Portsmouth, U.K., SundayPhoto: Oskar Kihlborg/Volvo Ocean Race
Portsmouth, U.K., Sunday
Photo: Oskar Kihlborg/Volvo Ocean Race
May 29, Volvo In-Port Race, Portsmouth, U.K. ABN AMRO ONE, powered through Pirates of the Caribbean skippered by Paul Cayard (USA) to win the sixth in-port race, held in Portsmouth today, making it their fourth in-port race victory of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06.
In shifty conditions, gusting to 25 knots at times, both ABN AMRO ONE and Paul Cayard箂 (USA) Pirates of the Caribbean were quick out of the starting blocks, but had two very different theories on the first leg. ABN AMRO ONE headed right up the race course, whilst The Pirates went hard left.
The left hand side of the course was the favoured side and Pirates of the Caribbean came strongly into the first mark with a good lead, rounding ahead of ABN AMRO ONE. Third round was five times Olympic medallist Torben Grael (BRA) on Brasil 1 followed by Ericsson (Neal McDonald/GB), ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse/FRA) and Brunel (Grant Wharington/AUS).
With the wind building, the boats powered downwind, reaching speeds of the 18-20 knots. The positions in the fleet remained unchanged and, although there was a 20 degree wind shift, The Pirates managed to stay out in front and rounded the next mark a minute ahead of ABN AMRO ONE.
Drama came halfway through the race when local sailor Neal McDonald's Ericsson ripped their spinnaker, trawling the broken pieces behind them for a few much needed minutes and causing them to forfeit a position to Grant Wharington's Brunel.
Pirates of the Caribbean also fell foul of the same problem and ripped their spinnaker during a gybe. Sanderson and the ABN AMRO ONE crew took advantage and nipped past the Pirates as they struggled to regain control of the boat and the Dutch boat took the lead.
After two and quarter hours, ABN AMRO ONE sailed across the finish line to win their fourth in-port race win out of six races. Pirates of the Caribbean followed, finishing second overall, with Brasil 1 taking the final podium position.
Overall ABN AMRO ONE maintains first place overall, with Pirates of the Caribbean second and Brasil 1 moving up to third place overall.
In-Port Race Results 1st ABN AMRO ONE, 02 hrs 14 mins 16 secs 2nd Pirates of the Caribbean, 02 hrs 18 mins 30 secs 3rd Brasil 1, 02 hrs 22 mins 00 secs 4th ABN AMRO TWO, 02 hrs 24 mins 56 secs 5th Ericsson Racing Team, 02 hrs 26 mins 55 secs 6th Brunel, 02 hrs 27 mins 44 secs Current Leaderboard (points not ratified) [position/team name/skipper/race points to date] 1st ABN AMRO ONE, Mike Sanderson (NZL) 84.5 pts 2nd Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard (USA) 59.5 pts 3rd Brasil 1, Torben Grael (BRA) 52.0 pts 4th ABN AMRO TWO, Sebastien Josse (FRA) 48.5 pts 5th movistar, Bouwe Bekking (NED) 48.0 pts 6th Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald (GBR) 45.0 pts 7th Brunel, Grant Wharington (AUS) 8.0 ptsFor further information log onto www.volvooceanrace.org
May 28, Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix 28 May - 02 June, Portsmouth, U.K. It has been a brilliant first day for the Brits onboard Basilica today. Four wins out of four races on the Southsea front produced a jubilant crowd of cheering spectators for the UK entry.
The recipe of constant winds of 15 knots added to sunny spells, gave the competitors a chance to really race the Volvo Extreme 40's around the track and the spectators a great view on the first day of the series in Portsmouth. The catamarans sailed four races this afternoon with plenty of spills and thrills to keep everybody on their toes.
May 27, Womens Match Racing World Championships, Skovshoved, Denmark. If yesterday was all about competing in gale force winds then today was all about the competitors heaping the pressure on each other.
A broken mast and a hole in the bow is unusual enough but for it to happen to the same boat in one match after another with different skippers just goes to show how committed the nature of the sailing was today.
First came Frenchman Claire Leroy, who took a chance in a her duell with fellow countryman Christelle Philippe. The result of that was the hole in the bow.
Next came the incident with Sally Barkow from the USA. Sally gave Nina two meagre choices; "sail directly into me" or "sail into a very small gap between me and the committee boat and probably hit one or the other of us". As the option of "between the boats" was better than ramming directly into Sally's mid-ships, Nina chose the gap. She hit the committee boat and destroyed her mast at the spreaders.
So the afternoon has had Sally and Claire waving goodbye to their boat damage deposits.
Sally Barkow was under the spotlight on the second day of racing at the Women's Match Racing World Championship at Skovshoved, Denmark. Here we see her (on right) in a tight duell against fellow countryman Betsy Alison.
The Royal Matchrace Centre has a spare mast which is now being fitted but it has managed to organise a further spare to be sent from Gothenburg in Sweden. One of the Royal Matchracing Centre's sister racing club's in Sweden (GKSS) has an identical mast and one of the World Championships sponsors, Ramirent, has organised overnight delivery for the new mast, it should reach the Championship course here in Denmark by 8 o'clock Saturday morning. Excellent considering that the accident only happened on Friday afternoon.
Just like Sally Barkow, Claire Leroy was not prepared to hide behind excuses. "I simply thought that there was more place at the bottom mark. But we carried far too much speed and sailed straight into Christelle's boat. It was completely our fault," says Claire Leroy.
Top five after Friday's races: Rank Skipper Won Lost 1 Linda Rahm 6 2 2 Marie Björling 6 2 3 Sally Barkow 5 3 = Dorte O. Jensen 5 3 = Malin Källström 5 3As for the sailing? The competition remains wide open and the sailing continues tomorrow. Finals are being sailed on Sunday.
May 26, ABN Amro Two - yes & maybe. Sébastien Josse, Skipper of ABN Amro Two announced that the crew will take part in the Portsmouth in-port race on Monday 29th May. However, no decision has been made regarding participation in the next leg of the race which starts in Portsmouth on 2nd June and races to Rotterdam.
Participation in the races has been thrown into doubt following the loss of the crew's teammate, Hans Horrevoets, who died in a tragic accident during the New York to Portsmouth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. Seb Josse commenting about the inshore race said; "we are all keen to go on - we know that it is what Hans would have wanted and the first step is to get back out on the water for the in port race." Team ABN Amro Technical Sailing Director, Roy Heiner said, "The decision to carry on in this race is entirely down to Seb and the crew and they are under no pressure from Team ABN Amro to make that decision yet. Whatever they do, Team ABN Amro will support them."
The team will meet up again in Portsmouth on Sunday to prepare for the in-port race following the funeral of Hans Horrevoets in Holland on Saturday - http://www.abnamro.com/team
Fate of moviestar. Hope is fading fast within the movistar team, who have been out combing the Atlantic for their abandoned yacht, after yesterday's aerial search failed to locate the Volvo Open 70.
The team, which left the severely damaged yacht on Sunday night, searched 90 square miles of ocean where they believe the yacht could be, but with extensive cloud cover and a mix-up over flight arrangements hindering efforts, time is now running out for a positive outcome.
Campbell Field, moviestar's shore manager and head of the retrieval effort, said; "obviously as time goes by the probability of getting the boat back is diminishing.
We are not searching as such right now, just planning the next course of action. Now, from here on in, we are purely waiting for the underwriters and representative surveyors to see if they want to action another search because these things are not cheap. How much do they want to spend to get it back? That's the issue ?
There are two or three different things that might have happened Field said. "If the keel has gone for good then it will still be afloat but upside down. It could be afloat, but up to its gunnels. Or, it could have sank. Pure speculation.
He refuted, however, that if the boat has sunk to the bottom of the ocean it has taken with it the mysteries of its failing keel? He said; "we have a lot of good images that were taken onboard. We have spent hours poring over photographs and drawings of what has happened. We have gone right back through the history of everything that has happened to that area of the boat. We have the facts of what happened, we can go the road to a certain extent about deducing why it happened. But being able to inspect the boat would increase our confidence in the understanding?"
Russel Bowler says "he is absolutely devastated by the movistar keel damage which forced the crew to abandon ship last Sunday, but admits the reasons behind the repeated failures may never be known."
Bowler, whose Farr Yacht Design company designed the Spanish yacht, is in Portsmouth consulting with the team to try and figure out what caused the critical damage to the boatt's keel, but suggested the bonding between critical components of the keel may have been responsible.
He said; "absolutely devastated with what has happened to the boat in the last few days. We are here to try and talk to the crew and figure out what went wrong. It's just very difficult to figure out what went wrong at the moment. There are a number of parties (responsible). Obviously we designed it, and our design is completely open to scrutiny. In fact Bouwe (Bekking, the movistar skipper) at the start of this project called in SP Engineering who reviewed all the drawings as well. We have had the best in the business look at the drawings before the boat was built and we have got nothing to hide in terms of the design and the way it was analysed and detailed. We will put that on table for anyone to look at."
The severe weather which plagued the Volvo Ocean Race Fleet all across the Atlantic Ocean has continued to cause problems during the stopover in Portsmouth. Strong, gale force winds have battered Gunwharf Quays over the last ten days as a strong low pressure area remained stationary over the northeast Atlantic, sending a steady stream of troughs and fronts through the English Channel. Finally, after one last push of breeze on Friday and Saturday, the stormy weather is expected to ease off by Sunday, bringing a relatively docile weather pattern just in time for the In Port race on Monday afternoon.
ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship. The Dexia Private Banking ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship
is underway in Copenhagen, Denmark, with Sally Barkow (USA) aiming for
her third consecutive title. For the first day of competition the wind
has been blowing up to gale force, fortunately without gusting, and the
sky has alternated between bright sunshine and heavy rain. The racing
continues today Friday and Saturday with the finals being sailed on Sunday.
After one day of competition in the event's big, physical DS37s, the
results are:
Claire Leroy 4-1
Dorte O Jensen, 3-3
Klaartje Zuiderbann, 3-2
Linda Rahm, 3-2
Marie Bjørling, 2-0
Malin Kallstrom, 2-0
Lotte Melgaard, 2-3
Christelle Philippe, 1-1
Sally Barkow, 1-1
Betsy Alison, 0-2
Silke Hahlbrock, 0-2
Nina Bræstrup, 0-5
For web site click here
Photo: Jan Walker
Star Western Hemisphere Championship, Annapolis YC - It was warmer but cloudy with temperatures in the mid 60s (F) for Day Three of the Star Western Hemisphere Championship. The wind slowly built from the south and at noon there was 15 knots. San Diego YC member won both races on Thursday - Rick Merriman/Rick Peters won the opener while Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel took the finale - their second bullet in the first five races. The leaders of the 42-boat championship after five races with one discard:
1. Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel 14pts 2. John Dane/Austin Sperry, 14pts 3. Iain Murray/Andrew Palfrey (AUS) 15pts 4. Brian Cramer/Tyler Bjorn (CAN) 26pts 5. Jim Vander Molen/Mike Wolfs, 27pts 6. Andy Macdonald/Brian Fatih, 28pts 7. Arthur Anosov David Caesa, 31pts 8. John MacCausland/Shane Zwingleberg, 33pts 9. George Szabo/Eric Monroe, 33pts 10. Rick Merriman/Rick Peters, 35ptsFor web site click here
Olympic Classes. Although heavy weather caused starts to be delayed until early evening
Wednesday at the ISAF Grade 1 Holland Regatta, Thursday was marked by
very light winds. In the afternoon, sailing conditions improved
considerably and all planned courses could be sailed. Two USA teams are
at the top of the leaderboard in the 30-boat 49er Class: 1. Morgan
Larson/ Pete Spaulding, 9pts and 2. Tim Wadlow/ Chris Rast, 11pts.
Canada柏s Lisa Ross is currently in fifth place in the 59-boat Laser
Radial class. Andy Horton/ Brad Nichol won the second race in the
17-boat Star class, but an OCS in the first race has then presently in
sixth place.
May 25, ABN AMRO TWO arrives in Portsmouth, ABN AMRO has posted an incredible video about the events of the last week, well worth the downloading time - Click here for ABN site and at ABN - click on 'ABN AMRO TWO arrives in Portsmouth
May 24, Portsmouth Stopover Tuesday with movistar Racing Team:
Bouwe Bekking on the position of movistar: Right now we actually don't have a position on the boat. The last position was more than a day ago and we had a beacon but that disappeared at ten o'clock on Sunday night so that's very bad news. The weather conditions improved today so much that we are able to send out a plane so we can get a visual sight on the area where the last position was known. There's an aeroplane right now on the way. The skies are relatively clear and the seas have slowed down a little bit and there is now six to seven metres of swell over there. So the boat will be pretty hard to spot but this is the first thing we are doing. A search and rescue vessel is on standby so as soon as the boat is spotted, that boat will take off and try to savage her.
I hope the boat is still upright. I really have my doubts about it because of the damage and the amount of water which was coming in at such a rate and that was in quite fair conditions. Yet when the whole thing started it was 25 knots, and when ABN AMRO TWO picked us up it was 10 - 15 knots. But the seas were getting higher and higher and especially with the forecast and we know there have been 10 metre waves and fifty knots plus wind. So I have serious doubts the boat will be still be afloat. If not I think the keel may have fallen off and the boat flipped upside down.
How the next couple of days will go we will have to wait to see. If they see the boat today, we will make a couple of decisions over the next few days as we have 25 people over here working for our team. There are families over here and of course we have obligations to our sponsors.
Bouwe Bekking on the decision to abandon movistar: First I would like to really thank the movistar organisation in supporting the decision I have taken.
It a huge disappointment especially for myself as I wanted to win this race and I think it was the same for all the guys behind me. It's just been fantastic during the entire campaign with movistar's support and as well as a special thanks to the ABN TWO guys. They were in a very tough situation and they did a fantastic job to get us safely here.
I don't think we will race this boat again even if we get her back. So some of us will come to Rotterdam, because there are some containers over there and of course we will show up at the final prize giving in Gothenburg to show our respect for all the other competitors in this race. And hopefully we will be back, all of us are sailors.
Bouwe Bekking: I personally hope that we can keep sailing on these boats in future Volvo Ocean Races. I think all the sailors - at least myself - love these boats. They are fantastic to sail. One of the reasons we always come back to this type of sailing is because we love the ocean, but as well we like fast sailing and we like the company of all the guys so I personally hope we will stay with the Volvo Open 70. We know a lot of things have happened but designers are not stupid and they are all thinking and a lot of people are communicating with each other to see what we can do to make the boats safer for the future. So,even if the race is in three years time we have enough development time and feedback from all the teams and I think that next time we will have a second generation class and we won't have any problems anymore.
Click here for full transcript
May 23, ABN AMRO TWO transcript of Monday's Press Conference at Portsmouth, U.K..
Roy Heiner - Technical Sailing Director TEAM ABN AMRO:
There is nothing in the world that can prepare you for something like this. These are sailors that need to continue in the future. Hans was a very personal friend, we sailed round the world together and I would like to share with you some of the things we have done with Hans:
The body was transferred in Falmouth, around 0837 yesterday (Monday 22nd May). We spent the night waiting on the Dutch frigate to rendezvous with ABN AMRO TWO. We took the body out of the hold, put it on a stretcher, had a minute of silence, and Hans was transferred to the rubber dinghy and put into the frigate van Galen. The frigate went to Dover, where the body was transferred to a helicopter so that it could be taken to Rotterdam, Sestenhoven airport. The family were waiting and saw the body. They were deeply grateful to the crew. The planning is for the funeral to be on Saturday. The body was released this morning by the coroner.
I have here a statement from the family. Mariek van der Rij, sister of Petra:
In her grief, Petra cannot find her words to express her sadness. We are very grateful to the crew that they were able to recover Hans under these circumstances. Hans and the crew will be in our hearts forever.
This is a very respectful moment. ABN AMRO looks at it like that. One of our team members has suffered an unfortunate moment. I would like to thank ABN for their efforts, for providing assistance and appropriate action in helping Hans, Petra and Horrevoets families in the future. Their will be statements made later.
Roy Heiner:ABN AMRO TWO, Volvo Leg 7 ABN AMRO TWO:
We hope this press conference will promote seamanship and safety on the ocean.
This team has been fantastically courageous, and has done many great things as far as seamanship is concerned, being out there in extreme moments on the ocean. I am very proud of them.
Sebastien Josse on what happened:
We sailed downwind 25-30 knots wind, I was on wheel, Hans on spinnaker sheet. One nosedive, and Hans was not on board. We started the procedure of rescue for Hans. He did not have a harness or life jacket.
Simon Fisher on what happened:
We had all got up for a sail change, had everyone on deck. There was 12 knots of wind. During that change, the wind went from 12-14 knots to 25 knots quite quickly. We put a spinnaker on, and it got quite windy and the waves got big. We went downstairs to put our harnesses on.
Hans was hanging on to the most important sail and would have been the last to go down. The wind was getting up quite quickly. We were in the process of clipping on. Prior to changing the sail, it was our intention that all the crew would wear our harnesses at night. As sailors, we are also trying to make the boat go as fast as we can. We take safety very seriously but at the same time we are sailing a race.
I spent the majority of the rescue operation below. Being the navigator, I was responsible for hitting the man overboard button, making sure we got back to the place where we lost Hans.
It blew me away how professional this team was. In Melbourne we discussed this procedure, so we were all prepared. Within minutes, the boat was completely cleared up. These boats go very fast - downwind at 25 knots, but we were only 1.6 m away from Hans, with the spinnaker down and the boat turned around and going back. It was really, really impressive. The guys on deck had searchlights all ready. Simeon Tienpont had on his diving gear ready to get into water if needed. We motored back up wind as it was too hard to sail in 37 knots of breeze. After about point five of a mile, we found the first life ring we had thrown over the side.
The guys on deck had released jon buoy, an inflatable man overboard device. We put as much stuff in the water as we could to make it as easy as possible to find Hans. Half a mile away we found life ring and at point two of a mile we found the jon buoy, and shortly thereafter we found Hans.
Simeon Tienpont on medical procedure and retrieving Hans from the water:
By the time we found Hans, we saw he was drowned. George went for all the cpr. As soon as we got him on the deck, we had him downstairs within a minute and we started immediately with five of us trying to resuscitate him, checking on each other, keeping the right pace and being as professional as we could. We tried to warm him up. George and I spoke to the doctors in the UK, and asked them for advice.
After we turned the boat I went downstairs. Each person has a certain task on the boat what to do with a man overboard. We followed that procedure; I put on my survival suit and flares. I sat at the back of the boat. When we found Hans, it was purely a call from Seb as to whether I went overboard or not to help retrieve him. We were doing 3 knots and you don't want to be dragged away from the boat. When we saw him, he was six metres from the boat. The swell was too big, but we tried once to get to him. Seb decided not to go from the boat again, but to do another two laps and this time he came really close to the boat, and then we could grab him.
Click here for full ABN AMRO TWO transcript
May 23, The fate of Volvo Ocean Race yacht, movistar, which was abandoned in the Atlantic on Sunday, was unclear last night after two electronic position beacons left operating on board stopped sending signals. The ten-strong crew got off the Volvo Ocean 70, which is valued at $5 million (about 3.4m), at a position about 300 miles southwest of Land's End after structural failure around the keel left her in danger of sinking. The crew were picked up by ABN Amro Two, another boat in the race, which dropped them off in Falmouth yesterday, before continuing to the leg seven finish off Portsmouth, where she was due last night.
Bouwe Bekking, the movistar skipper, said that when he got off the stricken boat the keel was so "wobbly" that he feared that the two pumps left working might quickly become overwhelmed by the volume of water flooding in. He said the Argos and Satcom C beacons had stopped transmitting at about 10pm on Sunday, indicating that power from the batteries that were driving the pumps had ceased. "There is a big question mark over the boat," Bekking said.
With Movistar left to fend for herself in winds of more than 50 knots and ten metre-high seas, she may have sunk. However, a more likely scenario is that the keel has dropped out of the boat, causing her to flip over, which would allow Movistar to remain afloat. Her fate may not be known for several days, with salvage attempts not expected to begin until at least today or tomorrow - Edward Gorman, London Times Sailing Correspondent For complete story click here
2006 International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Sailing Games, Lake Neusiedl, Austria. US sailors are bringing home two
gold medals and two bronze medals from the 2006 World Sailing Games, which wrapped up over the weekend. Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) solidified her world
#1 ranking in the Women's One-Person Dinghy event, sailed in Laser Radials,
by winning another gold medal in a major international event. In addition,
demonstrating that the USA is a worldwide leader in team racing, Danny
Pletsch (New York, N.Y.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.), Caleb Silsby
and Paige Hannon (Newport Beach, Calif.) won a gold medal in the Open Team
Sailing event, followed by another USA team -- Tim Wadlow (Beverly, Mass.),
Ery Largay (Beverly, Mass.), Tim Fallon (North Falmouth, Mass.) and Karen
Renzulli (Somerville, Mass.) -- winning the bronze medal in the same event.
Annie Nelson (San Diego, Calif.) and Susan Korzeniewski (Liverpool, N.Y.)
also won a bronze medal in the Women's Multihull event.
In the Open Team Sailing Finals, raced in International 420s, the USA team of Pletsch, Howe, Silsby and Hannon secured the gold medal over the team from Great Britain. In a heated, close race for the bronze medal, the team of Wadlow, Largay, Fallon and Renzulli beat the fellow American team of Pete Levesque (Annapolis, Md.), Liz Hall (Bristol, R.I.), Colin Merrick (Portsmouth, R.I.) and Amanda Callahan (Canton, Mass.). In a best of five series for each medal competition, the battles for gold and bronze came down to a final race decider.
Nelson and Korzeniewski took the bronze medal in the Women's Multihull event, raced in Hobie Cat 16s with spinnaker, finishing behind teams from Germany and France. The team came on strong from the start of the regatta and sailed a consistent event. For Korzeniewski, winning a bronze medal at the ISAF World Sailing Games isn't new, as she won the bronze at the 2002 event skippering the Hobie 16.
For complete results, daily reports, and photos from the 2006 ISAF World Sailing Games, go to the event website: www.worldsailinggames2006.at
May 22, Volvo Leg 7, Day 11 ABN AMRO TWO finally crossed the finish line 1908 GMT, 2008 local time (Monday), scoring two points and finishing in sixth position. The young crew of international sailors, led by French skipper Sébastien Josse, wanted to finish the leg for Hans Horrevoets, their Dutch crew member who sadly died at sea in a tragic accident in the early hours of Thursday May 18. The families of all the crewmembers waited at the historic dockyard of Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth and there were emotional scenes as the tired sailors were reunited with friends and loved ones after what must have been one of the most difficult legs in the history of the race. In a show of support and compassion, the boat was welcomed by hundreds of well wishers involved in the Volvo Ocean Race, as well as the entire TEAM ABN AMRO.
Tragedy first struck the crew with the devastating loss of Dutch team mate Hans Horrevoets, after he was swept overboard in big seas and strong winds in the middle of the night. Although Sebastien Josse located Hans in extreme conditions and in an astounding piece of seamanship, they were unable to resuscitate him and had to continue on towards the UK with the body.
As preparations were underway to expedite the quick recovery of Hans from ABN AMRO TWO, the crew was suddenly at the centre of a distress call from movistar, who experienced serious keel problems and started taking on water. The crew responded immediately and changed course to go to the aid of movistar.
moviestar skipper Bouwe Bekking eventually made the decision to abandon ship ahead of worsening weather, and all 10 crew members were transferred to ABN AMRO TWO and were later safely transferred from ABN AMRO TWO to a RIB just off the coast of Falmouth at 08h15GMT.
Finally, the crew bid an emotional farewell to the teammate Hans at around 08h40 this morning when the Dutchman's body was transferred to the Dutch Navy Frigate, HNLMS Van Galen.
Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 Position subject to ratification:
1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, finished 9d 06h 30m 42s
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, 9d 19h 26m 39s
3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, 9d 19h 54m 20s
4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 9d 21h 30m 57s
5. Brunel, Matt Humphries, 10d 17h 16m 32s
6. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, 11d 02h 08m 34s
7. movistar, Bouwe Bekking, RTD
Click for movistar abandoned in Atlantic & the tragic loss of crew member from ABN TWOAt 0837 GMT this morning (Monday) off the English coast near Falmouth, the body of Hans Horrevoets was transferred to a Royal Netherlands Naval frigate from ABN AMRO TWO.
In winds of 25 knots, French skipper Sebastien Josse and his crew bid an emotional farewell to their much loved friend and team mate, holding a minute's silence as Hans was taken off ABN AMRO TWO in a RIB to the Dutch frigate, HNLMS Van Galen. His body will now be taken back to his home town of Terheijden, in the Netherlands for repatriation and a funeral with family and friends. The transfer was achieved without any problems and ABN AMRO TWO have now resumed racing en route to Portsmouth.
The HNLMS Van Galen is a multipurpose frigate of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The ship, with her 150 crewmembers, was in the area for six weeks training with the British Royal Navy. Speaking from ABN AMRO TWO, British navigator Simon Fisher added, "It was a sad moment to see Hans leave the boat, but also a relief that he can now go home to his family. The last few days have been incredibly tough on everyone, but we are determined to cross the finish line as part of this race. We will finish this leg for Hans. Although conditions remain difficult, the crew is doing well, and we are of course all looking forward to seeing our friends and family back on land."
Just prior to Hans Horrevoets being transferred off the boat, the crew of movistar also left ABN AMRO TWO and returned to shore in Falmouth. This transfer was completed at 8.15 GMT. Bouwe Bekking's crew had been rescued by Seb Josse's men when the Spanish boat was abandoned because of keel problems and deteriorating weather. The movistar crew are now all safely back on dry land and heading for Portsmouth.
ABN AMRO TWO resumed racing at 09:54 GMT today and is expected to cross the finish line in Portsmouth at around 1925 GMT tonight. At present, the yacht is 3.5 miles off Portland Bill on the Dorset coast.
Volvo Leg 7, Day 12. Brunel arrives after brutal 48 hours - Brunel skipper MATT HUMPHRIES (GBR); "The last 24 hours have been something else, up to 60 knots at times. Ten metre (33ft) seas and we had a lot on. The crew have done a remarkable job getting the boat here in this shape into Portsmouth. The last third of the leg with the tragedy onboard ABN AMRO TWO was particularly hard. We are all deeply saddened by that.
"Not only with the conditions around us just deteriorating. It doesn't help the situation for anybody. And now with movistar it's all snowballed. So for us to be here in this shape it's a quite a relief, to be able to stand on terra firma. It was an amazing thing (the depression) it just chased us, tormented us, for 48 hours. It was deepening and deepening right on our backsides the whole time. It was always the worry that how much would it take from us giving us 60 knots and ten metre seas. These conditions you wouldn't recommend on your worst enemy.
ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) is now sailing at 22 knots and is 12 miles off Looe on the Cornish coast.
Volvo Ocean Race Leg Position Day 12 at 1600 GMT Monday:
1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, finished 9d 06h 30m 42s
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, 9d 19h 26m 39s
3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, 9d 19h 54m 20s
4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 9d 21h 30m 57s
5. Brunel, Matt Humphries, 10d 17h 16m 32s
6. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, 56 miles to finish
7. movistar, Bouwe Bekking, RTD
The 32nd America's Cup in Valencia. A new record was set at the Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 11 on Sunday - 59 233 people, pushing the total for the 10 days of Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts 10 & 11 up to 263 873, still to be held is the Louis Vuitton Act 12 (Match Racing) 22 June to 2 July 2006In 2007, a fleet race event - Louis Vuitton Act 13 - will precede the Louis Vuitton Cup (the winner of which will then race the Defender, Team Alinghi, in the America's Cup Match in Valencia).
click here for the 32nd America's Cup, Louis Vuitton Acts 10 - 11, Valencia, Spain
Melges 24 North American Championship. The final day of racing at the Melges 24 North American Championship was, quite literally, a wash out with torrential rain and light cyclonic winds. The race committee, jury and 31 Melges 24 crews left the dock ready to attempt a 1230 start as scheduled but it was not to be. Periodically the rain stopped and everyone's hopes were raised as the wind did its best to fill in, but it never became stable enough to actually get underway so the championship comes to a close with only six of the ten scheduled races completed.
Fortunately six races is sufficient to constitute a championship and so Brian Porter from Winnetka, IL, and his Full Throttle crew of Harry Melges III, Dave Navin and John Porter are declared the 2006 Melges 24 North American Champions by just one point from Newport Beach's Dave Ullman sailing Pegasus 505 with Bill Hardesty, Brian Hutchinson, Casey Smith and Shana Phelan. Dave Ullman was extremely gracious in defeat - "It was a shame not to race today but those guys did a great job and really deserved to win. When your worst finish is a fourth you deserve to win." Third place goes to Seadon Wijsen from San Francisco sailing Pareto Optimal with Bruce Ayres from Newport Beach aboard Monsoon fourth overall.
For the Full Throttle team this win is long overdue. They have been stalwarts of the Melges 24 class since its introduction in 1993 and have won many national events but an international title constantly eluded them. Finally their run as bridesmaids has been broken. "I just love Santa Cruz and its hospitality. Brett Gripenstraw and his team who ran the regatta did a great job as did Hank Stuart and the Race Committee. There was some wonderful sailing despite the fact that we didn't get the typical Santa Cruz conditions and I really love racing against Dave Ullman - he's such a great competitor and to win against him feels real good. We're really looking forward to being back here for the Worlds next year and we're also hoping to be in Hyeres for the 06 Worlds too." - Brian Porter For full resolts click here
America's Cup Act 11, Alinghi leads the 'big four' at the top, winning Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 11. Sunday's Good racing conditions, a large spectator fleet, a packed America's Cup Park and the Defender rising to the occasion - this was the scene on Sunday in Valencia at the conclusion of Louis Vuitton Act 11.
On the race course, the Swiss Defender, Alinghi, won its third of the five fleet races. Behind them, BMW ORACLE Racing and Luna Rossa made gains over the course of the race to crowd the top of the leaderboard.
The 'Latin Rascals' of Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia had another good day, securing fifth place overall, while Shosholoza confirmed that the improvement it has shown over the course of the last four Acts is genuine, finishing in the top half of the standings again.
For United Internet Team Germany, Victory Challenge and the home Desafío Español squad, Act 11 was one they'd rather forget, with each finishing lower than they'd wish on the points table. China Team didn't race on Sunday after suffering structural damage to their boat on Saturday afternoon.
Following the racing, Alinghi was presented with the Louis Vuitton Act 11 trophy in front of a boisterous crowd during a 'docking ceremony' at the America's Cup Park.
RACE FIVE:
The teams trailing first place Alinghi knew they would have their work cut out for them and BMW ORACLE Racing skipper Chris Dickson seemed to be the most eager to take on the job, luffing the Swiss boat and pushing it towards the start line. But in the event, the Americans were too eager, and Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio judged the bow of USA 87 broke the startline a fraction early, and Dickson had to restart, putting him well behind the fleet.
The big four teams all worked their up the left side of the race course, while United Internet Team Germany and Desafío Español hit the right hand side hard. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia and Alinghi worked up near the middle at the top mark it was the Swiss, sailing smartly and conservatively who emerged with the lead.
But Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia was close behind with the Kiwis chasing them. BMW ORACLE Racing moved all the way up to sixth place, a brilliant recovery from their starting error. Iain Percy's +39 Challenge continued to excel in the fleet contests, rounding the top mark in fifth place while the Spanish, Swedes and Germans died out on the right side of the course.
The teams split through the leeward gate and when they reconvened at the top mark for the final time, the top places were nearly identical, with the Americans having clawed up into fourth place. But on the final run, Emirates Team New Zealand, BMW ORACLE Racing and Luna Rossa all surged past Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia, with the latter squeezing across just one-second in front.
On the final points table, Alinghi is the runaway leader, with Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand finishing equal eight points back. The Italians win the tie-break to take second place, with the Kiwis third and BMW ORACLE Racing fourth, just two points ahead of Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia team.
Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 11 - Provisional Results and Leaderboard: (finishing position / points scored) Act 11 May 20 Position: 1 2 3 4 5 Total 1 Alinghi (SUI 75) 6/7 1/12 1/12 3/10 1/12 53 2 Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 86) 10/3 2/11 3/10 1/12 4/9 45 3 Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 84) 4/9 7/6 2/11 5/8 2/11 45 4 BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 87) 9/4 6/7 4/9 2/11 3/10 41 5 Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 77) 2/11 10/3 5/8 4/9 5/8 39 6 Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 5/8 5/8 6/7 8/5 8/5 33 7 Areva Challenge (FRA 60) 7/6 4/9 8/5 7/6 7/6 32 8 +39 Challenge (ITA 59) 3/10 12/1 7/6 6/7 6/7 31 9 Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 65) 8/5 3/10 10/3 9/4 9/4 26 10 Victory Challenge (SWE 63) 1/12 8/5 11/2 10/3 11/2 24 11 United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) 11/2 11/2 9/4 11/2 10/3 13 12 China Team (CHN 79) 12/1 9/4 12/1 dnf/o dnf/o 6America's Cup, Louis Vuitton Acts 10 - 12, Valencia, Spain
Volvo Leg 7 Day 11, Brasil 1 safely home. Torben Grael crossed the finish line today with Brasil 1 to take fourth position in leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race, after an extremely difficult race across the Atlantic. The last two days of the crossing have been especially traumatic for the crew of Brasil 1. Controlling the boat became a challenge with a wind speed of 35 knots. The boat was lurching wildly when the spinnaker pole snapped one metre from the bow. The team reacted fast and two crew went forward to collect the remaining pieces.
While Andy Meiklejohn and Stu Wilson were up on the bow, a wave washed through the deck and the spinnaker pole was projected at full speed into the cockpit. Horacio Carabelli saw the huge tube with the sharp end flying centimetres from his face. In a split second he imagined the worst: the tube hitting Torben behind the wheel. They were lucky. Torben ducked and the pole hit the wheel and stuck to wheel and steering pedestal.
It was a much relieved crew that arrived in Portsmouth thisSunday afternoon at 1530 GMT, after nine days, 21 hours and 30 minutes of racing.
"This leg has been much harder than we expected," said Torben Grael. Navigator Marcel van Triest, added, "It has been a tough leg both tactically and emotionally. It is always good to arrive in port and we are very pleased to be here." Meanwhile, Brunel (Matt Humphries) is still out on the race track with 157 miles to run to the Lizard and the scoring gate. They are making 22 knots of boat speed currently with a wind speed of 36 knots. ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse), with the movistar crew safely onboard, is 253 miles from the Lizard and is averaging 16 knots.
Volvo Ocean Race Leg Position Day 11 at 2200 GMT Sunday:
1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, finished 9d 06h 30m 42s
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, 9d 19h 26m 39s
3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, 9d 19h 54m 20s
4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 9d 21h 30m 57s
5. Brunel, Matt Humphries, 213 miles to finish
6. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, 302 miles to finish
7. movistar, Bouwe Bekking, RTD
Volvo Leg 7, Day 11, 12:04 Sunday, Bouwe Bekking - skipper of moviestar;
The hardest decision I ever taken in my life, was the call to abandon
ship. This morning we gybed over to check how the keel would cope with
that angle. Straight away we saw that the water intake nearly doubled and
had to start the 2nd emergency pump. That made me realise that we were
actually in way bigger trouble.We had survived for nearly 24 hours, but in light winds and the seas had calmed down, but with a forecast of 35-40 knots and peeking up to 50, I just wasn't sure the boat would hold out. The breeze died more to around 6 knots and now the boat was rocking hard, and the seas became more confused. The keel pin started moving more as well, so in the end took the tough decision. 10 lives at stake, with a similar number of families, the right call.
Seb (Sebastien Josse - skipper of ABN AMRO TWO) and his crew have been fantastic over the last 24 hours. We all realised that turning around had been a very hard call for them, and hopefully they can find a little comfort that they have saved 10 lives. A boat is just a boat, you can replace it, but lives you cannot. Saying thank you is not big enough right now, it is more than that. I am sure we will have an even better friendship with them all.
Once the call was made, I spoke with Seb on the VHF and went through procedures. We decided to use one life raft, and move over safety gear/food/media equipment etc, etc. We slid the raft off the transom, and one person jumped in and collected all the gear. Then 4 people followed and we slipped them off. The transfer went perfectly and was done in a couple of minutes.
Then four went off and were pushed off again with Mikey Joubert still in it. This was planned, so we could motor over, and throw him a line, which went ok in the first attempt. I checked once more downstairs, had a final look and stepped on deck.
In the mean time the 4 others had slipped the 2nd life raft in the water, but didn't inflate it, as we wanted to keep it in one piece, so we had a 3rd life raft on ABN2, as Seb had requested. That was it. The boat was abandoned, and we were on our way to the ABN2. Had a short chat with Nitro (Noel Drennan), and how happy he was that we had got off. He could remember clearly Cape Horn in 50 knots, he couldn't imagine doing a transfer in these conditions. Seb drove his boat precisely besides our raft, and we could throw the line, and made the transfer in a whisker. I thanked him and his crew, and said how tough this must have been for them as well, especially after what they have been through.
So now here we are, onboard and on our way to England. Spoke with Seb and wants us to make ourselves at home. He would like to remain racing in the spirit of the rule, sailing with his own boys. Fair enough. There is no mirror onboard here, but if I could face myself, I know we have done everything possible -- Bouwe Bekking - skipper
Bouwe Bekking's crew were picked up by Seb Josse's ABN Amro Two aboard which the body of Hans Horrevoets is being carried. A Dutch naval vessel is expected to rendezvous with ABN Amro Two off the Cornish coast and Horrevoets' body sent back to Holland following Thursday's man-overboard tragedy. Bekking's crew will also disembark from ABN Amro Two, leaving Josse's grief-stricken team to complete the seventh leg from New York to Portsmouth later today.
It was the cruelest of circumstances that placed Josse's yacht closest to Bekking's when on Saturday at 5pm Movistar notified race headquarters of the failure of the rear hinge of their canting keel. By 9pm ABN Amro Two had been diverted. With a deep depression threatening 50-knot winds, the two skippers agreed around 9.30 am yesterday to grab the opportunity of low winds in the eye of the depression to shuttle Bekking's crew by life raft from Movistar on to ABN Amro Two. Carbon-fibre failures are sudden and Bekking's concern was that the violent action of a loose six-ton keel being thrown about by big Atlantic seas could be catastrophic. Movistar's generator was left running to power her pumps and satellite communication systems so that the yacht's position could be monitored. -- Tim Jeffery, the Daily Telegraph For complete story click here
Volvo Leg 7 Day 11. Ericsson Racing Team with Britain's Neal McDonald in charge, crossed the finish line on a wet and windy day in Portsmouth, UK, after nine days, 19 hours, 26 minutes and 39 seconds of racing, to finish second in the Volvo Ocean Race leg seven from New York. This is the best offshore result for Ericsson so far in the Volvo Ocean Race after the promising start they made when winning the first in port race in Sanxenxo, Galicia, at the start of the event in November last year.
A shattered, but exhilarated Neal McDonald (UK), said: "It was a pretty wild trip and I am very pleased to be back in my home country especially with my wife and family here. The guys did a great job, but obviously it is overshadowed by the tragic death of Hans Horrevoets. I am very proud of my team and we sailed conservatively throughout the leg, especially after we heard the sad news. Sailing at any level is pretty tough and there were times on this leg when we felt like we were in the Southern Ocean."
Photo: Oskar Kihlborg/Volvo Ocean Race
Paul Cayard brought Pirates of the Caribbean home in third place, just 28 minutes behind the Swedish team, bringing their overall points up to 55 and putting the Pirates into second place overall. On finishing, Cayard said: "We had a lot of breeze out there and a very rough sea. The guys did a great job keeping the boat together and thankfully we are all here and the boat is in good shape. It was a real tough trans-Atlantic. It was the toughest we have done and it doesn't take much in this type of boat to make the situation difficult. "As far as the race is concerned, we are very happy with our position and managing to add to our points and give us a bit of a cushion on second place overall." The next boat to finish will be Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) which will finish within the hour.
Volvo Ocean Race Leg Position Day 10 at 1600 GMT Saturday:
1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, finished 9d 06h 30m 42s
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, 9d 19h 26m 39s
3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, 9d 19h 54m 20s
4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 31 miles to finish
5. Brunel, Matt Humphries, 370 miles to finish
6. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, 459 miles to finish
7. movistar, Bouwe Bekking, RTD
Volvo Leg 7 Day 10 - Movistar abandoned. The crew of the Spanish yacht, movistar (Bouwe Bekking) has abandoned the yacht and transferred the 10-man crew via life raft to ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Joss), which has been standing by since approximately 2200 GMT Saturday night.The two boats are positioned 307 nautical miles west south-west of Land's End. The sea state is rough, but the wind has temporarily eased to seven knots, which has made the transfer of the crew easier. The weather is forecast to deteriorate and 40 - 50 knots winds are expected in the vicinity within the next four to six hours. The decision to transfer the crew and abandon movistar was made in the light of the extreme weather expected.
When asked for assistance, the Royal Navy responded immediately and HMS Mersey, a River class offshore patrol vessel built for UK fishery protection, has left Milford Haven in South Wales and is expected to rendezvous with ABN AMRO TWO in approximately eight hours' time and shepherd ABN AMRO TWO to the nearest coast.
Food and personal items were transferred with the crew of movistar and ABN AMRO TWO is equipped with two ten-man life rafts if required. Movistar has been left with her generator and Inmarsat Satcom C communications system running so that her position can be tracked as long as possible.
At the head of the fleet, Ericsson (Neal McDonald) is approximately 28 nautical miles west of the Needles at the entrance to the Solent. Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard), is eight miles south of Portland Bill and Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) is 10 miles east of Start Point.
Volvo Ocean Race Positions Day 10 at 1000 GMT Sunday:
1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, finished 9d 06h 30m 42s
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, 25 miles to finish
3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, 35 miles to finish
4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 69 miles to finish
5. Brunel, Matt Humphries, 409 miles to finish
6. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, 489 miles to finish
7. movistar, Bouwe Bekking, 490 miles to finish
Photo: Jon NashMike Sanderson and his crew brought ABN AMRO ONE safely into Portsmouth Harbour 2330 GMT.Saturday night, after crossing the finish line. First round the scoring gate at the Lizard, and first over the finish line of leg seven from New York to Portsmouth, ABN AMRO ONE has now amassed 81 points, which makes Sanderson's overall position in the Volvo Ocean Race unassailable.
After a stressful and testing Atlantic crossing, Sanderson was relieved to bring Black Betty and her crew into Portsmouth. For him, it wasn't a day too soon. "It has been a very tough few days, with up to 50 knots of winds, especially the last 24 hours. It is lovely to be here. It was such a huge set back losing Hans, but I know this is what he would have wanted. "It is amazing really. It is such a special moment. For me this is the Olympic medal, the climbing Everest, it's a childhood dream to have skippered a boat and to have won the Volvo Ocean Race. It has been absolutely unbelievable. It has been the most amazing race with the most amazing team. We have been so tight as a team, from top to bottom."
Speaking about the tragic loss of Hans Horrevoets from ABN AMRO TWO, Sanderson said: "From the minute we got the message about the man overboard, we didn't know exactly which boat it was from, but I had that sinking feeling that it might be one of us. I emailed Si Fi straight away and he said that they had turned around and that Hans was in the water. It was a real kick in the stomach. We felt every minute that the guys were looking for him and they did an amazing job to get back to him. It was just tragic that it wasn't soon enough."
ABN AMRO ONE took the lead from day two out of the Hudson River and led the fleet north to the coast of Nova Scotia, then tacked south passing behind the fleet, temporarily falling to the bottom of the leader board. By day six, ABN AMRO ONE was back up to form and on top again leading the pack across the Atlantic.
Ericsson (Neal McDonald) is 60 miles from the Lizard and is expected to arrive in Portsmouth around 1300 GMT Sunday. Pirates of the Caribbean is 15 miles behind Ericsson and the fight for second place on the podium is sure to be a fierce one.
Volvo Ocean Race Positions Day 10 at 0030 GMT Sunday:
1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, finished 9d 06h 30m 42s
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, 208 miles to finish
3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +15 miles
4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +67 miles
5. movistar, Bouwe Bekking, +366 miles
5. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +366 miles
7. Brunel, Matt Humphries, +401 miles
Melges 24 North American Championship. A lack of wind meant no sailing today in Santa Cruz, California. The boats went afloat ready for the scheduled 1230 start but it gradually became clear conditions weren't developing as hoped and after an hour the Race Committee signalled code flags A over H and sent the crews back to the harbour to await further instructions. Sadly by 1430 it was clear that racing would not be possible and the signal was changed to N over H abandoning all racing for the day.Brian Porter of Chicago sailing Full Throttle continues to lead the regatta by one point from Dave Ullman of Newport Beach sailing Pegasus 505. The results as of the end of day two are available from www.melges24na2006.com/results.html
Saturday May 20 Fleet start.
Photo: Gilles Martin Raget
May 20, America's Cup Act 11. There were perfect conditions for racing today and in the first fleet race of the day, the Swiss Alinghi team raced away from the fleet to extend its lead at the top of the table. But Luna Rossa won the second race of the day to close the gap and claim second place on the leaderboard.
They weren't the only Italians making noise on the day; Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team had two good finishes in the top five and is sitting equal fourth on points on the leaderboard. The solid 15-knot Southeasterly, the sunny skies and the large 300-strong spectator fleet filled in a beautiful picture on the waters off Valencia, providing a change of pace from the light conditions of the past week. A fireworks show at 22:00 this evening in the America's Cup Park will put an exclamation point on the weekend, before the final fleet race on Sunday closes the action in Louis Vuitton Act 11.
RACE THREE:
The start was far more challenging today with the stronger winds raising the stakes for any mistake. But in the event, it was a clean start with nearly every boat hard on the line with speed as the start gun fired.
China Team and +39 Challenge were fast off the line at the pin end, while closer to the Race Committee boat it was Alinghi, Victory Challenge and United Internet Team Germany who looked good. The Spanish team, Desafío Español had a poor start, very late to the line, and immediately tacked out to the right, trailing the fleet early.
Luna Rossa was also in difficulty early, and when they tacked they crossed behind the majority of the fleet. Alinghi, BMW ORACLE Racing and Emirates Team New Zealand opted for the left side of the race course where the Kiwis were forced above the layline to find clear air behind the others.
Alinghi led around and BMW ORACLE Racing was able to find a clear lane to tack, while the Kiwis had a more difficult time with +39 charging in on the privileged starboard tack ahead of them, and Luna Rossa managing to slide inside them at the rounding.
Down the run, the South Africans were the first to gybe out to seek clear air, while Alinghi led the majority of the fleet down the middle. Well out on the left were the Kiwis with Desafío Español well behind them.
The leeward gate featured boats going through bow to stern, splitting sides of the course. After being forced to the left buoy, the Emirates squad quickly changed sides and went out to the far right of the course where the picked up a couple more places on the fleet. Alinghi flew up the middle of the race course while BMW ORACLE Racing and Shosholoza had a more difficult time on the left.
Around the top mark for the second time, the Swiss were in control while the Kiwis would battle with Luna Rossa and BMW ORACLE Racing all the way down the run - the teams finishing overlapped in that order. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia sailed to a strong fifth place, ahead of Shosholoza who barely held off +39 and Areva Challenge.
Jesper Bank and his Germans sailed their best race for a ninth place finish ahead of the struggling Spanish, while Victory Challenge, first race winners, settled for 11th place. China Team rounded out the fleet.
RACE FOUR:
In the second race, it was BMW ORACLE Racing who looked like stars on the starting line, belting across the line with good speed, right beside the Race Committee boat. The Americans would work up the right hand side of the beat, but it was the Italians on Luna Rossa who worked up the left side of the race course who would get to the top mark first. In the middle of the course, Emirates Team New Zealand was slightly behind at the start and were punished for it the rest of the race. The Kiwis could never find a lane with clear wind on the first beat and were driven down the fleet.
Early in the leg, China Team turned downwind and dropped their jib, retiring from the race with unspecified equipment problems. The team is scored Did Not Finish and doesn't earn any points for its efforts. At the windward mark, there was more close action with the Italians leading BMW ORACLE Racing around, and then Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia skipper Vasco Vascotto squeezing inside of Alinghi and Areva Challenge. Victory Challenge was penalised for tacking too close to another boat at the mark, and fell back to trail the fleet after completing their exonerating turn. Just two minutes separated first from worst at the top mark.
At the bottom, the positions hadn't changed much with all of the action in the middle of the fleet, where the difference between fifth and ninth place was not very big. Approaching the top mark for the final time, the Spanish picked up a penalty late on the beat when the Umpires judged they weren't far enough ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand on a close cross. Then the Germans were assigned a penalty for tacking too close at the mark.
On the final run the Kiwis picked up a few places by taking a gamble on the right side of the course, and by stealing fifth place, they remain in the hunt behind Luna Rossa in giving chase to Alinghi.
Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 11 - Provisional Results and Leaderboard: Act 11 May 20 Position: 1 2 3 4 5 Total 1 Alinghi (SUI 75) 6/7 1/12 1/12 3/10 41 2 Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 86) 10/3 2/11 3/10 1/12 36 3 Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 84) 4/9 7/6 2/11 5/8 34 4 Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 77) 2/11 10/3 5/8 4/9 31 5 BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 87) 9/4 6/7 4/9 2/11 31 6 Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 5/8 5/8 6/7 8/5 28 7 Areva Challenge (FRA 60) 7/6 4/9 8/5 7/6 26 8 +39 Challenge (ITA 59) 3/10 12/1 7/6 6/7 26 9 Victory Challenge (SWE 63) 1/12 8/5 11/2 10/3 22 10 Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 65) 8/5 3/10 10/3 9/4 22 11 United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) 11/2 11/2 9/4 11/2 10 12 China Team (CHN 79) 12/1 9/4 12/1 dnf/o 6America's Cup, Louis Vuitton Acts 10 - 12, Valencia, Spain
Volvo Leg 7 Day 10. At 1224 GMT Saturday, ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) rounded the scoring gate at the Lizard, situated at the south western tip of the UK, collecting 3.5 points and she is now 56 miles to the east of the gate. Ericsson (Neal McDonald) still has 146 miles to run to the gate, with Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard) 14 miles behind her.
It is still very windy in the English Channel and earlier today, 37 knots were recorded at the Channel light vessel. ABN AMRO ONE has to make her way up the Solent, leaving the Needles and the Isle of Wight to starboard, to the finish line at Gilkicker point before entering the safety of Portsmouth Harbour.
As the Dutch boat approaches the Needles, at the entrance to the Solent, it is possible that the wind may ease to 15 knots due to the influence of the land. Overnight, ABN AMRO One recorded 15 knots of wind with 15 to 18 foot waves. The time of the finish will depend on whether the wind holds or drops as forecast, but it is anticipated that she will cross the line between 2200 and midnight tonight.
Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 1600 GMT Saturday:
1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 110 miles to finish
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, +198 miles
3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +212 miles
4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +276 miles
5. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +516 miles
6. movistar, Bouwe Bekking, +543 miles
7. Brunel, Matt Humphries, +624 miles
Photo: IMCAMelges 24 North American Championship, Santa Cruz. The second day of the Championship (Friday) brought more difficult racing as yet again Santa Cruz failed to deliver its typical conditions. Of the three races completed the first two were largely light and shifty giving the Race Committee plenty to keep them busy. The day's final race eventually brought a respectable 16-18 knots, sadly accompanied by rain, but the wind died away again leaving one boat unable to finish within the time limit.
With six races now sailed Brian Porter (Chicago, IL) and his Full Throttle team of Harry Melges, Dave Navin and John Porter retain their lead by just one point from Dave Ullman (Newport Beach, CA) with his crew Bill Hardesty, Brian Hutchinson, Casey Smith & Shana Phelan aboard Pegasus 505. Seadon Wijsen (San Francisco, CA) sailing Pareto Optimal put in a very consistent 7, 4, 1 day to move up from 8th to 3rd on 26 points, just ahead of Bruce Ayres (Newport Beach, CA) in Monsoon who dropped down from 3rd to 4th with 29 points.
After a hard night of excellent partying courtesy of Pusser's Rum, the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co and Red Bull there were more than a few sore heads as they crews left the dock this morning. Unfortunately for those under the weather it was to be a testing day. Despite the shifts the right hand side of the beat was favoured with virtually no one venturing left of centre all day. With a 1230 start time and difficult conditions PRO Hank Stuart knew he had is work cut out to get all three scheduled races completed so went to Z flag from the outset.
Despite this there was still a general recall, followed by individual recalls on the start of race four and a total of 17 boats were penalised. At the first weather mark it was Alba Batzill (GER), helming Courage X for Eddy Eich, who led the fleet, a position he declined to relinquish for the remainder of the race. Frenchman Hubert Guy, sailing Enigma, rounded second from Ayres in third with Philippe Kahn (Santa Cruz, CA) aboard Pegasus 575 fourth. As Batzill consolidated his lead there was plenty of jockeying for position behind him. In the closing moments of the run Philippe Kahn slid into second 2nd with Guy 3rd. Brian Porter struggled out of the start but despite rounding the first mark well down the fleet he sailed an impressive race to pull up into 4th.
Full Results are available from www.melges24na2006.com/results.html
Photo: Gilles Martin Raget
May 19, America's Cup Act 11. Friday was a very tricky day out on the waters off Valencia with light, shifty conditions, along with a left-over swell from earlier wind making life hard for the sailors. The contrast in results over the two races sailed was certainly indicative of a difficult day, with top three finishers in one race finding themselves well down the table in the other.
The Swedes on Victory Challenge stormed out to a massive lead in the first race, perhaps inspired by the presence of track and field legend Baron Sebastian Coe, who sailed as 18th man on the black boat of the Swedes.
In the second contest of the day, it was the Defender, Alinghi, who dashed off the start line with the winning strategy, building a nice lead on the first leg and extending the rest of the way for a smart looking win. Combined with a sixth place finish in the first race, that was enough to give the Swiss pole position on the first day leaderboard of Louis Vuitton Act 11.
RACE ONE:
When racing started after a short postponement, it was Luna Rossa with its bow forward on the starting line, helmsman James Spithill making an excellent start. The Germans were shut out of the start line initially and were late starting.
Taking the right-hand side up the first leg Victory Challenge, with Baron Sebastian Coe aboard as 18th man, came into a good shift and with clear wind was able to extend in front of the fleet. The Italians aboard Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia weren't far behind them and came out of the first part of the race in a very strong position behind the Swedes.
Emirates Team New Zealand did well up the middle of the race course, along with Shosholoza, while BMW ORACLE Racing and Alinghi just managed to hang on to the leaders.
At the first mark, the Swedes were well ahead. Mid-fleet, Luna Rossa found it had tacked too early, and had to try and 'shoot' the mark, by altering course to sneak around the buoy. As the Italian boat nearly stopped in the manoeuvre, four boats rolled over them, and to add insult to injury, the Umpires judged ITA 86 had tacked in the process and interfered with one of its opponents, and assessed them a penalty turn, driving the Italians further back in the fleet.
The Kiwis moved up a few places on the first run, while +39, who had rounded in third place held on to their position by staying on the left hand side of the course.
The Swedes and Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team extended away the rest of the race to take the first two places, and then, at the finish line, Iain Percy's +39 Challenge stole a position from the Kiwis by sailing high and fast behind Emirates Team New Zealand before diving down for the finish line, and using their momentum to squeeze across three seconds ahead.
Shosholoza eased in ahead of the Defender, Alinghi, while Thierry Peponnet's Areva Challenge sailed a great second lap of the course, making up four places to finish in seventh place. The home side Desaf畞o Espaol squeezed ahead of the American winners of Act 10, BMW ORACLE Racing, while Luna Rossa, United Internet Team Germany and China Team rounded out the fleet.
RACE TWO:
It was a dramatic start to the second race when two boats were judged over the line. Emirates Team New Zealand and Team Shosholoza dived back to restart, and were forced out to the right-hand side of the course to look for clear air. Desaf畞o Espaol was lucky not to break the line early as the Spanish charged towards the pin end of the line with nowhere left to go. With China Team driving up from underneath, Karol Jablonski was forced to turn the wheel at the last moment, but they got away with it, crossing the start just as the gun fired.
Out of the middle of the line, a couple of the big players, Alinghi and Luna Rossa made good starts with good speed. But for the second race in a row, BMW ORACLE Racing made a terrible start as Chris Dickson struggled to find clear air in the first few minutes.
After their poor start, a right-hand windshift brought the Kiwis back into the game very quickly as they charged out to the right. +39 Challenge and BMW ORACLE also went out to the right, but when the breeze shifted back to the left, the advantage went back towards Luna Rossa, China Team and Alinghi. SUI-75 looked in good form, and Ed Baird steered Alinghi to a small but useful lead up the top of the first beat, with Luna Rossa not far behind. Desaf畞o Espaol 2007 had to squeeze up to make it cleanly around the first mark, the Spanish just managing to do so and rounding third in front of the French team Areva Challenge.
One of the biggest surprises was to see China Team rounding in 5th place, a well deserved position after making a risky but well executed start. Just behind them were the Kiwis, also showing good form after that early start. But where was the winner of Louis Vuitton Act 10, BMW ORACLE Racing? The Americans rounded second last, with just +39 Challenge behind.
Chris Dickson was first to gybe on the downwind leg, a classic attacking move when you're at the back of the fleet. It proved to be a good strategy, as when the fleet converged on a congested leeward gate USA-87 was right back in the hunt. Alinghi meanwhile continued to extend, but the clear winner of race one - Victory Challenge - was struggling this time. Consistency in such a competitive fleet is proving hard to find.
Down the final run, the leading few had such a gap that positions were unthreatened, but in the middle of the pack it was a scramble for the line as boats gybed on each other, looking to steal precious air from their rivals' sails. Alinghi crossed the line well ahead of Luna Rossa, while BMW ORACLE had climbed to 6th place, just ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand. Two of the high-performing teams of the first contest - Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia and +39 on this occasion brought up the rear.
Act 11 May 19 Position: 1 2 3 4 5 Total 1 Alinghi (SUI 75) 6/7 1/12 19 2 Victory Challenge (SWE 63) 1/12 8/5 17 3 Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 5/8 5/8 16 4 Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 65) 8/5 3/10 15 5 Areva Challenge (FRA 60) 7/6 4/9 15 6 Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 84) 4/9 7/6 15 7 Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 86) 10/3 2/11 14 8 Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 77) 2/11 10/3 14 9 +39 Challenge (ITA 59) 3/10 12/1 11 10 BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 87) 9/4 6/7 11 11 China Team (CHN 79) 12/1 9/4 5 12 United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) 11/2 11/2 4America's Cup, Louis Vuitton Acts 10 - 12, Valencia, Spain
Volvo Leg 7, Day 9. Friday - after sailing 3,200 nautical miles from New York, the yachts competing in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 are expected to arrive into Portsmouth tomorrow evening. Dutch entry ABN AMRO ONE, skippered by New Zealander Mike Sanderson, has established an impressive 188 mile lead over the fleet. Local Hampshire sailor Robert Greenhalgh, who is competing onboard the lead boat, will be hoping to be the first Englishman to touch down on home soil.
British skipper Neal McDonald is also racing hard to reach home. Along with team mate and fellow countryman Tim Powell, they are currently placed second overall onboard Ericsson and will be hoping to maintain this position to the finish to score their best leg result.
The lead boat is expected to pass the scoring gate off Lizard Point, the most southerly point of mainland Britain, around first light tomorrow morning. From there the fleet will sail towards Portsmouth, leaving the Needles (the most western point of the Isle of Wight) to starboard as they battle their way up through the heavily tidal and challenging Solent.
The crew of movistar (Bouwe Bekking) are licking their wounds after ripping their mainsail from luff to leach. For 30 hours they have sailed without their sail after dragging it down below in order to repair it. Mike Joubert was hoisted aloft, in a very big seaway, to retrieve the top part of the sail which was not attached the main bulk of the sail.
It was a scramble for the team, but somehow they fixed the sail and when it was ready, it was all hands on deck to insert the battens. The question is: will the repair hold? The sail makers onboard are negative, giving it a 30 per cent chance, but Bekking is more optimistic. "I think it has a 90 per cent chance," he says. "Let's give the Aussies a bit more credit for their expert craftsmanship. Fingers crossed."
Movistar has also broken their headstay foil in the middle, which is the most likely reason for the team losing their headsail in the early morning. They think they can fix it, but the need a flatter seaway in order to attempt the repair. But, for the moment, they are under spinnaker, not needing a headsail, so the pressure for the repair is off for the moment.
Brunel (Matt Humphries) has also damaged their mainsail, but attempted to repair it on deck. They decided to drop their mainsail in a heavy seaway when they gybed back towards ABN AMRO TWO when assistance was requested. As they lowered the sail, it caught against the mast and spreaders and ripped in many places, opening up the batten pockets and making holes in the body of the sail. The full extent of the damage was only known when the team re-hoisted the sail at first light. It was a new mainsail for this leg and Humphries is keen to preserve it. The sail was repaired on deck using glue as it was too big for the team's sewing machine.
As the fleet closes on the Western Approaches, with a deepening low pressure system developing behind them, the teams are mindful of the conditions and are not putting unnecessary pressure on in the last stages of this leg to England, although speeds still remain high.
Volvo Ocean Race Day 9 Friday Positions at 1600 Friday:
1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 550 miles to finish
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, +188 miles
3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +211 miles
4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +236 miles
5. movistar, Bouwe Bekking, +401 miles
6. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +445 miles
7. Brunel, Matt Humphries, +531 miles
For Volvo web site click hereMelges 24 North American Championship. For the 31 strong fleet in Santa Cruz, California, Thursday was a demanding first day on the water as the weather gods played fast and loose with the normally reliable sea breeze. The mist held on and without the sun's warmth ashore the wind was reluctant to put in a proper appearance making conditions throughout the first two races generally light and variable at between 5 and 12 knots. Conditions finally began to pick up on the final run of race two and fortunately held for the third race of the day with the teams enjoying some good surfing in 16-18 knots.
After three races Brian Porter and his Full Throttle crew of Harry Melges, Dave Navin and John Porter have a seven point lead over Dave Ullman with Bruce Ayres third and Jeff Littfin fourth.
Overall Brian Porter (USA600) leads on 7 points. There are just 3 points separating 2nd through 4th with Dave Ullman (USA505) on 14, Bruce Ayres (USA637) on 16 and Jeff Littfin (USA397) on 19. Friday three more races are scheduled with the first start set for 1230.
Yachtswoman Dee Caffari 33, has triumphed over extreme isolation, lethal icebergs, mountainous waves, vicious storms and hurricane force winds to set a new world record as the first woman to sail round the world solo, non-stop against the prevailing winds and currents. Caffari's record-breaking 29,100 mile voyage on the 72-foot Aviva lasted 178 days, 3 hours, 6 minutes and 15 seconds. She crossed the official finish line in sight of the observer from the World Sailing Speed Record Council off Lizard Point, U.K., and completed a passage which ensures her a place in maritime history.
Commentary by international yachting journalist Tim Jeffery: While her time might be more than a 100 days greater than Ellen MacArthur took last year in a much faster multihull over the swifter downwind easterly route, this is a magnificent achievement for Caffari. The magnitude of handling a big, heavy, 72ft steel yacht cannot be overstated. The mental, physical and technical challenges do not diminish the longer the voyage takes - neither do the waves or wind -- Tim Jeffery For complete article click here
ISAF World Sailing Games 2006 Day 9
Photo: Guilliane Greinier/Martin-Raget.com
ISAF World Sailing Games 2006, Day 9, Lake Neusiedl, Austria. Thursday was another busy day at the ISAF World Sailing Games nearing its conclusion in Austria, with just one more day for the leading crews to secure a top ten place and a spot in the decisive Medal Races this Saturday.
American sailor Page Railey is in the top spot in the Laser Radial Class; in Laser Brad Funk is at 20th; Hobie 16 Annie Nelson is at 3rd; while in 420 Team's USA3 is in first place, USA1 in 2nd, USA2 in 4th, USA4 in 7th.
Happier moments: Hans Horrevoats at Cape Town. Photo: ABN TWO
May 18, ABN AMRO TWO crew 'devastated'. Earlier this morning (Thursday), Hans Horrevoets (NED) was washed overboard from the deck of ABN AMRO TWO as they raced across the North Atlantic on their way to Portsmouth, UK, in leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race. The young crew, who have sailed this boat so well, are devastated.
The boat was sailing downwind in 25 - 30 knots of wind under mainsail, fractional spinnaker and staysail. Sebastien Josse, skipper of ABN AMRO TWO, was at the helm, Hans was trimming the spinnaker sheet, Nick Bice, Andrew Lewis and Lucas Brun were also on deck. A wave washed back down the deck and when the water cleared Hans was no longer on deck.
"We are all devastated by the events that took place this morning and all our thoughts are for Hans' family," said skipper Sebastien Josse. "I would like to stress that throughout the whole man overboard procedure, the crew handled themselves calmly, professionally and with the utmost maturity. It is with deep regret that we were unable to resuscitate Hans," he commented.
ABN AMRO TWO navigator Simon Fisher explains what happened: "Immediately Seb hailed 'man overboard' and called everyone on deck while I remained below to put in place our man overboard procedures and GPS positioning. The spinnaker was immediately dropped, the staysail furled and the starboard dagger board lowered. The engine was switched on and we attempted to motor-sail back on a reciprocal course. Due to the strong headwinds it was decided we drop the main, and go under motor alone as it was difficult to maintain a direct course to the man overboard position.
"Once Hans was located, Simeon Tienpoint put on his dry-suit, harness and diving gear in order to assist in the recovery. Once back on board Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, UK was notified that we had a major medical emergency and asked to stand by. In the meantime Hans was moved downstairs. No pulse was found so CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) was initiated by the crew's medics George Peet and Nick Bice, assisted by Andrew Lewis, Lucas Brun and Luke Malloy, all of whom are medically trained for such emergencies. CPR was stopped at 0420 GMT."
Speaking from race headquarters, Volvo Ocean Race CEO Glenn Bourke said: "All of us at the Volvo Ocean Race are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Hans Horrevoets. At this time our thoughts are with Hans' family and friends, his fellow crew members and all the members of TEAM ABN AMRO. Ocean racing carries inherent risks and we do our utmost to minimize those risks with the mandatory safety equipment we have on board. However,when an accident like this occurs it is a shock to everyone associated with the race. The Volvo Ocean Race family is a close-knit community and we will all lend whatever support is needed at this tragic time."
ABN AMRO TWO at 1600 hrs GMT is 1345 nautical miles from Portsmouth. The boat is under sail and the crew are making their way towards landfall as quickly as possible where a decision will be made on their further participation in the race.
Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 2200 Thursday:
1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 892 miles to finish
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, +128 miles
3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +190 miles
4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +203 miles
5. movistar, Bouwe Bekking, +367 miles
6. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +385 miles
7. Brunel, Matt Humphries, +442 miles
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BMW ORACLE Team
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget
May 17, Valencia, Spain Wednesday. The American BMW ORACLE Racing team beat Italy's +39 Challenge today to complete racing in Louis Vuitton Act 10 and extend its lead on the points table. On Tuesday BMW ORACLE Racing won Act 10, when it was determined it would win the four way tie-break scenario at the top of the table. With today's win the Americans are one point clear, their only loss coming to Alinghi.
It was another good day for racing in Valencia, with a light Southeasterly breeze providing plenty of opportunities for gains and losses. Despite having won Louis Vuitton Act 10 on Tuesday afternoon, today's race was important to BMW ORACLE. That's because the 11 challenging teams are also racing for Louis Vuitton Challenger Ranking Points and for this purpose, ties are not broken.
This challenger ranking is used to award bonus points prior to the challenger selection series in 2007. By finishing one point clear of its rival challengers - Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand- on the Act 10 leaderboard, BMW ORACLE Racing drives them further down the Louis Vuitton Challenger Ranking table, increasing its lead for those important bonus points.
Wednesday FLIGHT 6 - Make-up match - BMW ORACLE Racing vs. +39 Challenge:
A mild pre-start saw both boats hit the starting line with speed on starboard tack. BMW ORACLE Racing looked to be in a windward position where it could force +39 Challenge out to the layline. But the helmsman on the Italian boat, Iain Percy, was able to squeeze up and force the Americans to tack to the right hand side of the course. The boats raced up the centre right of the race course, and the American team was able to eke out a small advantage over the length of the leg.
On the first run, the Americans extended further in the light conditions and built a 38-second lead that would only increase over the second lap of the course.
BMW ORACLE Team at Tuesday's Prize Giving.
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget
From Andy Rice of sailing-talk.blogspot.com:
BMW Oracle's victory in Louis Vuitton Act 10 proves that America's Cup
racing is not always won on pure speed. Pundits around Valencia have
been marvelling at the ability of USA-87 to turn through an incredibly
tight turning circle - a valuable trait not only for pre-start
manoeuvring but for executing the killer move that Chris Dickson pulled
on the Italians aboard Luna Rossa.
As for straightline boatspeed, observers thought the Kiwis' new boat looked pretty tasty, while USA-87 and ITA-86 appeared to struggle at times. But no one really knows what subtle games are being played out there. Without actually saying it, Chris Dickson hinted in a press conference at the beginning of the week that they might not be revealing their full hand. Sandbagging is definitely on the agenda at this stage. At times, USA-87 has looked quite ordinary and at others quite extraordinary. A few people round the media centre certainly believe Dickson is holding back.
Alinghi's fourth-place finish doesn't sound great, but the challengers remain concerned about Swiss potential. SUI-75 is still a good boat, as McKee pointed out. "She's not slow, and they still have two new boats to come, so they're not in a bad position, but for sure the gap has been closed. That's good news for all of us and probably good news for the event too." Terry Hutchinson was less optimistic. "You have to wonder what they have sitting in that shed over there. They were at least half a generation ahead of everyone in 2005, so if they make another generation jump, they'll be another half-generation ahead of where the challengers are now. They're obviously very good at what they do, so I think we all have our work cut out.
Vasco Vascotto, skipper of Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia, was most forthright of all. He belittled the design efforts of the big challengers. "Alinghi continues to be the benchmark. This means that the strongest teams have already thrown away a new boat just to get to where Alinghi was -- Excerpts from a summary by Andy Rice, full story: http://sailing-talk.blogspot.com
For Sailmaking at Valencia, click here
Racing begins again of Friday with the first fleet race of Louis Vuitton Act 11.
Volvo Leg 7, Day 7, 1600 GMT Wednesday, race leader, ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) is the most northerly of the fleet, 486 nautical miles north west of the Azores. Sanderson has extended his lead to 90 miles as Ericsson crossed the tracks of the Dutch boat and dropped 16. Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard) are mirroring Brasil 1's every move and have closed the gap to 12 miles. Movistar has the best breeze in the fleet. The Spanish boat has gained six miles and has an average speed of 16.6 knots, although she is 316 miles out of touch with the leader.
Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 2200 Wednesday:
1. ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 1364 miles to finish
2. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald, +98 miles
3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +151 miles
4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +153 miles
5. ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +197 miles
6. Brunel, Matt Humphries, +245 miles
7. movistar, Bouwe Bekking, +296 miles
For Volvo web site click here
BMW ORACLE Team celebrate on arrival at dock.
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget
May 16, America's Cup Louis Vuitton Act 10, Valencia. The American BMW ORACLE Racing team has won the Louis Vuitton Act 10 in Valencia. The Americans beat Luna Rossa Challenge in Flight 11 to move into a four-way tie with the other leading teams. Although they have sailed one less match than the other teams, BMW ORACLE Racing pops out the top on the tie-breaking procedure to confirm the winning spot.
It's the first Louis Vuitton Act victory for BMW ORACLE Racing since the opening Act in Marseille in 2004, when there were just six teams competing. The American team will likely still sail its last match, scheduled for Wednesday, against +39 Challenge, to improve its position on the challenger rankings, although it won't affect the overall results for Act 10. If the Americans win on Wednesday they finish clear ahead on points in both the Act and for the Louis Vuitton Challenger Rankings.
Equal tonight on nine points with BMW ORACLE Racing is Luna Rossa Challenge, Emirates Team New Zealand and Alinghi. Under the tie-breaking rules, the championship is decided on the best performance in head to head matches between the tied teams. BMW ORACLE Racing and Luna Rossa both have 2 -1 records, and as the Americans beat Luna Rossa, they end up on top, with the Italians in second place. Emirates Team New Zealand ends up third by virtue of defeating Alinghi in their match.
Further down the table, the home Spanish team, Desafío Español 2007 won its last match over Victory Challenge to draw level with the Swedes on points, and win that tie-break for fifth place. There were perfect racing conditions on Tuesday in Valencia, with a solid 10-12 knot Easterly blowing down the race course under sunny skies. Over 100 spectator boats ringed the race courses to catch all the action.
FLIGHT 10:
The match between Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand was a humdinger. There was nothing between these two boats for the first leg and a half. As they duelled downwind, the Kiwis tried to roll over the top of the Italians who themselves had just made a passing move, but James Spithill engaged Dean Barker in a slow luff. As both boats rounded closer to the wind, the lightly-built spinnakers loaded up, until the red kite of NZL 84 exploded. As the shreds of sailcloth laid blew over Luna Rossa's rig, the Umpires added insult to injury by giving the Kiwis a penalty. Luna Rossa took a narrow lead through the leeward gate, and led their wounded rivals all the way to the finish.
There was action in the match between Desafío Español and BMW ORACLE, the Spanish gaining a small advantage in the early stages and looking the equal of the Americans in their new boat. This remained a tight match all the way round the course, with the two boats rounding the final mark in unison. However, USA 87 turned on the afterburners down the final run, and finished 25 seconds in front.
By comparison to the other big teams, Alinghi enjoyed a straightforward victory over Victory Challenge. But two of the three matches on the south course were closely fought all the way around the track, the first being that between Shosholoza and Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team. Straight off the start line Mascalzone Latino gained a small advantage up the first beat to round the windward mark in the lead, but at the leeward gate the Italians gave their lead away by picking the unfavoured left hand side of the gate.
Team Shosholoza hung onto to their lead up the second beat only to allow the Italians to get caught up when the South Africans made a poor gybe. Minutes later Mascalzone Latino managed to roll the South Africans and hold their lead to finish just 15 seconds ahead.
In the match between +39 and United Internet Team Germany, +39 took a narrow lead from the start and rounded the weather mark two boat lengths ahead. However, a poor spinnaker hoist allowed the German team to overtake the Italians. At the bottom mark the left hand side proved to be a graveyard once again, this time for United Internet Team Germany who handed back the lead to +39. This time it was a lead the Italians held to the finish. Areva Challenge led China Team off the line and never looked back to beat the Chinese by a large margin.
FLIGHT ELEVEN:
Going into the final flight, the overall standings were very close and the only team still fully in control of its own destiny was Luna Rossa. If the Italians could win this final match against BMW ORACLE Racing then they would win Louis Vuitton Act 10. James Spithill controlled the start beautifully, forcing an early tack from Chris Dickson. Just two minutes into the match, the yachts converged and Luna Rossa passed clear ahead - advantage Italy.
However, close to the first mark, Dickson pulled a masterstroke when he ducked the Italians to claim a late right-hand advantage. He threw the fast-turning USA 87 into an immediate tack, now sitting on the windward hip of the Italians. Spithill believed he had the speed and momentum to tack across the face of the Americans but it was an expensive misjudgement. Dickson was forced to take evading action and the Umpires duly awarded a penalty against Spithill. USA 87 speared into the lead and Dickson defended the lead to the finish.
It was a very even start between Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand, although the Swiss seized the early advantage. However the Kiwi afterguard found good breeze out to the left of the course and when the boats came together again, NZL 84 was two boatlengths ahead. This was always a tight match but the New Zealanders never faltered and they won a rare victory against their nemesis from the 2003 Cup.
Karol Jablonski sailed a masterful pre-start against Magnus Holmberg, Desaf畞o Espaol leaving Victory Challenge floundering as the gun fired, and a penalty against the Swedish too. Victory never recovered and the Spanish sailed to a relatively easy win. The match between Areva Challenge and +39 proved to be the closest of Flight 11 on the south course. On the approach to the start both boats looked early. +39 just managed to slow down to start cleanly, but Areva didn't and were over the line at the start. Travelling at pace and heading to the favoured right hand side of the course, the Italian team pulled out a lead that they never gave back.
In the match between United Internet Team Germany and Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, the Germans might have outperformed the Italians in the pre-start but they suffered a penalty. But there was worse to come. A poor hoist at the weather mark allowed the Italians to take the lead. At the leeward mark United Internet Team Germany compounded their problems with a poor spinnaker drop allowing the Italians to stretch out even more distance, resulting in a comfortable win. After making a good start Team Shosholoza powered away from China Team and never looked like relinquishing their lead. They didn't and South Africa won the race.
Provisional Results and Points Leaderboard Flight 10 BMW ORACLE Racing beat Desafío Español 2007 DELTA 00.25 Alinghi beat Victory Challenge DELTA 02.33 Luna Rossa beat Emirates Team New Zealand DELTA 01.08 Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team beat Team Shosholoza DELTA 00.15 Areva Challenge beat China Team DELTA 01.48 +39 Challenge beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 00.38 Flight 11: Desafío Español 2007 beat Victory Challenge (Did Not Finish) BMW ORACLE Racing beat Luna Rossa DELTA 01.38 Emirates Team New Zealand beat Alinghi DELTA 00.16 Team Shosholoza beat China Team DELTA 01.27 Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 02.28 +39 Challenge beat Areva Challenge DELTA 00.31 BMW ORACLE Racing and +39 Challenge are scheduled to race on Wednesday.
Alighi wins the start.
Photo: Ivo Rovira/AlinghiMay 15, America's Cup Louis Vuitton Act 10, Valencia. Match of the day Alinghi Vs BMW ORACLE Racing -- report from Team Alinghi compound: Alinghi sailed an excellent pre-start against BMW ORACLE Racing, fighting for the right and judging time on distance perfectly. Ed Baird at the helm, Brad Butterworth on tactics and Piet van Nieuwenhuyzen on the bow coordinated the time to the line with precision, hitting the centre of the start line with speed and a boat length ahead of the Challenger of Record. "I think we started well, with good speed off the line, and good pressure on the right, we were always in control and they didn't attack us at all, so we sailed to the layline and kept control and from then on we led," commented Jochen Schuemann, strategist.
SUI75 raced out to the left hand side, with Murray Jones up the rig looking for breeze, holding a slight 8-9m advantage over BMW ORACLE Racing to leeward. The two drag-raced up the left to the windward mark, Alinghi rounded ahead by 21 seconds, had a clean hoist, and raced out to the right, stretching the narrow lead into the leeward left hand gate to 33 seconds. Jochen Schuemann, strategist on board commented this morning: "For sure it is important for us to see how well the new BOR boat is doing against SUI75, that will be an important lesson, but it is just a race and we have to prove that we a smart team and sail well today." And this they did, sailing up the centre, crossing ahead of BOR 2/3rds up the beat to take the right and round the 2nd windward mark just 13 seconds ahead.
Under spinnaker a few yards from the finish line.
Photo: Thierry Martinez/Alinghi
It was all to play for on the final downwind leg, but Alinghi hung onto the lead, extending it to 21 seconds at the finish. "It's a relief when you cross the finish line, because something could always go wrong, but we defended well and we can safely say that SUI75 is still competitive!" said Jochen, adding: "We had a great race and we won clearly, now it is up to them [BOR] to think about that" end of report
From Tim Jeffery of The Daily Telegraph in the U.K. Alinghi's victory will have a significant bearing on the eventual result of the Act 10 regatta, but the more intriguing point is how USA 87 performed against the high standard set by the Swiss. In recent days it has been possible to see that the boat has an aft rudder located well forward and that the boat is capable of turning very fast. The most likely explanations for having a mast some six feet further forward than normal are either that the boat has very full-chested front hull sections or that another appendage has been added there.
Conditions at the regatta were also perfect for the boats to test their speed - for 12 minutes from an even start, they sailed on one tack in six-eight knot winds. -- Tim Jeffery click here for full article
The victory opens the top of the leaderboard, with all to play for in the remaining two flights of racing. There is also a match remaining between +39 Challenge and BMW ORACLE Racing that must be made up, either on Tuesday or the reserve day, which is Wednesday.
FLIGHT EIGHT:
While there were no real upsets in Flight Eight, plenty of the smaller teams gave the big fish a worryingly close run for their money. On the north course, all the finish deltas were 21 seconds or less. Areva Challenge, sailing the six-year-old winning hull from the 2000 America's Cup, held the brand new ITA-86 of Luna Rossa to just 18 seconds by the finish.
The big match in this flight was between BMW ORACLE Racing and the Defender, Alinghi. The Swiss were sailing SUI 75, the boat they used to dominate the opposition in 2005. The Americans had USA 87 as their weapon, a new boat that skipper Chris Dickson has called the most innovative America's Cup class yacht ever built. There was a near collision in the pre-start as the teams jostled for position and streaking off the starting line, Alinghi helmsman Ed Baird appeared to hold a slender advantage.
The boats sailed a very long starboard tack out to the left side of the race course only tacking once before rounding the mark. As such, it was an ideal opportunity to find out how the boats stacked up, and although Alinghi rounded the mark first, the boats appeared to be quite even. The lead was more by virtue of positioning and starting ability than pure boatspeed. For the rest of the race, Alinghi held its position by staying between its opponent and the next mark, resulting in an important win for the Swiss.
Provisional Results and Points Leaderboard:
Flight 8:
Luna Rossa beat Areva Challenge DELTA 00:18
Desafío Español 2007 beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 00:20
Alinghi beat Shosholoza DELTA 00:21
BMW ORACLE Racing beat China Team DELTA 04:38
Emirates Team New Zealand beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia DELTA 00:32
Victory Challenge beat +39 Challenge DELTA 00:15
Flight 9:
Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia beat Areva Challenge DELTA 01:31
Shosholoza beat +39 Challenge DELTA 00:57
United Internet Team Germany beat China Team DELTA 01:50
Luna Rossa beat Victory Challenge DELTA 00:55
Emirates Team New Zealand beat Desafío Español 2007 DELTA 00:54
Alinghi beat BMW ORACLE Racing DELTA 00:21
Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 10 - Leaderboard Position:
sailed Won Points
1 Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 86) 9 8 8
1 Alinghi (SUI 75) 9 8 8
1 Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 84) 9 8 8
4 BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 87) 8 7 7
5 Victory Challenge (SWE 63) 9 6 6
6 Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 65) 9 5 5
7 Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 9 3 3
7 Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 77) 9 3 3
9 Areva Challenge (FRA 60) 9 2 2
10 United Internet Team Germany (GER 72) 9 2 2
11 +39 Challenge (ITA 59) 8 1 1
12 China Team (CHN 79) 9 0 0
Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 10 - Match Racing - 11 to 18 May 2006
Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 11 - Fleet Racing - 19 to 21 May 2006
Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12 - Match Racing - 22 June to 2 July 2006
For web site click hereVolvo Leg 7. Out on the race track, aside from the environmental issues involving declining fish stocks, the natural phenomenon of massive waves, or the very real issue of avoiding sleeping whales, which are in the minds of some of the crews, the teams are still sailing upwind and salivating over the prospect of some fast downwind sailing.
Onboard ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse), navigator Simon Fisher said, "Despite the challenging conditions, spirits are high as we battle across the Atlantic. We are happy to be hanging in there with our rivals after so many miles upwind, happy that when we finally get to set spinnakers, we can make our move on the fleet." The one boat which is out on limb, after taking a two hour penalty in New York, is movistar (Bouwe Bekking). She is way up in the north and sailing a course almost at right angles to the rest of the fleet. The team is trapped by the high-pressure ridge and their only option now is to try and sail over the top of it, while the rest of the fleet sails faster below it. Although movistar has a shorter distance to sail to the finish, the risk was always going to be a lack of wind, and this certainly the case today. Over the past six hours, the Spanish team has only been able to manage an average of 4.9 knots, while ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) has been achieving almost 12.5 knots followed by Ericsson (Neal McDonald), which is putting in a good performance in second place and managing nearly 12 knots, keeping Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) nicely in her wake.
As the fleet ploughs its way across the Atlantic, it is just 200 miles from the Grand Banks, and thoughts on some boats are turning to environmental issues which have affected this region in recent history. Will Oxley, the navigator from Brunel explains why in his daily report the Race Head Quarters. In 'another life' Oxley is a marine ecologist and he has developed a keen awareness of his immediate environment. "I seem to lie to the left of the general population in terms of my environmental views," he says. "When we are racing up the coast of Australia, for example, I am commenting on how great it is that so much of the area is national park while Grant (Wharington) and GT (Graeme Taylor) are salivating over what a great site an undisturbed beach would be for a development... OK, so having declared, my biases, I'd like to tell you a story:
"We are just under 200 nautical miles from the famed Grand Banks, famous for "The Perfect Storm", but, more importantly, one of the worst every collapses of a fish stock; the Cod. The finger could not be pointed at any one group for this collapse. Instead it was a classic case of a "Tragedy of the Commons". "The biologists overestimated the stock size. Under pressure from the fishermen, the managers set fish quotas even higher than suggested by the biologist's wrong figures. Increasingly effective trawlers caught more and more fish. The politicians didn't listen or lacked the political strength to act on early warnings of an imminent collapse. The fishers, like many of us, took what they could get and broke any the rules they could get away with. The environment became less favourable for the Cod at the worst possible time and even though finally quotes were cut, it was too late. Northern Cod stocks in 1994 had dropped to less than 5% of their 1990 level.
"We are in danger of repeating this story around the world, particularly with stocks of the Orange Roughy, a very popular table fish. Until about 30 years ago, they lived below depths at which we were able to fish - about 500 fathoms or more. Then, over the last 20 years, we have set about decimating the stocks all over the world to supply the demand for these fish. If we do not do something about it, then the Orange Roughy will go the same way as the Cod."
LEG SEVEN DAY 04, Monday 2200 GMT POSITION REPORT: ABN1 2120 n.m. to finish ERIC +25 BRA1 +41 POTC +69 ABN2 +94 BRUNEL +108 MOVI +146For Volvo web site click here
BMW ORACLE winning against Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia on Sunday
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget/Oracle
May 14, America's Cup Louis Vuitton Act 10, Valencia. When the wind stabilised, racing began in a light to moderate 8 to 10 knot Easterly, and the teams were challenged by the shifty conditions. After a postponement, Flight Seven got underway just after 1530 hours, when the breeze finally built from its fickle 5 knots to a much more useable 10 knots.
BMW ORACLE Racing took the fight to Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team in the pre-start. With Chris Dickson outmanoeuvring Jes Gram-Hansen, the innovative new American boat raced back to the line to start as the gun fired, while the red Italian boat was already 26 seconds behind. The rest of the race was a formality for the as yet unbeaten BMW ORACLE.
provisional Results and Points Leaderboard Flight 7: Alinghi beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 01.12 Luna Rossa beat Team Shosholoza DELTA 00.42 Areva Challenge beat Desafío Español 2007 DELTA 01.20 BMW ORACLE Racing beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia DELTA 01.30 Emirates Team New Zealand beat +39 Challenge DELTA 00.28 Victory Challenge beat China Team DELTA 02.26 Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 10 - Match Racing - 11 to 18 May 2006 Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 11 - Fleet Racing - 19 to 21 May 2006 Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12 - Match Racing - 22 June to 2 July 2006For web site click here
Volvo Leg 7. Things often happen in threes, and skipper Mike Sanderson and his team onboard ABN AMRO ONE have had three experiences today, out in the Atlantic, which they are not keen to repeat in a hurry.
"There are three things out here that we fear the most," said Sanderson in a radio interview today. "One is having a tactical decision not pan out and we found ourselves in the north with a weather system changing, so we decided that we had to get out of there, and we rocketed from one end of the leaderboard to the other. As we were doing that, the adventures continued and suddenly we realised we were losing keel pressure and we got the awful, sinking feeling that you get on a canting keel boat as we found out we had lost all the oil out of keel system and we were losing cant. We battled with that and we are back up and running now."
"These things happen in threes, and about four hours ago we had the misfortune of hitting a whale. It stopped the boat dead and sheered off one of our dagger boards and has done some damage around the case. We have carried a spare dagger board for the whole race and it looks like it might have paid off. We have managed to stop and put the spare board in and we are back up to speed. The big question for us is: what is the extent of the damage in the case. We can see some cracking on the inside but we are not seeing any movement and it all seems fine at the moment. We're just playing it semi softly at the moment and not pushing the boat to 100 per cent until we get some comfort back that the structural integrity is there.".
As for the whale? The crew are sure it was a whale that they collided with as they saw its tail slide down the side of the boat. It was dark and there was no way that the whale could see the boat coming or the crew to see the whale in the path of Black Betty. Sanderson says that it appeared to swim away after the accident so hopefully, a few aspirin later, it will be fine!
Adventures at sea aside, for the last six hours, the fleet has continued it's relentless beat up the north east coast and it has been very cold, foggy and generally miserable. Positions have reshuffled as the fleet tack back and forth and set up for a lane to take them around a high pressure system that is building over Newfoundland.
Paul Cayard, skipper of Pirates of the Caribbean, says the choice of which lane to take is not easy. "The closer you go to the high (inside lane), the shorter course you sail but you have less wind. The further away from the centre (outside lane), the longer the course, but you sail with more wind."
Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) is set up more to the inside (north in this case), while ABN AMRO ONE and Ericsson (Neal McDonald) are set up on the outside (south), with the rest of the fleet sandwiched in the middle. "For us it is so far so good," says Simon Fisher from ABN AMRO TWO. "We are positioned close to our competitors on the side we want. Hopefully, as the breeze starts to free off over the next 24 hours, we can start to reap the rewards of the last few day's efforts," he said.
Movistar (Bouwe Bekking) is the furthest to the inside, and is, perhaps, about to play a very dangerous game. It may be possible for Bekking and his team to punch through the high pressure, lose miles but then gain them back later with a strong northerly position. "A dangerous game, taking on a high and low percentage option I would have thought," says Brunel's navigator, Will Oxley. "But, with the potential to smoke us all if it works," he adds. Will they try it or will the next position report show them having tacked to port to follow the rest of the fleet under the high?
LEG SEVEN DAY 04, Sunday 2200 GMT POSITION REPORT: BRA1 2371 n.m. to finish POTC +4 ABN2 +10 ERIC +16 ABN1 +18 BRUNEL +23 MOVI +30For Volvo web site click here
Saturday: BMW ORACLE beats Emirates Team New Zealand.
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget
May 13, America's Cup Louis Vuitton Act 10. On the Saturday race course, BMW ORACLE Racing earned an important win over Emirates Team New Zealand, and ends the day as the only team to remain undefeated. Luna Rossa Challenge recovered from a difficult defeat on Friday to knock off the Defender on Saturday; a tremendous victory for the Italian team. And Shosholoza and Victory Challenge each picked up two wins on the day, vaulting up the standings.
FLIGHT FIVE:
The fifth flight was a furiously fought affair across many different matches. Luna Rossa appeared to tie up Alinghi in knots during the pre-start, leading the Defenders off the start line and sailing out to a comfortable lead. The Italians appeared a little too comfortable with their lead up the second windward leg, however, when they allowed the Swiss to get out to the right hand side and find better breeze out there. Skipper Francesco de Angelis looked nervously over his shoulder as the Defenders came rolling right up to them again. But the Italians managed to carry Alinghi past the wrong side of the windward mark, and when ITA-86 dived back towards the buoy they banked a useful lead of four boatlengths. This time there was no mistake and the jubilant Italian team handed Alinghi their first defeat of 2006.
In an equally enthralling clash of the titans, between BMW ORACLE and Emirates Team New Zealand, Chris Dickson (USA 87) claimed the better start to the right although boatspeed soon pulled NZL 84 back on level terms. Neck and neck at the top mark, the boats engaged in an aggressive circling duel before the Americans led the way back downwind. However an early hoist by the Kiwis saw them roll the opposition and force an early gybe from Dickson. When the boats rejoined battle towards the bottom of the run, an ambitious gybing technique by the Kiwis saw their red spinnaker tear to shreds, and although their recovery was admirably rapid, the damage was done. The Americans never faltered on their way to a useful win in the first battle between two new-generation boats.
After leading the early stages of the match, Areva Challenge made an error similar to Luna Rossa's, by allowing their trailing rivals -Shosholoza - to get further right and pick up the shifting breeze first. Unlike Luna Rossa, Areva yielded the lead to the South Africans, allowing Shosholoza to post its first win of the season, albeit by just 14 seconds.
There were other close matches, with Victory Challenge prevailing over United Internet Team Germany by 48 seconds, and Desafío Español 2007 beating Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team by 40 seconds. The only walkover of Flight Five was +39 Challenge's dominant victory over China Team, who trailed the Italians by 1:36.
FLIGHT SIX:
Flight Six was a much flukier affair, as the wind started to die with the sinking sun. Desafío Español 2007 won the start against Shosholoza, but the South Africans were to the right and used the power of the rules to exert a small tactical advantage over the Spanish. Down the first run, Desafío Español pulled level and nearly rolled over the top of RSA-83, but the South Africans held their nerve and eked out a small advantage again up the final beat. The Spanish never gave up, however, and as the breeze died on the final run they kept the match tight. The South Africans held on to win by 33 seconds, making Day 3 a double-win day for the team.
Victory Challenge and Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team are two teams finding good form at the moment, so this was set to be an intriguing match. And so it proved, with the Italians taking an early lead up the first leg but perhaps not shadowing the Swedes closely enough on the first run. SWE-63 rolled right up behind them downwind and soon moved into the lead. As the breeze dwindled, Magnus Holmberg extended the lead to almost two minutes by the finish.
The 5:07 winning margin disguises just how close United Internet Team Germany kept the match with Luna Rossa. Jesper Bank's team sailed a tight race until the closing stages, when the dying wind exaggerated the winning margin in Luna Rossa's favour.
After losing to Luna Rossa earlier in the day, Alinghi's victory over Areva Challenge ran a little more to plan, the Defenders dominating from start to finish. BMW ORACLE was also sailing to an easy victory over +39 Challenge until the fickle breeze slowed the match down to the point where the time limit for the race expired. Chris Dickson was robbed of a win which would have put his team at the top of the leaderboard. As it is, the Americans share the lead four ways with Alinghi, Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand.
Provisional Results and Points Leaderboard Flight 5: +39 Challenge beat China Team DELTA 01:36 BMW ORACLE Racing beat Emirates Team New Zealand DELTA 00:47 Victory Challenge beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 00:48 Shosholoza beat Areva Challenge DELTA 00:14 Luna Rossa beat Alinghi DELTA 00:34 Desafío Español 2007 beat Masczalzone Latino-Capitalia DELTA 00:40 Flight 6: Emirates Team New Zealand beat China Team DELTA 07:07 BMW ORACLE Racing vs +39 Challenge Abandoned Victory Challenge beat Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team DELTA 01:53 Shosholoza beat Desafío Español 2007 DELTA 00:33 Alinghi beat Areva Challenge DELTA 02:18 Luna Rossa beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 05:17 Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 10 - Match Racing - 11 to 18 May 2006 Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 11 - Fleet Racing - 19 to 21 May 2006 Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12 - Match Racing - 22 June to 2 July 2006For web site click here
Volvo Leg 7, Saturday 11:36 AM CDT. As the Volvo Ocean Race fleet dodges beneath Nova Scotia today, the crews are being punished for the third day of upwind sailing in the icy conditions. Despite the hardships, the teams are all pushing as hard as each other and the competition is hotting up as some teams tack up the coast of Nova Scotia while others stay on port tack sailing on a south east course.
Simon Fisher, onboard fourth placed ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) explained today how it felt to be sailing a Volvo Open 70 where he was, "Downstairs in the navstation it has reached about eight on the Richter scale as everything shakes and bangs as we crash over the top of the bigger waves. I am forced to hang on, as I try and stare at the computer display that is shaking around in front of me."
Trying to sleep in these conditions is near impossible Fisher commented but at least in his sleeping bag he's warm, "On deck and down below is now bitterly cold as we tack our way round Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. With the sea temperature at only five degrees it is hard work moving the sails around on deck every time we tack. However everyone attacks them with full enthusiasm as much of the fleet is still within eyesight, matching each other move for move - just like chess only wetter!"
At 1600 GMT Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) has fallen from second to fifth, losing twelve nautical miles to the leader in the last six hours due to team decidin to not tack up the coast of Nova Scotia. Brunel and movistar (Bouwe Bekking) are also staying put on port tack following the Brazilian's lead.
Race leader ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson), Ericsson Racing Team (Neal McDonald), Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard) and ABN AMRO TWO have all have another idea and have tacked back onto starboard, heading into north easterly winds of between 19 and 23 knots up the coast. Ericsson Racing Team has swapped places with Brasil 1 and moved from fifth this morning to currently second only six nautical miles behind the leader, due to the fleet splitting into two groups.
The wind looks set to stay at the 30 knot mark for the next day at least, but the fleet is heading east towards high pressure and lighter winds, which should allow even more tactics to come into play. For the moment the crews will have to hang on as the sea state rises to five metre waves and the temperature drops to freezing conditions.
LEG SEVEN DAY 03, 1600 GMT POSITION REPORT: ABN1 2578 n.m. to finish ERIC +06 POTC +11 ABN2 +13 BRA1 +18 AUS1 +29 MOVI +41For Volvo web site click here
Friday: BMW ORACLE wins twice on Friday.
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget
May 12, America's Cup Louis Vuitton Act 10. On the race course Friday; a bright sunny day generated enough heat to build the sea breeze and racing started in 10-12-knot Easterlies, with a gentle chop on the water. The slightly stronger conditions seemed to inspire the Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team who sailed a brilliant race in the first flight of the day against Alinghi, fighting the Defender all the way around the race course right up to the finish line.
After an easy walkover win over China Team when the Chinese retired with winch problems, Desafío Español recovered from a pre-start penalty in their second match to earn a tremendous win over Luna Rossa.
FLIGHT THREE:
There were more than a few nervous moments for the Defender, Alinghi, when the new starting helmsman for Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team, Jes Gram-Hansen sailed a strong pre-start, hitting the starting line with speed as the gun fired, a half boat length ahead of the Swiss. In fact, the Italians sailed a very strong first lap of the course, staying close to the Defender the entire time, and then rolling past Alinghi to windward on the first run to lead through the leeward gate.
In the end, the might of Alinghi prevailed, but Italian skipper Vasco Vascotto fought right to the finish, with his team supporting him with some outstanding boat handling as the boats gybed back and forth in front of the finishing line. Notwithstanding the result, this would have to be considered a very encouraging race for the 'Latin Rascals' who sailed extremely well.
The other two Italian teams, Luna Rossa and +39 Challenge battled up and down the race course. Luna Rossa helmsman James Spithill controlled the pre-start and as the gun fired, he tacked onto the privileged starboard tack, attacking +39 Challenge, who were unable to keep clear and penalised by the Umpires. From then on, although +39 Challenge was able to hold quite close to their Italian rivals, it was for naught, as down a penalty, they were unable to threaten Luna Rossa who claimed the win.
The other four matches featured expected results with BMW ORACLE Racing pulling away from a determined United Internet Team Germany who stayed close for most of the first beat before fading behind. Desafío Español, with the King of Spain, His Majesty Don Juan Carlos aboard, had an easy match over China Team. The Spanish used superior speed to pull away over the first leg of the course, and then the Chinese retired from the race on the first run, with undisclosed problems.
In what many thought would be a close match, the South Africans all but handed a win to Victory Challenge at the start, when they crossed the starting line too early. Shosholoza had trouble with its jib when it ducked back to re-start, and by the time the team had recovered to head up the course, the Swedes were over 300-metres ahead, and were never threatened again.
Emirates Team New Zealand prevailed over a bit of its own history in this match when the team sailed the newest Kiwi boat, NZL 84, to victory over Areva Challenge, which is using the Kiwis Cup-winning yacht from 2000, now designated as FRA 60.
FLIGHT FOUR:
The best match of the afternoon was between the home team, Desafío Español 2007 and Luna Rossa. In an exciting pre-start, the Spanish gained the upper hand as the boats turned back for the starting line, charging towards the pin-end. Italian helmsman James Spithill was in a desperate position, stuck to leeward, and having to kill time or run out of room where he would be over the line early. Desaf畞o Espaol helmsman Karol Jablonski was doing a great job of shepherding the Italian boat towards the line when Spithill luffed hard, utilising his last option. The Umpires ruled Jablonski didn't respond quickly enough in getting out of the way, and the Spanish were assessed a penalty, but did lead off the starting line.
After building a lead upwind, Desafío Español caught a further break when the Italian spinnaker burst and fell to the water. The Spanish gained nearly 100-metres, and built a big enough lead to take their penalty turn on the second upwind leg. Luna Rossa closed in, but couldn't make the pass, and the Spanish earned a great victory - their first win in this 32nd America's Cup over one of the 'big four'.
Two teams yet to earn a point battled when Shosholoza and United Internet Team Germany faced each other, and early on, it appeared to all be going South Africa's way. Helmsman Tommaso Chieffi and his team built what appeared to be a safe 0:34 lead on the first windward leg. But German skipper Jesper Bank found a tremendous wind shift on the first run and made the pass to lead through the leeward gate. The Germans covered closely on the second beat, and squeezed around the second windward mark ahead. Shosholoza pushed hard on the final run, but a poor gybe in the middle of the run ensured United Internet Team Germany would earn its first point of the year.
After a scare in the first race, Alinghi was able to all but win this race by the time the start gun fired. Alinghi helmsman Ed Baird had his counterpart on +39 Challenge, Iain Percy, in trouble, pushing him out to the right of the start box. Percy attempted to gybe in front of Alinghi, but Baird wouldn't let him, and as the Italians forced the manoeuvre, the Umpires assessed them a double penalty, essentially putting them out of the race. Both boats sailed the course, hundreds of metres apart, and Alinghi earned its fourth win.
In the other matches, Emirates Team New Zealand didn't have too much trouble in dispatching Victory Challenge, while Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia, still inspired from their strong performance against Alinghi, made short work of China Team. Similarly, BMW ORACLE Racing and Areva both streaked off the starting line with speed, but the new USA 87 proved too much for the much older FRA 60.
Provisional Results and Points Leaderboard: Flight 3: 1 BMW ORACLE Racing beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 02:10 2 Victory Challenge beat Team Shosholoza DELTA 02:19 3 Emirates Team New Zealand beat Areva Challenge DELTA 01:29 4 Luna Rossa beat +39 Challenge DELTA 01:08 5 Desafío Español 2007 won, China Team did not finish CHN - DNF 6 Alinghi beat Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team DELTA 00:08 Flight 4: 1 Emirates Team New Zealand beat Victory Challenge DELTA 01:39 2 United Internet Team Germany beat Team Shosholoza DELTA 00:21 3 BMW ORACLE Racing beat Areva Challenge DELTA 01:09 4 Alinghi beat +39 Challenge DELTA 01:16 5 Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team beat China Team DELTA 02:05 6 Desafío Español 2007 beat Luna Rossa DELTA 00:34Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 10 - Match Racing - 11 to 18 May 2006
Volvo Leg 7, Day 2. Hard on the wind, the whole fleet is within a three mile radius and it is bitterly cold. Thick fog envelopes the fleet, bringing visibility down to a couple of metres at times, which means keeping a careful eye on the radar. The sea is flat, and it is dry on deck apart from the moisture from the fog running down the rigging and the sails. Tim Powell from Ericsson reported that his crew is wearing every item onboard they have brought with them, because it is so cold.
Simon Fisher, ABN AMRO TWO concurs: "As we head north east, both the air and sea temperature is steadily dropping. There is a good chance that this will be the coldest leg of the race so far. When the wind starts to build this afternoon, and the waves start breaking over the deck, things are going to get pretty nasty for all involved," he added. This young team is busily feeding themselves up in preparation for the gales ahead as cooking becomes difficult in rough conditions. "If we can be fat and happy for the breeze to come, we can push just that little bit harder to get to the front of the fleet," Fisher explained.
Black Betty, as race leader ABN AMRO ONE is affectionately known, is pleased to be back out on the race course. "Good old Black Betty enjoys this stuff," says skipper Mike Sanderson. "She pinned back her ears and we made our way to the front of the fleet," he says fondly. Sanderson has reported a high amount of debris in the seas around New York. He had to check Black Betty three times and take her head to wind, sailing her backwards to get rubbish off the keel, and each time this happens it takes as much as half a mile out of their lead. "For sure this has been the worst bit of coastal water that we have sailed in from a rubbish standpoint," he says.
Onboard Ericsson, they have also had to make back downs when they caught fish on their foils. "During the darkness hours we had to do three back downs to get rid of fish which had either wrapped themselves around the rudder or the keel. We also had to raise the dagger board up on one occasion as well which is quite a costly exercise," said Tim Powell earlier. The crew of Brunel (Matt Humphries) are, for the first time now that they are competitive, enjoying having other boats to sail alongside, which in turn helps the crew to learn how to sail Brunel faster. "The old girl can go," exclaims navigator Will Oxley. Now in second position and sailing as fast as ABN AMRO ONE, the team is happy, but they too have had some altercations with a lobster pot wrapping itself around the dagger board. The crew stopped the boat, pulled up the dagger board and luckily the pot flopped free and didn't catch on the rudder. "It cost a few miles, but at least Ed Van Lierde didn't have to go swimming to sort it out," explained Oxley.
Today at 1600 GMT, movistar (Bouwe Bekking) had lost 20 miles after making an expensive dogleg offshore. Currently the fleet is heading towards Nantucket Island, hoping to avoid tacking to miss the shoal to one side of the island, as movistar has had to do. Once clear of the island, the fleet will tack over onto port and start sailing fast towards the UK in a breeze that is forecast to pick up to 30 knots in the next 12 hours.
LEG SEVEN DAY 02, 1600 GMT POSITION REPORT: ABN1 2820 n.m. to finish AUS1 +1 BRA1 +2 POTC +3 ERIC +5 ABN2 +5 MOVI +37For Volvo web site click here
Photo: Oskar Kihlborg/Volvo Ocean Race
May 11, Volvo. In light winds, the trick at the start was not to get carried over the line early by the tide. The only American entry in the race, Pirates of the Caribbean skippered by American Paul Cayard, excelled in front of a home crowd and was one of the first to cross the line followed by the Australian entry Brunel under the new leadership of Matt Humphries (GBR).
The building breeze quickly carried The Pirates off towards the turning mark at the Statue of Liberty, with Brunel, Neal McDonald's (GBR) Ericsson and Brasil 1, skippered by five times Olympic medallist Torben Grael (BRA), in hot pursuit.
The light wind start gave the two ABN AMRO boats a disadvantage and as the four Farr designed boats moved quickly away from the line, both Mike Sanderson's (NZ) ABN AMRO ONE and Sebastien Josse's (FRA) ABN AMRO TWO, designed by Juan Koujoumdjian, were left behind.
As the Volvo Open 70s passed the turning mark, the order had not changed and Pirates of the Caribbean had a small 19 second lead over Brunel. The first four boats rounded within a minute of each other with ABN AMRO ONE turning more than two minutes later just in front of team mates ABN AMRO TWO.
As the fleet headed out towards Ambrose Light Tower, movistar skippered by Bouwe Bekking (NED) was in hot pursuit. Starting two hours later than the fleet, after taking a time penalty to fix the winch system that broke during the last leg, movistar was quickly doing 16 knots off the start line and took just eight minutes to reach the turning mark.
The wind looks set to build throughout the night providing some bumpy conditions for the fleet during their first 24 hours at sea. The seven Volvo Open 70s will be racing hard all the way to the scoring gate at Lizard Point, the most southerly point of mainland Britain, before heading through the Solent to Portsmouth. The yachts are expected to arrive into Portsmouth, England, around the 20th May.
Valencia, Spain. The 2006 racing season for the 32nd America's Cup opened on Thursday in Valencia. The first race of the Louis Vuitton Act 10 started on time, with the Defender, Alinghi, lining up for battle against the home team challenger, Desafío Español 2007.
Out on the race course, light Easterly winds were the order of the day, but some hard fought action on the start line made for plenty of action.
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget
FLIGHT ONE
Shosholoza gave BMW ORACLE an early scare up the first beat of their match today, when for a while it looked like the South Africans might get the better of the radical new American boat, USA 87. The two teams bounced tacks off each other in the light 7-knot south-easterly breeze, until Chris Dickson's team found a good shift on the right-hand side to surge to a four boatlength lead by the windward mark. Tommaso Chieffi, the Italian veteran at the helm of RSA-83, kept his team within 29 seconds at the leeward gate but Dickson looked comfortable enough for the rest of the race. In any case, the South Africans had picked up a pre-start penalty for gybing too close to their rivals, and were obliged to unload their penalty
The other new boats racing for the first time - Luna Rossa's ITA 86 and Emirates Team New Zealand's NZL 84 - looked comfortable enough in their opening matches. Luna Rossa beat the brilliant red and yellow dragon hull of China Team's CHN 79 by a safe margin, while the Kiwis sailed to a similarly straightforward win over United Internet Team Germany. Dean Barker's crew had a moment of crisis soon after hoisting the spinnaker for the first time, when the sail dropped dramatically to the water. But the New Zealand crew showed no signs of panic, merely recovering the sail and replacing it with another spinnaker without even breaking their stride.
While Desafío Español took an early lead over Alinghi when the wind favoured the left side of the course, it was a shortlived moment of glory for the Spanish team as the Defenders swapped sides of the course and also found some favourable breeze up the left. From there it was business as usual for Ed Baird and the team on SUI-75 as they sailed to the win.
Two of the potentially closest matches ended up going the way of last year's underperformers. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team sailed to a surprisingly simple victory over fellow Italians +39, who were slow to accelerate off the start line and never showed the pace to match the narrower, more slippery red hull of the Mascalzone team. And after an even start between Areva Challenge and Victory Challenge, the Swedes showed superior boatspeed up the first beat to sail away untroubled by the newly-painted but ageing hull of FRA 60.
FLIGHT TWO
There was some aggressive manoeuvring during the pre-starts of Flight Two. Alinghi succeeded in herding China Team over the line early, forcing Pierre Mas to turn back to restart. In similarly assertive fashion, Emirates Team New Zealand pushed Shosholoza out to the right-hand side of the start box. Dean Barker tacked NZL 84 back towards the line at a time of his choosing, while Tommaso Chieffi was left with no option but to follow the Kiwis across the start line.
Most aggressive of all, however, was +39's closing out of Desafío Español. As the start gun fired, Iain Percy left a tantalising gap between his boat and the committee boat. Karol Jablonski took the bait and dived for the gap, only to find Percy luffing ITA 59 viciously into the wind and closing the door. Jablonski found himself sandwiched between the committee boat and his rivals, a cardinal sin for which the Umpires handed out a double penalty to the Spanish.
Jablonski took the first penalty turn immediately, as the rules require, by which time +39 had sailed off to a seemingly comfortable six-boatlength lead. But in the fickle 7-knot breeze, Percy seemed unwilling to place a hard cover on his rivals, perhaps revealing a lack of confidence in his boat, known to be painfully slow in light winds. By the windward mark the Spanish had closed right up to the Italian boat and Jablonski lured Percy into a luffing match. It proved to be a masterstroke by the Polish helmsman, who in less than a minute had converted the deficit to a 17-second lead around the windward mark. Once ahead, the Spanish pulled away comfortably and by the second windward mark had gained sufficient ground to be able to shake off their second penalty and still come home over a minute ahead.
There was never much daylight between Areva Challenge and United Internet Team Germany, but Thierry Peponnet fended off a late charge from Jesper Bank to bring Areva home just 18 seconds to the good. BMW ORACLE was always in control of the match against Victory Challenge, although a delta of less than one minute offered some encouragement to the Swedes.
The other matches were very clear cut. The Kiwis beat the South Africans by 1:44, Luna Rossa won its second Italian derby of the day against Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team by more than two minutes, and Alinghi led China Team by an enormous margin to the finish.
All in all, it was a very good day for the new boats on the track. The big teams have got their new toys up to speed very quickly, but we will have to wait until later in the week to see if any of the new boats are a match for Alinghi's benchmark boat, SUI-75.
provisional Results and Points Leaderboard: Flight 1: 1 Alinghi beat Desafío Español 2007 DELTA 01:52 2 Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team beat +39 Challenge DELTA 01:06 3 Luna Rossa beat China Team DELTA 02:52 4 Emirates Team New Zealand beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 02:32 5 Victory Challenge beat Areva Challenge DELTA 01:01 6 BMW ORACLE Racing beat Shosholoza DELTA 01:16 Flight 2: 1 Luna Rossa beat Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team DELTA 02:15 2 Alinghi beat China Team DELTA 06:05 3 Desafío Español 2007 beat +39 Challenge DELTA 01:14 4 Areva Challenge beat United Internet Team Germany DELTA 00:18 5 BMW ORACLE Racing beat Victory Challenge DELTA 00:59 6 Emirates Team New Zealand beat Team Shosholoza DELTA 01:44Hurricane Awareness - Corpus Christi, TX. Hurricane season is quickly approaching. We had a very close call in 1999 with Hurricane Bret making landfall within fifty miles of Corpus Christi and in 2005 with Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. It is of the utmost importance that each vessel owner develops a plan of action prior to each hurricane season. Your plan should allow you ample time to remove/secure your vessel well in advance of any hurricane threat.
Meeting Room 6:30 p.m., Marina Boaters' Facility, Lawrence Street T-Head, Corpus Christi, Texas.
Thursday, May 11, 2006 and Friday, May 19, 2006
Guest speakers will be provided to assist in the development of a personal mooring plan for you and your vessel. Vital information will be provided to assist in storm security. We look forward to seeing you there. Further information may be found at the Corpus Christi Municipal Marina Web Site: www.corpuschristimarina.com
Volvo, New York - After sailing what many of the sailors claimed was one of the toughest legs (despite being the shortest) from Annapolis to New York, the fleet will set sail on leg 7, on Thursday in the hope of breaking the transatlantic record.
The seven Volvo Open 70s have had just two days to recover from the 400 nautical mile sprint leg from Annapolis where they encountered some of the roughest conditions they have experienced and suffered from severe lack of sleep.
Living up to its tagline of 'life at the extreme', leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 looks like it could get off to a bumpy start as Assistant Race Meteorologist Jennifer Lilly explains: "While strong winds are good news for a fleet looking to break a record, no one is looking forward to more upwind sailing after leg 6. Looking at the current weather maps, the hopes for a transatlantic record are being replaced by the real possibility of an extended period of upwind sailing in easterly winds."
She continued: "Even as they leave New York, the fleet will not escape the prospect of Easterly winds and upwind sailing. A new low pressure, developing off the coast of New Jersey on Thursday afternoon will move northeast causing the winds to build into the high 20's with gusts of over 30 knots. As the fleet heads northeast, towards Maritime Canada, the winds will back left to northeasterly making for a continued grind to weather."
When the racing gets underway Thursday at 13:00 (local) there will be a few things missing from the start line. Firstly, six boats will line up for the restart as the Spanish entry movistar, skippered by Bouwe Bekking (NED), suffered equipment damage on the previous leg and as New York is a pit-stop the team have had to take a two hour time penalty to allow shore crew onboard to get it properly fixed.
Another thing missing will be the skipper of Brunel. Although the team has only just rejoined the race in America, Brunel skipper Grant Wharington (AUS) will step down for the leg to England due to illness. Matthew Humphries (GBR) will move up from his role of watch captain to skipper the boat on leg 7.
The course for leg 7 takes the fleet out of New York, around a turning mark in front of the iconic Statue of Liberty and through a gate at Ambrose Light Tower. From there it will be a hard fought race across the Atlantic to pick up vital points at the scoring gate at Lizard Point - the most southerly point of mainland Britain. They will then leave the Needles, the most western point of the Isle of Wight, to starboard as they battle their way up through the heavily tidal and challenging Solent to Portsmouth. They are expected to arrive into Portsmouth, England, around the 20th May.
All the action from the start will be broadcast live on www.volvooceanrace.org
Seven skippers of Volvo Ocean Race in New York, from left: Torben Grael- Brasil 1, Paul Cauard- Pirates of the Caribbean, Bouwe Bekking- Movistar, Sebastien Josse- ABN AMRO TWO, Mike Sanderson- ABN AMRO ONE, Matthew Humphries- Brunel and Neal McDonald- Ericsson. Photo: Oskar Kihlborg/ Volvo Ocean Race
May 9, Volvo. Mike Sanderson and his crew sailed into New York Harbour this morning at 04h07 local time (08h08 GMT) to take first place and maximum points in the 6th Leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. Sanderson, who led the fleet from Chesapeake Bay entrance, finished 23 miles ahead of nearest rival. The win will stretch Sanderson's points at the top of the leader board to 70.5 points.
The result will be a relief for the crew of ABN AMRO ONE who struggled in the light winds of the Annapolis inport race when they finished in last place. Fears that the boats would suffer similar conditions during the leg to New York were soon put to one side once the boats were out in the Atlantic and wind speeds reached over 40 knots at times. Mike and the crew put in a strong performance in this short sprint leg from Annapolis, although during the heavy conditions in the Atlantic, Brad Jackson (NZL) took a fall and was confined to his bunk for some of the leg. However, he is expected to make a full recovery during the New York pit stop and be ready for leg 7 on Thursday.
"It feels lovely to be here in first place after the week we have had and especially after the result we had in the Baltimore in-port race," commented an exhausted Sanderson (NZL). "We have had a pretty bumpy ride and it has been pretty tense for us. It feels good to be here with the boat in one piece. We haven't slept at all. Navigator Stan Honey (USA) and I have had a really tough time. The skipper doesn't sleep enough, and now I shall do lots of sleeping in the city that never sleeps," he added.
This has been one of the toughest legs for the Volvo Ocean Race fleet in terms of lack sleep, with the boats having to tack every hour or so, as they thrashed up wind after suffering light air on the way down the Chesapeake Bay. There is very little time to recover on this short pit stop in New York, as the start of leg seven, the trans-Atlantic leg of the course to Portsmouth, UK, starts on Thursday this week.
Paul Cayard, from San Francisco, USA, steered his black and red boat, The Black Pearl, over the finish line in the Hudson River to claim the second place for his Pirates of the Caribbean team in leg six of the Volvo Ocean Race in New York today. Finishing at 06:47:11 (local time, 10:47:11 GMT) this podium position brings the Pirates up to second place overall, with 47.5 points, just half a point ahead of movistar (Bouwe Bekking) who finished in a disappointing fifth place.
On reaching the dock, a visibly shattered Cayard said: "It has been a very tough 40 hours, there was really strong wind off New Jersey and the boat has been really slamming hard. We have had our fair share of problems, but the guys did a great job. Last night was really quite stressful as the wind died all together and the boats were very close and that is where we had little bit of luck on our side! I can't recall anything much tougher on this race so far. New York is a really impressive city and I am really proud, as the only American skipper in the fleet, to be here. Second overall is an added bonus for us and we will certainly take it!"
Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) brought his largely Brazilian team home just nine minutes behind the Pirates to take the final podium place. Three minutes behind, in fourth place, was Ericsson Racing Team with Neal McDonald (UK) back in charge, while the Spanish team of movistar finished under a minute later in fifth place, followed by Brunel (1 hour 40 minutes later) with ABN AMRO TWO (10 minutes after Brunel).
Leg 6 points: elapsed time 1. ABN AMRO ONE, 7 1d, 15h, 07m, 36s 2. Pirates of the Caribbean, 6 1d, 17h, 47m, 11s 3. Brasil 1, 5 1d, 17h, 56m. 52s 4. Ericsson, 4 1d, 17h, 59m, 49s 5. movistar, 3 1d, 18h, 01m, 26s 6. Brunel, 2 1d, 19h, 41m, 17s 7.ABN AMRO TWO, 1 1d, 20h, 36m, 15s Overall points 1. ABN AMRO ONE, 70.5 2. Pirates of the Caribbean, 47.5 3. movistar, 47 4. Brasil 1, 42 (Tiebreak over ABN AMRO TWO) 5. ABN AMRO TWO, 42 6. Ericsson, 35.5 7. Brunel, 2.5For web click here
Volvo, Leg six from Annapolis to Portsmouth via a pit stop in New York commencing May 7 [ For latest click here]. The boats are expected to arrive into New York on the 8-9 May, departing again for England on the 11 May.
Current Leaderboard
team skipper race points to date
1st ABN AMRO ONE, Mike Sanderson (NZL) 63.5 pts
2nd movistar, Bouwe Bekking (NED) 44.0 pts
3rd Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard (USA) 41.5 pts
4th ABN AMRO TWO, Sebastien Josse (FRA) 41.0 pts
5th Brasil 1, Torben Grael (BRA) 37.0 pts
6th Ericsson Racing Team, John Kostecki (USA) 30.5 pts
7th Brunel, Grant Wharington (AUS) 0.5 pts
TP52 RosebudRolex Antigua Sailing Week, English Harbour, Antigua - "This is beyond belief," said Roger Sturgeon of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. of his overall win at the 2006 Rolex Antigua Sailing Week.
Moments after returning to the dock, Sturgeon learned that his TP52 Rosebud had corrected on time to finish first in class over Tom Hill's Titan from Puerto Rico and Numbers, the Farr 60 owned by Dan Meyers of Boston, Mass.
The win catapulted Rosebud to overall first in class, first in fleet and a coveted Rolex timepiece. "There is no way you can plan to do something like this. It's the wind gods, karma, luck, and all the little things that you can't plan on. You never know what will happen with the weather. That's the fun part of sports, of sailing, not knowing what will come your way during a race."
Light, shifty wind ranged from 4 knots at the start of both Divisions' Ocean Race to 12 knots and pouring rain toward the middle and end of the race that took the entire fleet from a start/finish point outside Falmouth Harbour. Both classes were challenged by a range of conditions along the south coast of Antigua with Division A completing approximately 20 miles, while those in Division B sailed 19 miles in a similar course configuration.
America's Cup. The AC Class Rule allows teams to seek and receive Confidential Interpretations from the Measurement Committee, but only through March 31 of this year. Thereafter teams can only seek "Public Interpretations" (which become public as soon the Measurement Committee issue them).
The Class Rule also provides that any Confidential Interpretations that were issued individually to teams must be made public by the Technical Director not later that 1 May 2006.
Accordingly, ACC Technical Director Ken McAlpine circulated to the teams the 13 "Confidentials" previously issued. They are available for downloading as a zipped-folder of 13 individual .pdf files at http://www.challengercommission.com/V5CI.zip
This "going public with the Confidentials" is not new. It was in previous versions of the ACC Rule. In the past, however, CI's only became public just before the start of the LVC. In 2003 when the Defender and Challenger of Record wrote Version 5 of the Class Rule, we agreed it would level the playing field for all concerned, especially newer teams, if the CIs became public much earlier -- hence the new rule requiring issuance of them fully 11 months before the start of the LVC. -- Tom Ehman, http://www.challengercommission.com
The authorative and respected Italian sailing magazine, SoloVela, gave an interesting twist to the mysteries that are hiding behind the long shrouds covering all the new (and not so new) America's Cup yachts here in Valencia.
In an article that appeared in the May print edition of the magazine and on pages 102 to 105, the author carries out a brief presentation, description and analysis of the new America's Cup yachts that are under construction or have been already delivered to the teams in Valencia. Starting from NZL-84 of Emirates Team New Zealand and in increasing order of sailnumbers, Chiara Cioni examines all boats through SUI-91 of Alinghi, paying special attention to USA-87 of BMW Oracle.
First, the title of the article contains the sentence "SoloVela looked under the skirt of USA87 discovering that..." and on the upper part of page 105 there is a very intriguing photo of USA-87 accompanied by an equally interesting text where the author tries to figure out the shape of the boat's bulb. The main idea is that after the boat has been washed and under favorable light conditions, one can see a reflection of the bulb in the puddle that has been formed under the boat. In addition, in that precise part of the boat, the shrouds that cover it cannot be tied under the hull, giving a trained eye the opportunity to get a glimpse of the secrets that a few people know. -- Full article and pics at http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/
Acura Key West 2006 on TV. For those of you who crave more sailing on TV, OLN has come to the rescue. At 4:30 pm EDT this coming Sunday (May 7), OLN will air a show produced and narrated by Gary Jobson about the 286-boat Acura Key West 2006. But the televised sailing action actually starts a half hour earlier. At 4:00 pm EDT OLN will show a 30-minute program on the Volvo Ocean Race. And that's just the first show in a series of four programs on the Volvo Ocean Race -- all of which will be aired on successive Sunday afternoons. (Program 2 - 5/14, 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm; Program 3 - 5/21, 4:30 pm - 5:00 pm; Program 4, 5/28, 4:30 - 5:00) - http://www.jobsonsailing.com/tvsched.cfm
US SAILING Announces 2006 USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival Schedule. 25 events to be held across the country starting in May and wrapping up the season in December with the largest event, the "Orange Bowl" in Miami, FL. US SAILING's JO program is designed to help young sailors between the ages of 8 and 21 get more experience on the water while having fun participating in clinics and regattas. The program is sponsored by West Marine and Gill.
The program, celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, has had a tremendous impact on the growth of youth sailing, proven by the growing popularity of the program, and close to 5,000 young sailors are expected get on the water in the 2006 JO events.
2006 USA Junior Olympic Sailing Schedule in the Southwest & South:
May 27-28 South Atlantic Lake Lanier Sailing Club, Atlanta, Ga. Susan Reddaway reddsail@aol.com www.llsc.com June 24 USA Junior Olympic Windsurfing Festival Calema Windsurfing School, Merritt Island, Fla. Susie Dornellas susie@calema.com www.calema.com June 24-25 Colorado Union Sailing Club, Longmont, Colo. Ivan Andrade ivemoe@aol.com www.unionsailingclub.org July 1-3 Gulf Coast Pensacola Yacht Club, Fla. John Matthews johnmatthews@cox.net www.pensacolayachtclub.com July 13-16 Southern California Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, Long Beach, Calif. Mike Segerblom abyc@abyc.org www.abyc.org July 15-21 Texas Youth Race Week Texas Corinthian, Lakewood & Houston Yacht Clubs, TX Margie Crawford mhc2@sbcglobal.net www.tcyc.org Oct 14-15 River Romp Regatta Edison Sailing Center, Fort Myers, Fla. Stephanie Webb stephwebb46@aol.com www.edisonsailingcenter.org Dec 9-10 USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival US Sailing Center Martin County, Jensen Beach, Fla. Peter Strong peter@usscmc.org www.usscma.org Dec 27-30 Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta US Sailing Center & Coral Reef Yacht Club, Miami, Fla. orangebowlregatta@coralreefyachtclub.org www.coralreefyachtclub.orgFor full listing of events outside of the Southwest & South - go to: www.ussailing.org/youth/racing/jo or contact Lee Parks, US SAILING Inshore Director, at 401-683-0800 or via e-mail at juniorolympics@ussailing.org.
May 4, Galveston Island Texas. The 32nd annual Galveston Historic Homes Tour runs for two weekends: this weekend, May 6 and 7, and next weekend, (Mother's Day Weekend), May 13 and 14. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m Saturdays, 12 noon to 6 p.m. Sundays.
Galveston Island, best known by sailors as the home port of the Elissa, boasts one of the nation's most extraordinary collections of historic houses, ranging from simple vernacular cottages to wildly extravagant mansions on the grandest of scale. Galveston Historical Foundation has been the city's champion in the battle to preserve the irreplaceable historic fabric that makes the island so unique. Proceeds from the annual homes tour help the foundation continue to pursue its important mission.
Photo: Andy Herbick
Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Baltimore 28 April - 03 May. The Volvo Extreme 40s are part of the in-port entertainment package for the Volvo Ocean Race and in Baltimore they certainly provided the entertainment as they whizzed around the inner harbour in front of crowds on the dockside and office workers hanging out of windows.
The racing, which started last Thursday, was a highly competitive affair and saw many lead changes, near collisions and protests. After eighteen races, double Olympic medallist Randy Smyth and his all American team of Stan Schreyer, Jonathan Farrar and Richard Feeney took the overall victory, winning by nineteen points from Team Holmatro.
Smyth commented: "We have been racing together for a while now and I think this is what makes the difference but there is never a dull moment in these boats and especially when you are racing in the harbour like this - it is what these boats are made for."
He continued: "I think the audience that we have seen over the five days that we have raced is one of the biggest that sailing has ever had in the United States and that is so exciting. These are just such cool boats and it is great to be able to show them off."
Final Results: 1st Tommy Hilfiger, USA (1,1,1,1,2,4,5,3,1,1,4,4,1,2,1,1,1,2) 149 pts 2nd Team Holmatro, NED (2,3,3,2,1,1,1,2,3,3,1,2,3,5,3,2,5,3) 130 pts 3rd Team Basilica, GBR (4,4,2,5,5,2,2,1,2,2,3,1,4,4,2,DNF,2,1) 123 pts 4th Motorola-CHR, GBR (5,2,4,3,3,3,3,4,4,5,5,3,2,3,4,DNF,3,5) 98 pts 5th Volvo Ocean Race, USA (3,5,5,4,4,5,4,5,5,4,2,5,5,1,DNF,DNF,4,4) 91 pts
May 3, Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Baltimore 28 April - 03 May. Baltimore, Maryland - Tuesday. The penultimate day of the Volvo Extreme 40 grand prix series saw a dramatic lead change as American Randy Smyth sailing Tommy Hilfiger overtook Team Holmatro skippered by Mitch Booth.
The wind challenged the five teams on the fourth day of racing as the sailors had to contend with 3-8 knots of wind which flickered around Baltimore皳s Inner Harbour. America's Cup legend John Bertrand was the guest of honour for the day, sailing with Cam Lewis on Team Volvo Ocean Race for the first two races and then helping to lead Tommy Hilfiger to victory in the final and longest race of the day. Pirates of the Caribbean sailor Anthony Merrington can not keep away for the exciting new class and stepped back onboard Team Holmatro for the day. Unfortunately the team could not quite match the results from his last outing, and they forfeited their overall lead which they had held since day two.
With a one-two-one score line, Randy Smyth on Tommy Hilfiger and his team comprising of Stan Schreyer, Jonathan Farrar and Richard Feeney, have a nine point lead going into the final day of racing. Smyth commented: "I had a good day and really enjoyed it out there C until I got thrown in by Conrad (Humphreys). I guess that is what happens when you're leading the regatta." Mitch Booth and Team Holmatro are currently placed second overall, eleven points in front of the all British boat, Team Basilica.
Results, day 4 1st Tommy Hilfiger, USA (1,1,1,1,2,4,5,3,1,1,4,4,1,2,1) 121 pts 2nd Team Holmatro, NED (2,3,3,2,1,1,1,2,3,3,1,2,3,5,3) 112 pts 3rd Team Basilica, GBR (4,4,2,5,5,2,2,1,2,2,3,1,4,4,2) 101 pts 4th Motorola - CHR, GBR (5,2,4,3,3,3,3,4,4,5,5,3,2,3,4) 84 pts 5th Volvo Ocean Race, USA (3,5,5,4,4,5,4,5,5,4,2,5,5,1,5) 77 pts[ For web site click here]
April 30, J/24 Nationals, Houston Yacht Club, Galveston Bay, Texas
Thursday saw winds from the NorthEast 6-12 knots (gusting to 17).
Friday 15-20 (with gusts to 25) with a mean Galveston Bay chop of 4 ft with 6 ft between crests...
Saturday saw the final race of the J/24 Nationals run in light air after a Tornado warning and thunderstorms had cleared from Galveston Bay.
J24 Nationals (top five of 60 boats) Pos Bow/Sail Skipper Total Pts 1 29/ 5208 Chris Snow 7 3 1 2 1 1 4 6 25.00 2 01/ 1208 Mike Ingham 3 4 14 1 7 10 12 20 71.00 3 52/ 5259 Zaleski/Zaleski 35 10 7 5 2 4 6 2 71.00 4 53/ 791 John Kolius 5 28 5 16 9 5 1 7 76.00 5 10/ 1132 Stuart Challoner 9 12 3 9 10 12 11 18 84.00For more photos click here
Volvo In-port Race, Baltimore, Maryland. In front of an armada of boats and an estimated 20,000 spectators, movistar pulled off an impressive victory out on Chesapeake Bay in the fifth in-port race of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06.
With a light north easterly wind blowing around 8-10 knots, the race got underway as scheduled and it was the American entry Pirates of the Caribbean that was first out of the starting blocks. Paul Cayard (USA) and his band of Pirates, including the newly crowned Miss USA Tara Connor, timed the start to perfection and leapt off the start line closely followed by Ericsson skippered by fellow American John Kostecki.
By the first mark Ericsson had the advantage and passed Pirates of the Caribbean to take the lead, seven seconds in front of the Spanish entry movistar. An intense battle between Ericsson and movistar then ensued which resulted in Bouwe Bekking's (NED) movistar gaining the upper hand to move up into the lead leaving Ericsson to battle it out for second place with Pirates of the Caribbean and Torben Grael's Brasil 1. With five Olympic medals under his belt, Grael's experience paid off and he managed to get an inside advantage and get Brasil 1 round in second place.
Both movistar and Brasil 1 managed to stay out in front as the wind dropped to five knots and by the time the race committee decided to shorten the course, movistar had established an unbeatable lead and took maximum points in the race.
In-port Results: 1st movistar, Bouwe Bekking, NED (2h 21m 32s) 3.5 pts 2nd Brasil 1, Torben Grael, BRA (2h 26m 07s) 3 pts 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, USA (2h 26m 57s) 2.5 pts 4th Ericsson Racing Team, John Kostecki, USA (2h 29m 17s) 2 pts 5th ABN AMRO TWO, Sebastien Josse FRA (2h 29m 49s) 1.5 pts 6th ABN AMRO ONE, Mike Sanderson NZ (2h 35m 18s) 1 pt 7th Brunel, Grant Wharington AUS (2h 35m 50s) 0.5 ptsAlthough finishing in sixth place, ABN AMRO ONE still comfortably holds on to first place overall, but movistar has closed the gap to within twenty points. Pirates of the Caribbean knocks Sebastien Josse's (FRA) ABN AMRO TWO off the podium to move up into third place overall.
Current Leaderboard - Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06: [position/team name/skipper/race points to date] 1st ABN AMRO ONE, Mike Sanderson (NZL) 63.5 pts 2nd movistar, Bouwe Bekking (NED) 44 pts 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard (USA) 41.5 pts 4th ABN AMRO TWO, Sebastien Josse (FRA) 41.0 pts 5th Brasil 1, Torben Grael (BRA) 37.0 pts 6th Ericsson Racing Team, John Kostecki (USA) 30.5 pts 7th Brunel, Grant Wharington (AUS) 0.5 ptsLeg six from Annapolis to Portsmouth via a pit stop in New York commences on the 7 May. The boats are expected to arrive into New York on the 8 May. For further information, log onto www.volvooceanrace.org.