Two teams sailed today – one in Auckland and the other in Cagliari. American Magic gave an unexpected reveal today, when the US Challenger opened the shed door and saw daylight for the first time…
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Top four advance at Congressional Cup
Long Beach, CA (April 25, 2024) – The first stage of the 59th edition of the Congressional Cup concluded with the double round robin series and the top four teams – Ian Williams (GBR), Jeppe Borch (DEN), Dave Hood (USA), and Gavin Brady (USA) – advancing to the Quarter-final stage of the event.
The remaining eight teams will compete in a repechage stage tomorrow, where the top four finishers will also join the Quarter-finals.
After an overcast start to the day, the clouds burned off and the breeze built for another spectacular day in Long Beach with an 8-10 knot southwesterly breeze which shifted consistently to the right throughout the afternoon.
Denmark’s Jeppe Borch and his Borch Racing were the first to confirm their spot for the Quarter-finals, losing only two races to finish the round-robin stage at 8.5 points, with a half-point deducted for damage. Great Britain’s Ian Williams and his Gladstone’s Long Beach team finished the stage with nine wins and two losses, winning the round-robin.
Going into the 13th flight late in the day, there was still much to play for to qualify for the Quarters. With Borch through, Williams, Brady, Berntsson, and Hood all had a strong chance to also get to the knock-out rounds. It began some of the closest racing of the day.
Hood and his DH3 Racing needed one more win to secure their position into Quarters, and fellow USA skipper Scotty Dickson’s Dickson Racing was not going to give it up easily. The two locals got up close and personal with each other, as well as a brush with the Race Committee boat. The action continued up the course, with contact at the windward mark, which cleared all penalties as they came down the final run bow to bow. Ultimately, Hood clinched the win…
Debut (sort of) for American Magic AC75
Barcelona, Spain (April 25, 2024) – New York Yacht Club American Magic, Challenger for the 37th America’s Cup, today slid its AC75 race boat, “B3,” outside of the shed as commissioning continues since its arrival on March 25.
Previously hidden, it had traveled 3,500 miles from its construction at the build facility in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, to its current home in Barcelona.
While the team did not release significant images, B3 made its public debut for structural and load testing at the American Magic base. This marked the first unveiling of the race boat after a two-and-a-half-year development and build process, totaling over 108,000 design hours and 65,000 construction hours.
A further phase of commissioning and testing completes the path for B3 before an official naming ceremony and inaugural sail.
“Our shore crew and engineers have been working methodically over the last 30 days to get us to this moment,” said Skipper and President of Sailing Operations, Terry Hutchinson. “We look forward to sea trialing and further development in the coming months.”
Following the publication of the AC37 Protocol and AC75 Class Rule on November 17, 2021, the AC75 Class Rule and AC Technical Regulations were finalized on March 17, 2022. The entry period opened December 1, 2021 and runs until July 31, 2022, but late entries for the 37th America’s Cup may be accepted until May 31, 2023. The Defender was to announce the Match Venue on September 17, 2021 but postponed the venue reveal, confirming it would be Barcelona on March 30, 2022. The 37th America’s Cup begins October 12, 2024.
Teams revealed to challenge defender Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
• INEOS Britannia (GBR)
• Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI)
• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team (ITA)
• NYYC American Magic (USA)
• Orient Express Racing Team (FRA)
2023-24 Preliminary Regattas
September 14-17, 2023 (AC40): Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain
November 30-December 2 (AC40): Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
August 22-25, 2024 (AC75): Barcelona, Spain
2024 Challenger Selection Series
August 29-September 8: Double Round Robin
September 14-19: Semi Finals (Best of 9)
September 26-October 7: Finals (Best of 13)
2024 America’s Cup
October 12-21: 37th Match (Best of 13)
For more schedule details, click here.
Additionally, 12 teams will compete in the 2024 Youth & Women’s America’s Cup.
Noticeboard: https://ac37noticeboard.acofficials.org/
Additional details: www.americascup.com/en/home
Source: ACE
America’s Cup: What Mother Nature sees
Sailing Hall of Famer Buddy Melges is famous for saying how “instruments are great, but you have to look at the water and present the boat to Mother Nature.” While it is computers that have created the latest batch of America’s Cup AC75s, Mother Nature will get the final vote on which team got it right. Here’s a glimpse of what she’ll be seeing:
With four teams revealing their box-fresh AC75s, it’s abundantly clear that different solutions have been found for very similar questions. The design teams have worked feverishly to deliver their best and latest thinking whilst the electronics and mechatronics engineers have been hard at it to produce the control and power-delivery systems that will define each team’s campaign. So what do we know so far?
With three teams sailing, what we are seeing is fast-flight being achieved by a combination of Barcelona-specific hull design and clever-thinking on controls. For Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, we are only seeing a fraction of their potential as they are with legacy foils and foil arms. That will change.
The performance, however, of Alinghi Red Bull Racing has everyone sitting up and taking notice with the team running full-span bespoke foils which clearly have an enormous effect on performance.
Hull differences and bustle treatment are more nuanced. Easy to say that Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli are from the same stable of progressive thinking, so too perhaps INEOS Britannia, but Alinghi Red Bull Racing has thrown a spanner in the works with their chine on the bow and full length, considerable, bustle leading to the stern.
All the teams have gone for T-section shapes at the stern run-off but it’s in the bow area where the differences are most marked. INEOS Britannia have real volume in their in-built immediately voluminous bustle, whereas the Italians and Kiwis have aggressively flared bow profiles back to the foil arm boxes.
The deck area is key. For anyone that has seen an overlaid flow diagram of an AC75, the biggest disturbance air passing over the yacht is at deck level and it’s here where designers and technicians have worked the hardest.
The Italians have a beautifully contoured naked carbon approach, moulding the side pods evenly into the deck and aft off the transom. Emirates Team New Zealand does the same with a raised ellipse stern that screams aero.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing has detail from bow to stern with what look like Venturi bumps on the bow to aid airflow into the jib and then an incredibly open cockpit that creates something of a tunnel with the raised pods having internal sidewalls rather than blended in an aggressive treatment of the flow.
INEOS Britannia, from early morning spy shots, appears to be somewhere in the middle of the Italians and Swiss with blended side pods streaming aft – we will know more when they officially launch in the coming days.
Bumps and both hull and deck dilets are evident on all designs but perhaps the biggest differences lie in the treatment of the bustles and skegs that run down the middle of the boat. What we see on the Swiss AC75 is almost an International Moth style of skeg whilst for the Kiwis and Italians, they have a more blended, considerate approach.
Emirates Team New Zealand’s bustle runs full length, kicking up in the final third to the transom allowing for the rudder to be hung beneath the bustle. Its angularity is marked, similar in fact to the sharpness of INEOS Britannia’s treatment although their bustle stops a few feet from the transom tip, meaning the rudder mechanics are mainly all above deck.
The Swiss have considerable volume at the stern in their bustle with the added benefit of getting those rudder controls low and hidden. Same too for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli whose refined bustle goes full length and again has the rudder slung off the underbelly. All the boats so far have a keel chine running off the bow with varying degrees of depth.
Another similarity so far, appears to be in crew configuration with everyone so far going for the trimmer in the forward pod, followed by the helmsman and then the two cyclors in the aft. A screen on the forward pod of Alinghi Red Bull Racing confirms their aero intention whereas for the other trimmers, it’s just a very low position out of the wind that they maintain.
Same too for the cyclors, the power units of this Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. They are arched into an almost time-trial position with their heads down in the ‘pain-locker’ pedaling for all they are worth – rarely do you see a cyclor look up when the boats are in motion.
In terms of sail control, we can see that all the teams have gone for trench configurations on both their jib track and mainsheet track but there’s a world of difference and new thinking going on here.
Emirates Team New Zealand have innovated once again and removed all of their control componentry below the aft deck to produce a very neat dual control system that auto-varies side to side and gives them ultimate control over both skins of the mainsail.
Jib systems all look to be sunken 3D controls mounted on self-tacking tracks and all the teams have been seen linking up mast rotation to the mainsheet system.
Pre-sets will become defined as the teams ramp up their time on the water, making these AC75s some of the most refined and setting-repeatable boats ever created, placing much emphasis on the data for given wind conditions.
One of the closely guarded areas of development is the foil design. Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli have both opted at launch to keep their designs secret and complete the commissioning of their boats on legacy foils.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing, however, did not have this option and what we saw at their launch was a first iteration of the long-span, low volume foils that are beautifully sculpted with almost invisible dual flaps and upturned wing tips. Designed for super-fast flight and early foiling, we’ve already seen the Swiss get airborne in just 6.5 to 7.5 knots of breeze which is an impressive performance upgrade on the first-generation boats.
INEOS Britannia revealed their boat but kept their new foils shrouded until launch, but what we can certainly see is the trend for back slung foils off a slender bulb – expect this to be the norm but whether will we see innovations here such as ‘Tubercles’ like the Swiss trialed on their LEQ12 moded AC40 or something different, is the big question that won’t be answered for some time yet.
Standing by for NYYC American Magic and Orient Express Racing to reveal their boats.
Following the publication of the AC37 Protocol and AC75 Class Rule on November 17, 2021, the AC75 Class Rule and AC Technical Regulations were finalized on March 17, 2022. The entry period opened December 1, 2021 and runs until July 31, 2022, but late entries for the 37th America’s Cup may be accepted until May 31, 2023. The Defender was to announce the Match Venue on September 17, 2021 but postponed the venue reveal, confirming it would be Barcelona on March 30, 2022. The 37th America’s Cup begins October 12, 2024.
Teams revealed to challenge defender Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
• INEOS Britannia (GBR)
• Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI)
• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team (ITA)
• NYYC American Magic (USA)
• Orient Express Racing Team (FRA)
2023-24 Preliminary Regattas
September 14-17, 2023 (AC40): Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain
November 30-December 2 (AC40): Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
August 22-25, 2024 (AC75): Barcelona, Spain
2024 Challenger Selection Series
August 29-September 8: Double Round Robin
September 14-19: Semi Finals (Best of 9)
September 26-October 7: Finals (Best of 13)
2024 America’s Cup
October 12-21: 37th Match (Best of 13)
For more schedule details, click here.
Additionally, 12 teams will compete in the 2024 Youth & Women’s America’s Cup.
Noticeboard: https://ac37noticeboard.acofficials.org/
Additional details: www.americascup.com/en/home
Source: ACE
A rite of passage for SoCal sailors
The 76th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race will commence on April 26, 2024. The 125nm course from Newport Beach, CA to Ensenada, Mexico has long been a rite of passage for Southern California sailors, with the more recent option of an 88 nm course to San Diego, CA
The entry list has 164 boats going the full distance with 20 teams staying north of the international border.
The 2023 race saw better-than-expected winds at the start, but dropped overnight, making for very close racing by morning’s light. For 2024, the Windy.com app is suggesting that westerly winds will carry the fleet all the way to the finish.
The inaugural race was held in 1948, with a record 675 boats entered in 1983 to earn N2E the title of “World’s Largest International Yacht Race.”
Tom Siebel’s Orion, a MOD70 has held the multihull elapsed time record since 2016 when it broke an 18-year-old record with a time of 5:17:26. A new monohull elapsed time record was set in 2022 when Manouch Moshayedi’s custom RIO 100 crossed the finish line before sunset with a time of 7:02:17.
Trophies are awarded in more than 40 classes for the best in ultra-light and maxi-yachts and non-spinnaker and cruising classes.
Transat Ready: Solo Skippers Optimised For Success
With the Vendée Globe on the horizon, excitement is building as the IMOCA skippers hurtle towards the world’s premiere offshore challenge…
Clipper Race: Winning the China-USA leg
Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam has claimed its fourth win on the 2023-24 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, topping the fleet of eleven 70-foot yachts on the longest and toughest race on the circuit. The team finished the North Pacific Crossing from China to the USA in 25 days, 19 hours, 26 minutes and 11 seconds on April 22 with a 140-mile lead in Seattle, WA.
Led by Race Skipper Bob Beggs and AQP (Additional Qualified Person) Cameron McCracken, the team will double the eleven points scooped up for first place, having played its lucrative Joker on this race. The team also adds a further three points to its take home after a Scoring Gate win, meaning a certain shake up of the top spots on the overall Race Standings.
This victory on the 5580nm course comes as another in a stream of great results for the team as no other boat has won more than one race on this edition.
Sailing terms for landlubbers
In a humorous movie scene from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007), Jack Sparrow and his mutinous helmsman-turned-ally Hector Barbossa stomp down the deck of the Black Pearl barking orders at the crew. “Trim that sail!” one of them shouts. “Slack windward brace and sheet!” another roars. “Haul the pennant line!” they bellow in unison.
Although the scene ultimately revolves around the unsolved question of which one of them is Captain, much of the comedy derives from the fact that the film’s audience—largely comprised of 21st-century landlubbers with a limited understanding of sailing jargon—has absolutely no idea what the characters are talking about. – Full report
Race to Alaska Podcast
The Race to Alaska will hold its 8th edition in 2024, continuing with its 750-mile course from Port Townsend, WA to Ketchikan, AK. And now there is a podcast series prior to the June 9 start. Featured in this episode are perhaps the two most different teams in pursuit of glory:
Team Stranger Danger
Yet another team only shaking hands for the first time just days before race start, meet Stranger Danger—riding high aboard their Schock 40 until the keel probably falls off. Oh, and Katy Stewart is back, if that means anything to anybody.
Team Barely Heumann
The internet got a collective brain freeze when a randomly posted photo of Jim Heumann’s Nauticraft Escapade was posted to the R2AK social media landscape. Why does Jim think this is a good idea? Hear the answer from him
America’s Cup Defender christened “Taihiro”
In a stirring ceremony, Iwi Ngati Whatua Orakei gifted and blessed the name ‘Taihiro’ on the boat that Emirates Team NZ will sail in their defence of the 37th America’s Cup. The launch event took place at the Team’s base in Auckland’s Wynyard Point…
76th N2E Yacht Race – One week to go
The 76th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race will depart from its multi-line start. A multitude of racers and 145 boats that keep N2E a Southern California yacht racing favorite, will take to the 125mn course bound for the Hotel Coral and Marina…
Cup Spy April 16: Luna Rossa revealed
The first tow-run reached a boat speed of 20 knots before turning around and proceeding with the second one at 25 knots and finally increasing to 30 knots…
Cup Spy Apr 16: Radical Swiss AC75 revealed
Alinghi Red Bull Racing was revealed in daylight on Tuesday in Barcelona – showing some very unique design features – and looking to leapfrog the other design teams, and make a two generation advance in AC75 design…
Match Racing Tour begins in USA
The 2024 World Match Racing Tour gets underway with 17 teams and over 100 of the world’s top match racing sailors competing across back-to-back events in Long Beach, CA. Using Catalina 37s, the Grade 2 Ficker Cup (April 19-21) is followed by the Grade 1 Congressional Cup on April 24-28, with both events hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club, this year celebrating its 95th Anniversary.
Eight teams from five countries will compete at the Ficker Cup with the top three finishers advancing to the expanded 12-team field for the the 59th edition of the Congressional Cup.
The oldest continuously-held sailing match race regatta in the world, the 2024 Congressional Cup roster has defending champion Chris Poole, USA (Riptide Racing), five-time Congressional Cup winner Ian Williams (GBR, Team Gladstone’s Long Beach), 2009 Congressional Cup winner Johnie Berntsson (SWE, Berntsson Sailing Team), Eric Monnin (SUI, Capvis Swiss Match Racing), Jeppe Borch (DEN, Borch Racing), Nick Egnot-Johnson (NZL, Knots Racing), Rocco Attili (ITA, RBYS) and Dave Hood (USA,DH3 Racing).
Returning to the event after 12-years is also four-time Congressional Cup winner Gavin Brady, USA (True Blue Racing). While back on the World Match Racing Tour last year, Brady narrowly missed out on the 2023 Match Racing World Championship title in Shenzhen, China after being defeated by GBR’s Ian Williams in the final.
“It will be a very special week for me being back at the Long Beach Yacht Club and racing in the Congressional Cup,” said Brady. “My match racing started in 1996 at the Ficker Cup and Congressional Cup, I won my first Congressional Cup before one of my crew was even born!”
A-Class Cat North American Championships overall
The A-Class Catamaran Admiral’s Cup and North American Championship wrapped up on Saturday, April 13 with a total of seven races raced in the North Americans, allowing one throw-out…
2024 UK Wingfoil Tour in Portland Harbour
The arrival of the 2024 UK Wingfoil Tour brought the biggest numbers to date within the national wing foil fleet, and with good wind all weekend at Portland Harbour, this first event kicked the season off with some spectacular wing foil course-racing…
2024 Star Western Hemisphere Champs
Thirty-three teams competed in the 2024 Star Western Hemisphere Championship, won by Tomas Hornos and Mauricio Bueno on April 12-14 in Miami, FL. After posting a 15 in the first race, Hornos/ Bueno had top four scores in six of the remaining seven races, climbing past the consistency of Piet Eckert/ Frederico Melo in second and Augie Diaz/ Bruno Prada in third. – Details
Cup Spy Apr 14: Kiwis up close
Emirates Team New Zealand sailed a three hour plus session on Sunday. It was the first chance to see the America’s Cup Defender sailing in daylight, and with a close up of the new mainsheet and traveller system…
America’s Cup: International views on new AC75s
Two international sailing commentators Matt Shehan and Tom Morris, have posted their views and insights into the latest AC75s from the Emirates Team NZ designers and Alinghi Red Bull Racing.
Kiwis reveal their America’s Cup AC75
It’s spring season for the America’s Cup as the boats to compete in the 37th edition come out of the sheds and into the daylight. So far it has been Great Britain, Switzerland, and USA, but the biggest splash is now defender New Zealand.
After an intensive 10 month building program, Emirates Team New Zealand’s brand new AC75 had been transported under the cover of darkness from the team’s North Shore build facility to their Wynyard Point base, and then emerged on April 11 in preparation for its launch and commissioning phase in Auckland.
“It is always a pretty significant moment for any team. The first time their race boat emerges from the shed and sees the light of day,” said Emirates Team New Zealand COO Kevin Shoebridge. “So much of any America’s Cup campaign goes on behind closed doors and with the utmost secrecy protecting designs and plans, but there always comes a time when you need to show some of your cards.”
While the full naming ceremony and blessing is not scheduled until later this month, the Kiwis wasted little time to get on the water. With the weather clearing in Auckland, they quietly launch the raceboat a day later, not only for tow-testing but the sailors also managed to launch sails and be the first boat of the new AC75 cycle to actually sail.
“Awesome day to get the raceboat out of the shed, get everything calibrated, get through all our checks and then get a short sail in at the end of the day just before we lost the light,” reports skipper Peter Burling. “It was absolutely amazing and incredible effort by everyone involved in the team to get that done.
“It was pretty incredible to be able to sheet on and get a few foiling tacks straight off the bat but the boat felt really good, it felt quite like we predicted it to which was nice as well, and now we’re looking forward to going back and having a good look at the data and trying to make good plan going forward.”
“We’ve definitely been pretty aggressive with the design, so we’re really happy with what we’ve produced. This is the most exciting time when you get to see what everyone’s been up to for the last two years, so to wheel it out of the shed and finally have it out in the open and be testing and developing on it was incredible.”
From the recon report:
• The mast is noticeably more aft of the foil arms than on the previous generation.
• The initial hull underbelly has a slenderer bustle/skeg running all the way aft having begun at a micro-chine on the bow, with a more pinched and acute stern housing a rudder off the back of the skinny bustle taper.
• The foil arm junction has a volume-reducing indent for the ‘crew-area’ of the hull. The foil arms and foils appear to be either legacy or very much base models, indicating a desire to not yet reveal those designs.
• Compared to the Alinghi Red Bull Racing reveal, the hull is aggressively flared off the bustle to produce an almost flat flaring that runs aft whilst the crew pod area tapers smoothly as opposed to the harsh cut-out that was on display by the Swiss.
• The bow and foredeck profile is conservative, eschewing the ‘Venturi’ bumps or tunnel profile as seen on the Swiss reveal, although the hull/deck join is certainly a nod to aero simulation and modelling.
• The bow itself is sharp and thin, coming to the minimum volume quickly after a fine entry – certainly a consideration for the expected waveforms in Barcelona – and from bow-on the hull flairing is very evident.
• Up forward, just ahead of the trim station, the jib tracks and the 3D trim mechanism are sunk into small pods either side. From dead astern, the form is virtually elliptical, tapering smoothly to the transom.
• The crew configuration has four crew on each side with the cyclors aft, the helm position immediately after the cyclors, and the trimmer in the forward position – a set-up that they previously used.
Following the publication of the AC37 Protocol and AC75 Class Rule on November 17, 2021, the AC75 Class Rule and AC Technical Regulations were finalized on March 17, 2022. The entry period opened December 1, 2021 and runs until July 31, 2022, but late entries for the 37th America’s Cup may be accepted until May 31, 2023. The Defender was to announce the Match Venue on September 17, 2021 but postponed the venue reveal, confirming it would be Barcelona on March 30, 2022. The 37th America’s Cup begins October 12, 2024.
Teams revealed to challenge defender Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
• INEOS Britannia (GBR)
• Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI)
• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team (ITA)
• NYYC American Magic (USA)
• Orient Express Racing Team (FRA)
2023-24 Preliminary Regattas
September 14-17, 2023 (AC40): Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain
November 30-December 2 (AC40): Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
August 22-25, 2024 (AC75): Barcelona, Spain
2024 Challenger Selection Series
August 29-September 8: Double Round Robin
September 14-19: Semi Finals (Best of 9)
September 26-October 7: Finals (Best of 13)
2024 America’s Cup
October 12-21: 37th Match (Best of 13)
For more schedule details, click here.
Additionally, 12 teams will compete in the 2024 Youth & Women’s America’s Cup.
Noticeboard: https://ac37noticeboard.acofficials.org/
Additional details: www.americascup.com/en/home
Source: ACE
America’s Cup: Antonov Airlines deliver AC75
Antonov Airlines have announced they have completed the transportation of the “flying” yachts AC75 for the American Magic team and accompanying cargo from Providence, Rhode Island, USA to Barcelona…
Global Solo: the battle continues
With Andrea Mura completing the 2023/2024 Global Solo Challenge podium, certainly the focus of many of those following the event has drifted away towards other ongoing events and others about to start. However, four skippers are still at sea and for them there is no option to just scroll away from their long adventures.
Riccardo Tosetto and Francois Gouin are both preparing for their final dash to the finish, with the Italian skipper less than 1500 miles to A Coruna and the French captain lagging just 240 miles behind in terms of distance to the finish. However, whilst Riccardo is already north of the area influenced by the Azores high pressure system and can set his eyes on the final destination, Francois needs to keep sailing north before he can make a turn towards the Iberian peninsula.
Riccardo is currently expected to arrive about March 30, which would require him to sail around 200 miles a day, which is plausible in the strong following winds that are forecast. Francois on the other hand has 2 more days to sail north, and then may be affected by the center of the Azores high pressure itself, which will be slowly moving south and towards him.
The patch of light winds should keep displacing south so that Francois should find the northwesterly winds even if initially he were to get stuck in light airs. He should be sailing in favorable winds starting from the 26th when he will be around 1100 miles to the finish and could potentially finish between the 1st morning and the 2nd, although he may be slowed by having to permanently sail with 3 reefs due to his problems with the mainsail track.
David Linger is 1000 miles south of the equator and 4200 miles to the finish. After the storms in late February the skipper of Koloa Maoli has recently had to battle with the fickle and light winds in the area west of Rio and Salvador where the trade winds curl from SE to NW requiring patience to make progress to the north.
David, however, should be just one tack away from being able to clear the westernmost part of Brazil on his way north towards the equator and then the Azores high, before he can set his eyes on the final goal of A Coruna. He may have to spend another month at sea before closing the circle where he started from at the end of October last year.
PlanetSail Episode 30: The Incredible Race
Before the six skippers had even started the solo race around the world in their 32m giant trimarans it was clear that the Arkea Ultim Challenge – Brest was a very special race.
Cup Spy March 8: Big seas return to Barcelona
American Magic was the only team to sail off Barcelona, today, with the forecast of fresh winds and swells of over 1metre keeping some teams ashore. They sailed impressively – captured on video.
Ep6: Road to the 37th America’s Cup
Matt Sheahan and his PlanetSail team share the latest episode in a regular series of features about the road to the America’s Cup that will take us from the first official event in Vilanova to the Cup match itself in October 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. Here’s the episode synopsis:
Just as teams were getting used to the heat of competition and squaring up to their opponents at the two America’s Cup Preliminary Events, the Cup program sees no further racing until mid-August. In addition, the rules of the event as published in the AC37 Protocol prohibit teams from arranging informal racing between each other as well.
So, what happens next? We talk exclusively to Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailing team manager Rodney Ardern, Emirates Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton and his colleague Kevin Shoebridge about how they will tackle the next phase…
Coville finishes second in Arkea Ultim Challenge
(February 29, 2024; Day 54) – Charles Caudrelier, winner of the 2024 Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest, may have been granted dream conditions for his victorious finish but thousands of well wishers braved the Breton drizzle to welcome home second placed Thomas Coville and his Soldebo Ultim this afternoon.
The 55 year old, incredibly completing his ninth circumnavigation of the planet today, was rewarded for his passion and his sharing as well as his extraordinary seamanship and skllls, with a wonderful welcome home.
The French solo skipper of Sodebo Ultim 3 crossed the finish line off Brest at 13:42:40hrs UTC, to take second place, posting an elapsed time of 53 days 1hr 12mins 40 seconds. On this first ever solo multihull race round the world in 32m ULTIM class giants, Coville finished just 2 days 6 hrs 4mins 48 secs behind winner Caudrelier.
This is Coville’s seventh round the world on a multihull, his fifth singlehanded. The sailor, conclusively the most experienced in a multihull on this race, endured some of the worst weather conditions that any of the six skippers had, and also overcame number of technical problems, one of which required him to stopover for two days and two hours hours in Hobart, Tasmania…
Maxi Class added to 2024 ORC World Championship
Soaked into the floorboards of this town’s saltier watering holes are stories from the 1980s and 1990s when the globe-trotting Maxi class would regularly call into the quaint New England port to contest a major championship…
The first king of the Arkéa Ultim Challenge-Brest
Blessed with a perfect sunrise, flat seas and a modest 15kts breeze as he approached the long awaited finish line off Brest this morning Charles Caudrelier took time to enjoy the final ten miles of his solo multihull race round the world…
Arkéa Ultim Challenge-Brest day 48
Every Friday we debrief the last week and look ahead with the routing cells. Both third placed Armel Le Cléac’h and second placed Thomas Coville have been dealing with the Doldrums recently and go into their final week…
Evil welcome for Arkea Ultim Challenge
(February 22, 2024; Day 47) – 2024 Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest race leader Charles Caudrelier and the ULTIM Maxi Edmond de Rothschild have been in the Azores port of Horta since yesterday morning waiting for Storm Louis to leave the Bay of Biscay and a weather window to open to allow him to complete the final 1200 miles of the 24,400 nautical miles solo multihull race around the world which started on January 7.
Louis is the name given to a very large active Atlantic depression which is currently sweeping Europe, from the south of Ireland to Lisbon. Louis is more 1000 miles wide and almost 2000 miles from west to east.
The leading edge of the depression has been buffeting Finistère, Morbihan and inland Brittany while Louis’ tail is still smacking the coasts of Greenland. Winds are averaging 35-45 knots at the front of the system – more like 45-55 knots towards its center and the waves are between nine and 13 metres.
“The problem was I already had a big sea of 8-9 meters from the North-West, but it was quite long and quite beautiful,” said Caudrelier. “So we thought about going on – at 8-9 meters it’s not so very serious, especially if there are gaps between the waves.
“The problem was that I couldn’t go fast enough to stay in front of the second depression, I had to go at more than 30 knots and we weren’t sure I could do it in these sea conditions. So that means if I was caught by the other depression, the wind would change direction 180° and could really, really build. This is often what causes the big storms we can have. It creates a very strong wind against the sea, situation with two seas crossing each other, and that is very dangerous for boats.
“So we are moving more towards a consensus, a great wisdom even – even if we are all impatient – to wait for Saturday (Feb. 24), when we have the completely right window. We can afford to wait because we obviously looked at (second placed) Sodebo and the boats behind, and the weather situation means that they will be behind us, not very far, but between Thomas (Coville) and me there still will be an anticyclone so there is no possibility that he can overtake me in terms of boat speed performance.”
The expectation is now that Caudrelier aboard his Maxi Edmond de Rothschild could set off sometime Saturday again to finish in Brest on Monday, February 26, one day before his 50th birthday.
Thomas Coville, who has got out of the Doldrums, is now just 1830 nm from the leader, sailing upwind in weak trade winds, forcing him to sail quite some way west to enable the Maxi Sodebo Ultim 3 to advance at around fifteen knots this afternoon.
Armel Le Cléac’h, who slipped to third during his latest pit stop, is 500 nm further back and leaving the Doldrums behind. They have spread out, but should enable the skipper of the Maxi Banque Populaire XI to get away fast. Both of these chasing skippers are obviously looking at the leader, who has stopped. How much ground will they make up during his stopover?
Race to Alaska Podcast
The Race to Alaska will hold its 8th edition in 2024, continuing with its 750-mile course from Port Townsend, WA to Victoria, BC. And now there is a podcast series prior to the June 9 start. This episode questions how two of the entrants could be in the same race. Meet the soloist of Team SKOFTIG as they chat with Jake and the quad-ists Team Juvenile Delinquents who caught up with the Race Boss.
Team SKOFTIG
This team is either amazing, or just a dirty trick. Find out which as you listen to R2AK Lead Instigator Jake chat with Derek Desaunois of Team SKOFTIG. Derek tells us about getting rescued somewhere off the Australian coast and makes a handshake agreement with Jake that could lead to considerable discomfort come race time.
Team Juvenile Delinquents
Race to Alaska has existed for the majority of the lives of the members of this team, and that gives them an edge. What edge? Who knows. The Race Boss was curious about what sets this team – Dagny Kruger, Else Ranker, Bryce Lutz, and Willow Gray – apart from other high schoolers still content racing around plastic buoys.
Ocean Globe Race arrives in Uruguay
The 2023-24 Ocean Globe Race fleet is finishing the penultimate leg which extended 6500 nm from Auckland, New Zealand to Punta del Este, Uruguay. The 73-foot Pen Duick VI (FRA), skippered by Marie Tabarly, was the elapsed time winner when they finished on February 13, while it was the Swan 53 Triana (FRA) with skipper Jean d’Arthuys which claimed overall honors.
As one of the smallest yachts in the fleet, Trina’s finish on February 17 after 34 days and six hours took the coveted first in IRC and fifth in line honors.
“It’s incredible, one year ago I was allowed to enter the race after registration had closed and I was the last entrant,” said d’Arthuys. “Back then I couldn’t imagine this. The first goal was to be on the start line and I never dreamed of winning the Cape Horn leg. It’s the Sayula story all over again, winning against the big fish. But I have an amazing crew. Just amazing. They are perfect.”
The overall standings have been shuffled when race leader Translated 9 retired from Leg 3 after being forced to divert to the Falkland Islands due to cracks in the hull of the Swan 65. The team is hopeful they can make repairs and start the final leg from Punta del Este, Uruguay to Southhampton, UK on March 5.
Event information – Race rules – Entry list – Tracker
No longer racing:
• Swan 51 Godspeed (USA) – retired after Leg 1
The 2023-24 Ocean Globe Race (OGR) is a fully crewed, retro race, in the spirit of the 1973 Whitbread Round the World Race, marking the 50th Anniversary of the original event. Racing without computers, GPS, and high-tech materials, they navigate with sextants and paper charts. Seven of the fleet are former Whitbread competitors.
Starting in Southampton (UK) on September 10, the OGR is a 27,000-mile sprint around the Globe, divided into four legs that passes south of the three great Capes. The fleet is divided in three classes with stop-overs in Cape Town, South Africa; Auckland, New Zealand; and Punta del Este, Uruguay before returning to Southhampton in April 2024.
2023-24 Ocean Globe Race:
FIRST LEG: Start 10 September 2023. 7800 miles. First boats finish 9-21 October 2023.
SECOND LEG: Start 5 November 2023. 7250 miles. First boats finish 14-23 December 2023.
THIRD LEG: Start 14 January 2024. 6500 miles. First boats finish 9-14 February 2024.
FOURTH LEG: Start 5 March. 6550 miles. Finish 1-10 April 2024.
18ft Skiff Australian Championship Race 6
Despite finishing in fourth place today, the Yandoo 18ft skiff team of Micah Lane (skipper), Fang Warren (sheet) and Lewis Brake (bow) officially became the 2023-24 Australian champions…
Arkéa Ultim Challenge-Brest day 43
After a little more than 48 hours of technical stopover in Rio de Janeiro, ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest skipper Armel Le Cléac’h and his ULTIM Maxi Banque Populaire XI have returned to the race track…
America’s Cup: Brits catch fire in AC40
INEOS Britannia, Britain’s challenger for the 37th America’s Cup, has suffered damage to one of their one-design supplied AC40 training boats, Athena, after a fire onboard…
Arkéa Ultim Challenge-Brest day 42
Every Friday we talk to the ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE – Brest routers who work round the clock on-shore to provide the optimum routes to keep their respective skippers fast and safe…
2024 Star Midwinter Championship
The 2024 Star Midwinter Championship attracted 40 teams for the 8-race series on February 8-11 in Miami, FL. Paul Cayard and Frithjof Kleen won the first race and led throughout to build a 17-point winning margin over Jack Jennings/ Pedro Trouche with Will Stout/ Parker Mitchell two points back in third. – Details
2024 Snipe Midwinter Championship
Bradley Adam and Thomas Walker topped 21 teams to win the 2024 Snipe Midwinter Championship on February 9-11 in Key Largo, FL. Posting bullets in four of the 9 races, Adam and Walker beat out Ivan Shestopolov and Lexi Pline by 15 points with Watt Duffy and Trevor Davis two points back in third. – Details
Half of Arkea Ultim Challenge in Atlantic
(February 12, 2024; Day 37) – The 2024 Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest has half the Ultim Class fleet around Cape Horn as Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild) led on February 6, followed by was Armel Le Cléac’h (Maxi Banque Populaire XI) on February 10 and third early the following morning was Thomas Coville (Sodebo Ultim 3).
They are now continuing their climb up the Atlantic, while fourth placed skipper Anthony Marchand completed his second technical stopover yesterday at Dunedin, New Zealand. Marchand had to make repairs to the system which hoists and lowers his remaining foil. He removed the port foil in Cape Town after it was damaged…
Simpson rescued in South Atlantic
(February 12, 2024) – The fatigue by boats and skippers in the 2023-24 Global Solo Challenge is mounting, with the biggest news coming from American Ronnie Simpson who was dismasted today at 0200 UTC. His Open 50 was approximately 650 nm due east-southeast from Buenos Aires, with the breakage occurring as the boat landed hard off a wave crest.
Due to a developing storm in his area, a rescue was initiated, with the Bulk Carrier Sakizaya Youth of Taiwanese ownership redirected from its course to Necochea, Argentina, after a voyage from Australia to India and Pakistan. The carrier, under the coordination of MRCC Argentina, successfully reached Simpson and brought him aboard, leaving his yacht Shipyard Brewing adrift in the South Atlantic.
In other news, David Linger rounded Cape Horn today on his Class40 Koloa Maoli despite a broken boom, with his plan to stop for repairs in Ushuaia, Argentina.
Pavlin Nadvorni has decided to retire as his left arm needs to be immobilized for at least a month, following the knockdown incident while having the kidney stone issue. He had already stopped his Farr 45 Espresso Martini in New Zealand due to problems with his mainsail mast track.
Also tapping out is Édouard De Keyser on his Solaire 34 SolarWind who had stopped in Australia for repairs, and has determined that he will be unable to depart before the race deadline to round Cape Horn.
Race details – Entry list – Start times – Tracking
Attrition List:
DNS: Peter Bourke – Class40, Imagine
DNS: Ivan Dimov – Endur37, Blue Ibis
DNS: Curt Morlock – IMOCA, 6 Lazy K
DNS: Volkan Kaan Yemlihaoğlu – Open 70, Black Betty
RTD: Juan Merediz – Class40, Sorolla
RTD: Dafydd Hughes – S&S 34, Bendigedig
RTD: Ari Känsäkoski – Class40, ZEROchallenge
The inaugural Global Solo Challenge 2023-24 seeks to be a budget-friendly solo, non-stop race around the world. Using a pursuit format for the 2023-24 race, 20 entrants from 34 to 70 feet have start times between August 26 to January 6 from A Coruña, Spain, with the first boat to return deemed the winner.
Source: GSC
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