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SB20 Cowes Grand Slam Decided After Six Races
With a mirror calm Solent, and no sign of any developing seabreeze, the organisers of Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week wisely decided to cancel racing for the day early on Tuesday, August 11, 2015. Fortunately the SB20 class had already packed in six great races for their Cowes Grand Slam over the first three days of the event, for the 30-boat fleet. Adrian Peach's 'Uber' is the 2015 Cowes Grand Slam winner, scoring one win and three third places to take an eight-point advantage. The Torbay-based team, skippered by the UK Class Chairman, were consistently in the top 10 and finished their week on a high with a win in Race 6.at we thought the tides were going to be doing."
Second overall was 'Baloo', skippered by Dave Atkinson. The team from the north of England were also awarded the Hyde Sails prize for the first Masters' boat.
The Youth category, sponsored by Harken, was won by 'Trouble and Strife', a team from Radley College.
The SB20 Class will return to Cowes for its World Championship in 2017, hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron, where a 100-plus international fleet is expected.
Top ten results:
1. Uber (Adrian Peach)
2. Baloo (Dave Atkinson)
3. 3-Some (Duncan Pryde)
4. Edigitalresearch (Edward Handasyde Dick, Alec & Clairey Russell and Emily West)
5. Here Comes Bod (Charles Whelan And Richard Mcadam)
6. Oman Sail 01 (Fahad Al Hasni)
7. Sharc (Charles Sheppard)
8. Whyaduck (Tom Clay)
9. Powered By Pusser's Rum (Simon Hume)
10. Buitenhuis Advies (Martijn Buitenhuis)
Full results at www.aamcowesweek.co.uk
Artemis Challenge
Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK: French rugby legend Serge Betsen is a sailing novice but his reputation as a 'gladiator' could be worth a vital few knots in speed to Oman Sail's MOD70 Musandam-Oman Sail when it makes a bid on the record in the 2015 Artemis Challenge.
Betsen, who won 63 caps for France between 1997 and 2007, will join English explorer Ben Saunders to form a celebrity 'express' crew that according to Musandam-Oman Sail skipper Sidney Gavignet is likely to prove both inspirational to the young Omani crew on board and extremely fast.
Like Betsen, Saunders, the world-leading polar explorer and a record-breaking long-distance skier has little experience racing on high speed trimarans.
"It will be my first time on one of these boats but it will be an exhilarating test of stamina, strength and fitness and I am extremely excited to be competing with some of the biggest names in offshore ocean racing," he said.
On Thursday August 13, the Sultanate of Oman's flagship, Musandam-Oman Sail, will line up against a fleet of sailing thoroughbreds with ten IMOCA 60s, two Volvo 65s and three other multihulls in contention for the title.
On board are some of the biggest names in international sailing and world sport including rugby contemporaries Mike Tindall from England and Sylvain Marconnet of France as well as round the world skippers Dee Caffari, Armel Le Cleac'h, Vincent Riou and Alex Thomson.
All 16 boats will be aiming for line honours and if the right breezy conditions prevail, for a new Artemis Challenge record which for multihulls is 2 hours, 21 minutes and 25 seconds set by Foncia in 2012 and for monohulls, 3 hours 43 minutes and 50 seconds set by Leopard in 2013.
Ocean Safety Exposure MOB Torch Is At Joliffes For Cowes Week
Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week is well underway, and while the hundreds of boat owners and crews are in Cowes they've got chance to buy and view Exposure Marine's personal searchlight with Man Overboard function. Long-standing central Cowes chandlery Joliffes has just taken delivery of a stock of Exposure Man Overboard torches.
The unique MOB and personal searchlight is motion and water activated with an immensely powerful personal locator strobe. It is compact, light-weight and visible over five nautical miles. Highly developed features include intelligent, motion activated technology which means it can be simply thrown towards a person afloat to aid identification in an MOB situation. It does not even need to be switched on.
Once it hits the water its highly visible, 1300 lumens strobe flashes until water contact is broken. The Exposure MOB is totally buoyant and housed in a high visibility orange aluminium waterproof casing, IPX8 rated to 5m depth, weight 116g. It comes with carriage holster with Velcro belt loop, security loop and water resistant adhesive attachment, USB charger, reflective Dyneema® wrist lanyard.
You'll find the Exposure MOB personal searchlight at Joliffes, 2 Birmingham Road, Cowes.
2015 Zhik 29er World Championship - Skunked Today
Pwllheli, Wales, GBR - Despite best efforts, no racing was held in Pwllheli, Wales today. What little breeze was forecasted never settled to anything race able for the 193 29er teams. So the qualifying results stand with James Wilson/Oscar Gunn (NZL) and Juho Kotiranta/Akseli Keskinen (FIN) tied for first after seven races with both teams carrying five firsts and 1 second. Tam Lindsay/William McKenzie (NZL) are lurking just 2 points behind with Chris Williford/Wade Waddell (USA) trailing by one more point. British National champs James Grummett/Daniel Budden (GBR) round out the top 5.
As of the press release, protests continue to be heard to finalize the final flights for gold, silver & bronze fleets, which will be posted in the morning.
Finals begin tomorrow for 3 days with the prizegiving on the final day, August 14.
339 Sailors Set For Second Sailing Test Event
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is set to welcome 339 sailors from 52 nations for the Aquece Rio - International Sailing Regatta 2015, the Olympic test event, from 15-22 August 2015.
The Aquece Rio is the second sailing test event in preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition and sailors will be looking to stamp their authority one year out from the largest sporting event in the world.
The Aquece Rio - International Sailing Regatta allows the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) to evaluate and make key decisions in advance of making the final decisions that will govern the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition.
Six race courses will be tested throughout the week, three outside of Guanabara Bay and three inside. Courses outside include Pai, Copacabana and Niteroi whilst the inside courses are Pão de Açúcar, Ponte and Escola Naval. All will be tested throughout the week by the ten Olympic sailing events.
Racing is scheduled to commence at 13:00 on Saturday 15 August with racing concluding on Saturday 22 August.
Results from Aquece Rio will be available here:
www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/results/index.php
Monster Project Racing Charter Has 2 Places Left For The Fastnet
To Get On Board Contact: www.volvo70charter.co.uk /
MONSTER PROJECT, formerly Team Russia's Volvo Open 70 from the Volvo Ocean Race Round The World, is in high gear for the iconic Rolex Fastnet Race 2015.
This boat is a weapon and generates such a buzz wherever she goes; and Skipper Andy Budgen is caping her racing campaign this year with the the 90th Anniversary of the Rolex Fastnet Race 2015 and he has moved fast and drawn together an international team.
Fastnet has exceptional take up and has produced a conveyor belt of offshore talent.
If you haven't yet sailed a Fastnet... it's must-do on any offshore sailor's bucket list.
Want to sail it onboard Monster Project as she takes on sailing heavyweights such as Comanche, Hanuman, Rambler 88, and Leopard?
Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup
Just one month remains before the start of the fourth edition of the Rolex New York Yacht Club (NYYC) Invitational Cup. Taking place from September 12 to 19 at Harbour Court, the New York Yacht Club's summer home in Newport, Rhode Island, this biennial one-design sailing event gathers together crews from the world's most famous and influential yacht clubs for an impressive race series that has Corinthian ideals firmly at its core.
Under the event format, the competing yacht club teams sail matched NYYC Swan 42s with identically tuned rigs, and sails provided by the organizers. The emphasis is firmly on the skill of the competitors to determine the winner, with the international crews limited to non-professionals and all but two on each team having to be nationals of their club's home country.
The Royal Canadian Yacht Club comes into the event as the team to beat. Following a second-place finish at the inaugural (2009) event, it proved a dominant champion in 2011 securing a win, 20 points ahead of second-place finisher New York YC. The RCYC repeated this success in 2013 although the margin of victory was much slimmer.
This September, 17 clubs from 11 countries will be on the start line. The US is represented by New York Yacht Club, Newport Harbor Yacht Club (California) Eastern Yacht Club (Massachusetts), and Seattle Yacht Club (Washington). Europe fields teams from the UK: Royal Thames Yacht Club, Royal Yacht Squadron and Itchenor Sailing Club; from Italy: Yacht Club Italiano; Ireland: Royal Cork Yacht Club; Sweden: Royal Swedish Yacht Club; and Spain: Real Club Nautico de Barcelona. The Japan Sailing Federation returns along with two clubs from Australia: Middle Harbour Yacht Club, which is appearing for the first time, and Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, which made its debut two years ago. The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club and the Yacht Club Argentino (Argentina) complete the list with the Royal Canadian Yacht Club.
The first of five scheduled days of racing takes place on Tuesday, September 15.
J/70 UK Nationals
Hamble, England: The J/70 UK Class Association is delighted to announce that the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble will host the J/70 UK National Championships. The event will take place from Saturday 29th to Monday 31st of August; the last bank holiday weekend of the year.
The Championships now anticipate near 30 teams to enter; crews are also expected from the West Country and East Coast.
The current champion who will no doubt be back to defend his title is Ian Atkins' Boats.com. The closest two teams to challenge him in 2014 will surely be ones to watch too; Simon Ling's Team RAFBF Spitfire and Ian Wilson's Gill Race Team both have some excellent regatta wins behind them.
Industry News
Pip Hare Ocean Racing announces Hudson Wight as Official Clothing Sponsor
With Cowes Week in full swing and with a 2nd and a 3rd already in the bag, the racing duo of Pip Hare and Ashley Harris are feeling buoyed up on board Cazenove Capital Management. The weather last weekend was amazing and the blistering hot sunshine has left the pair without much of a thought as to what the Irish Sea might have to offer up to them next week when the Rolex Fastnet Race starts on Sunday 16th August.
"This week however, someone else has stepped in to prepare Ash and I for the Fastnet and we are really pleased to announce that Hudson Wight Performance Sailwear has become our official clothing sponsor for the Fastnet Race. It really does add an extra layer of confidence before an offshore race knowing that no matter how bad the weather, you and your boat can stand up to it. Taking wave after wave on the chin is all well and good so long as it's only the chin that gets wet."
In Pip's latest Blog post (she will be producing Blogs throughout the race), she explains that the Irish sea and South West British Coast can offer up any sorts of seas and weather in Augus
www.pipoceanracing.com
www.hudsonwight.com
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The task for the Young Designer of the Year Award 2016 has now been revealed and registration is open. World renowned shipbuilder Oceanco has once again confirmed its sponsorship in conjunction with Boat International Media.
This esteemed award, which celebrates the original concepts of student and trainee designers from around the globe, tasks young designers with a realistic client request to challenge their ideas, technical ability and aptitude for delivery. The brief is set to provide valuable and authentic insight into the reality of working as a designer within the superyacht industry and commends entries on a holistic basis.
Presented in the inspiring setting of Kitzbuhel, Austria on 22nd February, the winner of the Young Designer of the Year award will be awarded with a gold Neptune trophy and a €5,000 cash prize.
All six finalists, chosen by an esteemed panel of practicing yacht designers, are invited to attend the awards and will benefit from a host of incredible opportunities aimed at advancing their early design careers. They will receive complimentary access to the 2016 edition of the Superyacht Design Symposium and ShowBoats Design Awards and an all-expenses paid visit to Oceanco's shipyard in The Netherlands in May. Those who don't make the final stages will have the opportunity to purchase a special Young Designers discounted ticket.
Task: showboatsdesignawards.com/young-designer-2/the-task/
showboatsdesignawards.com/young-designer-2/
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North Sails announced today that Volvo Ocean Race and America's Cup World Series sailor and former North Sails sailmaker, Dave Swete has returned to North Sails as a sales representative in the UK. Originally from Auckland, New Zealand, Swete has been an onboard trimmer for two Volvo Ocean Race teams, most recently Team Alvimedica in the 2014-15 race. He has raced in almost every major offshore race during his professional sailing career and won the World Match Racing Tour in 2009 with Adam Minoprio.
Dave can be reached at or by calling: +44 740 883 5822
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Volvo Ocean Race winner Ian Walker to present opening keynote address at Yacht Racing Forum 2015
One of the world's most accomplished sailors, Ian Walker, double Olympic medallist and recent winner of the Volvo Ocean Race, will speak at the Yacht Racing Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 7-8.
Ian Walker will share his management skills during the Yacht Racing Forum 2015. Now in its 8th year, the event will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 7-8. It will include a number of new, exciting features and reassemble a world class speaker line-up. Past keynote speakers include amongst others Sir Ben Ainslie, James Spithill, Michel Desjoyeaux, Iain Percy, Loick Peyron, Sir Keith Mills, Sir Russell Coutts or Francois Gabart.
To find out more about the Yacht Racing Forum 2015, download the brochure
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Emirates Team New Zealand and North Sails Apparel have announced that they have extended their partnership for the 35th Americas Cup to be held in Bermuda in 2017.
Eric Bijlsma, CEO of North Sails Apparel has declared: "With the extended partnership between Emirates Team New Zealand and North Sails, we will be able to take innovation to a whole new level. While sharing similar brand values of performance, technology and innovation, we leave nothing to chance in developing the perfect gear for Emirates Team New Zealand that, in my opinion, has ever been the best looking team in the cup
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The Last Word
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