Monday 31 December 2012

Happy New Year to all our readers

To all our readers around the world Happy New Year! All the best for the year ahead! 

Sunday 30 December 2012

America's Cup Update, Team Artemis interview with Iain Percy in regards to his role in the team

Team Artemis have been busy making the most of their remaining training days.  In this interview on AC Uncut Iain Percy is interviewed about his role as Sailing Director.  The video also shows some video footage of the Artemis AC72 out sailing

Farrier F-22 production trimaran, specifications and options list published

Ian Farrier of Farrier Marine has published an initial specifications and options list for the upcoming Farrier F-22 production trimaran.

You can download the list here:

http://www.farriermarine.com/pdf/F-22Specifications.pdf

America's Cup Discovered, Onboard ETNZ AC72 edition no.70

The latest AC Discovered shows some footage of the ETNZ AC72 and an interview with Grant Dalton more on Team Oracle USA as well.

Multicoque Aventure (Multihull Adventure) set new reference time on the 'Round the Ile aux Moines' record in Brittany

Courtesy of Multihull World:

http://www.multihulls-world.com/us/index.html

The crew over at "Multicoque Aventure" have set a new reference time for the "Round the IIe aux Moines" record in Brittany on their Formula 28 catamaran.

From the team:

"On 12th September 2012 at around 5pm, we set off: David Salle and Romain Etienvre, aboard our Formula 28 catamaran "www.multicoqueaventures.com", for an attempt on the record for sailing round the Ile aux Moines. Despite a moderate 15 knot westerly breeze, we brought the record down to 40 minutes and 7 seconds. We think it could easily be improved, aboard this boat, which is capable of top speeds of over 25 knots.



Saturday 29 December 2012

Farrier F-22 trimaran production update

This update from the 26th December.  Read all the details on f-boat.com's F-22 production page:

http://www.f-boat.com/pages/News4/FM-Factory2013.html

They have arranged the hulls, floats and beams on cradles and will pull the infused deck out of the mold when the Farrier Marine factory crew return from Christmas holidays.




2012 Governor's Cup leaders approaching half way point

From the following Sail-World article
 
http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Governors-Cup---Slow-going-in-light-winds/105079

Since the Governor’s Cup got underway on Saturday 22 December, generally light winds have made progress on this 1,700-mile downwind race from Simon’s Town to the remote island of St Helena in the Atlantic, slow going.

The leaders of the 18-strong fleet are now approaching the half-way stage of the race, but still suffering as they struggle to find consistent wind, and it now looks as though the first finishers won’t arrive at Jamestown, St Helena before 1/2 January.


read more here

The 2012 Governor's Cup website is here

Photo: Jan Theron


Friday 28 December 2012

AC discovered, edition 69

There is some interesting material in this edition of AC discovered about lifting AC45's by cranes and a chat with Oracle Team USA coach Philippe Presti.

Multi50 news, the Multi50 Association publish their calendar of events for 2013

The excellent Multi50 class have published their calendar of events for 2013.  The original document is in French and I've just done a google translate which accounts for the in places "interesting" English but you get the idea.  The original document is here:

NEWSLETTER OF Multi50 21/12/2012
http://www.class-multi50.org/newsletters/newsletter29.html

2013: A year for ambitious Multi50 class

Multihulls Class Multi50 voted their calendar 2013. Appointments between now and the inevitable new events, the season promises to be a number of miles.
 Multihulls Class Multi50 voted their calendar 2013. Appointments between now and the inevitable new events, the season promises to be a number of miles. It is a perfectly balanced schedule that Multi50 chose for 2013. Some events for spring break in boats, two trophies and two exclusive Multi50 new events: in 2013 Multi50 will show their bows in the Mediterranean, and at the end of the season, they'll tu 27 ° S latitude south most ever multihulls visited by 15 meters. year begins with a birth in the Aquitaine coast. Lalou Roucayrol should put water in his new boat during the month of January before developing in the following months, to run events of the season. All skippers Multi50 enthusiastically greet the arrival of a new kid in the class. Kicking off the season will be given from 3 to 6 May at the Grand Prix Guyader. The Multi50 admit a weakness for the Bay of Douarnenez and multiple opportunities to make nice journey. This year's races will be held over four days: when you love it does not count! Then the fleet descend rapidly to the Trinité sur Mer for the start of Race Ingerop Armen May 9 The island of Sein in Ile d'Yeu, a distance of 330 miles with the classification provided many twists to the finish line. then, without losing time, Multi50 will for the first time Cape to Gibraltar and Marseilles, where they will start the new Princes Road, June 1. Valencia (Spain), Lisbon (Port.), Dublin (Ire.), Plymouth (UK) promise to become the scene of festive stops after short steps and played. The finish shall be deemed to Roscoff June 29 Cowes Dinard and the Fastnet Race are on the menu this summer and will Trophy Prince de Bretagne in Saint-Quay Portrieux late August, followed by the Port of Fecamp Trophy early September. These two go together each year for three days each, plus 10 Multi50 and even 13 boats in 2012. Finally, on November 3 will be given the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre, new version. Multi50 will never come down much latitude. They go to Itajai in Brazil, well south of Rio. The course direct route displays 5.4 million and is therefore a long race that awaits tandems skippers with Pot-au-black and bypass the Brazilian coast. Meanwhile this ambitious season, the whole class Multi50 wish you happy holidays!

Multi50 Calendar - 2013 GRAND PRIX GUYADER - May 3 to 6 ARMEN RACE - May 9 PRINCES ROAD - 1st June 30 COWES-DINARD - July 12 to 14 Fastnet Race - August 10 to 12 PRINCE TROPHY BRITTANY / SAINT-QUAY - 30 August to 1 September TROPHY PORT FECAMP - September 7 to 9 TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE - Departure November 3



Thursday 27 December 2012

America's Cup Update, Construction of new AC72 wingmast by Core Builders Composites in Warkworth, NZ

From the following Sail-World article:

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-A-look-inside-Oracle-Team-USAs-building-facility/105033

Just before Christmas a special package left Core Builders Composites in Warkworth, New Zealand bound for Oracle Team USA in San Francisco.

The accelerated building program should result in the new wingsail arriving in California in January, and will be stepped in the rebuilt AC72, USA-17 in early February.



Nacra 17, the new OIympic racing catamaran over 200 orders placed so far.

Nacra 17 orders pile-up

From the following Sailweb article:

http://www.sailweb.co.uk/Multihull/2585/nacra-17-orders-pile-up

It is expected that over 100 crews from more than 30 Nations will launch an Olympic campaign in new mixed Olympic discipline with the Nacra catamaran 17. The multihull with curved boards also seem to be creating interest in the open market. According to Nacra Marketing Director Gunnar Larsen orders for more than 200 catamarans have been placed.
 
read more here
 
and a couple of videos of the Nacra 17 in action:
 
 
 
 

Wednesday 26 December 2012

Lightfighter 13 beach catamaran

Noticed on Sailing Anarchy by Doug Lord is the new Lightfighter 13 catamaran.  Apparently it can be purchased for around 11k US.  The most interesting part of the design is the unstayed wing mast which is lightweight and easy to fit.  The boat weight 85kg all up which is impressive.

http://www.lightfighter.dk/index.php/models

read more here

and a couple of youtube videos from the site:


Saturday 22 December 2012

America's Cup update, Team Oracle USA found guilty of spying on Team Luna Rossa

From the following Sail-World article by Richard Gladwell:

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-Oracle-found-guilty-as-charged-on-Italian-spy-incident/104907

The International Jury for the 34th America's Cup, has just posted its Decision in Case 19, which was initiated by the Italian Challenger, Luna Rossa, over an incident where a surveillance boat from Oracle Team USA was within half the distance allowed for viewing competitors while training.

The International Jury found that Oracle broke the rules on surveillance because of a novel interpretation of the word 'navigating' and compounded their transgression by continuing to take pictures from closer than the permitted range.

Luna Rossa protested Oracle Team USA in early November, alleging that Oracle Team USA’s Matt Mason had been within a distance of 200 meters and taking pictures of the Italian AC72. Luna Rossa alleged that Mason’s actions violated Article 37.2(g) of the 34th America’s Cup Protocol, which prohibits competitors from navigating within 200 meters of each other.

read more here

America's Cup news, Emirates Team New Zealand breaking down the AC72

Emirates Team New Zealand after their successful AC72 development programme are breaking down their first AC72 into parts as shown in the following video.  Some of the parts will be transferred to boat no.2 and the rest will go into storage as a backup in case of problems.

Ninja Catamaran once again out flying hulls and looking good

The new Ninja Catamaran from New Zealand has been righted, repaired and is out racing again. 

Photo thanks to Muttley on crew.org.nz forums

Friday 21 December 2012

Team Lalou, making progress on their new Multi 50 trimaran

Team Lalou have made further progress towards completing their new Multi50 trimaran.  The main hull and beams have now had one of the floats joined on:

read more about Team Lalou here

http://laloumulti.fr/




Carbonic boats launch new "Paradox" A Class catamaran

Carbonic boats have released a new A Class catamaran design called "paradox".

read more at the following link:

http://www.carbonicboats.blogspot.com.au/

and a video of the new boat in action:


C Class Catamaran news, next event ENVSN - Saint Pierre-Quiberon, France

Article from bymnews.com

http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=113310

C Class Cup : The first French C Class Catamaran event
 
Wednesday, 19 December 2012

At the 2012 International Boat Show in Paris, Challenge France, the French challenger for the 2013 International C Class Catamaran Championship (ICCCC) in partnership with the French National Sailing Centre (Ecole Nationale de Voile et des Sports Nautiques - ENVSN), announced details about the C Class Cup: the first French C Class Catamaran sailing event.
 
The C Class Cup will take place at the ENVSN – Saint-Pierre-Quiberon, France, from 22nd to the 26th of May 2013.
4 sailing teams already registered for the C Class Cup including Swiss team HYDROS with Jérémie Lagarrigue, the French GROUPAMA team with Franck Cammas and the French CHALLENGE FRANCE team with Karine Fauconnier and Gwénolé Gahinet.
 
read more here

America's Cup Updates

Emirates Team New Zealand and their SL33 test rig catamarans:

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-Back-to-Foiling-School-in-the-SL33s-+-Video/104829



One year on for the Luna Rossa Team:

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-One-year-on-for-Luna-Rossa/104841

On January 7, 2012, the first of the two AC 45 Luna Rossa catamarans was launched in Auckland, after rushing against time to put the yacht together and be ready to start training with Emirates Team New Zealand.

'It feels like yesterday, but it’s almost one year!' says Max Sirena, skipper of Luna Rossa Challenge, as he gets off the yacht after a training session on the Hauraki Gulf, venue for the 2000 and 2003 America's Cups.

read more here


The US Oracle Team on the road to recovery:

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-Latest-news---Oracle-Team-USA---December-19,-2012/104869

Latest newsletter from Oracle Team USA covering the rebuild of USA-17, the development and building of the team's second AC72 and team activities now and over the Christmas/New Year break.

read more here

and also here

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-Oracle-Team-USA-reveal-state-of-repairs-and-re-launch/104868


Team Oracle's new AC72 wing on the way from Core boatbuilders in New Zealand:

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-Oracle-Team-USAs-second-wingsail-starts-journey-to-USA/104897

read more here







Farrier F-22 trimaran production progress update

This update from the 19th December.  The crew at Farrier Marine are preparing to infuse the first deck for the Farrier F-22 trimaran.

http://www.f-boat.com/pages/News4/FM-Factory2013.html

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Extreme Sailing Series 2012, Highlights video

A highlights video of the 2012 Extreme Sailing Series has been released:

Jan Gougeon passes away

Noticed on Sailing Anarchy, one of the true multihull and boatbuilding technique innovators has passed on.

Posted up by Vegas:

Some of you have been contacted personally, for others this will be very hard to continue reading.

Jan Gougeon fought a long hard battle with a respiratory infection for many years. He succumbed to his illness this morning at University of Michigan Medical Hospital.

A Memorial service is planned for Jan at the Bay CIty Yacht Club on Thursday December 27th.

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Photos of new Farrier F-32SRX's in Tauranga, NZ

Noticed over on crew.org.nz.  The new F-32SRXs mentioned in a previous post are complete and ready for their first sail.

Photo's thanks to ballystick.



Monday 17 December 2012

America's Cup news, Artemis Racing Team Update 4

The Artemis Team have released video update 4 on their current status.

ETNZ and Luna Rossa setting the AC72 pace, AC Discovered, Episode 68

The next episode of AC Discovered has been released.  This edition is focussed on ETNZ and Luna Rossa teams and their progress in developing and sailing their AC72 catamaran platforms.

Clarksail article on the current teams competing in the "C" class catamaran event in Falmouth, 2013

Will Clark who runs the excellent news site Clarksail has put up an article detailing the current teams that are set to compete in the next Little America's Cup which is raced "C" class catamarans.  Franck Cammas and Loick Peyron are the latest competitors to join the competition fielding their own teams.

http://clarksail.com/2012/12/11/a-run-down-of-the-c-class-teams-and-builds/

Farrier F-22 trimaran production progress update, December 13th 2012

The crew at Farrier Marine are making steady progress with the latest step in construction of the production version of the F-22 trimaran being the fitting of foam core to the deck mold.  In future these foam pieces will be computer cut saving considerable time and effort.

read more here

http://www.f-boat.com/pages/News4/FM-Factory2013.html



America's Cup updates, ETNZ and Luna Rossa

More updates from Sail-World

From the following article

America's Cup: Emirates Team NZ design chief looks to the second AC72

In a video interview, Emirates Team New Zealand's Technical Director, Nick Holroyd outlines the changes he expects to be made to the team's second AC72, on Day 30, as New Zealand is decommissioned and packed away.

Reading between the lines in this video interview with Sail-World's America's Cup Editor, Richard Gladwell, it is reasonably plain that New Zealand, the team's first AC72 was always something of a design and test platform, and the team's next AC72 will be the real race thing. But even so it is somewhat hard to believe that the fastest boat that has never raced, will be put into mothballs after just 30 days use.

read more here

and the video:




America's Cup: End of the sailing road for the first AC72

On Thursday the Emirates Team NZ shore crew began to decommission the yacht while the team concentrates on finishing Boat 2.

Winch drums and some hardware will be removed from the yacht and fitted to Boat 2.

Boat 1 will be refitted in the near future and held in reserve, to be commissioned quickly in the event it’s needed.

Components for the new boat are being built at Auckland companies Cookson Boats and Southern Spars. The second wing is being assembled now at the team’s Viaduct Harbour base. Hulls, beams and other parts of the platform will be delivered to the base early in January for a launch in early February.

read more here


America's Cup: Old photo evokes design assistance claims

The off the water pressure in the 34th America's Cup, clicked up a few notches today with an attack on the Emirates Team NZ and Luna Rossa co-operation agreement, which has already been the subject of one ruling by the International Jury.

The text, published on a major US sailing website, and elsewhere on the interweb, ran under photo of Emirates Team NZ's Wing Design Coordinator, Steve Wilson, pictured on board Luna Rossa's AC72, with the comment that Wilson was 'obviously helping them with a rigging issue. Two separate teams? Yeah, right.'

read more here

Thursday 13 December 2012

New XS 35 catamaran design by Randy Reynolds

A new design has been launched by Randy Reynolds of XS Catamarans the XS 35 is an updated version of the venerable R33 design.   More on this exciting new performance catamaran can be found here

and a video of the new XS 35 in action.  Thanks to Sailing Anarchy news page for the links.




New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club noticeboard update

From the NZMYC website

http://www.multihull.org.nz/

Nice shot of one of our club members doing a wed night race just sent to me . Nice conditions last night, perfect Wed night racing.

Team Vodafone ORMA 60 powered up
Big effort to make the last RNZYS rum race Dec 21st, next Friday 4.40 start so hope to see you all there. Several boats planning to be there.
Thanks to Peter Melvin for the very interesting presentation last club night, we had a big turnout, and a very successful evening. Next Club night is in February, and we have a talk by Luna Rossa, so put that in your diaries already.

read more updates by Club Commodore Matthew Flynn

http://www.multihull.org.nz/noticeboard/

America's Cup Updates, Artemis and Emirates Team New Zealand

Updates on the Artemis Team on Day 9 of their training schedule:

Sail-World article

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-Artemis-Racing-sailing-on-Day-9/104660

The Challenger of Record for the 34th America's Cup, Artemis Racing (SWE), returned to training again on San Francisco Bay after nearly another week between sessions.

They theoretically have 21 days remaining, for 2012 but with weather and holidays in the mix and only 19 more days left on the calendar, it is mathematically impossible to get their full 30 days in before January 31, 2013.

read more here

Updates from the Emirates Team New Zealand Team

Sail-World feature article by Richard Gladwell

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-Grant-Dalton-on-hitting-the-big-zero---Video-interview/104638

Emirates Team New Zealand have become the first, and probably only team that will use its allocated 30 days for the first phase of sailing AC72's.

According to the virtual Official Noticeboard the team has a zero alongside its name in terms of sailing days left. Luna Rossa has 18, Artemis Racing 23 and Oracle Team USA 22days. Many pundits see that as a measure of the current state of play in the 34th America's Cup. In reality it is hard to argue against, but Emirates Team NZ's MD, Grant Dalton seemed to be more focussed on what lay ahead, rather than the margin the team may have on the rest of the field. In fact it never came up.

read more here

and the video interview of Grant Dalton of ETNZ

Article on Rudy Choy and the development of the pioneering C/S/K Catamarans

From the following article on the excellent outrig.org site
 
 
25th Anniversary Issue • January/February 2000
MULTIHULLS Magazine

Tribute to the Living Legends: Designers
RUDY CHOY

After “Catamarans Offshore”
By BARRY CHOY


Aikane, photo courtesy of Proafile
In 1970 the MacMillan Company published “Catamarans Offshore,”
a watershed book written by Rudy Choy in an attempt to set forth
the legacy of his famed partnership C/S/K and totell the story
of how he and his partners, Warren Seaman,
Alfred Kumalae and Vince Bartolone, evolved their ideas
and principles of successful catamaran design. From the
earliest beginnings, specifically the late 1950s, they understood
what even some of the most skeptical and hardened
yachting traditionalists have only recently come to
accept: that multihulls are not only superior to conventional
yachts in many respects, but more importantly, are
the wave of the future. From the very beginning Rudy,
Warren, Alfred and Vince’s fundamental design standards
were creativity, simplicity and evaluation by careful empirical
observation, notions that today stand anyone desirous
of building anything operating according to the
laws of physics, in good stead. The acid-test of success for
each of their creations was conducted, not by using a slide
rule, or with the boat tied to some dock as a showpiece,

but in the open ocean.

read more here

There is also an excellent article on proafile on the C/S/K catamarans and it shows in a bit more detail some of the early craft with photos

http://proafile.com/archive/article/110

America's Cup Update, Emirates Team New Zealand have used their first 30 days of training on the AC72 Catamaran

From the following Sail-World article

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-Grant-Dalton-on-hitting-the-big-zero/104638

According to the virtual Official Noticeboard the team has a zero alongside its name in terms of sailing days left. Luna Rossa has 18, Artemis Racing 23 and Oracle Team USA 22days. Many pundits see that as a measure of the current state of play in the 34th America's Cup. In reality it is hard to argue against, but Emirates Team NZ's MD, Grant Dalton seemed to be more focussed on what lay ahead, rather than the margin the team may have on the rest of the field. In fact it never came up.

Looking back on the five months that have elapsed since their first AC72 was launched, and the gains that have been achieved. 'I know that the boat we have now is significantly quicker than the one we launched in July. It is a percentage thing. If you gain one or two percent in an area, it becomes a big number because of the speed we are sailing. If the gains all added up to 10 percent and we are sailing at 40kts downwind, then suddenly it is doing 44kts, in crude terms.

read more here

and a retrospective video of the first 30 days of training on the AC72

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Farrier F-22 production trimaran progress

Update from the 10th of December

http://www.f-boat.com/pages/News4/FM-Factory2013.html

Deck mold is now gelcoated and ready for fitment of foam core and resin infusion to form final deck piece.

read the whole construction blog here

photo courtesy Farrier Marine

Phuket King's Cup 2012, the final news for 2012

From the following Sail-World article

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Phuket-Kings-Cup-2012:-the-Glittering-Prizes/104615

Once again, it’s all over bar the shouting. The fat lady has sung and sat down again, the trophies have been distributed, and the photographs taken. 75 boat crews (not forgetting the dinghy sailors and windsurfers) have partied their way from the Kata Beach Resort to the Kata Thani, the Phuket Orchid, Centara Resort, the Boathouse and back to Kata. A couple of multihulls got parked on the beach (not too serious) and one monohull (rather more serious). One rig came down.

The weather co-operated all week – there were a number of ‘AP-ed’ starts, but nothing yawningly long, the sun shone almost relentlessly (pass the sunscreen please, again) and the breeze blew around the 10-12kt mark with occasional enthusiastic bursts of more. 28 protests from 95 starts gave the Jury something to do, but there was only one DSQ and a number of protests were disallowed either on grounds of out-of-time or improperly lodged. Two threatened 69s resulted in an apology and a warning. Interested parties can check out all the action in The Room here: http://www.kingscup.com/showfile.cfm?id=1331


read more here

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Northwest Multihull Association Seattle, Meeting Tuesday January 8th, 2013, Proa information and development with Paul Bieker

This note from Vincent De Pillis

Next meeting of the Northwest Multihull Association (Tuesday January 8, 2013) will focus on Proas, We will scavenge proa video from the web, discuss pros and cons, and generally get our heads out of the tri/cat box. Our speaker will be the eminent Naval architect Paul Bieker, who has been doodling a new Proa with Russ Brown of Jzerro fame.

The meeting starts at 6:30 with food and beer, and the program starts at 7:30.

Location: Puget Sound Yacht Club, 2321 N. Northlake Way, in Seattle.         

Monday 10 December 2012

Extreme Sailing Series, The Wave Muscat Team wins Rio Act 8 and the 2012 series

From the Extreme Sailing Series website

http://www.extremesailingseries.com/news/view/leigh-mcmillan-does-the-double-act-8-rio-winner-and-2012-extreme-sailing-se#.UMUEVYXj6Ko


- Omani double for 2012 Extreme Sailing Series podium places – as Oman Air claim second place behind The Wave, Muscat who are also victorious in the final Act beating Groupe Edmond de Rothschild by just 0.2 points (on 192.2)
- An extraordinary 6th global tour concludes in the perfect and iconic Rio de Janeiro Stadium Sailing venue, the home of the 2016 Olympic Games
- Next stop Oman - 8 teams will compete across 3 continents at 8 iconic venues in the 7th season in 2013, kicking off in Muscat on 5th March 2013


The most closely contested finish ever in the six-year history of the Extreme Sailing Series, today saw The Wave, Muscat clinch the final Act victory in Rio de Janeiro by the smallest of margins – just 0.2 points ahead of the French Groupe Edmond de Rothschild. Comfortable going into the final double points race of his Series victory, winning the Act was the challenge and an ecstatic and somewhat shell-shocked McMillan was almost speechless after racing. “We are over the moon. We are absolutely thrilled to win here in Rio, it's been an extra-ordinary event. It came right down to the wire. It was a huge team effort, the guys were fantastic throughout the whole season and I am very thankful for them. It's been magic, and we are one very happy team.”

Read more here


The Wing - AC Discovered, Episode 67

In this edition of the AC discovered video the focus is on "the wing".

F-22 trimaran production progress update

From f-boat.com update posted 8/12/2012

http://www.f-boat.com/pages/News4/FM-Factory2013.html

The crew at Farrier Marine are moving on to cutting and measuring foam core to fit into the female deck mold using the male plug as a guide.

read more here

Photo courtesy of Farrier Marine




Sunday 9 December 2012

Extreme Sailing Series update, final places hang in the balance

From the following Sail-World article

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Extreme-Sailing-Series---Podium-places-up-for-grabs-+-Video/104546

In the Extreme Sailing Series, on a day that saw the strongest winds so far here in Rio de Janeiro – a city that will have the world’s eyes on it for the next four years in the build up to the 2016 Olympic Games – the pressure turned up a tempo on the water. A collision between Brazil’s greatest ever Olympian and the Extreme Sailing Series tour leader The Wave, Muscat, and the French Groupe Edmond de Rothschild finding their best form of the season, has set the scene for tomorrow and left us poised for the final day for the 2012 season, with every podium place still open.

Groupe Edmond de Rothschild went up a gear in a near picture perfect day for skipper Pierre Pennec. Three race wins have elevated them to the top of the leaderboard and for the first time this Act there is a little light between the top four teams. Pennec’s sights are firmly set on a win in Rio, although he is realistic about the fight for the 2012 championship. 'Tomorrow will be a real battle, and I hope the conditions will be as good. We work well on board and have good crew communication and good boat speed. I would like to be on top of the podium for Act 8 Rio and second overall in the championship'.


read more here

Phuket King's Cup 2012, final results available

Final results available on the King's Cup website for multihull and firefly 850 class.  The Geforce 1500 "Mojo" of Peter Wilcox came in first with Peter Stransky's home constructed and designed catamaran "Fantasia" in second and Mark Thornborrow came in third on the Seacart 26 "sweet chariot".

In the Firefly 850 class it was "Voodoo" coming in first followed by "Dire Straits" in second and "Twin Sharks" in third.

results 2012

Transat Jacques Vabre 2013, Le Havre to Itajai (Brazil)

From the following Sail-World article

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Transat-Jacques-Vabre-fleet-heads-to-Itajai-in-2013/104534

November 3rd, 2013 will cap off nine days of events and celebrations around the Paul Vatine dock basin at Le Havre and the Transat Jacques Vabre competitors will set off for a new destination, Itajai (Brazil) - some 5,395 miles away on the direct course!

Jacques Rosio president of the Transat Jacques Vabre association said, 'Cartagena (Colombia), Salvador de Bahia (Brazil), Puerto Limon (Costa Rica), Itajaí (Brazil), for 20 years the Transat Jacques Vabre has been bringing the competitors on discovery routes to South American ports.'

'The 2013 edition is dynamic and innovative. Itajaí, in Brazil, shows just how open we have been over the course of these 20 years.'

The Notice of Race is available to download from the Transat Jacques Vabre website

and a promo video for the event

Transat Jacques Vabre 2013 - 20ème anniversaire by TransatJacquesVabre

Kurt Hughes 12' trimaran design

From Kurt Hughes blog

http://multihullblog.com/2012/12/12-tri-available-now/

An interesting 12' sailing trimaran project intended for series production.

you can read more on the design brief here

http://multihulldesigns.com/designs_stock/daysail/dragon12_tri.htm

It was intended for usage at resorts and hotels for beachfront charter.

Saturday 8 December 2012

Hydroptere and Hydroptere 2, the search for partners

From the following Sail-World article

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Hydroptere,-Hydroptere-2---The-search-is-on-for-partners/104512

Hydroptere, Alain Thébault’s 'flying boat', is seeking partners to finance the Transpacific record attempt this summer and the launch in 2015 of a second generation Hydroptere designed to beat the North Atlantic record.

Since its double world absolute sailing speed record in 2009 (taken over by kitesurfers and recently by the Australian Paul Larsen) Hydroptere changed direction to head towards offshore challenges. 'Since 2009 we were the world fastest Formula 1 of the seas but our initial dream with Eric Tabarly was to test the concept offshore. In 2010, we decided to turn the F1 into a 4x4 of the seas to show that it was also possible to fly over the oceans,' said Alain Thébault, skipper and designer of Hydroptere.


read more here

'l’Hydroptère DCNS, Alain Thébault and his crew (Yves Parlier, Jean le Cam, Jacques Vincent, Luc Alphand) during the first series of trials on the Med before trying to beat the Pacific crossing record between Los Angeles and Honolulu next summer. La Ciotat in the Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France.' Christophe Launay © 

America's Cup update, ETNZ push their AC72 hard in tough conditions

From the following Sail-World article by Richard Gladwell

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-AC72s-caught-on-the-edge-of-tornado-+-Video/104480

Auckland was hit by a tornado yesterday (Thursday) with devastating damage and the loss of three lives.

Both America's Cup Challengers were out training in the Hauraki Gulf at the time and were on the fringes of the violent weather system.

Winds just west of the team's bases were recorded at 50kts gusting 60kts for a brief period, further down the harbour it was 30kts gusting 40kts.

read more here

'Emirates Team New Zealand training with the team’s first AC72 on the Hauraki Gulf on Day 28' Chris Cameron/ETNZ©  

Friday 7 December 2012

Extreme Sailing Series, report from first days racing in Rio de Janeiro

The following article is from the Extreme Sailing Series website

http://www.extremesailingseries.com/news/view/alinghi-in-pole-position-as-the-final-showdown-begins-in-rio-de-janeiro

The final showdown of the 2012 Extreme Sailing Series™ has begun in Rio de Janeiro under the gaze of the world famous statue of Christ the Redeemer on a race course that is quickly earning itself a reputation as one of the most beautiful the Extreme 40s have ever raced on. Alinghi were the undisputed stars of the show today and two race wins for the Swiss America’s Cup winners sees them top of the leaderboard at the end of day one and in a podium position for the first time this year.

Six races were sailed in glamour sailing conditions – 12 knots of breeze with gusts of 15, and a brilliant Brazilian sunshine. A reaching start saw the teams power off the line for a short sprint to the first mark providing the spectators on the cable cars at the top of Sugar Loaf mountain with a real spectacle. Pierre-Yves Jorand the man in charge of Alinghi in Rio commented on their perfromance. “We had a good day the first day and were lucky enough to make some big gains in races two and three at the top mark which worked in our favour. We tried to take it easier and sail a smart way - not complicate things, take an easy approach and at the end it paid off”.

read more here


Toro 34 Catamaran video of new design being put through it's paces

The new Toro 34 catamaran is geared towards offering a performance catamaran design at a moderate price and this video confirms that the target has been achieved.  While sailing in this video they achieved 20 knots in 15 knots of breeze and the boat proved easy to handle, fast and comfortable.

Farrier F-22 Trimaran production update

A new photo has been posted up on the F-22 production progress page.

See the full page here:

http://www.f-boat.com/pages/News4/FM-Factory2013.html

They have now completed and polished the deck mold and it's ready for it's first use.

Photo courtesy of Farrier Marine


Thursday 6 December 2012

Multi 50 trimaran "Maitre Jacques" in the shed for new paint and preperation for Route du Rhum 2014

Second week of paint preperation for the trimaran Maitre Jacques. Julien Deniel, the painter of the team worked for 15 days on the hull. Markings have been removed to allow for meticulous sanding of the floats.
Painting of the hull, which is original from the 2005 launching of the boat will then be completely redone and in February, the trimaran will be repainted with the new corporate colors of sponsor Maitre Jacques.
Julien joined the team Maitre Jacques in November and will take over a large part of the technical preparation of the trimaran to the Route du Rhum 2014. Invaluable for Loïc.



 

Warren Light Craft, Ultralight 20 trimaran photos from Annapolis Boat Show

Some new photos showing detail of the Warren Light Craft Ultralight 20 trimaran have been posted on Joe Farinaccio's brilliant Small Trimarans Blog.

View all the photos on the link below:

http://smalltrimarans.com/blog/?p=8687#more-8687

Photo by Douglas F. courtesy of Smalltrimarans.com




Motive Trimarans, Pete Ansel interviewed by Sailing World's Editor in Chief Dave Reed

This new interview has just become available, Motive Trimarans Design Director Pete Ansel discussing some of the key features of the new and impressive all carbon fibre Motive 25R trimaran.

http://motivetrimarans.blogspot.com.au/


SAILING WORLD Interview from Motive Trimarans on Vimeo.

Phantom F18 catamaran, interview with Alex Udin on catsailingnews.com

An interview with Alex Udin has been posted up on the excellent Catsailingnews blog.  The Phantom F18 is designed by Martin Fischer.

http://www.catsailingnews.com/2012/12/design-talk-phantom-f18-in-detail.html

read more here

Alex Udin photograph

Phuket King's Cup, Strong winds shake up the leaderboard

From the following Sail-World article

 
The weather from the first day only got better on Day Two with strong winds delivering some great sailing for the fleet, while being a little too strong for some others. While the sailors enjoyed the conditions, the Jury were a little less happy working long into the night to handle a raft of protests in response to a finish line 'issue'.

Final results for the second race of the day, for a number of classes are awaiting confirmation, following resolution of several protests currently under scrutiny by the International Jury.

read more here

the King's Cup website is here

Phuket King’s Cup 2012. Mojo. - © Guy Nowell/Phuket King's Cup

Extreme sailing series, Rio de Janeiro Live feed video listings

Unfortunately the Extreme Sailing Series does not have replays of all of it's races on the web but if you keep track of the following video listings and correct them to your local time you can watch them live, when you click on each video it will show a list of when it will come live and how many hours till it's live.  This covers days 2,3 and 4 of the Extreme Sailing Series event.

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Phuket King's Cup, The results so far

The King's Cup event runs till the 8th of December

The event website is here

http://www.kingscup.com/

For the Firefly 850 class

http://www.sailingscoreboard.com/results/index.php/results/pointscore/352


Series Results for Firefly 850 Sports Class
PlaceSail NoBoatNameCountryR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10Total PointsScore
1FF777VoodooHans RahmannTHA1221112108
2FF888Dyer StraitsPeter DyerTHA41322241814
3FF298Twin SharksJohn NewnhamGBR34433332319
4FFAdvancedAdvanced Racing TeamCHN2314DNF552820
5FF222Moto InziRoger KingdonGBR5555DNF413325
6FF959BluenozeGeorge EddingsTHA666656OCS4335
7FF559MambaJohn SpencerAUS77774764538


and for the mixed multihull division (OMR)

http://www.sailingscoreboard.com/results/index.php/results/pointscore/353

Series Results for Multihull Class

PlaceSail NoBoatNameCountryR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9Total PointsScore
1M165MojoPeter WilcoxTHA2112122119
2641FantasiaAndrew StranskyAUS1221213129
3THA888Sweet ChariotMark ThornborrowTHA43533312217
402Sidewinder of DarwinJohn PunchAUS554DNFDNF443830
5204Shanghai BabyRobin YoungAUS66644553630
63Asia Catamarans HurricaneAlan CarwadineTHA343DNFDNCDNCDNC4234
7n/aNipperTimothy RobinsSINDNSDNSDNCDNFDNSDNFDNF5648