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Extreme Sailing Series 2014
Extreme Sailing Series organisers OC Sport, alongside Land Rover, one of two Series Main Partners, have today confirmed details of their most ambitious Series to date at the London Boat Show. The award-winning and 'ISAF Special Event' world tour will celebrate its eighth year on the international sailing calendar with eight Host Venues spanning three continents, over eleven months and nine elite level teams representing seven nations, who will compete to win the Extreme Sailing Series trophy.
Singapore will host the curtain raiser to the 2014 Series, with the first starting gun on 20th February. In Singapore the fleet will race within the confines of the ultimate city-centre stadium on the world-famous Marina Bay. From Asia, to the Middle East and the capital of the Sultanate of Oman for Act 2 19-22 March, before the fleet return to China's 'Olympic Sailing City' Qingdao, China's premier racing destination in May.
A brand new venue for 2014 is Saint Petersburg, Russia, 26-29 June.
The annual UK leg will take the fleet of high-performance catamarans to the heart of the Welsh capital in Cardiff, 22-25 August.
From 11 September, the waters separating Asia and Europe will host Act 6 as the fleet return to Istanbul, Turkey before the penultimate Act of the year at a Host Venue to be confirmed in the Mediterranean in early October.
The final Act of 2014 will be held in one of the most iconic cities in the world as the fleet head to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time, the Harbour City in Sydney Australia in December.
Notably absent for 2014 and not in the Extreme Sailing Series calendar is Brazil, but the tour will return in 2015, following on from the successful final 2013 Act in Florianopolis.
Was This The First Round Ireland Voyage?
At the moment we know nothing of William A Power except that he was initially recorded in Hunt's Universal Register of Yachts as a member of the Royal Mersey YC (cross-channel inter-club links were strong in those days) and the Royal Western of Ireland YC, which by the 1860s had moved its base from the devastated western seaboard to Dublin Bay. Then Hunt's in 1868 records Power as being a member of the Royal Irish YC, which begins to make more sense, and also the Prince Alfred, later the Royal Alfred YC.
Writing this in the midst of the two week midwinter shutdown, we have no means of accessing membership records of any of these clubs, but it something which will be a fascinating trail to follow. As to William A Power, inevitably you'd guess he was a Power of Power's Whiskey, for the extent of his cruising suggests someone who was on an unearned income. But not an excessively generous one - by the standards of her time, the Olivia was a very modest cruising yacht, and Power cruised her with himself in command, and one or two paid hands, plus any sea-minded friends he can persuade to come along.
Yet despite the limited resources, the cruising he did in the period 1859-1867 was simply sensational. South to Spain, east to Norway, north to the Faroes, and just about everywhere else in between. In a programme like this, in which the Olivia carved her own private roadway up and down the Irish Sea and North Channel, almost inevitably a round Ireland cruise was fitted in, but it seems to have been done in 1860 almost as an afterthought, as the Olivia had already cruised that year north to Orkney and Shetland.
It was Thursday August 30th 1860 when they sailed south from Dublin Bay, so it was a September cruise - not a month normally chosen for a round Ireland venture.
After three very mixed weeks, they returned to Dublin Bay.
A very short excerpt from WM Nixon's feature in Afloat: afloat.ie
Nine Wins In Nine Years - Southern Spars Has The Secret Formula!
Southern Spars rigged yachts have taken Line Honours victory in the Rolex Sydney to Hobart nine years running, with Wild Oats XI coming in on top for the 7th time; a record equalling feat. What is more significant to note is that Southern Spars rigged yachts have taken all of the podium spots for the past five years and top five in the past two years.
2013 saw three new Southern Spars Thin Ply rig packages and one complete refit get stepped in preparation for the Rolex Sydney to Hobart; Bob Oatley's 100' Wild Oats XI, Anthony Bell's 100' Perpetual Loyal (ex- Speedboat), Matt Allen's 60' Ichi Ban and a complete refit on Karl Kwok's 80' Beau Geste's rig.
What is also important to note is that our EC6 carbon rigging has been on all of the winning yachts since 2005 and all four of the 2013 packages chose to utilize EC6.
Congratulations to the all of the owners and crews on board Southern Spars rigged yachts that competed in the 2013 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
For more information please visit www.southernspars.com or email
YJA Apollo Yachtsman Of The Year
A retired youth leader and former church curate with a passion for sailing icy Arctic waters has been voted British yachtsman of the year by Britain's top sailing journalists.
The Rev Bob Shepton, a former Royal Marine, later a parish curate and subsequently full time youth leader in London's East End, was awarded the YJA Apollo Yachtsman of the Year title at a ceremony in London today.
Severely disabled teenager Natasha Lambert who can neither walk nor speak, yet made a remarkable cross-Channel voyage alone last July, has been named the YJA Apollo Young Sailor of the Year.
Both received their accolades at an awards luncheon held at Trinity House, London from Bob Fisher, chairman of the Yachting Journalists' Association which organises the awards.
Another outstanding solo round the world sailor, Mike Golding received a YJA special award from the Yachting Journalists' Association, recognising his prowess in international yacht racing and contribution to the sport.
Ben Jelf, a 13-year-old powerboat enthusiast, who has been exhibiting extraordinary skills in powered speed runs to earn him the accolade of becoming the youngest ever powerboat champion when just 11 years old, also received a YJA Special Award.
This year for the first time the awards are made with backing from business entrepreneur Nick Davis. He lives in the heart of sailing activity iat Cowes, on the doorstep of Britain's famous sailing waters of the Solent. A keen sailor himself, he is anxious to recognise the nation's top sailors and encourage aspiring and successful youngsters in the world of sailing through his marine interests and his company Apollo Boats, also based in Cowes.
Farr 40 Class Takes 2014 International Circuit To The U.S. West Coast
Geoff Stagg, Farr 40 class manager, has announced that the 2014 International Circuit will consist of five events beginning with the Midwinter Championship off Cabrillo Beach in March and ending with the Rolex Big Boat Series on San Francisco Bay in September. Another exciting season of racing will conclude with the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, being held Oct. 15-18 and hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club.
The Farr 40 Circuit has been conducted in the United States Europe, Australia and the Caribbean. This marks the first time since 2004 that the U.S. West Coast has hosted the International Circuit.
Tink Chambers, Farr 40 class secretary, has put considerable effort into organizing the 2014 International Circuit - ensuring the dates and locations for each regatta worked well for owners. Boats must participate in four of the five scheduled regattas in order to qualify for the season championship with the Rolex Big Boat Series being mandatory.
Newport Bermuda Race
The 2014 Newport Bermuda Race opens for online registration on Monday, January 13. Captains wishing to sail in the 49th running of the offshore classic may apply for entry on the race's official website, www.BermudaRace.com, using the Entry Portal. The deadline for filing an application for entry is 1700, April 1.
After the biennial race starts on June 20 off Castle Hill, at Newport, RI, the fleet will sail 635 miles, most of them out of sight of land, across the Gulf Stream to Bermuda. First sailed in 1906, "the Thrash to the Onion Patch" is the oldest regularly scheduled ocean race. As always, this year's race will finish off Bermuda's colorful St. David's Lighthouse.
"This is an exciting time for us at the Bermuda Race Organizing Committee," said BROC Chairman Fred Deichmann, who has raced to Bermuda five times, but is taking this year off to run the race. "The 2012 race was spectacularly successful, with 165 boats and record-breaking times. Since then the volunteer committee has been working to improve the race and simplify the entry process for 2014 sailors."
Among several innovations this year, the race has replaced the complicated International Sailing Federation Offshore Special Regulations with simpler, effective equipment requirements. "We have also introduced a performance screen to ensure that similar boats race against each other in appropriate divisions for the type of boat, its speed, and the type of crew on the boat," said BROC Chairman Fred Deichmann. "And we are introducing several new prizes to attract entries from across the country and among cruising sailors."
"We encourage owners new to the race entry process to utilize our Race Ambassador program. It will help and make your entry a better experience." Newcomers can meet an Ambassador at bermudarace.com/race/your-first-bermuda-rac/
Newport Bermuda Race news is posted at bermudarace.com/race/
Illegally Impounded Boats In Mexico
A month after 338 foreign boats were illegally impounded in various marinas around Mexico, the poop is really starting to hit the fan. Officials from various Mexican agencies, such as Tourism, were hoping that AGACE, a subdivision of Hacienda (the Mexican IRS) which mistakenly created the fiasco, would be able to resolve the situation by Christmas or at least the beginning of the new year. They didn't succeed.
Cleve Hardaker, Staff Commodore of the Pacific Coast Yachting Association, reports that "a good many racers are already canceling plans to sail to Mexico." During a phone conversation, Hardaker said that "hardly anybody is signing up for the Ensenada Race," which is historically the biggest race to Mexico. This certainly doesn't bode well either for MEXORC, the every-other-year major sailing regatta on Banderas Bay. The Mexican government regularly invests several million dollars in that event. Hardaker also reported that one San Diego yacht club that had regularly held races into Mexican waters - i.e. the Coronado Islands - has now revised the courses to keep boats out of Mexican waters.
The bottom line is that a lot of boat owners, boat businesses, boat workers, and a wonderful destination country are suffering for the blundering of one new sub-agency of the Mexican IRS. We implore all of you to take a few minutes to copy and send a petition to as many officials and media outlets as possible. Then get on your Facebook page and encourage all your friends to do so also. For while on the surface it may appear to only affect boat owners in Mexico and nautical tourism in Mexico, it actually has major negative ramifications for the whole West Coast sailing industry.
Petition and sample letters in Latitude 38 www.latitude38.com
GBR Owners 30-30-30 Offer
Is your boat 30' or smaller? If you haven't rated it before then you could be eligible for our special offer. To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of IRC the RORC Rating Office is offering a special 30% discount on New Applications received for British boats up to 30 feet to the first 30 owners who apply.
Full details are on www.rorcrating.com
If your boat is not eligible but you know of others who might be, please forward this information to them!
RYA Launches New Online Radio Course
An online version of the RYA Marine Radio Short Range Certificate course has been launched at the London Boat Show and is now available via an interactive app for PCs and Mac with an iPad version coming online in February.
The SRC course requires a period of home learning using the RYA VHF Handbook before entering the classroom for a one-day course followed by an assessment. Now anyone taking the course can choose to take the course online; only going into the classroom for the assessment. It can be completed at your own pace, but as with the classroom course it is designed to cover 10 hours of learning.
Speaking at the course's launch Craig Burton RYA Training Resources Manager commented "We have pushed the boundaries of e-learning taking this course online because it ties together aspects of computer hardware; the voice recorder and playback, with accessible online content."
See www.rya.org.uk
From Blue Water Sailing: bwsailing.com
Letters To The Editor -
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.
* From David O'Brien: Your reader's letters about the earliest "ocean race", does it help to let you know it's answered in WM Nixon's current blog with the info that there was an "Ocean Race" as they called it from Dublin Bay to Cork Harbour in 1860.
See afloat.ie
* From Anna Tunnicliffe: I've always been a believer in the 4 D's to accomplish a goal. Dream, Desire, Dedication, and Discipline. The Desire, Dedication, and the Discipline are what support the Dream and make it come true. Without one or more of these foundations, you can't accomplish the end goal, the Dream.
It is with a sad heart and tears in my eyes, that today I am announcing that I am retiring from Olympic sailing.
I have had a great run over the last 12 years coming away with 1 Olympic Gold Medal, 2 ISAF World Sailor of the Year awards, 2 World Championships, Multiple Podium World Championship finishes, and a lot of World Cup titles.
I have had the best teammates and sponsors and supporters anyone could ask for. I owe a big 'thank you' to US Sailing, US Sailing Team Sperry Top Sider, Carmeuse, Kaenon, Harken, Mclube, and Zhik for being there with me all the way. Also thank you to all the other Sponsors who helped make each of my campaigns a huge success.
It is a very challenging decision, one with which I have been fighting for a while, but I finally decided that it would not be fair to Molly for me to continue without the fire that burns inside. I know the Dedication and the Discipline that is required. I know how the Desire, the fire inside, should feel. But the fire is weak, and despite my efforts to try to re-ignite it, it's not there, telling me it's time to move on.
I love sailing and will never quit the sport. The Olympic Scene takes an incredible amount of energy and time and for the last 12 years I have dedicated every minute of my life to it. But now it's time to move on to other sailing.
Thank you everyone, for your support over the years, for being there and cheering on me and Molly and Debbie. Thank you.
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