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The 2023 Youth Match Racing World Championship will be held December 9-15 in Sydney, Australia. To compete, sailors must be under the age of 23 in 2023. Using Elliott 7s, the selection process for the skipper representing the U.S. will be by resume, with the deadline for submitting an application is July 15, 2023…
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Testing the Elan E6 in challenging upwind conditions…
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Aarhus, Denmark (May 31, 2023) – In accordance with the Sailing Instructions for The Ocean Race, which allow the Race Committee to shorten the course for boats still racing, the finish line for Biotherm has been moved to longitude 0-degrees.
The team then finished Leg 5 this morning, but remains 480 nm from the finish port in Aarhus . The team is making way slowly due to their broken main shroud on the port side of the boat, and is not expected to join the IMOCA fleet before June 3.
After the team lost touch with the leaders soon after the Leg 5 start in Newport, they were mired in a different weather pattern that left them off the pace. Problems with their autopilot and electronics, plus a broken sail lock that dropped their J3 headsail into the water, added to their woe before the shroud break on May 28…
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Xucia is Mini 6.50 #1081, a radical Sam Manuad foiling mini and hydrofoiling iteration of the popular single-handed class. In Yachting World, Rupert Holmes looks at the accelerating pace of change in the Mini 6.50s:
The past few years have seen an explosion of activity in the Mini 6.50 class, with qualifying races for the iconic Mini Transat race oversubscribed by up to 100% and two-year waiting lists for new Series-built boats.
Yet, the front of the fleet is no longer an economic place to go racing. Typical fully equipped prices for new Series (production) builds are around €150,000 ($186k USD), while the bill for new one-off Protos (custom) is well over double that figure, reflecting the costs of full carbon one-off boats that incorporate build knowledge gained from America’s Cup campaigns, plus in some cases the enormous cost of foils.
Historically the class has been a hotbed of innovation. It’s here that twin rudder designs and canting keels were first refined and proven to be reliable, even if some of the latter initially had problems when scaled up to much larger yachts. However, for the past few years almost all new development has been in the lower-powered Series fleet, where scow bows have been the norm for several years…
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More than 20 years after the start of the adventure, Philippe Guigné, founder of the famous internet sailing game Virtual Regatta, is leaving the company after selling it in 2021 to online gaming specialist 52 Entertainment. In an interview with BoatNews.com, he answers questions on the company’s success, his plans, and his vision of digital in the boating industry.
How did Virtual Regatta come about? Can you tell us about its origins and rise?
It’s a long story. The company was born under the name Many Players. It all started with a vision of the time, which turned out to be incredibly accurate. Back in 2000, I believed that the Internet would democratize video games. Before, you had to buy cartridges and travel, and with the Internet, all you had to do was download it and you could be playing in minutes.
I’m a former professional sailor, I won the Tour de France in 1997 and I managed it in 1996, when Bruno Troublé took a sabbatical. And my second intuition, having worked as a sports event organizer, is that the Internet will make it possible to do so, without everyone having to go to the same place. This gave rise to e-Sport, which didn’t even have a name at the time…
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Bayview Yacht Club, one of the most storied and historical sailing clubs in the world, is pleased to announce that the 12th Annual Bayview One Design Regatta (BOD) will take place Friday-Sunday, June 2-4, 2023…
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Race to Alaska is back for year seven with 39 teams registered to depart from the Northwest Maritime Center on June 5…
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The Royal Ocean Racing Club was saddened to hear that two sailors had been lost at sea this weekend, racing in the English Channel in two separate races organised by JOG and the Sussex Yacht Club…
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The three man Arbitration Panel has dismissed the Application by the New York Yacht Club’s team American Magic to be excused from participation in the second Preliminary Event, part of the 37th America’s Cup…
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First it was 11th Hour Racing Team, powering to a new standard, only to be eclipsed a short time later by Team Holcim-PRB, who appeared to have secured not only a new race record, but the outright monohull record for distance covered in 24 hours…
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Updated story covering all teams activity for May 25-26. Emirates Team New Zealand completed a match race practice session off Takapuna Beach, on Friday. The other teams sailed from Barcelona, Mallorca and Cagliari…
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It’s hard to believe that a sailing boat can cover a total distance in 24 hours that would equate to travelling from Paris to Alicante in southern Spain, the home of The Ocean Race, but that is what Holcim-PRB has now done…
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(May 26, 2023; Day 6) – Skipper Kevin Escoffier and his Team Holcim-PRB have shattered the existing 24-hour distance records for monohull boats.
First to fall was The Ocean Race 24-hour Speed Record Challenge sponsored by Ulysse Nardin, previously set at 602 nautical miles by Simeon Tienpont’s VO65 Team AkzoNobel in the 2017-18 race.
A few hours later and the outright monohull record, 618 nautical miles set by the 100 footer Comanche in 2015, had been eclipsed. As of 0630 UTC today, Team Holcim-PRB pushed the 24 hour distance further to 640.9 nautical miles.
The previous high speed for the 2023 race was on Leg 3 when 11th Hour Racing Team posted a 544.63 nautical mile run over the 24 hours, which at time improved on the distance for a monohull up to 60-feet over the record set in 2017 of 536.81 nm. All record times must be submitted to the World Sailing Speed Record Council for ratification.
Conditions have been near perfect for making a record run – downwind reaching, in 25-27 knots of wind, with a relatively flat sea state.
“It’s a great boat and I’m really pleased! It’s not every day you break a record like this,” said Escoffier. “I’m really happy for the whole team after what happened on the fourth leg (the team retired after dismasting). We don’t know what’s going to happen next, even if we’re going to do everything we can to win this leg. In any case, I think it’s a great reward for the whole team.”
The run has brought the team within a couple miles of 11th Hour Racing Team who continue to lead the leg…
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Four teams sailed on Wednesday, May 24 from Auckland, Mallorca, and Cagliari. Alinghi Red Bull Racing christened their new AC40-7, and took it for a tow-test off Barcelona. Top Match Racer and SailGP helm, Phil Robertson (NZL) was again present…
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After four races in warm winds of 8 to 16 knots, some clear patterns are already beginning to emerge in the three world-class kitefoiling contests taking place in Torregrande, Sardinia…
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(May 25, 2023; Day 5) – It’s going to be an interesting 24-hours in The Ocean Race as the leading trio find themselves in record-setting conditions with strong downwind reaching angles and ‘relatively’ flat water.
11th Hour Racing Team, at the head of the fleet, is already posting a run of over 550 miles for the past 24 hours, a number that is currently going up with each hourly position report.
It was on Leg 3 when 11th Hour Racing Team posted a 544.63 nautical mile run over the 24 hours, which improved on the distance for a monohull up to 60-feet over the record set in 2017 of 536.81 nm.
“We’ve got plenty of wind, there’s a bit more pressure than forecast, and it’s still a little bumpy, but we got out across the front earlier than the other guys which seems to be a gain for now,” said 11th Hour Racing Team’s skipper Charlie Enright. “And we just had 31 knots as a 10 minute average, which isn’t nothing!”
Team Holcim-PRB and Team Malizia, in second and third place respectively, are striving to match that pace. This is a flat out drag race, with limited tactical opportunities…
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(May 25, 2023) – Killer whales severely damaged a sailing boat off the coast of southern Spain, reports the local maritime rescue service, adding to dozens of orca attacks on vessels recorded so far this year on Spanish and Portuguese coasts.
In the early hours today, a group of orcas broke the rudder and pierced the hull after ramming into the Mustique on its way to Gibraltar, prompting its crew of four to contact Spanish authorities for help, a spokesman for the maritime rescue service said.
The service deployed a rapid-response vessel and a helicopter carrying a bilge pump to assist the 66 feet vessel, which was sailing under a British flag, he added. The Mustique was towed to the port of Barbate, in the province of Cadiz, for repairs.
Earlier in May, the sailing yacht Alboran Champagne suffered a similar impact from three orcas half a nautical mile off Barbate. The ship could not be towed as it was completely flooded and was left adrift to sink. – Full report
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Emirates Team New Zealand had an early start, with a poor forecast which didn’t eventuate. The Kiwis set a new top speed of 57kts – achieved in a bear-away. Alinghi Red Bull Racing broached twice in top end conditions – self recovering each time…
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May’s World Sailing Show focuses on Tom Slingsby’s Team Australia in San Francisco as SailGP season three honours are decided…
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Racing at the Royal Ocean Racing Club Vice Admiral’s Cup concluded on Sunday 21 May after a second superb day of racing in The Solent. The north easterly breeze wicked up to 20 knots at times, but was once again variable in speed…
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Join America’s Cup Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand on their Chase Boat as they move away from the AC75 test program and onto two-boat testing with the two AC40’s…
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(May 22, 2023; Day 2) – The Ocean Race commenced yesterday in light winds following stormy weather the day prior which postponed the In-Port Race and had it incorporated into the fifth leg start from Newport, RI. While Team Malizia snatched the In-Port victory from hometown team 11th Hour Racing, it is the later that now leads the fleet across the Atlantic Ocean.
After being squeezed between two Marine Mammal Exclusion Zones for much of last night, the US-flagged team has shown an extra gear as the race course opened up. With the 11th Hour, Malizia, and Holcim-PRB near even at the edge of the zone, American skipper Charlie Enright’s squad has been a couple knots faster with speed over 20 knots on the second day of the double-points leg to Aarhus, Denmark.
Sea conditions could get worse as the boats move into a favorable Gulf Stream current that will be pushing against the northerly winds in the forecast to dramatically disrupt the sea state…
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Even in the the inky darkness there was no mistaking the exuberant mix of sheer joy, relief and final deliverance for Skipper MACIF duo Charlotte Yven and Loïs Berrehar when they crossed the finish line off Gustavia, Saint Barths…
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Anton Dahlberg and Lovisa Karlsson (SWE) didn’t sail as well as they would have liked today, but the Swedes still hold a slender lead at the 470 European Championship in San Remo, Italy…
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American Curt Morlock will be on the starting line of the first edition of the Global Solo Challenge, with the first start scheduled for next August in A Coruña, Spain, followed by a sequence of staggered starts according to boat performance…
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The 37th America’s Cup is taking a significant step toward its 2024 competition as teams pack up from their remote training sites for the move to Barcelona, Spain. Challenger NYYC American Magic. Both teams are shipping their AC75 and AC40 boats, with the USA team looking to resume training in the Mediterranean by the third week in June…
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During the National Boating Safety Advisory Committee meeting on May 11, 2023 (NBSAC), the U.S. Coast Guard released a summary of statistics on calendar year 2022 recreational boating incidents, revealing that there were 636 boating fatalities nationwide in 2022, a 3.3 percent decrease from the 658 deaths in 2021.
From 2021 to 2022, the total number of accidents decreased 9 percent (4,439 to 4,040), and the number of non-fatal injured victims decreased 15.9 percent (2,641 to 2,222).
Alcohol continued to be the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents in 2022, accounting for 88 deaths, or 16 percent of total fatalities.
The data also shows that in 2022:
• The fatality rate was 5.4 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. This rate represents a 1.8 percent decrease from last year’s fatality rate of 5.5 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. (In 1971, when the Safe Boating Act was first passed, the fatality rate was 20.6 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels.)
• Property damage totaled $63 million.
• Operator inattention, operator inexperience, improper lookout, excessive speed, and machinery failure ranked as the top five primary contributing factors in accidents.
Where the cause of death was known, 75 percent of fatal boating incident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims with reported life jacket usage, 85 percent were not wearing a life jacket.
“Most incidents occur in benign conditions—calm waters, light wind, and good visibility—under which you may least expect to end up in the water, which is why it is critical to wear a life jacket and engine cut-off switch at all times as they are designed to save your life,” stated Captain Troy Glendye, Chief of the Coast Guard’s Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety. The Coast Guard reminds boaters to ensure life jackets are serviceable, properly sized, correctly fastened, and suitable for your activity…
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Following a selection process, the eleven skippers for the 2023-24 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race are set to lead teams of non professional sailors from all walks of life around the globe.
With nationalities from the UK, Uruguay, Portugal, South Africa, and the Netherlands, the skippers appointed to lead their teams around the world have collectively sailed over a million nautical miles and bring a vast range of experience and expertise.
With varied skills among the crew, teams are faced with Mother Nature’s best and worst conditions as they race across the world’s oceans. Therefore, the skippers leading the teams need to be of the highest caliber to ensure a safe and successful race…
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Pensacola is on its way to having a permanent home for America’s Cup challenger New York Yacht Club American Magic after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed off on a $3.9 million grant from the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund on May 15, 2023.
That grant will go toward the first phase of the scaled-back $53-million Triumph Gulf Coast project request the city submitted last year, which consisted of seeking funds to build a $15 million Center for Maritime Excellence at the Port of Pensacola…
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Last weekend ended the third and final event of the J/70 Spring Mediterranean Cup in the waters of Palma de Mallorca, hosted by the Real Club Nautico de Palma…
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Global leader in sailmaking and performance clothing, North Sails, is proud to again be the Official Sail Supplier at the Ocean Race 2022-23…
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As the leading trio sail south west this Sunday afternoon, two weeks exactly since the Concarneau start of the Transat Paprec mixed tow handed race to Saint Barth’s, they are crossing in front of fourth placed Guillaume Pirouelle and Sophie Faguet…
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The Antiguan crew, Rum Runners, snatched the overall victory in La Grande Motte on the very last double points race against the Dutch from DutchSail JAJO…
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Mark Foy fathered the sport of 18 footer racing when he staged a regatta, featuring his spectator-driven concept, on Sydney Harbour in January 1892, but Foy was far more than a ‘one-trick pony’…
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Les Sables d’Olonne, France (May 12, 2023) – Michael Guggenberger (AUT) started the 2022-23 Golden Globe Race with a few impediments compared to other entrants in the GGR.
First, he is coming from land-locked Austria when most of the other entrants grew up on the seaside. Second, he started sailing only 12 years ago when most other GGR competitors started sailing at an early age from dinghies, going into keelboats later, some raking up significant mileage on the way.
He did, however, compensate for his relative inexperience with inextinguishable passion and dedication to make it to the GGR start line, and complete his race on his Biscay 36 Nuri in 249 days. He was welcomed at the finish by winner Kirsten Neuschäfer (ZAF), second place Abhilash Tomy (IND), and Chichester Class winner Simon Curwen (GBR) (GBR) as well as hundreds of enthusiasts on the channel and the stage.
Originally planning to enter the 2018 GGR on an Endurance 35, he later switched rides and bought a ketch-rigged Biscay 36 from Antoine Cousot (FRA), who raced later rebuilding and preparing it with his Team Manager Stefan Weigel, turning the graceful cruiser into a bullet-proof yacht that could weather the worst conditions…
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Skipper Paul Meilhat and his Biotherm team had a long wait to get to the finish on Thursday morning in Newport, Rhode Island…
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When the SailGP show rolled into town in San Francisco for the Season 3 Finale there was one key question being asked… Who was going to join the Australians and Kiwis in the million dollar final?
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Newport, RI (May 10, 2023) – 11th Hour Racing Team won leg 4 of The Ocean Race, leading the fleet into their hometown of Newport, Rhode Island on a spectacular spring afternoon in New England.
Skipper Charlie Enright was beaming as he stepped ashore, moments after his team held off Team Malizia to cross the finishing line for their first leg win of the event…
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In this monthly video series, the USA America’s Cup challenger American Magic offers a behind the scene view of their journey toward the 37th edition in Barcelona, Spain.
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 will be held in September/October 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)
• K-Challenge Racing (FRA)
Noticeboard: https://ac37noticeboard.acofficials.org/
Additional details: www.americascup.com/en/home
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Wednesday has dawned with a beautiful morning in Newport, Rhode Island. It’s a cool, crisp, spring day, with bright sunshine and clear blue skies…
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