Land Rover Bar Wins Portsmouth America's Cup World Series
Photo of Saturday's racing by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
The second day of competition for the 35th America's Cup was cancelled as a low pressure system swept across Britain, bringing gale force winds. The loss of the final two races on Super Sunday meant that the prizes were settled on Saturday's results - leaving Land Rover BAR as winners.
Amongst many disappointed spectators were the royal couple, Their Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Like hundreds of thousands of others, they had visited Portsmouth hoping to see the America's Cup contenders go into battle.
Despite the lack of action on the water they still had a busy day, meeting the sailors from the different teams, and many of the people that had helped put on the event. They also visited the new home of Land Rover BAR, to meet both team members and their families, meet with the 1851 Trust, of which The Duchess is Royal Patron and concluded the day by presenting the prizes in a ceremony at the Historic Dockyard.
Gusts over 37 knots were recorded at Southsea Common, and the Waterfront Festival and Fanzone Arenas had to be shut down for public safety. Race organisers initially rescheduled the racing to a midday start, to try to beat the arrival of the worst of the weather. It wasn't to be though, and as the wind howled and the rain beat down, organisers reluctantly abandoned their efforts to put on the show.
Final standings:
1. Land Rover BAR - 19 points
2. Emirates Team New Zealand - 18
3. ORACLE TEAM USA - 16
4. Groupama Team France - 13
5. SoftBank Team Japan - 13
6. Artemis Racing - 11
Fleet Finishes Near Half-Way Point In 48th Transpac
The Barn Door Trophy. Click on image to enlarge.
Honolulu, Hawaii: At just about two weeks from the first start of the 48th Transpac, more than half the fleet will by midnight local time tonight be still at sea making their way to the finish of this biennial 2225-mile race from LA to Honolulu. Since Harry Zanville's Santa Cruz 37 Celerity was the first to cross the finish line in the early hours of Friday, boats from the Monday, July 13th start for Divisions 7 and 8, and starters on Saturday, July 18th in Divisions 0, 1, and 2 have crossed the finish line at Diamond Head.
So far in corrected time, Celerity still holds the top of the leaderboard, but there are a few Division 2 and 3 entries that are close based on their current rate of speed. Chief among them is James McDowell's SC 70 Grand Illusion, who was the overall winner of the King Kalakaua Trophy in 1999 and 2011. But another Sled, Chuck Nichols's Andrews 70 Pyewacket, is also close. Both are projected to be arriving into the finish area along with the other Division 3 entries in the pre-dawn hours of tomorrow.
While the overall and some division winners may still be uncertain, the event can declare its Barn Door and Merlin Trophy winners for 2015: Roy Pat Disney's and Bob Oatley's Wild Oats XI had the lowest elapsed time on the course to win the Merlin Trophy, and by being the first monohull without powered assistance to finish the course, Manouch Moshayedi's Rio 100 will win the Barn Door Trophy.
The Barn Door Trophy is made from a large ornately-carved piece of Hawaiian Koa wood, and is an iconic symbol of excellence for the Transpac: many of the most famous racing yachts in the world of offshore sailing have their names inscribed on the brass plaques around its perimeter. While not breaking a record this year, Rio 100 now joins this elite group. -- Dobbs Davis
* For those that wish to follow finishers on the Yellowbrick tracker system for when they arrive within 100 miles of the finish, there is a real-time window set up at this link: yb.tl/transpac2015-Finish
For other entries still on the course the tracker has a 6-hour delay and is found at yb.tl/transpac2015
Dubarry Crosshaven - Comfortably The Best Performer
Round the world racing teams have chosen Dubarry’s Crosshaven in every edition of the race since the boot was developed with Green Dragon in 2008. There are several reasons for that. First, the innovation that impressed the Green Dragon guys most: the integral gaiter. Made of lightweight, hard-wearing, water-resistant fabric and cinched up with a drawstring, this gaiter means you can kneel down and work on the foredeck without suffering the dreaded ‘bootful of green’ that kills comfort for the rest of the passage.
And when you’re dodging icebergs in the Southern Ocean as freezing winds snap at your vitals, you’ll appreciate the 350g GORE-TEX Duratherm membrane and thermally insulated footbed that will keep your feet, at least, toasty.
Then there’s the award-winning grip of Crosshaven’s non-slip and non-marking sole. If you’re trying to stay vertical on deck, and several tonnes of water traveling at 30 knots is trying to persuade you that you might be more comfortable lying down, you need your feet to stay planted.
We can all benefit from experience, but it comes at a price. Lucky for you that Green Dragon footed the bill, and the benefit is all yours.
Dubarry Crosshaven - Born at sea
The Wave, Muscat Triumphs In Extreme Sailing Series Hamburg
The Wave, Muscat sailed an outstanding final day in Germany, at Act 5 of the Extreme Sailing Series presented by Land Rover. Three race wins and two podium finishes saw Britain's Leigh McMillan clinch his third 2015 Act title after four days of racing in the heart of the city and extend his lead at the top of the overall Series leaderboard.
New to the Series for 2015 Hamburg, Germany delivered perfect Stadium Racing conditions that saw the fleet of nine elite level Extreme 40s race in everything from 8 - 30 knots in blue skies to rumbling thunderstorms. With crowds of over 44,000 lining the HafenCity waterfront to watch, there was no shortage of drama.
After their dramatic capsize on Saturday, SAP Extreme Sailing Team continued to entertain with a crash on the start line today when their hull landed on top of GAC Pindar. Fortunately there was no serious damage or injuries to the sailors on either boat but GAC Pindar were forced to retire for the day with a broken bowsprit.
The eight Act global Series will now move on to Russia for the Extreme Sailing Series Act 6, Saint Petersburg presented by SAP from the 20- 23 August.
Act Five results:
1. The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari, 200 points
2. Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, Alexander Bozhko, Aleksey Kulakov, 190
3. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Kostner, Herve Cunningham, Mads Emil Stephensen, Nicolai Sehested, 183
4. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Hans-Peter Steinacher, Jason Waterhouse, Jeremy Bachelin, Shaun Mason, Stewart Dodson, 182
5. Oman Air (OMA) Stevie Morrison, Nic Asher, Ted Hackney, Ed Powys, Ali Al Balashi, 178
6. Team Turx (TUR) Edhem Dirvana, Mitch Booth, Selim Kakış, Diogo Cayolla, Pedro Andrade/Can Bayulken, 171
7. Lino Sonego Team Italia (ITA) Lorenzo Bressani, Enrico Zennaro, Stefano Ciampalini, Stefano Rizzi, Manuel Modena, 156
8. GAC Pindar (GBR) Seve Jarvin, Adam Minoprio, Marcus Ashley-Jones, James Corrie, James Wierzbowski, 134
9. Team Extreme Germany (GER) Paul Kohlhoff, Philip Kasueske, Johann Kohlhoff, Peter Kohlhoff, Max Kohlhoff, 78
Bruno Dubois Named Team Manager Of Team Groupama France
One month after its launch at the Marine Hotel in the presence of defense ministers and the City, Youth and Sports, skipper Franck Cammas and his partner Michel Desjoyeaux and Olivier de Kersauson announce the recruitment of Bruno Dubois under Team Manager.
Present in Portsmouth for the first race of Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series, Dubois is the former manager of North Sails Europe and more recently Team manager of Dongfeng team in the Volvo Ocean Race
"It will be the fourth America's Cup in which I am involved. For the first three, it was in the field of sails with North Sails. Today, having just completed the Volvo Ocean Race, during which I held the role of team manager for Dongfeng, this development seems natural even if it comes a little faster than I thought. The Project Team Groupama France pleases me because the Cup is an exceptional race. The human and organizational aspects I like very much.
Charles Stanley Cowes Classics Week: It's A Wrap
The most triumphant win of the week at the Charles Stanley Cowes Classics Week, which finished today, undoubtedly had to be that of the XOD class. The 60-strong one design class was the one with the most boats to beat and the joint owners of Ibex, Paul Woodman and Oliver James, did just that, along with their third crew member Simon McCarthy.
The Bembridge One Designs chose not to race in today's wet weather but four 1sts were plenty to assure John Deacon in BOD 6 an overall win. The BOD, introduced in 1936, is based on the XOD, but with three inches less draught to cater for the shallow approaches of Bembridge Harbour. Despite the yacht not having a spinnaker racing is tight in the fleet.
David Hopkins races with his wife Christine in his diminutive Chough, a pretty old Gaffer built in 1927. Collecting the trophy for the Old Gaffers Silver Class, he said "We love coming to Cowes Classics Week. This is the fourth year that we have been here." Hamble-based Chough races regularly with the Old Gaffers' Association, and David admits to adding a few racing 'tweaks' to keep the boat competitive. "We completely restored the boat in 2009 after it sat ashore for 25 years."
Another historic yacht which took first in class was Anne-Marie Coyle's Responsive, a Nicholson 32. She scored three firsts in the five races to secure Responsive's position.
The majestic 6 metres also had an undisputable champion. The six 6 metres which came to the event were all 'classics' as opposed to 'moderns' as the newer 6s are known, and amongst them was Fenton Burgin in Sioma who won every race to take the championship.
Full results on www.cowesclassicsweek.org
Glandore Classic Regatta
Don Street Jr. of Iolaire receiving the oldest Helm Trophy.
Last Friday saw the closing prizegiving of the CH Marine Glandore Classic Regatta of 2015. The regatta opened last Sunday with a wonderful parade of sail with about 60 boats dressed overall and sailing around the picturesque harbour of Glandore with a sail past commentary on each boat from the village garden.
Class racing followed for the week with Courses set in Glandore Bay for the keel boats and cruisers and in the harbour for dayboats and dinghies.
Final Prize giving took place on Friday afternoon in the Village Garden. Prize giving highlights as follows
Boat of the Regatta and Class II
Happy Return, Rui Ferriera.
Happy Return is a Stella one design by Kim Holman rebuilt and launched last month in time for the regatta by Rui.
Regatta Concours d'Elegance
Airle, Peter Roberts, built in London in 1897 and one of the loveliest boats at the regatta.
Special Mention also to the 1915 Falmouth Punt Teal owned by Adrian Notwynski and the recently relaunched Guillemot originally built 1896 and owned by Brian Martin.
Class I Cruisers - Elsie - Patrick Dorgan, Cork One Design Fife originally built 1898
Class II Cruisers - Happy Return - Rui Ferriera
Class III Gaffers - Jane Paul - Tomas Drewes
Special Mention in the Gaffer Class to Faoilean, Pat Tanner and to Tír na nOg of Howth - Sean Walsh
One Designs
Sian 1926 - Richard Tudor - Menai Straits Fife one design
Aphrodite - John Wyles - Dragon Class
Penny B - Gilly Foulds - Squib Class
Coleen Ban - Hal Sisk - Coleen Class
Colette - Jim O'Brien - Castletownsend Ette Class
Dinghies
Godenwind - Jens Franke - Open Dinghies
Junior mixed dinghy regatta
Laser - Killian Sheehan tied with David Forde
And The Winner of the Tour de France a La Voile Is : Spindrift
Spindrift wins last Coastal Race in Nice to come up the rankings in first tied in points with Groupama.
The leaderboard top 5 has been totally shaken up today after the last coastal race that took the fleet on a 20 mile long course in the Bay of Angels in Nice. The wind did not exceed 6 knots all day and got even lighter at the finish. Groupama and CombiWest who have been fighting for first place for the last three weeks are now threatened by Spindrift who won Act 9 coastal race and took advantage of his rivals average performance to top the leaderboard tied in points with Groupama and only three points from third place CombiWest.
The wind was not as consistent as forecast. The seabreeze conflicted with a thunderstorm inland that left the fleet with very light wind on the second part of the course, with lots of lulls.
Top ten Tour de France a la Voile Overall rankings :
1. Spindrift : 747 points
2. Groupama : 747
3. CombiWest : 744
4. Vannes Agglo - Golfe du Morbihan : 704
5. Grandeur Nature Vérandas : 695
6. Prince de Bretagne : 666
7. Beijaflore Sailing : 659
8. PRB : 652
9. Lafrancedunordausud.fr : 649.50
10. Maitre CoQ : 641
Very Different Animals
Yann Guichard and Dona Bertarelli's Spindrift project is active in many areas of the sport, including last month's Tour de France à la Voile onboard their 'sportif' Diam 24 and next winter's Trophée Jules Verne record attempt with their giant trimaran Spindrift 2.
In between those two extremes two of Spindrift's other projects involve cats that are closer to the platforms used for the next America's Cup: the classic Decision 35s and the foiling GC32s. The contrast between these two classes, conceived 10 years apart (respectively 2003 and 2012), tells us a great deal about the evolution of the sport.
Seahorse: What are the most significant differences between these two classes?
Yann Guichard: Obviously the flying aspect of the GC32 makes a dramatic difference. Under 8kt of wind the two boats are fairly similar, but then it becomes a completely different game. As the breeze increases the D35 reacts in a traditional way while the GC32 lifts out. Any gusts of wind and while the D35 heels the G32 remains flat or even heels to weather as it accelerates… And we don't need those huge gennakers on the GC32, which is clearly an advantage in terms of handling and efficiency.
Full article in the September issue of Seahorse:
www.seahorsemagazine.com
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