Sailing News

Monday, December 22, 2008

ISAF Sailing World Cup

Anna TUNNICLIFFE of the USA

Australia finished with three gold medals and consequently three top spots in the ISAF Sailing World Cup Standings as the home nation delivered the goods on the final day of racing at Sail Melbourne.
As the first of seven events in the inaugural ISAF Sailing World Cup series, Sail Melbourne brought together a combination of Olympic stars and 2012 hopefuls to Port Phillip Bay for six days of intense racing. Australia ended top of the medal standings with three golds, although the home-nation whitewash some had predicted failed to materialize. Sailors from Chile, France, Great Britain, Spain and the USA all leave Melbourne with ISAF Sailing World Cup gold medals, as the hosts were forced to play second fiddle to an array of international stars across many of the fleets.

There was no surprise finish in the Women’s One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial fleet, as US Olympic gold medallist Anna TUNNICLIFFE opened her ISAF Sailing World Cup account with maximum points this week.

TUNNICLIFFE, who has battled ill health in the latter stage of the week, managed to hold it together to clearly win her class on 25 points, nine points clear of rising Aussie star Gabrielle KING, with Andrea BREWSTER (GBR) third with 40 points. The world #1 ranked Laser Radial sailor dominated racing with five wins from her 11 starts and held off a late charge from KING to secure gold in today’s final race.

Next up, the ISAF Sailing World Cup moves to North America, for the second event, the Rolex Miami OCR from 25-31 January 2009.

Hydroptere Sailing at 61 Knots!

The world's fastest trimaran Hydroptere has hit a new speed sailing record, 61 knots! Unfortunately right after hitting this speed sailing record they flipped the huge trimaran. Watch out SailRocket, Hydroptere is comin' to get you :)



More about Hydroptere:

Video of the Week - l'Hydroptere Fastest Sailing Yacht in the World
Holy l'Hydroptere! Sailing Over 60 knots then Turtled

Boat Art


Boat Art by Entrusia

Vendee Globe News

The Royal Australian Navy Anzac Class Frigate HMAS Arunta arrived at the Vendee Globe yacht Generali where Yann Eliès had been awaiting rescue with a broken femur. The emergency crew was able to successfully transfer Yann to the main ship for medical treatment by the on-board Doctor, and for transport to hospital care. Yann Elies arrived safe in Australia today!

Read more about the rescue of Yann Elies: Vendee Globe Rescue - Yann is Safe! - News and Video

Read the full story about Yann Elies injury: Vendee Globe Skipper Yann Eliès Injured

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Sailboats

A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled in whole or in part by sails. The term sailboat covers a variety of boats. From large sailing tall ships, to tiny sailing vessels such as sailing dinghies.

Sailboat

The sailboat pictured above is a sloop, the most common sailboat type, which features one mast and two sails, a normal mainsail and a foresail. This simple sailboat configuration is very efficient for sailing towards the wind. The mainsail is attached to the sailboats mast and the boom, which is a spar capable of swinging across the boat, depending on the direction of the wind. Depending on the size and design of the foresail it can be called a jib, genoa, or spinnaker; it is possible but not common for a sloop to carry two foresails from the one forestay at one time (wing on wing). The forestay is a line or cable running from near the top of the mast to a point near the bow. In Bermuda, where a rig design influenced by the Lateen rig appeared on boats and came to be known as the Bermuda rig, a large spinnaker was carried on a spinnaker boom when running down-wind.

Vendée Globe

The lead in the Vendée Globe swings to Loick Peyron on Gitana Eighty as the leading boats enter the northern fringes of the Doldrums. Since Sunday night both Peyron and Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) have now lead five times apiece over the ten intermediate position schedules. Le Cam is now 22.5 miles behind the leader with Seb Josse (BT) in third. Speeds are widely different among the top boats as the breezes become more fickle. Relative gains are made heading south but the favored position to cross the Doldrums is in the west. Mike Golding sailing the yacht Ecover 3 remains top international skipper in eighth, but has conceded nearly 30 miles on the lead as he works for a position to the west. Dominique Wavre, SUI, (Temenos 2) rises to 13th

Vendee Globe

Vendee Globe

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The Vendée Globe lead swings back and forth between Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) and Loick Peyron on Gitana Eighty as the Vendée Glob vanguard slows into the stifling uncertainty of the Doldrums. The top spot has been held five times each by Le Cam and by Peyron since early yesterday (Monday) morning, according to the published intermediate position reports.

Tonight the advantage line has swung back in favor of Peyron, as Le Cam – aided perhaps by his three soft toy ‘stowaways’ – Bibi the puffer fish, the Pink Panther, and Léon the hedgehog - makes his move back from the extreme easternmost position.

Le Cam has consolidated, coming west to be 55 miles east of Peyron’s navy blue hulled Farr design. VM Matériaux is now second again with a deficit now of 22.5 miles.

In the East North Easterly breeze the leading pack crabs south and west in steps towards the favoured crossing point to break through the sticky, light winds of the Doldrums.

The gains of second wave of three – Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2), Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) and now Yann Elies (Generali) have now reduced – and behind them Mike Golding, GBR, the top international skipper with Ecover 3, has taken a painful 30 miles loss since the last report as he, too, tries to gain a more westerly position. Golding lies eighth.

But while the gains and losses may oscillate with the direction – South or West – that the leaders need to make, all are spending hours studying every the different meteorological files available to them as they seek to line up on the most pain free Doldrums route.

After a long hard night in the Vendée Globe, changing sail combinations in the more fickle breezes, anticipating the moves of their rivals, and trying to stay on top of the weather situation, it has been an equally difficult day. Heat and humidity on board the leading boats leave the skippers dripping with sweat. And tonight promises to be as long and tricky. No one wants to be separated from the pack as they work their way through the light, usually random winds.

“The Doldrums look quite active and difficult with the weather models not really coinciding, and so at this time it is important not to lose miles, because certainly the first to emerge always gets the advantage. I think it will be a slow crossing but from what I can see there should be breeze to get us through, even if it is slowly.” Said Ecover 3’s Mike Golding this morning.

Michel Desjoyeaux on Foncia, continues in the fast lane, working rapidly on a western course. After starting again two days after the leaders, he has gained more than 225 miles on the leaders, passing Britain’s Jonny Malbon (Artemis) to gain 18th place this afternoon.

Vendee Globe voices at sea

Séb Josse, in french (BT), 3rd at +38.7 miles: The sea is calm and I’m sailing at ten knots with the wind from astern… It’s better than last night, when I came to a standstill for a few hours. I had a lot of manoeuvres to do and a series of tacks. I was kept busy on the winches. We don’t really have the normal pattern of trade winds. They are already disturbed by the Doldrums. I think we should reach them tomorrow (Wednesday) late in the afternoon. But it’s not easy to be more precise, as the situation keeps changing with each satellite photo, between yesterday’s and this morning’s. In any case, we’ll all be arriving there at the same time. The routing programmes show us (the leading group) arriving at the Doldrums with only ten miles separating us.

Dee Caffari, Aviva:16th at + 345 miles “ I am getting there. Every day I get more confident. Aviva is doing a great job and I could not really ask her to do much more, now I just need to get her in the right place now.”“ I have to look at the bigger picture now, the short term gains look good for the day to day running, but it is a long way round the world and it is important for me to enter the Southern Ocean with a group of boats to race against, otherwise it is a very lonely place to be.” “ Sleep is more difficult because it is getting hotter and I am constantly thinking about if I have made the right decisions and am on the right sail plan.”

Michel Desjoyeaux, Foncia, 18th at +456.3 miles “I’m sailing permanently between 15 and 17 knots having found some wind that wasn’t really forecast. I was just about to hoist the spinnaker and in the end I had to sheet in the sails. Ahead it looks a real mess, and meanwhile, I’ve moved up a few places. It was about time the trend was reversed.”

Vendee Globe

Vendee Globe

Vendee Globe 2008 Skippers & Yachts

  1. Loick Peyron, Gitana Eighty, FRANCE
  2. Michel Desjoyeaux, Foncia, FRANCE
  3. Roland Jourdain, Veolia Environnement, FRANCE
  4. Jérémie Beyou, Delta Dore, FRANCE
  5. Jean-Pierre Dick, Paprec Virbac 2, FRANCE
  6. Jean Le Cam, VM Materiaux, FRANCE
  7. Samantha Davies, Roxy, GREAT BRITAIN
  8. Yann Eliès, Generali, FRANCE
  9. Arnaud Boissieres, Akena Verandas, FRANCE
  10. Marc Guillemont, Safran, FRANCE
  11. Rich Wilson, Great American III, USA
  12. Bernard Stamm, Cheminées Poujoulat, SWITZERLAND
  13. Dominique Wavre, Temenos, SWITZERLAND
  14. Derek Hatfield, Algimouss Spirit of Canada, CANADA
  15. Raphaël Dinelli, Fondation Ocean Vital, FRANCE
  16. Unai Basurko, Pakea Bizkaia, SPAIN
  17. Amel Le Cléac’h, Brit Air, FRANCE
  18. Sébastian Josse, BT, FRANCE
  19. Dee Caffari, Aviva, GREAT BRITAIN
  20. Norbert Sedlacek, Nauticsport-Kapsch, AUSTRIA
  21. Steve White, Spirit of Weymouth, GREAT BRITAIN
  22. Jonny Malbon, Artemis, GREAT BRITAIN
  23. Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty, Groupe Maisoneuve, FRANCE
  24. Vincent Riou, PRB, FRANCE
  25. Brian Thompson, Pindar, GREAT BRITAIN
  26. Mike Golding, Ecover 3, GREAT BRITAIN

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Vendee Globe

READ MORE about the Vendée Globe


Monday, November 10, 2008

Sailboat Art

Sailboat Art

New SailBoat by Seb

Vendee Globe

A fleet of 30 boats answered the Vendee Globe start gun at 1202GMT on Sunday under overcast skies with a big swell and 13-18 knots of wind.

Mike Golding on Ecover crossed the start line too early for the opening of his third Vendee Globe and the British skipper had to restart and found himself playing catch up. Michel Desjoyeaux on Foncia, considered one of the favorites, was also slow off the start line. Both were no doubt equally frustrated, but while the magnitude of the fleet and the early pace, is that of an inshore regatta, they have more than 26,000 miles and some three months to catch up.

Vendee Globe 2008-2009

Vendee Globe 2008-2009

Start of the 2008-2009 Vendee Globe singlehanded yacht race around the world - non-stop!

Read the full story here: Vendee Globe 2008-2009 Start with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston



Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Big Boat Regatta in San Francisco

First started in 1964, the Rolex Big Boat Regatta takes place on San Francisco Bay every year. The sailing regatta includes one-design and handicap sailboat racing, and is one of the most important sailing events on the West Coast of the U.S.A.



The Big Boat Regatta attracts the top competitors and sailboats from around San Francisco, and across the country who come to sail on the famously windy and foggy San Francisco Bay in California.

Read the story here and watch the awesome video of the sailboat racing: Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco - News and Sailing Video



Photos: © ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi



More about the Big Boat Regatta
  1. Rolex Big Boat Series [lots of articles and photos]
  2. Big Boat Series in San Francisco Photos and Results
  3. Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco - Wrap-up

Sunday, September 14, 2008

ART? Sailing

Sailing Art by Ora Pera

Pirates Keep French Yachties Hostage in Somalia

A sailboat has been attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, and the crew from France taken as hostages. The sailboat Carre D’as was seized by pirates near in the Gulf of Aden, and the yacht and French hostages have now been taken to land in Somalia, where they are being kept hostage.

This is the third pirate attack on a yacht in 2008, although there are attacks on large cargo ships in the Gulf of Aden ond off the coast of Somalia all the time. In fact there are currently over 100 hostages being kept in Somalia.


Read more about the Pirate Attack in Somalia



The Carre D’as is reported to being used by the pirates in Somalia to attack other boats. The French-owned, 24 meter 2-mast luxury sailing yacht, an Amel Super Maramu, which was on her way from Australia to France, when she was hi-jacked in the Gulf of Aden, is now being used as a decoy to lure other potential targets.

Reports directly from Somalia indicate that the hostages, the couple Jean-Yves and his wife Bernardette Delanne of French Nationality, were dropped at the Somali coast near Caluula at the tip of the Horn of Africa, from where part of the gang have dragged them into a remote hideout in the Xaabo mountains

The local people belong to the Sawaaqron sub-clan of Majerteen, who live there together with the people of the Osman Mohamud and Isse Mohamud sub-clan. All belong to the the Majerteen Clan of the Somali Darood people. The Majerteen operate the autonomous Somali province of Majertenia as their own state, called Puntland, which is at the core of the recent wave of piracy in Somali waters.

The sailing yacht might be accompanied (visibility maybe concealed from the view-side of a targeted ship) by another, small but fast boat with one or two strong outboard engines, like the one pictured below, which usually carries 5-7 heavily armed attackers (equipped with bazookas, assault guns like AK47, G3, FAL, M16 plus RPG - rocket propelled grenade launchers, as well as hand-grenades and/or mines). Such attack-boats do deliver a swift and heavy assault:

Somali Pirate attack boat - .. .

The Somali hi-jackers of the couple demand for the release a sum in excess of 1.4 million US dollar and the return of the 6 Somali prisoners, which the French Navy had taken after the negotiated and paid-for release of the French Luxury Yacht Le Ponant, a 3-master. The 6 Somalis were put on trial in Paris.

After the couple was taken ashore, the yacht was taken to sea again by the heavily armed gunmen.

While an attempt to sell the yacht at ports in the Gulf states can also not be ruled out, it is presumed that it is at present used to hunt for other ships. It might very well be used as a decoy to approach other unsuspecting yachts or simulate and signal an engine failure or other emergency at sea, whereby it then would attack any ship coming closer in order to provide assistance.


More articles about :

Roz Savage Rows across the Pacific to Hawaii

Roz Savage is the first woman EVER to row from San Francisco California to Hawaii ALONE.

Roz Savage rowed across the Pacific from California, nearly running out of water on her historic journey. Then Roz Savage met up with the junk raft in the middle of the Pacific, when then exchanged a water-maker for food.

Roz Savage in San Francico

About Roz Savage

Roz Savage was born on December 23, 1967 in Cheshire UK and attended school in Durham. She took up rowing at University College, Oxford, and went on to gain two half-blues for representing Oxford against Cambridge, and to win blades with the Univ Women’s 1st VIII in 1988 and 1989.

In 2003 Roz Savage became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and took part in an Anglo-American expedition that discovered Inca ruins in the Andean cloudforests near Machu Picchu. She then spent a further three months in Peru, travelling solo and researching her first book, Three Peaks in Peru.

She ran in the London and New York marathons, finishing in the top 2% for women in each, and has run a personal best of 3 hours 19 minutes.

Roz Savage was previously a management consultant (Accenture and CHP) and investment banker (UBS), before realizing at the age of 34 that there might be more to life than a steady income and a house in the suburbs. Roz estimates that the race cost about £70,000 and that she got approximately £10,000 in cash sponsorship but says, her attempt was mostly funded from her divorce settlement.


Roz Savage Rower

On September 1, 2008 at 5:55am local time, Roz Savage crossed the finish line of the first leg of her trans-Pacific row, becoming the first woman to row solo from California to Hawaii. She completed the crossing from San Francisco to Waikiki in a time of 99 days 8 hours and 55 minutes. The total distance covered was 2,598 nautical miles and took approximately one million oar strokes. On September 3, 2008 Roz’s rowboat and the JUNK’s raft were transported to the Waikiki Aquarium in Honolulu, where they gave a talk about the environment.

Check out the interview with Roz Savage with rowing photos, and a video of Roz Savage pulling into Hawaii: Roz Savage Interview

Read more about Roz Savage

Martha's Vineyard Sailing

Boating at Martha’s Vineyard - Massachusetts US

Sailing a boat at Marthas Vineyard

Sailing a yacht near Edgartown by asterix611, MARTHA'S VINEYARD, MASSACHUSETTS USA

Marthas Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard

Martha’s Vineyard (nearby the smaller Chappaquiddick Island) is an island off the east coast of the US , to the south of Cape Cod. It is often called just “the Vineyard”.

Martha’s Vineyard is the 57th largest island in the United States, with a land area of 87.48 square miles. It is located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, in Dukes County, which also includes Cuttyhunk and the other Elizabeth Islands, as well as the island of Nomans Land).

The island is primarily known as a summer colony, and is accessible only by air or by boat, which makes it a favorite spot for east coast boaters.

VINEYARD HAVEN by asterix611 - Marthas Vineyard

SAILBOATS AT VINEYARD HAVEN by asterix611 - Martha's Vineyard - Massachusetts US

Vineyard Haven in the town of Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States.

Vineyard Haven was first referred to by the colonial settlers as Homes Hole; “Homes” from a Wampanoag term for “old man,” and “Hole” meaning a sheltered inlet. By the 1800s it was more commonly spelled Holmes Hole after the descendants of John Holmes (1730-1812) who had settled in the village during the second half of the eighteenth century. In 1871 the village officially changed its name to Vineyard Haven.

Vineyard Haven is the main port of entry to Martha’s Vineyard, and one of the three main population centers (with Edgartown and Oak Bluffs). The Steamship Authority wharf is located in Vineyard Haven, at which ferries arrive and depart year-round. (A second, seasonal wharf is located in neighboring Oak Bluffs.) Although the year-round population is only about 2,000 people, its population increases tremendously in the summer!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Junk Raft Sails from California to Hawaii

Dr. Marcus Eriksen, Joel Paschal and friends created a Junk Raft out of 15,000 recycled bottles, an old Cessna 310 airplane, and other assorted junk. The two men then set off to sail from California to Hawaii.

Sound crazy? Well, they made it!

The Junk Raft has finished sailing from California to Hawaii!

Junk Raft sailed all the way across the Pacific ocean from Long Beach California to Honolulu Hawaii to bring attention to ocean pollution. The Junk Raft arrived in Hawaii at the Ala Wai Canal yesterday!

Read more

Junk Raft

Read More about the Junk Raft:

Across the Pacific on a Pile of Garbage

Junk Raft Completes Voyage to Hawaii

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Pirates in the Mediterranean

The mega-yacht Tiara has been robbed by armed pirates off the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean sea.

These types of pirate attacks on yachts are all to common off the coasts of Africa and in the Far East, but are lucky rather rare in Europe. Until this pirate attack happened on Sunday, there had been no notable piracy attacks on yachts for several years in the Mediterranean.

Read the full story: Pirate Attack in Europe

Pirates on Yacht in the Mediterranean

Pirates on Yacht in the Mediterranean

Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and is located west of Italy, southeast of France, and north of the island of Sardinia.

Corsica is considered one of the 26 régions of France, although strictly speaking Corsica is designated as a “territorial collectivity” by law. As a territorial collectivity, it enjoys greater powers than other French régions, but for the most part its status is quite similar. Corsica is referred to as a “région” in common speech, and is almost always listed among the other régions of France. Although the island is separated from the continental mainland by the Ligurian Sea and is much closer to the Italian than to the French mainland, politically Corsica is considered part of Metropolitan France.

Read more about the Pirates of the Mediterranean

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Olympic Sailing

The sailing competitions for the Olympics are taking place in Qingdao, China, near the Qingdao International Marina. Below is a photo of the Olympic sailing venue in Qingdao China where the Olympics are being held for the 2008 Olympic sailing events.

Sailing venue for the Olympics


The Olympic sailing events consist of four classes for men, four for women, and three mixed classes that are open to both men and women. Since the 2004 Olympic Games, three events will be competed on new equipment. The Neil Pryde RS:X has been selected to replace the Mistral for both Men's and Women's sailboard, and the Laser Radial will replace the Europe as the Women's single-handed dinghy.

Races in all events are a sailed in a fleet racing format of ten regular series races (fifteen for the 49er), followed by a Medal Race. The contestants race around the course in a group, and each boat earns a score equal to its finishing position. The nine (thirteen for the 49er) best scores for each boat are summed up for the regular series of races.

The Medal Races are limited to the ten boats with the best overall scores in each event, and are scored double points based on finish position. The Olympic sailing medals in each event are decided based on the overall total points.


READ MORE ABOUT SAILING AT THE OLYMPICS:

Olympics Sailing RSS Feed OLYMPIC SAILING RSS FEED

The Yngling Girls Sailing to Gold at Olympics

The ultimate sailor chicks - The Yngling Girls (aka: Three Blondes in a Boat) of Great Britain have won the sailing gold medal in the Yngling class at the 2008 Olympics in China!

The Yngling Girls take a Olympic gold medal in sailing

Sailing off Qingdao in the medal race in 11-16 knots of wind. With the current ripping downwind and pressure running high, the Yngling Olympic sailing team from Great Britain sailed to glory and won their gold medals.


The USA Yngling sailing team got to compete in the medal race, but tacked short of the windward mark layline and hit the mark on both laps of the race. They were flagged for kinetics just at the finish and had to do a penalty, finally finishing in tenth. They had made comebacks after each penalty but overall encountered too many obstacles to rescue the race. This team had high hopes for a medal, but ended the event in seventh overall out of fifteen Ynglings.

Check out more Olympic sailing news about the Yngling:

  1. Yngling Class
  2. Yngling Class Sailboats
  3. Sailing at the 2008 Olympics - Yngling Race Results
  4. Yngling Medals at the Olympic - Great Britain takes the Gold

Read More about the Yngling medal race here: Olympic Sailing Yngling Medals - Great Britain takes the Gold



Monday, August 11, 2008

Photos from the Olympics

Performing in front of sailboats at the Olympics
Olympic Sailboats by Candy Tan

Olympic Sailboats by Candy Tan

2008 Summer Olympics

Canadas Olympic Sailing Team

Canada's Olympic Sailing Team

Olympic Sailing on the Laser Tom Slingsby

Tom Slingsby is the top Laser sailor in the world, and is now sailing in the Beijing Olympics.

Tom Slingsby

Tom was born on September 5, 1984, and is a Laser sailor from the Central Coast of New South Wales in Australia. Tom is the 2007 world champion in the Laser Radial class and ranked number one in the Laser event going into the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Tom had a promising tennis career ahead but found sailing more to his liking and cut tennis out at 15. Living by the water on the Central Coast of NSW, Tom Slingsby is from a sailing family and first remembers sailing competitively at eight “I’ve looked up to many people along the way. Robert Scheidt, because he’s a great sailor and keeps proving everyone wrong and Michael Blackburn because he’s improved my sailing, I wouldn’t be where I am without him.”

Happy to finish school with the blessing of his parents, Tom opted to sail full time and coaches for pocket money when time provides.

Tom Slingsby scored his first major win at the 2000 Laser Radial Nationals and lots more followed. But Tom lifted his game another notch in 2005 with Laser Olympic class wins at Hyeres and the Holland Regatta.

However disappointment followed. The year was spent working towards a best result at the Worlds for which he was ranked a top three favourite. But on arrival in Brazil a wrong medical diagnoses by local doctors left him sidelined. Tom Slingsby watched as Robert Scheidt won yet another title and Brendan Casey his then rival for the Aussie Olympic place finished sixth.
Now is Tom’s chance to prove he is truly the best in the world!

Check out this is a great interview with Tom Slingsby of the 2008 Australian Olympic Team hours before he races in his first Olympic Games: Sailor in the Spotlight Interview - Tom Slingsby



Sunday, August 3, 2008

Cowes Week

Dark storm clouds made for a dramatic backdrop on the Solent at Cowes Week, where almost 1000 sailing boats took to the race course on the first day of racing!
Read the full story about the King of Cowes


iShares Cup Extreme 40s at Cowes Week. Boats bite the dust!

iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week by Rick Tomlinson

iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week by Tomlinson


The iShares Extreme 40s where racing in the iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week on Saturday off the beach in Cowes at Cowes Week on the island of Wight in the United Kingdom. The wind kicked up to over 22 knots, which proved way too much for the Extreme 40 catamarans.

Between race two and three, the iShares Cup fleet was hit by a terrible squall pitchpoling Team Aqua on her nose. Frank Cammas on BMW Oracle retired after the fourth race when his front beam broke following a collision with sailing team BT.

Read the full story here about Cowes Week - Crash and Capsizes for iShares Cup

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Tall Ships Races

UK - The Tall Ships Race are sailing into Norway after sailing the North Sea with sailors on 70 classic sailing Tall Ships and yachts. This Tall Ships Race sailed from Liverpool to Maloy Norway.

Tall Ship RaceThe Tall Ships Races are races for sail training Tall Ships (sailing ships). Between 1973 and 2003 they were sponsored by Cutty Sark and called “The Cutty Sark Tall Ships’ Races“. They are currently supported by the city, province and port of Antwerp. The races are held annually in European waters and consists of two racing legs of several hundred nautical miles, and a “cruise in company” between the legs.

The phrase Tall Ship was coined to describe the participating ships. Participating vessels are manned by a largely cadet or trainee crew who are partaking in sail training, 50 percent of which must be aged between 15 and 25 and do not need any previous experience. Thus, Tall Ship does not describe a specific type of sailing vessel, but rather a monohull sailing vessel of at least 9.4 metres that is conducting sail training and education under sail voyages. Participating ships range from yachts to the large square-rigged sail training ships run by charities, schools and navies of many countries.

The Tall Ships’ Races are held every summer in European waters. Each year between 70 and 100 vessels from 15-20 countries, crewed by some 5-6,000 young people from over 30 countries worldwide, take part in this unique event that combines four days of activities in each port with racing or cruising-in-company between ports. During the race series the young crews get the chance to gain experience by sailing with their contemporaries from other countries while facing the physical and emotional challenges that only the ocean can provide.

A ‘Tall Ship‘ is not necessarily one of the glamorous square-riggers. Entry is open to any monohull sailing vessel of more than 9.14m waterline length, provided that at least 50 percent of the crew are aged between 15 and 25 years and that the vessel meets Sail Training International’s safety equipment requirements.


Tall Ship



Race One Start in Liverpool UK - 11 days
Måløy, Norway


Cruise in Company - five days
Bergen, Norway

Sat 9 August - Tue 12 August
Race Two - eight days
Den Helder, Netherlands Wed 20 August - Sat 23 August


Read more about the Tall Ship Race | digg story


Tall Ship

Monday, July 21, 2008

Sailing at 30 Knots

Sailing at 30 Knots

Read more about the Singlehanded Transpac

Are the Olympics ready for sailing?

Qingdao China Ready for Olympics?

Looks like the algae is mostly clear from the sailing area in Qingdao and is ready for the Olympic sailing events.
Sailing Olympics

But some of the sailors from the US sailing team report that they are still fighting the algae. Read the story by Sarah Mergenthaler here: Sailing at the Olympics

Sarah and her teammate Amanda are sailing off to meet the President at the White house, before sailing back to China for the Olympics.

Sailing across the pond on Bostik

Phil Paxton, Alexia Barrier and Yann Clavier have arrived safe and sound in the North Cove Marina on the Hudson River, onboard the yacht Bostik. They entered the Ambrose Channel today at 10:00 am local time after 15 days 30 minutes across the Atlantic Ocean. Bostik left Cherbourg in France on Sunday July 6th in force 6-7 winds. Those difficult conditions, with head winds and a rough sea, were very hard on the crew with three successive depressions in a row during the beginning of the course of 3.100 nautical miles.

Bostik averaged 9.97 knots across the Atlantic. Bostik will head back home towards Cherbourg in France on Wednesday July 30th.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Olympic Sailing Teams - Beijing Olympics


2008 Olympics - Olympic Sailing

Sailors from 62 nations will take to the world's greatest sporting stage this August as they battle on the Yellow Sea at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Sailing Competition. Confirmation of national places has been received by the International Sailing Federation, along with provisional entry lists detailing the athletes who will compete across the eleven events of the Olympic Sailing Competition.

Entries range from multiple medalists looking to expand their entry in Olympic sailing history to new faces aiming to demonstrate their talent on the world's greatest sporting stage.

Amongst the 62 nations, Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates enter athletes to the sailing events of the Olympic Games for the first time.

In total 400 athletes will compete at the Olympic sailing venue in Qingdao, including four of the gold medal winning teams from Athens, who return to defend their titles.

The British Women's Keelboat team also features two of the three crew who won the gold medal in 2004, whilst a further three gold medalists from Athens will compete in different events to those in which they triumphed four years ago.

All the competing athletes will face a new challenge in Qingdao with the introduction of the new Medal Race format for all 11 events.

Following an initial opening series held over five days of racing, the top ten crews will progress to a final Medal Race where points scores are doubled and the 2008 Olympic Champions will be decided.

The confirmation of a place at the Olympic Games is the culmination of four years dedication to pursuing a sporting dream.

Over 2,500 sailors competed at ten qualification regattas across Europe, Oceania and North America to secure their nation a place at the Games, before battling against their national rivals for selection to the team of their National Olympic Committee.

Amongst the sailors who have realized the first part of their Olympic dream are 14 athletes who have received support through the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship Programme.

Great Britain has topped the sailing medal tally at the past two Games and leading their charge again this year will be triple Olympic medalist Ben Ainslie. Ainslie won his first Olympic gold medal in the Laser dinghy in 2000, before switching to the larger Finn to win gold again in Athens four years ago. He will start as a hot favourite to defend that title in the Heavyweight Dinghy event in Qingdao.

The experienced Austrian team of Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher are also aiming for a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the Multihull event, sailed in the Tornado. Spain's Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez are another of the champions from Athens and will compete again in the high performance 49er dinghy to defend their title in the Skiff event.

Completing the quartet of defending champions is Faustine Merret of France, although this year the Women's Windsurfer event will be contested on the newly designed RS:X board.

Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb of Great Britain also both won gold in 2004 in the Women's Keelboat event along with helm Shirley Robertson. However, the team parted ways after Athens and Ayton took over at the back of the boat to be joined again by Webb and new team mate Pippa Wilson.

Competing in the tactically challenging Yngling keelboat, this crew will be competing against two other gold medal winners from Athens: at the helm of the Norwegian Yngling, Siren Sundby, who won gold in the single-handed Europe dinghy in Athens; and Sofia Bekatorou helming the Greek Yngling, a gold medallist in the two-person 470 four years ago.

The final gold medallist from Athens competing in Qingdao is the great Brazilian sailor Robert Scheidt. After winning two gold and one silver medal along with eight World Championship titles in the one person Laser dinghy, Scheidt has teamed up with Bruno Prada and switched to the Men's Keelboat event in the Star boat.

Other famous Olympians on their way to Qingdao are Barbara Kendall of New Zealand, a triple Olympic medallist in the Women's Windsurfing event and a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission. Competing against her will be her great rival and another three-time Olympic medallist, Alessandra Senseni of Italy.

At the forefront of the challenge from the host nation China will be Athens silver medallists Jian Yin in the Women's Windsurfer event. The young but highly talent Lijia Xu also starts amongst the favorites in the Women's One Person Dinghy event sailed in the Laser Radial.




Beijing 2008 - Olympic Sailing Entry List



Women’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial

28 entries confirmed, 28 athletes
Argentina - Cecilia CARRANZA
Australia - Sarah BLANCK
Belarus - Tatiana DROZDOVSKAYA
Belgium - Evi VAN ACKER
Canada - Lisa ROSS
Croatia - Mateja PETRONIJEVIC
Finland - Tuula TENKANEN
France - Sarah STEYAERT
Germany - Petra NIEMANN
Great Britain - Penny CLARK
Greece - Eftychia MANTZARAKI
Ireland - Ciara PEELO
Israel - Nufar EDELMAN
Italy - Larissa NEVIEROV
Lithuania - Gintare VOLUNGEVICIUTE
Mexico - Tania ELIAS CALLES
New Zealand - Jo ALEH
Norway - Cathrine GJERPEN
Paraguay - Florencia CERUTTI
Peru - Paloma SCHMIDT
Poland - Katarzyna SZOTYNSKA
PR China - Xu LIJIA
Russia - Anastasia CHERNOVA
Singapore - Man Yi LO
Spain - Susana ROMERO
Sweden - Karin SODERSTROM
Switzerland - Nathalie BRUGGER
USA - Anna TUNNICLIFFE
Netherlands - entry unconfirmed



Men’s One Person Dinghy - Laser

42 entries confirmed, 42 athletes
Argentina - Julio ALSOGARAY
Australia - Tom SLINGSBY
Austria - Andreas GERITZER
Barbados - Gregory DOUGLAS
Brazil - Bruno FONTES
Canada - Mike LEIGH
Chile - Matias DEL SOLAR GOLDSMITH
Croatia - Luka RADELIC
Cyprus - Pavlos KONTIDES
Czech Republic - Martin TRCKA
Denmark - Anders NYHOLM
Dominican Republic - Raul AGUAYO
Estonia - Deniss KARPAK
Finland - Pierre Angelo COLLURA
France - Jean Baptiste BERNAZ
Great Britain - Paul GOODISON
Greece - Evangelos CHIMONAS
Guatemala - Juan I MAEGLI
Hungary - Zsombor BERECZ
Italy - Diego ROMERO
Japan - Yoichi LIJIMA
Korea - Jeemin HA
Luxembourg - Marc SCHMIT
Malaysia - Kevin LIM LEONG KEAT
New Zealand - Andrew MURDOCH
Norway - Kristian RUTH
Poland - Maciej GRABOWSKI
Portugal - Gustavo LIMA
PR China - Shen SHENG
Russia - Igor LISOVENKO
Seychelles - Allan JULIE
Singapore - Seng Leong KOH
Slovenia - Vasilij ZBOGAR
Spain - Javier HERNANDES
Sweden - Rasmus MYRGREN
Switzerland - Christoph BOTTONI
Turkey - Kemal MUSLUBAS
United Arab Emirates - Mohammed ADIL KHALID
Uruguay - Alejandro FOGLIA
USA - Andrew CAMPBELL
US Virgin Islands - Thomas BARROWS LLL
Venezuela - Jose Miguel RUIZ
Netherlands - entry unconfirmed



Men’s Two Person Dinghy - 470

29 entries confirmed, 58 athletes
Argentina - Javier CONTE and Juan DE LA FUENTE
Australia - Nathan WILMOT and Malcolm PAGE
Austria - Matthias SCHMID and Florian REICHSTADTER
Belarus - Sergei DESUKEVICH and Pavel LOGUNOV
Brazil - Fabio PILLAR and Samuel ALBRECHT
Canada - Stephen LOCAS and Oliver BONE
Croatia - Sime FANTELA and Igor MARENIC
Finland - Niklas LINDGREN and Heikki ELOMAA
France - Nicolas CHARBONNIER and Olivier BAUSSET
Great Britain - Nick ROGERS and Joe GLANFIELD
Greece - Andreas KOSMATOPOULOS and Andreas PAPADOPOULOS
Ireland - Gerald OWENS and Philip LAWTON
Israel - Gideon KLIGER and Ehud GAL
Italy - Gabrio ZANDONA and Andres TRANI
Japan - Tetsuya MATSUNAGA and Taro UENO
Korea - Cheul YOON and Hyeongtae KIM
Netherlands - Sven COSTER and Kalle COSTER
New Zealand - Carl EVANS and Peter BURLING
Poland - Patryk PIASECKI and Kacper ZIEMINSKI
Portugal - Álvaro MARINHO and Miguel NUNES
PR China - Wang WEIDONG and Deng DAOKUN
Russia - Michael SHEREMETIEV and Maxim SHEREMETIEV
Singapore - Yuan Zhen XU and Seng Kiat Terence KOH
Slovenia - Karlo HMELJAK and Mitja NEVECNY
Spain - Onan BARREIROS and Aaron SARMIENTO
Sweden - Anton DAHLBERG and Sebastian OSTLING
Switzerland - Tobias ETTER and Felix STEIGER
Turkey - Deniz CINAR and Ates CINAR
USA - Stuart MCNAY and Graham BIEHL



Women’s Two Person Dinghy - 470

19 entries confirmed, 38 athletes
Argentina - Fernanda SESTO and Consuelo MONSGUR
Australia - Elise RECHICHI and Tess PARKINSON
Austria - Sylvia VOGL and Carolina FLATSCHER
Brazil - Oliveira FERNANDA and Isabel SWAN
Czech Republic - Lenka SMIDOVA and Lenka MRZILKOVA
France - Ingrid PETITJEAN and Gwendolyn LEMAITRE
Germany - Stefanie ROTHWEILER and Vivien KUSSATZ
Great Britain - Christina BASSADONE and Saskia CLARK
Israel - Nike KORNECKI and Vered BOUSKILA
Italy - Giulia CONTI and Giovanna MICOL
Japan - Ai KONDO and Naoko KAMATA
Netherlands - Marcelien DE KONING and Lobke BERKHOUT
PR China - Wen YIMEI and Yu CHUNYAN
Singapore - Liying TOH and Hui Min Deborah ONG
Slovenia - Vesna DEKLEVA PAOLI and Klara MAUCEC
Spain - Natalia VIA-DUFRESNE and Laia TUTZO
Sweden - Therese TORGERSSON and Vendela SANTEN
Switzerland - Emmanuelle ROL and Anne-Sophie THILO
USA - Amanda CLARK and Sarah MERGENTHALER



Men’s Keeboat - Star
16 entries confirmed, 32 athletes
Australia - Iain MURRAY and Andrew PALFREY
Austria - Hans SPITZAUER and Hans-Christian NEHAMMER
Brazil - Robert SCHEIDT and Bruno PRADA
Croatia - Marin Jr LOVOROVIC and Sinisa MIKULICIC
France - Xavier ROHART and Pascal RAMBEAU
Germany - Marc-Aurel PICKEL and Ingo BORKOWSKI
Great Britain - Iain PERCY and Andrew SIMPSON
Ireland - Peter O'LEARY and Stephen MILNE
Italy - Diego NEGRI and Luigi VIALE
New Zealand - Hamish PEPPER and Carl WILLIAMS
Poland - Mateusz KUSZNIEREWICZ and Dominik ZYCKI
Portugal - Afonso DOMINGOS and Bernardo SANTOS
PR China - Li HONGQUAN and Wang HE
Sweden - Frederik LOOF and Anders EKSTROM
Switzerland - Flavio MARAZZI and Enrico DEMARIA
USA - John DANE III and Austin SPERRY



Women’s Keelboat - Yngling

15 entries confirmed, 45 athletes
Australia - Krystal WEIR, Karyn GOJNICH and Angela FARRELL
Canada - Jennifer PROVAN, Martha HENDERSON and Katie ABBOTT
Finland - Silja LEHTINEN, Maria KLEMETZ and Livia VARESMAA
France - Anne LE HELLEY, Catharine LEPESANT and Julie GERECHT
Germany - Urike SCHUMANN, Ute HOPFER and Julia BLECK
Great Britain - Sarah AYTON, Sarah WEBB and Pippa WILSON
Greece - Sofia BEKATOROU, Sofia PAPADOPOULOU and Virginia KRAVARIOTI
Italy - Calligaris CHIARA, Francesca SCOGNAMILLO and Giulia PIGNOLO
Netherlands - Mandy MULDER, Annemieke BES and Merel WITTEVEEN
Norway - Siren SUNDBY, Alexandra KOEFOED and Lise Birgitte FREDRIKSEN
PR China - Song XIAQUN, Yu YANLI and Li XIAONI
Russia - Ekaterina SKUDINA, Diana KRUTSKIKH and Natalia IVANOVA
South Africa - Dominique PROVOYEUR, Penny ALISON and Kim REW
Spain - Monica AZON, Sandra AZON and Graciela PISONERO
USA - Sally BARKOW, Carrie HOWE and Debbie CAPOZZI



Multihull - Tornado
15 entries confirmed, 30 athletes
Argentina - Santiago LANGE and Carlos ESPINOLA
Australia - Darren BUNDOCK and Glenn ASHBY
Austria - Roman HAGARA and Hans Peter STEINACHER
Belgium - Carolijn BROUWER and Sebastien GODEFROID
Canada - Oskar JOHANNSON and Kevin STITTLE
France - Xavier REVIL and Christophe ESPAGNON
Germany - Johannes POLGAR and Florian SPALTEHOLZ
Great Britain - Leigh MCMILLAN and Will HOWDEN
Greece - Iordanis PASCHALIDES and Konstantinos TRIGONIS
Italy - Francesco MARCOLINI and Edoardo BIANCHI
Netherlands - Mitch BOOTH and Pim NIEUWENHUIS
PR China - Chen XIUKE and Luo YOUJIA
Spain - Fernando ECHAVARRI and Anton PAZ
Ukraine - Pavlo KALYNCHEV and Andriy SHAFRANYUK
USA - John LOVELL and Charles OGLETREE



Skiff - 49er

19 entries confirmed, 38 athletes
Australia - Nathan OUTTERIDGE and Ben AUSTIN
Austria - Nico DELLE-KARTH and Nikolaus RESCH AUTNR1
Brazil - Andre FONSECA and Rodrigo DUARTE
Canada - Gordon COOK and Ben REMOCKER
Croatia - Pavle KOSTOV and Peter CUPAC
Denmark - Jonas WARRER and Martin KIRKETERPDENMK3
France - Emmanuel DYEN and Yann ROCHERIEUX
Germany - Jan-Peter PECKOLT and Hannes PECKOLT
Great Britain - Stevie MORRISON and Ben RHODES
Italy - Piero SIBELLO and Gianfranco SIBELLO
Japan - Akira ISHIBASHI and Yukio MAKINO
Norway - Christopher GUNDERSEN and Frode BOVIM
Poland - Marcin CZAJKOWSKI and Krzysztof KIERKOWSKI
Portugal - Jorge LIMA and Francisco ANDRADE
PR China - Li FEI and Hu XIANQIANGE
Spain - Iker MARTINEZ and Xabier FERNANDEZ
Sweden - Jonas LINDBERG and Kalle TORLEN
Ukraine - Rodion LUKA and Georgiy LEONCHUK
USA - Timothy WADLOW and Christopher RAST



Heavyweight Dinghy - Finn
25 entries confirmed, 25 athletes
Australia - Anthony NOSSITER
Brazil - Eduardo COUTO
Canada - Chris COOK
Croatia - Ivan KLJAKOVIC GASPIC
Cyprus - Haris PAPADOPOULOS
Czech Republic - Michael MAIER
Denmark - Jonas HOEGH-CHRISTENSEN
Finland - Tapio NIRKKO
France - Guillaume FLORENT
Great Britain - Ben AINSLIE
Greece - Emilios PAPATHANASIOU
India - Nachhatar Singh JOHAL
Ireland - Timothy GOODBODY
Italy - Giorgio POGGI
Netherlands - Pieter-Jan POSTMA
New Zealand - Dan SLATER
Norway - Peer MOBERG
Poland - Rafal SZUKIEL
PR China - Zhang PENG
Russia - Eduard SKORNIAKOV
Slovenia - Gasper VINCENC
Spain - Rafael TRUJILLO
Sweden - Daniel BIRGMARK
Turkey - Ali Kemal TUFEKCI
USA - Zachary RAILEY


Men’s Windsurfer - RS:X

35 entries confirmed, 35 athletes
Argentina - Mariano REUTEMANN
Belarus - Mikalai ZHUKAVETS
Brazil - Ricardo SANTOS
Chinese Taipei - Chang HAO
Canada - Zac PLAVSIC
Colombia - Santiago GRILLO
Croatia - Luka MRATOVIC
Cyprus - Andreas CARIOLOU
Denmark - Jonas KAELSDO POULSEN
Estonia - Johannes AHUN
France - Julien BONTEMPS
Great Britain - Nick DEMPSEY
Greece - Nikolas KAKLAMANAKIS
Hong Kong - King Yiin CHAN
Hungary - Aron GADORFALVI
Indonesia - Oka SULAKSANA
Israel - Shahar ZUBARI
Italy - Fabian HEIDEGGER
Japan - Makoto TOMIZAWA
Korea - Taehoon LEE
Mexico - David MIER Y TERAN
Netherlands - Casper BOUMAN
New Zealand - Tom ASHLEY
Poland - Przemyslaw MIARCZYNSKI
Portugal - João RODRIGUES
PR China - Wang AICHEN
Russia - Alexey TOKOREV
Slovak Republic - Patrik POLLAK
Spain - Ivan PASTOR
Switzerland - Richard STAUFFACHER
Thailand - Ek BOONSAWAD
Turkey - Ertugrul ICINGIR
Ukraine - Maksym OBEREMKO
USA - Benjamin BARGER
Venezuela - Carlos FLORES


Women’s Windsurfer - RS:X
27 entries confirmed, 27 athletes
Argentina - Florencia GUTIERREZ
Australia - Jessica CRISP
Brazil - Patricia FREITAS
Bulgaria - Irina KONSTANTINOVA-BONTEMPS
Canada - Nikola GIRKE
Cyprus - Gavriela HADJIDAMIANOU
Denmark - Bettina HONORE
Finland - Tuuli PETAJA
France - Faustine MERRET
Great Britain - Bryony SHAW
Greece - Frai ATHINA
Hong Kong - Wai Kei CHAN
Hungary - Diane DETRE
Israel - Maayan DAVIDOVICH
Italy - Alessandra SENSINI
Japan - Yasuko KOSUGE
Mexico - Demita VEGA DELILLE
New Zealand - Barbara KENDALL
Norway - Jannicke STÅLSTRØM
Poland - Zofia KLEPACKA
PR China - Yin JIAN
Russia - Tatiana BAZUK
Spain - Marina ALABAU
Thailand - Napalai TANSAI
Turkey - Sedef KOKTENTURK
Ukraine - Olha MASLIVETS
USA - Nancy RIOS


Sailing at the Olympics by Sport the Library/Jeff Crow