Grand Prix Sailor is a 13-year-old racing news publication of Sailing World Magazine (http://https://www.sailingworld.com/)
THE RACE
The Race organizers released their plans for the second edition of The Race, which will start on Sunday February 29th, 2004. The course, starting and finishing in Marseilles, is a non-stop west to east circumnavigation via the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, and Cape Horn. The Race will now take place every 4 years, and be complemented with another event in the same types of boats. The Race Tour, which will premiere in 2005-2006, and will have stopovers in Europe, Asia, and North America.
The Race organizers also stated that there would be an 80-foot one-design catamaran class developed for The Race Tour. These could be sailed by amateur or less well funded teams.
The winner of the first running of The Race, in 2001, was Grant Daltons Club Med, which sailed the 22,000-mile course in 62d:6h:56m:33s, an average speed of 15.58 knots.
SPEED SAILING NEWS
Jan Luc Van den Heede reports he is ahead of Phillipe Monet’s pace on his Round the World singlehanded Westabout attempt to break Phillipe Monet’s record.. http://www.vdh.fr/Gb/default.htm
Macquarie Innovation has wound up their outright speed project for this year. Simon McKeon reports that on the last of the extended days – 7 December – they briefly enjoyed “almost ideal” conditions, but it did not last long enough to be effective. On one run, although “the foils were not at the optimum setting”, they “exceeded 47K”, but not for 500 meters, and then the wind changed. http://www.macquarie.com.au/speedsailing.htm
**HIGH SPEED VENDEE RECONNAISSANCE **
When the crew for Ellen MacArthur’s Kingfisher II (nee Orange, Jules Verne record holder) was announced at the Paris Boat Show last week, it surprised no one to see Nick Moloney’s name on the list. He’s part of the Offshore Challenges team along with MacArthur, and was part of the crew, led by Bruno Peyron, which shattered the Jules Verne record early this year.
After winning the 50-foot monohull class in the Route du Rhum last month-putting the ghosts of his failed Mini-TransAt effort behind him-Moloney headed to Paris for the crew announcement, and then straight to work on the giant Ollier cat. hell help with the navigation and weather routing, and train at the same time for his 2004 Vendee Globe attempt.
“Im actually off the deck and inside the boat with Ellen to help for this one,” says Moloney. “The whole idea is for me to get a better understanding of whats required to do a Vendee. Its the Vendee course, so Ill be taking my own laptop and sailing the course as I would for the Vendee and doing all my homework to get ready. Ill study the weather and whatever else I need to learn. then Ill take the laptop aboard the Vendee boat for that race.”
Stand-by mode for the Kingfisher II crew, which also includes Volvo veteran Neal MacDonald, begins Jan. 15. To follow Moloneys adventures, see http://www.nickmoloney.com/uk/
BIG TRANSATLANTIC FLEET PROJECTED
With six months until the start of the DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge, 35 entries have been confirmed by Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) Hamburg and New York YC. More than 100 international yachts from classic gaff-rigged schooners to high-tech race-machines have registered their interest in the 3,500 nautical mile ocean race. The regatta will depart from Newport, R.I. on June 14 for Cuxhaven, Germany, and on to Hamburg. The race will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the German sailing club Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt (HVS).
“Interest is building among American offshore racers,” said Richard von Doenhoff, New York YCss event chairman for Newport. “The first U.S. entries are the 50-foot Nelson/Marek designed Snow Lion, owned by New York Yacht Club Commodore Lawrence Huntington, and the 65-foot Reichel/Pugh design, Zaraffa, built in 2000 and owned by Skip Sheldon of Shelburne, Vt.
The largest yacht entered to date is the Dutch 152-foot schooner Windrose, a modern high-tech design sailing under the British flag of the Cayman Islands. Also entered are the 94-foot Wally Y2K, presently under construction for Claus-Peter Offen of Hamburg, and the recently christened 85-foot carbon fiber maxi-racer UCA built for Germanys Klaus Murmann. http://www.dcnac.de.
BACARDI CUP
The 76th Annual Bacardi Cup, a six-day Star Class regatta, will be held Mar. 2-7, 2003. More than 90 international teams, featuring the world’s top Star Class sailors will descend upon South Florida in their quest for the prestigious 2003 Trofeo Bacardi. 2000 World Champions and 2002 Bacardi Cup Champions Mark Reynolds and his crew, Magnus Liljedahl, will defend their title against 2000 Olympic gold medallist Iain Percy of Great Britain. Also sailing will be former Bacardi Cup champion Peter Bromby of Bermuda; Volvo Ocean Race veteran Paul Cayard of the United States; and several other of the world’s top sailors. Reynolds, the 2000 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, will attempt to break the Bacardi Cup title record of seven wins, which he currently shares with Ding Schoonmaker of Naples, Florida. http://www.starclass.org/
505 WORLDS UNDERWAY
After 3 races, Ian Barker and Daniel Cripps, of England are leading the 2002 505 Worlds, which are being sailed out of Perth, Australia, the notoriously windy site of the 1987 America’s Cup. Dan Thompson and Andrew Zinn, of the United States, are 3 points behind in second place. Another American team, Howard Hamlin and Mike Martin, winners of the 505 pre-worlds held immediately before the Worlds, are in fourth place. For complete results, see http://www.505.com.au/worlds.htm
HARVARD TOPS THE CHARTS
Harvard was unable to defend their Atlantic Coast Dinghy Championship-the Crimson finished second to St. Mary’s this fall-but a series of strong performances this season helped them earn the No. 1 spot in the final Sailing World poll of the first half of the 2002-03 collegiate sailing season. Old Dominion kept its name atop the women’s rankings with a win at the ACCs to go along with Anna Tunnicliffe’s victory at the singlehanded nationals. For the complete poll, as well as photos from the Texas A&M; Women’s Regatta and the North South Intersectional on picturesque Lake Cachuma, see https://www.sailingworld.com/sw_article.php?articleID=1526
OFFSHORE SAFETY REGS MODIFIED
Most of us that race offshore have attended the single-day Safety at Sea seminars. They’re good because they refresh our knowledge, but they’re nowhere near as rigorous as the courses which Australian sailors wishing to sail offshore are required to take-training with liferafts (in a pool), flares, CPR, and associated safety equipment.
As of January 1, 2003, US SAILINGs Offshore Regulations require that at least 30 percent of an offshore race crew will have to have attended a higher level of training than required before, most likely very similar to the Aussie training. These new standards include hands-on sessions covering liferafts, firefighting, pyrotechnics, CPR and more.
US SAILING recognizes that these new training requirements cannot be put in place by this date. There is insufficient time to develop new courses or to review and certify existing commercial schools. See http://www.ussailing.org for updates on US SAILINGs actions.
ANCHORS APART
In other offshore news, the US SAILING Board recently approved the following change to the ISAF Special Regulations Governing Offshore and Oceanic Racing concerning anchors: Strike the words “fully assembled and” from Table 12 in two places. This change removes the requirement for assembled anchors to be stowed with rodes attached in Category 0,1,2,3 races.
IS YOUR EPIRB OK?
A Coast Guard Safety Alert dealing with EPIRB antenna failures has been released. The Alert indicates that “a high percentage of antennas equipped to Satellite 406 Cat 1 EPIRBs, product number 2754 manufactured by ACR Electronics Inc. have failed during dockside examinations of Commercial Fishing Vessels.” ACR is committed to support its safety products and will replace damaged antennas at no cost to the owner. Contact ACR Customer Service at 1-800-432-0227, ext 110 to receive a replacement antenna. http://www.acrelectronics.com/
Grand Prix Sailor and Grand Prix Sailor–America’s Cup Edition are weekly newsletters compiled by the editors of Sailing World magazine. If you’d like to subscribe, see http://https://www.sailingworld.com/ Contributing Editors: Tony Bessinger (tony.bessinger@sailingworld.com), Dave Reed (dave.reed@sailingworld.com), Stuart Streuli (stuart.streuli@sailingworld.com), John Burnham
(john.burnham@sailingworld.com)
