• 0 Azzurra wins the first event in the 52 Super Series 2020 in Cape Town

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    TP Azzurra has won the first event in the 52 Super Series 2020, the Odazla Discovery Camp 52 Super Series V&A Waterfront. Weather conditions in Table Bay were not on the racing fleet’s side. The first day saw strong winds, while the second day was dead calm. At 14:40 local time the Race Committee raised the AP over A flags, cancelling racing due to a lack of wind and ending the event. As the fleet headed back to port the overall results remained the same, with Azzurra in the lead with a handy seven point margin over Phoenix 11 and Quantum who were tied for second place and came in second and third respectively.Azzurra has been the star of the week with consistent placements in the various races. Guillermo Parada, skipper: “We are very happy today. The decisions that we made and the work that we did over the winter are giving the results we had hoped for, we have better boat speed and thanks to that we can sail a little more conservatively. I think that conservative sailing has been fundamental for winning this event and I’m happy because it has been a great debut for Michele in his role as our new tactician. “We want to dedicate this win to our team member Alejandro Colla who couldn’t be here with us because he had an operation yesterday. The surgery went well and we’re expecting him back for the World Championship at the end of the month. A special thank you goes to the boat Captain Pedro Rossi for taking Alejandro’s place and substituting him so well.” The new tactician Michele Paoletti has become an integral and important part of the crew playing an important role in achieving this victory.Michele Paoletti, tactician: “This win is the icing on the cake of an excellent week with consistent placements, but we’re keeping our eye on the season’s victory overall. If we keep on scoring consistently high without worrying about winning single events we can defend our title successfully.“Still, this win is something to celebrate, especially for me it has been a real pleasure earned by starting each day focused and concentrated. No racing today made winning easier, but it’s always a pleasure to compete.” The next event in this highly competitive Class will be the Rolex TP52 World Championship. Also held in Cape Town from 31 March to 4 April, it will count both as an event in the 52 Super Series and as the World Championship for the TP52 Class. 52superseries.com

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    0 Plattner’s Phoenix 11 Make Dream Home Waters Start in Cape Town

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    (Monday 2nd March, Cape Town) – Racing on their own home waters, Hasso Plattner’s Phoenix 11 made a dream start to the Odzala Discovery Camps 52 SUPER SERIES V&A Waterfront – Cape Town regatta, the first event of six that comprise the 2020 52 SUPER SERIES.   Local knowledge and a protracted spell of training late last year and before this season’s curtain raiser played its part as Phoenix completed a textbook first race that they won comfortably. Then, after a less than perfect start to the second contest, Phoenix battled from the bottom third of the fleet to deliver a valuable third place finish. Plattner’s crew lead the regatta by two points from the 2019 champions Azzurra who returned a fourth and a second, a solid debut day for new tactician Michele Paoletti. In the south westerly breeze, which picked up to 16kts for the second start and averaged 10-13 kts for the day, conditions were not easy to read – consistency proving particularly elusive. Phoenix 11, the newer of the two Plattner family TP52s, were undoubtedly the class act delivering for the home support. Along with veteran Plattner on the tiller, the day’s leading crew has a potent mix of local South African sailors on board such as main trimmer Paul Willcox, navigator Shane Elliott and grinder Shaun Pammenter, working with America’s Cup winner Peter Holmberg, who joined the crew this season as tactician and the hugely experienced Andy Horton also adding to the afterguard strengths. Phoenix 11 stuck to their pre race strategy, starting smartly off the pin end of the start line to establish an early lead that allowed them to own the left, inshore side of the first upwind. Building their margin to over 90 metres, they could keep Bronenosec and Sled in check to the finish line. Bronenosec, with double Olympic medalist Jonathan McKee calling tactics for helm Morgan Larson, finished second with winners Sled in third. Sled have Murray Jones steering. World Champions and 2019 runners up for the season Platoon were over the start line and had to re-cross and finished ninth. While Quantum Racing had the best start to the second race they had to take a penalty on the first beat and then, as others did today, had to slow to remove kelp from their foils, resulting in an eighth place. Andy Soriano’s Alegre, which has Ado Stead and Nic Asher as afterguard, were able to capitalise from their own solid start to lead all the way round the second course, emulating the gun to gun win of Phoenix 11. Race 2 – Alegre Take Early Season Bullet Andy Soriano’s Alegre team take an early season bullet, Mr Soriano’s fifth consecutive event with a race win. More information will follow shortly. For full results, visit: http://bit.ly/39dxQKs

  • 0 Multihull Line Honours Victory: Peter Cunningham's MOD70 PowerPlay wins RORC 600

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    Peter Cunningham's MOD70 PowerPlay (CAY), skippered by Ned Collier-Wakefield has taken Multihull Line Honours in the 2020 RORC Caribbean 600 just four minutes ahead of Jason Carroll's MOD70 Argo (USA). Giovanni Soldini's Maserati Multi70 (ITA) was third. A nail-biting finish rounded off an epic light airs tactical battle between three of the world's fastest ocean-going multihulls. During the 600-mile race, the lead changed at least seven times. Maserati fought tooth and nail, but their T-Foil rudders were more of a hindrance than an enhancement in the unusually light conditions. Despite the disadvantage, Maserati came back time and time again to challenge for the lead. PowerPlay and Argo had a full-on 46-hour match race from start to finish and it all came down to the final leg from Redonda to Antigua. Giovanni Soldini's Maserati Multi70 set the race record last year (30 hours 49 mins). This year's light air race keeps that record safe, but Maserati's fully foiling design was a handicap this year. "Our record is safe for another year, but the conditions were too light for us this time. We have a speed problem against the other boats in under 13 knots," commented Giovanni Soldini. "It was a very good race with three boats fighting a lot. Even though we were slower, we were able to catch them three times. We did well at Guadeloupe going very close to the land, they came to cover us and we were all near the beach, but we kept the inside lane, then the wind died for 20 minutes. We then went south of Marie-Galante because we had to try something different, but the easterly lift did not come for one hour." Seventy teams are still racing in the RORC Caribbean 600. Rankings and boat positions are available on the YB Tracker page Follow all the action online: caribbean600.rorc.org/ Track the fleet: caribbean600.rorc.org/Race-Information/Tracking/

  • 0 MAT 1070 2nd IRC Nippon Cup Hayama

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    MAT1070 2nd in IRC class divsion A @ Audi Nippon Cup Hayama 2019    

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    0 The new MC38 Australian Champion - Steve Barlow's Lightspeed

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    The new MC38 Australian Champion - Steve Barlow's Lightspeed, Maserati 2nd, Ginger 3rd, Hooligan 4th   Middle Harbour Yacht Club, Mosman NSW, Australia: The MC38s are back at it and the new season began with fireworks, Lightspeed struck hard by Lazy Dog in a port/starboard incident in fresh conditions on Saturday February 1 and unable to finish the day, but ultimately returning to claim top regatta honours. It was the one time the class opted not to use on-water umpires; a decision Australian president Shaun Lane says is a test case that won't be repeated. With owner Steve Barlow out with a shoulder injury, Lightspeed was helmed by James Mayo, best known as crew on the champion Etchells called Magpie, the current Australian titleholders and runners-up at the class' world championship in 2019. Mayo's had his eye on the MC38 class for a while and jumped at the chance to drive. "We trained on Friday in 26 knots which was a good learning curve. Over the course of the series I had to make sure I really focused on what the others, who know the boats best, were saying, and not let my instincts take over." According to the protest outcome, Shaun Lane and Quentin Stewart's Lazy Dog, nicknamed 'naughty dog' after the Middle Harbour Yacht Club-run first act, failed to keep clear in a port/starboard and broke rules 10 and 14. They completed their turn at time but the jury imposed a much harsher penalty in the room, disqualification from race two. "The bow of Lazy Dog hit our port side just forward of the last stanchion which meant when they disconnected from us they took all the lifelines with them, including the bow rail," said crewman Daniel Turner of the incident. "It was quite a large impact as both boats were fully loaded. The Lightspeed shore crew worked in the scorching sun all afternoon and Sunday morning grinding carbon and getting the boat back together. The good thing about racing one design is there are usually parts available, so boats can keep racing." Lightspeed returned to the racetrack, The Sound area between North and South Head, on Sunday to complete three races under MHYC race officer Steve Tucker's direction. Their scores of 2, 4, 3, added to Saturday's 2 then average points for races two, three and four awarded by the protest committee, gave them the lowest score and the series win. The next time the MC38s meet will be on Sydney Harbour for the 2020 Australian Championship hosted by MHYC March 13-15. -- Lisa Ratcliff facebook.com/MC38Class/

  • 0 Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli dismasted during a sea trial

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    In Cagliari, on the 27 January 2020 during a sea trial, the AC75 Luna Rossa dismasted a few miles off the coast from Marina di Capitana. According to the team, no-one was injured in the incident. The mast, sails and rig were immediately recovered by the sailors onboard, with the help of the shore crew on the support ribs. “It’s a new boat and something like this can happen,” commented the Luna Rossa team. “If you don’t push hard you will never know your limits.” The whole team is already at work to return on the water as soon as possible and resume the training sessions in preparation for the America’s Cup World Series that will take place from April 23 to 26.  

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    0 Australia set to defend SailGP Championship on Sydney Harbour.

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    The one month countdown is on until SailGP returns to Sydney Harbour on 28-29 February. Following a heart-pumping inaugural season, which saw Olympic hero Slingsby helm the Australia SailGP Team to victory over five other national teams to take home the trophy and historic US$1 million championship prize, the Australia team returns to defend its title in front of a home crowd. With the Sydney event set to kick off Season 2 of SailGP, Australians will be the first to witness the fruits of the league’s exciting off season expansion. Denmark and Spain join the nation versus nation global racing league, taking the total number of teams to seven with returnees Australia, France, Great Britain, Japan and the United States. Marking the one month countdown to Sydney SailGP, the Australia SailGP Team also announced that its championship-winning roster will remain unchanged for 2020, as some of Australian sports’ most celebrated athletes return for Season 2.   SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts said he was excited to see the competition return to Sydney next month, with the iconic harbor set to dazzle international audiences: “Sydney SailGP was a huge success in 2019, setting the bar for every other race that followed. With Australia defending the title in 2020 and two new teams in Denmark and Spain joining the competition, we’re expecting to see some great battles and a fantastic turn out.”

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    0 ORC 2020 VPP and Rules now available

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    The VPP and the new 2020 version of the ORC Manager software has been distributed to the 35 Rating Offices that issue ORC International and ORC Club certificates around the world. This update will allow these offices to start issuing their new 2020 certificates according to their own needs and timelines, which for some is immediate: the first regatta of the year to use 2020 ratings is the Rolex Circuito Atlantico Sur 2020 in Argentina and Uruguay being held over 12-18 January, followed by the Ft Lauderdale - Key West Race one week later in Florida, USA. ORC racing in Spain is also active now. The Rolex Circuito Atlantico Sur 2020 is the first to use the 2020 ORC Rules and ratings with an inshore and offshore race format. The race to Key West will be the first of the year to use the new ORC Double Handed Certificate, specially developed to meet the demand for this growing trend in offshore racing. Double Handed certificates feature lower crew weights, a simple one-page layout, and a variety of simple scoring options available to race managers to better match the ratings with the course type. The 2020 ORC Rules are available now for viewing and download at www.orc.org/rules, along with a summary of the changes from 2019. Among these are the following: - boats with CDL - ORC Continental Championships must now include 2 offshore/coastal races that are not discardable in addition to the inshore races, matching the criteria for the Worlds - removal of Forward Accommodation and Jumper Stays effect on the VPP, removal of some obsolete measurements such as SPS, BAL, BWT, and CPW - improved aerodynamic treatment of Headsails set Flying with SHW/SFL <75%, with a gradual rating transition from "Code Zero" headsails to small asymmetric spinnakers up to a ratio SHW/SFL of 85%. - also improved are the VPP lift coefficients for various combinations of Headsails set Flying when listed in the sail inventory, and a requirement to list the measurements of all asymmetric spinnakers which have 75%< SHW/SFL < 85%, which are run one by one by VPP, not just the largest as it has been this far. - multiple non-overlapping headsails are now allowed to be tacked on the bowsprit, on the headstay and between the mast and the headstay without having to maintain the clew of the outside sail aft of the inner ones. The 2020 VPP has resulted in small changes - 85% of the fleet has +/- 0.5% GPH change and 96.5% is within +/- 1% - in rated speed for most of the >2000 boats in the ORCi test fleet, so CDL definitions of class divisions in the Continental and World Championships have also changed for 2020 to: Class A: 16.40 >= CDL > 11.59 Class B: 11.59 >= CDL > 9.77 Class C: 9.77 >= CDL > 8.56 The 2020 ORC European Championship in Capri will use not only CDL limits for the ORCi fleet, but will also feature an ORC DH Class in the Tres Golfi Race - photo courtesy Rolex Capri Sailing Week Among the many 1000's of boat types that receive ORCi or ORC Club certificates, ORC also offers standard certificates for boats from one-design classes that are in their class trim. This year the list of these classes has expanded to 45 one-designs eligible for these certificates. Access to the 2020 ORC VPP is also now available in the ORC's public portal to the rating system, ORC Sailor Services, where free certificate copies, test certificates, polar performance Speed Guides and Target Speed outputs are all available after obtaining a free login credential at www.orc.org/sailorservices. The 2020 ORC Super Yacht rule is also available now for over 100 sailing yachts >30 m in length that compete in races and regattas around the world. This delivery of the rule is in time for use at the first regatta on the ORCsy calendar: the 2020 Millennium Cup being held over 29 January - 1 February in Auckland, New Zealand. The designer's version of the ORCsy VPP software (DVP) is available for new users for €1200, and for current DVP subscribers at the price of €840. More information is on the ORC Superyacht software page at www.orc.org/index.asp?id=206. The ORC Multihull Rule project is still in progress, with a beta version of a VPP release expected in the coming months. Meanwhile the measurement platform for ORCmh has been completed, and several regattas are scheduled for scoring and analysis in the Winter and Spring season. More on ORC rating systems, ORC certificates and events can be found at www.orc.org.   

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    0 TP52 Ichi Ban overall winner Sydney Hobart

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    Ichi Ban has been officially declared the overall winner of the Sydney to Hobart, the yacht's second handicap victory in three years. Skipper Matt Allen and the crew of the TP52 will on Monday be presented with the prestigious Tattersall Cup in the 75th edition of the race Ichi Ban, just completed her third Hobart. In 2017, the then very new Ichi Ban won it overall in her first outing, and now she has again this year, as well. It is a marvellous achievement for Matt Allen's IRC optimised Botin Partners 52, which was built by Spain's Longitud Cero. After a strong start out of Sydney, the 52-foot Ichi Ban beat some of the massive supermaxis to Bass Strait and handled the changeable winds better than their rivals. “The deciding moment was when we got through those weather systems. We got out of all those weather systems in good shape and ahead of the pack,” Allen said. Gweilo was second overall followed by Quest, which rose to third after Envy Scooters was hit with a time penalty for failing to properly give way to Quest near Sydney. By and large, Ichi Ban did lead their group the whole way. It is a bit like F1, where it is easier to win from in front. "We were in good shape the whole way, and in the TPs you might not be leading, but you do need to be in grasp of the top. Only then can you convert. Bouncing back at 52 feet is harder than if you're 65+. All of them are too close, if they go and you don't, then you're out the back door."   © Crosbie Lorimer Sail-world.com https://wwos.nine.com.au/news/ichi-ban-claims-overall-sydney-hobart-win/781de87a-f19b-47f6-9fca-9cc7fb3f5e78        

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    0 Closing act of the MC38 2019 Season

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    By sailsmagazine It’s been a while coming and for the closing Act 6 of the MC38 2019 season pointscore, Leslie Green’s Ginger Ninjas worked their way back to familiar territory, at the top of the class scoreboard. Results from seven races in very different conditions on The Sound, the triangle between North, South and Middle Head at the entrance to Sydney Harbour, over the weekend of November 2-3, added up to Ginger low-scoring a series win from Marcus Blackmore’s Hooligan and Steven Proud’s Swish finishing third, as determined by a countback with Hooligan. Green is enjoying the second half of his eighth decade, and still throwing his rocket-ship around tight windward/leeward courses alongside some of Australia’s best sailing talent. Over this past season a new, young crew has settled in under the mentorship of Green, Richie Allanson on main and Julian Plante calling tactics, and stepped-up each regatta. “If you look at our season results we’ve been getting better and better,” said Allanson. “Our line up changed quite a bit after we last won the nationals and now the balance on the boat is right, and it’s working. We’ve got a great mix of crew including three young women all with vital roles who put in as much if not more than the blokes.”   On Saturday’s outing in 18-22 knots of north-easterly breeze gusting to the top end of the class range and poor visibility due to smoke haze, Ginger’s mainsheet hand added: “Our strategy was to keep it together and simple, and get around the track. We had a Steven Bradbury where guys were falling over in front of us, allowing us to pick up places. With scores of 5, 3, 2, 2 it was pleasing to be within striking distance with three races remaining,” Allanson added. Among the incidents was the keel on Steve Barlow’s Lightspeed letting go, a replacement offered by Lang Walker from Kokomo’s garage, and Swish incurring lifeline and stanchion damage during a bump with another MC38. For Act 6, the class’ current yardstick crew of Lazy Dog were forced to jump ship late after an incident during a club race earlier in the week. “Conditions were benign on Wednesday so I thought I’d take the boat out,” co-owner Shaun Lane explained. “With the surge and super low tide at a Grotto Point mark, I put the boat on a Bommie. A new keel is on the way.” Clare Crawford’s Assassin is awaiting a buyer, in the meantime she was happy for Lane and his Lazy Dog team to take her boat out. “Our thanks to Clare for the loan of her boat which is in really good nick,” Lane said. “We put our sails on and we were ready to go,” added the Australian class president.   Saturday was the perfect example; as fresh seabreezes increased the speed and intensity of racing, things went off-script onboard a number of 38s and spare parts needed to be quickly sourced and borrowed so the full fleet of six could complete the scheduled races. Final regatta points were vital for Lazy Dog’s perfect 2019 season attendance record, and to remain in contention for the overall pointscore top place. Lazy Dog finished two points in front of Ginger and Hooligan wrapped up their season six points off second place. Dates for the class’ 2020 season are still being finalised but Lane is happy to confirm the 2020 MC38 Australian Championship will be staged March 13-15 and Middle Harbour Yacht Club have agreed to conduct the racing.   http://www.sailsmagazine.com.au/ninja-strike/