På handikapp vann Subic Centennial (Sydney 46 @1.177), tvåa blev Jaywalker (Ker 11.3 @1.153) och trea Full Metal Jacket (Corby 43 @1.217).
Vi väntar på rapport från Peter Backe ombord på FMJ. Nedan några fräcka foton på dem. Alla foton: ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi (återigen kanonbra bilder från Carlo)
Efter massor av vind, och inställt både fredag och lördag, fick man till sist kört ett par race. Zennström vann sin klass och Irländarna på Silk Glove och Blondie IV var heta. Många båtar verkar dock ha packat ihop redan på lördagen… Foto: Rick Tomlinson.
Red Funnel Easter Challenge IRC SZ
1. GBR528R, Ran, TP52, Niklas Zennstrom, 1.369
2. GBR952R, Henri Lloyd/Cutting Edge, TP52, Lutener & Elwood, 1.360
3. GBR76R, Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme, TP52, 1.358
4. RUS7, Valars, TP52, Serguei Shevtsov, 1.353
5. GBR52R, Chernikeeff 2, Farr 52, Peter Harrison, 1.311
Red Funnel Easter Challenge IRC 0
1. IRL3939, Silk Glove, Ker 39, Colm Barrington, 1.131
2. GBR945R, Fever, Swan 45, Stuart Miller, 1.184
3. GBR1545R, Poppy of Portland Marina, First 45, David Lancefield, 1.136
4. GBR998R , Freddie Freeloader, Farr 45, Eamonn O’Nolan, 1.227
5. GBR2045R, Alice II, Farr 45, Simon Henning, 1.233
Red Funnel Easter Challenge IRC 1
1. IRL3008, Blondie IV, King 40, Eamonn Rohan, 1.116
2. IRL2007, Jump Juice, Ker 37, Cornor & Denise Phelan, 1.098
3. GBR236R, Erivale III, Kerr 39CR, Jerry Otter, 1.118
4. GBR8410R, Premier Flair, Elan 410, Lucy Macgregor, 1.081
5. GBR6503N, Sailplane, Prima 38, Rob Bottomley, 1.079
Red Funnel Easter Challenge IRC 2
1. GBR7031T, Sanguma, Ker 31, Chris Walmsley, 1.036
2. GBR7712R, Zarafa, HOD 35, Peter Scholfield, 1.031
3. GBR73R, Salvo, Beneteau 34.7, Peter Morton, 1.012
4. GBR3938R, Steady Barker, Bavaria 38, Michael Brough, 1.038
5. GBR8901R, Jahmali, J/109, Mike Wallis, 1.033
Red Funnel Easter Challenge IRC 3
1. GBR4992R, Jack Sparrow, J/92S, Paul & Marie-Claude Heys, 0.987
2. GBR4365T, Dean and Dyball Enigma, MG346, Ian Braham, 0.950
3. GBR9395R, Elusive, Elan 333, Jackie & Robert Dobson, 0.981
4. USA5454, Santana, Capo 30, Myles Perrin, 0.936
5. GBR6993T, Manaru, Beneteau First 31.7, Tony Dickin, 0.961
Foto: Rick Tomlinson.
Spectacular Solent racing – Red Funnel Easter Challenge
Day three of the Red Funnel Easter Challenge, organised by the RORC, produced some quite stunning Solent racing with plenty of spills and thrills. Finally, after two days of frustration, racing got under way and it was well worth the wait. Louay Habib took a trip out to the combat zone to witness the action.
CLASS IRC SZ RACE 1: Niklas Zennstrom’s TP52, Ran, lit up the Solent, nailing the start and perfectly anticipated a massive wind shift, laying the top mark spot on. A text book bear away set and they were literally flying downwind, at over twenty knots, winning race one by over five minutes on corrected time.
Robert Lutener & Martin Elwood’s, TP52, Henri Lloyd Cutting Edge was second. Close behind, in third place was the young talent of the Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme, racing a TP52 for the very first time.
Stuart Robinson’s stunning TP52, Stay Calm, was well placed until gear failure halted their progress. “The bow-sprit came clean off. At the moment we are not exactly sure what caused the failure,” commented Stay Calm crew, Lisa McDonald.
RACE 2: The all star crew on TP52, Ran, showed their class, winning by an impressive margin of over six minutes. Serguei Shevtov’s, Russian TP52,Valars, was second; a great recovery after forestay problems forced them to retire from the first race. Henri Lloyd-Cutting Edge was third, on corrected time.
Overall winner of IRC Super Zero was Niklas Zennstrom’s, Ran with Rob Lutener & Martin Elwood’s, Henri-Lloyd Cutting Edge, second and VOLVO RYA Keelboat programme third.
“It was tough out there today for all of the boats and the race committee,” commented Ran navigator, Steve Hayles. “There were a lot of variables on the race course. The wind speed varied from 12 to 25 knots and the wind direction was never really stable. We made a few mistakes today, as I am sure everybody did but Easter being so early this year has been a big factor. On Ran we have only managed a few training days prior to the event and I am sure that we will improve as the season goes on. It is great to have these boats in the Solent; it is a fascinating and challenging place to race.”
CLASS IRC 0 RACE 1: Colm Barrington’s, brand new Ker 39, Silk Glove, won her maiden race in a very competitive class by just under a minute,on corrected time. Barrington’s fellow Irishman, Anthony O’Leary was at the helm and yacht designer Jason Ker was part of the crew, wearing his trademark red trousers.
A superb performance by Simon Henning’s Farr 45, Alice II, saw them claim second place by 36 seconds on corrected time, just ahead of an all star crew on Klaus Diederich & Grant Gordon’s, Swan 45, Fever.
RACE 2: David Lancefield will be delighted with his first win on his First 45, Poppy of Portland Marina, winning the last race of the day from Colm Barrington’s Silk Glove. Klaus Diederich & Grant Gordon’s, Fever.was in third place.
Silk Glove won the class overall and boat captain, James Hynes is pleased with her first run out; “It’s a great boat and there is more speed in her to come. We have had a couple of teething problems as you often do but, all in all, we are delighted to come to the Red Funnel Easter Challenge. As always, it a great start to a campaign.”
Second in class was Klaus Diederich & Grant Gordon’s, Fever with David Lancefield, Poppy of Portland Marina, a respectable third.
CLASS IRC 1 RACE 1: It was nip and tuck as the top four boats finished within seconds of each other on corrected time. Eamonn Rohan’s Mills 40, Blondie IV and Jerry Otter’s Ker 39, Erivale III had a photo-finish; with the brand new, Blondie IV, winning by one second, on the water and by seven seconds, on corrected time. Rob Bottomley’s Prima 38, Sailplane, was close behind in third place.
RACE 2 Conor & Denise Phelan’s Ker 37, Jump Juice, had a great result in race two, beating Eamonn Rohan’s Blondie IV by just 21 seconds on corrected time. Jerry Otter’s Erivale III was in third place.
Eamonn Rohan’s Blondie IV, won the class overall from Conor & Denise Phelan’s Jump Juice with Jerry Otter’s Erivale III in third. These three boats will all be competing for the Rolex Commodores Cup later this summer. “It was a great shake out for us today, to get rid of some of the winter rust.” Commented Blondie IV crew Ian Travers. “It was exactly the kind of training to start off the season.”
CLASS IRC 2 RACE 1 Chris Walmsley’s Ker 31, Sanguma won the first race of the day, beating Peter Schofield’s HOD 35, less than a minute on corrected time. Mike Wallis helming his J/109, Jahmali was third.
RACE 2 Peter Morton’s Beneteau 34.7, Salvo, had a mixed day after a collision in race one. In race two, Salvo was a mere second ahead of Peter Schofield’s Zarafa, on corrected time to finish the day on a high. Chris Walmsley’s, Sanguma was third.
Class winner was Chris Walmsley’s Sanguma, but only on count back from Paul Schofield’s, Zarafa. Peter Morton’s, Salvo was third.
CLASS IRC 3 RACE 1 Paul & Marie-Claude Heys racing their J/92s, Jack Sparrow, revelled in the heavy weather winning race one by over a minute. Ian Braham’s MG346, Dean and Dyball Enigma was second and had a great tussle on the water with Jackie & Robert Dobson’s Elan 333, Elusive which was third.
RACE 2 Paul & Marie-Claude Heys, racing Jack Sparrow, made it a perfect score for the day winning race two by a comfortable margin, Ian Braham’s Dean & Dyball Enigma were second .Jackie & Robert Dobson, racing Elusive, were third. “I thought we had a great mix of racing today.” Commented Paul Heys. “The first race was all about spotting the big wind shift early on and then trying to keep in clear air amongst a compressed fleet, especially out of the bad air from larger boats. Race two, we managed to get a good start and due to a round the cans course, we managed to stay in clean air for most of the way around. All in all, a great day’s sailing!”
After the conclusion of racing, a prize giving was held at the Cowes Yacht Haven events centre. Shirley Anderson, a director of Red Funnel Ferries officiated at the prize giving and commented; “Red Funnel are delighted to be associated with such a well run and splendid spectacle in the Solent and we are so pleased that so many competitors have taken part. If only the weather had been better we could have had a perfect event. We are proud to be associated with this event and look forward to welcoming everybody next year.”
Last but not least, a mention for the RORC Race Team, many of whom are volunteers. Especially, Fiona and Andy Bristow who provide Committee Boat, Atlantis, without charge. Without all their efforts, events such as the Red Funnel Easter Challenge could not happen.
A full race report and results can be found at: http://www.rorc.org RORC: Tel. 020 7493 2248, E-mail info@rorc.org.uk Provisional Overall Results Series Place, Sail No, Boat, Type of Boat, Owner, (Handicap, Series Points, Race 1, Race 2) Class IRC SZ 1. GBR528R, Ran, TP52, Niklas Zennstrom, (1.369, 2, 1, 1) 2. GBR952R, Henri Lloyd – Cutting Edge, TP52, Robert Lutener & Martin Elwood (1.36, 5, 2,3) 3. GBR76R, Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme, TP52, Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme (1.358, 7, 3, 4) Class IRC 0 1. IRL3939, Silk Glove, Ker 39, Colm Barrington (1.131, 4, 1, 3) 2. GBR945R, Fever, Swan 45, Stuart Miller (1.184, 6, 3, 3) 3. GBR1545R, Poppy of Portland Marina, David Lancefield (1.136, 8, 7,1) Class IRC 1 1. IRL3008, Blondie IV, King 40, Eamonn Rohan (1.116, 3, 1, 2) 2. IRL2007, Jump Juice, Ker 37, Conor & Denise Phelan (1.098, 5, 4,1) 3. GBR236R, Erivale III, Ker 39CR, Jerry Otter (1.118, 5, 2, 3) Class IRC 2 1. GBR7031T, Sanguma, Ker 31, Chris Walmsley (1.036, 4, 1, 3) 2. GBR7712R, Zarafa, HOD 35, Peter Scholfield (1.031, 4, 2, 2) 3. GBR73R, Salvo, Beneteau 34.7, Peter Morton (1.012, 6, 5, 1) Class IRC 3 1. GBR4992R, Jack Sparrow, J/92 S, Paul & Marie-Claude Heys (0.987, 2, 1, 1) 2. GBR4365, Dean & Dyball Enigma, MG346, Ian Braham (0.95, 4, 2, 2) 3. GBR9395R, Elusive, Elan 333, Jackie & Robert Dobson (0.981, 6, 3, 3) Other Prizes awarded: Red Funnel Easter Challenge Prix d’Elegance Trophy: Yacht: Colm Barrington’s Ker 39 Silk Glove (IRL)
Sjysst video på CNN. Shirley Robertson gastar på Cream, en Gunboat 48, på St Marten. Sådär skall ju en cruising-katta se ut!
Här är en rapport från SA. Kul att de spanade in SeaCarten :-)
I was a member of the crew on Cream. It was a blast racing these boats. I really appreciate PJ inviting me to race and I look forward to more Gunboat events whether I get to participate or just read about it. It’s a unique boat and a unique sailing group (very fun, very laid back).
To clear up a couple of questions, we were probably sailing upwind at 9-9.5 knots in the flatter water and 8.5-9.0 knots in the big waves. Downwind in race 1 we were doing 17-21 knots. Our top speed for the day was on the long downwind from the top of the island back to finish area, we hit 23.7 knots on one fantastic surf. Our tacking angles were around 95 degrees in the big waves and closer to 90 in the flat water. I think at least 60% of Race 1 was upwind so total distance sailed was probably around 45 miles. Our elapsed time was 3:56:21 so that’s about an average speed of 11.5 knots which seems about right given the conditions.
Our bowman and spinnaker trimmer Cali Sanmarti is a very experienced TP 52 sailor. He loves the TP 52’s but also loved the relaxed and fun racing on the Gunboat. It’s still an apples vs oranges comparison between full on racing machines and boats primarily designed for cruising (in races 2 and 3, we raced with our dinghy hanging in the davits, we had no choice!). I think the most competitive racing sailor would enjoy a weekend racing a Gunboat (in fact I believe PJ is marketing the boats to folks who are somewhat tired of the “grand prix” scene and want to go cruising with comfort and ease and have the option to go racing, both at double digit boatspeeds). BTW, that is Cali trimming the spinnaker from the back of the boat in the CNN video using the dinghy davit winches which were really too small for the task. We used a bag launched A-sail as the chute and had a roller furling screacher for tighter AWA’s (the boat was setup to trim the screacher from the forward cockpit winches). The boat is not really setup for the bag launched A-sail and I see Peter recommending an upgrade to the owner.
In terms of multi performance, I think the most impressive multi was True North, the Seacart 30. In the first race, they were very conservative and used a double reef in their mainsail and did not have a great day. On the 2nd and 3rd days, they shook out the second reef and were the fastest boat in the entire fleet around the course in both races. Very impressive considering this 30′ boat looked very small next to us and especially a boat like Hexe. Maybe if I win a lottery I can buy one of those but I’ll have to settle for a Corsair for now.
It was very cool having Shirley Robertson on board for Race 1. After we finished, PJ gave her the helm and we had the screacher flying on a broad reach. She very quickly had us ripping along at 19 knots. I was trimming the screacher and I turned around to see her with a look on her face telling me that this was one cool machine to be able to rip along this fast steering from the comfort of cherrywood paneled main salon!
Starten på Göteborg Offshore Race 2006.
Några av oss med 35-40 fotare, med Jonas Granhed i spetsen, har planerat in en träningshelg 24-25/5 på Marstrand.
Just nu är det 6-8 båtar (First 36,7, X-35, Bavaria 35 Match, J/109) som är intresserade och vi håller på att kolla om GKSS kan bidra med bojar, båtar och kanske lokaler (kan ju vara en aktivitet för att få fler båtar till EM i augusti). Vi drar också i olika trådar när det gäller coachning och videofilmning på havet.
Det blir en bra genomkörare för att träna starter, manövrar och få ordning på allt inför säsongen. Dessutom borde man kunna få till nån kul aktivitet i land…
Låter det som en bra aktivitet? Dra ett mail till Jonas eller lägg en kommentar, så återkommer vi med mer detaljer inom kort.
Hi Fi tar line honours. Foton: ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi.
Neil Pryde’s Hi Fi takes line honours win in Rolex China Sea Race
March 23, 2008
An increase in wind strength off the West coast of the Philippines overnight gave the lead boats exactly what they needed to close in on the finish line off Grande Island at the entrance to Subic Bay, Philippines on Easter Sunday. Neil Pryde’s Wellbourn 52 Hi Fi crossed the finish line just before noon local time with an elapsed time of 71 hrs 35mins 42 secs.
Hi Fi held off Fortis Mandrake, 20 miles behind, which had a shot at the overall corrected win. In the end, Mandrake finished at 1438hrs today, missing the win by a mere 13 minutes.
That leaves only a few suspects who could upset Hi Fi for the overall corrected win if the wind in fact holds, the first of which, Full Metal Jacket, would need to cross at 1819hrs tonight. Others include Subic Centennial, Australian Maid, and Moonblue II, which are due in by 2000hrs tonight.
Dockside at the Subic Bay Yacht Club, skipper Neil Pryde was presented with a Rolex Yacht-Master timepiece by John de Luna from Rolex Philippines for Hi Fi’s line honours win.
Hi Fi completed the course with an average speed of 7.6 knots over the 565-nautical mile course from Hong Kong to the Philippines. Not a bad speed considering the boat “parked up” yesterday morning for five hours with no wind at all. A long, hot wait for a boat that could be excused for wondering then if its’ game plan had gone wrong.
Pryde said, “We had planned to always go the south side of the rhumb line, we figured we’d get the shift, which we did, but we didn’t plan on the big park up yesterday when Mandrake went inshore and gained about ten miles on us. We went from 30 miles ahead to only 13 miles (in one sked). Mandrake had their strategy, and we stuck to our game plan, and in the end that’s what yacht racing is all about.”
The Rolex China Sea Race line honours win was a first for Pryde, who has previously won the race before on overall corrected time. Hi Fi was launched in January and the crew had only competed in the Royal Langkawi and Singapore Straits regattas. This was the first offshore test, which was an impressive showing. Pryde commented, “We had a lot more time to settle down and get organized. Most of the races we had done were short, round the cans. This time we’ve been on the boat a long time, we had a chance to really sort things out. We had an excellent crew on the boat, some very good technicians, who were able to put the boat together.”
Pryde, an internationally known sail maker whose specialty and success has been as a designer and manufacturer of windsurfers, is a natural tinkerer, known to always be tweaking his boats to make them faster. Hi Fi is a completely new boat, though it was born from the ashes of a previous boat he owned.
Pryde described the process: “We couldn’t sell the boat for a realistic price, so I figured out that the residual value in hardware, equipment, electronics, and everything else, was worth more than I could get for it second-hand. We decided to take a chain saw to it, literally cut it up and salvage all the equipment out of it and start all over again.”
“We got Hugh Welbourn in the UK to design the hull, fin, keel, rudder. Hugh’s a non-conformist designer anyway, he pushes the edges, so when you give him a freehand to come up with a pretty radical boat, he did that. The boat is pretty radical! It’s a totally new hull, keel and rudder. The front part of the deck is the old deck, but the aft end is totally new. It’s a meter narrower in the middle and a lot, lot wider in the back, so it’s like a wedge. So it’s a very different boat from a Farr one-design.
Talking about the innovative hull shape, Pryde said, “We’ve got hard chines which control the water flow over the side of the boat, making it theoretically drier. It’s got very big flare in the aft sections of the boat, which means you can get the crew a lot further outboard, so you can get a lot of leverage. It’s actually a very efficient setup.it looks a little radical, but it’s actually very practical.”
Meanwhile in IRC Racing A, Chris Meads’ Corby 43 Full Metal Jacket headed inshore where there was breeze as well, sailing at seven knots with 18 miles to the finish; further offshore Sam Chan’s TP52 Ffreefire was making the same speed with 25 miles to finish. It remains to be seen if one tactic will trump the other and if the wind holds for anyone.
In IRC Racing B, Australian Maid improved their position overnight and leads their division with 27 miles to go and an ETA of 1900hrs. IRC Premier Cruising leader, Moonblue 2, is due in at 2000hrs and has 32nm to go. Shahtoosh and Jaywalker are another 20nm further back followed by Imagine, Dream, Imagine, Walawala and Stella.
Approximately 190nm behind the leader, in the HKPN Division, James Kong’s Bavaria 39 Harmony was sailing at 6.5 knots with an ETA of midnight on Monday (March 24), followed by Guy Dickinson’s Larabella. Leon Chan/James Lau’s Tipsy Frenz has retired and is due to arrive in Subic Bay on Monday
.
Återigen uppmärksammade på SEILmagasinet (bland Class 40, Archambault 40 och Landmark 43:or). Skönt att man kan hålla en låg profil inför årets race :-)
SVENSK SJOKK. Svenske Peter Gustafsson og Anders Klamer satte en støkk i norske seilere da de seilte sin Albin Nova til 3. plass over all i Watski Skagerrak TwoStar i fjor. I et race som for øvrig må få karakteristikken «de store båtenes race» seilte de – i denne sammenhengen – sin vesle Nova imponerende raskt. I år stiller de i ny J/109 med samme navn – BLUR.
HP (Hans Petterson) har ju bestämt sig för att bojkotta Svenska bloggar. Men Seilas verkar ha koll på vad som händer. Innan 1030 ens kommit i havet, presenterar han planer på en 41-fotare. Också denna är ritad av Jacob Vierø och gänget på Danish Marine Design.
STELLA (HKG), Sydney 38, Skipper: Roland Buser. Foton: Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi
Lite halvmagiskt att tappa kölen utan att välta? Och sedan köra 200 distans hem igen utan köl.
Tacticians roll the dice as frontrunners near finish;
Strewth safely back in Hong KongMarch 22, 2008
After a fast start out of Hong Kong and across the South China Sea, the frontrunners in the Rolex China Sea Race encountered a transition into lighter wind as predicted, and any hopes for a record run have slipped away for this edition.
The Philippines land-sea breeze scenario is testing all tacticians in the fleet. Earlier today, several of the lead boats in IRC Racing Division headed towards shore in an effort to find some wind, a strategy that seems to be paying off for the likes of Hi Fi and Fortis Mandrake, which at 1830 were 106 miles and 117 miles respectively at speeds of 6.8 knots and 9.1 knots and due at the finish early tomorrow morning.
Jon Wardill’s Australian Maid is leading IRC B division, finally in a bit of breeze, doing 6.5 knots with 180 miles to go. In IRC Premier Cruising Moonblue II is leading, 170 miles from the finish, sailing at 4.7 knots.
Back in Hong Kong, the TP52 Strewth, which lost its’ keel in the early hours Friday, arrived this afternoon under power. The boat was hauled out at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club where it will be inspected and the cause attempted to be determined.
Skipper Geoff Hill was obviously relieved to be safely ashore with his crew, saying, “We were very lucky. I can’t think of any other race boat that’s come back without a keel after 200 miles.” Describing the incident Hill said, “We had just gone past Ffreefire and Hi Fi. We were sailing a bit off the wind doing about 12 knots in 25 knots, sailing about 80 degrees off the breeze. I think we had a number four and the main up. We had most of the crew on the rail and the boat was going really, really well. We weren’t pushing any harder. we’re very conscious of it and you can’t win races if the crew and boat don’t get there.”
“When the accident happened, there were two cracks and the bolts broke: the first time, the boat shivered and we thought tension or something had happened and we kept on racing. The second one, the boat actually tipped. And because of the big broad stern, it swung around rather than tipped over. Then the guys brought the boat up into the breeze and then we let the sails off so that there wasn’t any pressure.”
“We did a Sea Safety instruction course before the start of the race so we had a buddy system and everybody had their harness and gear on, and so we had them all on deck within a couple of minutes. We had the sails down, we assessed the situation and got the life raft out and then we started to balance the boat, we put water in down below.”
“Then we started to marshal our resources because we realized that we were 200 miles from anywhere. And it was closer to go back to Hong Kong than it was to go to the Philippines. And so we elected — even though it seemed like a long way to go without a keel — that we would try. Very stressful night, everyone was on deck awake. Next morning, just before the “sched”, we spoke to the race office again and they had been in touch with some of the other competitors. And we saw Cloud (the Beneteau 44.7, in IRC Racing 2, skipper Olivier Decamps) on the horizon, nicest cloud we’ve ever seen! They came to our aid and, very unselfishly, gave up their race, and they’re a very good boat, they would have done very well (in the race). They escorted us back and I think that is true seamanship. I think that’s one of the spirits of racing. I’ve done quite a few Rolex races, mainly the Rolex Sydney Hobart, but I’ve done Newport Bermuda too, and I think that is real spirit of competitorship, you give up yourself to stand by, and they escorted us all the way back and that was fantastic.”
Hill concluded, “(ISAF) Category 1 safety is very important, crew training is important, and we would not have survived if we had not had that experience. I had just gone and done my course. I had done the course before but I didn’t renew it, and the last thing the guy told me was, ‘If you are out there long enough, it’ll happen to you’. But I didn’t think it was going to be that quickly!”
CHALLENGE (PHI), X-452, Skipper: Martin Tanco.