Francis Joyon on on the maxi trimaran IDEC II shatters the North Atlantic Record in an amazing  5 days, 2 hours, 56 minutes and 10 seconds.  That is 16 hours, 24 minutes and 30 seconds faster than the record previously established by Thomas Coville in 2008!

Records Francis Joyon has previously broken.

2013	Record of Discovery Route 8 days 16 hours 7 minutes and 5 seconds (valid record date)
2012	24 hour record solo 666.2 miles traveled (valid record to date)
2010	2nd in the Route du Rhum – La Banque Postale
2009	Winner of the Tour of the Isle of Wight 4 hours and 24 minutes
2009	Record between France and Mauritius 26 days 4:13 minutes 29 seconds (first reference time) Winner of the Tour de Belle-Ile
2008	Record of Discovery Route 9 days 8:35 p.m. minutes 3 ​​seconds Lap record of absolute world alone 57 days 1:34 p.m. minutes and 6 seconds (valid record to date) 24 hour record solo 616.07 miles traveled (improved by Thomas Coville)
2007	Record run of the inning solo 6 hours 23 minutes and 36 seconds (valid record date)
2005	Record for crossing the Atlantic solo (New York – Lizard) 6 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 37 seconds 24 hour record solo 542.7 miles traveled
2004	Record of Discovery Route (Cadiz – San Salvador) alone 11 days, 3 hours, 17 minutes and 20 seconds (improved by Thomas Coville) Lap record of absolute world alone 72 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes and 22 seconds (enhanced by Ellen MacArthur)
2001	Winner of the 76th Fastnet sur Eure et Loir Fastest lap of the Isle of Wight 3 hours, 10 minutes and 11 seconds
2000	Winner of the Transat Europe 1 – Newman Star sur Eure et Loir record running into 9 days, 23 hours 21 minutes
1998	Sixth of the Route du Rhum 2nd Route des Phares
1997	4th in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2nd Grand Prix Port of Fecamp 4th Race in Europe
1996	5th Multihull Championship Second Quebec-St Malo
1995	3rd Open UAP Banque Populaire 2nd in the Transat Jacques Vabre
1993	3rd Open UAP Third of the Coffee Route
1992	Third of the Coffee Route
1991	5th Open UAP on BPO
1990	10th Route du Rhum on BPO
1988	Third of the Discovery Route on JB Express

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La Route des Princes. Valencia. Spain. Oman Air – Musandam MOD70 skippered by Sidney Gavignet (FRA) at the start of the first offshore leg from Valencia – Lisbon

Oman Air-Musandam MOD70 gains two points on first offshore leg from Valencia, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal after a good start on Sunday and a fast race to the Benicarlo turning mark and scoring gate.  According to skipper Sidney Gavignet who leads a mixed crew of seasoned professionals and trainee Omani crew, the team has settled in to their watch system and is enjoying the conditions off the coast of Spain.

“We had a great race from Valencia to Benicarlo,” he wrote from the boat last night as the sun was setting over Valencia. “Then the wind dropped and our lead dropped with it, but we just managed to get our nose out in front a mile from the buoy and won the points! We needed to!

“Then we raced back towards the south again in the setting sun and at moments like this you feel privileged to have such a job!

“All the guys are in good shape, we are into our watch system. Damian [Foxall] and Fahad [Al Hasni] are recovering and Neal [McDonald] is driving with Gilles [Favennec] and Thomas [Le Breton] is trimming the boat. I am writing but I keep an eye on the instruments. I am obsessed with the percentage polar right now and with keeping our performance optimal.

At noon today, the time of writing, the Oman Air MOD70 is sailing at 18knots off Cartagena in the south of Spain and in approx 15 knots of breeze. The six-man team has a 21nm lead on the rest of the highly competitive MOD70 fleet and hopes to hang on to it to gain another bonus point through the Gibralter gate.

 

To stay posted on Oman Sail and Oman Air-Musandam, please go to www.omansail.com

To watch the latest Oman Air-Musandam web clip, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3khSeoMl-8

 

Oman Air-Musandam MOD70 2013 racing calendar

6-30 June: La Route des Princes (Valencia-Spain, Lisbon-Portugal, Dun Laoghaire-Ireland, Plymouth-UK, Roscoff-France)
8 August: Cowes Week Artemis Challenge
11-13 August: The Rolex Fastnet Race
3 November: Transat Jacques Vabre

 

Oman Air-Musandam MOD70 2013 race squad

Sidney Gavignet (FRA) – offshore
Thomas Le Breton (FRA) – offshore
Fahad Al Hasni (OMA) – offshore
Mohsin Al Busaidi (OMA)
Neal McDonald (GBR) – offshore
Damian Foxall (IRE) – offshore
Ahmed Al Hassani (OMA)
Gilles Favennec (FRA) – offshore

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A Race Day To Remember
1459 entries / 1323 finished  /  52 retirements  /  6 OCS  /  DSQ

Saturday 1st June was certainly a day to remember, a day of highs, and more highs and, it was a day for Round the Island Race records to tumble.  It was the day when Great Britain’s most successful Olympic sailor, Sir Ben Ainslie and his all-British crew aboard J.P. Morgan BAR, trounced the existing Round the Island Race multihull record, held for 12 years, by an impressive 16 minutes.

In the monohull fleet the biggest boat in the IRC classes, Mike Slade’s 100ft ICAP Leopard was not far behind. He crossed the finish line 40 minutes after Ainslie, shaving almost ten minutes off the monohull race record he had set back in 2008.

Title sponsor J.P. Morgan Asset Management, summed up their team’s thoughts on the day. Jasper Berens, Head of UK, J.P. Morgan Assert Management, commented: “It’s so fantastic to be here and to raise such superb amounts for the Race charity, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. It was a vintage year in terms of weather and the racing and it was incredible to see so many happy, smiling faces in Cowes. The fact that Ben and his team on J.P. Morgan BAR achieved the Round the Island race multihull record, just topped it off. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year.”

On behalf of the Island Sailing Club, Dave Atkinson, Race Safety Officer, had little cause for concern during his long day that started at 0245 and finished at 2350. He commented: “We had the least number of incidents to deal with for a very long time and nothing major occurred out on the water. The entire Race team, that numbers around 170 people on the day and ranged from spotters to results teams, cannot be praised highly enough.”

Today, Sunday 2nd June, wrapped everything up nicely with more great weather and the Race Prize giving which was held at the Island Sailing Club where the Commodore Rod Nicholls was joined on stage by Corrie McQueen from J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston to hand out the gold and silverware to the deserving prizewinners.

The most coveted prize, the Gold Roman Bowl and JPMAM Salver for First Overall IRC went to 5 West, the TP52 owned and helmed by Sir Keith Mills and Robert Greenhalgh.
The Silver Roman Bowl and JPMAM Salver for Second Overall IRC went to Pace and Johnny Vincent. The Observer Trophy and JPMAM Trophy for First Monohull to finish went to Mike Slade and ICAP Leopard.

Next year, the Race is held on Saturday 21st June and the Island Sailing Club, the title sponsor J.P. Morgan Asset Management and the family of Race Partners all look forward to welcoming everyone back to Cowes.

Article by Peta Stuart-Hunt the race press officer

Photos courtesy of Barry James Wilson

Cilck on Image to Enlarge

 

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The last day of the Conde de Godo Sailing Trophy has been crammed full with nervousness. The prevailing light wind indicated the worst but finally the fleet was able to race in appropriate conditions. The 40th Conde de Godo Sailing Trophy already has its winners: QUANTUM RACING (TP52), EARLY BIRD (Soto 40), ZHIK / NOVASAIL (J-80), OPEN SEASON (Wally), XSPAIN (ORC 2) FANYTAS (ORC 3) and RATS ON FIRE (ORC 1)

 

 

Doug de Vos’ QUANTUM RACING, with Ed Baird as skipper, started today’s races knowing that only two points separated him from the leader, Alberto Roemmers’ AZZURA. The American team sailed a smart race which took him to win the regatta, while the Italian-Argentinean team (until then leader) ended in last place in the race, as he was falling to third place overall. Niklas’ Zennstrom’s RAN climbed to the second place of the podium in the Conde de Godo’s Sailing Trophy.

In the Soto 40 Class, Pedro Mendoça’s BIGAMIST and Herrik and Christian Najel’s EARLY BIRD started the last day tied up in points. The start was controlled by the German team, while the Portuguese got cornered in an unsuccessful start. This way EARLY BIRD won a comfortable overall victory.

The large J-80 fleet, with 14 boats in the water, proved the tough fight there was within the favorites, which were lots. Spaniard Carlos Martinez’s ZHIK / NOVASAIL, leader since day one, confirmed its great form winning by a margin of 16 points. Following Martinez’s team there was Javier Chacartegui’s HM HOTELS, José María Van der Ploeg’s FACTOR ENERGÍA and Pablo Benjumeda’s PUERTO SHERRY, who fought until the end. Van der Ploeg’s FACTOR ENERGIA, who broke a rudder on the first day and was forced to retire, made an incredible comeback which led him to the second place overall, followed by Javier Chacartegui ‘s HM Hotels in the podium.

In the ORC category two units stood out: Javier Banderas’ XP38 X-SPAIN, who has won all the races sailed in ORC2 (5 out of 5) and Miquel Banus’ Dufour 34 FANYTAS in ORC3, which has also won all his races.

In ORC 1, the overall standings had a turn over after Christian Plump’s ELENA NOVA was disqualified from all races sailed. Once on shore and with the result from the protest that the Race Committee raised against ELENA NOVA, the victory of the Conde de Godo Sailing Trophy in ORC 1 went to Rafael Carbonell’s RATS ON FIRE. In the Wally class victory went clearly to British Mike Atkinson’s OPEN SEASON.

 

For results for all classes see http://www.trofeocondegodo.com/resultados2013/resultados_en_2013.php

Photos Courtesy of Max Ranchi  www.maxranchi.com

 

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#118 Bodacious Dream wins
The 2013 Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing

 

#116 Icarus wins the inshore Series and secures 3rd place overall.  #121 Lecoq Cuisine in the team’s first race together and first race on their new boat claims 2nd place.

 

NEWPORT, R.I. – #118 Bodacious Dream (USA), skippered by Dave Rearick and Matt Scharl, held on to first place overall in the 2013 Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing after a tight weekend of inshore racing that saw Bodacious Dream and #121 Lecoq Cuisine trading places. The weather over both days delivered wind speeds consistently in the upper teens and twenties with gusts up to 30 knots, making for a challenging two days of inshore racing in Narragansett Bay. #116 Icarus dominated the inshore series by winning three of the five races, finishing second in the other two, en route to securing third overall.

Bodacious Dream was equally impressive during the offshore competition, besting the field during the first offshore leg (Charleston, S.C. to N.Y. Harbor), and second leg (N.Y. Harbor to Newport, RI). Bodacious Dream finished with 51 total combined points for the offshore legs and inshore races in Narragansett Bay, Lecoq Cuisine finished with 45 total points. With the victory Bodacious Dream claim $5,500 of the $15,000 purse, one of the largest in sailing in the United States.

Bodacious Dream co-skipper Dave Rearick: “We are ecstatic. We really wanted to win the racing and do well in the inshore series…today was a bit of a challenge with the high winds, but we managed to hang on. Obviously Lecoq Cuisine was our closest competitor and we really wanted to best them, which we did today, so that was terrific. ”

 

Ken Read, North Sails President and Former Volvo Ocean Race Skipper for Puma Ocean Racing, who sailed on board Icarus Racing today said, “These guys sailed this boat very, very well, so it’s pretty easy just to go along for the ride. It was good fun and this is what sailboat racing is supposed to be all about. These race courses were fantastic…but it’s just fun to sail with a bunch of young guys who are really into the sport and just go rip around the race course, it doesn’t get any better than [The Atlantic Cup].”

Hugh Piggin, Manuka Sports Event Management Founder and Atlantic Cup Race Director – “We are very proud to have a terrific team with us to put together another successful event. A huge amount of effort goes into making this event a success from all of our sponsors, volunteers and staff. This year exhibited extremely tight racing in both the offshore and inshore legs with final positions not decided until the final minutes. We congratulate all of the competitors especially Bodacious Dream in winning one of the closest grand prix regattas in the U.S.”

The 2013 Atlantic Cup, the first carbon-neutral sailing event in the United States, featured an international fleet of 7 teams with competitors from the USA, France, New Zealand and Great Britain, the most Class 40s to ever compete in the United States. The teams set sail from Charleston, S.C. on Saturday, May 11 en route to New York Harbor for the second leg of the competition and a Pro-Am event (May 15-17) before departing on May 18 for the final leg of competition held in Newport, R.I. this weekend (May 25-26).

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On May 19th 2013, the schooner Tara embarked on a new scientific adventure:  The Oceans Polar Circle expedition. Tara will travel 25 000 ams around the Arctic Ocean via the Northeast and Northwest passages, returning to Lorient in December 2013.

The new challenge brings together biologists and oceanographers to focus on plankton biodiversity in the Arctic. Research will be conducted at the edge of the ice pacha where plankton is most abundant.

Circumnavigating the Arctic Ocean,  Tara Oceans Polar Circle will complete the main objective of the Tara Oceans Expedition (2009-2012): to collect plankton in all the oceans of the world. Indeed, the Arctic is the only ocean missing form our global study of plankton. Other issues will also be explored: the assessment of mercury levels in the atmosphere and in the sea,, and the concentration of plastic particles. Our aim is to obtain new measurements of these pollutants in the Arctic, and better assess their impact on the arctic ecosystem.

Extreme conditions

Tara will be sailing in an environment where natural conditions are difficult. Although the period of thaw lengthens every year, time is short before the ice closes in between the Northeast and Northwest passages, leaving little room for improvisation. Beyond the Arctic Circle, temperatures vary between -10 ° C and +5 ° C in summer. Daylight will constant in the Russian Arctic (midnight sun) and then gradually diminish to 12 hours per day in September.

The context

The Arctic region is subjected to the efforts of accelerated climate change more intensely than anywhere else, as evidenced by the rapid melting of the ice pack in summer. This unique and fragile environment is increasingly coveted for its minerals and other riches, and is a key area for understanding climate change on the planet.

Summary of the scientific mission

- Comparison of biological data on plankton and their physicochemical environment in the Arctic with the data collected in other oceans during the Tara Oceans expedition (2009-2012)

- Study of floating plastic, and mercury (dissolved and atmospheric) present in the Arctic.

- Study of the “coolr” of the ocean, its composition and surface pigment particles. – Specific study of spring phytoplankton blooms at the ice pack’s edge.

 

More information on Tara Oceans at : www.taraexpeditions.org

 

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 Francis Joyon is leaving. In a few days, he will address the prestigious  North Atlantic record.  Success would make him the first skipper to win the incredible “Grand Slam” of records.  Joyon will be on stand-by in New York from May 15.  Yesterday evening the skipper  was in Paris for a great evening presentation at Pershing Hall in the presence of three of the four  solo Atlantic  record holders Florence Arthaud, Thomas Coville and Bruno Peyron, current record holder.  His record will be challenged shortly by the skipper of the Maxi-trimaran IDEC.

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