Teams announced for Extreme Sailing Series 2013 (Photo by Lloyd Images)
- 8-strong fleet confirmed for 2013 Series opener at The Wave, Muscat Oman, 5th March, including 1 completely new team, and also with several of the wildcard ‘one event’ slots already filled
- 8-venue 3-continent ‘Stadium Sailing’ world tour now in place for seventh edition of the Series, to be announced 31st January
- Official Clothing Partner Marinepool renew commitment to Series until 2016
Organisers of the Extreme Sailing Series™, OC Sport, announced details of the eight-strong fleet for the 2013 Series at the Dusseldorf Boat Show today. The announcement was made from the stand of Marinepool, Official Clothing Partner to the Series, as they also confirmed a new three-year extension to their contract with the pioneering Stadium Sailing Series. In the world of high performance sailing, one global circuit brings the action right to the crowds, and in 2013 the Extreme Sailing Series’ award-winning stadium racing format will see eight world-class teams, including a ‘home nation’ invitational team at each venue, compete in the seventh edition of the Series.
The 2013 Series is to be contested once again by sailors from all over the globe, partnered by a host of strong commercial brands. The Wave, Muscat, Oman will host the Series opener for the third consecutive year where new faces and new teams will meet the more seasoned sailors for the first time. Five of the teams who will be on the start line in Muscat on 5th March are returning teams: Red Bull Sailing Team Alinghi, The Wave Muscat, SAP Extreme Sailing Team and GAC Pindar.
“We have a great series of positive news releases coming up over the next few weeks as we build up to another great season of Extreme Sailing Series. It is great to kick-off with the renewal of the Marinepool partnership with a long term commitment, and a full starting grid for a rapidly approaching first 2013 Act in Muscat. With a fair amount of uncertainty reigning at the top of professional sailing, we’re very pleased that the Extreme Sailing Series is heading in to its seventh continuous year of top level competition, and once again truly global”, stated Mark Turner, Executive Chairman of Organisers OC Sport.
The Austrian duo of Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher, Austria’s most successful summer sports stars having brought home two Olympic gold medals to Austria in the Olympic Tornado, will once again be leading Red Bull Sailing Team: “I am looking forward to fighting together with my tactician Hans Peter Steinacher and our crew in 2013 for the trophy of this spectacular racing circuit,” said skipper Roman Hagara. “It will be a tough year, at beautiful and sometimes windy locations with the strongest sailors on the planet racing against each other. The level of racing is most probably the highest you can see in the world of sailing at the moment.” The team narrowly missed out on a podium place in 2012 finishing the season in fourth, and their experience in the Series will make them a firm pre-season favourite for a podium position in 2013.
Red Bull Sailing Team Cardifff (Photo by Lloyd Images)
Alinghi return for their fourth season with Team Principal Ernesto Bertarelli on board as both skipper and helmsman. Best known for winning and then successfully defending the America’s Cup, Alinghi have also shown themselves to be multihull experts, having won the Extreme Sailing Series in 2008 and proving themselves as one of the teams to beat in the D35 class.
2012 winning skipper Leigh McMillan is back at the helm of The Wave, Muscat. The Olympic Tornado sailor, a veteran of the circuit having raced in the class since 2006, won four of the seven Acts in 2012 and is hungry for more. “We are feeling very excited about putting together The Wave, Muscat again for this season and hope to continue with the same level of performance as last year. We are keeping the same core team to hopefully keep improving and maintain consistency and we are adding a new challenge with the introduction of a second Omani crew member on board and take him through the challenges of an Extreme 40. This is very exciting for us and we are confident that with that fresh challenge we will be a strong team.” A second team representing Oman Sail will also be on the starting grid in Muscat, with details to be confirmed in February.
The dynamic Danish America’s Cup duo of Rasmus Kostner and Jes Gram-Hansen return as co-skippers of SAP Extreme Sailing Team in what will be their second year on the circuit. The team finished sixth in their debut season having gone through a steep multihull learning curve and the Danish team are out to prove they can mix it up with the ‘top brass’ teams this year. “It will be great to come back to the Extreme Sailing Series for the second year running. Last season was a big first year for us, we had some great racing and enjoyed the challenges that come with being a new team in this competitive fleet,” commented Kostner. “This season we are better prepared and have our sights set on the podium. We will carry forward with the lessons learnt from 2012 as well as continue to develop as a team. With the full support from SAP technology and our other partners we hope to get the competitive edge we need to take the next step onto the podium”.
SAP Extreme Sailing Team © Lloyd Images
The blue sails of GAC Pindar will be another familiar team on the start-line and the crew, which will be announced in early February, will be sure to come out all guns blazing as they aim for their first ever podium finish.
A new team for 2013 comes in the form of the second Swiss entry. The team sponsor will hold an official press conference to announce the entry and crew details on the 8th February.
An invited team, ‘Team X – Invitational’, will provide a platform for a home team to compete at each of the eight Acts, in the way that sailing legend Torben Grael skippered Team Brasil in Rio last month. The individual Act entries will be combined to make one overriding Series entry with details of each team to be confirmed before each respective Act.
These teams will also face competition from several wildcard entries over the course of the year resulting in the starting grid being filled by 8 to 10 boats at all Acts this season. Some wildcard entry slots remain for new teams building towards a full 2014 season.
Speaking from Dusseldorf, Robert Stark, CEO of Marinepool spoke of their commitment to the Series until 2016. “Marinepool is proud partner of the Extreme Sailing Series and we are happy to announce that we have just renewed our contract until 2016. This underlines our belief in OC Sport’s excellent work and that the Extreme Sailing Series is the best series in the world.” Stark continued, “It has the global reach we are looking for, with venues in iconic cities from Muscat to Rio. The VIP experience is second to none. And it has a viable business model that also works for Marinepool on all levels. With the organizers, the host cities, Series partners, teams and their sponsors as well as in sales on site and online. It takes time to develop a merchandising line and make it work. Therefore you need a partner who has a clear plan for the future, is reliable and is delivering. Comparing with other sailing properties, we believe that the Extreme Sailing Series it the best product for teams, spectators and certainly in terms of return on investment.”
The official Marinepool Extreme Sailing Series merchandising range is sold at events, in Marinepool’s extensive network of retailers, and can be viewed online here. SAP, confirmed in 2012 as Official Technical Partner will continue to develop their technology alongside OC Sport over the three year partnership, while Official Logistics Partner GAC Pindar will continue to bring their expertise to what is a complex logistics operation.
Further Series and local event partners will be announced within the next month along with a full 2013 calendar to be confirmed on the 31st January.
The Pineapple Cup – Montego Bay fleet in 2007 (Photo Credit Evelyn Harrington)
The 31st biennial Pineapple Cup – Montego Bay Race Presented by Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum is living up to its reputation as one of the marquee offshore sailboat races in the world by, once again, welcoming a fleet of high profile boats, both newcomers and veterans, to compete. Starting on February 8, just outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s Port Everglades, this ocean racing classic will take competitors on a challenging all-points-of-sail course, stretching 811 nautical miles to the legendary destination of Montego Bay, Jamaica.
“This has been called the most interesting race because you are almost never out of sight of land the whole time,” said Race Chairman Ken Batzer (Lighthouse Point, Fla.), adding that the iconic race was established in 1961 and has been running either annually or biennially ever since. The current race record was set in 2005 by Titan 12 with an impressive elapsed time of 2 days, 10 hours, 24 minutes and 42 seconds. “We have a real quality fleet once again this year and are hoping to have good weather.”
Past winners of the event include some of the most world-renowned skippers; Ted Turner won three times in Vamoose (’67), Lightnin (’73) and Tenacious(’79); the Johnson family won in Ticonderoga (’65); John Kilroy won twice in Kialoa (’75 and ’77); and Jack King won in Merrythought (’91). Past competitors taking line honors include Sir Peter Blake on Condor (’79), Larry Ellison on Sayonora (’97) and Roy Disney on Pyewacket (’99).
Return contender Tom Slade (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) took second place in the PHRF 1 class in 2011 with his Santa Cruz 52 Renegade and marks this year as his fifth Pineapple Cup. “It’s got to be one of the best ocean races in the world. Not only is it challenging but also the scenery is just unbelievable, and when you get to Jamaica, it’s like no other place. This race always has a very impressive fleet with a lot of great boats. We are going to try to sail well again this year, but more importantly, have fun.”
Event rookie, but veteran in the world of ocean racing, Michael Hennessy (Mystic, Conn.) will also be competing in his Class 40 Dragon. “We’d like to be competitive, have a lot fun and enjoy a new course with new surroundings,” said Hennessy, who already has an impressive resume when it comes to offshore sailing, including racing double handed aboard Dragon in the Transatlantic Race 2011.
This year, Hennessy will be sailing with a team of five. “We’re looking forward to matching up against the other Class 40 (MacKenzie Davis’ AMHAS) and racing handicap against the rest of the fleet.,” said Hennessy. “Our boat is pretty well dialed in right now and moving fast.”
Ambiance in Montego Bay, Jamaica after the Pineapple Cup in 2005 (Photo Credit Evelyn Harrington)
The president of the USMMA Sailing Foundation, Ralf Steiz (Kings Point, N.Y.), sailed onboard the Pineapple Cup’s IRC Class winner, Genuine Risk, in 2011 and will be returning again this year with a new program, All American Ocean Racing, which prepares sailors, age 30 and under, for offshore racing. The team, which will be sailing the IRC 52 IceFire, hopes to race in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015 and includes Mark Towill, Charlie Enright, Chris Welch, Chris Branning and Jesse Fielding.
The largest boat in the IRC Class is Jim Muldoon’s (Washington D.C.) new Andrews 80 Donnybrook. “This boat is definitely a racing boat,” said Muldoon who has raced in the event six times in the past on his other boats of the same name and this year will have 18 crew members onboard during the distance race. “Donnybrook is bigger than any of my other boats; it has a canting keel and is very racing oriented.”
His most matched competitor is George Sakellaris (Framingham, Mass.) with his 72-foot mini maxi Shockwave, which came off a great year in 2012, winning its class at the Newport Bermuda Race, the NYYC 158th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex and the Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week. “They will be a true competitor for us,” said Muldoon.
The Pineapple Cup – Montego Bay Race presented by Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum is endorsed by the Jamaican Tourist Board and managed by the SORC. Sponsors include the Montego Bay Yacht Club, Storm Trysail Club, and Lauderdale Yacht Club. Immediately after the start the racers cross the Gulf Stream for the Northwest Providence Channel. The middle of the race usually offers a fetch down the eastern side of the Bahamas Island Chain towards the tip of Cuba. The final stretch is a sailor’s dream: a 240 mile downwind sleigh ride from Cuba’s eastern tip known as Windward Passage to the finish at Montego Bay. At the finish, sailors are treated to a week of fun with cocktail parties every night, steel bands, limbo dancing and other fun displays and competitions, ending with a superb dinner and dance along with a prize giving ceremony on Friday, February 15.
For more information, visit http://www.montegobayrace.com/
Dockside Ambiance in 2005 (Photo Credit Evelyn Harrington)
2013 Pineapple Cup – Montego Bay Race
Current Entries
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Sail Number Yacht Name Owner’s Name Home Port Yacht Type Length
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1. USA 39 AMHAS MacKenzie Davis Mill Valley, CA, USA Class 40 40
2. USA 1253 Catapult Marc Glimcher New York, NY, USA Ker 40 40
3. USA 84001 Decision Stephen Murray New Orleans, LA, USA HPR Carkeek 40 40
4. USA 66 Donnybrook James Muldoon Washington, DC, USA Andrews 80 80
5. USA 54 Dragon Michael Hennessy New York, NY, USA Class 40 40
6. USA 60292 Icefire Ralf Steitz USMMA Kings Point, NY, USA IRC 52 52
7. USA 52152 Lucky Bryon Ehrhart Chicago, IL, USA TP 52 58
8. USA 145 Rebecca Glenn Gault League City, TX, USA J 120 40
9. USA 52422 Renegade Tom Slade Ponte Vedra, FL, USA Santa Cruz 52 52
10. USA 60272 Shockwave George Sakellaris Framingham, MA, USA Mini Maxi 72
Musandam's Crew , Skippered by Sidney Gavignet, celebrate winning Offshore Leg 4 (Photo by Mark Lloyd)
man Sail’s flagship boat Musandam-Oman Sail hurtled across the finish line in Marseilles today to celebrate their first win of an offshore leg in the MOD70 European Tour and lift them to third overall in the rankings.After battling with light winds from the start of the leg in Cascais on Thursday, the final few hours saw an altogether different struggle as Sidney Gavignet’s triumphant Omani and European crew encountered 35 knot winds which almost caused them to capsize just ten minutes from the finish.“We were going very fast – sometimes too fast,” said an emotional Gavignet.
Musandam - Oman Sail's skipper Sidney Gavignet flashes a smile after winning Leg 4 (Photo by Mark Lloyd)
“It was a bit scary going at those speeds in the black night. We almost capsized in the bay. The wind was dropping but we were caught by a 40 knot gust. The boat reared up – it was so sudden.”
This jolt came on top of discovering as they approached the finish that another 40 mile upwind stage had been added to the 1030 nm course making it an action-packed closing stage to a dramatic leg.
They completed the course from Cascais to Marseilles in 3 days 16 hours 11 minutes and 34 seconds, crossing the line two hours and 23 minutes ahead of second placed Steve Ravussin’s Race for Water and two hours and 45 minutes ahead of sailing legend Michel Desjoyeaux on Foncia.
The result was a great testament to the developing skills of the Musandam-Oman Sail crew, Gavignet said, making special mention of Omani helmsman and trimmer Fahad Al Hasni, Khamis Al Anbouri also from Oman and navigator Jeff Cuzon from France.
“Fahad is a great example of what we are trying to do at Oman Sail. He has grabbed the opportunity of being part of Oman Sail and is running with it.
“He still has a lot to learn but he is becoming a serious offshore sailor, both technically and in terms of his energy. He is very positive and contributes to the team, which for me is almost more important than whether they are good or bad sailors.
“Being part of Oman Sail is a platform for doing something great and he is really making the most of his opportunity.
“We are all making progress especially Jeff Cuzon who has been doing a great job in the nav station. He understands better and better what these boats can do and what is and isn’t dangerous from a navigation point of view.
Crew of Musandam (Photo by Mark Lloyd)
“Khamis came in and replaced Mohsin Al Busaidi for this leg but Mohsin took it the right way and although Khamis was seasick, his energy was impressive. I think he may have been our lucky charm.”
“I am so happy for the team – very proud of them and of our flag,” added Al Hasni.
“I always felt we could win because each time we finished a leg, we discovered something new and added to our experience. In this leg, we discovered we were very fast in the light winds, which has given us a lot of confidence.
“We have beaten some of the best sailors in the world by a long distance and that makes us proud,” said a tired Al Hasni who was planning on a big 24 hour sleep, waking up only when he needed to eat.
For Khamis al Anbouri, it was his first experience of sailing offshore after a career spent mainly racing inshore, during which time, he has posted a win against MOD70 European Tour rival Yann Guichard in the Extreme 40s
“It was my first offshore race and winning the stage was amazing. It shows we are competitive. I was seasick just for an hour but I was able to keep on working because I was so happy to be on board for the leg.
“I love to compete and win especially against these sailors because they are the best. I have now beaten Yann Guichard twice – one in the Extreme 40s and now this.
“It would be nice one day to see an Omani sailor skippering one of these boats and I shall be working very hard towards that aim.”
In Cascais last week, Michel Desjoyeaux, one of most admired and respected offshore sailors in the world commended the Musandam-Oman Sail crew on their progress in the European Tour.
“Sidney (Gavignet) and Oman Sail has improved fast as a team,” he said.
“It’s a very hard job to win because the delivery is very high on all the boats, and because the boats are one design it is difficult to be first.
“My advice for the young Omanis back home is that they have the opportunity today for some of them to sail on the MOD70 but it is the highest they can achieve at the moment. They have to consider that it is a real chance for them but to learn sailing they must sail as much as possible.
“They must sail every kind of boat they can, every race they can and don’t hesitate to take the chance to change boats and sail all kinds of boat, small boats, big boats, boats with full crew, short crew, offshore, inshore to get more experience.”
The Musandam-Oman Sail team will now get some rest ahead of the Marseille City Race which starts on Friday.
Leg 4 Cascais to Marseille
1. Musandam Oman Sail finish time: 07h 11m 34s (3 days 16 hours 11 minutes and 34 2 seconds)
2. Race for Water: 2h 23m 7s from winner
3. FONCIA: 2h 45m 32s from winner
Coming up:
28/09: Marseille City Race
29/09: Marseille City Race
30/09: Start of Leg 5 Marseille – Genoa
Oman Sail's MOD70 Musandam skippered by Sidney Gavignet (FRA) crosses the line and wins the offshore leg between Cascais - Marseille (Photo by Mark Lloyd)
 Sidney Gavignet and Musandam Crew Celebrate 3 Wins (Photo by Ricardo Pinto / S.A.MOD70) |
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| Musandam-Oman Sail, skippered by Sidney Gavignet with his international crew became the third different team to win City Race series in successive stops of the MOD70 European Tour when they triumphed in the sixth race in Cascais, Portugal. | |||
| Musandam-Oman Sail won three of the six races sailed over three days, almost all in light breeze, which proved somewhat contrary to Cascais reputation for reliable strong winds. Smarting after losing second place to FONCIA in the final half mile to the finish of the offshore stage from Dun Laoghaire at dawn in very light airs early on Wednesday morning, Gavignet and his crew realised then they had a small deficit in speed to Michel Desjoyeaux’s crew. They made changes accordingly and, aligned to steady starting and some strong tactics from Jean Francois Cuzon, have remained very consistent, complementing their three wins with two thirds and a fifth to win ahead of Yann Guichard’s Spindrift racing.
Musandam-Oman Sail collect 12 precious points in the chase for the MOD70 European Tour while second place for Spindrift racing ensures they increase their overall lead in the general classification. Race 5 Spindrift racing and FONCIA chose to stay closer to the Cascais shore where they found some localised acceleration of the wind and were able to round the top mark in first and second. With the breeze fading and developing big holes, although the MOD70′s moved with impressive efficiency in the light winds, Race Direction chose to halt the race after one round of the triangle course. This time the triangle course was upwind-downwind as opposed to the downwind-upwind format of yesterday and Friday. Race 6 Three boats were called over the start line early, FONCIA, Race for Water and Groupe Edmond de Rothschild. Musandam-Oman Sail emerged from with the lead and were able to stay ahead around the two lap course. Race for Water restarted smartly and made a smart good recovery at the top end of the first windward leg. In the end they were able to push Musandam-Oman Sail hard at the finish line. Results after six City Races MOD70 European Tour Standings. After two offshore stages and three City Race series. Sidney Gavignet, FRA skipper Musandam-Oman Sail (OMA): “ We are happy, we won three races from six which is pretty good. It is great, just great. What is good is that we just work on making progress and we did not need to make big progress, but to just keeping making progress step by step all the time wherever you start from and we started pretty low. We lost crew on the first race in Kiel. We broke the daggerboard in Dublin, so we were starting from quite low, and had some problems. But we kept working. We kept the positive spirit and little by little we get more cards to play the game with. What we learned here, if we had those two cards on the way in, we would have been second from Dublin. One is easy we could not pass the battens across in the light winds and the other is speed with the gennaker. So for sure we are making progress and growing in confidence and that affects the others who lose in confidence, we need to keep progressing. General Results Latest Audios Latest Videos Latest Photos For media: all content (video, photo and audio bites) are available for download in the press area: |
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Michi Mueller joins Oman Sail's Musandam Team
Michi Mueller, born in Kiel, Germany, joins Oman’s Multi One Design 70, Musandam-Oman Sail, as a member of the inshore race crew for the upcoming European Tour which kicks off in Kiel on 30 August.
The German sailor will bring additional offshore experience to the multi-national crew that selects its members as much for their knowledge as their ability to transfer it to the Omani team members onboard.
Skipper, Sidney Gavignet from France, has included fellow Frenchmen Jeff Cuzon and Thomas Lebreton, plus the fastest man around the world, Brian Thompson from the UK, in addition to Mohsin Al Busaidi and Fahad Al Asni from Oman. Michi Mueller will join Khamis Al Amburi, as inshore race crew for the European Tour inshore races.
Mueller grew up in one of the most popular areas for sailing in Germany and took up keelboat sailing in his youth, racing on IMS 30s and other big boats as he looked to build his experience. His break into professional sailing came in 2005 when he joined United Internet Team Germany for the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain. This was swiftly followed by a Volvo Ocean Race campaign on Puma in 2008/9 in which they finished runners-up. Next came the All4One Sailing Team, a French/German collaboration that competed in the Louis Vuitton Trophy in France, New Zealand, Italy and Dubai and also the Audi MedCup on TP52s. Michi has just finished his second VOR on Puma, finishing third.
Oman Sail's Musandam (Photo by George Bekris)
Musandam-Oman Sail’s Sidney Gavignet first worked with Michi on Puma Racing in 2008 and believes the German will be a valuable addition to the crew. Having served his apprenticeship in offshore racing just a few years ago, Michi estimates he has since clocked up more than 100,000 nautical miles of hard racing across the world’s oceans.
Now he is looking forward to bringing his experience to Oman Sail and helping the up and coming Omani sailors learn more in this challenging but rewarding career. With a background in engineering, his technical knowledge will also be a useful asset to the team.
“I’m looking forward to joining Oman Sail as inshore race crew, I enjoy the in-port racing in particular,” says Michi, “and I like working on perfecting manoeuvres, developing systems and experimenting with new ways of doing things. The crew are already on a good learning curve, they had some problems on the transatlantic race after the boat suffered from foil damage, but these are all learning experiences. I hope to be able to bring something to the team and to be able to contribute to the Omani’s experience.”
Already some major milestones have been passed, not least that Omani crewmembers Fahad Al Hasni and Mohsin Al Busaidi became the first Omanis to complete a transatlantic race on board an Omani boat.
Gavignet describes their contribution as “immense”, and despite limited experience, their progress over the five action-packed days across the Atlantic, deeply impressive. “Since they left Lorient, the difference in Fahad and Mohsin has been huge in terms of attitude, work rate, knowledge of manoeuvres and what we should be doing next,” says Gavignet. “They have contributed hard work and good humour to our team. They have become excellent seamen and superb mariners. It’s been fantastic sailing with them.”
The Musandam-Oman Sail MOD 70 is heading to Cowes on the Isle of Wight, UK, for the Artemis Challenge on 16 August before sailing to Kiel to start the European Tour.
Multi One Design European Tour 2012 – calendar
Kiel, Germany
30 August: media day
31 August: Speed Match
1 September: City Race
2-5 September: Kiel to Dublin offshore
Dublin, Ireland
7 September: Speed Match
8 September: City Race
9-12 September: Dublin-Cascais offshore
Cascais, Portugal
14 September: Speed Match
15 September: City Race
16 September: City Race
17-18 September: Around Portugal
20-23 September: Cascais-Marseille offshore
Marseille, France
28 September: Speed Match and City Race
29 September: City Race
30 September-2 October: Marseille-Genoa offshore
Genoa, Italy
3 October: Pro-Am racing
Musandam-Oman Sail Crew List
Offshore:
Mohsin Al Busaidi (OMA)
Fahad Al Asni (OMA)
Brian Thompson (GBR)
Jean François Cuzon (FRA)
Thomas Lebreton (FRA)
Sidney Gavignet (FRA)
Inshore:
Khamis Al Amburi (OMA)
Michi Muller (GER, from Kiel)
Musandam Sailing in New York Harbor (Photo by George Bekris)
Singapore Copyright onEdition 2011
After a tough tussle with light winds the final push for a podium position went down to the wire this morning and crossing the finish line off the coast of the Netherlands at 0724 UTC, Singapore, sponsored by Keppel Corporation, secured its first win in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race series with victory in Race 14 to Den Helder.
Hot on the Singaporean entry’s heels, Visit Finland secured its seventh podium success a mere 17 minutes later in second place and Gold Coast Australia completed the podium trio, a further17 minutes after its Finnish rivals. However, Singapore’s win spoilt the Australian entry’s chances of matching the record for consecutive Clipper Race wins.
Speaking of its first victory, Singapore skipper Ben Bowley says, “It feels absolutely fantastic we’ve been waiting for this for a long time. It’s been a hard race and very challenging. It was neck and neck all the way through right down to the wire with only 17 minutes in it in the end but we are absolutely ecstatic and I am so please for the crew.”
Meanwhile, positions on the leader board continue to change frequently for the rest of the fleet, as the remaining competitors attempt to make up miles in the immobilising conditions. New York’s tactics to stay close to the coastline has paid off and the U.S. entry has shot up from the back of the fleet to fourth place overnight, whilst Welcome to Yorkshire has fallen victim to another wind hole, slipping further down the pack.
The remaining fleet is expected to arrive throughout the day; regular updates will be posted here and on the Clipper Race Facebook and Twitter pages.
A festival will be held in Den Helder over the weekend which includes an international food market, street theatre, music and more. The Clipper Race Roadshow will also be there, with presentations for anyone interested in taking up the adventure of a lifetime on a brand new fleet of yachts. For a full programme of activities during the Den Helder stopover please click here.
Spindrift Wins KRYS by (Th. Martinez /Sea & Co/ MOD 70)
| Yann Guichard and his crew of five crossed the finish line on Thursday July 12 at 12hrs 08m 37s UTC (14hrs 08m 37s) to take overall victory in the inaugural KRYS OCEAN RACE transatlantic race in an elapsed time four days 21 hours 08 minutes 37s, an average of 25.03 kts on this 2950 miles race course. |
| In this first ocean race for the new MOD70 one design multihull class, Spindrift racing finished about an hour and a half ahead of Sébastien Josse’s Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and FONCIA, who were about a quarter of an hour behind second, after a great race across the Atlantic from New York to Brest in winds which is rarely dropped below twenty knots …This is the first great ocean racing victory for Yann Guichard. At 38, this former Olympic Tornado catamaran sailor, who finished fourth in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, has amassed considerable multihull experience offshore with Marc Guillemot, Bruno Peyron and Franck Cammas, racing solo across the Atlantic in 2010, but also on the Swiss lakes in the D35 and M-2 multihulls. He has also raced inshore as helm in the America’s Cup World Series and the Extreme 40 series. Launched in January this year, Spindrift racing is MOD70 hull number 5, and has been taken on by his crew, which includes Pascal Bidégorry, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant, Jacques Guichard, Leo Lucet and Kevin Escoffier. Bidégorry, Escoffier and Le Vaillant are among those who set the existing outright Atlantic record in 2009. Spindrift racing sailed an actual 3284 miles on the water at an average of 28.04 knots. |
 Spindrift Bow by George Bekris |
| For the leaders of the KRYS OCEAN RACE the frontal system that they have ridden since Saturday night continues to prove the gift, which keeps on giving. |
| Before leaving New York, initial predictions suggested that the five MOD70’s would benefit for at least three to four days, but as the leaders now contemplate negotiating the north east side of the Azores high pressure system, it now seems likely they will have every chance of curving progressively towards Ireland, the Scillies gate and then to the finish line in Brest with hardly any reduction in speed.Sébastien Col, tactician and helm from FONCIA, even suggested today that the most favourable weather files had them reaching the finish with no gybes.With the S-SW’ly winds still hitting over 30kts this afternoon, their fourth since leaving Manhattan, the speeds of the three leading MOD70’s continue to be impressive. Spindrift racing have clocked up another day of more than 700 miles on the mid afternoon rankings, holding their average speed just under 30kts.So far Spindrift racing’s remarkable 711.9 miles sailed over 24 hours, set Monday, is the highest run yet.Yann Guichard and his team, which has lead since Sunday night, still managed to increase their margin on the chasing duo today. With around 1300 miles to sail to the finish, Spindrift racing was holding an advance of 50 miles this afternoon ahead of Seb Josse and crew on Groupe Edmond de Rothschild with FONCIA 13 miles behind them in third.Foncia’s Sébastien Col told the live radio call today that their best option should present itself as they pass over the Azores high pressure system. Depending on its evolution as the more southerly boat of the leading trio, FONCIA may find a better, reaching angle sooner whilst their two opponents may find themselves slowed, on a more downwind, open angle.
But patience has, to some extent, been part of the FONCIA strategy, Col acknowledging on today’s radio vacation with KRYS OCEAN RACE HQ in Brest, that both Spindrift racing and Groupe Edmond de Rothschild have continued with better wind strength and angle. Col said: “ We are slightly slower than them and just have to try to sail the boat as fast as we can. With this little disadvantage we try to cross the high pressure not too far behind these two guys, and then try to catch places after.” The mood remains stoic, mostly upbeat on fourth placed Musandam-Oman Sail. They have adapted well to their compromised predicament, managing to replace their damaged port foil with the starboard one, a delicate manoeuvre in 25-30kts of wind which required all the strength of three crew plus one helping the lift on a halyard. Though they had tried to sail without a foil, they had found the boat liable to nosediving. But in their new configuration they were making a decent 26 knots average this afternoon, but were some 122 miles behind FONCIA. The leading boats are expected Friday, spearing right into the first day of the massive Tonneres de Brest maritime festival. The 20th anniversary international gathering of mariners and craft of all shapes and sizes is expected to attract somewhere around 800,000 visitors to Brest’s seven kilometres of waterfront festivities and runs 13th to 19th July. Quotes: Sébastien Col, FONCIA, tactician, trimmer, helm: “Today FONCIA is sailing just above Spindrift and Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, our target is the waypoint to the north of the high pressure which we will reach in approximately 24 hours. We are sailing a little slower than Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and Spindrift because we are a bit more south than them and have a little bit less wind and they have a better angle and so that means we are slightly slower than them so just have to try to sail the boat as fast as we can. With this little disadvantage we try to cross the high pressure not too far behind these two guys, and then will try to catch places after. We are targeting only one gybe to approach the Scilly Islands. One of the best routages we have actually shows that we have no gybes, and so that even suggests it will be very fast for the end of the race.” Ryan Breymaier, No 1, Musandam-Oman Sail: “We are going well at the moment – pretty much full speed. When the foil failed, we had to take it out because there was a lot of turbulence and drag and the boat was very slow – about 22 knots – though when it came out completely, the bow dug in a lot so we had to reduce sail. We didn’t feel comfortable trying to change the foil from one side to the other during the night but now we have the foil from the starboard side on the port side, which makes things normal again. The guys are getting tired as it weighs 100kgs and takes three crew plus one on the halyard every time we change it over, but hopefully we will only have to do it twice more during the race.” Latest photos: Latest videos: Latest audio files: |
