Women Sailing in Sweden

Womens Match Racing sailing by Chris Davies / WMRT

Some of the world’s top female match racers have been sailing on the waters of Sweden’s Marstrand Fjord at an event known as the Stena Match Cup Sweden, the fifth stage of the World Match Racing Tour.

The women’s class racing kicked off the event with a showcase of skill and talent as the teams went head to head in the identical Elliot 6m yachts, the same boat that will be sailed at the London 2012 Olympics. The women’s division at Stena Match Cup Sweden provides the Olympic hopefuls with one of the most important opportunities to hone their skills in the run-up to the Olympic selection trials.

Today’s Semi Finals saw American Olympic gold medallist Anna Tunnicliffe overcome Great Britain’s world number one female match racer Lucy Macgregor 3-0 in tricky, shifting conditions.

“We had a great day of racing today,” Tunnicliffe said. “Conditions out there were pretty tough, racing was tight and a lot of fun. We have been sailing really well and we hope we can keep up our form going into the final tomorrow.”

Macgregor, who along with sister Kate and crew Annie Lush are currently the number one choice to represent Team GBR at the London Games, added: “It is disappointing to lose in the Semis to Anna but it is all great training for the Olympics. Everything is very much on course for London 2012.”

Tunnicliffe will face world number two Claire Leroy from France in the Final tomorrow, after Leroy defeated last year’s women’s division winner Ekaterina Skudina from Russia in the other Semi Final match.

Following the action from the women’s class it was time for the men’s teams to hit the water for a practice session ahead of the first qualifying session tomorrow. Fourteen teams – including all nine Tour Card Holders – will clash over 23 flights of four matches to determine which eight crews will progress through to the next stage of Stena Match Cup Sweden.

Having made the finals of the last three Tour events and with a 23-point buffer at the top of the World Match Racing Tour standings, Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing is among the favourites for glory in Marstrand. Bruni has been the standout skipper on the Tour so far this season with impressive consistency and strike rate. However, life at the top is by no means easy.

“With three good results under our belt I think there is now quite a bit of pressure on us to win here in Sweden,” Bruni admitted. “At the same time, the feeling that we are sailing well eases that pressure.  It’s a good feeling to be ahead in the Tour, it was our goal but we didn’t expect to be this far ahead. We’re really excited about racing here in Marstrand, we want to do well and we’re putting all our energy into it.”

Among those looking to upset Bruni’s crusade will undoubtedly be the Swedish contingent of Tour Card Holder Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing, Tour regular Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team and Matthias Rahm (SWE) Stena Bulk Sailing Team. Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar comes to Marstrand off the back of a win at the Portimao Portugal Match Cup but the double match racing world champion has had no time to rest, travelling straight to Sweden from the American stage of the Extreme Sailing Series.

 

Women’s class Semi Final results:
Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) Team Tunnicliffe beat Lucy Macgregor (GBR) Match Race Girls 3-0
Claire Leroy (FRA) Mermaid Sailing Team beat Ekatherina Skudina (RUS) Yacht Russia 3-2

Women’s class Qualifying results:
1 Ekatherina Skudina (RUS) Yacht Russia 7-2
2 Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) Team Tunnicliffe 7-2
3 Claire Leroy (FRA) Mermaid Sailing Team 6-3
4 Lucy Macgregor (GBR) Match Race Girls 6-3
5 Anna Kjellberg (SWE) Team Anna 5-4
6 Nicky Souter (AUS) 5-4
7 Mandy Mulder (NED) 5-4
8 Trine Abrahamsen (DEN) 2-7
9 Lotte Melgaard Pedersen (DEN) Match Race Team 2-9
10 Caroline Sylvan (SWE) 0-9

 

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Sailing Around the World in the Barcelona World Race

At 12:00 GMT on December 31st, record breaking British yachtswoman Dee Caffari and her Spanish co-skipper, Anna Corbella, crossed the start line of the 25,000 mile Barcelona World Race onboard the IMOCA 60 yacht GAES Centros Auditivos. This is Caffari’s first round the world race since the epic Vendée Globe which saw Caffari finish sixth out of 30 starters to become the first woman to sail solo, non-stop, both ways around the world.

As the only all-female crew in the competition, both Caffari and Corbella are keen to put in a consistent and competitive performance and showed their enthusiasm as they rounded the North buoy in third position 26 minutes after crossing the start line. Before leaving the dock, Caffari spoke about the first stage of the race:

“The Mediterranean is complicated and we’ve practised here a lot but we’ve got 500 miles of it to start and finish with and honestly this is the part I dread the most. In stark contrast, Anna knows the Med well but has never sailed in the Southern Ocean so hopefully we can support each other and draw on our strengths in each area.”

After Alex Thomson’s forced retirement from the race due to an emergency appendectomy on Wednesday, Dee Caffari will be the only one flying the flag for Great Britain in the race.

Good luck ladies!

 

Read more at:  Barcelona World Race

Oprah Changes Sailing Course

Sailing Sydney

Word around Sydney Australia is that Oprah may alter the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge sailing course.  The annual SOLAS Big Boat Challenge maxi yacht fleet may for the first time in 17 years have to shift their finish line from off the Opera House if a sizable fleet of spectator craft hoping to catch a glimpse of the talk show Queen, Oprah Winfrey, creates a traffic jam on the water.

Tuesday December 14 is Oprah’s filming day at the Opera House in Sydney and also the Rolex Sydney Hobart lead-in race around Sydney Harbour when the line honours hopefuls get to show off their might to the public, and perhaps gain the mental edge with a race win.

CYCA sailing manager Justine Kirkjian says “with the huge interest in Oprah we’ve made an allowance for the race committee to shorten the course if the big boats don’t have enough running room amongst the spectator fleet to finish at speed and then drop their sails off the Opera House.

“After the 12.30pm race start from Steele Point we’ll monitor the number of vessels in and around Farm Cove and make the call mid-race,” Kirkjian added.

Entries for the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge stand at 17 with today the final day for skippers to accept entry to the invitation-only event.

Headline acts Wild Oats XI and Investec Loyal are the biggest of the bunch at 100 feet with Lahana and Wild Thing coming in a shade under at 98 feet.

In the grand prix 60 foot range, Stephen Ainsworth’s all-conquering RP63 Loki will once again be in the ring with Alan Brierty’s near sistership Limit. The pair has each achieved success this year, Loki locally and Limit abroad and Tuesday will reveal the results of their separate preparations. Both are amongst Kirkjian’s top picks for potential Rolex Sydney Hobart overall winner.

The tight 14 nautical mile course will start off Steele Point at 12.30pm and will take the fleet around the harbour two and a half times passing many of Sydney’s famous landmarks including Fort Denison, Mrs Macquarie’s Chair and the Sydney Opera House, which usually backdrops the finish line.

Last year some skippers expressed concern at having to navigate their way through the flotilla of pleasure and commercial craft generated by the popular pre-Christmas harbour event. Responding to their concerns, and with the added on-water traffic due to Oprah-mania, mariners are asked to be cautious and remain well clear.

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Sailing in Thailand

Sailing in Phuket Thailand

With high winds bringing the 2010 Phuket King’s Cup Regatta to a slightly premature end participants were left toasting what has been one of the most competitive series of races in Thailand sailing regatta history.

The global financial downturn did not stop an incredible 108 boats from entering the 24th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta. The fleet featured entrants from all over the world with Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, Switzerland, Russia, England, Holland, Spain and Canada all represented.

The last day’s racing had to be abandoned in the interests of safety. Some unusually high winds created dangerous sailing conditions but fortunately the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta series had already been concluded the previous day. Unfortunately it means the IRC and OMR Challenge Trophies, new for this year, were unable to be sailed.

The Racing Class tends to dominate the headlines and once again Ray Robert’s Evolution Racing and Neil Pryde’s Hi Fi went head-to-head. The competition between the two boats was so intense that race six actually ended in a dead heat once the times had been adjusted. In the end, however, it was Evolution Racing which prevailed but competition throughout the class was competitive with a number of new entrants including Song Xia Qun and her all Chinese crew on Jelik V. They have only been sailing together for a few months and as they gain valuable race experience are sure to be even more competitive in future regattas.

The IRC 2 Class is always guaranteed to provide plenty of thrills and spills and this year was no exception. Once again Peter Dyer’s Madame Butterfly, racing as Sea Bees, and CPO.1 Wiwat Poonpat’s Royal Thai Navy 1 went head-to-head. Last year Royal Thai Navy 1 took the series after a dramatic final day but this time around it was Sea Bee’s turn to taste victory courtesy of a first place finish in the penultimate race.

The Phuket King’s Cup also provides a much needed boost to the local economy and gives tourists a unique opportunity to enjoy a week’s competitive sailing off the coast of the beautiful Andaman island. The bareboat charter class continues to grow from strength-to-strength and this year attracted an impressive 22 entrants. Ilya Ermakov’s Sarawadee, one of a number of boats in the class chartered by Russians, was the overall winner.

While no expense is spared in optimizing the performance of many of the ultra modern boats the classic class featured some more old fashioned and elegant entrants. Richard Macfarlane’s Aida was the series winner finishing ahead of Barry Elsbury’s Apsara courtesy of a bullet in the final race.

Veteran journalist Peter Cummins has covered all 24 Phuket King’s Cup Regattas and his reports this week have been appearing every day in the Bangkok Post. He is amazed by how quickly the event has grown, “I remember the first regatta. There were only a handful of entries and they were almost all local, I don’t think anyone could have imagined that this event would one day grow to become the biggest and best regatta in all of Asia. The racing seems to get more exciting every year and this year’s parties were some of the best in memory. The sailing has barely finished and I am already looking forward to next year’s regatta and the 25th anniversary,” he said.

Sailing to the RC 44 Season Championship

Sailing RC 44 by Nico Martinez

Larry Ellison and his BMW Oracle Racing crew wrapped up the 2010 RC 44 Season Championship with a second-place finish sailing in the fleet racing portion of the RC 44 Cup Miami.

 

Coupled with the team’s sixth place in the match racing portion of the regatta, BMW ORACLE Racing placed fourth overall in the Miami regatta, which equated to a 2-point victory over Artemis Racing for the season championship.

“We were up and down. We’ve had good regattas and sometimes things didn’t go so well, but overall the team did a great job sailing,” said Ellison. “We came first in fleet racing and first overall. We had a rough match racing regatta here in Miami, but the fleet was good enough and we’re happy with the result.”

Ellison and crew, including tactician Russell Coutts, finished 3-4-3 today but had to pull a few rabbits out of their collective hat.

They started one race early and found themselves constantly battling back on a day with very shifty winds. In particular they gained a few places in the last half of the runs to the finish that kept their score low enough for the championship.

“We do better when it’s breezy,” said Ellison. “There are more opportunities to pass downwind. I’ve got a lot of experience sailing on San Francisco Bay and we love the breeze.”

While Ellison got the spoils for the season championship, Vincenzo Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino won the ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami title.

Mascalzone Latino showed great improvement at this regatta after rejoining the class in July. The Italian crew placed third in both the match and fleet racing for the overall victory with the low score of 6 points.

“Winning this event is special meaning for me because the past three years have been difficult for me in my life and in sailing,” said Onorato, a six-time world champion in yacht racing.

“Russell asked us to come back to the class and we couldn’t be happier with this result. We’ve worked hard to regain our form and we will do our best in the future to perform in this class,” Onorato said.

Yet a third winner today was William “Doug” Douglass aboard the RC 44 World Champion yacht 17. Douglass, sailing with Australian James Spithill as tactician, won the fleet racing portion of the ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami with the low score of 39 points.

“The class seems extremely well organized. It was good, we had a lot of fun out there,” said Douglass, a veteran of the Farr 40 and Melges 32 classes. “Today was a little windy and we saw how the boats could get wicked up and go.”

The 2011 RC 44 Season Championship begins in March in San Diego, California.

RC 44 2010 Season Championship
1. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) Larry Ellison/Russell Coutts – (8)-1-1-4-2-4 – 12 points
2. Artemis Racing (SWE) Torbjorn Tornqvist/Terry Hutchinson – 1-(8)-4-2-5-2 – 14 points
3. 17 (USA) William Douglass/James Spithill – (11)-3-5-3-1-3 – 15 points
4. No Way Back (NED) Pieter Heerema/Ray Davies – 2-2-3-5-3-(6) – 15 points
5. Team Aqua (UAE) Chris Bake/Cameron Appleton – 4-6-2-1-(8)-5 – 18 points
6. Team Sea Dubai (UAE) Harm Müller-Spreer/Markus Wieser – 3-4-6-7-6-(9) – 26 points
7. Katusha (RUS) Guennadi Timtchenko/Paul Cayard – 6-5-(8)-6-4-8 – 29 points
8. Ceeref (SLO) Igor Lah/Rod Davis – 5-7-7-(9)-7-7 – 33 points
9. Mascalzone Latino (ITA) Vincenzo Onorato/Francesco Bruni – 11-(12)-12-11-9-1 – 44 points
10. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) Daniel Calero/Jose Maria Ponce – 7-9-10-8-(11)-11 – 45 points
11. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team (AUT) René Mangold/Christian Binder – 9-10-9-10-10-(14) – 48 points
12. Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) Maxim Logutenko/Evgeniy Neugodnikov – 11-12-12-(13)-13-10 – 58 points
13. Peninsula Petroleum (ESP) John Bassadone/Inaki Castaner – 11-12-12-(13)-12-12 – 59 points
14. Ironbound (USA) David Murphy/Ian Williams – 11-12-12-13-(15)-13 – 61 points

ORACLE RC 44 Cup Final Standings
(Boat, match racing-fleet racing – total)
1. Mascalzone Latino, 3-3 – 6 points
2. Artemis Racing, 2-5 – 7 points
3. Yacht 17, 7-1 – 8 points
4. BMW ORACLE Racing, 6-2 – 8 points
5. Team Aqua, 1-9 – 10 points
6. No Way Back, 8-4 – 12 points
7. Ceeref, 10-6 – 16 points
8. Katusha, 9-7 – 16 points
9. Sea Dubai, 5-11 – 16 points
10. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 4-12 – 16 points
11. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, 13-8 – 21 points
12. Peninsula Petroleum, 12-10 – 22 points
13. Ironbound, 11-13 – 24 points
14. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team, 14-14 – 28 points