Spanish newspaper Sur in its Malaga edition reports that the central Spanish Government has refused to lend financial support to the Malaga bid to host the 37th Americas Cup…
Monthly archives for February, 2022
Embracing the evolution
Monday
Feb 28
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 28
2022
Posted by XS Editor
For those salt-crusted sailors who have known about, followed, or even competed in the legendary Worrell 1000 race, the Michael Worrell-created logo stands as one of the most recognized in the small-cat sailing world.
Born from a bar bet between Michael and his brother Chris in 1974, the race is approaching its 50th year anniversary. And although the event did not take place during each and every one of those 50 years, it has stood not only the test of time, but endured many format changes, growing pains, logistical and planning issues, and more than its fair share of drama.
From that first race between just the Worrell brothers in 1974 to its larger, more organized formats through 1984 – the race was exclusively run on Hobie 16 catamarans. As the race grew in popularity, and in turn, in the number of boats competing, it became increasingly clear that a spinnaker boat was better suited to this arduous, open-ocean event…
For more information: https://worrell1000race.com/
Sailing must make a stand
Monday
Feb 28
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 28
2022
Posted by XS Editor
They say sport and politics should not mix, but the way the landscape has changed over the past week means we simply cannot ignore the horrific situation in Ukraine…
sigue sigue sputnik
Monday
Feb 28
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 28
2022
Posted by deleteme
Taras Ostapchuk, the Ukrainian engineer, who allegedly tried to sink the Russian-owned yacht where he worked, left Mallorca this afternoon bound for Ukraine where he intends to take up arms against the Russian invaders, according to an interview with our sister newspaper, Ultima Hora. He was arrested by the Guardia Civil but later released.
Taras was so horrified by a missile attack on an apartment building in his home country by Russian forces, that he attempted to sink the yacht, Lady Anastasia in Puerto Adriano, which is reputedly owned by a Russian arms dealer. He allegedly opened various valves aboard the yacht which is valued at more than seven million euros. The yacht suffered severe damage to its engine room. Read on.
Song title from the band that created this classic.
World Sailing supports Russian ban
Monday
Feb 28
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 28
2022
Posted by XS Editor
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is mad. When Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, they broke the Olympic Truce which began seven days before the start on February 4of the 2022 Olympic Games, and ends seven days after the closing on March 13 of the Paralympic Games.
The Olympic Truce is a tradition originating from ancient Greece that dates back to 776 BC, and is intended to secure safe passage for athletes during the Games and, in the long term, promote the idea of working toward world peace…
Pyewacket 70 sweeps Islands Race
Sunday
Feb 27
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 27
2022
Posted by XS Editor
The 2022 Islands Race, co-hosted by San Diego Yacht Club and Newport Harbor Yacht Club, has been a known for a decade as the start to the California offshore sailing season. The 142 nautical mile race around Catalina and San Clemente Islands featured 42 boats this year — the biggest turn out in its 13 year history.
With the start off San Pedro on February 25, one boat in particular, Pyewacket 70, showed up ready to prove their preparation for the race is on point, and the set the pace for their offshore season…
18ft Skiff Super Sprints for President’s Trophy
Sunday
Feb 27
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 27
2022
Posted by XS Editor
With the 2022 JJ Giltinan Championship starting on Sydney Harbour next Saturday, today’s racing at the Australian 18 Footers League was a final opportunity for teams to sharpen up their crew work in preparation for the world’s biggest 18ft skiff regatta…
Call for Russia and Belarus to be stripped of all international sporting events
Sunday
Feb 27
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 27
2022
Posted by deleteme
The European Olympic Committees (EOC) has endorsed an International Olympic Committee (IOC) call for Russia and Belarus to be stripped of all international sporting events and have their flags banned…
New record targets and Director for Spindrift
Friday
Feb 25
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 25
2022
Posted by XS Editor
On the menu is a second participation in the TF35 circuit and four standby periods with their maxi-trimaran Sails of Change to make a fresh bid for different records, including the Jules Verne Trophy…
GKA Big Air World Championships 2022 are coming
Friday
Feb 25
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 25
2022
Posted by XS Editor
The GKA is proud to announce the Big Air World Championships in Tarifa, Spain. This massive event will host 72 big air warriors, going head-to-head outside of old town Tarifa…
Eight Bells: Lou Varney
Friday
Feb 25
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 25
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Lou Varney, 67, British sailing industry leader and renowned yachtsman, passed away after a battle with brain cancer on February 16, 2022.
A passionate and talented sailor, Lou’s career transcended generations. On the water he was equally at home steering the IOR Maxi Matador 2, complete with his famous moustache, as he was (in more recent years) trimming the main on Mini Maxis and TP52’s. Lou was competitive, fun, and forever generous with both his time and energy.
At his happiest helping people on and off the water, he was fondly known by so many around the world as ‘Uncle Lou’ for his long and successful sailing career, showing many the way to be a professional sailor whilst making sure you had a good time doing it too!
In business, Lou co-founded Diverse Yachts back in 1983 and stood at the helm for nearly 30 years. Over this time his creativity, enthusiasm, and passion led to Diverse being truly that. His work spanned everything from building rigs, to developing marine load cells, to continually pushing forward the development of race boat hardware…
IOC urges Federations to pull events from Russia
Friday
Feb 25
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 25
2022
Posted by deleteme
The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has urged all International Sports Federations to relocate or cancel their sports events currently planned in Russia or Belarus…
it’s lonely out there
Friday
Feb 25
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 25
2022
Posted by deleteme
Gildwen and Jean-Pierre arrived on the quays of La Grande Motte on the night of February 19, after almost a month at sea from Martinique, the end of a “return from Transat Jacques Vabre” conveyance in Class 40.
For Gildwen, nicknamed “the kid” and who is preparing the next Mini Transat, what could be better than this transatlantic navigation in the company of an experienced sailor…
New Moth Designs in the UK for 2022
Friday
Feb 25
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 25
2022
Posted by XS Editor
A quick heads-up for anyone heading off to this weekend’s Dinghy Show to keep an eye out for the new Exploder design on the Ovington stand. The Exploder was first seen at last years Garda Worlds where it put in a strong showing…
RORC Caribbean 600 Wraps Up
Friday
Feb 25
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 25
2022
Posted by deleteme
The RORC Caribbean 600 is wrapping up as the final finishers make their way towards Antigua after five days of racing. The 600 nm course starts and finishes in Antigua and takes competitors all around the Caribbean Islands.
The overall winner, Pac52 Warrior Won, finished the race late Wednesday night. Christopher Sheehan, owner and skipper of the boat, said, “I feel so much joy right now. It is very humbling when I think about all of the competitors that have worked so hard in this race, I am overwhelmed. We have been preparing for this race for the last eight months and when I think of the great teams that have won this race, it is just extraordinary.”
Field set for 2022 Congressional Cup
Thursday
Feb 24
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 24
2022
Posted by XS Editor
The World Match Racing Tour has been significantly disrupted during the coronavirus pandemic, but the 2022 championship season begins with optimism as Long Beach Yacht Club ramps up for Congressional Cup on April 19-23 in Long Beach, CA.
Sailed in Catalina 37s, an international lineup is confirmed which includes more than half of the world’s top-ranked match racing skippers for the only Grade 1 sailing event in the USA. Ten teams from five different nations will be vying for the 57th Congressional Cup founded in 1965…
RORC Caribbean 600 day 4
Thursday
Feb 24
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 24
2022
Posted by XS Editor
On the fourth day of the RORC Caribbean 600, 23 teams had completed the race and were enjoying the hospitality of Antigua Yacht Club, with an army of volunteers providing a warm welcome and cold Carib beers dockside…
ETNZ core sailing team line up confirmed
Thursday
Feb 24
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 24
2022
Posted by XS Editor
The core sailing team consists of 6 key sailors led by Skipper Peter Burling who is joined by Blair Tuke, Andy Maloney, Nathan Outteridge, Glenn Ashby and Josh Junior whose focus will be on the performance and development of the boat…
Best Boats: Balance 482
Wednesday
Feb 23
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 23
2022
Posted by deleteme
I’m sure many readers have heard of the dinghy test, in which it’s considered important you be able to admire your own boat as you’re dinghying ashore. Taking things up a notch, I’d say there’s also a kind of vanity test underway, whereby it ain’t half bad finding yourself sailing around on a boat so cool you can’t help thinking you’re pretty cool as well. Case in point, the new South African-built Balance 482 catamaran.
Design & Construction
A collaboration between Balance president Phillip Berman and naval architect Anton du Toit, the Balance 482 features a pair of narrow, slippery hulls that include either high-performance fixed keels or dual daggerboards (the latter far and away the more popular of the two); wave-piercing bows, to reduce hobby-horsing; a nicely drawn reverse sheer to maximize living space while keeping weight out of the ends; a low cabintrunk to minimize windage; and a powerful easily handled rig with a square-top main and self-taking headsail. Reaching sails can be flow from a centerline longeron sprit fabricated out of aluminum…
An effort to diversify collegiate sailing
Wednesday
Feb 23
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 23
2022
Posted by XS Editor
The Undefeated is a website owned and operated by ESPN which seeks to explore the intersections of race, sports, and culture. In this report, the publication looks at an initiative occurring in college sailing:
Competitive sailing is so white even the overwhelmingly white participants can’t help but notice how white it is. “I feel like it’s a pretty well-known fact, a stereotype that holds true,’’ observed Cori Radtke, the assistant sailing coach at Maine’s Bowdoin College.
It’s so white that many of those same white competitors have committed to an initiative to study, understand, and change the demographics of the sports at the college level. Even with its tiny numbers of Black and other non-white participants, they still far exceed those at the national level and in Olympic and other competitive circles…
Merlin Rockets are set to impress
Wednesday
Feb 23
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 23
2022
Posted by XS Editor
The Merlin Rocket Class look forward to welcoming you to their stand at the RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show 2022 and you are in for a real treat as they will be showcasing three boats on stand B54!
RYA Para Sailing Hub to be launched
Wednesday
Feb 23
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 23
2022
Posted by XS Editor
At the RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show the RYA is launching a brand-new support network for the racing community aimed at increasing racing opportunities for disabled people in the UK and supporting sailing’s reinstatement in the Games…
Record win for Jason and the Argonauts
Wednesday
Feb 23
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 23
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Jason Carroll’s MOD 70 Argo (USA) crossed the finish line of the RORC Caribbean 600 to take Multihull Line Honours and set a new Multihull Race Record of 29 hours, 38 mins, 44 secs…
No monohull record in Caribbean 600
Wednesday
Feb 23
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 23
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Antigua (February 23, 2022) – Dmitry Rybolovlev’s ClubSwan 125 Skorpios (MON), skippered by Fernando Echavarri, crossed the finish line today to take Monohull Line Honours at 03:59:51. The elapsed time of 1 day, 16 hours, 39 mins, 51 secs was not enough to break the current monohull record set in 2018 by George David’s Rambler 88 (USA) of 1 day, 13 hours, 41 minutes, 45 seconds. – Full report
agro
Tuesday
Feb 22
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 22
2022
Posted by deleteme
Jason Carroll’s MOD 70 Argo (USA) crossed the finish line in Antigua to take Multihull Line Honours at 17:18:44 on Tuesday 22nd February 2022.
The elapsed time was 29 hours, 38 mins, 44 secs – a new Multihull Race Record for the RORC Caribbean 600
Record pace for Caribbean 600
Tuesday
Feb 22
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 22
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Antigua (February 22, 2022) – Tropical heat, moderate trade winds, and ocean swell provided superb racing conditions for the first day and night of action in the 2022 RORC Caribbean 600. However, two boats have retired with all sailors safe and well as Ron O’Hanley’s Cookson 50 Privateer (USA) and Todd Stuart’s Swan 82 White Rhino (USA) return to Antigua.
In the deep south, a battle is raging between the three foremost multihulls, with Giovanni Soldini’s Maserati (ITA) and Jason Carroll’s Argo (USA) less than a mile apart. The 70ft trimarans have been recording boat speeds in excess of 35 knots at times.
Peter Cunningham’s PowerPlay (CAY) led the fleet to Barbuda, but is now 20 miles behind the leaders at Guadeloupe. Maserati and Argo are on course to beat the Multihull Race Record (30 hours 49 mins 00 secs) and are expected to finish the race at around sunset tonight.
“PowerPlay is shrieking and whooshing at between 28 and 33 knots in silence, just flying … and then with the tortured sound of a loaded winch easing, the symphony starts again… and again,” shared PowerPlay’s Paul Larsen. “We’re desperately trying to hang on to the foilers. In these conditions it feels like managing losses until lighter conditions arrive… hopefully…
2.4 Meter CanAm 3 Edge Midwinters wrap up
Tuesday
Feb 22
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 22
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Wow, CanAm #3 Regatta (Edge Mid-Winter), at Charlotte Harbor Yacht Club over this last weekend did not disappoint! We finally got out some of the North American top 2.4mR sailors…
VX One Class Pensacola Winter Series overall
Tuesday
Feb 22
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 22
2022
Posted by XS Editor
The VX One class crowned two groups of winners at the final event of their 2021-22 Winter Series in Pensacola, Florida. Pensacola YC PRO Hal Smith ran seven races over the two-day regatta…
Start of the RORC Caribbean 600 in Antigua
Monday
Feb 21
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 21
2022
Posted by deleteme
Seventy-four teams with over 700 sailors from 32 countries started the 13th edition of the The Royal Ocean Racing Club’s 600-mile race around 11 Caribbean islands…
29er Euro Cup – Victory for Hugo Revil and Karl Devaux
Monday
Feb 21
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 21
2022
Posted by deleteme
Hugo Revil and Karl Devaux of France took a one point victory in the first 29er Euro Cup of the year, hosted by the Club Nàutic El Balís off the Costa Brava, Spain…
three-peat
Monday
Feb 21
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 21
2022
Posted by deleteme
Jack Macartney, skipper of Tech2, became only the fifth skipper in the 87-year history of the Australian 18 Footers League to win three consecutive Club Championship titles when he teamed with Charlie Wyatt and Lewis Brake to win the 2022 series, despite being disqualified for an OCS in today’s final race of the 17-race championship. More here.
Racing: The Vendée Globe & Alex Thomson
Monday
Feb 21
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 21
2022
Posted by deleteme
For fans of the Vendée Globe, the “Boss Boat” and its skipper Alex Thomson have long been favorites. In a race so heavily dominated by the French, the charismatic, boisterous Englishman stood out both for his skill and personality, with onboard media that was more accessible to English-speaking audiences. Thomson has competed in the IMOCA 60 circuit for 19 years, including five consecutive Vendée Globes and numerous world records. Thomson’s Vendée career was marked by equal parts joy and heartbreak—breakages forced him to retire from half the races he competed in, but when he did finish it was on the podium. Following damage to his brand-new IMOCA 60 during the 2020 Vendée Globe, though, he announced he was suspending his campaign and would not compete in the 2024 edition of the race.
“I have had the privilege to compete and race IMOCA 60s for almost 20 years,” Thomson said. “I love the sport, but it’s time for me to spend more time on land with my young family. My wife, Kate, has singlehandedly raised our children for the last 10 years whilst I have pursued my dream. Now I want to support Kate and allow her the same opportunity that she has given me. This doesn’t mean that I am retiring, just changing my role, from spending most of my time at sea to spending more of it on land.”
505 North American Championship – Martin and Lowry are 2022 Champions
Sunday
Feb 20
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 20
2022
Posted by deleteme
Mike Martin and Adam Lowry (-5, 1, 3) of the St. Francis Yacht Club closed out the final day of the 505 North American Championship . . .
Spithill’s US SailGP Team aiming for victory when it matters most
Sunday
Feb 20
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 20
2022
Posted by deleteme
Jimmy Spithill is using the Super Bowl for inspiration as he plots success for the United States in SailGP’s US $1 million Grand Final race next month…
18ft Skiff Club Championship overall
Sunday
Feb 20
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 20
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Jack Macartney, skipper of Tech2, became only the fifth skipper in the 87-year history of the Australian 18 Footers League to win three consecutive Club Championship titles when he teamed with Charlie Wyatt and Lewis Brake to win the 2022 series…
505 North American Championship – Martin and Lowry penultimate day leaders
Sunday
Feb 20
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 20
2022
Posted by deleteme
Mike Martin and Adam Lowry are the new leaders of the 505 North American Championship hosted at Clearwater Community Sailing Centre in Florida, USA…
VIDEO: How to sail the J/70
Saturday
Feb 19
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 19
2022
Posted by XS Editor
2021 J/70 World Champion Willem Van Way shares his secrets and tips…
America’s Cup; Emirates Team NZ speed record bid
Saturday
Feb 19
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 19
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Four times America’s Cup champions, Emirates Team New Zealand, have announced they are going to make an attempt to set a new world wind-powered land speed record, using the design, engineering and building talent used for the AC75’s…
Etchells NSW Championship day 1
Saturday
Feb 19
2022
Posted by XS Editor
Feb 19
2022
Posted by XS Editor
The Etchells NSW Championship commenced yesterday on Sydney Harbour from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (RSYS)…
American Magic reveal leadership team for AC37
Friday
Feb 18
2022
Posted by deleteme
Feb 18
2022
Posted by deleteme
The New York Yacht Club American Magic announced its leadership team as the program continues preparation for the 37th America’s Cup…
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