Progress continues for Emirates Team New Zealand with several of the sailing team in the UK for a testing session onboard the new AC45 ‘F’ catamaran.
With all of the pressure and excitement of opening day of the 2015 52 SUPER SERIES applied it was Niklas Zennström’s Rán crew on their new, recently launched Vrolijk design which rose best to the multiple challenges, posting an impressively consistent second and first to lead Ford Vignale Valencia Sailing Week.
The six Volvo Ocean Race skippers facing their second and final Atlantic crossing spoke on Thursday of how dangerous and challenging Leg 7 to Lisbon is likely to be. The sailors rarely voice their fears, but Monday (May 18) is the ninth anniversary of the tragic day when Dutch sailor Hans Horrevoets lost his life in the 2005-06 edition of the race.
This new craft, which will measure between 31 and 35 metres, boasts ambitious specifications. The maxi-multihull will initially be geared up for a round the world via the three capes and she will have to be able to be helmed in crewed as well as solo configuration.
There are some dates that are immediately etched on your memory, ones you'll remember for a long time to come. 7 May is one such date for Franck Cammas and for Groupama sailing team with the first launch and the first flying sessions by the one-design catamaran Groupama 45, which is set to participate in the first event of the America's Cup World Series in three months' time alongside the world's top teams.
If anyone thought this year’s Congressional Cup racing might be predictable: guess again! Today’s opener – Qualifying Session One of the 51st annual Congressional Cup, and the start of the 2015/16 World Match Racing Tour – was anybody’s game.
Emirates airline on 12th May announced its continued support of Emirates Team New Zealand, which is among the challengers for the 35th America’s Cup, to be decided in June 2017.
SoftBank Team Japan will compete for the America’s Cup after its challenge through the Kansai Yacht Club was accepted by the Golden Gate Yacht Club, represented by the defending champion, ORACLE TEAM USA.
Ford VIGNALE Valencia Sailing Week is now one week away. The prestigious regatta, which raises the curtain on the 52 SUPER SERIES 2015, starts on 18th May with the first points of the season on the table.
It looks like it will be this week, pre Gaastra Palma Vela, before the latest of the newly launched, latest generation TP52s take the chance to line up against each other. Though it is widely acknowledged that being up to optimum speed as early as possible before the 52 SUPER SERIES season starts in Valencia on May 19th is essential, so far the expected plans and opportunities for new boats to line up have just not materialised.
Dongfeng Race Team, fully recovered from the trauma of breaking their mast on the last leg, narrowly led the chase to Newport, Rhode Island, USA, on Monday. There was no room for the slightest complacency on the Chinese boat, with MAPFRE hot on their heels just 4.6 nm astern, and Team Brunel a further two nautical miles behind.
The fan was turned up for the final day at ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères as an exciting finale played out across two racing areas. 18-20 knots of breeze ensured the regatta concluded with thrills and spills aplenty. Seven races unravelled on the live broadcast area whilst a further three concluded nearby.
With 25+ knot winds blowing, the final day of the Marseille Test Event for the 2015 Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour, racing was cancelled. However over the previous three days, 15 races had been held in conditions ranging from 3-20 knots, providing the four teams with the most valuable learning experience prior to the Tour’s first event on Lake Traunsee, Austria over 27th-31st May.
Barcelona's historic Maritime Museum was the perfect venue this afternoon for the prizegiving and awards ceremony for the 2014-15 Barcelona World Race. The reception honoured all of the eight pairs of skippers who competed in the race, particularly highlighting the top three finishers: Cheminées Poujoulat, Neutrogena and GAES Centros Auditivos.
As each year on the first weekend in May, Carnac Yacht Club will be organizing the Eurocat, one of Europe’s biggest gatherings of racing catamarans. This year, it will also be the first event for the Flying Phantom catamarans: The Flying Phantom Series – Eurocat 2015.
The Volvo Ocean Race fleet bid a lingering farewell after a successful stopover in Itajaí with an almost total lack of wind ensuring a go-slow departure for Leg 6 to Newport, Rhode Island, USA, on Sunday.
Next week’s Test Event is hosted by Sirius Events, organisers of Marseille One Design, the last event of the 2014 season and which will again be the grand finale of the 2015 Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour. The city of Marseille generously hosts the GC32s as part of its build-up to being European Capital of Sport in 2017.
An all-star line-up is taking shape for the 51st edition of the Congressional Cup (13-17 May), with Scott Dickson’s recent selection as Long Beach Yacht Club representative, and the announcement of the 2015 World Match Racing Tour skippers.
The International Jury has denied Team SCA’s request to replace their Race FRO with their pre-race FRO after their sail was badly damaged during a crash gybe on Leg Five from Auckland to Itajai. During the incident on Day 7 of Leg 5, the boat broached and the FRO tore down the luff and horizontally across the sail to the leech causing the boat to crash gybe.