Nu är det dags för Watski 2star Baltic (tidigare känd som Östersjömaran). Nu är det inte lika mycket mara, men kanske desto mer racing. Jättekul med 70+ båtar på linjen.
Hur går snacket på bryggan? Nån som har koll på vädret? Vilka är favoriter? Vem kan skrälla?
Blue Bliss från Göteborg kommer inte till start utan ligger i Borgholm med haveri. Ola Falk kommer troligtvis inte att segla och hade inte fått nåt LYS (uppdatering: tydligen fick Ola ett LYS vid lunchtid idag, 24 timmar före start, men det blir nog inget i alla fall). Corby 33 Inga of Sweden stannar också hemma vilket var synd…
Jag tar gärna emot bilder & rapporter på mail (peter@blur.se) eller MMS (maila mig för nummer), så kommer jag att försöka sammanställa på nåt kul sätt.
I klass 1 dominerade fransmännen i sin First 45 Lady Courrier. Man spikade ju alla race på Spi Ouest, och hade ett nästan prickfritt protokoll den här gången också.
Klass 2 toppades av Corby 36 Rosie och gänget på J/109 Sail4Cancer som vann förra helgen på Irland, lyckades knipa en tredjeplats efter en tung start med kollisioner och svartflagg
IRC1
1. Lady Courrier, Gery Trentesaux, 1.120, First 45
2. Marinerscove.ie, David Dwyer, 1.103, Mills 39
3. Antix Eile, Anthony O’Leary, 1.136, Ker 39
4. Jump Juice, Conor Phelan, 1.098, Ker 37
5. Playing FTSE, Jonathan Anderson, 1.131, First 47.7
Corby 36 Rosie. Sweet!
IRC2
1. Rosie, Roy Dickson, 1.074, Corby 36
2. Premier Flair, Jim MacGregor, 1.081, Elan 410
3. Sail4Cancer, Tino Hyland/Nigel Bigg, 1.069, J/109
4. Contango, Barry Cunningham, 1.040, Corby 33
5. Salamander XX, John Corson, 1.042, Corby 33
6. Bataleur 97, Chris Bonar, 1.073, BH36
7. Duckwall Pooley, Debbie Aitken, 1.071, First 42s7
8. Another Djinn, N & M Stratton, 1.028, A35
9. Exaltation, David McFarland, 1.048, X35
10. Sloop John T, I & G Thomson, 1.037, Swan 40
IRC3
1. Carmen II, Scutt/Jeffrey, 1.025, First 36.7
2. Mumbo.ie, Dermot Cronin, 1.017, J/35
3. Bengal Magic, Moorehead/Ferres, 1.016, J/35
4. Enigma, H & M Morrison, 0.986, Sigma 38
5. Holdfast 2, Ruaraidh MacLeod, 1.026, First 36.7
The Bell Lawrie Scottish Series top award, the Scottish Series Trophy, has gone to France for the first time as Gery Trentesaux and his crew on the new Philippe Briand designed First 45, Lady Courrier, topped the 14 boat IRC Class 1 at the annual four day regatta on Loch Fyne which attracted 170 entries.
In conditions which could scarcely have been bettered, 12-20 knots of South Easterly breeze which flecked the dark nay waters with white horses, and relentless sunshine, Lady Courrier may have come of second best to David Dwyer’s Crosshaven, Cork based Marinerscove.ie in both windward-leeward races today, but the Lille entrepreneur and his 12 strong crew, which included his student son Nicholas, posted a final scoreline of five first places and two second places.
The depth of competition in the IRC Class 1 fleet was emphasised as he lead no fewer than four past winners of this prestigious trophy including Cork’s double winner Anthony O’Leary in third on the new Ker 39 Antix Eile, Cork’s 2007 winner Conor Phelan in fourth on the Ker 37 Jump Juice, the Clyde’s three times winner Jonathan Anderson in fifth on his First 47.7 Playing FTSE, and 1990 winner Geoffrey Howison with the BH41 Local Hero XXI in sixth.
With four Transatlantic races and three Tour Voile round France races to his credit as well as twice winning the English based international team regatta the Commodore’s Cup, and placing third overall in last year’s classic Fastnet Race, Trentesaux and his La Trinité based crew set themselves several targets this year. So far they have won their home Spi Ouest regatta, and, today the Bell Lawrie Scottish Series before heading to the UK IRC National Championships, next month’s Commodore’s Cup before a December date with their first Sydney Hobart race.
Trentesaux has raced with his own boats here in 2000 and 2002. Second time here he and his crew would have won Class 1 but for an unfortunate error when they took an invited guest sailing which took them over their prescribed crew limit. He has raced six times here, often with his long time Scottish friend Grant Gordon.
“We have never won this regatta and so it has been great to do so with such great conditions. I am going home to work tomorrow with sunburn and the trophy so I am really happy. It is great to work hard and to play hard. We have a crew which have been together for ten years or longer and a fast boat. It was tougher today because we took a few more risks but the racing has been great and very well organised.” Said Trentesaux, “This is such a wonderful place I will be back and will hopefully bring back more French boats next time.”
IRC Class 2 went to the wire with the Howth based Corby 36 prevailing by a single point over Jim MacGregor and his young team on the Solent based Elan 410 Premier Flair. Second in today’s second race behind Premier Flair was enough for overall victory to Roy Dickson’s Irish favourite which placed second last year.
Premier Flair took second place in the first race of the day by a matter of only two seconds on corrected time behind Nigel Biggs and his crew on the J109 Sail4Cancer who finished third overall in the regatta’s biggest class at 22 boats.
Best overall performance by a Scottish boat in the IRC Handicap classes was the Clyde based Carmen II, a Beneteau First 36.7 sailed by Paul Scutt and Alan Jeffrey and their crew based out of Helensburgh on the Clyde. They won IRC Class 3, while in IRC Class 4 it was the X302 of John Allen from Whitby.
Andreas Hanakamp, skipper of Team Russia inspects the spray rails that feature on the teams Volvo Open 70
Russia’s new Volvo Open 70 yacht made a spectacular entrance into the world today. Its 23 metre long racing hull appeared in public for the first time hovering high over the boat sheds of builder’s Green Marine Lymington (UK). On a day that started extremely wet and blustery, a break in the weather around high water enabled the hull to be safely lowered by a massive 200 Tonnes crane into the Lymington River.
Team Russia will take part in the Volvo Ocean Race, the premiere round the world yacht race that starts in Alicante this October. The event covers over 37,000 nautical miles and visits 11 ports, culminating in a finish in St Petersburg, Russia in June 2009.
With this manoeuvre safely executed the boat was then checked, unhooked and positioned to wait for the tide to fall. Spectators from the shore and on RIBs hovering around the boat were quick to notice some of the innovative features Lymington designer Rob Humphreys had incorporated into his first Volvo Open 70 design. Most notably, the double spray rails at the front, the bluff bow and powerful stern design had people rushing for their cameras.
Michael Wood’s CEO of Team Russia was delighted to see the boat emerge from the shed; “We started building her in August last year, he explains. “It’s been a fantastic team effort, from the design by Rob Humphreys, the hard work by Simon Smith and the team at Green’s and the expert management and commitment shown by Tim Dean our project manager, also, the incredible hours of hard work behind the scenes by all our Team. It’s a great day for us, to finally see her in the water.”
With the tide in retreat, nervousness began to build in anticipation of the next stage of the delivery. This precious race yacht, which had taken approximately 34,000 man hours to build, had to wait for the tide to drop to pass under a low railway bridge further down river with little room to spare and no room for error.
Nail biting and careful navigation between the four supports of the bridge had team and crew working within 30mm either side of the supports with little more than centimetres above the deck. With the encouragement of the boats shore crew, Team Russia appeared through the bridge and into open water to rapturous applause and cheers of relief.
Skipper Andreas Hanakamp watched in anticipation as the RIBs manoeuvred Team Russia’s yacht the short distance to a pontoon off the Royal Lymington Yacht Club, where she will rest overnight before an early dawn tow across The Solent to Endeavour Quay, Gosport, as long as the weather holds.
Team Russia will have her rudders, keel and mast fitted this week and will complete her commissioning and sail trials in early June. There will be an official naming ceremony of the boat in Portsmouth on 16th June at Gunwharf Quay.
Team Russia is finally floating. Seated left to right on her stern: Andreas Hanakamp (Skipper Team Russia), Tim Dean (Project Manager, Team Russia),Simon Smith (Green Marine), Rob Humphreys (Humphreys Design)
Team Russia was lifted over builder Green Marine’s shed and into the Lymington River. Tim Dean project manager prepares to take the boat under the railway bridge and on her way to Endeavour Quay, Gosport for fitting out.
Update: här är ännu fler bilder. Den här gången från Pete Ridout/lloyd images
I helgen var det race weekend i Larvik, vilket också var första racet i NORCs rankingserie. Kanske tidigt att dra några slutsatser om hur det kommer att se ut på EM i Marstrand, men nu har väl allvaret börjat för de som är seriösa. Bilder från Team Xtreme.
Ser fram emot lite race-rapporter från besättningarna.
Class: ORCi Liten
1. Too Aiming First, Trond Kristiansen, Moss SF, First 36,7
2. First Jibb, Espen Kristiansen, Ullern SF, First 36,7
3. Extase, Nils Kamfjord, Tønsberg SF, X-34 (GPH 621,6)
4. Felicia, Eirik Brekke, Tønsberg SF, X-382 (GPH 628,8)
5. Team Brodin, Jan Martin Brodin, Bundefj. SF, JV 37 (GPH 609)
6. Team Xtreme, Erik Kristiansen, Bundefjorden SF, GS 37 (GPH 615)
7. Xotic, Aasmund Drolsum, Soon SF, X-332 (GPH 652,5)
8. Annie, Thor Morten Hem, Larvik SF First 36,7
9. Våres Båt, Arvid Kaupang, Larvik SF, Dufour34
10. Hyak, Pål Kragerud, KNS, GS 37 (GPH 620,7)
11. Tolama, Asbjørn Næss, Larvik SF, D36 SQ (LYS 1,29)
Class: ORCi Stor
1. Team Bergen, Sverre Valeur, Askøy SF, Farr 40
2. Bellatrix, Terje Wang/Team Granseil, KNS X-41
3. Lexington, Føyen/Clason, KNS, X-41
4. Marielle VII, Jan Erik Ruud, Moss SF, First 40.7
5. Flirt, Eivind Astrup, KNS, J/133 (GPH 557)
6. Spiff, Lena Having, Långedrags SS, IMX-40 (GPH 586,8)
7. Teknova , Bengt Falkenberg, GKSS, First 45 (GPH 554,6)
8. Flash, Erik Krister, Sandefjord SF, First 40.7
9. Xanthippe, Jan Henrik Bryde, Asker SF, IMX40 (GPH 588)
10. Rex, Thomas Oksmo, Fredrikstad SF, X-41
11. Aquaracer, Halvard Hedemark, KNS, X-41
12. Wolfpack, Grant Larsen, Sandefjord SF, Farr 40
13. First Tracks, Svenn Erik Hansen, Drammens SF, First 40.7
14. Farrlig, Jacob A. L’Orsa, KNS, Farr40
15. Lusso Lupa, John Langø, Tønsberg SF, Swan42 (LYS 1,46)
I dag hade gänget på ManiXen prioriterat Mors Dag (?) men å andra sidan var Fredrik Wenehult och gänget på First 36.7 SKI.IT med i stället. Och de har ju bra koll på läget så vi var mycket spända på att köra mot dem (här finns mer info om dem och här kan man köpa deras båt).
Från lördagen var vi, First 36.7 Surfer Girl och Bavaria 35 Match Spira kvar och körde.
Dagen började med NO 10 m/s för att succesivt avta till 3 m/s när vi lade av på eftermiddagen. Soligt och bra seglingsförhållanden. Lite längre bana är i går, så lite mer fokus på båtfart. Och så starter förstås. Generellt sett var vi nöjda med de flesta starterna, och vi börjar bli bättre på att hitta trim och ändra växel. Höll Surfer Girl och Spira bakom oss, och var ganska jämna med SKI.IT. Så jag kanske inte behöver ligga vaken om nätterna och oroa mig för min båtfart…
Tack alla som var med! Då det finns relativt få race i början av maj borde vi kunna göra denna träningshelg till tradition? Vi borde lätt kunna få lika många båtar till och kanske toppa med en fest med familjer på lördagskvällen.
Propagandasegling idag utanför Långedrag. LSS hade vårregatta för jollar, matchracingbåtarna tränade och vi körde första dagen på vår träningshelg. Först lite lätt ostvind innan sjöbrisen fyllde på, sol och
Vi, X-35 ManiXen, First 36.7 Surfer Girl och Bavaria 35 Match Spira körde 6 race idag. I morgon blir det ytterligare någon båt. Extremt nyttigt att träna starter och köra intensiva race. Vi hade med Mattias Rahm som coach för att ge feedback på kommunikation och beslutsfattande ombord. Finns en del att göra så klart, men det blir hela tiden bättre.
Här är ett antal sjyssta bilder från nyss avslutade Capri Sailing Week. Återigen är det Carlo Borlenghi som levererar. Alla foton: ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi
