Morning Glory Sets New Transpac Record HONOLULU (July 24, 2005) – In the old days of Disneyland the maxZ86 would have been sailing’s version of an E-ticket ride, the ultimate in thrills and performance. But, then, the Transpacific Yacht Race is no longer Disneyland. Early Sunday morning on a moonlit sea the torch was passed to Hasso Plattner, the man whose team outsailed Roy Disney’s and broke his record in the latter’s 15th and final Transpac. Both were sailing futuristic maxZ86s in the Centennial sailing of the event and both broke Disney’s race record of 7 days 11 hours 41 minutes 11 seconds set in 1999, but Plattner’s Morning Glory was 2 1⁄2 hours faster than Disney’s fourth and last Pyewacket, lowering the standard to 6 days 16 hours 4 minutes 11 seconds. Pyewacket’s elapsed time was 6:18:32:25. Their average speeds were 13.9 and 13.7 knots for the 2,225 nautical miles from California’s Palos Verdes Peninsula to the volcanic landmark called Diamond Head just east of Waikiki. Randall Pittman’s Genuine Risk, a Dubois 90 with similar lines, also beat the record with an elapsed time of 6:22:02:35, and Doug Baker’s Magnitude 80 and Doug DeVos’s Windquest were expected to join the club later in the day. Their performances were remarkable because it wasn’t a particularly windy Transpac. Grant Baldwin, the retiring communications chief, referred repeatedly to “wimpy trade winds,” and Peter Isler, who co-navigated Morning Glory with Ian Moore, said, “We didn’t see 20 knots [of breeze] until the Molokai Channel.” For more, please visit www.transpacificyc.org Volvo Youth Worlds 2005 BUSAN, Korea (July 22, 2005) — Racing wrapped up the 2005 ISAF Volvo Youth Worlds on July 22nd, and the American participants has some good finishes. Winning the Laser Radial class for the second time was Paige Railey, who won all but three races of 10 total. She is the first person to win two Girl’s Singlehanded Youth World Championship Titles. Adam Roberts and Nicholas Martin came in 4th in the Boy’s 420 class, while Megan Magill and Briana Provancha came in second in the Girl’s 420. Royce Weber finshed fifth in the Laser full-rig class. www.worldyouthsailingbusan.com Hobie 16 North AmericansVENTURA, Calif. (July 24, 2005) — The Youth and Women’s Hobie 16 North Americans concluded on Friday with a third day of good racing and winds of about ten knots. Although the racing in the Youth fleet was tight at times the Guatemalans always came out on top. Jason and Alexander Hess ended the series with a perfect score of all first place finishes. Last years champions, Michael Siau and Trey James finished second. Canadians Andrew Robins and Trent Freeman were third. In the Women’s fleet the win went to former World Champion Annie Nelson and Kathy Kulkowski. Worrell 1000 veteran Sandra Tartaglino and Eileen Haubl came on strong in the end to finish the series in second. Mary Lindsay and Barbara Roettger were third. Racing for the Open Championship starts on Monday. The winds over the weekend have been unseasonably light making it hard to get through the surf. When the wind does come up it tends to be late in the day and could make for some late afternoons on the water. Complete results, pictures and updates are available at: www.HCA-NA.org Kiwi Super Maxi Yacht Sets Sail For The First TimeSYDNEY, Aus. (July 22, 2005) — Following her launch on Tuesday, Kiwi super maxi ‘Alfa Romeo’ set her sails for the first time, tested her canting keel and bettered 19 knots in a light breeze during a highly successful maiden voyage around Sydney Harbour on Friday. Alfa Romeo, the second yacht built by New Zealand skipper and owner, Neville Crichton, to carry the name of the Italian car maker, was penned by leading American yacht designers, Reichel/Pugh and built in Sydney by McConaghy Boats. Compared to the previous Alfa Romeo, the winner of the 2002 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race and 73 other line honours wins, the new yacht is three metres longer, more then seven and half metres taller and can carry a sail area more than a third larger than the previous Alfa Romeo. As well as being equipped with a canting keel and twin rudders, Alfa Romeo is hardly more than a ton heavier than her predecessor. http://www.alfaromeo.com.au/default.asp?action=article&ID=17763 Launch of Russellcoutts.net (July 25, 2005) — This newly launched site will be regularly updated and will provide the latest information on Russell’s sailing and yachting career. It will also serve as a resource and multimedia archive for both media and Russell’s followers and supporters around the world. The website is in English, French, Italian and German, and contains frank and up to the moment commentary from Russell on all the races he competes in. The site will also soon provide details of new design and other projects Russell is working on. www.Russellcoutts.net Bacardi Bayview Mackinac Race 2005 PORT HURON, Mich. (July 24, 2005) — Fifteen of the 268 boats competing in the 81st Bacardi Bayview Mackinac Race had finished by early Sunday evening (July 24), having started off Port Huron, Mich., the prior Saturday morning with thousands of spectators bidding them farewell and fair winds. Though the start had to be delayed by 55 minutes due to light winds, the Bayview Yacht Club’s tracking system reported that 120 boats had rounded the halfway marks on the race’s 254 nm Southampton Course and the 204 nm Shoreline Course by Sunday mid-morning. According to Race Chairman Luiz Kahl, it was a good sign that “there was some decent breeze out there.” As it turns out, Kahl had figured correctly. Massive storms crossed Lake Huron in the early morning hours, which brought several hours of significant breezes, sustained at 30 knots. “That’s unusual for this race, and the direction was good for many of the boats to be reaching or running toward the finish,” said Bayview Yacht Club’s Ted Everingham on Sunday as he pondered the position of the remainder of the fleet, “The problem now is that the wind is beginning to die, and it’s more westerly now, so those same boats are beating into the finish. I don’t expect a stampede of finishers anytime soon, although the whole fleet is within 60-70 miles of Mackinac Island.” Taking line honors, at 12:45 Sunday afternoon and nearly one and a half hours before its closest competitor, was Ray Howe’s (Rochester, N.Y.) EarthVoyager in Open Class A. However, by the time four of the boat’s class mates had completed the Southampton Course, the speedy Formula 60 trimaran had fallen to fourth overall on corrected time. With three boats yet to finish, Nice Pair, a 38-foot Crowther owned by Bruce Geffen (Ann Arbor), led the fleet. Nine of 11 IRC Class A boats had also finished by early Sunday night, with Allan Fletcher’s (Alpena, Mich.) Santa Cruz 70 Colt taking a seven-minute lead on the class on corrected time. Two of nine IRC Class B boats had finished, with Bill Alcott’s (St. Claire Shores, Mich.) Andrews 68 Equation leading on corrected time. Nautor’s Swan and the New York Yacht Club Announce Partnership in One-Design Racing NEWPORT, R.I. (July 24, 2005) — Nautor’s Swan and the New York YC, today announced a new partnership. Building on their strong relationship, the NYYC has selected Nautor’s Swan as its partner for a new international one-design racing class. The result is a 42 foot racing yacht that is tailor-made for one-design racing, can perform well under IRC and can be comfortably cruised offshore. The joint announcement was made by the NYYC Commodore George R. Hinman Jr. and Leonardo Ferragamo, President of Nautor’s Swan, at the Rolex Swan American Regatta in Newport, Rhode Island. 2005 Lands’ End Marblehead NOOD MARBLEHEAD, Mass. (July 25, 2005) — 191 boats have registered for the 2005 Marblehead NOOD, with the largest classes being J/24’s, Stars, Rhodes 19’s, and Sonars. Racing begins on July 27th. Lexus Wins the Breitling Regatta PUERTO PORTALS, Mallorca, Spain (July 24, 2005) — Expectations were high in the final day of the 11th Breitling Regatta, the third event of five in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit. Today the fleet were facing two races which would prove to be decisive in the general rankings of the regatta. The Lexus team took the lead after the start on the first day, ahead of the other nine TP52s, and maintained their position for the duration of the race. It was impossible for the other boats to even get close to Dean Barker and crew, and Cristabella was also unwilling to give away their second place, gained at the first mark and managed to stand their ground until the end of the race. The fleet faced the second race with Orlanda leading on 44 points, Lexus just one point away on 43, and Leche Pascual on 41, with Cristabella in fourth place. The wind had picked up to 10 knots, and Lexus delivered a great start, racing forward into first place. Only a few seconds behind, Caixa Galicia were moving in, with the rest of the fleet following. At the first windward buoy, Dean Barker’s team was in first place, and held it to the finish. Caixa Galicia finished second. For more information and results, visit www.medcup.org. Yngling Worlds MONDSEE, Austria (July 24, 2005) — Americans Sally Barkow, Carrie Howe, and Debbie Capozzi won the Women’s 2005 Yngling Worlds, but it came down to the last race to decide. Second was the team from New Zealand with Sharon Ferries, Raynor Smeal and Ashley Holtum. Both teams were fighting to the last race. But the Americans stayed on track and finished 11th. New Zealand was just behind them. Russia took third place with Vlada Ilienko, Ekaterina Kovalenko und Natalia Gaponovitch. Another American team also medaled in the Open Worlds: John Ingalls, Jamie Randall, and Bruce Chafee took home the bronze. The Dutch team of Maarten Jamin, Gert Henk Bakker and Jansje Hofsta didn’t want to risk loosing the gold medal and decided not to participate in the last race. The runner-up is also Dutch; Tom Otte sailed together with Maryke von Ogk and Ester Otte and scored a second-place finish. www.yngling2005.com Holmberg Wins PTPortugal Match Cup CASCAIS, Portugal (July 24, 2005) — Peter Holmberg today won his first Swedish Match Tour event in more than three years when he captured the 2nd annual PTPortugal Match Cup. The victory over Ben Ainslie of Britain is his first Tour win for past champion in more than three years Holmberg, of the U.S. Virgin Islands and a helmsman for America’s Cup champion Alinghi, defeated Ainslie, of Emirates Team New Zealand, 3-1 in the final. Holmberg lost the first match, but then won three straight to win 35,000Ä (approximately $42,200) of the 100,000Ä (approx. $120,700) prize purse. It feels sweet. It really feels good because I think it was a hard battle. I think we all got tested and I think we stepped up our game during the whole regatta. It’s one of those great results you cherish,” said the 45-year-old Holmberg. Holmberg became the early leader of the seventh Swedish Match Tour season. His victory gives him 25 points towards the championship, while Ainslie scored 20 points. www.swedishmatchtour.com
