Archives for November 2012

Some real stress for Armel le Cleac’h

Thansfully Armel created a big gap of around 140 miles… the southern option will certainly gain some serious advantages for Jean-Pierre Dick, Jean le Cam & Francois Gabart.  Rankings will change completely the following 24 hours.

Current position with wind prognoses the next 12 hours

 

He added “the next few days will be very exciting for the sailing enthusiasts who follow the Vendée Globe, because there’s a big group that will enter the South together.”

The situation for Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) depends on how much boat speed he can make in the circling lighter winds 10-12kt winds. If he can sail a shorter course he may be able to bypass the high but the risk is that he could end up with less advantageous wind direction and handcuffed by a high pressure.

Last hands on the Pogo 50

In direct line with the new Pogo 12.50, we studied a new member  of the Pogo familiy for the Structures shipyard : The Pogo 50.

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World Sailor of the Year VT

World Sailor of the Year VT from Alex Palmer on Vimeo.

Vendee Globe: Résumé du 18e jour de course

Alex Thomson takes the third place

Here is the latest update from Alex, currently in 3rd place:
“Morning! It was a tough day yesterday and yesterday night with lots of cloud activity and variable wind which meant i got hardly any sleep.  I managed to get quite a few naps last night when the wind was more stable and am feeling back to normal. I have had some issues with the hydro charging so was working on that yesterday as well …
as some problems with the battery management system which is not alarming properly. So I spent all day yesterday inbetween clouds on the phone with Rachel Howe, who is in charge of electronics on our team, trying to get to the bottom of the problem. She thinks we have solved it now, fingers crossed and the hydro seems to be behaving itself again.  I can see me having hydro issues all the way around the world, good thing we have a few spares onboard!  So I am up to 3rd again this morning, no point in getting excited though as  ultimately it is a question of strategy. Jean Pierre Dick has opted to take a more southerly route and will get the new wind first when it comes in the next 24 hours. I will be one of the last to get the new wind so i have to hope I continue to have wind for today and hope they do not!”

Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship : winners

Some nice images :

Winners were decided with one final race at Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship today, when the foretold weather did not play ball, forcing Principal Race Officer, Denis Thompson, and his race crews to wait for the north-easterly wind to fill in.

Vendée Globe: Vincent Riou explains retirement

PRB skipper Vincent Riou tells us more about the reasons that forced him to retire from the Vendée Globe


Vincent Riou abandonne, V. Riou retires from the… door VendeeGlobeTV

Intuition fast ocean cruiser ConradShipyard

Armel le Cleac’h – Jour 15 – Still keeps the lead, going full south to St Hélène

Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship: Conditions looking perfect

 

The final day of Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship will get underway at 11.00am off Shark Island and it is looking like a picture-perfect day.

The sun is out and Principal Race Officer, Denis Thompson has plans. “We’ll probably set a big windward/leeward course for the first race, to start off Shark Island and head offshore,” he said. “We’ll finish the race offshore and then crack into a short race – probably a windward/leeward,” he said.”

Courses will be put in place to suit what Thompson said would start as a north-north-easterly wind, moving further east as the day progresses. “I wouldn’t expect more than 10-15 knots,” Thompson said.

Early this morning, the sun was out with the promise of some serious warmth – a perfect spring day.

Apart from the inaugural Beneteau First 40 Championship being decided by this afternoon, this is the last chance competitors will have to vie for the trophies and gift vouchers from Helly Hansen, a leading water sports and technical apparel supplier, and Sydney City Marine at Rozelle, one of the most accessible places to take large and small power and sailing boats for repairs, refits and antifouling.

One lucky winner, drawn from the top three in each division, will also going into the draw to win a stylish fine time piece from Bausele.

All information on the Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship, including Sailing Instructions: www.ssorc.mhyc.com.au