Mason på ERT2
Ericsson kompletterar med Richard Mason. Smart drag som säkert kommer att hjälpa dem att ta sig runt lite snabbare.
Men precis som med Mange Olsson, så tycker jag det förtar en del av profileringen av ERT2 som “up and coming” och fyllt med lovande yngre skandinaviska seglare. Nu blir det en mix av erfarna proffs och yngre utmanare, vilket iochförsig blir ett lyft för de som seglar för första gången…
The puzzle is almost complete for Ericsson Racing Team’s Nordic crew, with the formal appointment by skipper Anders Lewander of Richard Mason as part of the crew. Mason, who is based in Stockholm, will join the crew as Watch Captain for his third Volvo Ocean Race.
The Nordic crew also includes Magnus Olsson, who was announced by the team last month and Mason’s appointment will further bolster the experience on this Nordic crewed boat.
“We were looking for a sailor with Richard Mason’s profile to join the Nordic crew. It then dawned on us that we didn’t need someone like Richard Mason – we simply wanted him!” says Nordic skipper Anders Lewander. “Richard’s experience in this race will be invaluable to us and coupled to the fact that he has sailed with Magnus [Olsson] previously, this will add formidable strength to our already very competitive team.”
Richard had previously been part of the International crew for Ericsson Racing Team and has been training with the team at their base in Lanzarote, Canary Islands.
Richard lives with his Swedish wife, Caroline and their two daughters just outside Stockholm and is truly a multi national sailor. Australian by birth he was raised in New Zealand and also holds a British passport.
“I’m really looking forward to this. I work very well with Anders and the entire Nordic crew. And Magnus Olsson is the reason I came to Sweden initially. It’s great sailing with Magnus, especially going around the world. It’s a long journey and it means a great deal to have a happy, positive and capable man on board,” says Mason.
Despite his 33 years, Richard Mason has extensive experience as an off-shore competitive sailor. His first Volvo Ocean Race was with Assa Abloy, finishing 2nd in 2001-2002. He was on board with Ericsson Racing Team, which came in 5th in the last edition of the race.
This time, Richard Mason thinks the competition will be tougher and tighter than it was last edition. The VO70 class has matured and details on the boats have been improved and refined.
“This is a ground breaking event in many ways. With each edition the Volvo Ocean Race rewrites the rules a bit more. This time the race will be going into, almost literally, uncharted waters, and the inclusion of a specific Media Crew Member will mean that the race is opened up to a much wider public. Big Brother in the Southern Ocean – now that will make for interesting viewing!” concluded Mason.
J-Cup 2008
Förra helgens J-Cup i Hamble samlade 75 båtar, varav 32 i J/109 nationals. De vanliga i topp (alla resultat här) . Svenske Jonas Grandér hade det tufft, men avslutade med en spik och vann söndagens North Sails Boat of the Day. Foton: Ingrid Abery/www.hotcapers.com.
Racing continued through Saturday and Sunday for the 75 boats competing at the J-Cup 2008, which was hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble. Racing took place in five classes, on two race areas, and the event also incorporates the 32 boat fleet of J/109s racing for their UK National Championship.
The J/109 Zelda, owned and raced by Ben Richards and Michael Ewart-Smith, had a monumental battle throughout the entire regatta with old adversaries Bruce Jubb, Jeff Dakin and Mike Flood on Johnny Blue II. At the end of the first day these two boats were tied on equal points, but Simon ‘Sling’ Ling and his team on board the RAF’s Red Arrow were just one point behind. Matt’s Boyles Shiva was lying in fourth. Zelda went on to have a blinding day on Saturday, revelling in the heavier conditions (20 to 27 knots from the North East) and clocking up a 2,1,1 scoreline, which extended their lead to four points from Johnny Blue II. Shiva sailed well and moved into fourth place with David and Kirsty Apthorp’s J-Dream in fifth place.
On Sunday the conditions had changed yet again: at 1100 instruments were reading seven knots from 220 degrees but by 1330 the breeze had swung round as far as 300 degrees and it was clear that light and shifty would become the order of the day. A total glass-out at the end of Race 7 meant that some unfortunates were swept past the line, unable to get back, and a number of boats (including Zelda) scored a DNF. That said, the team on Johnny Blue II had both tactical intelligence and a little bit of luck on their side and they went on to win the race from Red Arrow in second and J-Dream in third.
Going in to the final race of the series, Zelda had to discard their DNF and count an earlier seventh place and Johnny Blue II had a two point lead at the front of the fleet. Johnny Blue II could sail a safe and conservative race whereas Zelda were going to have to be a little more punchy. As it transpired, a risky decision on the final upwind leg left Zelda some way down the pack. On the line it was Jonas Grander in his brand new boat Matador in first place. Shiva was second, Johnny Blue II finished third which was enough to win them the 2008 J/109 UK National Championship. Zelda finished second overall followed by Shiva, Red Arrow and then J-Dream. Jonas Grander was awarded the North Sails Boat of the Day prize for scoring a bullet in his first regatta in his new boat.
The J/109s were the only fleet to have just two races scheduled for Sunday; all of the other classes had lost a race on Saturday, with the J/80s losing two, due to the heavy weather. The Race Management Team were keen to get full series away if at all possible and so there was plenty to play for on the Red course.
Watski 2Star Baltic | Visby
Nu har båtarna börjat rinna in i Visby. Här är Henrik Borg & Johan Levin i Mithril med Visby i sikte 07:04 i morse. (deras blogg här).
Det finns ju nån form av tracking, men det hade varit ännu roligare om någon faktiskt hade orkat räkna ut avstånd till mål och räkna ut placeringar efter LYS (eller som det heter i trackern, “Ljustal”). Nu blir det mest färglada pluttar på en karta. Ett annat tips är att ha med spåren efter båtarna. Men alla måste väl uppfinna sin egen tracker…
Enklast är att kolla in resultaten här.
Här är bilder från Erik Barkefors som kollade in starten.
Ett par båtar imponerade extra mycket på mig idag. Trots väldigt lite vind så gled D34SV (den ena…), Mumm30 och HiQ iväg överlägset i respektive klass. A35:an tjuvade och kom på efter tio minuter att de nog borde kamma tillbaka och starta om.
Fler bilder på Tangosailing.
Trimma på Bullandö
Ni som är bakfulla efter Ornö Runt, kan ta svängen förbi Bullandö och få lite trimtips. Bra initiativ, och kanske det finns segelmakare på västkusten som vara med och arra träningshelg 2009 ;-)
Vi ser fram emot lite bilder på bra och dåligt trim.
Trim- och fartträning 1/6 med North Sails på Bullandö Marina
Segelmakare från North Sails kommer att ge instruktioner och tips hur du hittar bästa fart på din båt.
I samarbete med Havskappseglingsförbundet, KSSS, RTC och North Sails hålls trim- och fartträning den 1:a juni på vattnet utanför Bullandö Marina.
Har du svårt att bedöma om du seglar din båt med maximal fart? Den här trim- och fartträningsdagen ger dig tillfället att på plats i egen båt hitta farten. Bl a kommer Björn Österberg och Anna Drougge från North Sails finnas till ditt förfogande och ge dig handgripliga instruktioner och tips om hur du hittar det som är snabbast för just din båt.
Dagen kommer inledas med en genomgång. Därefter seglar vi och från följebåtar får du feedback och coachning om farten direkt ute på vattnet. Vi kommer ombord och hjälper dig med tips. Du får möjligheten att själv se din båt segla på håll och se hur justeringarna förändrar farten i båten. Innan dagen avslutas, har vi en debrief med summeringar och RTC bjuder på korv med tillbehör.
Deltagande båtar på träningsdagen ligger fritt i Bullandö Marinas gästhamn natten mellan lördag-söndag. Båtar som behöver gästplats måste ta kontakt med hamnkaptenen för anvisande av plats!
Marinans trevliga krog är givetvis öppen både lördag och söndag!
Samling på Bullandö Marina kl 9.00 och avslutning vid 16-tiden.
IRC-mätbrev | 10 dagar
Idag damp IRC-mätbrevet ner. Det tog 10 dagar från det att alla mått var klara, och då hann man med en remissvända då ett mått var lite oklart. Snabba ryck på både SSF och RORC. Kul!
Jag inte fick till någon vägning. Man skall ju fixa fram en våg och väga efter att båten är riggad, vilket inte gick att få till den här gången. Så jag har accepterat standarvikten hos RORC vilket är 4.900 kg. Tids nog får man väl väga skiten som en del i sin IRC-optimering ;-).
Update: skarpa läsare upptäckte så klart ytterligare mått som var konstiga. Återkommer…
Sweet… Mills 43 Tiamat
Senaste från herr Mills, nya Tiamat. 13.15 x 3.68 x 2.90 m x 8150 kg
The latest Tiamat for Tim Costello of Dublin has been launched by Vision Yachts in Cowes. The new Tiamat is a 43′ design intended for both Comnmodores Cup competition with the Ireland Green team but also to allow Tim to enjoy lower-key racing and sailing with his family as he did with his previous Tiamat. His 2005 Vision-built IRC 40 Tiamat to our design had an exceptional three years of competition including straight-bullet wins at both the UK and the French IRC National Championships.
The new Tiamat extends the design themes and research program developed with our IRC 41 Ambush and focuses on all-around performance, with a healthy offwind sailplan whose mix of symmetric and asymmetric spinnakers flown from a conventional pole reflects the tidal impact of Solent sailing as well as the average windspeeds expected in Northern European sailing.
Within a very tight timescale Vision have produced female hull and deck tooling to ensure the highest quality construction, and have done an exceptional job to launch a beutifully finished boat. The engineering by John Fox at FCS reflects the constructive relationship we have had with Vision over a number of years, allowing Vision to collaborate to produce build solutions which best use their experience and talents.
Här är också en bra förklaring från Mark angående det korta peket:
The fixed sprit comes in two flavours depending on size: for the large light type of design IRC favours over 50′ like Alegre the high boatspeeds mean apparent wind angles never come aft of 100 degrees, and there is no point carrying a pole (with an associated rating increase) since it would never come off the headstay.
IRC optimised boats below 50′ tend to be heavier, sail deeper angles in medium and heavy airs, and thus benefit from a conventional spinnaker pole (usually significantly longer than J). Asymmetrics flown off a pole offer an efficiency improvement as they are able to be designed to only ‘go’ in one direction, but require a more complicated gybing proceduure than with a symmetrical spinnaker. The fixed sprit here is ‘free’ if it doesnt extend beyond STL, and it allows the tack of the Asail to be sucked down while the bowman gets the pole off, swops sides and reconnects it. During this time the extension means the kites is well clear of the boat which may open up the range in which the Asail can be gybed inside its luff, allows the sail to be set and drawing well while the bowman is catching up, and significantly opens up what otherwise turns into a cluster%^$£ at the stem fitting. Additionally with a specialised close reaching spinnaker like an A0 it offers the perfect tack point.
Retracting sprits are popular with owners wanting to sail with less crew and skip all that gybing effort, or are favoured by boats tending to sail in lighter than average conditions or on reaching courses (many offshores for example) where the apparent angles will be close enough that the pole would be redundant, and a larger asail off a sprit can be carried for the same rating as the smaller kite from a conventional pole. A fixed sprit would achieve the same end, but practical considerations often sway people towards a retracting version.
