OSTAR Competiors (Photo Courtesy of OSTAR 2009 uk)
| WILL HE OR WON’T HE? |
| While the Race Committee speculate as to whether Rubicon (Peter Bourke) will arrive in Newport before their departure on Tuesday, Peter reports that he has some wind but it does not look like a Tuesday Arrival. |
OSTAR 2009 FINISHING TIMES
all times in UT
Name Skipper Class Finished at Elapsed Time Corrected Time
ELMARLEEN Will Sayer E 17-Jun 13:00 23 01:30:00 19 22:46:39
TAMARIND Mervyn Wheatley J 16-Jun 17:17 22 05:47:00 20 10:00:47
JBELLINO Rob Craigie PD 13-Jun 11:40 19 00:10:00 20 13:34:20
BRITISH Marco Nannini J 16-Jun 11:14 21 23:44:30 20 16:04:37
DINAH Barry Hurley GM 15-Jun 10:05 20 22:35:00 21 06:37:28
KING OF SHAVES Oscar Mead GM 15-Jun 12:37 21 01:07:00 21 07:10:40
PURE SOLO Hannah White PD 14-Jun 11:52 20 00:22:00 21 15:16:34
LA PROMESSE Jan Kees Lampe PD 12-Jun 05:10 17 17:40:00 21 15:18:48
DE FRANSCHM Bart Boosman J 17-Jun 08:34 22 21:04:30 21 18:10:13
OLBIA Christian Chalandre E 18-Jun 20:36 24 09:06:00 21 21:25:11
JAGER Dick Koopmans J 16-Jun 16:05 22 04:35:00 21 21:39:35
FANFAN! Uwe Rottgering GM 16-Jun 10:12 21 22:42:00 22 06:36:01
VIJAYA Huib Swets GM 16-Jun 11:57 22 00:27:30 22 07:19:41
SPINNING WHEEL Roberto Westerman PD 13-Jun 14:44 19 03:14:00 23 09:10:59
QII Jerry Freeman PD 15-Jun 14:19 21 02:49:00 23 16:08:29
CAZENOVE CAPITAL Pip GM 18-Jun 04:35 23 17:05:00 23 17:39:08
BLUQUBE Katie Miller PD 16-Jun 06:33 21 19:03:00 23 19:10:14
BANJAARD John Falla J 19-Jun 06:25 24 18:55:00 23 20:54:17
FLAMINGO LADY Michael Collin E 21-Jun 17:01 27 05:31:00 24 10:51:28
IN DIREZIONE OSTINATA E Luca Zoccoli P 15-Jun 10:09 20 22:39:35 26 11:51:52
SUOMI KUDU Peter Crowther J 23-Jun 13:45 29 02:15:00 27 07:39:24
JEMIMA NICHOLAS Andrew Petty J 23-Jun 03:37 28 16:07:00 27 13:58:05
Taramrind (Photo Courtesy of OSTAR 2009 UK)
| THE FINAL CHAPTER OF A CORINTHIAN STORY |
| It was a long night for Will Sayer (Elmarleen). With the night glow of Newport so tantalisingly close he was stuck in a hole with no wind. This was the final page of the final chapter of Will’s Corinthian dream. A project that started in 2001 when Will bought the dilapidated Sigma 33 now known as ‘Elmarleen‘. A boat, Will says, that he would not have sailed out of Cowes at that time, she was in such a poorly state. Will stripped her, he ripped her apart then lovingly rebuilt her. And now she has withstood the rigours of a Transatlantic Race.When Elmarleen crossed the finish line at 0900 EDT today she was overall IRC winner on handicap of OSTAR 2009. Quite an achievement for boat and skipper. A first time venture across the Atlantic for Elmarleen and Will’s first attempt at single handed racing. Will thinks the race was not as hard as he had expected. Conditions in the North Atlantic were atypical for the time of year, permitting sustained periods of steady downwind sailing in this traditionally upwind race. But the race was not without its difficulties. Gear failure: a lower shroud gave way on the second night out, could have finished his race but Will is pleased to tell us that his ‘cobbled repair’ withstood a further 3000 miles at sea. When Tamarind (Mervyn Wheatley) crossed the line in Newport at 1317 EDT today she was fourteenth over the line, second overall on corrected time and first in IRC Class 3 on corrected time. This may sound rather technical, but in OSTAR 2009 Mervyn was defending his 2005 OSTAR titles - IRC Class Title and Overall Winner on IRC handicap. The ever immaculate Mr Wheatley stepped ashore and commented that his 13th Atlantic crossing was very comfortable and went pretty much according to his Royal Marine precision planning. Mervyn went on to say that only two fish, presented themselves on his deck, but sadly they were too small to eat,so the ballast of jumbo peanuts was continually plundered.
|
Oscar Mead (Photo courtesy of Ostar 2009)
18 year old completes 2009 OSTAR and becomes the youngest ever finisher in this classic race
When he started the 3000 mile OSTAR as the youngest ever competitor 21 days ago, Oscar Mead had already set his goal out as being the youngest ever finisher. In his own words, “It doesn’t mean anything to be the youngest ever starter, that’s do-able, racing the Atlantic , and finishing, that’s harder!”
After 21 days of racing Oscar has just completed the race goal and set a record as the youngest ever finisher in the Original Singlehanded Transatlantic race. He sailed closest to the rhumb line of all competitors, battling through the ice fields of Newfoundland and led the Gypsy Moth class for most of the race. In a titanic struggle with Irishman Barry Hurley, he just lost out by 2.5 hours on the water and by just 30 minutes on handicap.
Oscar has been sailing since he was 8, he grew up in Hong Kong but sailing videos of Ellen Macarthur going round the world, combined with his innate desire to tinker led him to building models of what “his” Open 60 would look like.
From there it was a one way trip towards bigger boats and longer courses. His lucky break was a chance to sail the China Sea Race with Hong Kong sailor, Frank Pong, on Pong’s RP76 “Jelik”. Oscar ended up doing the 600 mile China Sea Race and the follow up inshore series on with “Jelik”, which by his own admission was a great introduction to big boat racing, As Oscar said “what’s not to like about sailing at 20 knots with the spinnaker up on a 76 footer in the sunshine!”
Oscar then managed to persuade his father that they ought to try 2-handed racing together and a J105 was acquired in early 2008. The two Mead’s then sailed the Royal Southampton 2-handed series, winning 5 of 7 starts over the season and totally dominating Class 1.
By mid summer Oscar was desperate to go singlehanded so he entered the Petite Bateau Channel Week, 7 days of racing across the Chanel and back in which he was “Top Rookie”. He only turned 18 the week before the series started to even be eligible to enter. After that he set his goal of sailing the OSTAR and did his 500 mile solo qualifier in late summer 2008.
In an appropriate weather window he was off, he completed his 500 mile solo sail out into the Irish Sea and back in 98 hours. Today, 9 months later, he has completed the challenge. In between time he did most of the work on upgrading his J105 himself, what he didn’t do he managed himself, and he found a sponsor in “King of Shaves”, a UK based men’s shaver company. Finishing means the end of 3 weeks at sea and the achievement of the goal.
Jankees Lampe at OSTAR Finish (Photo by Leighton O'Conner)
When La Promese, skippered by Jan Kees Lampe took line honours this morning, setting a new record for the 40ft class, many will believe the race to be over. Jan has earned a unique place in sailing history as the thirteenth winner of the OSTAR, joining eleven other names on the winners roll. Jan and his Open 40 became the favourite when both multihulls retired followed by Okami who was leading at the time. However the battle for the prize on corrected time continues.
Rob Craigie on Jbellino is likely to be the second boat home probably sometime late on Saturday evening. When he crosses the line he will become the leader on corrected time. Whether he is beaten will depend on the weather he experiences in the next 36 hours and how fast he can keep moving and what the chasing pack then experiences.
Jbellino will experience winds of 15 to 20 knots from the SSW which will help power him towards the line, but as the sun sets, the wind is going to head them and lighten. Early tomorrow morning Jbellino may be sitting in her patch of calm. It shouldn’t last long and Roberto Westerman (Spinning Wheel) is unlikely to catch Rob, but this is sailing.
Meanwhile the chasing pack is unlikely to experience any calm patches and apart from a brief spell of headwinds the next three days will see them experiencing 10 to 15 knots of winds of reaching conditions. So close to home it may be a question of who can put up the most sail area and not break anything.
However the deciding factor in all this may be the forecast for Monday evening and Tuesday morning. There is a low that is forecast to pass over the Chesapeake Bay area bringing average wind speeds in excess of 30 knots. This could hinder but might help a smaller boat to the prize for the winner on corrected time.
Four days is a long time, but keep your eye on Will Sayer (Elmarleen) and Marco Nannini (British Beagle) and remember that every skipper who completes the OSTAR is a winner.
- OSTAR Start (Photo by Colin Merry)
Newport is eagerly anticipating the arrival of the winner of OSTAR 2009. At the 1200UT tracker report this morning,, Dutchman JanKes Lampe, had 201 miles left to reach the finish line and was steaming along at 8.6 Knots giving an ETA of sometime on Thursday afternoon.
JanKes has a comfortable lead of some 250 miles and has favourable winds to sweep him into the finish line which is located at the entrance to Newport and is between Castle Hill Light and Kettle Bottom Rock Buoy. He will be met by the OSTAR Race Office Team in a rib, plus many other spectator boats filled with sailing enthusiasts from the Newport sailing community.
Providing there are no hitches for La Promesse between now and the finish line,JanKes threatens to score a number of notable records.
He will be the first Dutchman to win OSTAR.
He will in all probability beat the record for the 40ft class by a considerable margin.
He will be the first mono hull to win since Eric Tabarly’s famous victory in 1976.
On corrected time however Rob Craigie in Jbellino is currently holding his own in IRC 1 with La Promesse lying in second place. The first four into Newport currently look like being La Promesse, Jbellino, Italian Roberto Westerman on Spinning Wheel and the first lady to finish looks like being Hannah White in Pure Solo. However the following trio have over 450 miles to go and anything can happen during this time. It’s not over until it’s over!
Rob Cumming on Egotripp (Photo Courtesy of OSTAR 2009.co.uk)
The OSTAR Race office has reported the Egotripp, skippered by 19 year old
At 1530 today 1st June Rob Cumming notified the Race Office of his retirement from the race.
The 19 year old from Plymouth fought a gallant battle, against all odds, to get his boat ready for the start a week ago.
He set off with high hopes but the harsh conditions experienced during the first three days of the race soon began to show up the lack of time to get the boat fully prepared for an Atlantic crossing. Engine problems and power failure combined with a torn mainsail gave him little option but to return to shore to sort out these problems. On the way back to Falmouth Rob lost the use of both his auto pilots and had to hand steer for more than 24 hours. On further inspection in Falmouth he discovered the packing under the mast foot had shifted. He arrived in Plymouth today to try and sort the mast problem and to get his auto pilots repaired. The inevitable delay in getting this work done and the fact that the leading boat is now almost halfway to Newport finally decided the skipper to announce his retirement.
Rob Cumming has impressed us with his determination and sensible attitude and we hope that he will come back in four years time to have another go.
OSTAR Fleet near start (Photo by Colin Merry)
The Atlantic continues to thin the OSTAR fleet with some skippers retiring altogether and others returning to port and to assess weather they can return to the race.
Jonathan Snodgrass (Lexia) has returned safely to Plymouth and has retired from the race. He was in good spirits this morning having had a good nights sleep and said he was now feeling hungry which is a good sign.
Reini Gelder (Light for the World) has reached the Isles of Scilly and is on a mooring in St Mary’s Pool. In his own words he is going to “ do emergency repairs to his rigging, visit the island, sleep and then proceed towards Lorient in the next few days”. Good luck Reini and have a safe passage.
Pip Hildesley (Cazenove Capital) is making good progress back to Cork where she has arranged to have new lower shrouds waiting for her. Her ETA is 0500 30/5/09. She intends to then rejoin the race.
Rob Cummings is on his way back to Falmouth at about 7 knots; but is still having engine problems. An alternative to Falmouth might be Newlyn. His current intention is to carry out repairs and rejoin the race.
Paul Brant (Ninjod). I spoke to Paul on the Iridium at 1610 today. He says he is heading for Cork where he will have a rest and take stock before deciding what to do. He says he has water ballast problems as well as no foul weather gear. It meant that to continue he had to be in the cockpit dumping the main and with no protective clothing he got very cold and decided he had no alternative but to return.
Anne Caseneuve At the OSTAR Start (Photo by Colin Merry)
The Atlantic is taking it’s toll on the OSTAR fleet right from the start as Anne Caseneuve and Reini Gelder both have to retire and return to port.
In an email sent to the Race Office at 0700, Anne Caseneuve has informed us that she has unfortunately had to retire from the race and is returning east. We have no further information at this stage.
The retirement of the only two trimarans in the race leaves the Line Honours Prize of winning OSTAR 2009 to a mono hull. So now the battle to Newport is really on. The retirement of the two tris emphasises the toughness of the OSTAR and shows that anyone who finishes is a winner. The first three days of this race have lived up to the reputation of the race as being one of the toughest in the world. The fact that most of the competitors are not professional sailors adds to the special ethos of the race.
This follows yesterday’s news:
Reini Gelder Retires
The OSTAR race office has received an email from Reini Gelder, sailing on the trimaran ‘Light for the World’, to say that at 1200 UTC his starboard top diamond broke with a loud bang. He saved the rig by immediately tacking. He is now running under staysail and 3 reefs in the main towards Lorient, France. He says it has been a fantastic 48 hours of racing but unfortunately it is now over for him.
