 1-13Click here for web site
Monday; Ericsson with Brasil 1 astern
(Brasil 1 later overtook Ericsson).
Photo: Oscar Kihlborg/Volvo
June 5, Volvo Leg 8, Day 4, Monday. The sun is out and if you were planning on going sailing last weekend, then it was a beautiful weekend, but it a tight yacht race out in the Irish Sea. Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard) is about two boat lengths away from Brunel (Matt Humphries), who is just nudging the ABN ARMO ONE (Mike Sanderson), while Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) is the new leader, from Ericsson Racing Team in second place, two miles behind.
The fleet will keep pushing north until it reaches Fair Isle, an island situated between the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands at the northern tip of Scotland, which the fleet must pass to starboard. But first the teams still have approximately 600 miles to cover and so far the light wind has been hampering progress greatly.
This afternoon fleet has been temporarily freed of the light conditions, and have been enjoying beautiful sailing conditions, but this is only a pause in proceedings and between midnight tonight and dawn tomorrow there will be very little breeze and the fleet may stop completely. This could mean that the fleet may arrive too late into Rotterdam to sail the in-port race currently scheduled for Saturday. Decisions on when to hold the race will be reached on Thursday this week when the estimated time of arrival for the fleet is more accurate.
The wind has been so light that the crews on several boats have amused themselves with the local wildlife, mainly racing pigeons. Jan Dekker on ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) demonstrated his skills onboard when a visiting pigeon was encouraged to sleep, cradled and rocked in Dekker's hands, before being placed quietly on the cockpit sole where it remained motionless with its head tucked under its wings. When Dekker gently stretched its head out, it woke up straight away and flew up to the boom.
Onboard Brasil 1, they also have a flying visitor. Their pigeon spent a whole day onboard, and inspected the interior of the boat and was especially interested in the navstation where it walked across the keyboard. "It visited the interior of the boat, ate with us and drank our water. It is still here and we're thinking about putting it into the watch system. Who know? It might spot some wind somewhere," said Andre Fonseca. Perhaps it is working?
Yesterday, as ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) was quietly ghosting through the glassy still water, they suddenly had a race on - against a flock of seagulls which easily swam up to the boat to have a look at what was going on. "I think it would have been easier for us to ride their bow wave, as opposed to them riding ours," laughed navigator Simon Fisher.
In the waters of the Irish Sea a pod of curious dolphins also paid a visit to ABN AMRO TWO, not an uncommon affair during the race around the world, but this time was little special. "With the sea completely calm, we could see them darting about deep beneath the water, gracefully and effortlessly, a view that is usually hidden from us by the wind and the waves," wrote Simon Fisher.
Onboard the leading yacht, Irishman, Damian Foxall has been revisiting his youth as he the team sail Ericsson up the west coast of Ireland. "I had the pleasure of the morning watch on deck as we passed the Kenmare River where I grew up, The Skelligs Rocks, which still have the remains of monks hermitage, Puffin, The Bull, Cow and Calf islands, still there as we gybe downwind. A few hours later we peel kites as the wind builds and I took a trip up the mast to untwist the halyards, giving me a spectacular perspective as I looked over our kite to the Brazilian boat as both boats passed between the Blasket Islands and the Dingle peninsula. It is one of those summer days with a high pressure over the west, which often stays for an extended period; one of those days that makes me realise I was very lucky to have been brought up in this amazing part of the world."
Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 1600 GMT Monday: 1. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 1039 miles to finish 2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, +2 miles 3. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, +10 miles 3. Brunel, Matt Humphries, +10 miles 3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +10 miles 5. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +11 milesJune 4, Volvo Leg 8. Sunday, almost three days out and the Volvo Ocean Race fleet has covered only a little more than 200 nautical miles under light fluky winds. Looking ahead, conditions are not expected to change much as the fleet heads northwest past Fastnet Rock under the influence of a large area of high pressure.
So far this leg (leg 8 of 9 legs, from Portsmouth round the British Isles to Rotterdam), the conditions have been very different from those experienced on the trip across the Atlantic. While there has been none of the crashing upwind or physical challenges of the heavy air sailing, the relatively calm seas, strong currents, light air, and sun, are by no means a walk in the park. If heavy air sailing is scary because things break, then light air sailing is frustrating because without wind you are powerless.
Looking ahead, lighter winds are expected to continue for the next 36 hours. The large area of high pressure is drifting slowly east and the fleet is eagerly awaiting the stronger south-southwesterly winds on the western periphery of the high. - http://www.volvooceanrace.org
Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 22:00 GMT Sunday: 1. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 1149 miles to finish 2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, +3 miles 3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +5 miles 4. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, +7 miles 5. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +7 miles 6. Brunel, Matt Humphries, + 10 miles
Photo: Richard LangdonVolvo Extreme 40 takes line honours in Round the Island Race. The Volvo Extreme 40 Class, which competed during the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06, made its debut at the JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Isle of Wight Race today. No records were broken, in the light and frustrating breeze, but Team Holmatro put in a spectacular performance and took line honours in the 50.1 mile race which attracted over 1,587 boats.
It was a hard fought race and after eight hours, the first three Volvo Extreme 40's, Holmatro, Tommy Hilfiger and Team Motorola - CHR all finished within 5 minutes of each other.
This was the first time the Volvo Extreme 40 class have competed in a category 4 race. Expectations were high for a fast finish when the boats reached the half way point of the race in just one and a half hours. However the strong tide and dying breeze meant the boats spent the next 7 hours in light, variable and very frustrating conditions.
Guest on board the winning boat Holmatro, Gael Pawson from Yachts and Yachting enjoyed the VX40 experience immensely. "It was an amazing race of snakes of ladders. The slightest bit of breeze and you are flying on these boats. It was unbelievable how close the class was, right up to the finish it could have been anybody's race."
Skipper of third placed Team Motorola Conrad Humphreys commented, "It was an awesome start, we got to the right end of the line at a nice angle and we were flying down as far as Yarmouth. It was a frustrating race with moments high speed action followed by long patches at all. Having said that, we'd love to come back to this Round the Island Race next year, with a few friends. We'd love to see a British Grand Prix event on the South Coast next year. I think everyone enjoyed the spectacle of the VX40 class racing round the Isle of Wight today."
Richard Lewis - Sunday Times spent the day on Motorola "This is a thrilling experience - often you report on sporting events from the press box which can be a pretty static experience. It's not until you get on these boats that you realise that this is sport at the highest level and it's amazing to take part."
Round the world record solo yachtswoman Dee Caffari was on board Basilica. "It was a great opportunity to sail with these guys because I have never sailed a multi-hull like this before and it was nice they gave me some responsibility navigating. There are still talking to me so I must have done an ok job.".
U.S. Pirates of the Caribbean finds new breeze as she tacks along the Isle of Wight shoreline past Egypt Point heading westwards.
Photo: David Barnigan/Volvo Ocean Race
June 3, Volvo Leg 8, Ericsson struts her stuff. After hugging the shore to avoid foul tide for much of the 23 hours since leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race began in Portsmouth, the whole fleet is now approaching The Lizard and Ericsson (Neal McDonald), the leading boat, has just 13 miles to go. This is not a scoring gate on this leg, so no points to be gained by arriving here first, but psychologically, this will be good for McDonald and his crew.
The first 24 hours of this race has seen some reshuffling of the fleet, and almost every boat has had their moment in the sun, but, for the third 'sked' in a row, McDonald has been at the top and now Ericsson Racing Team has a nice lead of 11 miles over Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) in second place.
"The troops who started this campaign probably didn't imagine that they were building a boat to have success when it was light and weird," writes Ericsson's Ken Read. "Well, so far in this race, we are doing just that. Our speciality: Light and weird!"
In fact the whole of leg eight has been light and weird so far, according to Read. The fleet had a long beat to try and round Portland Bill before the tide turned, but there was no chance and it took almost two tides to get there. "We prepped the anchor all night, but didn't have to use it, and in the morning, the entire six boat group was all within sight," said Read.
Then came some light air reaching and Ericsson found a chance to strut her stuff. The breeze nearly shut off around mid-morning but then a sea breeze filled in from southwest as predicted and Ericsson got away from the group.
"There will be light air and very tricky sailing for a couple more days at least," explains Read. "You need a bit of skill to get around these tricky parts, but you also need a ton of luck. Our pulling away this morning had a bit of both for sure, but we will take it," he adds.
Light air sailing is difficult and the crews have to concentrate for every second to get the best performance from their boats. Steering the boat requires the most concentration, and the crews are constantly stacking the boat one way or another to get some heel on to improve performance. The sea is glassy calm but this is no time to relax. Onboard ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse), much of the day has been spent looking through binoculars, trying to find that extra puff of wind or trying to get a jump on their rivals. "What have seemed like hours between sail changes have only been minutes so far in the race," exclaims navigator Simon Fisher. "With the wind constantly changing and the fleet reshuffling so rapidly, you are easily tricked into thinking hours have passed you by," he says.
The pirates on The Black Pearl have had a frustrating time so far. They have forgotten to take with them their endoscope, the device that allows the crew to see if the rudder and keel are free of weed or other debris which can wrap itself around the foils and slow the boat down. The team was forced to execute two back downs and then put crew man Anthony Merrington into the water to make doubly sure that nothing was slowing the boat down.
But for those crew members who have battled their way around the globe in howling winds and gales, perhaps the chance to sleep a little better and even a moment to enjoy the change of pace will be welcome. "Heck", says Ken Read, "we've even seen the sun and stars. A small miracle at least for my 4,000 portion of this race.
Volvo Ocean Race Leg 8, Positions Day 2 at 1600 GMT Saturday:
1. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, 1,327 miles to finish
2. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +11 miles
3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +13 miles
4. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +13 miles
5. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, +15 miles
6. Brunel, Matt Humphries, +16 miles
Paul Cayard, Friday at dockside Portsmouth.June 2, Volvo Portsmouth Leg 8 start. 1500GMT A beautiful summer's day in Portsmouth, blue skies, hazy sunshine, the occasional fluffy white cloud. The sea breeze seems to have come in to some effect at the start, with about eight knots from the south or south south east, a typical east Solent sea breeze. The passage down the Solent to the west and then down Channel towards the Fastnet could take quite a while.
Update 1615GMT Fifteen minutes to go and the boats are preparing to start on the line excending from the shore at Southsea Castle. Conditions are still the same, sunny, enough sea breeze to start the race comfortably. 500 boats on the water, thousands on the shore.
Now the six boats are waiting for the start at 1630GMT, hoping that the winds will hold so see them down the Solent and into the English Channel.
Update 1620GMT Ten minute gun has gone, the fleet will be starting on a reach in the South easterly wind and sailing towards Cowes. There is the danger that the sea breeze might run out close to the middle of the Solent as the sea breeze in the western end of the Solent is usuallt south westerly and the two conflict.
Update 1625GMT Five minute gun!
Update 1630GMT It's a reaching start with asymmetric spinnakers, with the boats looking for clear air and as much tide as possible. Coming into the start they had to hang back to avoid the tide. Brunel is in the middle of the line. Ericsson tack on top of them. ABN AMRO ONE looking to have a good one, Pirates last to come to the line. ABN AMRO ONE is closest, to leeward to the pin end. Brasil 1 might be squeezed out by Pirates. ABN AMRO TWO gets away with excellent pace. Brasil 1 climbs over Pirates. ABN AMRO TWO is going over her sister ship. Brunel to leeward, all the boats close together. ABN AMRO TWO has the best start, then Brasil 1 from Brunel, Pirates and ABN AMRO ONE, Ericsson last, but only two lengths behind.
Update 1635 ABN AMRO TWO lead and the boats to windward, including Brasil 1 are starting to blanket the boats to leeward. Brasil 1 change headsails as do all the boats now that the start is over. It looks like they are going for deeper sails for more running conditions rather than the flatter reaching. The huge spectator fleet stream off after the fleet as the Volvo Open 70s close on Gilkicker Point. ABN AMRO TWO are trying to climb out to windward through the spectator fleet, some poor yacht is stuck in the middle. Brunel is struggling down to leeward. All the boats are completing their spinnaker peels are all are climbing out to windward.
Update 1640 GMT ABN AMRO ONE starts to use her speed in winds over ten knots and has pushed through to the lead, but as the boats push up the Solent the sea breeze dies off as predicted and the spinnakers start to oscilate in the six knots of wind. The collapse of the wind has been very sudden and now ABN AMRO ONE has dropped back. Brunel has a puff and seems to be moving well. Pirates are well to the back. order is ABN AMRO TWO, then ONE, Brasil 1, Brunel, Ericsson and then Pirates. The sea breeze is dying as the sun dips towards the horizon. Brunel are looking the fastest right to leeward and are sliding past ABN AMRO ONE and could lead soon. Ericsson has closed on Brasil 1.
Update 1645 GMT As all experienced Solent sailors will understand, the westerly sea breeze is making an appearance and the fleet has had to change to headsails and go hard on the wind. Brunel are leading as the fleet tacks acros the Solent.
The classic sea breeze situation in the Summer Solent is that the sea breeze is south easterly in the eastern end of the Solent - or Spithead - and it is south westerly in the western end of the Solent. The fact that they have hit the south westerly sea breeze so early augurs well for the latter stages of getting to the Needles as there might be some wind to get them on their way. The tide is still going the right way and taking the boats to the west. Hopefully there will be enough wind to give them steerage way enough to avoid the sand and mudbanks. The fleet heads towards the beach at Lee on the Solent, the mainland side.
Update 1655 GMT Tacking towards Lee on the Solent will bring the boats to shallow water so they will have to watch out. Brunel is leading by about four boat lengths from ABN AMRO ONE, then ABN AMRO TWO, Pirates, Ericsson, Brasil 1. But they are only about 200 metres apart. ABN AMRO TWO has tacked off the shore with Pirates and ABN AMRO ONE. Brunel are looking to tack from the shore as there seems to be wind in the middle of the Solent. Fastest on the water at the moment is ANM AMRO TWO.
Update 1700 GMT ABN AMRO TWO leads from AVBN AMRO ONE and Pirates, with Brunel in fourth, then Brasil 1 and Ericsson a fair distance back. It is slow sailing now that the initial sea breeze has dissipated. This looks like the conditions that will prevail for much of this leg. Surprisingly the two ABN AMRO boats are doing well in these light conditions and they must have taken oout a lot of weight now that they are only having to sail a 1,481 mile leg. Reports from Yarmouth indicate that there is plenty of south westerly sea breeze down there, classic Solent conditions.
Update 1705 GMT Pirates of the Caribbean ease into the lead with Brasil 1 and ABN AMRO TWO following. Then ABN AMRO ONE. Brunel seems to be suffering badly at the moment. The very slight gradient wind from the north is making itself occasionally, but the fleet will need to work every zephyr to get through the dead zone before they reach the new sea breeze somewhere near the Brambles bank. The Brambles bank plugs the Solent almost in the centre, where Southampton water enters from the north. Dead last and losing ground is Ericsson.
Update 1710 GMT At Cowes the wind is reported as being about seven knots from the north west which must be the gradient wind. This might be the predominating wind for the rest of the afternoon as by now the sun is dipping rapidly towards the western horizon and the land is just as rapidly cooling. The sea breeze will be switched off soon.
Pirates lead at the moment from ABN AMRO TWO and Brasil 1. Then ABN AMRO ONE, followed by Brunel and then a long way back at the moment is Ericsson. The tide is still ebbing strongly for a while and still taking the boats to the west. There is breeze ahead of them closer to Cowes and the first boat to get there will get the advantage.
Paul Cayard, Friday at dockside Portsmouth.
Photo: David Barnigan/Volvo Ocean Race
Prior to the start: Mike Sanderson had a few words to say about the likely weather, "Stan (Honey, navigator) tells me it will be light up to the Fastnet. We will be relying on thermal winds and the night time drains off the shore. There's not much gradient wind so we will be relying on sunny England to generate thermals". Ironic laughter from his listeners. Paul Cayard also had a few weather-related comments, but focussing on the high probability of having to anchor, "Anchoring*; that strange English technique - last time I tried it was in the 1977 Fastnet Race - how do you do that? "I think Mike (Sanderson) will be more likely to be doing that (anchoring), I hope we won't drift backwards into him..."
None of the skippers was too confident about what might happen on the latter stages of the race, though Mike Sanderson said that his navigator, Stan Honey had confidently predicted ABN Amro One type weather after the Fastnet Rock. The skippers of the Farr-designed boats looked disappointed. Asked about the in-between length of the leg, Neil McDonald was resigned to not getting a lot of rest, "It's neither a long leg or a short one. There are plenty of corners, light winds at the start, tides. There won't be a lot of time for sleeping that's for sure." -- Volvo Ocean Race website
* Anchoring -- when the tide is running faster than a boat can sail against it -- it anchors to avoid being swept backwards...
For further information log onto www.volvooceanrace.org