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Bacardi Cup Day 4
A front was expected across the south Florida area sometime this afternoon with large thunder storms containing lightening and hail. The forecast called for 14-17 knots of breeze from the south prior to the front. After a brief postponement to evaluate the situation, the Coral Reef Race Committee got the Stars out on the water for what was the best race of the series so far. The fleet got off to a clean start in 15 knots from 185. Shortly after the start the wind moved right to 195 and stayed there for the rest of the race.
Rodney and I had a good start, but went a bit too far left and missed the first important shift. Half way up the first 1.9 mile leg, we were in 20th. We had good speed and rounded the first mark about 15th and worked our way up to 7th at the finish. There was a significant amount of technique involved in sailing downwind today and I have to say that I am a bit rusty.
Xavier Rohart, with Serge Pulfer as crew were in a league of their own. They hit the right hand side of the course pretty hard and had a handy lead at the first windward mark. They are fast in breeze and therefore were able to stretch out on the fleet from there. My good friends Larry Whipple and Austin Sperry were 2nd all the way around the course. Brian Ledbetter and Josh Revkin sailed very well to get 3rd.
The hard luck went to Mark Reynolds and Magnus Liljedahl. They broke their connection at the top of the rudder to the tiller and saw a very good 4th place slip to 12th. That would have changed the score board a bit at the top. Torbrn Grael sailed very well to get 5th today as he was back with us on the first leg.
Lars Grael did not have a very good race today finishing 14th. But after 4 races all competitors get to discard their worst score. -- Paul Cayard
www.MiamiSailingWeek.com
www.BacardiCup.com
Weather Wins In Miami, Azzurra Take The Lead
Photo by Nico Martinez, www.martinezstudio.es. Click on image for photo gallery.
A second race win in succession, gained from the only race of the day, sees Azzurra top the leaderboard at the 52 US Championships in Miami, now leading Quantum Racing on countback.
Although three windward leeward contests were scheduled Thursday on the strength of a favourable forecast for 13-18kts S'ly winds, the race committee made the prudent decision to send the fleet ashore on notification that an expected weather front had accelerated and was due to bring very strong, dangerous thunder squalls with the possibility of tornados.
Following on from their race win Wednesday afternoon in lighter breezes, Azzurra were on impressive form.
Azzurra lead around the top, windward mark with a slight margin over the IRC optimised pair Interlodge and Vesper with Quantum Racing, always a threat, in fourth.
Azzurra had built themselves a comfortable lead by the leeward gate and were able to keep control of the main group.
Believing that the breeze had moved as far right as it would, Quantum Racing broke and took their chances left of middle on the second upwind - erring away from the leaders' track - and were rewarded with a favourable approach to the final turn, gaining to second place.
Standings after three races:
1. Azzurra (ITA) Pablo A Roemmers, ARG, 6 points
2. Quantum Racing (USA) Doug De Vos, USA, 6
3. Interlodge (USA) Austin and Gwen Fragomen, USA, 11
4. Vesper (USA) Jim Swartz, USA, 12
5. Ran Racing (SWE) Niklas Zennstrom, SWE, 13
6. Hooligan (USA) Gunther Buerman, USA, 18
7. Sled (USA) Takashi Okura, USA, 18
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Gill Commodore's Cup
Simpson Bay, St. Maarten: Under beautiful blue skies and with an ideal 15-18 knot east-southeast breeze coursing across the waters along the southern shore of St. Maarten, 50 spinnaker-division boats in five classes set sail today in the 2014 Gill Commodore's Cup.
The Gill Commodore's Cup serves as the tune-up series to the 34th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, which begins on Friday, March 7.
In Gill 1, after nailing a perfect start and jetting off to an early lead, Irvine Laidlaw's Highland Fling XII, with Caribbean sailing legend Peter Holmberg calling tactics, went on to win both races in Gill 1 to win the class, followed by William Coates's well-sailed Ker 43, Otra Vez.
In Gill 2, Jim Madden and his fellow Californians aboard the J/125, Stark Raving IV, also performed a pair of faultless starts, and in both contests Madden's men led their 10-boat division around the racecourse on elapsed time. But once the handicaps were applied, Frits Bus and his team aboard the Melges 24, Team Island Water World, was atop the standings in Gill 2, followed by another Melges 24, Andrea Scarabelli's Budget Marine/Gill, with Stark Raving Mad IV in third.
In Gill 3, another veteran of both the Gill Commodore's Cup and the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta - Richard Wesslund, skipper of the J/122, El Ocaso - proved that he's still a force to be reckoned with, sweeping the class easily with a pair of bullets.
It was a very strong day for the J/Boats in the fleet, and that trend continued in Gill 4, where Robert Armstrong's J/100, Bad Girl, was the winner with firsts in both races. And second in Gill 4 was yet another "J," Jordan Mindich's J/105, Solstice.
Finally, in Gill 5 - the event's biggest fleet, with 14 entrants - Ross Appleby's Oyster Lightwave 48, Sailing Logic, was an unlikely but apt victor. Just over a month ago, competing in a regatta in Antigua, Sailing Logic was dismasted in the last race of the series. Since then, a new mast section was flown to the islands from the U.K., the damaged spar was repaired, and Sailing Logic found herself in the winner's circle after registering a first and a second in today's racing.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston To Join Great Nations' Cup 2014
Photo by Guy Nowell, www.guynowell.com. Click on image to enlarge.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston "can think of few greater honours" than to present the Vic Locke Memorial Trophy" to the winner of the 2014 GREAT Nations' Cup after racing this Saturday 8 March.
RHKYC Past Commodore Vic Locke, who sadly passed away in November 2013, was a great fan of this particular event and Sir Robin will present the award "in honour of my good friend" along with Vic's partner Pixie Thomas.
Sir Robin also been been announced as the Keynote Speaker at the GREAT Nations' Cup Gala Dinner to be held at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club on Friday 7 March.
As of today, the Club has received 75 entries from 19 nations and expects more entries in the next few days. The event is regarded as a special highlight in the Club's sailing calendar and is often referred to as sailing's answer to the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens with competitors sailing in fancy dress and a focus on fun competition.
Mat Belcher Named As Team Australia Skipper
Click on image to enlarge.
Hamilton Island Yacht Club (HIYC) has today set sail on its four-year Australian Challenge for the 35th America's Cup in 2017, with the announcement of Australian Sailing Team's Olympic Gold Medallist Mathew Belcher as its skipper and the christening of Team Australia's AC45 catamaran.
Belcher, the 2013 Rolex ISAF World Sailor of Year, Olympic Champion, five-time World 470 Champion and quadruple 2013 ISAF Sailing World Cup Winner, will lead Team Australia's first training sessions on iconic Sydney Harbour with Oracle Team USA.
With the appointment of Mat Belcher as skipper of Team Australia and Olympic Gold Medallists Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen part of the Artemis race team, three current Australian Sailing Team members form part of the 35th America's Cup Challenge. Olympic Gold medallist Tom Slingsby continues his America's Cup campaign as part of team Oracle, while Olympic medallist Glenn Asbhy will once again play a key role in Team New Zealand's challenge.
While the athletes have the support of Australian Sailing for their America's Cup campaigns, the main focus for Belcher, Outteridge and Jensen remains on their Olympic campaign towards Rio 2016 and on defending their 2012 London Olympic Gold medals.
Team Australia Crew
Mat Belcher (Australian Sailing Team - 470M)
Seve Jarvin
Sam Newton
Ed Smyth
Troy Tindill
David Gilmour (Australian Sailing Squad - 49er)
Will McCarthy
Wade Morgan
team-australia.americascup.com
Barcelona World Race: 300 Days To The Start
The third edition of the Barcelona World Race starts New Year's Eve, 31st December 2014 and will reveal ten duos, or more, on the start line ready to take on the biggest and most arduous challenge in double-handed ocean racing.
Four high caliber teams have already announced their participation, including six co-skippers who are returning to the race again. The teams are the Mare Racing Team with German and French skippers Jorg Riechers and Sebastien Audigane, GAES Centros Auditivos with Spaniards Anna Corbella and Gerard Marin, Hugo Boss with Alex Thomson from Great Britain and Pepe Ribes from Spain and the recently announced Neutrogena Sailing Team with Spaniard Guillermo Altadill and Chilean Jose Munoz, to be joined by another six in the upcoming weeks and months.
A new course will be followed, taking the fleet south of New Zealand this time. Stops will be taxed much more heavily. The Barcelona World Race, a thrilling adventure to take competitive human sporting partnerships to the limit of endurance, has long since set its position as a 'must do' on the IMOCA Ocean Masters World Championship.
An innovative and exciting media programme using all up to the minute platforms will bring the Barcelona World Race to individual race fans and into households around the world, developing and reporting the sporting and human stories hour by hour and day by day. The commercial returns for sponsors and partners on previous editions of the race represent excellent value. And alongside the sporting challenge, the Barcelona World Race will open avenues for important scientific and marine research.
www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/
Audi Melges 20 Bacardi Miami Sailing Week
Photo by Joy Dunigann, International Audi Melges 20 Class Association. Click on image for photo gallery.
Miami, FL - The first day of racing at Bacardi Miami Sailing Week 2014 (BMSW) hosted by Coconut Grove Sailing Club and strongly supported by Melges USA, saw the completion of the first three races in an eight part series. John Kilroy on Samba Pa Ti faired best striking a 3-3-4 scoreline to take the overall lead. In second place, 11 points further back is Drew Friedes on Pacific Yankee, with James Wilson seated third on Oleander.
Three races meant three very different race winners under building breeze conditions and heavy chop due to a large storm system moving in from the west.
At the very end of the day, owners gathered at Coconut Grove Sailing Club to further discuss a building 2014-2016 schedule. Amongst those in attendance was overnight leader John Kilroy. As an incentive to attract more attendance at the North American Championship being held in early October in San Francisco, he vowed that if 40 boats attend, he will donate $100,000 to the winner's charity of choice.
Racing continues on Friday, and early forecast predictions indicate weather conditions will be around 18-20 knots, seriously premium for downwind planing.
Top ten (After three races)
1. John Kilroy/Paul Goodison, Samba Pa Ti; 3-3-4 = 10 points
2. Drew Friedes/Charlie Smythe, Pacific Yankee; 15-4-2 = 21
3. James Wilson/Sam Rogers, Oleander; 2-14-6 = 22
4. Russ Lucas/Harry Melges, Shimmer; 4-15-3 = 22
5. Marc Hollerbach/Jonathan McKee, Fu; 8-7-7 = 22
6. Cesar Gomez Neto/Paulo Ribiero, Portobello; 11-2-10 = 23
7. Richard Davies/Charlie McKee, Section 16; 10-1-15 = 26
8. Robert Hughes/Morgan Reeser, Heartbreaker; 5-9-12 = 26
9. John Taylor/Bill Hardesy, Ninkasi; 9-13-5 = 27
10. Bruce Ayres/Mike Buckley, Monsoon; 6-8-16 = 30
Full results www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=915
St Barths Bucket
Thirty eight of the world's largest sailing superyachts will gather in Gustavia for three days of great trade wind sailing, wholesome competition, shore side camaraderie and shenanigans St Barths style.
The fleet will include a number of the latest launches from the world's premier superyacht builders.
Two recently launched Perini Navi yachts designed by Ron Holland will join the fleet: the newly designed 40m Sloop, State Of Grace and a new 60m Ketch. Seahawk will be easily distinguished by her crimson Aramid standing rigging by Future Fibers, supporting her towering spars.
Making their Bucket debut are competing 2012 launches from the Royal Huisman Shipyard. The classic Spirit of Tradition 38m sloop, Pumula and the 49m Ketch Kamaxitha are both Dykstra Naval Architects designs.
Inoui, the brilliant green 36m carbon fiber sloop by Vitters Shipyard will pace the fleet around the various courses. Also from Vitters, the 46m Sloop Ganesha will join us for her racing debut.
Registration will open at 0900 on 27 March, with a "Rules Review" seminar beginning concurrently. After a day of practice sailing, learning and taming the ropes (lines), the Skippers Meeting, Welcome Party and Owner's reception will follow.
In the Bucket Tradition, racing will be pursuit style with the slowest rated yachts starting first and finishes determined by the order of finish. The fleet is divided into four classes: Les Grandes Dames, Les Mademoiselles, Les Elegantes and Les Gazelles des Mers and we will continue the successful focus on competition within the classes. All yachts share the same starting and finishing line and sail the assigned course for their specific class. The starting times are structured, such that the classes finish at different times - in the interest of safety, the gap between class finishes will likely be approximately 10 minutes as it was last year.
2015 ISAF Team Racing Worlds Bids Invited
The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) has published guidelines for candidates bidding to host the 2015 ISAF Team Racing World Championship.
Bid Guidelines: www.sailing.org/37329.php
All bids must be received by the ISAF Secretariat by email by 12.00 (UTC) on Friday 14 March 2014.
Great Britain were the first team to lift the ISAF Team Racing Worlds in West Kirby, Great Britain in 1995. Ireland came in second with Australia completing the podium.
From 2003 to 2009 USA dominated the event winning four in a row before the British team broke the trend at the most recent edition held in Schull, Ireland from 27 August - 4 September 2011.
In 2005 an Under 21 competition was introduced in Gandia, Spain and was won by Great Britain who also picked up gold in 2011 in the Under 19 category.
www.sailing.org/news/37331.php
Sail For Gold Regatta
Entries for the 2014 Sail for Gold regatta are now open, with an 'early entry discount' available to those who get their entries in before Friday 2nd May 2014.
The Sail for Gold Regatta 2014 takes place between 2nd - 6th June at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, the venue used for London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing regattas. Eight Olympic and three Paralympic classes will compete across five race courses in Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour, in what will be the third instalment of the 2014 EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup.
Now in its second year, the EUROSAF Series is based on five established regattas within Europe and provides the best possible competition for Olympic and Paralympic classes, complementing the ISAF World Cup series and Class Championships.
The regatta will once again be teaming up with SailRacer and Danish company SportsXstream to provide live video from the racecourses and GPS tracking solutions across the Sail for Gold fleets in order to enhance the online experience for sailors, coaches and fans alike.
To enter online or download the Notice of Race visit the event website, which is now live at www.sailforgold.co.uk
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The Last Word
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