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XS Racing is a Racing Organization and a Daily Online News Source for the High Performance Sailor
Visit Several Times Each Day for Your Daily Sailing News as it Breaks!
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Wednesday, November 12 - 2008 - Leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race begins on Saturday when the crews will race to Asia for the first time in the 35-year history of the race. Cochin, India is the finish port and the leg represents a sea change for the race.
The start of leg two is scheduled for 1300, local time (1100 GMT), on Table Bay, just outside the V+A Waterfront that has played host to the fleet since they arrived less than two weeks ago.
The start will be broadcast on the internet, on web TV, at www.volvooceanrace.tv. Audio coverage can be found on the main website at www.volvooceanrace.org and if you are not at your computer, but have your mobile to hand, point its browser at m.volvooceanrace.org. If you are in Cape Town and following the start on the water, audio coverage can be found on VHF radio (channel to be confirmed) as well.
With just three days until the start, the teams are preparing for the challenges of leg two. Traditionally, southern ocean storms, towering seas, horrendous cold and icebergs have been the principal challenges of the leg out of Cape Town. This time, there will be a brief dive into the Roaring Forties (below 40-degrees latitude), before the fleet turns north towards India.
At a briefing on Wednesday morning, the teams learned about the new challenges they were likely to encounter, including small, potentially unlit, local fishing fleets, commercial traffic. As well, the hazard of piracy, not uncommon off the east coast of Africa, was discussed at length. An exclusion zone has been set up, to the northwest of Mauritius, to keep the fleet well clear of the most dangerous area of known piracy.
"One thing we are particularly worried about is the chance of hitting one of these small wooden fishing vessels that are hard to detect," said Ken Read, the skipper of PUMA. "There are so many of these boats in some of the areas we visit that you can almost walk from coast to coast on them. We are entering completely uncharted territory for sailboat racing. We are going to have to be smart, use common sense and we need to understand as a group that we are in this together. If there is a situation out there that we do not like we are going to have to agree as a group to share information."
"We are not going to be paranoid about sailing this route," added Fernando Echávarri, skipper of Telefónica Black. "But now we are aware of what might happen and what to do if it does."
The race from Cape Town to Cochin is 4,450 miles and the leader is expected to finish around December 3. Along the way, a scoring gate has been defined along the meridian of 58-degrees east. It is a big gate - the only restriction is to pass north of Antarctica and south of Mauritius (20-degrees south latitude). Photo Mark Covell/Team Russia/Volvo Ocean Race.
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Wednesday, November 12 - 2008 - Vendee Globe skipper Alex Thomson arrived back off Les Sables d'Olonne early this morning with his damaged Hugo Boss and had to wait until just around midday to get back into the port. The immediate plan is to lift the rig out the boat and make a full inspection of the boat. He has his technical team standing by for another race against time, one they remember only too well.
Q: What happened?
Thomson: After I went through the front, I tacked, and after about six to eight hours after I tacked, I noticed there was some water just inside the boat here, and on inspection I could see there was water coming out through the skin, so there was a hole in the boat.
Q: Did you hit something?
Thomson: I didn't hear anything anything, it was quite bumpy anyway but for sure there we have had an impact of some kind that has broken the hull and peeled the carbon off, all the way to the back of the boat and made a hole in the boat so the boat has been taking on water for the last two days.
Q: And the pumps coped OK?
Thomson: The pumps were fine. It has got worse over time, but there was never any danger of me sinking.
Q: Do you have an idea if it is possible to repair?
Thomson: I have no idea if it is possible to repair until we take the boat out the water this afternoon, then we will have an understanding of how big a job it is, how long it is to repair, to see if we can get it fixed and get back in the race.
Q: That is your aim?
Thomson: That is the goal, yes.
Q: Does the damage go right through the hull at that part?
Thomson: On the inside it does not look like that. But we cannot see until we see the outside when we can have a better look, and the only way is out the water. If we can repair it in the timescale, then we will continue. We have until the 19th to leave and still be in the race, so that is our cut off date, I am not really doing it without being in the race.
Q: You will try to the last moment?
Thomson: We have got to look at the damage, we have just gone through this already so we understand how long it takes to fix these things, see how big it is, and decide how long it is going to take. If it is feasibly possible in the time frame then we will.
Q: What will your goal be if you re-start?
Thomson: My goal last time (when he left last Sunday) was to finish...so I guess this time, will be to finish as well.
Q: Do you still feel confident in the boat?
Thomson: I don't see anything inherently wrong with her, being hit by a fishing boat one week and then hitting something in the water does not mean the boat is unsafe or unsound, particularly we had a good bashing upwind, which is the hardest thing for the boat and she proved fine, it was a good way to start the race really. I know some people think it is irresponsible to leave into a storm like that, but personally I think it shows where the weak points are straight away, and it is much better for it to happen then and be back here now, and to be able to fix it, than for it to happen 2000 miles from land in the Southern Ocean.
Q: Did it feel dangerous for you?
Thomson: It did not feel dangerous at all, it never felt dangerous at all. When I found the water ingress it was not really a surprise because the night before I had some ballast (water) leak into the boat, so the other side was wet. Initially when I saw there was water, I though it was from the other ballast tank, but instead there was a little stream, like a mini fountain inside the boat, but apart from that, it is just a shame really, I feel sad for me, and for my team and for my sponsors, to go through what we went through, three weeks ago, to get it to the start line for this to happen, is a pretty harsh situation.
Q: Can you imagine the impact from three weeks ago made some damage no-one has seen on the boat?
Thomson: I could not comment on that.
Q: Do you feel unlucky?
Thomson: After three weeks ago, if there had been one and a half meters difference (in the impact) I would have been dead, so I am still feeling quite lucky from that. At the end of the day we have just got to get back up and fix it and get back in the race, again.
Q: Your sponsor, do you think they will continue with you?
Thomson: My sponsor is happy with what we are doing, in the last three weeks we have certainly shown our passion and commitment to it, as has everyone who has supported us. Photo Jean Marie Liot/DPPI.
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Wednesday, November 12 - 2008 - Team Mowgli, co-skippered by Jeremy Salvesen and David Thomson is the first boat into the Southern Ocean as they claw their way to Cape Town on the first leg of the Portimão Global Ocean Race. This notorious body of water that surrounds Antarctica below the 40th parallel is renown for it's strong westerly winds and big seas. Unfortunately all David and Jeremy are finding are rotten headwinds as they dig ever deeper to get under a persistent area of high pressure blocking their path. It has not been an easy few days as all the leading boats struggled to get above (Beluga Racer), through (Desafio Cabo de Hornos) or below (Team Mowgli) the high with varying degrees of success.
While the racers are finding the conditions frustrating, to say the least, the weather situation is making the racing very interesting from a tactical standpoint. If I was aboard Beluga Racer I would be very worried. They have dominated this leg and deserve to win, but there is still along way to go until the finish and anything can happen. The problem is that they are very vulnerable as they head northeast while their closest rivals, Team Mowgli and Desafio Cabo de Hornos are plunging south in search of big breeze. At the 15:20 UTC poll on Wednesday Beluga Racer was averaging just over 6 knots while the second place boat, Desafio Cabo de Hornos was trucking along at more than double the speed. Worse yet for the Germans, the forecast is not going to improve for them.
The conditions in Cape Town right now are very unusual and indicative of the weather in the whole southern part of the Atlantic. It's blowing a gale out of the southeast, usually a clearing wind that throws a lovely tablecloth over Table Mountain. But is pouring with rain and soaking the Volvo Ocean race fleet as they prepare for the start on Saturday. The forecast is for the rain to move out and the wind to die off, to be replaced but a nice southerly. Nice if you are in Cape Town and nice if you are south of Cape Town, but not nice if you are north of Cape Town where Beluga Racer will find themselves in a couple of days. Worse yet, there is a strong north flowing current off the west coast of South Africa, the Benguela Current, and it will add to Beluga Racer's woes as they try and make landfall in South Africa over the weekend. Time will tell but the next few days are going to be very interesting.
Further to the north the South African's aboard Kazimir Partners have finally checked in with a race update. "We have now been at sea for 30 days and have had nothing but difficulties and problems, from computer and software problems to the daily living at 15 to 20 degrees heel. Going to weather has put a lot of load on the boat, especially the deck hardware, at this time they are all leaking and the boat is very wet and damp. Food supplies are getting low, we have only 14 good meals left, but plenty of water. Sleep is difficult as the boat is lifted from each wave and slammed into the next, you can never quite get used to the noises." Sail on guys. There is a big welcoming committee getting ready for you here at the Royal Cape Yacht Club.
Story by Brian Hancock.
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Wednesday, November 12 - 2008 - November is a special time of the year for the sailing community as it brings about the annual International Sailing Federation's (ISAF) Conference and the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards.
The Awards are recognized as the highest honours a sailor can receive in recognition of his/her outstanding achievements during one year. The 2008 edition of the award ceremony took place last night, November 11th, at the stunning La Quinta de Jarama in Madrid, Spain. The list of nominees was impressive, and the well-deserving winners of the 2008 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year titles are Alessandra Sensini (ITA) and Ben Ainslie (GBR), two athletes who have excelled in the sport and have made history with their impressive achievements throughout their sailing careers.
Alessandra Sensini is no stranger to success and she added her name to record books this year when she became the first woman to have ever won four Olympic medals in sailing. And at 38-years old, Sensini's continuing achievement in the sport is all the more extraordinary. "To win the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award is an incredible feeling. I have done five Olympics and I have won four Olympic medals but I still feel great emotion to win a prize like this because it means you are inside the history of your sport and a part of world history- it's just incredible."
Ben Ainslie is also a familiar face at the ISAF Rolex World Sailor Awards, having won the Award twice before in 1998 and in 2002. He is the only sailor to have won the Award three times. " The ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award is a massive honor," Ainslie said of his win. "For any sailor it's huge. It's a great list of nominees and for me to win it this year is fantastic and it's made my year absolutely- I'm just really, really happy." Ainslie is Britain's most successful Olympic sailor with three gold medals and a silver, an impressive collection that has demanded years of passion and dedication.
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Tuesday - November 11, 2008 - From the Alinghi camp:
A large majority of the teams entered in the 33rd America's Cup today achieved another milestone in the process of getting the event back on the water during a second Competitor Meeting at the Société Nautique de Genève in Switzerland.
Ten of the 12 entered challengers present at the meeting, along with the Defender Alinghi, expressed a unanimous will to work together constructively towards a class rule and regulations that satisfy all entered competitors.
Amongst other topics, it was agreed that:
The Arbitration Panel be expanded to five members, with the two additional members being appointed by all the entered competitors through a democratic process
The Race Committee has been agreed by all the entered competitors
Other America's Cup Race Officials, the Technical Director and Umpires will be selected following a similar process amongst ISAF officials
Two pre-regattas will be organized in 2009 before the 33rd America's Cup in 2010
All participants at today's meeting expressed their satisfaction with the process and their confidence in ongoing plans progressing towards a 33rd America's Cup. They also urged BMW Oracle Racing once again to drop their lawsuit and enter this process.
The next Competitor Meeting is scheduled for December.
The entered teams present at today's Competitor Meeting were:
Alinghi, Société Nautique de Genève, Switzerland - Defender of the 33rd America's Cup
Desafío Español, Club Náutico Español de Vela, Spain - Challenger of Record
Shosholoza, Royal Cape Yacht Club, South Africa
TeamOrigin, Royal Thames Yacht Club, United Kingdom
Emirates Team New Zealand, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, New Zealand
Green Comm, Challenge Circolo di Vela Gargano, Italy
Ayre, Real Club Náutico de Dénia, Spain
Victory Challenge, Gamla Stans Yacht Sällskap, Sweden
Argo Challenge, Club Náutico di Gaeta, Italy
French Spirit, Yacht Club de St Tropez, France
Carbon Challenge
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Tuesday - November 11, 2008 - After a battering by winds which gusted to over 50 knots and big confused seas on the second night of racing, Jean Pierre Dick on Paprec-Virbac 2 led the Vendée Globe fleet out of the stormy weather, past Cape Finisterre this morning as speeds accelerated in more favorable conditions.
Making around 13-15 knots heading south west off the Portuguese coast this afternoon spurred by 15-20 knot winds Loïck Peyron's Gitana Eighty had gained on Paprec-Virbac 2 by a matter of just 1.5 miles, leading a small breakaway group of six which have gained a jump of more than 20 miles. Since Sunday's start in Les Sables d'Olonne, nine of the record fleet of 30 IMOCA Open 60's have returned, or are returning to Vendée port. Alex Thomson's British boat Hugo Boss suffered structural cracking to the port side of the hull. His boat was taking water until he started his return to Les Sables d'Olonne where he is expected to arrive early Wednesday morning. The ingress reduced when loads on the hull reduced. Two skippers have restarted, Switzerland's Dominique Wavre on Temenos 2 left again on Sunday night and has made up to 18th place. Of the three which sustained broken masts Groupe Bel (Kito de Pavant) and Marc Thiercelin's DCNS have officially retired from racing. After fixing his engine problems Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) returned to the race course early this morning, and this afternoon was more than 400 miles from the leaders.
Off to a rough beginning...
The pace at the front of the Vendée Globe fleet changed up a gear today as more favourable NW'ly winds eased the leading pack clear of Cape Finisterre. Chasing the aftermath of a cold front which hit them during Monday evening, the leading group have had a little more wind than the chasing group and a split of about 20 miles has opened up. After surviving the tough second night, it has been a day to maximise sail area, press hard and clean up any problems, get some rest and build a racing rhythm. Barcelona Race winner Jean Pierre Dick held a slender lead through the morning, while Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) - who stayed about 30 miles further inshore at Finisterre has emerged this afternoon with a small lead of 1.5 miles over Dick.
The leading pack, comprising Gitana Eighty, Paprec-Virbac 2, Veolia Environnement, PRB, BT and Brit Air have just 12.3 miles between them after just over 48 hours of racing. Paprec-Virbac 2 has erred towards a slightly more westerly position. While Britain's Mike Golding on Ecover 3 is the top international skipper and now lies eighth, compatriot Alex Thomson is due back in Les Sables d'Olonne on Wednesday morning after sustaining a hull crack which was letting in water. Thomson explained to his shore team that an earlier problem with a ballast tank had leaked more than 1500 liters of water. Only when he was mopping up that problem, and after the worst of the winds had blown through did he realise that a crack in the port side of the hull, between the aft keel box and a bulkhead, was letting in water. After seeing winds peak at 42 knots, Thomson told his shore unit that the winds had settled to between 25-30 knots, when he crashed off a wave. The damage is said to be 'localised'. British pair Sam Davies (ROXY) and Dee Caffari (AVIVA), the race's only women skippers, lie in 12th and 13th places respectively, just 4.8 miles apart.
After re-starting on Sunday evening Switzerland's Dominique Wavre continues to climb progressively with Temenos II and had made up to 18th place. Rich Wilson (USA) reported he had sustained a bruised back when he was thrown across the cabin of his Great American III and has been trying not to strain it, while Canada's Derek Hatfield is due back into Les Sables d'Olonne this afternoon to make repairs to his electrics. He reported that he had lost his wind generator clean off the back of his boat, Algimouss Spirit of Canada, in the stormy conditions. Photo of Foncia - Mark Lloyd - DPPI / VENDEE GLOBE.
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Tuesday - November 11, 2008 - The climax of the 2008 World Match Racing Tour is the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia, which will be sailed from 3rd to 7th December 2008. The Monsoon Cup is the last stage of the 2008 Tour and is shaping up to be the most exciting event of the year.
For the fourth year running, it will be sailed in the eastern Malaysian state of Terengganu, on Duyong Island in the Terengganu River, which flows through this state capital. Over the last three years large crowds have gathered on the island foreshore to watch the action.
The pressure is on for the 2007 Monsoon Cup winners and 2006-2007 World Champions, Bahrain Team Pindar skippered by Ian Williams, who must beat France's Sebastien Col to retain the World title. Col and his French Team/K-Challenge is in great form having won the Berlin Match racing event and his Tour record is good, despite having sailed one less event than the other two top placed teams. The current World number one ISAF ranked sailor Frenchman Mathieu Richard, should not be under estimated and indeed he too could win the Monsoon Cup and the championship title.
The current leader board, as it stands, going into the Monsoon Cup is
1st Ian Williams, GBR Bahrain Team Pindar 92
2nd Sebastien Col, FRA French Team/K-Challenge 88
3rd Mathieu Richard, FRA French Team/French Spirit 77
4th Adam Minoprio, NZL ETNZ/BlackMatch 53
= Torvar Mirsky, AUS Mirsky Racing Team 53
6th Magnus Holmberg, SWE Victory Challenge 51
In this final event of the season there are 150 World Championship points at stake. The Monsoon Cup winner will receive 38 championship points; the second placed team 30, third placed 22, fourth 18. Any of the top three teams could win this event and the 2008 Tour. Photography by Sail-World.com/ AUS ©.
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Tuesday - November 11, 2008 - The weather has turned grim for the first four boats in the Portimão Global Ocean Race. A small area of high pressure to the south of the fleet is feeding them strong easterly winds in an area where westerlies normally blow 11 months of the year. It's a cruel twist a month into the race, but not as cruel as it was for Michel Kleinjans (pictured), the leading solo sailor aboard his Open 40, Roaring Forty. The main shroud that holds up his mast has broken, again. In a short email to Race HQ he lamented. "The D1 shroud has snapped once again. I immediately tacked over and the rig is OK for now but it's dark out and I can't see too much. But it seems OK."
The race tracker shows Kleinjans sailing due south. It's in fact not a bad direction given the easterly winds. A few hours later a second email. "Fixed the D1 but think the one on the second spreader has also broken. I am continuing without ballast and only with a small jib and not sailing close to the wind. I just hope that I can make it to Cape Town with the mast still in the boat." Michel is a resourceful sailor and will sail slowly to South Africa. His chances of beating Team Mowgli and Desafio Cabo de Hornos are reduced to zero. He need to concentrate on staying ahead of Nico Budel steaming up astern of him on Hayai.
While Michel was dealing with near disaster, the crew on Team Mowgli were in a celebrating frame of mind not because of any great position improvement, but because David Thomson had a birthday. Jeremy Salvesen reported on the activities in his log. "Today was David's birthday. Had a few presents this morning and some champagne this evening so life is good, if a little uncomfortable. Sleep is almost impossible as you clench yourself waiting for the next crash." In fact life on board the good ship Team Mowgli is more than a little uncomfortable. It's downright grim. Salvesen's log continues.
"We had been edging along in 3-4 knots of wind with the big kite up, full main with me on the helm. We knew there was a wind shift coming at some point in the morning, but we just didn't know when or how sudden it would be. In the space of about two minutes, the wind veered over 90 degrees and picked up to 22 knots - we need to get some sail down, and fast! Since then we have been sailing in 30 - 35 knots of wind on the nose and the seas have built up tremendously. We are slamming into many of the waves in front - literally falling off one and crashing into the next. Your stomach and everything else goes into free-fall. Like being in a car crash a couple of times a minute! How poor old Mowgli puts up with it I'll never know but she is doing great. Still, making good progress if not exactly towards Cape Town and made a few miles back on those Chillies. Only 40 miles between us after 5,600 miles of racing and still all to play for."
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Monday - November 10, 2008 - The good news is Alex Thomson made the start of the Vendée Globe 2008, crossing the startline on port tack at 13.02 local time yesterday.
"When I drove HUGO BOSS into Les Sables D'Olonne three weeks ago, she had a big hole in the side and the mast was 2 miles out to sea at the bottom of the seabed. It's so incredible to be coming out of the canal today and seeing so much support for us. Although it is much easier to deal with than last time, I am still choking a bit, but managing to hold it back," said skipper of HUGO BOSS Alex Thomson. "Since the incident the objective was always to get to the start line and we have done it, my whole team have done
such a great job to get us here."
The conditions for the start were 15-18 knots of wind with large swell of 6ft-9ft. Thomson commented right after the start:
"After the last couple of weeks I'm hoping the next week will feel like a bit of a holiday! But I think we're in for a hard couple of days. We're expecting 30-knots tonight building to 40 knots tomorrow. It's definitely going to sort out the men from the boys. This is either going to be good or bad for us, it could be bad if we break something, but if we do, I would rather do it close to the start."
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Monday - November 10, 2008 - The bad news is that is it was a tough first night in the sixth Vendée Globe, with the fleet facing headwinds of 20-30 knots and 4-6 metre seas, and two boats already returning to port - Dominque Wavre on Temenos returned soon after the start with electrical problems, but was able to fix them and rejoin the race shortly after 11pm (local time), whilst Bernard Stamm has also been forced to turn back after a collision with a fishing boat damaged his bowsprit.
Bernard Stamm describes the collision which has forced him to return to port: "There were a whole group of us racing upwind. There was a fishing boat in the area that I saw some way off and didn't seem to be a problem. I went down to do some nav work and a few minutes later... boom! I reckon he must have changed direction or the wind shifted a bit and my auto-pilot followed the shift. By the time it took me to go inside, I'd hit him. I couldn't raise him on the radio. I don't know whether he saw me. It was more or less a direct hit, a little bit to one side. A huge collision. We'll be trying to repair it. I decided immediately to head back, as I can't hoist any headsails. For a downwind race, that isn't much good! It appears that only the bowsprit is broken. I'll be setting off again. There's no reason not to. The others won't be waiting for me, but it's around the world race, so isn't over yet."
This morning's position update shows Marc Guillemot (Safran) still the leader. Most of the fleet are heading directly west as fast as possible, except three - leader Guillemot, and British contenders Mike Golding (Ecover) and Sam Davies (Roxy), who have each put in two tacks to stay on a more direct south-westerly course. Of the main north- westerly group, Loick Peyron (Gitana Eighty) is currently in second place, with Roland Jourdain and Kito de Pavant very close by. Michel Dejoyeaux (Foncia) is the most westerly. On the rankings Dee Caffari (Aviva) is still showing as first Brit in eleventh, while Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) one place behind.
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Monday - November 10, 2008 - The Alinghi sailing team raced SUI100, the 32nd America's Cup winning boat, to five wins out of six this weekend in Valencia, winning the AC class trophy of the Trofeo Desafío Español, Club Náutico Español de Vela's annual regatta.
This three-day regatta heralds a return to racing for the AC Version 5.0s after a long sojourn ashore and has given the teams some much desired America's Cup Class racing.
Four America's Cup Class yachts raced alongside the 80-strong fleet of cruiser-racers fighting for the Trofeo Desafío Español in the light autumn conditions off Malvarossa beach that last year saw one of the greatest battles in America's Cup history between Team New Zealand and Alinghi who won the trophy for a second time. This weekend there was less at stake, but it was no less ferocious, with ex-Alinghi helmsman Peter Holmberg at the helm of Luna Rossa, Olympic Gold medallist Ben Ainslie steering TeamOrigin and Paul Cayard at the helm of Desafío Español. After a few glitches and torn spinnakers on Friday, the Alinghi crew settled in and Murray Jones, standing in for helmsman Ed Baird, steered consistently to win the event.
Brad Butterworth, team skipper and tactician onboard praised Murray's performance: "The competition has been very good and Murray Jones has done a great job, we have won five of the six races and have had a good time doing it. SUI100 is a very fast boat and it has been good fun to get back on the water and racing."
Murray Jones says of his first AC regatta as helmsman: "It was fun to be out there racing, to get the boat out with the boys in the CNEV annual regatta. We sailed well and it was a matter of team work as it was my first go on the helm and it was the guys around me that helped me out the whole way around each race, they made it easy."
This is the last event of the 2008 sailing season and Brad looks back at a busy and successful summer:
"I think we have overachieved! Ed Baird did a great job with the iShares regatta with Lorenzo Mazza, Rodney Ardern, Pieter van Nieuwenhuijzen and Peter Evans; they did well to clean up on their first attempt. And Murray Jones, Yves Detrey, Nils Frei and Ernesto Bertarelli, also did a very good job winning on the D35s on Lake Geneva, which is a hot class," he said. "Aside from that we have had monohull successes with Numbers and other boats and so all in all, we have had a great year on the water, despite the situation. Next year we look forward to possibly branching out into other classes and hopefully working on getting this new class of America's Cup boat built and in the water."
And to this end, the 12 entered challengers and the Defender meet again this coming week in Geneva to continue discussing the design of the new class and the 33rd America's Cup.Photo Carlo Borlenghi / Alinghi.
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Monday - November 10, 2008 - Defending champion Seve Jarvin led his Gotta Love It 7 team back from a seemingly hopeless position to take out Race 1 of the NSW 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour today.
Jarvin, Sam Newton and Tom Clout had trailed the race leader Rag & Famish Hotel (John Harris) by nearly 2 minutes half way through the course.
After grabbing the lead from Rag & Famish only 500 meters from the finish line, Gotta Love It 7 went on to win by 20-secs.
Third place went to John Winning's Yandoo, which finished a further 38secs back.
More photographs and full results can be found on www.18footers.com.au. Race 2 of the five race championship will be sailed next Sunday, 16 November.
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Monday - November 10, 2008 - Francis Joyon, skipper of maxi-trimaran IDEC, crossed the Discovery Route finishing line, in San Salvador, at 02 hours 06 minutes UTC on Friday. Joyon traveled from Cadiz to San Salvador (Bahamas) in 9 days, 20 hours, 35 minutes, he completed the 3885 mile course at an average speed of 16.4 knots, dethroning the current record holder Thomas Colville with Sodebo. Francis improved the record by 15 hours and 15 minutes.Photo Vincent Curutchet / DPPI / IDEC.
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Monday - November 10, 2008 - It's not related to racing, but we can all sympathize with this most unfortunate situation. This on the Los Angeles coastline, where a 47-foot cruising boat got loose from her anchor and decided to check out the beach. Authorities were trying to refloat the boat, but we don't yet know if they were successful. Photo Pat Reynolds.
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Friday - November 7, 2008 - Team Russia have confirmed that Guillermo Altadill has left the crew in order to concentrate on other projects.
The Spaniard, who will be replaced as watch captain by Britain's Nick Bubb, had notified skipper Andreas Hanakamp in advance of the first leg that he would be unable to sail the whole event because of commitments to the Barcelona World Race.
However, the Spaniard claimed his double-handed campaign was moving faster than expected and he has had to leave after just one leg.
"The agreements I have signed in advance to the Volvo Ocean Race with other sponsors don't give me the chance to continue sailing with Team Russia in the next legs," he said.
"I need to get focused on my two-year campaign with the Open 60, and with other training I must do as a solo sailor and two-handed sailor.
"Both parts, Team Russia and me, knew it was going to be really difficult for me to continue with the team for all the race, but the situation has gone faster than I thought and I must answer the agreements I have signed with my own sponsors for the Barcelona World Race."
Hanakamp added: "It was good to have Guillermo on leg one, to benefit from his experience."
As Bubb, 29, sailed the previous leg as pitman and boat captain, the void left by Altadill's departure will be filled by team owner Oleg Zherebtsov, who missed the first leg because of a family bereavement. The Russian's initial replacement, Camron Wills, will now stay onboard.
Bubb has extensive short-handed experience including four years of Mini Transat racing. He took part in the Oryx Quest on Daedalus as well as sailing in Class 40's for La Route du Rhum and Transat Jacques Vabre. Before he joined Team Russia he worked with Mike Golding on the Open 60 Ecover.
Hanakamp said: "Nick's appointment has been very well received by the crew, a testimony to his teamwork and excellent boat handling and fixing skills. Always positive, Nick's time spent campaigning Open class boats and extensive offshore sailing experience has proved invaluable for handling the Volvo Open 70."
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Friday - November 7, 2008 - The story of Steve White is nothing short of amazing. He came to the Vendee Globe startline with no main sponsor, just a will to compete - but through good grace and determination he has secured financing and will now pursue his long-time dream of competing the most difficult solo round the world race in existence. This is a cool interview with him talking about how it all began.
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Friday - November 7, 2008 - The 12 teams to compete in next year's Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland have now been officially named and released. Here's the line-up: Emirates Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa (Italy), BMW Oracle (US), K-Challenge (France), Mascalzone Latino (Italy), Team Origin (UK), China Team, Team Shosholoza (South Africa), Italia Vasco Vascotto, Team Germany, Greek Challenge, Alinghi (Switzerland).
The two weeks of match racing competition is slated to start on January 30 in Auckland. Look forward to some cut-throat grudge induced match racing!
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Friday - November 7, 2008 - The race has tightened considerably as a weak front sweeps across the South Atlantic bringing strong winds and some superb sailing to the leaders of the Portimão Global Ocean Race. The lead that the German team of Beluga Racer once enjoyed has been halved over the last 36 hours, and while co-skippers Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme are into some good breeze now, they are not completely out of the woods. The area of high pressure that blocked their path toward Cape Town remains in the way forcing Beluga Racer, as well as the chasing three boats, to dive even deeper south.
"We know that we are facing some risk at the moment as the high is not that secure to predict," Boris commented in an email. "The problem for us has been that we have been so separated from the rest of the fleet sailing in a completely different weather pattern. Both the European and the US weather models predict that the high will let us through south. That's what we hope to be able to. In that case we could line up with the rest of the fleet on a similar south track. Hopefully still in front of them."
At the 12:20 UTC poll Beluga Racer was almost on the latitude of Cape Town but judging by the forecast they are going to have to dive down to around 38 or 39 degrees south to get under the windless high pressure. This will add distance to their leg but they should enjoy some lively sailing and give them their first taste of what Leg 2 will be like. With just over 1,600 miles to go to Cape Town their lead seems very secure but not if the chasing Chileans have anything to do with it.
Three hundred miles astern of Beluga Racer, Felipe Cubillos and José Muñoz aboard Desafio Cabo de Hornos have a bone in their teeth sailing in strong winds. Cubillos has his game face on refusing to reveal anything in his daily log. They have fought their way into a southerly position and moved 30 miles ahead of Team Mowgli, but Felipe knows that the airwaves are public and will not reveal his strategy for the next 1,000 miles.
"We are today the boat that is the furthest south," he wrote. "Even more than the Germans and this explains why they have decided to leave the east and come to the meeting in the south. Still, many miles still separate us. What will we encounter down here? This depends essentially on two factors: the weather, the intensity and direction of the wind, and the psychology of those tough German sailors. Forgive me if I say no more but there remains 10 days of racing and still an interesting transition from one high pressure to another as well as deciding how we deal with arriving in Cape Town."
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Thursday - November 6, 2008 - Here's the latest from the Alinghi camp:
At a press conference this morning, Club Náutico Español de Vela,
the Challenger of Record for the 33rd America's Cup presented the AC
teams that are to race this weekend for the Trofeo Desafío Español, the
yacht club's second annual regatta.
Alinghi will be racing the America's Cup winning yacht, SUI100, Luna
Rossa, Desafío Español and TeamOrigin will also be on the water. Racing
starts on Friday and there will be two fleet races a day until Sunday.
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Thursday - November 6, 2008 - It was back in 2003 that Francis Joyon established a new record time for the historic Discovery Route course, between Cadiz and San Salvador in the Bahamas, in the first trimaran IDEC. With less than 150 miles to the finish, it's still up in the air (literally) if he can beat Thomas Coville's record.
To regain that 2003 record, Francis must get to the finish line before Friday at 18 hours, 20 minutes and 43 seconds (UTC). Last night it seemed unlikely it could happen, for the wind died away almost completely, leaving Francis struggling to find every little puff and make speeds of between 1 and 4 knots, for about 8 hours.
That horrible scenario got a little better this morning when an easterly flow established itself. It wasn't much of a breeze, but it has reportedly allowed IDEC to begin to average around 10 to 14 knots.
But Joyon is driven and the shore team reports that he is doing all he can. One of the team-members, Jean-Yves Bernot said:
"The skipper of IDEC is not a man to live in hope, and with his weapons on board and his huge motivation to win, he is fighting to force his destiny."
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