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Sperry Top-Sider Melges 24 World Championship
Photo by Pierrick Contin, www.pierrickcontin.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
San Francisco, CA, USA: American Brian Porter on Full Throttle took fourth in the final race of the Sperry Top-Sider Melges 24 World Championship 2013 today to finally lay claim to the title he has been trying to win for many years.
Porter snatched victory by three points from 2013 Melges 24 European Champion Italian Flavio Favini at the helm of Franco Rossini's Swiss entry Blu Moon who had led by a single point going into the final day.
Favini didn't give in without a fight however, recovering from a fifteenth place first windward mark rounding to pull back to sixth at the finish - just two places away from snatching back overall victory.
A second place in today's race for Denmark's Kim Christensen on Soffe 2 elevated him from fourth overnight on to the podium into third place.
A win in the final race for American Bora Gulari on West Marine Rigging/New England Ropes - his second of the championship - moved him up one overall place to fourth. A tenth today for Nathan Wilmot on Conor Clarke's Irish entry Embarr dropped him from third to fifth overall.
In the Corinthian Division a seventh for American Don Jesberg on Viva was good enough to see him crowned 2013 Melges 24 Corinthian Champion by three points from second placed fellow American Loren Colahan on Lounge Act. A Corinthian race win today for Canadian Michael Bond on Recidivist earned him the final podium place.
Overall top ten after nine races:
1. Brian Porter, USA, 39 points
2. Flavio Favini, SUI, 41
3. Kim Christensen, DEN, 47
4. Bora Gulari, USA, 48
5. Nathan Wilmot, IRL, 53
6. Giovanni Pizzatti, ITA, 53
7. Riccardo Simoneschi, ITA, 54
8. Terry Hutchinson, USA, 56
9. Harry Melges III, USA, 75
10. Andrea Racchelli, ITA, 83
Full results (PDF): melges24worlds2013.files.wordpress.com
The Greeks Retain The Title
The 2013 Tornado Open and Mixed World Championships finished on a high in Ibiza on Saturday, another fantastic day on the water.
Three races were run to make the full quota of 10 races after one was missed earlier in the week. The wind was between 7 and 13 knots and coming from the North to North East direction. In the first race the Greek Red Bull team of Paschalidis and Trigonis stormed out in front and took the victory ahead of the Mixed duo of Roland and Nahid Gaebler.
The second race took a different turn with the competitors splitting across the course and taking different sides, Brett Burvill and Faris Aznan were first over the line but were protested due to a minor crash on the race course which left the Greek team of Nikolaos Mauros and Alexandros Tagaropoulos with a broken rudder meaning they couldn't continue with the remaining races of the day.
After the second race many of the competitors thought that was the end of the championships and started heading for home only to be pulled back by the safety boats for another race. Although the wind was a little lighter the race started and Roland and Nahid Gabler took the victory with Paschalidis and Trigonis behind them in second place.
After 10 races with one discard counting the Greek team had a 13 point lead meaning they are 2013 Tornado World Champions for the third year in a row. In the mixed category Roland and Nahid Gaebler took the title.
Top Five Open
1. Iordanis Paschalidis / Konstantinos Trigonis, GRE, 12 points
2. Roland Gaebler / Nahid Gaebler, GER, 24
3. Brett Burvill / Faris Aznan, AUS, 39
4. David Krizek / Zdenek Adam, CZE, 61
5. Kolaos Mauros / Alexandros Tagaropoulos, GRE, 61.6
Top Five Mixed
1. Roland Gaebler / Nahid Gaebler, GER, 9
2. Jean-Marc Cuanillon / Gudrun Kolb, SUI, 22
3. Maria Tsaousidou / Michael Papadopouls, GRE, 37
4. Dieter Maurer / Katrin Oldenburg, GER, 38
5. Jurgen Jentsch / Sarah Steimer Klees, ESP, 48
Seahorse November 2013
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Innovation... and evolution
Geoff Stock reflects upon the first 216 boats launched by Green Marine...
A necessary step
Ivor Wilkins was paying close attention as Emirates TNZ took their third Louis Vuitton Cup victory
Marlow go loopy
Greasing the loops and other tricks of the trade
Redemption
The 34th America’s Cup match truly had it all and Ivor Wilkins was there to see it. Plus, those critical opening salvoes for America’s Cup 35...
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Allan Terhune Dominates J/22 World Championship
Newport, RI, USA: Allan Terhune won the first race of the J/22 World Championship and never looked back. Now he and his Dazzler crew of Katie Terhune, Kristine Wake and Marcus Eagan are the 2013 J/22 World Champions. After dropping a 19 in race nine, Terhune kept scores of 1,2,3,9,2,2,1,4,4 for 28 net points in 10 races. Brad Julian's ThreeDories.com, with Matthew Schubert and Colin Robertson, made an impressive attempt to take over Dazzler with four bullets, but wound up six points shy and in the silver position with 34 points. Mark Foster with Brian Babbitt and Matt Romberg on Tejas collected third place with 54 points. The J/22 World Championship was sponsored by Fidelity Investments and hosted by Sail Newport.
Only one race was completed on Saturday due to light winds.
The 2014 J/22 World Championship will take place in South Africa next spring.
Final Top Ten
1. Allan Terhune, Dazzler, USA, 28 points
2. Brad Julian, ThreeDories.com, USA, 34
3. Mark Foster, Tejas, Ingleside, USA, 54
4. Chris Doyle, The Jug 4 1, USA, 58
5. Benz Faget, Fats, USA, 85
6. Jeffrey Love, Stampede, CAN, 91
7. Fred Hunger, Box of Rain, USA, 92
8. Michael Marshall, Bad News Too, USA, 105
9. Will Welles, Cougar, USA, 108
10. Lars Hansen, OldsKool, USA, 112
Seventy-one teams from Canada, the Cayman Islands, South Africa and the USA competed in the five-day event, marking the 30th anniversary of the J/22.
Complete results at www.j22worlds.com
Voiles De Saint-Tropez ''Unforgettable''
Photo by ROLEX / Carlo Borlenghi. Click on image for photo gallery.
The word comes from Bruno Trouble, Louis Vuitton Cup mastermind, who sailed the Voiles de Saint-Tropez on board Jour de Fete, an elegant Bermudian Q boat. A week full of contrasts indeed, with a quiet start in calm weather, culminating with two fantastic sailing days on Wednesday and Saturday, providing the 4 000 sailors and 300 Classic and Modern vessels with excellent sailing conditions under a blazing sun.
This year's stars were Chinook, a New York 40 and Herreshoff design from 1916, Shenandoah of Sark, 54 meter gaff schooner by T E Terris, John Alden's 1930 yawl Blazing Star and Ronne's gaff cutter Runa VI, last of the Runas freshly renovated by le Guip Shipyard in Brest, just to name a few.
Another big first in Saint-Tropez was the course dedicated to the big and slender J Class. Four of them provided Pampelonne Bay with magic, excitement and the best nautical sports can provide. Velsheda, the 1930 Nicholson yacht got strong competition from newer, lightly built Hanuman (Dijstra 2009) and Lionheart (Hoek 2010) and managed to come out a winner after 5 fantastic races.
Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the Trophies :
Trophee Rolex : Ikra Yves Marie Moreau
Trophee BMW : Magic carpet 3
Trophee Silinger Grand Tradition : Moonbeam IV Mickael Creach
Trophee le Byblos : Chnook Graham Walker
Trophee GL Event Seven seas of Porto Marcus Kemp
Trophee de la Ville de Saint-tropez : Natalia (Swan 42) Natalia Brailoin, Roumanie
Trophee Edmond de Rothschild : Music (Baltic 50) James Blakemore (Afrique du Sud)
Trophee Kappa : Firefly (Proto Hoek) van Gelderen Pays Bas.
Trophee SFS : Desna (Desna 49) Suen Wackerhagen (Allemagne)
Trophee les marines de Cogolin : Turquoise (Dufour 40) Erik Aroux
Trophee SNSM : Give me Five(Farr 30) Adrien Follin
Complete results at lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr
IRC 10m Restoration Project
Click on image to enlarge.
Fairlie Yachts, have recently started restoration work on an IRC 10m racing yacht designed by the well-known French designer, Andre Mauric. The yacht was originally built of modern timber construction in Marseilles in 1963.
Fairlie Yachts will be undertaking structural work on the hull as well as upgrading the engineering in order to prepare the yacht for a new interior, new coach-roof, replacement deck gear and rig. The yacht, named Anteren, was originally designed for racing and is being restored for fast, short-handed cruising.
Andre Mauric had a prolific career and was one of France's best known 20th century yacht designers, with designs including Pen Duick VI. His career started in the late 1920's and carried on well into the 1980's.
Argo Group Gold Cup Stage One Qualifying Groups Unveiled
Hamilton, Bermuda: Argo Group Gold Cup Sailing Instructions have been posted on the event website and with them the all important 10-team Groups for the qualifying Round Robin have been set.
Taylor Canfield (ISV) USone, the reigning champion and #1 in the ISAF Open Rankings leads Group 1. Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar, #2 by ISAF, current leader on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour heads up Group 2. Both are past King Edward VII Gold Cup winners.
The unranked 'wildcard' Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR) Ben Ainslie Racing Team (BART), sponsored by Argo Group - a two-time winner of the Gold Cup, five time Olympic medalist and 2013 America's Cup winner - fell into Group 2 with countryman Williams. Mathieu Richard (FRA) GEFCO Match Racing Team, another previous Gold Cup winner, also landed in Group 2.
Stage 1 for the Gold Cup is the Qualifying Round-Robin. Each team will race each of the other teams in its group once. The top four from each group move up to the Quarter Final Series. The Quarter Finals are a 'first to three points' knock out series.
The winners in the Quarters move on to the Semi Finals. They are also 'first to three points' knock outs. The Quarter and Semi Finals are scheduled for Friday and Saturday. The 'first to two points' Petite Finals and 'first to three points' Finals are scheduled for Sunday.
Esimit Europa 2 Claims 27th Consecutive Line Honours
Triest, Italy: Almost 150 yachts gathered for the Bernetti Cup, a 15-nautical-mile long sailing race between the cities of Trieste and Sistiana in Italy. In previous editions, the large fleet on such a short starting line caused numerous close-calls and even collisions, so this year the organisers divided yachts into two groups starting 20 minutes apart. Esimit Europa 2 started at 9.30 am CEST in the first group (Open Sailing class), sailed very solidly and gained a significant advantage over its nearest competitor by the first buoy. The monohull line honours winner at this year's Rolex Fastnet Race left nothing to chance throughout the remainder of the Bernetti Cup. The European-flagged maxi yacht, sponsored by Gazprom, maintained a good pace, increasing the distance over its competitors and crossed the finish line at 10.47 am CEST. This win was Esimit Europa 2's 27th consecutive line honours victory.
The Esimit Sailing Team confirmed its dominance in the European sailing scene by securing a significant distance over second-placed Sayonara (ITA) and the third-placed Alligator 2 (SRB). Such a professional team performance ensures that the Barcolana regatta will be a highly competitive event - with more than 1,800 boats at the same starting line it ranks as the world's largest single start race. Should Esimit Europa 2 prevail at the 45th edition of Barcolana, it would be her fourth consecutive victory.
The Bernetti Cup is one of eight races in the Lombardini competition series. The Palermo-Monte Carlo race is also part of the series and is where Esimit Europa 2 scored three consecutive line honours victories from 2010 to 2012, setting a course record in 2010.
After the Bernetti Cup and the subsequent Barcolana regatta, next on the Esimit Sailing Team's schedule is the passage record attempt between the cities of Trieste and Valletta (Medot Sailing Trophy) which was established in 2012. Then the final race on this year's sailing calendar is the 606-nautical-mile long Maltese offshore classic – the Rolex Middle Sea Race – which this year has attracted a record fleet of 109 yachts from 18 different countries.
Marlow Go Loopy
Marlow have been exploring the black art of loop efficiencies, material properties and critical sizing ratios. With Dyneema loops becoming standard everyone has a theory regarding the best way to make them; but Marlow set themselves the task of uncovering the technical mysteries behind Dyneema loop development and manufacture.
The Pin Diameter/Rope Diameter is called the d/D ratio. If the pin or bearing surface is too small the rope will break at this point – however strong. The reason for the failure is that with a very small d/D ratio, significantly more fibres are under compression and therefore not sharing the load.
Through testing various d/D ratios in Marlow's laboratory the company's engineers found that there is an optimum ratio, at which point a loop of certain strength will stop breaking on the bearing point.
Full article in Seahorse magazine: www.seahorsemagazine.com
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* From Adrian Morgan: Did the last chance of a true nationality rule die the moment Jimmy Spithill brought Oracle Team Antipodes through the finishing line to win the 34th America's Cup? Now, with scores of jobless Kiwis and Australians waiting for the best offer and a handful of deluded billionaires keen to mix it with the fifth richest man on the planet, eager to hoover up the talent, has the chance of limiting teams to nationals gone with the wind?. Before long ETNZ will have been stripped bare, and who can blame the sailors with families to support?
In truth no one, not the Kiwis and Australian professionals whose lives depend on sailing, nor those desperate to buy into the New America's Cup want a genuine nationality clause. Without Australians, Kiwis and a knighted Brit or two with Cup experience on board any defence, let alone challenge, is doomed. Don't hold your breath for a true test of Swedish yachtsmen against British against Kiwis against Americans.
If Auckland had won the Cup, then the future may have been one of truly national teams pitting their skills against each other, not boat loads of mercenaries, sailing for the highest bidder. And, personally, with only a trace of sour grapes, I think that is one of the sadder legacies of the Oracle victory. Has anyone heard of a US Ryder Cup team composed of foreign nationals?
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