Volvo Ocean Race: Fiji fading fast

[Source: Ericsson Racing Team] Now, it’s a drag race to the scoring gate.

The passage of Fiji last night served to split the fleet even farther on an east to west axis, with Ericsson 4 the most eastern boat, Puma the most western and approximately 100 nautical miles between the two.

While Ericsson 4 and Ericsson 3 both had to tack to starboard to clear to the east of Vanua Levu, which lies to the north/northeast of Fiji, Puma and Telefónica Blue short-tacked their way between the two islands. It was a high risk move that has paid immediate dividends as the two boats were among the top three today.

Ericsson 4 trailed Puma on the 1259 GMT leaderboard by 16 nautical miles, but the International crew has better leverage to the east.

Ericsson 4 break their furler. Fiji , 28 February 2009. Video copyright Ericsson Racing Team

“Highlights of life onboard today consist of seeing Fiji, seeing Ericsson 3 (first boat in nine days), Joca (Signorini) a.k.a. ‘The Doctor’ servicing the winches, running out of ‘train smash,’ otherwise known as tomato sauce, or Ketchup if you prefer, and finding out we might be short of toilet paper,” said Ericsson 4 trimmer Tony Mutter.

“Oh, and losing the lead to Puma and Telefónica Blue while we re-position further east,” Mutter said. “This last thing is just temporary. Fingers crossed.”

The Nordic crew on Ericsson 3 also sailed to the east of Fiji, and has taken up a route to leeward of its teammate some 20 miles behind. Incidentally, both Ericsson yachts have crossed to the west of the 180th meridian.

The scoring gate is the next objective, approximately 1,000 nautical miles or four to five days away. First boat through scores 4 points, and each boat thereafter a half point less.

The two boats to the west have a shorter distance to the gate, but Ericsson 4 has more east leverage which is better for the overall picture of the leg because Cape Horn lies to the east.

“They’re in pretty good shape, but a couple of things could go awry,” said team meteorologist Chris Bedford. “The forecast gets funny later on Monday with a low forming out to the east of them and moving southeast towards the first ice gate area (at 47S between 155 and 140 West longitude). I’m not sure how they’ll handle that. There’s also a light spot that shows up dead ahead of them, which is worse for the guys to the west.”

There’s never a dull moment in life at the extreme.

VOLVO OCEAN RACE LEG 5 LEADERBOARD
(Feb. 28, 2009, 1259 GMT)
1. Puma, 8,171 nautical miles to finish
2. Ericsson 4, +16 NM
3. Telefónica Blue, +26 NM
4. Ericsson 3, +36 NM
5. Green Dragon, +55 NM

Team Aqua dominates the day, wins the DHL Trophy and takes the lead of the RC44 fleet race event

[Source: RC44] With two victories, a second and a third place, Chris Bake’s Team Aqua is the winner of the day. Also on great form, with two second and two fourth places, Torbjorn Tornqvist remains in Bakes’ wake in the overall ranking, whilst Maciej Nawrocki’s team Organika – with Karol Jablonski at the tactics – shows great signs of improvement.

It was another challenging day off Puerto Calero, with a changing weather and shifty wind that gave gray hairs to some of the tacticians. On great form, Chris Bake and his tactician Cameron Appleton got it all right, winning two races (including the DHL Trophy coastal race) and adding a second and a third to conclude the day with a small lead over Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis.

Highlights from the 4th day of racing. Puerto Calero, 28 February 2009. Video copyright RC44

The wind was blowing from the shore at 5-7 knots when Race Officer Peter Reggio launched the first race of the day, allowing the RC 44’s to glide on flat water. Starting in the middle of the line at full speed, Team Aqua rapidly took the lead, ahead of the local team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero 2. Just behind them, Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis kept pushing hard, making no mistakes whatsoever and getting closer to the Canaries crew after each manoeuvre before finally overtaking them during the second beat.

Penalised by a premature start, BMW ORACLE Racing and Ceeref slowly improved their positions, reaching the fifth and sixth spot respectively whilst Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back and Maciej Nawrocki’s Organika regularly lost ground to close the fleet.
Having dominated proceedings throughout the race, Chris Bake nearly let victory slip from his grasp when Artemis made the best of the shifts during the last downwind leg, only finishing a couple of meters behind Aqua. The two Spanish teams took the third and fourth spots, confirming their good results from the previous day.

The second race coincided with a change of weather that would influence the rest of the day. Big black clouds were starting to grow on the north of the Island, whilst the wind was increasing, inciting most teams – except Ceeref and Artemis - to opt for a jib no 2.

Recalled at the start, Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back tried to find some clear air on the right of the course and benefited from favourable wind strength to reach the windward mark in the lead, just ahead of the two Spanish boats. ESP 1 even briefly took the lead at the leeward mark, but got penalised for not respecting the two boats length priority rule and letting enough space to Artemis. A massive shift to the right then completely reshuffled the cards. Struggling to anticipate it, Russell Coutts and Karol Jablonski ended up trailing on the left of the course whilst the rest of the fleet was reaching at full speed towards the windward mark. Team Aqua even raised its spinnaker briefly, jibing the mark and heading for the arrival line behind No Way Back and Artemis, who remained untouchable.

Excellent performance by Team Organika. Puerto Calero, 28 February 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

The configuration of race three was completely different, with the teams beating alongside the rugged coastline of Lanzarote, hesitating between potential land effects and a stronger offshore breeze. Choosing the latter option, team Organika reached the windward mark in front of Ceeref and Aqua, who had decided to follow the coast for as long as possible. The Polish team hang on to its lead throughout the race, resisting to Team Aqua’s come back to win its first regatta in the RC 44 Championship Tour, ahead of Aqua and Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 2, often inspired today thanks to Luis Doreste’s calls.

Rain jackets were out for the DHL long distance trophy, which consisted in three windward - leeward legs followed by a beat to the entrance of the harbour. The wind shifted to the right seconds before the start, pushing the boats over the line and leading to a general recall. The DHL regatta counts for double points and nobody wanted to be late on the line…

The second attempt proved to be the right one. Sailing a beautiful beat, Chris Bake’s Team Aqua led handsomely around the windward mark, ahead of Ceeref and Organika, definitely on great form. The Polish team then managed to overtake Ceeref, and to threaten Aqua until the last beat. But the team from the UAE remained untouchable, winning with a comfortable margin ahead of Organika. Sailing slightly over the lay line, BMW ORACLE Racing let Artemis slip below them, to grab the third place by no more than a few centimetres.

With one more day of fleet racing ahead, Team Aqua leads the overall ranking with 15 points, ahead of Artemis (18) and Ceeref (29).

Excellent performance by Team Organika. Puerto Calero, 28 February 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

They said:

Chris Bake, helmsman, Team Aqua: “This is a good day; the team is on great form and we have managed to deal with some issues very well. We took excellent starts in all races, and tried to sail fast & smart. It was difficult to read the course. But our positioning and good speed made it easier.”

Kevin Kelble, pitman, Team Aqua: “Our on-board communication is good, and we talk a lot. Andrew Estcourt also plays a big role in our strategy; he is constantly exchanging views with Cam. We took great starts today, and had a good speed, which has helped us to keep all our options open.”

Maciej Nawrocki, helmsman, Organika: “This is our first victory in a fleet regatta, and we are very happy; it is definitely our best day since we joined the Class. Karol (Jablonski) did a great job, and he is definitely the key to our success. He made the right calls, and helps us to keep positive even when we have a hard time. I am also improving at the helm.

Pieter Heerema, helmsman, No Way Back: “We won a race today, but this was mainly through luck. In reality, we are still struggling for speed and we don’t seem to have the right setup. Our boat handling is good and I am happy with the boys. But altogether we are not doing well.”

Torbjorn Tornqvist, helmsman, Artemis: “We had ups and downs, but overall I think it was a good day. I am very impressed with the way Team Aqua sailed today, they did a great job. Personally, I am getting more confident at the helm. At the beginning, I was struggling to find the right angles downwind, but I am getting there.”

Start of the fleet race. Puerto Calero, 28 February 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Fleet-race, provisional results after 6 races including the DHL Trophy (double points):
(Ranking, name of team, helmsman, results, points)

1) Team Aqua, Chris Bake, 3, 6, 1, 3, 2, 1 - 15 points
2) Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist, 4, 2, 2, 2, 4, 3 – 18 points
3) Ceeref, Igor Lah, 2,3, 6, 4, 6, 5 - 29 points
4) Team Organika, Maciej Navrocki, 8, 5, 7, 7, 1, 2 – 30 points
5) BMW ORACLE Racing, Daniel Calero, 1, 4, 5, 8, 7, 4 – 31 points
6) Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 1, José Juan Calero, 5, 1,4, 5, 8, 6 – 33 points
7) Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 2, Carlo Morales, 6, 8, 3, 6, 3, 7 – 37 points
8) No Way Back, Pieter Heerema, 7, 7, 8, 1, 5, 8 – 42 points

Slow times, happy times

My apologies for not keeping Valencia Sailing, in the last few days, up to the standards you have been used to but my second son will be born today (Saturday) so it has been kind of hectic.

Valencia Sailing will be back ASAP with a very interesting interview from Franck Cammas. The French multihull guru talked to us about the first test sails aboard Groupama 3, his program for 2009 as well as BOR90, the BMW Oracle monster trimaran.

The Calero brothers dominate day one of the RC44 fleet race event

[Source: RC44] Sailed in very light winds, today’s races have been difficult for the crews, who struggled to find the favoured side of the course and get some speed because of the chop. Steering respectively BMW ORACLE Racing and Team Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 1, Daniel and José Juan Calero are the heroes of the day, with a victory for each of the local brothers.

This is one of the best days of their life: José Juan and Daniel Calero have both won a race today, one day one of the fleet racing event, beating some of the best teams in the world and achieving a dream.

Highlights from the 3rd day of racing. Puerto Calero, 27 February 2009. Video copyright RC44

The conditions were particularly difficult, with a light breeze and fairly strong chop. The first regatta started just after lunch time, under a gray sky and with 5-6 knots breeze. Team Ceeref took an excellent start, and extended its lead alongside BMW ORACLE Racing throughout the race. The Slovenian team made a rare mistake during the last downwind leg, letting the American boat – helmed by Daniel Calero - cross the arrival line first.

The second race started soon after, in similar conditions. Thanks to a great start and a perfect strategy, team Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 1 took an early lead, followed by Artemis and Ceeref. José Juan Calero kept concentrated at the helm, maintaining a small lead over Torbjorn Tornqvist's Artemis. Race Officer Peter Reggio made a wise decision to shorten the course after the second beat, as the wind was dying completely. The local team won the race ahead of Artemis and Ceeref to the great joy of helmsman José Juan Calero and the whole team.

Start of the RC44 fleet race. Puerto Calero, 27 February 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

BMW ORACLE Racing and Ceeref share the lead with 5 points, ahead of Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 1 and Artemis (6 points). Two more days of fleet racing are scheduled.

They said:

Daniel Calero, helmsman, BMW ORACLE Racing: "This experience is absolutely unique for me. For anyone who loves sailing, this team is just one of the best in the world. When Russell asked me to steer the boat, I was very nervous and felt a big pressure. To win the first race today was just extraordinary. And then my brother wins the second regatta; it’s just extraordinary."

José Juan Calero, helmsman, Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero 1: "I couldn’t be happier because my brother and I have both won a race today. This is my first race and I am full of emotions. This is a gift! It also shows how great our team is, and that we can do it. The race was complicated, but José Maria Ponce gave me great advice. His strategic advice was just perfect."

Daniel Calero helms the BMW Oracle to victory in the first race. Puerto Calero, 27 February 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Sébastien Col, tactician, Ceeref: "It was difficult to get the boat going because of the chop. The key factor was to establish a good communication between the helmsman and the trimmers. We also tried to keep clear from the other boats. The crew positioning is also very important in those conditions. Altogether, we weigh 680 kilos, so it is important to be centered, and positioned quite forward. I also think that it is essential to stabilize the heel, at approximately 15-18 degrees in this wind, so that the helmsman keeps a consistent feeling at the helm."

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero sails to victory in the second race. Puerto Calero, 27 February 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Fleet-race, provisional results after two races:
(Ranking, name of team, helmsman, results, points)

1) BMW ORACLE Racing, Daniel Calero, 1, 4 – 5 points
2) Ceeref, Igor Lah, 2,3 - 5 points
3) Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 1, José Juan Calero, 5, 1 – 6 points
4) Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist, 4, 2 – 6 points
5) Team Aqua, Chris Bake, 3, 6 - 9 points
6) Team Organika, Maciej Navrocki, 8, 5 – 13 points
7) Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 2, Carlo Morales, 6, 8 – 14 points
8) No Way Back, Pieter Heerema, 7, 7 – 14 points

What is this? Plug for TP52 Synergy's new bulb

As most comments and emails we received correctly observed, the video shows the construction of a plug for a new bulb. More precisely, it is the plug for the new bulb the Russian TP52 team Synergy is building in Valencia.

The two Russian TP52 yachts, Synergy and Valars, are currently undergoing significant modifications, inside the K-Challenge base in Port America's Cup. Both are 2008-generation boats, the former having started her life as BMW Oracle's yacht and the latter as the latest, and last, Mean Machine TP52.

It's been quite a time we haven't published a quiz. Can you guess what we see on the video?

Team Ceeref, with Sébastien Col, remains the best RC 44 match race team

[Source: RC44] Replacing James Spithill for this event, Sébastien Col and the Slovenian team Ceeref have dominated the match race event of the Puerto Calero RC 44 Cup, winning all their matches. Cameron Appleton and Team Aqua finish second, and Russell Coutts’ BMW ORACLE Racing third.

Winner of last year's match race championship, the Slovenian team Ceeref started the 2009 championship in unknown – yet very reliable – hands with substitute driver Sébastien Col. The French match race champion proved to be the right person, leading his new team to victory and dominating the tournament by winning all of his matches.

Highlights from the 2nd day of racing. Puerto Calero, 26 February 2009. Video copyright RC44

The conditions were once again light and irregular today in Puerto Calero, and Race Officer Peter “Luigi” Reggio did his very best to conclude the round robin before the night, changing the course constantly to match the wind direction changes.

The first flight of the day – the fourth altogether – finally started at 1:30 PM after numerous postponements. Both Team Aqua and No Way Back had fairly easy rides against BMW ORACLE Racing (penalised by a premature start) and Organika. As for Artemis and Ceeref, they had to contain the attacks of the two Spanish entries, Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 1 and 2, sailing aggressively and keeping in touch with the best. Led by Philippe Presti, team No Way Back was still unbeaten at this stage, which is a great achievement considering the fact that it is their first RC 44 regatta. The rest of the day proved however to be harder for them.

Sébastien Col was unbeatable on the helm of Team CEEREF. Puerto Calero, 26 February 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Ceeref made the break in the fifth flight after beating BMW ORACLE Racing with a very comfortable margin and taking a two points lead over their closest opponents. The sky started to turn grey, looking as threatening as some of the manoeuvres attempted by the two Spanish teams – directly opposed to each other during the sixth flight. The outcome of this friendly – or was it? – dual was a victory by the Spanish match race champion José Maria Ponce on Olympic champion Luis Doreste, ESP 1 beating ESP 2.

At this stage, Ceeref could not be reached anymore and a fierce battle for the second and third podium positions started between Team Aqua, Artemis, No Way Back and BMW ORACLE Racing. Very solid till then, Artemis – helmed by owner Torbjorn Tornqvist with Dean Barker’s advice – suffered in the end of the day, loosing to Ceeref and BMW ORACLE Racing. Unlucky earlier in the day, Russell Coutts and his team got it right against Philippe Presti, Torben Tornqvist and Karol Jablonski, climbing back to third overall. As for Team Aqua, brilliant throughout the tournament, it finishes the event in the second spot, having only lost to Seb Col and Philippe Presti. A good season start!

Philippe Presti is another of the helmsmen that make their debut in the RC44 class. Puerto Calero, 26 February 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

They said:

Sébastien Col, helmsman, Ceeref: "I am very happy with the way we sailed this tournament. The team is great, and we were all very calm and concentrated throughout the event, even when we were making mistakes. Michele Ivaldi did a great job at the tactics, he has been great and I have learned a lot of things by sailing with him."

Dean Barker, coach, Artemis: "It was very interesting to coach Torbjorn because it was his first match race event and it kind of forced me to think back about the essentials. It’s difficult, because there is always a little gap between what you would do and when it happens, because you have to say it first and it’s not easy to put your thoughts into words. You really need to anticipate a lot."

Cameron Appleton, helmsman, Team Aqua: "We have new guys on board, and Chris arrived throughout the event so we have grown as a team throughout the event. I think we sailed very well. Sometimes last year we were in a position to win but we just lacked that little winning spirit. We are now back up one step, and I am grateful to Chris for letting us put in place a great team & program."

José Maria Ponce, helmsman, Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero 1: "I am not very satisfied with the way we sailed; there are a few races we could have won. Obviously, we need more time to get the feel and reach the right level. But our team is great and very compact and I already look forward to Cagliari."

Russell Coutts, helmsman, BMW ORACLE Racing: "This was really a tough day wind wise. There wasn’t a clear favoured side, and we struggled to find the right strategy. Ceeref and Seb Col obviously sailed very well today."

Locals Islas Canarias Puerto Calero are taking part with two teams. Puerto Calero, 26 February 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Match-race, final results:
(Name of team, helmsman, No of victories / defeats, points)

1) Ceeref, Sébastien Col, 7/0 - 7 points
2) Team Aqua, Cameron Appleton, 5/2 - 5 points
3) BMW ORACLE Racing, Russell Coutts, 5/2 – 5 points
4) Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist, 4/3 – 4 points
5) No Way Back, Philippe Presti, 4/3 – 4 points
6) Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 2, Carlos Morales, 1/6 – 1 point
7) Team Organika, Karol Jablonski 1/6 – 1 point
8) Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 1, José Maria Ponce, 1/6 -0 point (incl. one penalty)

Sébastien Col's season kick offs at Marseille International Match Race

[Source: K-Challenge] Back from the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland, New Zealand, where Sebastien Col led K-Challenge's team against the best America's Cup skippers to launch the 2009 season, he will race again with most of them this year on the World Match Racing Tour. Sebastien will have the goal to reach what he missed last year for a few points only: the Match Racing World Champion title.

So this season looks very promising in terms of sailing show and duels, as most of these “top skippers” will already start the tour at the Marseille International Match Race in order to put all the chances on their side, and to get points, as the MIMR becomes this year the first official event of “sailing's ATP tour”, which is the World Match Racing Tour.

The competition will take place from 9 to 14 March on Marseille's fabulous race course, and will be organized with the support of YCPR (Yachting Club de la Pointe Rouge), which is Sebastien Col's yacht club.

Six teams are already qualified thanks to the new World Tour cards for all the World Tour's events:

1. Ian Williams (GBR) Bahrain Team Pindar – 2 x defending ISAF Match Racing World Champion.
2. Sébastien Col (FRA) French Team/K-Challenge – America’s Cup helmsman and ISAF ranked number one match racer
3. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Team/Team French Spirit
4. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Shosholoza
5. Adam Minoprio (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand/Black Match Racing
6. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team

Other top teams are also planning to compete in this year's World Match Racing Tour, such as Ben Ainslie (Team Origin) or Magnus Holmberg (Victory Challenge).

Sebastien Col's team in Marseille will be formed of Christophe Andre, Gilles Favennec and Pascal Rambeau.

Sebastien Col : "I'm very happy for my club, YCPR, and all the club members who helped this event to grow year by year with the support of the French Sailing Federation. It is a great asset for us to have a World Match Racing Tour's event here. We start this season leading the world ranking, and we will prepare the event with a training with the French team in Marseille with our sparring partners. I look forward to sailing again with Pascal Rambeau, as we did a very good test together last year: we won a grade 1 event in Berlin. Everybody in our team was happy to sail with Pascal. With Christophe Andre and Gilles Favennec, we have a very good team. It is up to us to be good and to work properly!"

Sebastien Col and his crew will take part this year to the ten events in the World Match Racing Tour's programme, and they will also sail the Congressional Cup (Long Beach, California, 23-28 March).

Baptism of fire for the Class newcomers on day one of the Puerto Calero RC 44 Cup

[Source: RC44] Luis Doreste, Karol Jablonski, Pieter Heerema and many other top sailors participated in their first RC 44 regatta today in Puerto Calero. The conditions were light and unstable, leading to some surprises and upsets.

The RC 44 Championship Tour 2009 started today in Puerto Calero with the first matches of Round Robin one. It was also the baptism of fire for Pieter Heerema’s Team No Way Back and Carlos Morales’ Team Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 2. The Dutch boat had an excellent day, with two victories over the two Spanish boats. On the contrary, the local entries didn’t have such a good day, suffering respectively from a trim tab failure and a broken crash box following a crash.

Many top sailors also discovered the Class today, including Olympic champions Martin Kirketerp or Luis Doreste and veteran America’s Cup sailors Yann Gouniot and Christian Scherrer. The conditions weren’t too difficult for an initiation, although the breeze’s lack of consistency made Race Officer Peter Regio’s life difficult. At the end of the day, two and a half flights could be completed, most probably putting an end to the event organiser’s desire to complete two round robins in two days.

Highlights from the 1st day of racing. Puerto Calero, 25 February 2009. Video copyright RC44

Winner of last year’s match race ranking, Igor Lah’s Ceeref is still the team to beat, with three victories in as many matches today. Sébastien Col is Ceeref’s substitute driver in James Spithill’s absence. Needless to say that he did a great job, particularly during a fantastic regatta against Organika, who were sailing for the first time with their new match race helmsman Karol Jablonski. Leading the race by half a boat length, Organika couldn’t stop Ceeref’s come back, until the Slovenian spinnaker touched the Polish boat’s runners. With a penalty to complete, Séb Col and his team had to attack, which they did in style, taking the lead and increasing it just enough to complete their penalty turn before crossing the arrival line.

Pieter Heerema and Philippe Presti’s team No Way Back and Russell Coutts’ BMW ORACLE Racing are also unbeaten so far, however with one less match under their belt. Team Aqua and Cameron Appleton had an excellent match against Artemis, inflicting a penalty to their opponent at the start and winning the race, before loosing an important match against Ceeref. Finally, Dean Barker’s Artemis won two matches against Organika and Jose Maria Ponce’s Team Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 1.

Organised by Puerto Calero, a superb real estate development on Lanzarote's seafront, the RC 44 Cup consists in two days of match racing followed by three days of fleet racing. The DHL coastal race will take place on Sunday; it will count for double points.

In the day's kiwi match, Dean Barker on the helm of Artemis beat Cameron Appleton on the helm of Team Aqua. Puerto Calero, 25 February 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

They said:

José Juan Calero, Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero 1: “We are very, very happy. Our two matches were extremely close. May be I steered a little bit too aggressively against Team No way Back, and we hit them and broke our crash box. But the other match, against BMW ORACLE Racing, was fantastic. We were in contact all along, and finished just behind them. It proves that we are well in the game. Tomorrow, we will be on the starting line with all our energy.”

Igor Lah, owner, Ceeref: “The match against Organika was fantastic and very strange at the same time; I have never seen such a situation. It was very nice to see two masters (Sébastien Col and Karol Jablonski) playing with the boats.”

Don Cowie, crewmember, Artemis: “The wind was very light but that’s what’s great with these boats: they are interesting to sail even with light winds and they are almost fully powered with six knots of wind. We were a bit frustrated by the penalty incurred against Aqua. We led most of the race, but didn’t have enough space to complete our penalty. It’s only the third regatta we sail with this team and we are still learning a lot.”

Russell Coutts at the helm of BMW Oracle. Puerto Calero, 25 February 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Match-race, provisional results after 2 ½ flights:
(Name of team, helmsman, No of victories / defeats, points)

1) Ceeref, Sébastien Col, 3/0 - 3 points
2) BMW ORACLE Racing, Russell Coutts, 2/0 - 2 points
2) No Way Back, Philippe Presti, 2/0 – 2 points
4) Artemis, Dean Barker, 2/1 – 2 points
5) Team Aqua, Cameron Appleton 1/1 - 1 point
6) Team Organika, Karol Jablonski 0/2 – 0 point
7) Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 2, Carlos Morales, 0/3 – 0 point
8) Puerto Calero Islas Canarias, José Juan Calero, 0/3 -1 point (incl. one penalty)

Violent squalls bring big gains and losses in Volvo Ocean Race

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] All five boats racing down the South Pacific Ocean in leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race are engaged in a battle with nature. The doldrums and the associated clouds and squalls are causing big gains and huge losses across the fleet as the boats get pushed further away from their optimum courses by the unstable weather.

“It’s all about your route through the cloud minefield,” says Guy Salter from Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) who is clinging onto first place. “Often you just can’t avoid them [the clouds], and have to accept that, several miles away, your competitor is having an easier time of it,” Salter explained, as the team looks over its shoulders to see PUMA (Ken Read/USA) and Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) 26 nm astern and gaining.

According to Salter, the clouds have often left Ericsson 4 in a complete void without even a breath of wind, before suddenly sending down a squall with such speed that the team has often found itself a fair way off their optimal course, and has been pushed further south than they planned.

With clouds, come big gains and losses. Two days ago, Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) sailed into PUMA’s world and has been their constant companion ever since.

“We then started a 48-hour flat out drag race and slowly pulled out a very hard-earned four-mile lead, only to have it evaporate late last night in one squall,” explains PUMA’s skipper Kenny Read.

“We slowed to 11 knots, they came roaring up at 20 and it has been game on ever since,” he said. At 1300 GMT today, PUMA had regained a marginal upper hand and is in second place. Both boats gybed onto a southerly course just after 0930 GMT this morning and are split across a lateral divide of 6.5 nm west to east, and making about five knots.

The squalls in this region appear to be quite prevalent, and can last up to two hours. The first signs of a vicious squall approaching is a general darkening of the sky and a thickening of the clouds to weather of the boat. The leading edge of the squall is accompanied by a high probability that there will be a significant wind shift.

Rick Deppe says that when they observe the high black cloud, light rain starts to fall which lasts for about five minutes. It is generally followed by a short pause in the rain, which may be accompanied by possible clearing of the clouds. “The break will only be for a few minutes before the large drops start to fall from the puffy nimbus clouds that make up the body of the squall,” he says. These conditions are likely to last for at least another three days as the fleet picks its way towards Fiji.

“Once the call has been made that we are about to get hit [by a squall], the crew has to react quickly to make the boat safe – wind speeds in a squall can easily double or increase by 20 knots. The squalls generate a sloppy wave pattern and the boat starts to crash and bump because the waves are disorganised and random, “explains Deppe.

Making the most of the conditions and very much back in the game is Ian Walker’s Green Dragon. The team is 86 nm to the east of Ericsson 4’s track and averaging a steady 13.5 knots.

“The fleet has opted to follow our easterly route, which has consolidated some very big gains for us,” said Ian Walker who celebrates his 39th birthday today. “We have taken over 200 miles out of the leaders and are very much back in the hunt. It looks like everyone is shaping up to go east of Fiji, where a large area of no wind awaits the fleet,” he said.

Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) is in fourth place, but closing quickly and averaging 10 knots of boatspeed. Bekking is still playing it conservatively, following the pack and not making any radical decisions. Their track takes them 84 nm west of the tracks of PUMA and Ericsson 3.

“Our boatspeed over the last few days has been really good and we feel that if we can get into the same patch of water as the others in this light to moderate reaching, then we will do well, “ said navigator Tom Addis. The team is happy to follow the leaders down to the first scoring gate at 36 degrees south, where they expect a restart with the fleet.

Although the fleet continues to battle with all that nature can throw their way, occasionally the wind Gods smile and clouds arrive at just the right time to give a real boost in the right direction.

“Breeze picking up now – 14 knots of boats speed, and, by the look of this cloud, it is lined up quite nicely for us and we should get quite a nice run out of it for 10 miles or so. Nice, friendly helpful, benevolent, thoughtful cloud…” wrote Tom Addis from Telefónica Blue at 0705 GMT today.

Leg Five Day 12: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 8,830 nm
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +26
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +26
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +62
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +88

Alessandra Pandarese, Mascalzone's legal advisor, comments on the last oral hearing in NY Court

Mascalzone Latino published today on their website a brief interview with Alessandra Pandarese, their legal advisor, concerning the last oral hearing in the America's Cup court case that took place two weeks ago in Albany. The interview was done in Italian and the translation is mine, meaning there could be some small errors or mistakes. Nevertheless, the general picture is crystal clear. Pandarese sees a victory for GGYC as the only positive outcome and hopes the judges decide in favor of the American yacht club.

Question: What is your view on the oral hearings?
Alessandra Pandarese: The times for oral arguments were very, very short and each of the 2 parts had 15 minutes available that were divided according to their plan. First of all, GGYC's lawyer had 10 minutes then SNG's and CNEV's lawyers split their 15 minutes and finally, GGYC's lawyer used her remaining 5 minutes for her closing arguments.

Time was so short that it was impossible to repeat written arguments and I think that during the audience there has been a barrage of questions from the judges who showed they had in-depth knowledge of the issue. The arguments concentrated on the key element, that is whether the prerequisites had to be satisfied when the challenge was presented and in particular whether the annual regatta had to have taken place before the challenge was presented. Obviously, Alinghi's position was the opposite and the questions focused mainly on these points. Still, the judges asked for clarifications regarding the mechanism in the America's Cup with which challenges can become multiple challenges. In my view, GGYC's defense showed in an efficient way that the mutual consent aspects are succedent and that the challenge must meet the prerequisites the moment it is received by the defender.

Question: What are the possible outcomes?
Alessandra Pandarese: We have to wait for the decision. The decision could have the most varied content. We hope the court decides in the sense it approves GGYC's view, which we have supported and consider to be the one that guarantees a future for the America's Cup by guaranteeing that no ad hoc challenger can be established by the defender. Only that way there can be a real and true counter party, something that hasn't been verified in this case. We hope that a general principle be established in that sense,

Obviously, everything lies in the hands of the judges. They could decide not to accept GGYC's view and rule in favor of Alinghi. There are even intermediate outcomes such as the possibility the court sends the case to a higher level in order to obtain further clarifications. This is a gray area and I'd rather not consider it. The sailing community and the America's Cup community want to have a decision that is either black or white.

Question: What will happen if GGYC wins and what if SNG wins?
Alessandra Pandarese: IF BMW Oracle wins there are two possible outcomes. Either the Deed-of-Gift match, as we all know, or a negotiation with the Defender, something that Oracle is willing to do, as stated to the judges. As a result, it is possible to have a future multi-challenger event. If Alinghi wins, they have stated numerous times they would hold a multi-challenger event but the rules are under discussion. These are the most probable outcomes although they are not sure.

Question: Can the court rule against both parties, GGYC and SNG?
Alessandra Pandarese: No matter what the issue could be in a legal case, commercial or sports, there can always be surprises. In my opinion this is a very marginal outcome but still an issue raised by Alinghi in the case concerns the lack of clarity in GGYC's certificate and challenge. As a result, in theory this is also an issue to be considered by the court. As we said there can be intermediate outcomes but we will have to face them once they are made public. For that reason we'll have to wait for the decision.

America's Cup champion, Alinghi, to compete on 2009 World Match Racing Tour

[Source: Alinghi] Alinghi, Defender of the 33rd America's Cup, has entered the 2009 World Match Racing Tour as part of the team's preparations for the next America's Cup. Brad Butterworth, Alinghi team skipper, comments: “These are the sort of regattas we enjoy doing; with multi-national teams and we are really looking forward to measuring ourselves against some of the best match racers in the world, particularly as some of them are entered challengers for the 33rd America's Cup."

Ed Baird (USA), helmsman, will lead the four-man Alinghi crew of Pieter van Nieuwenhuijzen (NED), Lorenzo Mazza (ITA) and Warwick Fleury (NZL) at up to 10 match racing events around the world, starting with the Marseille International Match Race on 10 March and culminating with the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia in December. "The World Match Racing Tour puts a premium on teamwork and mastering ever-changing conditions. We'll get a lot of different opportunities to race all the top match racers, which will ultimately be great for our Cup preparations," said three-time Match Racing World Champion, Ed Baird, adding: "I haven't been a regular on the Tour since 2005, but it will be great to get back into the action and to remind myself and the team what it takes to win short, tough races against all the top guys."

The team has just returned from the LV Pacific Series in Auckland, New Zealand and – while the future of the 33rd America's Cup remains in the hands of the New York Court of Appeals judges, who have yet to decide whether to uphold the Appellate Division's ruling, allowing a conventional multi-challenge America's Cup among 19 teams starting in July 2009 and culminating with the Match in 2010, or whether to grant BMW Oracle Racing their one-on-one Deed of Gift Match – Alinghi looks to the future and to honing its match racing skills: "Getting back on the Tour will keep us up to date with the latest thinking on rules, tactics and strategies,” said Ed Baird. “We'll also have the chance to keep communicating with the race teams from the many syndicates that are part of the next America's Cup,” he concluded.

Franck Cammas' Groupama 3 sails again

On Monday morning Groupama 3 carried out her first test sail off the Lorient coast. A little bit more than a year after capsizing in New Zealand the French trimaran was tested during 5 hours.

Launched on February 11th after a 10-month repair and refit at the Multiplast boatyard in Vannes, Groupama 3 was motored to Lorient. Already masted, she should have started the first test sails last week but the wind didn't make an appearance in the region.

Groupama 3 sails again after more than a year. Lorient, 23 February 2009. Photo copyright Yvan Zedda

Although still light during the first tests, the wind gave Franck Cammas and his crew the opportunity to start getting hold of the giant multihull. During a period of 5 hours, from 10 am to 3pm, the crew was able to carry out a large number of tests without pushing the boat too hard.

Groupama 3 will continue the tests until Thursday and then train until March 16th when the crew will embark on an record-breaking attempt across the Mediterranean.

Groupama 3 sails again after more than a year. Lorient, 23 February 2009. Video copyright Le Télégramme

Groupama 3 sails again after more than a year. Lorient, 23 February 2009. Photo copyright Yvan Zedda

Ericsson leads Volvo Ocean Race across Pacific Equator

[Source: Ericsson Racing Team] Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race is in the midst of its second week at sea, and Ericsson Racing Team’s yachts hold first and third on the longest leg in the history of the race, bound for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The top three in the fleet have crossed the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, led by Ericsson 4 earlier today. The past few days have seen the sailors contending with the light and shifty winds and sudden squalls associated with life at the Equator.

Ericsson 4, skippered by Brazil’s Torben Grael, gave up half the lead it held on Friday afternoon as a result of leading into the unsettled weather, but today had reopened an advantage of 21 nautical miles over Puma at the 1306 GMT position report.

"We think we’re through the Doldrums, and we passed the Equator early on today,” said Ericsson 4 media crewman Guy Salter. “We slowed down probably more than the boats behind us. On the satellite pictures there were a lot more clouds that seem to have evaporated as time went on. We slowed for a bit, but it wasn’t the classic Doldrums experience through the Atlantic."

Chris Bedford, Ericsson Team meteorologist, talks about the current weather situation. Video copyright Ericsson Racing Team



Ericsson 4 was approximately 100 nautical miles south/southeast of Nauru, the world’s smallest island nation (in area). Teammate Ericsson 3, led by Sweden’s inimitable Magnus Olsson, was 24 miles behind.

“It has been a very nice and at the same time an enormously exciting day in the Volvo Ocean Race,” said Gustav Morin, media crewman aboard Ericsson 3. “During the night we made huge gains on the front fleet and in the morning we could see Puma in bearing 90 degrees. And by then we were still gaining. On the [latest] sched Puma was three miles ahead and our sistership [24] miles. No big gains or losses during the day between us.”

The fleet has covered more than 3,000 nautical miles in the first 10 days since setting off from Qingdao, China, putting the five boats on a fast pace. With the Equator cleared, the next tactical hurdle is the southern hemisphere inter-tropical convergence zone, around latitude 8 degrees South, another area of light and shifty winds.

Their decisions in the coming days will not only affect how they traverse that area, but also how they set up for a run at the leg’s first scoring gate at latitude 36S. The first boat across the parallel off New Zealand earns 4 points and each boat thereafter a half-point less.

“Our long-term plan is to aim for gap between Vanuatu and Fiji, with a restriction on not passing west of Vanuatu,” said team meteorologist Chris Bedford. “South of Fiji we expect the wind to be southeasterly. Because it’s hard to make easting in a southeasterly wind, we would prefer to be closer to Fiji for a better angle south towards the scoring gate. To be west, near Vanuatu, could mean a course dead upwind to the gate.”

Fiji lays more than 1,000 nautical miles on the horizon, which means the leaders will probably pass by there later this week.

VOLVO OCEAN RACE LEG 5 LEADERBOARD
(Feb. 23, 2009, 1306 GMT)
1.Ericsson 4, +9,303 nautical miles to finish
2.Puma, +21 NM
3.Ericsson 3, +24 NM
4.Green Dragon, +126 NM
5.Telefónica Blue, +135 NM

Ericsson 4 enters Doldrums, to the relief of Telefonica Blue

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA), pathfinders in this 12,300 nm leg from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro, has arrived in the Doldrums, much to the relief of the Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) who started leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race some 19 hours behind the rest of the fleet and now has a chance to close their deficit.

“The last sched has just come in and Ericsson 4 has finally parked – so, at last, the Doldrums are really there – people were starting not to believe me,” wrote Tom Addis, the navigator onboard the blue boat.

Telefónica Blue still has good breeze and is all set to make up some miles while the pressure holds. “We normally dread the light breeze that comes with this sort of transition, but, to be honest, we are all looking forward to the change in routine and the opportunities that it presents,” Addis said. The boat is still averaging 16 knots to Ericsson 4 and PUMA’s nine.

Meanwhile, in the thick of clouds and light winds, Joca Signorini, the Brazilian trimmer on Ericsson 4, says the last 10 hours or so have been painful. “We are now trying to keep moving and waiting to see what happens with the others,” he said.

It will be an exciting few days now, as the backmarkers make gains on the leaders who are struggling. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE), currently in third place, reports wind speed of below five knots, so this team too, has arrived at the ITCZ (Inter-tropical Convergence Zone otherwise known as the Doldrums). The Telefónica Blue team reckons they only have a few hours to go before they too, will be fighting with clouds and fickle winds.

The fleet is still picking its way through the Marshall Islands, a group of 29 atolls and five islands. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) on her course, some 100 nm east of the track of Ericsson 4, will pass closer to the islands than the rest of the fleet.

The islands sound so interesting, according to the digital version of the Pacific Ocean pilot book, which Telefónica Blue has onboard, that Tom Addis thinks he might like to return one day for a more relaxed sailing holiday with his family, although he says, “If you see me in the street, please remind me not to set out from Qingdao in a Volvo 70.”

With the Doldrums comes rain, often in heavy bursts, which in turn, means clean crews and less smelly boats, as everyone onboard is able to have a tropical shower and a change of clothes. Ken Read, skipper of second-placed PUMA, says he has been in some smelly situations, but the interior of PUMA is rapidly passing them all as a top player in this week’s smelliest place on earth.

The monotony of a week of blast-reaching has not even been broken by wildlife to observe. Magnus Olsson (Ericsson 3) is very disappointed about this. No dolphins, no whales and no birds have been sighted, just the odd flying fish. That will all change, once the fleet reaches the Southern Ocean and the home of the Albatross and other sea life. “The birds down there are just fantastic,” says Olsson, who has a big fascination of the Albatross and its way of sweeping over the surface and diving between the waves without moving its wings.

Magnus will be pleased to learn that a large part of the monies raised from the Virtual Volvo Ocean Race competitors is to be donated to the Save the Albatross campaign in order to help prevent the extinction of these majestic birds.

At 1300 GMT today PUMA is 21 nm behind Ericsson 4, but averaging the same speed. Ericsson 3, however, is putting the pressure on PUMA from just three miles astern and is still averaging just over 11 knots. The gap of over 200 nm for both Telefónica Blue and Green Dragon has now been cut significantly. Telefónica Blue has closed to 170 nm, making a gain of around 90 nm in the last 24 hours, while Green Dragon is still going strong, out to the east, and has cut 77 nm out of Ericsson 4’s lead.

Leg Five Day 9: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 9,545 nm
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +21
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +25
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +170
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +196

Arnaud Boissières finishes seventh in Vendée Globe

[Source: Vendée Globe] At 14h35'50" GMT today (Sunday 22nd February) Arnaud Boissières, the skipper of Akena Vérandas, crossed the finish line of the 2008-2009 Vendée Globe in seventh place after 105 days 02 hours 33 minutes and 50 seconds of racing averaging 11.04 knots on the water covering 27,841 miles. He sailed the 24,840 theoretical miles at an average speed of 9.85 knots.

A teenage dream came true today. At the age of seventeen, he was present with his father at the start of the first Vendée Globe in 1989. It was a trip to Les Sables d¹Olonne to see the first Vendée Globe heroes and to forget the leukaemia, which had been discovered six months before. After two and a half years of chemotherapy, Arnaud Boissières decided to earn his living from his passion for the sea. Cali raced in the 1999 Mini Transat when terrible conditions decimated the fleet. His boat was dismasted, but he completed the race after a pit stop in France. He raced twice subsequently, finishing third in 2001.

Arnaud Boissières finishes seventh in Vendée Globe. Les Sables d'Olonne, 22 February 2009. Photo copyright Pierrick Contin / Vendée Globe

He also worked as a preparateur for Yves Parlier and Catherine Chabaud and sailed with Olivier de Kersauson on his Oryx round the world race attempt. Today, twenty years after the first Vendée Globe, his life has come full circle back to Les Sables d¹Olonne, where today he was welcomed by tens of thousands of spectators, as was the case for the six competitors, who finished before him.

In this particularly tough Vendée Globe, making it back to Les Sables d¹Olonne is in itself an achievement. Cali, as Arnaud is nicknamed, could never have imagined finishing seventh, when he set out. The icing on the cake after a round the world race that he managed prudently on his Open 60 which was launched back in 1998.

A Finot-Conq design with a fixed keel that finished sixth in the hands of Thomas Coville in 2001 and fifth with Sébastien Josse in 2005, apart from a ripped solent, a broken wind generator and a satellite dome ripped off in the Pacific, he did not suffer any major damage, in spite of going through some severe storms, including one at Cape Horn, which he rounded for the first time on 16th January.

After a long struggle with Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson, Arnaud Boissières got left behind in the climb back up the Atlantic, where he was handicapped by his torn solent. After a final North Atlantic low on 6th February, Cali completed his Vendée Globe in light airs in the Bay of Biscay. A gentle finish, mirroring the character of the skipper, whose quiet determination ensured that the project was smoothly run from the beginning to the end.

Ericsson Meteorologist: The Race Enters a New Phase

[Source: Chris Bedford, Ericsson Team Meteorologist] Greetings everyone, I’m back. As you may know, I’ve been submitting a video weather blog entry for the web site over the last week. This change has been in response to the limited video and images available off the boat while they are in a broadband blackout caused by some satellite repositioning by INMARSAT. No video updates over the weekend, so here I am back with my more typical written update.

Today, we have big changes literally on the horizon. The incredibly fast progress of the last week has put the fleet ahead of schedule on their trip toward Rio, but the coming days will offer some serious challenges as the wind will shift dramatically from reaching to upwind angles and decrease considerably in speed. I fully expect them to be put back on schedule by lighter, more variable winds over the next week to 10 days.

Plotting the fleet position on the weather satellite image today shows Ericsson 4, Puma, and Ericsson 3 sailing in underneath considerable cloud cover which marks the Intertropical Convergence Zone. These clouds are filled with showers and thundersqualls resulting from the massive convergence between the northeasterly trade winds blowing around the north Pacific high pressure and the southeast trade winds blowing out of the Southern Hemisphere. The 20+ knot reaching conditions are about to end – first for Ericisson 4, then progressively for Puma and Ericsson 3. Telefonica Blue and Green Dragon are likely to hold onto the northeast trade winds for nearly one more day and perhaps even longer for Green Dragon since they are well to the east and likely to hold onto the favorable pressure for much longer.

Tactically, you may have seen the boys on Ericsson 4 suddenly jump ahead in the last 12-18 hours from around 5 miles ahead of Puma to about 50 miles. Its pretty clear that they understood the coming light spot would tighten up the race and felt it was time to cash in on the easterly leverage they had worked hard to keep since leaving the Japanese Current earlier in the week. Now, as soon as the wind dies at the head of the fleet, the trailing boats will have a chance to regain some of the miles lost in the last 24 hours. In fact, on the 1600 GMT position report, Ericsson 4 appears to be just a few miles from running into the lighter winds. They are still showing 20 knots, but I expect them to be in much different conditions on the 1900 GMT position report.

Ericsson 4 is passing just to the northeast of a small island called Kosrae and the last weather report there was showing winds at 5 knots from the northeast – a far cry from the fresh trades they have been experiencing and foreshadowing much of the light airs which lie ahead. The clouds, showers, and squalls are going to randomize things for the next 12-24 hours and until the fleet moves out of the ITCZ and into a region of light, east-southeast winds from about 4N. South of the 4N, this zone of very light winds extends nearly 1500nm to the southeast and right along the course the boats need to sail toward the scoring gate at 36S latitude. 36S is still over 3000 miles away. It could take the fleet the better part of 10 days to get there! Time to be patient as the days and miles will pass much more slowly.

Emirates Team NZ TP52 yacht has first test sail

Emirates Team NZ sailed on Thursday their new TP52 built by Cookson Boats and delivered to the Emirates Team NZ base on Monday.

Emirates Team NZ sail their TP52 yacht for the first time. Auckland, 19 February 2009. Photo copyright Chris Cameron / Emirates Team NZ

Emirates Team NZ sail their TP52 yacht for the first time. Auckland, 19 February 2009. Photo copyright Chris Cameron / Emirates Team NZ

Emirates Team NZ sail their TP52 yacht for the first time. Auckland, 19 February 2009. Photo copyright Chris Cameron / Emirates Team NZ

Emirates Team NZ sail their TP52 yacht for the first time. Auckland, 19 February 2009. Photo copyright Chris Cameron / Emirates Team NZ

RC 44 Championship Tour starts next week in Puerto Calero

[Source: RC44] With the participation of new teams and sailors, including Luis Doreste, Karol Jablonski, José Maria Ponce, Philippe Presti and Martin Kirketerp on top of the usual world Class RC 44 sailors, the season’s first regatta will be interesting. The RC 44 Class also announces new features that will allow media and the public to better follow the events.

The RC 44 fleet is back in action, with the Puerto Calero Islas Canarias RC 44 Cup – the season’s first regatta - starting on Wednesday February 25. Organised by Puerto Calero, a superb real estate development on Lanzarote's seafront, the RC 44 Cup will begin with two days of match racing, followed by three days of fleet racing. The DHL coastal race will take place on Sunday; it will count for double points.

Two new teams join the Class for this regatta. Led by Pieter Heerema, “No Way Back” has been training hard over the winter in Copenhagen, with sometimes sub zero temperatures. Philippe Presti is the team’s pro skipper and helmsman for the match races. He will also advice Heerema and be the tactician during the fleet regattas. Other members of the team include America’s Cup sailors Yann Gouniot and Christian Scherrer, as well as the 49er Olympic Gold medallist Martin Kirketerp and other Scandinavian sailors.

Dean Barker helms Artemis on the opening day of the RC44 Puerto Calero Gold Cup. Puerto Calero, 10 December 2008. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero will have two boats sailing under its colours next week, with Carlos Morales and Olympic champion Luis Doreste sailing on board ESP 2 for the first time whilst José Juan Calero and Spanish match-race champion José Maria Ponce will share helming duties onboard ESP 1.

Also new on the circuit, Karol Jablonski – helmsman of the Spanish team Desafio during the last America’s Cup – joins the Polish team Organika, who will undoubtedly benefit from Jablonski’s huge experience in match racing. As for Sébastien Col, the match race world champion, he will sail the Puerto Calero Cup onboard the 2008 champion Ceeref, replacing James Spithill for this regatta before joining K-Challenge’s new RC 44 in Cagliari.

The RC 44 Class is pleased to announce that the media and the public will from now on have the opportunity to follow the races more closely, even if they don’t travel to the events. Indeed, news items, results, photos and updates will be posted on the Class website (www.rc44.com) throughout the day.

On top of this, a video news update will be prepared every day by our TV partner APP / Sunset/Vine, and posted on the website every evening. The event’s TV summary will be available four days after the end of the event, and highlights will be distributed to TV’s worldwide as usual.

The teams involved in the Puerto Calero RC 44 Cup:

- Ceeref, Igor Lah / Sébastien Col
- Team Aqua, Chris Bake / Cameron Appleton
- Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist / Dean Barker
- BMW ORACLE Racing, Russell Coutts
- ESP – 1 Islas Canarias Puerto Calero – José Juan Calero / José Maria Ponce
- ESP – 2 Islas Canarias Puerto Calero – Carlos Morales / Luis Doreste
- Team Organika – Maciej Nawrocki / Karol Jablonski
- No Way Back – Pieter Heerema / Philippe Presti

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero sails on the fourth day of the RC44 Puerto Calero Gold Cup. Puerto Calero, 13 December 2008. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Delta Lloyd getting ready for the comeback

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] Team Delta Lloyd has launched its comeback for the second half of the race, beginning with the start of Leg 6 from Rio.

The team retired from the brutal Leg 4 from Singapore to Qingdao with structural damage to her bow section. The boat is currently being shipped from Hong Kong to Rio where a new bow section, manufactured in Italy, will be fitted.

According to Killian Bushe, responsible for the build of Delta Lloyd, formerly ABN AMRO ONE, the overall winner of the 2005-06 Volvo, the damage was the result of an impact rather than delamination. “The ultrasound test proved that the damage was caused by some impact,” he said.

Delta Lloyd is loaded on to a container ship to be taken to Rio de Janeiro. Qingdao, 19 February 2009. Photo copyright Bas Vredenburg/Team Delta Lloyd/

“The hull is made of a sandwich construction, which means there are skins on either side of the core material. That core material was fractured by the collision. The damaged area was initially about 400-500 square millimetres, but by being unnoticed by the crew and the subsequent flexing from the continuous pounding in the large waves at the time, it increased to 3,5 meters by one meter wide.

"Once the core in a sandwich is damaged the panel can no longer support itself.”

Skipper Roberto Bermudez and his crew recognized the seriousness of the situation in time to nurse the boat to Taiwan from where it was transported to Hong Kong.

Bushe and a team of seven boat builders will manage the repair work in Rio. “We will first remove all the structure in the bow and cut away the damaged panel, which will then be replaced,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nick Bice has joined the sailing crew for the second half of the race. The 31-year-old Australian replaces Spain’s Guillermo Altadill who was only contracted for leg 4 and 5.

Bice, a qualified boat builder, was watch leader and boat captain for ABN AMRO TWO in the 2005-06 Volvo. He was also part of the Team Amer Sports campaign in 2001-02. More recently, he joined the British America's Cup challenge Team Origin as boat captain and pitman.

Making the mould for Delta Lloyds new bow section. Photo copyright Team Delta Lloyd / Volvo Ocean Race

Strong lineup at St. Moritz Match Race

[Source: St. Moritz Match Race] The date and the first skippers for the St. Moritz Match Race 2009 have been set. From 1 to 6 September 2009 the world's best skippers will be sailing to capture the crown, "King of the Mountains". Back this year, among others, is last year's champion, Mathieu Richard and the two previous Kings, Ian Williams (2007) and Paolo Cian (2006).

The first sailors for the St. Moritz Match Race have been announced. The World Match Racing Tour has made some changes to the rules of the Match Racing World Championship. The Tour has decided to fix six top skippers: Ian Williams (GBR), Sebastien Col (FRA), Mathieu Richard (FRA), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Paolo Cian (ITA), Torvar Mirsky (AUS) will be at the start for the St. Moritz Match Race 2009.

Two more skippers will be invited by the World Match Racing Tour.

Another two will compete for one place at two Qualifier events (the Swiss Championship Match Racing Lugano and the Open Espana in Calpe). The Tour will give a wildcard to another two and finally, the St. Moritz organising committee will invite a pair. As every year, starting places in St. Moritz are coveted – Alinghi skipper Ed Baird has already expressed his interest in participating. “We welcome the new Invite Policy of the World Tour and are pleased that half of the field has been set so early in the year with the world’s best,” explained Christian Scherrer, head of the St. Moritz Match Race organising committee. “This will guarantee a top-class line-up for the seventh St. Moritz Match Race.”

The calendar for the World Match Racing Tour is now official. The St. Moritz Match Race will take place from 1 to 6 September 2009. And a new event, the Marseille International Match Race, has been added to the Tour calendar.

The St. Moritz Match Race organising committee is pleased to continue the coorperation with trusted partner. AFG, UBS and Badrutt’s Palace Hotel remain the main event sponsors.

It's a flat out drag race for the Volvo Ocean Race

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] Fast, warm reaching is on offer today for the five-boat Volvo Ocean Race fleet as it races on through the Pacific Ocean on leg five, the longest leg of the course at 12,300 nm.

Ken Read is delighted that PUMA is able to keep in touch with race leader Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/USA), who is known to excel in fast reaching conditions. PUMA is only four miles behind Ericsson 4, making up four miles in the last 24-hours, and the pair is beginning to open up a substantial lead over the chasing three.

Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) is a safe 142 nm astern of Ericsson 4. Although they have added 63 nm to their deficit since 1300 GMT yesterday, it is still good enough for third place. In spite of the loss of miles to the leader, the atmosphere onboard is one of high spirits, as the team presses the boat as hard as they can. The wind has been shifty and Gustav Morin MCM reports that it has been difficult to keep good speed and make the right choice of sails. “We have between 10 – 20 knots of wind and the angle has constantly been going back and forth from 30 to 55 degrees,” he said.

Chris Bedford, Ericsson Team meteorologist, talks about the current weather situation. Video copyright Ericsson Racing Team

The two new crewmembers onboard Ericsson 3, Norwegian Arve Roaas and Sweden’s Magnus Woxen are blending well with the old crew and are enjoying racing the latest generation of Volvo Open 70. They are beginning to feel more comfortable about housekeeping rules such as knowing where to put their boots and socks while sleeping, and how to fit into a sleeping bag and climb up into a bunk, which has only 20cm headroom.

For Ian Walker’s Green Dragon, it has been a tough 24-hours and the team has paid a high price for its northerly position. They are now 207 nm adrift of the leading pair losing a further 82 nm in the past 24-hours. “We didn’t mean to be quite so far north, but we had a long period of light and lifted winds two days ago, that ushered us north,” explained Ian Walker. He said that the crew was very philosophical about the miles lost and that his team’s game plan of sailing, what they believe is the right way irrespective of other boats, will not change.

Late starter, Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) still has plenty of catching up to do. “We are slowly coming into better breeze, so we may be able to stop the bleeding soon, but we still aren’t seeing any major passing lanes,” explained navigator Tom Addis.

Although the last few days of sailing may not have offered an opportunity for tactical decisions, at least the miles are clicking down. The wind will steadily head the fleet, which will slowly curve down to the south to pick up the southeast trade winds. Onboard PUMA, the goal is to meet up with the trade winds far enough to the east to prevent the boat from being hard on the wind. They will also try to position themselves to the east of some light air near the doldrums.

As the temperatures rise, shoes are being swapped for boots, thermals for shorts; and sun cream and sunglasses are making their first appearance. Life onboard the racing yachts has settled down after the first bumpy 36-hours. Speeds hover between the 16 – 18 knot mark and the fastest 24-hour run belongs to PUMA at 442 nm, although Ericsson 4 has recorded a maximum boat speed of 26 knots.

Leg Five Day Five: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 10886 nm
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +4
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +142
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +207
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +284

Cookson Boats feels pinch, to lay off entire workforce

[Source: Newstalk ZB] An Auckland boat building company, renowned for building world class racing yachts, is laying off its entire workforce.

Cookson Boats has no future work booked and when their current projects are finished, there will be nothing left for the 62 staff members to do.

The company has been around for more than 30 years, with some of the most notable work building boats for Team New Zealand in the America's Cup.

Publisher and Editor of Pacific Motor Yacht magazine, Barry Thompson, says the whole boating industry is suffering from a lack of orders. He says when people stop buying boats, they stop buying engines, electronics, fabrics and so on, having an impact on the entire industry.

Mr Thompson is aware of many people who have the money to spend on a boat but are too scared to do so in the current economic climate.

Other notable projects from the Cookson shed include Sayonara, built for Larry Ellison, which won four consecutive world maxi championships,

Steve Fossett's Cheyenne (formerly Playstation) which set the round the world record in 2004, Larry Ellison's Sayonara, Roy Disney's maxZ86 Pyewacket and supermaxi Maximus.

Video archive: NY Court of appeals oral hearing of the case GGYC vs SNG

For all the America's Cup buffs we publish here an archive of the last hearing of the court case between BMW Oracle and Alinghi, in the NY Court of Appeals that took place last week. The waiting game has now become and according to most experts on the issue, it will take approximately 2 months before we know the fate of the world's oldest sports trophy.

Last oral hearing in the case between GGYC and SNG. Albany, 10 February 2009.

Emirates Team NZ receives TP52 yacht

Emirates Team NZ, fresh winner of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, got delivery on Monday afternoon of their brand new TP52 yacht from Cookson yachts. The Botín-designed boat was officially launched later that day and will be used by the kiwi team in the 2009 Audi Medcup circuit.

The brand new TP52 arrives at the Emirates Team NZ base. Auckland, 16 February 2009. Photo copyright Kiwi Magic

The brand new TP52 arrives at the Emirates Team NZ base. Auckland, 16 February 2009. Photo copyright Kiwi MagicThe brand new TP52 arrives at the Emirates Team NZ base. Auckland, 16 February 2009. Photo copyright Kiwi Magic

Telefonica Blue is back on course

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] His boat has been passed fit, but Telefonica Blue skipper Bouwe Bekking feared his team's chances of winning leg five were less than healthy when they finally started racing this morning.

It was 07:42 local time when they eventually returned to racing status in the leg, nearly 19 hours after their boat hit a rock in yesterday's pre-start and suspended racing.

Initially it was feared they had suffered serious damage to the keel, but after thorough overnight examinations of the bulb, shore boss Campbell Field rated the boat at "100%" free of structural damage. Bekking, though, was less confident in his team's chances of recovering to win a third straight leg.

"Right now you would say it is marginal but we have seen strange things happen in our sport," he said. "We just have to see how it goes. We will lose quite a bit in the next two or three days because they are always in better pressure. But we just have to see how it goes, hope they park up somewhere and we can reel them back in.

"Strange things have happened before," he added. "We saw PUMA left the Philippines a day later than everyone else (in leg four) and a day later she was ahead of most."

Telefonica Blue sets sails for Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race. Qingdao, 15 February 2009. Photo copyright Volvo Ocean Race

Navigator Tom Addis explained that the later start has given the team a few scant benefits from the weather.

"We do get a cleaner exit out of here than the other guys. They had a weak southerly and had to transition into the northerly flow and we start in that northerly flow. We shouldn't keep haemorrhaging miles to them, we should get on the pace quite quickly."

Despite the pressure to make up ground, Addis insisted he would not allow the pressure of an early deficit affect his decisions in the bid to catch up.

"You can try and cut the corner, you can try and turn south earlier, but you've got a long time in the trades where you're sailing a tighter angle," he said. "I don't, at this stage, want to get tempted into that. I think the best thing for us is to think long term, it's still 4,500 miles to the scoring gate so we have to sail the course that is best for us."

Addis admitted the collision with a rock has weighed heavily on his mind. The team said they had been sailing seven knots in depths of 11 metres when they suddenly ground to a halt and suspended racing two-and-a-half minutes from the starter's gun. The nearest charted shallow spot was a full 110 metres from their position, leaving Addis stunned at an incident that left a hefty crack in the port side of the keel fin and dents on the bulb.

"I'm still quite dark about what happened," he said. "All the charts and information we had said we should have been clear, but it keeps running through my head. The navigator's primary job is to not hit anything and we did. All my paper charts and electronic charts said we should have been clear. We were only a line's length from the pin-end."

Telefonica Blue undergoes keel repairs. Qingdao, 15 February 2009. Photo copyright Volvo Ocean Race

Bekking exonerated his navigator of any blame, but was less than pleased with the local charts.

"I'm just surprised there are no proper maps in the area, that's just unbelievable," the skipper said. "But what happened happened and we can't change it. There's no structural damage and that's the main thing. We are behind but it's a long race.

"He (Addis) didn't do anything wrong and that's what I said to him. There is one shallow spot over there but we were far away from that. We should have been in 11 metres of water."

The team is now fighting to get back in a leg which could prove pivotal to the final race leaderboard. Blue currently sit seven points adrift of Ericsson 4, and one ahead of PUMA, but bowman Michael Pammenter is not giving up hope.

"The leg is going to take about 14,000 miles so there's a long way to go and it's about 40 days sailing," he said. "We are leaving half a day behind and the boat that wins won't win by a few hours, they'll win it by half a day or more.

"There's always a good chance we could catch a few boats because from where we are we can see who is going fast and who isn't, who has good wind. That will help. We just have to stay positive and see what we can do."