The Bob Perry-designed Icon, a 65-foot sloop owned by Dick Robbins and sailed out of Seattle YC looks to be the line honors winner of this year’s Vic-Maui Race. As of yesterday, when the Vic-Maui website was last updated, the ETA for Icon, skippered for this race by Jim Rosen and navigated by Kevin McMeel, was 1820 PST Sunday.
Since Icon‘s debut at the 2001 Sydney to Hobart , where it placed second in class, Icon has been steadily racking up checks in the win column, including the 137-mile Swiftsure in May. For the most recent updates on this 20-boat Transpac, see http://www.vicmaui.org
With eight races completed, the pride of Hobie Fleet 204 in Syracuse, N.Y., Stephanie O’Connor and Sue Korzeniewski, stand in third place with 30 points at the ISAF World Sailing Games in Marseilles, France. Marie Duvignac and Claire Japhet of France are in first with 19 points. O’Connor and Korzeniewski are currently the top-placed American team in the World Sailing Games.
In the Laser class, Zach Railey is in 23rd place, 50 points behind class leader Gareth Blanckenberg of South Africa. Emily Hill is in 14th after 11 races in the laser Radial Class, and Michael Montague and Heath Mathews are 13th after six races in the Hobie 16 men/mixed class.
There are Americans entered in every class at the Sailing Games, to track their results, see http://www.sailing-games.com
The Swiss once again are showing that their landlocked country is a yacht racing powerhouse. On Sunday, the Swiss Mumm 30 Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention, skippered by Etienne David, scored their second win in the Tour de France à la Voile 2002. The win put David and crew in third overall, behind first-place _ Nantes Saint Nazaire_, skippered by Pierre Loic Berthet, of France. In third is Jimmy Pahune, sailing _ Region Ile de France_.
Today, the fleet starts the longest distance race of this mixed buoy/distance event, a 244-mile sprint from Paimpol to St-Nazaire, towns on the Brittany coastline of France. There are 41 boats in this years Tour de France a la Voile ranked in three classes: open, amateur, and student classes. This regatta is a proving ground for European sailors looking to gain recognition and sponsorship and has many of the big names in European sailing on its alumni list. While this regatta is primarily a French event, Adrian Stead and his British squad won it last year, and teams from the U.K., Israel, and Belgium are also racing this year. http://www.tourvoile.fr Note: This website doesnt work well with Internet Explorer.
The I-14 National Championship was held at Alamitos Bay YC July 4-7. Zach Berkowitz and Mike Martin were dethroned by Kris Bundy and Jamie Hanseler, who scored a phenomenal seven wins in seven races. For complete results: http://www.abyc.org
The European Farr 40 Championship ended Sunday with Masimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone, claiming the top spot with 10-1-3-2-4-8-1-2-1 finishes in the 17-boat fleet. In second was Struntje Light, and in third, _Nela, skippered by Michael Illbruck with tactics by John Kostecki. The only American entry, Bambakou, skippered by John Coumantaros sailing with Chris Larson as tactician, placed 12th. www.farr40.org
The West Marine Pacific Cup, an even-year trans-Pacific race begins today with the doublehanded, A- and B-class starts. Over the next week, a total of 70 boats, ranging from the 147-foot Mari-Cha III to a Santa Cruz 27, will be line up and point their bows West. The 2,070-mile race starts in San Francisco and ends in Kaneohe, HI.
The big news for this year’s race is the brand-spanking-new Zephyrus V Robert McNeill’s Reichel/Pugh 86, first of the Maxi 86 class. Everybody, including the crew of ZV, are waiting to see what kind of records this new uber-sled will break. Also joining the fleet is last year’s media darling _ Pegasus 77_, skippered by Philippe Kahn and fully-staffed with talented Volvocrew. This race may well push Kahn towards an 86 if Pegasus 77 doesn’t correct out against ZV.
J-Bird III, Alta Vita, and Rosebud, all Transpac 52s could well be the spoilers in this event. The box-rule 52s showed that they were a force to be reckoned with in the Mexico races this year, and, with the right conditions, may well do the same in the Pacific Cup . Not to be forgotten is TransPac 2001 corrected-time winner Seth Radow and the seasoned team aboard the modified Sydney 40 Bull. www.pacificcup.org
SEB, one of Europe’s largest financial groups, which sponsored Gurra Krantz’s Volvo Ocean Race campaign, announced last week that it would sponsor 2001 Star World champion Frederick Loof’s 2004 Olympic campaign. SEB’s investment will be 300,000 SEK ($32,000) per year.
Mark Reynolds and Magnus Liljedahl of San Francisco and Miami, Fla., respectively, won three out of five races to win their 60-boat Star class at Kiel Week 2002. Rounding out the top five were Mark Mansfield and Killian Collins of Ireland, Niklas Holm and Martin Liefelt of Denmark, Jose van der Ploeg and Diego Fructuoso of Spain, and Reinhard Scmidt and Jochen Wolfram of Germany. Other top U.S. finishes in Olympic classes were: Men’s 470: 21. Stuart McNay and Ross Anderson; Women’s 470: 15. Katie McDowell and Isabelle Kinsolving; Europe: 15. Krysia Pohl; Mistral Men: 40. Benjamin Barger; Yngling: 6. Betsy Alison, Suzy Leech, Lee Icyda. http://www.kielerwoche.de
On July 4, Larry Ellison’s Oracle Racing America’s Cup challenge officially launched its second boat, USA-76, in a ceremony in Auckland, three weeks after the launch of its first boat, USA-71. Both charcoal-grey hulls were built using female molds at the team’s base in Ventura, Calif. With both boats soon sailing, Oracle will turn its focus to two-boat testing and inhouse racing. http://www.oracleracing.com
