Welcome onboard the French Volvo 70 Groupama 4 during the Official practice event of the round the world yacht race.
This week’s summary
• David was right
• The Students World Cup
• 54 knots for Vestas Sail Rocket
• Middle Sea Race, in Malta
• And the transat, is off.
• But first, back to Alicante for the Volvo ocean Race first Inport regatta
I december bär det av till Auckland. I första hand för att skriva om Twisted Flow Wind Tunnel (TFWT) på University of Auckland, men det finns ju mycket annat kul man kan hitta på om man är seglare.
Jag har en bra lista, men det vore kul med er input. Artikeluppslag, sweeta båtar som bör spanas in, designers som bör ställas till svars eller bara allmänna tips för turisten?
Förresten, någon som vet om det skvallras om Commodore’s Cup här uppe i norr? Norge skulle ju få ihop ett team och Magic skämde ju inte ut sig på Cowes Week.
10 members of the British Keelboat Academy all aged between 18 and 23 have very kindly been donated a j109 “Yeoman of Wight” by David Aisher and have set themselves the mammoth task of campaigning the boat for the Commodore’s Cup that takes place in the Solent in 2012.
Watch this page to find out how the squad gets on in their training both on and off the water, finding sponsorship and in the qualifying leading up to the Commodore’s Cup that takes place on the 21st-28th of July 2012.
All eyes are on San Diego as we countdown to AC World Series Nov 12 – 20. But first, we make a visit to Brittany, France for some cross training with Loick Peyron and France’s Energy Team. As the sun sets over France, the day is just beginning in San Diego; we tour Broadway and Navy Piers and check out the course area with AC Commentator Annie Gardner. Back in Europe we visit Green Comm Racing’s Vasilji Zbogar at his home in Slovenia. Vasilji shows us his Olympic sailing medals, and takes us out for a sail in trying conditions. October was a busy month for San Francisco; Oracle OpenWorld, the biggest technology show on the planet overlapped with Fleet Week. All good preparation for when the world’s best sailors come to San Francisco Bay in 2012 and 2013.
Vad händer den här veckan, 31 oktober-6 november, i seglingsvärlden?
Störst är så klart att Volvo Ocean Race startar etapp på lördag. Vi skall väl ha någon sorts gissningstävlan i veckan. Instruktioner för hur man bäst följer racet hittar man här.
Dessutom så blir det Legends Regatta i Alicante onsdag och torsdag.
Transat Jaques Vabre sköt upp starten på grund av en storm som skulle passera franska Atlantkusten. Nu drar man på onsdag i stället. Framför allt önskar vi Rune Aasberg och Simen Løvgren lycka till.
Det blev till sist David Raison som vann Mini Transat med sin helt unika TeamWork Evolution. Mini-klassen har genom åren sprutat fram innovationer, några bra, några andre mindre bra. Men det här verkar funka bra och tidvis sägs David ha gått en knop fortare än sina konkurrenter. Hela havet före – och nytt rekord på sträckan.
Nu är ju frågan vilket genomslag det här kommer att få bland andra designers? Jag gissar att det kommer att experimenteras en del med konceptet.
David Raison wins the Transat 6,50 onboard TeamWork Evolution
David Raison has won the singlehanded Transat 6,50 on his innovative boat TeamWork Evolution. His achievement will be a milestone in the world of yacht racing.
Salvador de Bahia, Octobre 30, 2011 — David Raison crossed the arrival line at 18 43 UT; he sailed the 3120 miles long second leg between Madeira and Salvador de Bahia in 17 days, 6 hours and 13 minutes, at an average speed of 7,53 knots. The skipper from Lorient beats the previous record on this course by twenty minutes.
David Raison took the lead soon after the Cape Verde Islands. He sailed superbly and kept the lead since crossing the Doldrums. He crossed the arrival line 130 miles ahead of his direct opponent, Thomas Normand, and 330 miles ahead of the pack.
David’s boat, with her strange looking round nose, has proved to be excellent on this difficult course, and especially when sailing between 60 and 90° from the true wind, where she was simply unbeatable, achieving speeds up to one knot superior to her opponents.
« When I saw that I was ahead of the fleet coming out of the doldrums, I thought “this race is for you! Don’t mess it up, don’t fall in the water, don’t break the boat”, said David Raison soon after the arrival. “This boat is fast and exceptional; she helped to compensate some tactical mistakes. Sometimes, I was even slowing down because the boat was banging hard. I slept better last night. I wanted to be in good shape today, I didn’t want to miss the arrival… This was my fourth transatlantic race and my last goal was to finish before nightfall and see Bahia under the sunlight. Tonight I can enjoy a nice big piece of meat in the restaurant; it’s fantastic!”
David’s victory is in line with the history of the Mini Class, who has seen innovations such as canting keels, ballasts or carbon masts, used today on all race boats. Nobody knows yet whether this type of boats will be seen on other, bigger classes in the future; yet one thing is sure: everyone is going to have to think about it.
Philippe Rey-Gorrez, the President of TeamWork, travelled from Geneva in order to welcome the winner. « We already came for Alex Pella’s stopover victory in 2005 under TeamWork’s colours. It is always a wonderful moment and we are hugely happy. We are pleased to have been able to contribute to this success and no, we wait impatiently for Etienne David’s arrival. His goal in his first transatlantic race is to finish in the top ten. He currently fights in the top group and can get a great result following his superb fourth place in the first leg.”
Updatering 111101: fler bilder på båten nedan. Stort tack till Joakim Hoppe.
I veckan som kommer så skall 15 gamla Whitbread/Volvo-båtar göra upp i Legends Regatta. Från Skandinavien så kommer Rothmans, Charles Jourdan och Berge Viking.
Idag var den andra träningsdagen med Klabbe! vi har kört hårt och länge för att vara så väl förbereda som möjligt inför helgens seglingar med kunder och så klart Legends regatta! vi börjar komma in i våra positioner väl och arbetar nu bättre so grupp än tidigare. Idag har vi tränat mycket manövrar, dvs slag/gippar och sättningar/nedtagningar. Idag har vi också jobbat av mer saker på worklisten under förmiddagen, vi målade t.ex. en spinnaker i ett parkerinsgarage! vädret har varit blandat, regn på förmiddagen och sol med lite lättare vindar efter lunch! I morgon ska vi främst fokusera på segling men vi har också en del saker att ta itu med på land.
Men vilken båt var coolast och mest banbrytande när den var med? Många av oss som har följt de här racen har nog en alldeles egen favorit. Briand ritade L’Esprit d’Equipe, Rothmnans och Steinlager 2 ligger högt på min lista.