ISTiOSELIDA - All About Sailing

Emirates Team New Zealand Wins Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland

2010-03-21T23:14:00.005+02:00

Racing under the colours of the host Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Emirates Team New Zealand won the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta Sunday.

The Kiwi boat extended on every leg of the deciding five-mile race off Auckland’s East Coast Bays against the Mascalzone Latino Audi team representing Club Nautico di Roma, which is the Challenger of Record for the 34th America’s Cup.
Emirates won the first race yesterday, and with their second victory today they went 2-0 in the Finals, which race officials shortened to a best-of-three contest due to light and uncertain winds.
Right after the finish, the normally controlled and contained Emirates skipper Dean Barker had a broad smile on his face as he soaked his veteran team with champagne from a jeroboam of Moët et Chandon, not even sparing an event photographer who had climbed aboard for the occasion.
On their way to the finals, Emirates survived by one second a heart-stopping last-minute penalty turn in their match against Azzurra, the other Italian team. Today they left no doubts with a composed and clinical performance that only saw them threatened once.
Ashore after racing it was a flashback to the glory days of the America’s Cups of 2000 and 2003, as crowds thronged the quayside in the Viaduct Basin and spectators crowded every vantage point on the moored boats and surrounding balconies. Horns, sirens, cheers and applause greeted the Mascalzone Latino Audi boat as it docked at Market Square, its crew brandishing a giant banner that read “Thank you New Zealand.”
The Emirates boat arrived to more applause, flying a gigantic New Zealand blue ensign plus smaller national flags of all the competing countries. Before presenting the Louis Vuitton Trophy, Yves Carcelle, chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, congratulated Dean Barker, his team, and all the competing teams on the quality of their racing. “Now I hope the Cup will revive.
In the meantime, we have seen in the last few days an amazing sport competition. The fact that the boats are equalized means that it was all up to the teams and one more time, Team New Zealand has proved its domination.”
After the strong south-westerly winds that have characterized much of the regatta and forced the postponement of some races, there was a two-hour wait for wind today as the spectator fleet built in size.
Racing started at noon at the mouth of the Rangitoto Channel in a warm and shifty 10 to 12-knot westerly breeze. Barker wanted the right side of the course before the start.
Gavin Brady, the Kiwi skipper of ML Audi, wanted the left, and the pre-start was uneventful as they split away, even before they crossed the line. Brady’s tactician Morgan Larson said later that they realized in the last minutes before the gun that the right was favored but they had no option but to follow their game plan. The left finally paid off in the closing stages of the first leg, pulling the visitors back into the game.
As they closed, Emirates chose to tack short of the port tack ML Audi, only to be carried out beyond the starboard tack layline by the aggressive Italians. Brady had his opportunity to level the score and the boats were bow to stern as Emirates led around the weather mark. The Kiwi spinnaker blossomed instantaneously in a slick set the Italians couldn’t match. Just as swiftly, Emirates gybed over into the favoring left shift, catching the Italians flat-footed. Within seconds the home team enjoyed a four-boat length lead, one they never relinquished.
The finish margin was 53 seconds. “On the first beat, it didn’t look as though the right was going to come in early enough for us and it was amazing how the pressure came in and we had enough to be strong,” Barker said. “The guys did an amazing job. The first downwind was the key moment for us . . . to get the early gybe away and make a little gain there.”
Noting that his team had lost two races in the two weeks, Barker added: “It’s always satisfying when you feel that you’re sailing your best on the last day, and today we were sailing really well.”
Morgan Larson acknowledged the flawless performance of the New Zealand team. “We got a little bit of a miscommunication in the back of the boat at the weather mark and I’ll hold my hand up for that one,” he said. “If we’d gybed with them, we’d have been right on their tail.”
The overall results are:
1. Emirates Team New Zealand, New Zealand
2. Mascalzone Latino Audi, Italy
3. Azzurra, Italy
4. Artemis, Sweden
5. All4One, Germany/France
6. TEAMORIGIN, Great Britain
7. ALEPH Sailing Team, France
8. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, Russia

Modus Vivendi-3Alfa Ο Μεγάλος Νικητής του MARTCH MATCH RACE 2010

2010-03-21T22:48:00.004+02:00

Η ομάδα Modus Vivendi-3Άλφα νικήτρια του March Match Race 2010. Εντυπωσιακές μονομαχίες εξελίχθηκαν σήμερα την δεύτερη και τελευταία ημέρα του March Match Race 2010 που πραγματοποιήθηκε έξω από το Μικρολίμανο με σκάφη Platu25 και την συνεργασία του ΠΟΙΑΘ.

Ο ανοιξιάτικος καιρός με τον άνεμο σε χαμηλές εντάσεις και νοτιοδυτική διεύθυνση ήταν σύμμαχος για την ολοκλήρωση του αγώνα. Τα 2 τελευταία flights του Round Robin ολοκληρώθηκαν το πρωί αναδεικνύοντας τις 4 πρώτες ομάδες που θα αγωνίζονταν στα Semi finals και στην συνέχεια στον μικρό και μεγάλο τελικό.
Η ομάδα Ωκύαλος με κυβερνήτη τον Θοδωρή Τσουλφά και πλήρωμα τους Δάφνη Κωστοπούλου, Λάμπρο Τσολάκη και Αλέξη Τσολάκη αν και έφτασε στον τελικό αήττητη, δεν κατάφερε να διατηρήσει τον τίτλο της, καθώς μονομαχώντας με την ομάδα Modus Vivendi-3Άλφα με κυβερνήτη τον Παναγιώτη Μάντη και πλήρωμα τους Παύλο Καγιαλή, Κώστα Καραγεωργίου και Αντρέα Παλερά, έχασε με 3-0 κατακτώντας τελικά την δεύτερη θέση, και δίνοντας τον τίτλο του νικητή στην ομάδα Modus Vivendi-3Άλφα.
Στον μικρό τελικό η ομάδα Αταλάντη με κυβερνήτη τον Στρατή Ανδρεάδη και πλήρωμα τους Στέλιο Σωτηρίου, Θοδωρή Πολυχρονίδη και Αναστάσιο Μηλιώνη αγωνίστηκε με την ομάδα Ursa Minor με κυβερνήτη τον Αντρέα Καραλή και πλήρωμα τους Αντρέα Θεοδωρίδη, Αλίνα Στρατηγίου και Αλέξανδρο Μοχαντάμ και κέρδισε με 2-0 την τρίτη θέση.
Αθλητές, Κριτές και Διοργανωτές αποχώρησαν ικανοποιημένοι και ανανέωσαν το ραντεβού τους για το Μ&Ν Match Race στις 7-9 Μάιου.
Φωτογραφίες και αποτελέσματα στο www.platu25.gr
photos credits Νίκος Αλευρομύτης

48 days 07 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds!!!

2010-03-21T22:14:00.004+02:00

Τα κατάφεραν!!! Μπράβο στον Franck Cammas και το εννεαμελές πλήρωμα του.
Το Jules Verne Trophy πλέον ανήκει σε αυτούς τους δέκα άνδρες που έκανα το γύρο του κόσμου σε 48 μέρες 7 ώρες 44 λεπτά και 52 δευτερόλεπτα.
Μέση ταχύτητα 18.76 κόμβοι! (τα λόγια είναι περιττά...)
Το Groupama 3 πέρασε τη γραμμή τερματισμού στο Ushant το Σάββατο 20 Μαρτίου στις 21: 40΄45" UTC, 2 μέρες 8 ώρες και 35 λεπτά γρηγορότερα από το προηγούμενο ρεκόρ που είχε από το 2005 ο Bruno Peyron με το Orange 2.
To video του τερματισμού

Groupama 3 arrival in Brest Harbor 2010/03/21 - © Arnaud Pilpré / Studio Zedda

Tempo allegro Jules Verne Trophy

2010-03-20T19:24:00.002+02:00

The acceleration is good for this final sprint thanks to a NW'ly wind of around twenty knots and the finish off the Créac'h lighthouse is scheduled during the course of tonight.

However Groupama 3 won't enter the harbour of Brest until after sunrise, at around 0830 hours UTC after a little more than 48 days at sea!
"We may have a little too much sail aloft at the moment with the solent jib and mainsail, but we can't afford to hang about. There's a ridge of high pressure coming up behind us and we mustn't get caught up in the calm conditions... We don't yet know what time we're going to cross the finish line and that's not that important, though it's always good to be as far ahead of the previous reference time as possible. We're being a bit shaken about! Our main focus is to arrive in one piece... We're sticking to the same habits though and we're maintaining our normal watch rhythm" indicated Franck Cammas during the 1130 UTC radio session with Groupama's Race HQ in Brest.
Groupama 3's log (departure on 31st January at 13h 55' 53'' UTC)
...
Day 45 (17th March 1400 UTC): 441 miles (lead = 412 miles)
Day 46 (18th March 1400 UTC): 579 miles (lead = 828 miles)
Day 47 (19th March 1400 UTC): 588 miles (lead = 1.165 miles)
Day 48 (20th March 1400 UTC): 600 miles (lead = 1.412 miles)

Home team wins first race in Louis Vuitton Trophy finals

2010-03-20T13:43:00.006+02:00

Emirates Team New Zealand pulled off two key victories today, first winning match point in a Semi-Final race and then prevailing in the first Finals race of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta.

The host team will continue its best-of-five match in the Finals tomorrow, racing against the Mascalzone Latino Audi team representing Club Nautico di Roma, which is the Challenger of Record for the America’s Cup. Racing started in the approaches to the Rangitoto Channel off Auckland’s East Coast beaches in the early afternoon, after a long wait for an uncertain sou-west breeze to fill-in and settle.
The shifty breeze was moderate all day, ranging between 10 and 14 knots.Emirates and Azzurra were 1-1, after the Kiwi’s nail-biter one second win on Friday. There was plenty at stake. The Italian team won the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice last November, beating Emirates. The host Kiwi team had won the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series event in Auckland last year and they were aiming for a repeat victory.
Emirate’s skipper Dean Barker wanted the right side of the course and, with the starboard entry, he wielded the advantage with clinical detachment.“It wasn’t easy that’s for sure,” Barker said. “Conditions aren’t exactly even or stable, it keeps you on the edge of your toes all the time. But it felt very controlled from our guys. The nice thing is the composure of our guys, which we’ve really been working hard on. Even though things got tight at times, the guys kept doing their job well.
”With their Finals berth safe, the Emirates team enjoyed a break until they returned to race Mascalzone Latino Audi. It proved to be a nail-biter for their Kiwi fans.Barker pulled off a come-from-behind victory after conceding the lead at the second mark. In the pre-start, the New Zealanders came within centimetres of a penalty as they tacked away from ML Audi’s Gavin Brady but the incident was green-flagged by the umpires. Brady took the lead at the second leeward mark only to concede it when Barker split away on the windward leg and got back ahead.
Emirates Team New Zealand Managing Director Grant Dalton, who also sails on the boat, summed up the day. “I think the bottom line is that we can still sail a lot better. We have to just keep working at it. It tends to click eventually,” Dalton said. “Brady is a bit more aggressive, he came close to copping a couple of penalties today on the start, one I thought was pretty close on the edge. But that’s up to Dean, he deals with it all the time.
The whole thing is a bit disjointed because you’re not flowing, week on week on week. So you can’t expect to be going at the normal rate of incremental improvement every day. But we’ve got to be reasonably happy at the moment, going one-up in the final."
Race One – Semi-Final: Emirates Team New Zealand def. Azzurra, 00:26
Emirates had the starboard end advantage and used it throughout the prestart to hold Azzurra’s Francesco Bruni out from the right side of the course. They came to the line at speed on starboard, in a shifty 10-knot breeze, well separated and with the Italians just bow out. Emirates held for a few seconds and then tacked away into a right shift. When they closed for the first cross 30 seconds later the Kiwis on starboard had a lead of nearly two boat lengths.
Approaching the top mark and above the port lay line, Italy pulled back into close contact on a big left shift, but NZ’s Dean Barker luffed them momentarily before the mark before bearing away and opening a lead of several boat lengths that he never relinquished.
Tommaso Chieffi, Azzurra tactician, said “we entered on port so it was already a difficult situation. On the second beat, we had the jib halyard come undone. We had to ease the jib out, and that lost us about 20 seconds. God knows, if it was closer in the last part of the race, it may have been a different story but it wasn’t our day.”
Race Two - 1st Final: Team New Zealand def. Mascalzone Latino Audi, 00:12
After his close miss, Barker coolly controlled the prestart, pushing Brady above the committee boat before returning and speeding off on starboard with the Italians trailing on his hip. Emirates first mark lead was 14 seconds but the Italians got on their wind on the run to round ahead at the leeward mark.
Barker said, “you’re happy sometimes to give up some distance if it means that you put yourself in a stronger position. And we did a nice job of that on the second beat – in the end we were able to extend quite a bit.”
Brady got out to the right but it didn’t pay. He let the boats get widely separated on a long port tack and the lead changed again as Barker found more favorable breeze on the left. Barker led by 12 seconds at the third mark and also at the finish. Brady’s tactician Morgan Larson took the long view. “We’re really happy, the guys are sailing the boat better than we have all week,” he said. “We’ve just got to get a little tighter in the afterguard and keep our communication good and look at it more like a match race.”
Race Three – Petit Final: Azzurra def Artemis
Italy’s Azzurra won their Petit Final match against Artemis as the Swedish boat copped two penalties in an early evening race. In the pre-start dial-up Terry Hutchinson in the port entry boat was late completing his initial tack and the blue penalty flag went up.
Francesco Bruni took Azzurra over the start line just to weather of Artemis and bow out. It was a one tack leg as the boats straight-lined at equal speeds all the way out to the port tack lay-line where Artemis was forced to follow their opponent into the mark.
The Italians dominated the next two legs until Artemis pulled level on the last run, only to be penalized again for failing to respond to a luff.
Azzurra pulled away to win as the Swedish boat began its penalty turn.

TEAMORIGIN TEST SAIL THEIR NEW TP52 FOR THE FIRST TIME

2010-03-20T11:00:00.003+02:00

TEAMORIGIN’s new TP52 hit the water for the first time today and the team’s shore crew, sailors and designers were there in force to enjoy this exciting moment for the team.

Despite losing a key race yesterday in the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta, the TEAMORIGIN sailors were back in the gym and out for a fitness run first thing this morning and then headed out on the water with a new and exciting project on their hands.
The team sailed the impressive new boat close to the semi-final action of the regatta and turned a few heads David Duff, Shore Operations Manager for TEAMORIGIN, commented on the first day’s testing, “It went really well today, we’ve had a very tight schedule and have managed hit all the deadlines spot on so it was very pleasing to see the boat on the water today. It’s pretty impressive to take her out of the shed only two days ago and be sailing in 20 knots today. I’d like to thank everyone who has played a key part in this challenging project.
Juan Kouyoumdjian and his team at Juan Yacht Design, Greg Salthouse and the boat build team at Salthouse boatbuilders, North Sails, Southern Spars and our own TEAMORIGIN build and shore team of Nick Bice, Sam Bourne, Dylan Fletcher and Marty Oliver.”
The team will carry out another few days of testing and the boat then gets loaded onto a ship and heads to Europe for its racing season. TEAMORIGIN will compete in the YP52 Audi Med Cup series which consists of 5 regattas around the Mediterranean, with the first event taking place in Cascais starting on 10th May 2010.
Juan Kouyoumdjian (Juan K), Principal Designer of the boat, witnessed the maiden sail today and gave his views “I was really happy to see the boat on the water today, it went extremely well and we passed the structural test phase very quickly and were able to move on to pushing the boat. It performed exactly like we expected it to perform on the first day.”
Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Helmsman of TEAMORIGIN, ommented on the forthcoming TP racing, “We are looking forward to our first crack at the TP52 Audi Med Cup Series, it’s been a really useful project so far from both a design and sailing team perspective and will great to race against some top teams this coming season.”

Groupama 3: Το ρεκόρ είναι εφικτό

2010-03-19T20:37:00.006+02:00

Στην τελική ευθεία μπήκε η προσπάθεια του Cammas και του πληρώματος του για την επιτυχία της προσπάθειάς τους για το ρεκόρ στο γύρο του κόσμου με πολύγαστρο σκάφος.

Πριν μερικές μέρες η επιτυχία της προσπάθειας φαινόταν δύσκολη ως και αδύνατη, ειδικά όταν το Groupama 3 πριν μερικές μέρες είχε μείνει σχεδόν 500νμ πίσω από το χρόνο του Orange 2.
Τις τελευταίες όμως ημέρες τα πράγματα έχουν αλλάξει άρδην και με τη βοήθεια του καιρού το Groupama 3 κερδίζει συνεχώς μίλια έναντι του στόχου του. Μάλιστα έχει καταφέρει μέσα σε 7 μέρες να καλύψει σχεδόν 3.500νμ!
© Guilain GRENIER / Sea & Co
Οπότε αν όλα πάνε σύμφωνα με το σχέδιο το ρεκόρ είναι σχεδόν σίγουρο. Το μόνο που έχει να κάνει το εννεαμελές πλήρωμα του Cammas είναι να προσαρμόζεται στις συνεχείς αλλαγές του ανέμου που η πρόβλεψη δίνει και να εύχονται να μην σπάσει τίποτα πάνω στο σκάφος.
Groupama 3's log (departure on 31st January at 13h 55' 53'' UTC)
...
Day 44 (16th March 1400 UTC): 401 miles (lead = 72 miles)
Day 45 (17th March 1400 UTC): 441 miles (lead = 412 miles)
Day 46 (18th March 1400 UTC): 579 miles (lead = 828 miles)
Day 47 (19th March 1400 UTC): 552 miles (lead = 1.167 miles)

ΠΡΟΣΚΛΗΣΗ από τον Ι.Ο.Πειραιώς

2010-03-19T20:29:00.001+02:00

Η Πρόεδρος και τα Μέλη του Δ.Σ. του Ιστιοπλοϊκού Ομίλου Πειραιώς έχουν την τιμή να σας προσκαλέσουν στην παρουσίαση του Διάπλου του Ατλαντικού που επιτέλεσε το σκάφος του ΙΟΠ, ΑΡΜΕΝΙΣΤΗΣ, συμμετέχοντας στον αγώνα ATLANTIC RALLY FOR CRUISERS.
Την παρουσίαση θα κάνει ο Δημήτρης Λιαρούτσος, κυβερνήτης του σκάφους, μαζί με τα μέλη του πληρώματος Γεώργιο Νικολαΐδη και Παντελή Μυλωνά.
Η εκδήλωση θα γίνει στο Εντευκτήριο του Ομίλου μας την Δευτέρα 22/3/2010 στις 19:00μμ.

Heart-stopping finish earns Kiwi boat another life

2010-03-19T10:28:00.004+02:00

Emirates Team New Zealand came within one second of elimination from the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta today but kept Kiwi hopes alive with a brilliant finish. Tied 1-1, the host team will sail the third race of their Semi-Final with Italy's Azzura tomorrow.

The other Semi-Final went to three races, with the Italian team Mascalzone Latino Audi, representing the Challenger of Record for the America’s Cup, defeating Sweden’s Artemis in close competition. The southwesterly breeze was lighter than preceding days, but shifts and lulls and delays in starting several races did not prevent the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Race Committee and PRO Peter Reggio from starting five of the six scheduled races. They tried for a sixth race but abandoned it at 7:15pm in a fading breeze and the fading light of dusk.
Although it was Friday in Auckland and a business day, a respectable-sized spectator grew in size as the afternoon wore on.
For its last two races, Artemis carried a distinguished 18th man. John Bertrand, the Aussie skipper who in 1983 lifted the America’s Cup from the clutches of the New York Yacht Club, rode on the stern of the Swedish boat, forbidden from offering advice but clearly enjoying the experience.
Paul Cayard, skipper of Artemis, was philosophical about his team’s dismissal. “We’re assembling a new team here, and we’ve got a lot of America’s Cup experience on board, and we need to get that all glued together,” he said. “We made a huge step forward here in Auckland, and we’re really happy with how we sailed.”
Asked about the quality of umpire calls, he added, “I think the umpires actually made good calls there, I think we slightly tacked in the last start and it was a fair call. All in all, the umpires are doing a good job and that’s part of the race.
Ray Davies, tactician for Emirates Team New Zealand described the penalty before the start that almost cost them their second race against Azzurra as “a bit of an unforced one.” He said, “we were in a real strong position, and we looked to gybe with them, but as they gybed, our jib just hit their sticks (wands) as we bore away. We were able to keep control of the start. It was a bit of a trade off.
After carrying their penalty all around the course, Emirates unloaded it on the finish line in a tight, foaming turn around the pin end as Azzurra bore down on them. The Kiwi boat had a 135-metre lead and Davies grinned as he estimated they needed a margin of 134 metres to pull off the win.
“That would be our absolute limit,” he said. “We couldn’t have done it with any less. It’s always pretty hard to slow down and try to do that. We talked about it at the top mark and we thought we were rounding in quite good pressure with a chance to extend, which we did. We sailed really good from there on.”
Morgan Larson, tactician on the winning Mascalzone Latino Audi, noted an extra layer in the competition between his boat and Artemis. “Terry Hutchinson and Gavin Brady are neighbours in Annapolis, so there was quite a bit on the line, more than we all know.”
Race One: Mascalzone Latino Audi def. Artemis, 00:11
Trailing all the first leg after losing the start, Gavin Brady and Mascalzone Latino Audi, rode a big right wind shift into the lead as they closed the top mark. Paul Cayard’s Swedish Artemis took the fight back to the Italians on the first run, pressing bow to stern into the gate, but ML Audi overcame a messy chute takedown to lead the rest of the way.
“It was a split breeze up there,” said Cayard who had benefitted from left shifts throughout the beat. “He had a lot more rightie than we did. It’s hard to do two tacks in 25 seconds in these boats so you’ve got to live it out. We’ve been living and dying by the shifts all week.
All the teams have and so far it’s worked good for us but, you know, we lost one.”
Race Two: Azzurra def. Emirates Team New Zealand, 00:18
The host team sailed a brilliant first leg, winning the start and controlling Italy’s Azzurra through a punishing 18-tack duel on the 1.3-mile leg that took both boats above the mark.
Emirates Team New Zealand tactician Ray Davies had the scenario planned as they got closer. “We’re gonna park it up here,” he said.
Park it they did, and in the subsequent head to wind luffing match the Italians were penalized for failing to keep clear. Emirates led around the top mark by 21 seconds but Azzurra came at them again. Francesco Bruni tacked hard around the leeward mark and got out to the left of Kiwi skipper Dean Barker and into an advantageous left shift that put him ahead.
Closing the weather mark, Bruni had a 200 metre lead and the margin for a 360 degree turn that cancelled his penalty. The Italians still led by 26 seconds at the top mark and were never seriously threatened.
Race Three: Artemis def. Mascalzone Latino, 00:21
Pushed over the line early by Hutchinson on Artemis, Brady was forced to restart and trailed by nearly five boat lengths just minutes after the start. Hutchinson had pounced with just 30 seconds remaining in the pre-start.
Both boats were leading in on parallel starboard tack courses with plenty of separation when Artemis bore off and hooked under ML Audi pushing them up and over the line. Hutchinson hit the line at the gun, with speed, while Brady went back.
Artemis was out to a five boat-length lead and never surrendered it.
Race Four: Mascalzone Latino def Artemis, 00:24
It was pay-back time for Brady in this pre-start. Thirty seconds before the gun, he risked a close quarter tack on port, before tacking back onto starboard and squeezing Hutchinson above the starboard layline. Artemis tacked away and the umpires flew a blue penalty flag for failing to keep clear. From out to the right of the committee boat, Mascalzone Latino Audi led back in, a boat length and a half clear ahead and with the penalty advantage.
On the run, a gybe set by Artemis put her on the right side of the course downwind and Hutchinson drew level, only for Brady to again hold him out above the leeward mark. Artemis got to the mark with a 270 deg. turn that negated the penalty but the third mark delta was 34 seconds and ML Audi had her berth in the finals.
Race Five: Emirates Team New Zealand def. Azzurra, 00:01
Saddled with a penalty before the start and facing elimination from the series, the host team sailed out to a 135 metre lead over four legs and nailed a heart-stopping victory by one second as they completed a turn to offset it.
After a relatively sedate dialup, Azzurra ran off deep into the start box on port and as she rounded up, Emirates Team New Zealand turned inside her with protest flag flying. It was green flagged. Azzurra bore off, Emirates turned to follow and her bow touched the safety wand on Azzurra’s stern.
The umpire’s flag went up. Beginning the beat, the Kiwi boat crossed ahead of the Italians on port with about eight metres clearance and then slowly extended over the following legs.

The pendulum effect Jules Verne Trophy

2010-03-18T21:21:00.002+02:00

In the disturbed air flow spread all over the Atlantic, Groupama 3 carries on its rapid progress towards the finish line and substantially increases its lead over the reference time. The arrival at the Créac'h's lighthouse is still scheduled for Saturday, but the time frame remains open all day as the low pressure area could slow down the giant trimaran.
If the departure's weather window was narrow, the gates of arrival are now wide open! But 1 500 miles away from Ushant, Franck Cammas and his men are not done yet with changing conditions: by having to approach the center of low pressure which is currently pushing the giant trimaran, the wind will become more unstable and should suddenly change from South-West to North-West. The wind will also strengthen to over thirty knots with gusts in the squalls and the crew will therefore have many maneuvers to undertake until the entry of the Gulf of Biscay.
Groupama 3's log (departure on 31st January at 13h 55' 53'' UTC)
...
Day 41 (13th March 1400 UTC): 503 miles (deficit = 483 miles)
Day 42 (14th March 1400 UTC): 445 miles (deficit = 403 miles)
Day 43 (15th March 1400 UTC): 482 miles (deficit = 216 miles)
Day 44 (16th March 1400 UTC): 401 miles (lead = 72 miles)
Day 45 (17th March 1400 UTC): 441 miles (lead = 412 miles)
Day 46 (18th March 1300 UTC): 579 miles (lead = 828 miles)
Find all the latest about the Groupama trimarans on: www.cammas-groupama.com

Louis Vuitton Trophy-Auckland by Paul Cayard

2010-03-18T19:25:00.003+02:00

Artemis moves into the Semi-Finals Another good win for Artemis today over the Brits on TeamOrigin. It was another tight race in tricky conditions.
Winds were 12-14 knots from the Southwest. We were on hold for two hours as the winds were absent at 1000 this morning.

The race committee informed the competitors that the best of three quarter final was reduced to sudden death as there would not be time to run 6 matches which would have been required had both quarter final matches gone the full three races.
At 1330, conditions were acceptable and the heat was on....win and go forward...lose and go home.
We wanted tight left but Ben Ainsle did a nice job in the prestart and had that spot occupied. He was in a bit of trouble as the wind went even further left in the last 30 seconds prior to the start. Terry Hutchinson was quick to take the race back at them and that got us out of phase and a tacking duel ensued. We kept it close up the first windward leg and trailed by two boat lengths at the top.
My strategy was to keep it close and not do anything that had low probability of paying off.
Down the run, we gybed first on a nice shift and closed in to round the gate just one length behind. We rounded the same gate as the Brits which plays to their advantage but the other gate was surely out in more adverse current so again...keep it close.
Up the second windward leg we had to tack away first and TeamOrigin tacked on us the next time we came back. We were forced out toward the worse current but we were on a big left shift.
So we rode it out patiently and sure enough a righty filled in. When we met the next time we were just ahead crossing on starboard tack. Normally in this position, we should have tacked on them and kept to the right as this puts you on starboard tack right of way the next time the boats meet. And I have gotten burned in the first race we had with TeamOrigin two days ago by not following this strategy.
BUT, we were on a big lift as we crossed and it is also important to "stay in phase" with the wind. So I took the risk and played the odds which were in my favor. Fortunately, the wind cooperated and we crossed them the next time but just 1/2 a boat length but with much more speed and on lay line.
So we simply sailed with full speed around the mark while they were slow and had to tack to round. We stretched to three lengths ahead there and that was pretty much it. The made a desperate gybe away from us, we chose not to match them as we stretched into the stronger current, now favorable, and kept it simple...one gybe and in. We won the race by 30 seconds in the end. In the other quarter final race, the Italians from Azzurra beat All4One. At the draw tonight, Emirates Team New Zealand the top ranked semi finalist, got to pick their opponent and they chose Azzurra.
That means that we will meet the other Italian Team, Mascalzone Latino. Racing resumes tomorrow at 1000 and the forecast is for 12-16 knots from the Southwest again.
For LIVE streaming of the racing plus other features go to www.istioselida.com.
source: cayard website

MARTCH MATCH RACE 2010

2010-03-18T18:33:00.005+02:00

Τον πρώτο Αγώνα Match Race της χρονιάς είναι έτοιμη να πραγματοποιήσει η Ελληνική Κλάση Platu25 σε συνεργασία με τον Πανελλήνιο Όμιλο Ιστιοπλοΐας Ανοιχτής Θαλάσσης (ΠΟΙΑΘ) το Σαββατοκύριακο 20-21 Μαρτίου 2010.

Οι ομάδες που θα αγωνιστούν είναι 8, μια εκ των οποίων από την Κέρκυρα, και τα σκάφη που θα χρησιμοποιηθούν 4.
Μετά την Α’ Φάση του Πανελληνίου Πρωταθλήματος, το March Match Race είναι ένας πολύ καλός αγώνας προετοιμασία, για τους αθλητές των ομάδων των συναρπαστικών Ιστιοπλοϊκών Μονομαχιών.
photo credits Νίκος Αλευρομύτης
Μέσα στην χρονιά έχουν προγραμματιστεί 2 ακόμα Match Race.
Η επιτροπή αγώνων με την βοήθεια των καιρικών συνθηκών θα στήσει τον στίβο των αγώνων έξω από το Μικρολίμανο, πολύ κοντά στην στεριά, για να αποζημιώσει τους θεατές στην κερκίδα του μόλου.
Οι 8 ομάδες αναμένεται να προσφέρουν ένα μοναδικό θέαμα στους λάτρεις του αθλήματος, μονομαχώντας για τον τίτλο του νικητή.
Η πρώτη εκκίνηση είναι προγραμματισμένη για το Σάββατο 20/3 στις 11:00.
Περισσότερες πληροφορίες στο www.platu25.gr

Into the final four

2010-03-18T13:53:00.004+02:00

The Swedish team Artemis and the Italian Azzurra squad both won thrilling matches on Thursday at the Louis Vuitton Trophy - Auckland, to advance to the semi-finals and dispatch their opponents out of the regatta.
Artemis came from behind to beat Britain’s TEAMORIGIN while Azzurra landed a penalty on the German/French boat All4One and led all the way around the race course.

Each pair in this elimination round were slated to race a best-of-three series but flat calm conditions on the Waitemata Harbour forced a change of plans to sudden-death single races for both pairs.
Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio told the competitors in the morning that he’d institute a single-race policy if he couldn’t start racing by midday. A southerly breeze began to fill in soon after noon and the first race started at 13:40 The semi-finals on Friday will see Emirates Team New Zealand, top of the table at the end of the Round Robin, face Azzurra after ETNZ skipper Dean Barker selected the Italian team as his opponent.
That leaves Mascalzone Latino Audi Team against Artemis. The winner of each ‘first to two points’ series will advance to the final.
Barker said it was always tough choosing an opponent, but he went with Azzurra, the team who triumphed over the Kiwis in the final of the last Louis Vuitton Trophy event in Nice. “We know the guys well and maybe we will get a little bit of revenge hopefully for Nice. We always have good races against those guys,” he said.
Azzurra skipper Francesco Bruni said he was confident going up against the home team, who may have a perceived advantage in stronger breezes and their own boats – especially after Azzurra’s victory over All4One today.
“I think we sailed the boat very well today in difficult conditions. It was a very, very nice performance from the whole team. I think we are getting better in strong winds. We learn day by day; there is no secret that we would prefer lighter conditions for a match with Team New Zealand. But we are also happy to have a chance to race against them in their conditions and in their boats - we have nothing to lose.”
The Swedish Artemis team is rounding into form at the right time and enters the semi-finals with confidence. “We have won four in a row, and had two fantastic races with the British, which were pretty epic battles in the list of America’s Cup races I’ve been in. I think it’s good training for us in preparation going into the rest of the series.”
For his part, Mascalzone Latino Audi Team strategist Cameron Dunn is sure it will be a difficult match. “We feel we are improving with every race – we started slowly, but we’ve been chipping away and getting better as a team. We had a very good race with Artemis in the round robins, so we know we’re in for a tough battle.”
Race One: Artemis def. TEAMORIGIN, 00:38
Britain’s Ben Ainslie seized the start of this sudden death match with flair and defended his lead through the first half of the race and multiple protests only to hand the lead to Paul Cayard’s Artemis on the second weather leg.
The Swedish boat made the most of its advantaged starboard entry and pushed TEAMORIGIN below the port layline before the start. Hutchinson, steering Artemis, reported massive shifts in the 16-knot southerly and Ainslie would ride a big leftie into the lead. Pushed outside the left side of the line in the remaining pre-start seconds, he tacked onto port on a big shift and skinned across the bow of the starboard tack Swedish boat right after the gun. The umpires green-flagged the encounter but Hutchinson saw it differently. “Our bowman was saying, “We’re going to hit him! But that’s the game.”
A minute later TEAMORIGIN led by a boat length. Ainslie came back on starboard with a small lead and tacked inches to leeward of the approaching Artemis, who again appealed to the umpires, but to no avail. A big shift on the left kept Artemis in the game and she was only one and half boatlengths behind at the top mark, and trailing by only seven seconds through the leeward gate.
It was Ainslie’s race until several tacks into the leg he let Hutchinson get to the right in the oscillating shifts, with 400 metres separation. When they converged again, Artemis led by 46 metres. Artemis extended on the run with a damaged spinnaker and the foot tape reinforcing fluttering in the breeze. “What a brilliant job from all our crew, getting back into the race,” said Hutchinson.
“In hindsight, we didn’t do it right up the second beat,” conceded Mike Sanderson, who handles the runners on board. “But you know, we need to make sure we don’t kill the tiger as well. We have amazing talent at looking up the course and picking up shifts, and if we kill the tiger, we are going to be an ordinary talent.”
Race Two: Azzurra def All4One, 00:20
It was all but over before the start as the German/French boat steered by Sébastien Col was trapped by Azzurra skipper Francesco Bruni and penalised for failing to keep clear. As the boats turned up for the line, Azzurra was able to hook in to leeward of All4One and Bruni luffed his opponent, drawing the foul, with his aggressive tactics.
“I have been criticised during the round robin by my team for being too safe," he said afterwards. "Today I changed a little bit, but the optimum is probably in-between.”
Azzura went on to lead across the line clear ahead and luffed up momentarily to gain weather gauge. Still bow ahead and to weather, she took the German/French boat out to the exclusion zone on the left side of the course and maintained her lead through eight short tacks.
The margin was nine seconds at the mark. Col overtook to weather on the run but as they both overstood the layline for the leeward gate and went to douse their gennakers, the All4One gennaker went under the boat, spelling the end of her challenge to the Italians. All4One joins TEAMORIGIN on the sidelines.

FARR 40 FLEET HEADS TO CARIBBEAN WATERS FOR 2010 ROLEX FARR 40 WORLDS

2010-03-18T12:58:00.004+02:00

When the Farr 40s arrive in the Dominican Republic later next month, April 21-24, all eyes will be on the defending World Champion, Jim Richardson's Barking Mad (USA).
A three-time Rolex Farr 40 World Champion in 2009 (Porto Cervo), 2004 (San Francisco), and 1998 (Miami), Richardson will be back with most of his all-star crew, including tactician Terry Hutchinson, 2008 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in the USA.

The 2010 venue - the second time the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship has been hosted in the Caribbean - makes full use of the stunning 7,000 acre Casa de Campo Resort and Marina located on the southeast coast of the Dominican Republic. The Marina offers great access to sailing conditions the Caribbean is well known for: steady south-easterly breezes, turquoise waters and shirt-sleeve sailing.
Fleet upwind, Photo by: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo
Lining up Barking Mad in their sights, will be more than a few teams who have proven in the past that they are capable of winning not just races, but more importantly whole series: Helmut Jahn on Flash Gordon 6 (USA) with tactician Bill Hardesty, won the 2009 Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship and is fresh from winning the Farr 40 class at the 2010 Miami Grand Prix last week. Finishing 2nd in Miami, behind Flash Gordon, was Massimo Mezzaroma, on Nerone, with tactician Vasco Vascotto onboard. Nerone was the 2003 Rolex Farr 40 World Champion and 2009 European Champion.
Still other teams offer up a strong challenge, including Guido Belgiorno-Nettis on Transfusion (AUS), with tactician Tom Slingsby, who last week in Sydney won the 2010 Farr 40 Australian Championship for the second year in a row;
Wolfgang Schaefer on Struntje Light (GER); Doug Douglass on Goombay Smash (USA), with tactician Morgan Larson; Alex Roepers on Plenty (USA), with tactician Tony Rey; Alberto Rossi on Enfant Terrible (ITA); Lisa & Martin Hill on Estate Master (AUS), with tactician Hamish Pepper; and Alessandro Barnaba on Fiamma (ITA).
New to the Farr 40 fleet this past year is Nico Poons on Charisma (MON), who is the reigning Swan 45 World Champion.
Jim Richardson's BARKING MAD (USA), Photo by: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo
Richardson, defending World Champion and Farr 40 Class President said, "we are very much looking forward to the 2010 Rolex Farr 40 Worlds at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic. With 11 strong teams representing Italy, Germany, Australia, Monaco and the United States, we are expecting a highly competitive regatta. "Having scouted the venue personally, we are certain that the sailing conditions and ambience of this venue will be second to none. Great sailing, tropical weather and Casa de Campo, a spectacular five-star resort, make all the ingredients for a fantastic championship. We can't wait to get there next month!"
To date, the Farr 40 class is well represented with 11 entries from five countries. The fleet will warm up with two days of racing in the Rolex Farr 40 Pre-World Championships on Saturday, 17 April and Sunday, 18 April. The Rolex Farr 40 World Championship racing begins on Wednesday, 21 April and finishes on Saturday, 24 April.
Helmet Jahn's FLASH GORDON (USA) launched downwind
Photo by: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo
The Rolex Farr 40 World Championship is organised by the Casa de Campo Yacht Club and the Farr 40 Class Association. The racing will be held in the waters off La Romana, Dominican Republic. Racing will be led once again by Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio, with Henry Menin as Jury Chairman.
The Race Committee intends to conduct as many races as practicable on each scheduled day of racing, with up to a maximum of ten races for the series.
For more information about the 2010 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, including entry lists and media accreditation please visit www.farr40worlds.com.

Sanya, China, the Finish of Leg3 at Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12

2010-03-18T12:39:00.008+02:00

Sanya, the southernmost city on the golden coast of Hainan Province, China, has won the bid to host the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12.

Building on the success of the Qingdao stopover during the 2008-09 event, the resort city of Sanya will be the finish of leg three, which starts from Abu Dhabi.
As the 2011-12 route takes shape, the port of Sanya is now confirmed as the only stopover in Asia. Other ports on the course include the start in Alicante, where the Volvo Ocean Race now has its base, stopovers in Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Lisbon, Lorient and the finish in Galway.
The resort city of Sanya in Hainan, China, will be a stopover on the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race.
The entire route for this classic round the world race will be revealed by the end of March, when details on scoring, leg lengths and other details will be confirmed.
Speaking of the selection of Sanya as Asia’s only port of call, Mr Liu Gang, Deputy Director of the China Water Sports Administration Centre said, “The wonderful memories from the last edition of the race when it visited Qingdao remain fresh in our minds and I would like to congratulate Sanya for being chosen as the new stopover”.
The Vice Mayor of Sanya, Li Baiqing, echoed Mr Liu Gang’s comments and said, “Sanya is honoured to be the only stopover in Asia for the next race. The city will relish the chance to show its charm to the Volvo Ocean Race visitors from around the world”. He also confirmed that Hainan would showcase its achievements and development potential and try to capture the world’s attention during the event.
The resort city of Sanya in Hainan, China, will be a stopover on the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race.
“The race was held very successfully in Qingdao and has inspired a passion among many Chinese people. It is with great pleasure that we are able to confirm that China will once again be part of the route for 2011-12 and it will be an honour to take the event to Sanya,” commented Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad.
Sanya on the southern tip of Hainan, the only tropical island province in China, features golden sandy beaches and enjoys a good year-round climate. The Sanya Municipal Government will use the Volvo Ocean Race as part of its plans to develop the city into a top international tourism destination.
It already has an excellent transport system, which will be integral to the building of a new high-level marina.
source: vovlooceanrace.com

Racing the front Jules Verne Trophy

2010-03-18T03:01:00.003+02:00

The final charge towards Ushant began this Wednesday lunchtime as Groupama 3 gybed in a SW'ly wind of a little over twenty knots. Now without fear of being caught up in the calm conditions of an anticyclone, Franck Cammas and his men will still have to be on their guard all the way to the finish as the sea state deteriorates.

In the great round the world marathon, Groupama 3 is beginning the final sprint in a steady yet disturbed SW'ly wind. The current aim for Franck Cammas and his nine crew is to seek to position themselves ahead of a cold front, which should push them all the way to the finish off Ushant. However, the trajectory isn't likely to be direct, initially at least, as the giant trimaran is set to cover a little more ground to the North in order to totally extract herself from the high pressure of the Azores, before swooping on Brittany with the help of a few gybes.
Groupama 3's log (departure on 31st January at 13h 55' 53'' UTC)
...
Day 40 (12th March 1400 UTC): 288 miles (deficit = 473 miles)
Day 41 (13th March 1400 UTC): 503 miles (deficit = 483 miles)
Day 42 (14th March 1400 UTC): 445 miles (deficit = 403 miles)
Day 43 (15th March 1400 UTC): 482 miles (deficit = 216 miles)
Day 44 (16th March 1400 UTC): 401 miles (lead = 72 miles)
Day 45 (17th March 1400 UTC): 441 miles (lead = 412 miles)

Louis Vuitton Trophy - Auckland Day 8 by Paul Cayard

2010-03-17T19:20:00.006+02:00

Another good win for Artemis today over the Italians on Azzurra. No wild excitment like yesterday against the Brits, just steady control of the race, abeit in the upper wind range.

In fact we were on hold for 45 minutes as the wind had built to 25 knots at our scheduled start time. It came down to 20 knots and we were underway. It was still a race in which I felt keeping it simple would pay off. Our call for the start was "wide right" and we ended up with "tight right" which was still ok with me.
We hung on the hip of Azzurra for about 40 seconds while both boats rode out a lift on starboard tack. As that lift faded, and before we got weak, we tacked away onto a nice lift on port tack. Just as we finished building back up to full speed the wind faded back to the right and we tacked back onto starboard. Instantly, we were strong on Azzurra and from there on we just controlled them.
By tacking on them every time they came to the right, we forced them up against the exclusion zone on the left side of the course and carried a three length lead into the top mark. We kept it simple again down the run, one gybe and in to the right gate mark while the Italians attempted to go to the left gate and they had a few more issues than we did at the bottom mark.
From that point on things were pretty easy for us and we went into cruise for the remainder. In the other races, Origin beat All4One, Masclazone beat Aleph and Team New Zealand beat Synergy. So at this stage, Team New Zealand and Masclazone move straight to the semi final round as the top two winners and Synergy and Aleph go home as the bottom two teams.
The other four of us will race in two, two out of three series, to determine the other two semi finalists. Tonight we are having an "all teams" photo with the America's Cup which is on display here in Auckland, also signaling the America's Cup Defenders belief in the Louis Vuitton Trophy's importance in the road to the next America's Cup.
For LIVE streaming of the racing plus other features go to: www.istioselida.com
photos credits: Paul Todd/outsideimages.co.nz | Louis Vuitton Trophy, Auckland - New Zealand.

And then there were six!

2010-03-17T10:02:00.004+02:00

The Synergy Russian Sailing Team and ALEPH Sailing Team from France were eliminated from the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta today, leaving six international teams fighting for supremacy over the next four days.

Top seed Emirates Team New Zealand and second-ranked Mascalzone Latino Audi from Italy each won their races and went through to the semi-finals to be sailed on Friday.
Saved from sudden death by their ranking and/or their performance today, the other four teams were paired for best-of-three matches to be raced tomorrow.
Standing besides a glistening, flood-lit America's Cup in a formal ceremony at the Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum, third-seeded All4One skipper Jochen Schuemann chose to race Italy's Azzurra. Sweden’s Artemis will race Great Britain’s TEAMORIGIN.
Auckland’s harbour lived up to its name today. Waitemata means “sparkling waters” and whitecaps dappled the course in mostly bright sunshine and gusty, shifty southerly winds that ranged from 15 knots to 30 knots.
The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s race committee delayed racing three times waiting for squally weather to move through. Paul Cayard, skipper of Artemis and chairman of the World Sailing Teams Association that is a co-organizer of the event with Louis Vuitton, put it best.
“It’s a big breeze today and exciting for our fans and exciting for us,” he said. “It’s fantastic racing. We’re flirting with that threshold of tolerable winds and so far, so good, we’re dancing on the right side of it. We’re providing spectacular racing.”
ALEPH, the seventh seed, was eliminated in the third race of the day, beaten by Mascalzone Latino Audi. French skipper Bertrand Pacé was already planning for the next Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta in La Maddalena, Sardinia, but was quick to praise the boats and the organization in Auckland. “It was a fantastic regatta,” he said. “The wind was hard to sail, the boats were fantastic as well. We enjoy a lot sailing these boats. For us it was a great event. For sure I thank all the Kiwi organisers. I still love Auckland.
Even though Grant Dalton doesn’t like losing to the French!” Karol Jablonski, the veteran Polish match racer who skippers the Synergy Russian Sailing Team, was philosophical. “We are out, but we sailed a good race,” he said. Noting the crew’s lack of opportunity to practice, he added, “the crew work was coming along, but obviously in these tough conditions 22-23 knots with current against you, you need more hours on the water together. “We were just missing a little bit in every department, not only crew work, my timing, our trimming, our boat speed, our tactician, our calls where we go - it was everything. You know you’ve got to have a chain that doesn’t have a weak, weak, weak link. And we had some weak pieces. During the event, we got stronger, and I think today we showed quite good performance.”
Race One: Artemis def. Azzurra, 00:32
After a brisk circling duel the boats hardened up for the line on starboard with Artemis to weather. “We wanted the right. We’d have preferred more distance between the boats but we had enough gauge to live through the first shift,” Artemis skipper Paul Cayard said later. The right paid and Artemis forced the port tack Azzurra steered by Francesco Bruni away at the first cross. The boats were evenly matched in a series of quick tacks up the 1.3-mile weather leg but Artemis controlled, to lead by two lengths at the top mark. They forged down the run with big bow waves, touching 15 knots at times. Artemis extended at the leeward mark as Azzurra struggled to get the chute down.
Race Two: TEAMORIGIN def. All4One, 00:27
Faced with the possibility of elimination today, this was a must-win for sixth-seeded TEAMORIGIN, and Ben Ainslie and his crew rose to the occasion. They circled warily with the German/French boat steered by Sébastien Col. Both boats wanted the right but the British prevailed and hit the line at speed on starboard and to weather of All4One. They were bow to bow off the line but TEAMORIGIN held strong in the weather berth and edged ahead. After five minutes, as the trailing All4One came over on port, Ainslie had sufficient clearance to tack clear ahead directly in their path. “It was an early gain, and then they controlled the race,” said All4One skipper Jochen Schumann. “We will see if it gets a little lighter now - some of these teams are really strong in the heavy breeze, with good crew work and a lot of power.”
Race Three: Mascalzone Latino Audi def. ALEPH, 00:59
Faced with the threat of elimination, seventh seed French boat ALEPH entered the start box from the unfavored end. Mascalzone Latino Audi skipper Gavin Brady controlled his opponent Bertrand Pacé all through the pre-start, pushing him outside the starboard layline, then leading back to win the start. Pacé trailed by three boat lengths at the top mark and then gybe-set on a big left shift. Fate struck and his spinnaker exploded during the hoist. The race was Brady’s and the French were going home. “They chose a risky manoeuvre at the weather mark,” said ML Audi tactician Morgan Larson. “Had they not torn their spinnaker they probably would have been bow-even with us on the run.
Race Four: Emirates Team New Zealand def. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 00:15
With no wins in the regatta, Karol Jablonski’s Russian team had to win to survive for the next stage. They almost pulled it off but fell victim to uneven crew work. Emirate’s Dean Barker started at the committee end on starboard but he left just enough room to weather for Jablonski who squeezed through the gap before tacking off to port. The right paid and the Russians led at the top mark. The Kiwi spinnaker set was flawless but Jablonski’s crew, two boat lengths ahead, crumbled under the pressure as Barker sailed through their lee. The Russians made more unforced errors but they continued to play the right and were only 15 seconds astern at the finish. “Every race against ETNZ, is going to be a tough one for us, you’re racing against one of the best teams in the world,” Jablonski said. “That team has sailed together for a long, long time. In one match with them you learn a lot. You do a small mistake, and you lose.”

Breaking even Jules Verne Trophy

2010-03-17T01:55:00.003+02:00

On the 44th day at sea, Groupama 3 has made up the ground on Orange 2 very quickly and is now ahead of the reference time. However Franck Cammas and his men have yet to traverse a ridge of high pressure.

At that point the giant trimaran is bound to slow down in the lighter breeze, where it will be necessary to put in a gybe before hooking onto a low which will propel her as far as Brest.
Twenty-two days behind, twenty-two days in front! This round the world course, now less than 2,500 miles from completion, marks an important phase: the reversal of the trend.
Amassing a lead of up to 620 miles (6th day) and a 492 mile deficit (40th day) off Brazil, Groupama 3's progress has often been thwarted by rather unfavourable weather.
This Tuesday comes as a great relief then for all the crew aboard Groupama 3, who can now view the next stage of the programme in a slightly more relaxed manner and with more clarity, as the forecasts are encouraging for this Atlantic sprint.
"We have some good conditions, we're going fast and there's a great atmosphere on deck, but we're going to have a battle on our hands with the ridge of high pressure that's lying across our path.
Nevertheless, we can really smell home now! We've been waiting for this moment to get ahead again... At times recently, it's been possible to read a bit of doubt on our faces. However, our routing was right and we're beginning to make gains now.
We remain humble because we've still got a way to go yet and there may be some obstacles across our path, such as containers or the like...
Nevertheless, the strategy that's taking shape is giving the crew something to be enthusiastic about! In principle, we shouldn't be lacking in wind at the end and we're still envisaging a finish this weekend" indicated Jacques Caraës during the 1130 UTC radio session with Groupama's Race HQ in Paris.
Groupama 3's log (departure on 31st January at 13h 55' 53'' UTC)
...
Day 41 (13th March 1400 UTC): 503 miles (deficit = 483 miles)
Day 42 (14th March 1400 UTC): 445 miles (deficit = 403 miles)
Day 43 (15th March 1400 UTC): 482 miles (deficit = 216 miles)
Day 44 (16th March 1400 UTC): 401 miles (lead = 72 miles)
The record to beat
Currently held by Bruno Peyron on Orange 2 since 2005 with a time of 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes at an average of 17.89 knots.
Find all the latest about the Groupama trimarans on: www.cammas-groupama.com

A free team-building exercise!

2010-03-16T11:11:00.006+02:00

"That was a good team building exercise!" With those words Paul Cayard, skipper of the Swedish boat Artemis summed up their Louis Vuitton Trophy race today with Britain's TEAMORIGIN, one that was more akin to a bar brawl.
Packed with protest flags, incidents and flogging sails at three marks of a four-leg course, this close-fought duel went ultimately to Artemis and her helmsman Terry Hutchinson on a series of umpire calls.
Asked to explain all that happened, Cayard simply said: “We should have had to pay for that (team building), but luckily the Brits paid for it for us!”
Britain’s skipper Ben Ainslie had attempted to gybe across the Artemis bow coming into the finish, Cayard said. “But it gave us an opportunity to come in and start a bit of a war with them. Terry did a great job managing the war. And then we had a bit on down there with the kite and everybody just got into it and somehow we got the win!”
The race was one of seven packed into a long, incident-filled day of racing on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour that that passed without breakdown, or damage to boats, sails or sailors.
There was shifty breeze all day from 14 to 20 knots and ranging from the south to the southwest and Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio and his team miraculously squeezed in seven matches to complete the Round Robin.
Fortunes changed as TEAMORIGIN lost two races while Artemis won two. Gavin Brady, the Kiwi skipper of Mascalzone Latino Audi was also on a roll, winning two races, including one against his Italian competition Azzurra.
The racing completed the round robin, leaving Emirates Team New Zealand as the top seed, with a 6-1 record, Italy’s Mascalzone Latino Audi Team is second with 5-2.
Tomorrow the pairings for the first elimination round are:

4th seed Azzurra vs. 5th seed Artemis;
3rd seed All4One vs. 6th seed TEAMORIGIN;
2nd seed Mascalzone Latino Audi Team vs. 7th seed ALEPH;
1st seed Emirates Team New Zealand vs. 8th seed Synergy.

Artemis starred in the snapshot highlight of the day as their veteran Kiwi mid-bowman David Brooke was swept overboard by a flogging jib sheet but never even got his feet wet. As the sheet hit him in the back, Brooke grabbed it and swung out over the water to be grabbed by his crewmates on the return swing.
Race One:
Emirates Team New Zealand def. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 01:00 – Before the start, ETNZ’s Barker set up to the right of Karol Jablonski, on the Russian boat as they came up to the line on starboard but it was Jablonski who was bow out, and the Russians led as ETNZ tacked away. The breeze was 17 knots but shifty. Synergy, on port, led at the first cross, and pushed the Kiwis back to the right. The Russian boat led for the first two thirds of the leg but then Jablonski was slow to cover. Synergy sagged off on a big shift and the Kiwis were out of jail. Barker led around all marks, by as much as 1:53 at the second weather mark.
Race Two:
Azzurra def. ALEPH, 01:39 – Bertrand Pacé steering the French boat ALEPH bailed out after an initial dialup and was chased by Francesco Bruni of Italy’s Azzurra team. They came back to the line with ALEPH trailing. A victory here would keep the Italians in contention for the second seed. Bruni went for the pin end at speed while Pacé tacked away to the right. The Italian skipper covered up the first leg in puffy, shifty 10-15 knot conditions but Pacé tenaciously kept it close, rounding the top mark just 12 seconds behind. ALEPH failed to make any inroads on the run and then lost a full minute on the second beat as light, puffy conditions favoured the boat on the left side.
Race Three:
Artemis def. All4One, 00:22 – Sweden’s Artemis, with Paul Cayard as skipper and Terry Hutchinson on the wheel, seized control at the start, coming off the pin end into a big right-hand shift that boosted them to an early four boat length lead. The German/French boat All4One rounded the top mark four lengths astern but closed on the spinnaker run only lost ground getting the chute down and the jib up. Helmsman Sébastien Col sailed a good second beat and then made substantial gains on Artemis when favored by another big shift on the run to the finish but trailed by 22 seconds.
Race Four:
Mascalzone Latino Audi def. TEAMORIGIN, 00:06 - A mano-a-mano confrontation 1 min 40 sec before the start, with both boats stalled and backing down on port, ended badly for Ben Ainslie and Britain’s TEAMORIGIN when Gavin Brady, and ML Audi were green-flagged on a British protest call. Brady sailed away to start on starboard at the committee end while Ainslie trailed, three boat lengths in his wake. The Kiwi skipper of the Italian boat opened a 32 second lead at the top mark but Ainslie kept the pressure on, whittling the margin down at every mark, and closing at the end until they were overlapped. This was the closest race of the regatta.
Race Five:
Artemis def. TEAMORIGIN – TEAMORIGIN copped an initial penalty at the leeward mark, and cleared it, then got a flag against Artemis when Ainslie, on starboard, got inside the Swedish boat as it came into the top mark on port. On the run Ainslie led bow to stern but Hutchinson was on TEAMORIGIN’s port quarter and an attempt by Ainslie to gybe for the finish saw Artemis rounding up as she turned to keep clear and two flags against the British plus a red, signaling an immediate penalty turn. Game over.
Race Six:
Mascalzone Latino Audi def. Azzurra, 00:13 - In the battle of the Italian contenders, Gavin Brady, at the helm of ML Audi, hooked Azzurra on starboard before the start, forcing Francesco Bruni to split away on port. Racing was very even. Azzurra did a long board out to the port layline and led at the top mark by five seconds. Brady went on the attack on the run and a flurry of protests were green-flagged before he gybed away on port to sail through Bruni’s lee and round the bottom gate ahead. Bruni kept it close but the next two legs were Brady’s.
Race Seven:
All4One def. Synergy Russian Sailing Team – The German/French boat helmed by Frenchman Sébastien Col went into this race with the opportunity of a third seeding if they won and a sixth if they lost to the Russian boat skippered by Karol Jablonski. They earned a third seed, leading at every mark and winning by six boat lengths as the evening light faded on the Waitemata.
Provisional leaderboard after Flight Seven:
1. Emirates Team New Zealand, 6-1, 6 pts
2. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 5-2, 5 pts
=3. All4One, 4-3, 4 pts
=3. Azzurra, 4-3, 4 pts
=3. Artemis, 4-3, 4 pts
6. TEAMORIGIN, 3-4, 3 pts
7. ALEPH Sailing Team, 2-5, 1 pts *
8. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 0-7, 0 pts
* Penalty point deducted

¨Sailability¨ στο Αργοναυτικό Πάρκο στην Άφησσο του Πηλίου

2010-03-15T22:34:00.002+02:00

Ιστιοπλοϊκό Camp για νέους Αθλητές της ΠαραΟλυμπιακής κλάσης ¨Challenger¨ Υπό την αιγίδα του MSC διοργανωτή Ιστιοπλοϊκού Ομίλου του IFDS IMC 2007 Παγκοσμίου Πρωταθλήματος.
Το πρόγραμμα ιστιοπλοΐας για Νέους με αναπηρίες προωθείται ως Συνολικό πρόγραμμα για την οικογένεια που έχει ΑμέΑ μέλη. Εισαγωγή στην Αγωνιστική ιστιοπλοΐα, στην Ενεργητική Αναψυχή και τον Αθλητισμό.
Το πρόγραμμα Challenge 2010 είναι εστιασμένο στη δημιουργία αθλητικών ομάδων. Αναφέρεται σε 10μελής ομάδες Αμέα ανά εβδομάδα, τους συνοδούς και τις οικογένειές τους. (Περιλαμβάνεται πλήρες πρόγραμμα Διαμονής και Διατροφής).
Στην ασφαλή και Προσπελάσιμη εγκατάσταση του Αργοναυτικού Πάρκου στην Άφησσο του Πηλίου, υπάρχει ο μοναδικός στην Ελλάδα ειδικός στόλος ώστε να γίνεται ισοδύναμη εκμάθηση και δραστηριότητα στη θάλασσα με δεκατέσσερα ειδικά τριμαράν σκάφη (Μηδενίζουμε τις παραμέτρους εγκάρσιας και διαμήκους ισορροπίας Balance & Trim). Ένα πλήρες σύστημα προσομοιωμένης εκπαίδευσης (Δεκαπέντε Θέσεις Η/Υ) Προσομοίωση Ανέμου και Τηλεκατευθυνόμενα μοντέλα απόλυτης προσομοίωσης επιτρέπουν στους επισκέπτες μας πρώτα να γίνονται Ιστιοπλόοι και μετά να μπαίνουν στο νερό.
Το πλήρες πρόγραμμα εκπαίδευσης ακολουθεί τις οδηγίες της IFDS (Ημερίδα 07) και περιλαμβάνει επίσης εξετάσεις, VDWS πτυχίο Ιστιοπλοΐας, και αγώνα Ιστιοπλοΐας για όσους συμπληρώσουν τον αντίστοιχο κύκλο. Οικογένεια και συνοδοί εκπαιδεύονται στο πρόγραμμα Sailing η Family ανάλογα με το βαθμό εμπλοκής που επιθυμούν. Στο πρόγραμμα συμμετέχουν και ιστιοπλόοι Αμεα από τη Γερμανία.
Περισσότερες πληροφορίες θα αποσταλούν σε όσους εκδηλώσουν ενδιαφέρων μέσω Face book.

Alinghi in Volvo Ocean Race 2011?

2010-03-15T12:17:00.006+02:00

Ο Bertarelli ετοιμάζεται να γυρίσει την πλάτη του στο America's Cup και ψάχνει νέους στόχους προκειμένου να κρατήσει ζωντανή την ομάδα του.
Μια είσοδος στο επόμενο Volvo Ocean Race είναι πολύ πιθανή ή τουλάχιστον είναι θέμα προς συζήτηση για τις κινήσεις της ιστιοπλοϊκής του ομάδας Alinghi.
Εαν γίνει πραγματικότητα αυτό το σενάριο τότε ο Brad Butterworth θα είναι πάλι το δεξί χέρι του Bertarelli. O Brad έχει τρέξει, μαζί με τον Peter Blake με το 'Steinlager 2', σαν watch leader, κερδίζοντας όλα τα σκέλη στο Whitbread του 1989/90. Επίσης συμμετείχε στον αγώνα του γύρου του κόσμου και τέσσερα χρόνια αργότερα ήταν συγκυβερνήτης με τον Dennis Conner στο 'Winston'.
Σε συνέντευξη στο Volvo web site, ο Butterworth είπε: "Το Volvo 70 είναι ότι κάθε ιστιοπλόος θέλει, δυναμικά σκάφη, ολοκληρωμένο πρόγραμμα και οργάνωση, και μερικούς από τους καλύτερους ιστιοπλόους."
Φήμες θέλουνε τον Bertarelli να έχει και ένα χρέος απέναντι στα Εμιράτα, μιας και επενδύθηκαν πολλά χρήματα προκειμένου να γίνει το 33ο AC στο Ras al Khaimah και φυσικά δεν έγινε.
Λέτε να δούμε το Alinghi να φτιάχνει νέο Volvo 70 και να συμμετέχει στο επόμενο VOR; Ίσως να είναι και ένας τρόπος να εκμεταλλευτεί την επένδυση που έχει γίνει στα Εμιράτα.

9 χρυσά η Ελλάδα στο Athens Eurolymp 2010!

2010-03-15T11:45:00.004+02:00

Εχτές Κυριακή 14 Μαρτίου διεξήχθησαν οι τελικοί αγώνες μεταλλίων στους 10 πρώτους στις κατηγορίες που συμπλήρωναν πάνω από 10 συμμετοχές και ιστιοδρομίες σε όλες τις κατηγορίες. Η διεύθυνση ανέμου ήταν από τις 325 και η ένταση ανέμου δεν ξεπερνούσε τα 14 μίλια.

Η Ελλάδα κατέκτησε συνολικά 9 χρυσά, 6 ασημένια και 8 χάλκινα μετάλλια. Από τις υπόλοιπες ευρωπαϊκές χώρες η Κροατία πήρε δύο χρυσά στην κατηγορία 470 ανδρών και γυναικών, η Τουρκία κέρδισε 2 ασημένια και 1 χάλκινο, η Ολλανδία πήρε 1 ασημένιο και ένα χάλκινο, η Ιταλία 1 ασημένιο και ένα χάλκινο και τέλος η Κύπρος κατέκτησε ένα ασημένιο.
Η τελική κατάταξη των αθλητών ανά Ολυμπιακή κατηγορία είναι η παρακάτω:
Τελικά αποτελέσματα FINN:

Μιτάκης Ιωάννης
Muslubas Akif (Τουρκία)
∆ραγούτσης Αλέξανδρος

Τελικά αποτελέσματα STAR:

Παπαθανασίου Αιμίλιος – Παπαστεφάνου Παχώμιος
Τσουλφάς Θεόδωρος – Γεωργάς Ιωάννης
∆ρίτσας Σταύρος – Στυλιανός Γιώργος

Τελικά αποτελέσματα 49er:

∆ήμου ∆ιονύσης – Πατενιώτης Μιχάλης
Σωτηρίου Στέλιος – Παναγιωτίδης Αλφόνσο
Νούτσος Στέλιος – Μπενάκης ∆ημήτρης

Τελικά αποτελέσματα RS:X ανδρών:

Κοκκαλάνης Βύρων
Καριόλου Ανδρέας (Κύπρος)
Φράγκος Γιώργος

Τελικά αποτελέσματα RS:X γυναικών

Σκαρλάτου Αγγελική
Αντωνάτου Χαραλαμπία
Καραγιώργου Ευαγγελία

Τελικά αποτελέσματα 470 ανδρών:

Sime Fantela – Marenic Igor (CRO)
Βασιλάς Γιώργος – Παπαδόπουλος Ανδρέας
Μάντης Παναγιώτης – Καγιαλής Παύλος

Τελικά αποτελέσματα 470 γυναικών :

Enia Nincevic – Romana Zupan (CRO)
Κραβαριώτη Βιργινία – Τσιγαρίδη Όλγα
∆ανέζη Αλτάνη – Στρατηγίου Αλίνα

Τελικά αποτελέσματα Laser Rdl:

Αγραφιώτη Άννα
Βλάχου Μαρία
Donertas Cagla (TUR)

Τελικά αποτελέσματα Laser Std:

Χειμώνας Βαγγέλης
Bilgen Onur (TUR)
Μιχαήλ Άρης

Τελικά αποτελέσματα 2.4mR:

∆εληκούρας Γιώργος
Anoni Carlo (ΙΤΑ)
Ciavatta Niko (ΙΤΑ)

Τελικά αποτελέσματα Match Race:

Μπεκατώρου Σοφία
Mulder Mandy (NED)
Groenveld Renee (NED)

photos credits: D. Koumaras (sailingphoto.gr)

Black clouds alter Louis Vuitton Trophy complexion

2010-03-15T11:04:00.007+02:00

Menacing black clouds hung over the Waitemata Harbour at the start of day six of racing at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta today and settled over host team Emirates Team New Zealand while allowing a ray of sunshine for the struggling French sailing team.

Strong and gusty sou-west winds forced a cancellation to the day’s competition but not before previously unbeaten Emirates went down in defeat to France’s seventh-placed ALEPH.Milder weather is expected tomorrow and racing will resume with flight seven, the last of the round robin. With an earlier start scheduled, the remaining matches of today’s abandoned flight six will be squeezed into the schedule tomorrow, or on subsequent days.
Four teams crowding the top of the points table were slated to square off today. Britain’s TEAMORIGIN, placed second-equal, was circling in the start box against Sweden’s third-placed Artemis with just two minutes to the start when the race committee signaled a postponement.
The Italian teams Azzurra and Mascalzone Latino, each placed second-equal, were waiting in the wings for the third race of the day.
The Synergy Russian Sailing Team, winless in Auckland despite a good race record in Nice last November, was scheduled to race the German/French All4One, which is the other team in second-equal place.
After sending the race boats back to the dock, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron race committee, headed by American Principal Race Officer Peter "Luigi" Reggio, remained on station monitoring the weather conditions until 5:00pm before cancelling for the day.
Emirates weather man Roger “Clouds” Badham had cautioned this morning that early strong winds would gust over acceptable limits later in the day and curtail racing but the first match started without incident in 19-20 knots from the sou-west with gusts to 23.
The race featured two old team mates, each with a good read on the foibles of the other. In 2003 before the America’s Cup in Auckland, Emirates Team New Zealand’s skipper Dean Barker trained with ALEPH’s skipper Bertrand Pacé as the B-Boat helmsman. Later Pacé was Barker’s tactician.
At the five-minute gun Barker led deep into the start box, pursued closely by Pacé through a series of circles, before they broke away and lined up to start on starboard with the French boat to leeward and bow out. Barker, who wanted the right, got it, but was forced to tack away into an unfavorable shift.
The Frenchman led by two boat lengths at the first cross and continued to extend. “We wanted to play the shifts but we had to be patient,” Pacé said. Emirates strategist Adam Beashel said afterwards “it was one of the worst races we’ve sailed in a long time.”
Beashel explained: “We were on the wrong side of the first two shifts of the first beat. ALEPH did a great job sticking to their game plan and staying in the left and doing well out of that and putting a bit a pressure on us. Then, unfortunately in our gybe-set hoist, we had a little tear in the chute. It was touch and go whether it would hold.
“Just a minute or two later it was a bit too big and the whole thing blew out and there was a little bit of a hiccup too with the pole and that ended up in the water.”
Observers rated it as a moderate to major hiccup. Emirates bowman Stuart Bettany went overboard too and joined the pole in the water as the firedrill on deck intensified. Extra crew rushed forward to retrieve Bettany, while others restrained the pole, which was still secured to the mast, to stop it sweeping aft and becoming the fourth snapped pole of the series.
Prevented by the tangle from hoisting a second spinnaker, the Kiwi team finished the run under jib and then began to steadily close with the French boat over the remaining two legs. “We fortunately picked up a little on the second beat on some shifts to the right of them, and we were able to put a bit of pressure back on, but they just made it pretty simple down the last run.”
Race One:
ALEPH def. Emirates Team New Zealand, 00:38 – The day belonged to Pacé as he took the fight to his former sparring partner. Barker fought for the right side and got it, helped no doubt because Pacé wanted the left. After multiple circling duels they broke away and came to the line on starboard, with ETNZ in the weather berth. The French boat was bow forward and Barker was quick to tack away. The Kiwis trailed into the mark on port, five boat lengths astern. Disaster struck as they trimmed their spinnaker to chase the French. The clew exploded out of the chute, taking metres of sail cloth with it and the Kiwis were forced to dump the halyard and jettison the sail, leaving their chase boat to pick up the debris. They lost about 100 metres, finishing the first run under jib and then clawed back distance on the remaining two legs to finish a very respectable 38 seconds astern.
Provisional leaderboard after Flight Six (partial):
1. Emirates Team New Zealand, 5-1, 5 pts
=2. All4One, 3-2, 3 pts
=2. Azzurra, 3-2, 3 pts
=2. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 3-2, 3 pts
=2. TEAMORIGIN, 3-2, 3 pts
6. Artemis, 2-3, 2 pts
7. ALEPH Sailing Team, 2-4, 1 pts *
8. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 0-5, 0 pts
* Penalty point deducted

Abu Dhabi made it as a Volvo Ocean Race stopover

2010-03-15T10:58:00.002+02:00

An agreement signed in the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi, today will see the Arabian Gulf’s emerging marine leisure hub become a host port for the 2010-12 race.

A racing team from Abu Dhabi will also take its place on the start line of the race in Alicante, Spain in the autumn of next year.

The remaining host ports will be revealed throughout March.