American Magic made further gains on the other four teams contesting the 37th America’s Cup, with another strong day on Pensacola Bay, sailing in light winds with a newly recut, and larger mainsail…
Route du Rhum – First British finishers Pip Hare and James Haryada
Britain’s Pip Hare (Medallia) finished 12th IMOCA, and James Haryada (Gentoo) 14th in the early hours of Wednesday morning (23 November)…
NSW 18ft skiff Championship starts Sunday
Sunday’s Race 1 of the NSW 18ft skiff Championship is the first step of a long campaign towards becoming the world’s best team at the 2023 JJ Giltinan Championship next March on Sydney Harbour…
The Extraordinary Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Thomas Thor Tangvald
The first boat Thomas Tangvald ever owned was just 22 feet long. She was an odd craft, a narrow plywood scow with a flat bottom, leeboards on either side, and square ends—little more than a daysailer with a rotting deck and tiny cabinhouse tacked on. Thomas paid just $200 for her. He proudly named her Spartan and immediately moved aboard. He was but 14 years old at the time, a skinny lad with a tousled mop of blond hair, an earnest smile, and a sharp mind.
Thomas’s home prior to this had been his father’s much larger 50-foot cutter, L’Artemis de Pytheas, a primitive, home-built teak vessel. Thomas was born on this boat, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and had lived on it his entire life as his father roamed the planet under sail. In moving aboard Spartan, he was for the first time asserting some measure of independence, physically separating himself from his father, Peter Tangvald, and his 7-year-old sister, Carmen.
Peter Tangvald was a renowned, somewhat notorious bluewater cruiser. He had been married several times, having famously lost one wife in a pirate attack and another one overboard. Some wondered if he had murdered these women. Now he was a single dad in his mid-60s, with two kids to look after. Recently he had suffered two heart attacks and was palpably weaker than before.
In July 1991, nine months after Thomas moved aboard Spartan, Peter decreed his family should sail from the Puerto Rican island of Culebra south to Bonaire to stay clear of hurricanes. He also decided he would tow Spartan behind L’Artemis some 400 miles across the breadth of the Caribbean to get there.
It was a pretty crazy plan. For one engineless sailboat to tow another all that distance was in itself challenging. But Peter also decided to split up his crew. Spartan had a large open cockpit, and to keep her from being swamped en route to Bonaire, he decided Thomas should stay aboard to repeatedly bail her out. That left Peter and his weak heart to mind both L’Artemis and young Carmen on his own.
No one knows exactly what went wrong, but on the fourth night of their voyage, both L’Artemis and Spartan were wrecked on the windward shore of Bonaire. Thomas had just gotten up to bail out his boat and witnessed the tragedy in full. In the dark night he sensed first they were much too close to shore, but saw no sign of his father on deck aboard L’Artemis. Then Thomas saw a white line of breakers ahead. He saw L’Artemis lurch up into a shelf of mercilessly sharp coral. Then he saw the towline to his boat go slack. Half naked with no pants on, he grabbed his surfboard and jumped overboard in the nick of time.
Thomas spent six hours paddling around before he finally struggled ashore the next morning. His father’s boat, he found, had been ground into “millions of little bits of teak.” Thomas’ body was covered with friction burns, and by the end of that day he was lying in a bed in the local hospital. Over the next two days he was taken back to the wreck site to identify bodies. His sister was found afloat near shore. His father was found on shore with his face smashed in.
Not long afterward, Thomas had two dreams. In the first, his father came to him looking very different than before, but Thomas still recognized him.
“Yes, it’s amazing, isn’t it?” said his father. “I’m all better now.”
In the second dream, Thomas was studying a huge map, trying to decide where to search for his father. But then he remembered he didn’t have to look for him, because he was already dead.
The second boat Thomas owned was as small as the first, just 22 feet on deck. But she was also much more seaworthy. This was a traditional Itchen Ferry cutter named Melody. Where Spartan had been little more than a flat, hard-cornered box, Melody had a deep hull, a long keel, and sinuous curves that yielded to passing waves rather than resisting them…
Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe update
French skipper Yoann Richomme joined the very elite group of solo ocean racers to have twice won their class on the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe today, with a win in the Class40 from a record entry of 55 boats…
Cup Spy Nov 21: Italians reveal new move
Luna Rossa has emerged from the shed to undertake towing tests, with some basic sensors attached to their port wingfoil. Emirates Team NZ are still evaluating their options after destroying the bow of their AC40 in a training nosedive at 40kts yesterday…
Swiss skipper Justine Mettraux top female
Swiss skipper Justine Mettraux (Teamwork.net) took seventh place in the IMOCA class when she crossed the finish line of the 12th Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe at 02:41:35 UTC this morning, 22 November…
Route du Rhum – Record breaking IMOCA win for Thomas Ruyant
Thomas Ruyant (LInkedOut) is king of the Transats after record breaking Route du Rhum IMOCA win…
david v goliath
The Environment
Greenpeace activists from Mexico and New Zealand renewed their protests over deep-sea mining again targeting the drill ship Hidden Gem, as it returned from its first test mission in the Pacific. The vessel has been the target of past previous environmentalists’ protests over the controversial practice of extracting precious minerals from the deep sea.
The Hidden Gem (61,000 dwt) is a converted drill ship, operated by Swiss company Allseas and commissioned by Canadian miner The Metals Company. While the vessel was undergoing its conversion in Rotterdam in preparation for the new role it was targeted, and again at the end of last week as it arrived off the coast of Manzanillo, México after eight weeks of test mining.
Activists from Greenpeace protested in kayaks holding banners that read “Stop Deep Sea Mining,” as the vessel reached Mexico. Greenpeace Aotearoa campaigner James Hita, onboard a small vessel off the Manzanillo coast, also delivered a message of protest to the captain of the Hidden Gem via radio. The protest was mostly symbolic to draw attention to their cause. Read on.
Abandon boat: Sunk in five minutes
When 2022-23 Golden Globe Race front-runner Tapio Lehtinen was woken by a loud noise, he had five minutes to escape his sinking boat. Translated from Finnish publication Ilta-Sanomat, he shares some details from a cargo ship en route to China:
Lehtinen, 64, managed to lower the life raft into the water, and thanks to the good weather, he was able to calmly wait for the rescuers, who arrived a day later.
He still can’t believe that after careful preparation, the Asteria boat sank in five minutes.
“During those five minutes, the thought that this could not be possible was running through the back of my head. I was able to react to the situation without panicking and without getting nervous, but I also had a bit of a problem with me because the weather was so good.”
After reaching the life raft, Lehtinen watched his beloved boat sink below the surface of the water. After two days since the accident, the cause remains a mystery to him. Asteria was completely rebuilt five years ago before the previous round-the-world sailing organized in 2018…
MORE: In a blog post by Peter Foerthmann, he speculates how the stern may have incurred significant damage due to the auxiliary rudder system. For photos and details, click here.
Retaining a seat at the wingfoiling table
World Sailing has partnered with the Global Wingsports Association (GWA) and the International Wing Sports Association (IWSA) to support the development of the fast growing sailing discipline wingfoiling. Riders in this genre have a foiling board and a handheld wingsail.
Under a new governance structure for the sport, and eager to retain a seat at these tables, the world governing body for the sport of sailing will endorse two Wingfoil world tours to cater to the fast-growing wingfoiling community and provide the best platform for sailors across the globe…
Mervyn Cook : 1942-2022
Mervyn passed away peacefully at his home on Hayling Island on Monday 14th of November after a long illness. He was a lovely modest and quietly spoken man with a lifetime interest in sailing boats.
His initial interest started way back, when with a friend he cycled to the Rick Pond to sail their little boats and was amazed by the magnificent A boats racing. The seed may have been planted there at what was then the Yachting Monthly 6 Metre Owners Association just as it was for me also, a few years later.
His first sailing boat was a British Moth dinghy with the hull built professionally, but finished off by his dad for him to sail on the Thames. Whilst his sailing included lots of dinghy classes, he loved drawing boats, as he was a fine draughtsman and was convinced that the relatively high rocker displacement boats, which were the norm in all development classes, were not the fastest way to go…
Crash reveals AC40 structural problem
The eagerness of the New Zealanders to technically advance the America’s Cup has gotten derailed again. For the 2021 event, the development of the AC75 parts forced teams to delay their launches, and now the requirement of the AC40 training boat has hit a structural snag.
The Kiwi team was testing on their home waters north of Waiheke Island in around 15-20 knots of windspeed and large waves when the crew lost control of the ride height. While sailing downwind at over 40 knots of boat speed, the result was a high-speed uncontrolled gybe and simultaneous deep nosedive followed by a capsize.
The impact of the water pressure collapsed the foredeck at the bow of the AC40. Fortunately, the watertight bulkhead aft of where the damage occurred maintained its structural integrity, successfully serving the purpose of controlling water ingress so the boat could be righted and towed back to base.
“The designers are analyzing the load cases of the incident and although it might be too soon to tell, it is likely that we will have some retrofit structure necessary to our boat and throughout the AC40’s fleet,” noted Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton.
The AC40 was intended to be used by teams as a test platform, and for regattas in advance of the 2024 America’s Cup. The boat also has a one-design configuration and automated flight control system for when it get used in women’s and youth events during the 37th edition.
At the time of the accident, the boat was under manual flight control and testing custom equipment.
While envisioned as a cost saving move, the acceptance of the AC40 by the other teams has been mixed. As the boat’s development provided the Kiwi team with an education, the Italians and Brits have designed and built their own 40-footers for similar effect.
Both the Swiss and USA teams are training in AC75s, with their AC40s likely to arrive too late next year to provide much help in the development of their new AC75 race boat…
To watch the crash sequence, click here.
ETNZ AC40 suffers bow damage in high-speed nose-dive
Emirates Team New Zealand have suffered damage to the bow of their converted AC40 after an early start testing on Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf in some top end conditions…
being there
For more than a century the lure of sailing to paradise has inspired thousands of offshore sailors to take on the 2225-mile challenge of racing to Hawaii. Since 1906 the Los Angeles to Honolulu Transpacific Yacht Race (more commonly known as Transpac) has been organized by the Transpacific Yacht Club to give offshore sailors the opportunity to realize this dream.
The 52nd edition of this classic ocean race will have its first starting gun fired on 27 June 2023. On this date and two successive dates – 29 June and 1 July – waves of monohulls and multihulls will set off from the start, off Los Angeles’ Point Fermin. From here they will sail upwind 26 miles west to clear the first mark of the course at the west end of Catalina Island with the next mark being the finish line buoy off Honolulu’s famous volcanic crater at Diamond Head – 2,200 miles to the southwest…
bubbly
Thomas Ruyant, solo skipper of LinkedOut, was unofficially crowned ‘King of the Transats’ when he won the 38-boat IMOCA class on the 12th Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe.
Hollow-eyed, wobbly-legged, and exhausted this morning after setting an infernal, unbeatable pace, especially over the last three days and nights of the 3542 nautical miles course from Saint Malo to Pointe-à-PItre, Ruyant received universal acclaim from his rivals who finished in his wake. More.
Ruyant makes it a transatlantic double
After a compelling duel with Charlie Dalin, Thomas Ruyant on board LinkedOut completed his second consecutive victory in the IMOCA Class on the Atlantic racecourse, with a stunning win in the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe…
Ireland’s Rocco Wright wins ILCA 6 Men’s Europeans
After battling at the top of his 60 boat event all week, Ireland’s Rocco Wright (Howth Yacht Club) held his nerve and emerged overall winner of the ILCA6 Men’s European Championship on the Côte d’Azur today (Monday 21st November 2022, Hyères, France)…
18ft Skiff Spring Championship race 7
The Yandoo 18ft skiff team of John Winning, Fang Warren & Josh Porebski became the 2022-23 Spring champions after 30-35 knot westerly winds battering Sydney Harbour forced the abandonment of today’s scheduled final race of the Spring Championship series…
Cup Spy Nov 19: Another day in foiling paradise
Those who have been following these daily commentaries will be aware that sailing conditions in Pensacola, Florida and the 2024 America’s Cup venue of Barcelona are at opposite ends of the spectrum…
Route du Rhum: Le Roux wins Ocean Fifty showdown
French solo skipper Erwan Le Roux sailed Koesio across the finish line first in the Ocean Fifty fleet this morning at 10:50:52 UTC narrowly beating second placed Quentin Vlamynck (Arkema) after nail-biting head to head over the final miles…
INEOS Britannia LEQ12 first launch and tow-test shakedown in Mallorca
The final piece of the 37th America’s Cup training jigsaw fell into place with the initial launch and tow-test shakedown of the INEOS Britannia LEQ12, ‘T6’, out in the harbour at Mallorca…
EurILCA 2022 Senior Europeans – Penultimate Day changes final day leaders
Penultimta day of the EurILCA European championships with new leaders for each of the three fleets…
Last night moves to decide thrilling IMOCA victory
A record sized entry of 38 boats at the start line in Saint Malo on Wednesday 9th November looks set to produce the closest and most exciting finish to an IMOCA race in the 44-year history of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe…
EurILCA European Championships day 4
The Final series started today at the EurILCA Senior European Championships & Open European Trophy in Hyeres, France. The wind was unstable in both race areas, forcing the Race Committee to adjust the courses many times before and during the competition…
2.4mR World Championship & Para Sailing International Championship
Former World Champ Megan Pascoe finished second overall in both the 2.4mR World Championship and Para Sailing International Championship held at Davis Island YC in Tampa, USA…
Golden Globe Race – Successful rescue operation for Tapio Lehtinen
Successful rescue operation for Tapio Lehtinen in the Southern Indian Ocean. Golden Globe Race entrant Kirsten Neuschäfer was first to reach Tapio’s position Saturday morning at 05:10 UTC…
Route du Rhum: The IMOCA title is in the balance
After the redoubtable 66-year-old Francis Joyon last night completed his eighth Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe in fourth place on his 105ft/32m Ultim IDEC Sport…
Cup Spy Nov 18: Brits get foiling
American Magic put in a sailing session of over four hours on Pensacola Bay, Florida – clocking up 70nm, with Olympic representative Riley Gibbs on the helm. INEOS Britannia’s LEQ12 finally got tow testing three weeks after its launch…
Maxi Tri for Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille
37 meters long, 23 meters wide, and weighing 21 tons, Sails Of Change has a long list of accomplishments to its credit…
Rolex Yachtsman & Yachtswoman of the Year Award
US Sailing has opened nominations for the 2022 US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year, widely acknowledged as the premiere individual sailing honors in the nation…
Francis Joyon takes fourth place at age 66
Legendary French skipper Francis Joyon sailed to fourth place in the 12th edition of the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe when he crossed the finish line off Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe this Friday morning at 02:56:40hrs UTC…
Golden Globe Race – Emergency Transponder activated as Yacht sinks
Tapio Lehtinen has abandoned his Golden Globe Race yacht, Asteria, while heading toward Australia in the Southern Ocean. His last message received Friday at 11:05 UTC . . .
Route du Rhum: a rematch of sorts
(November 17, 2022; Day 9) – The Ultim 32/23 podium for the 12th Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe was completed yesterday (Wednesday) when Thomas Coville brought the Sodebo Ultim 3 through the finish line off Pointe-a-Pitre at 1952hrs UTC (1542hrs local time) 10 hours and fifty minutes after winner Charles Caudrelier.
The performance extends Coville’s remarkable history with the solo Transatlantic race. He has now finished on the podium five times in his seven ‘Rhums.’ He won in the IMOCA class in 1998 when he deputized for Yves Parlier who was injured pre-start in a hang gliding accident, and then has been third in the multihull or Ultim divisions in 2006, 2010 and 2018.
Coville followed François Gabart (SVR Lazartigue) through the line seven hours and 34 minutes after the runner up after spending time caught in fishing nets on the west of the island. Although both Gabart and Coville finished in the same positions as last edition four years ago, for both it was a very different, better race and indeed Coville also bettered the 2018 course record.
Gabart’s elapsed time on his first ever race for his new SVR Lazartigue was 6 days, 23 hours, 3 minutes and 15 seconds, 3 hours 15 minutes and 50 seconds after class winner Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild).
AC37 – ETNZ reveal new Foil design on AC40 / LEQ12 Test Boat
Emirates Team New Zealand revealed the first phase of its design development process with the sailing team thoroughly testing a new port foil out on Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf…
New Logo for 37th America’s Cup
The Official Logo of the 37th America’s Cup was revealed in Barcelona at the Museu Maritim de Barcelona…
wtf?
This Wednesday morning, November 16, as the first boat was finishing the 12th Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe in Guadeloupe’s bay of Pointe-à-Pitre, a motor boat which was carrying 11 people capsized. The circumstances surrounding the accident are still undetermined, but it caused the tragic deaths of two people who were on board, both employees of OC Sport Pen Duick, the company which organizes the four-yearly transatlantic sailing race from Saint-Malo to Gaudeloupe.
“All our thoughts go out to the families of our two employees and to all of the profoundly affected members of our teams,” said Hervé Favre, President of OC Sport Pen Duick.
OC Sport Pen Duick’s teams, the main partners of the event – the Regional Council of Guadeloupe, the city of Saint-Malo and Saint-Malo Agglomeration, Brittany Region, the CIC – and all the stakeholders of the organization, share the immense pain of the families and send them their deepest and sincere condolences.
Route du Rhum: Caudrelier first to finish
(November 16, 2022; Day 8) – In the dark of a Caribbean night to a typically rapturous welcome, French solo skipper Charles Caudrelier on the Ultim 32/32 Maxi Edmond de Rothschild crossed the line off Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe at 05:02:05hrs local time (09:02:05 UTC) this morning.
His was the first boat to finish the 12th Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe, the legendary 3,542 nautical mile solo Transatlantic race, which started off Saint-Malo, northern Brittany last Wednesday at 1415hrs.
Caudrelier, a 48-year-old two-time winner of the crewed Volvo Ocean Race, first as crew in the 2011/12 race and then skipper in 2017/18, set a new record for the course with an elapsed time of 6 days 19 hours 47 minutes and 25 seconds, bettering the 7 days 14 hours 21 minutes benchmark set by veteran Francis Joyon in 2018 by 18 hours 34 minutes and 22 seconds.
Upon crossing the line, Caudrelier paid tribute to his team and family, “I’m not even tired. The first 24 hours were hard. I so wanted to win the race for the team. I’ve been dreaming of it since I was young. It’s for the family Rothschild. It seemed like a crazy idea, building a boat that could fly. It’s for Franck Cammas, as he had the experience. Without him I wouldn’t be here.
Yandoo set to take 18ft Skiff Spring Championship
The John ‘Woody’ Winning-led Yandoo team of sheet hand Fang Warren and bowman Josh Porebski has taken an almost unbeatable lead in the Australian 18 Footers League Spring Championship as the fleet prepares to line up in next Sunday’s final race…
cool or no?
A mixture of old and new. Prolly shoulda put the windows where they belong, but to us, it’s a pretty cool thing. What say you?
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