BREAKING THE TOP OF THE MAST

 

Tanguy de lamotte broke the top of his mast off one week into the vendee globe around the world race. We had the top of the mast break off in the 2012 Bermuda race. Fortunately we were able to finish with a reef.

Thomas Coville is, after 8 days of sailing almost a day ahead of the singlehanded around the world record.

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LARRY HUNTINGTON

 

 

 

No-one deserves to be nominated more than Larry Huntington. Sailor of the Month really does not justify the lifetime of Love of the Sea. Few have demonstrated a stronger commitment to sailing; particularly offshore long distance racing. His career spans wooden schooners to the latest carbon yachts.

 

CLICK HERE TO CAST A VOTE FOR LARRY.Screen Shot 2015-10-19 at 10.10.24 AMScreen Shot 2015-10-19 at 10.08.56 AM

LARRY WITH HIS SEXTANT
LARRY WITH HIS SEXTANT

COMPUTER NAVIGATION
COMPUTER NAVIGATION

PAPER CHARTS
PAPER CHARTS

LARRY AND STEVE COLGATE 1969
LARRY AND STEVE COLGATE 1969

FINISH OF 2003 TRANSATLANTIC
FINISH OF 2003 TRANSATLANTIC

HARD RUNNING 2015
HARD RUNNING 2015

BLOCK ISLAND RACE
BLOCK ISLAND RACE

BREAKFAST TRANSATLANTIC 2011
BREAKFAST TRANSATLANTIC 2011

RUNNING TRANSATLANTIC 2003
RUNNING TRANSATLANTIC 2003

another look at the 2015 transatlantic race:

BETTER BE GOOD AT KEDGING, LIGHT AIR FASTNET

ELAINE BUNTING

The challenge on this year’s Rolex Fastnet Race will be coaxing yachts around the course in ultra light winds 

Skippers preparing ready for the Rolex Fastnet Race 2015 on Sunday were warned that it could be a slow race with very light winds ahead. “If you really want to win this race you are going to have to be good at kedging!” joked Eddie Warden Owen, CEO of organisers the Royal Ocean Racing Club.

A record number of 370 yachts will set off from Cowes on Sunday on the 604-mile classic to the Fastnet Rock lighthouse and back to Plymouth. During its 90-year history the race has seen some intense and stormy weather, but this year it promises to be quite the opposite, with some of the lightest forecasts ever seen.

Ian Walker, skipper of the victorious Volvo Ocean Race team Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, also joked about the weather ahead. “There is another isobar approximately in Iceland,” he said.

But the fleet this year includes some of the world’s fastest monohulls and multihulls, which are capable of making enough speed to set off a virtuous circle of apparent wind. These include the 100ft supermaxi Comanche, the big MOD70 trimarans and the 40m trimaran Spindrift 2.

Kenny Read, skipper of Comanche, says: “I don’t think any of us do very well in absolutely no wind, but we all have to play the same game. Whatever the breeze is we just have to adapt. Certainly dragging around a boat with a seven metre-plus beam in very light air is no fun.”

But he did admit that, in flat water, Comanche does only need five knots of true wind to get going.

Learn more about the headlands and tidal gates that are make and break on the Fastnet Race.

While the forecasts are making predicting finish times a bit of a nightmare, this is another indication of the potency of these big machines. Spindrift’s likely elapsed times in these conditions, as predicted on routeing software, is somewhere between 1 day 18 hours and 3 days 15 hours.

This race will also be a tough one for the new IMOCA 60s, especially those with the new L-shaped foils. These are great when power reaching, which is what they have been designed for as the optimal configuration for racing round the world, but they are draggy and reported to make more leeway in light conditions.

Morgan Lagravière, the skipper of Safran, who is new to the class but comes from a very strong Olympic 49er and Figaro background, admitted as much at this morning’s media briefing. “I’m not sure this year’s Fastnet will be for us. We will try to do our best. It will be very interesting learning how to use this new boat with the foils and to race with other IMOCA boats, especially Banque Populaire,” he said.

A large contingent this year is the two-handed crews. This is a growing area of offshore sailing, one that fits into a kind of sailing Enduro category. Some 59 boats in the IRC fleet are also sailing doublehanded. The lowest rated is Lucinda Allaway’s and Tom Barker’s Contessa 32 Hurrying Angel.

Like many of the smaller and lower yachts the Rolex Fastnet Race is most likely to favour them, as the breeze will pick up later in the week. Could this be a small boat year?

It is a year also when retirements could be lower than usual – the average is around ten per cent of the fleet. That would be good news for the event as a whole, and the Commodore of the RORC, Michael Boyd, concluded the briefing today by saying: “We are delighted that this is a record year and by the quality of the competition. There are a lot of fantastic sailors, who have put their effort, energy and money to be with us for this special race.

“We wish you all a very successful race and a safe passage.”

Read more at http://www.yachtingworld.com/blogs/elaine-bunting/youll-have-to-be-good-at-kedging-light-winds-endurance-ahead-for-rolex-fastnet-race-2015-66820#vrRt82RB41D4B5bt.99

11 MEN, 11 DAYS TRANSATLANTIC RACE 2015

I am finally re-united with my computer; having just returned from the 2015 transatlantic race aboard “Snow Lion”. We crossed the ocean in 11 1/2 days. never a days run less than 250 miles. an extraordinary adventure.

START CASTLE HILL
START CASTLE HILL

AT SEA
AT SEA

SQUALL
SQUALL

SPEED
SPEED

WET AND SMILING
WET AND SMILING

HARD REACHING
HARD REACHING

THE LIZARD
THE LIZARD

BAND OF BROTHERS

I am about to start my 9th transatlantic race on 7 different boats. I have sailed with a number of people as a result; and have warm memories of each race, each boat, and each and every person.

It is a fraternity that one can only join by competing.

I had news a few days ago that another of that fraternity had died. Peter Van Dyke passed away. A loss to our group.

PETER VAN DYKE, '72 TRANSATLANTIC RACE
PETER VAN DYKE, ’72 TRANSATLANTIC RACE

RICH DUMOULIN '72 TRANSATLANTIC RACE
RICH DUMOULIN ’72 TRANSATLANTIC RACE

HARRY MORGAN, JACK CUMMISKEY
HARRY MORGAN, JACK CUMMISKEY

LARRY HUNTINGTON AND CREW
LARRY HUNTINGTON AND CREW

ROBIN KNOX-JOHNSON AND DAVID AISHER
ROBIN KNOX-JOHNSON AND DAVID AISHER

TRANSALANTIC TROPHIIES
TRANSALANTIC TROPHIIES

PARTY TENT
PARTY TENT

THE RACE
THE RACE

COLLEGE AND AMERICA'S CUP
COLLEGE AND AMERICA’S CUP

ROUND THE ISLAND RACE 2015

 

After a delay the race started, in reverse, the light wind plagued all and the race was shortened to meet the time limit finishing at beavertail. A fine day on the water.

NYYC SPRING REGATTA
NYYC SPRING REGATTA

ROLEX BOW STICKERS
ROLEX BOW STICKERS

HOLDING OFF THE COMPETITION
HOLDING OFF THE COMPETITION

SUBISTITUTE BOWMAN
SUBISTITUTE BOWMAN

DUTCH ISLAND
DUTCH ISLAND

BEAVERTAIL FINISH
BEAVERTAIL FINISH