Last week, there was a new contact between orcas and a 15-metre Sun Odyssey off the coast of Morocco, during which the yacht got a leak and sank. The crew of two was rescued by a freighter. The report.
After the rudder system on their 46-foot yacht broke and tore a hole in the hull, the Swedish owner couple filmed the sinking of their yacht from the life raft. The report.
On the way from Tenerife to Spain, a Swiss cruising yacht was attacked for two hours by three orcas. The crew was rescued by the coast guard, the yacht sank ! The report.
During the race from Uruguay to South Africa, the winds on the South Atlantic were exceeding 70. ----- The 18-minute onboard-video shows life aboard in the storms of the Roaring Forties.
Group A of the Virtual Melges World Series concluded the qualification phase with another five races yesterday. Yasar Aribas TUR is on top of the rankings ahead of Giuseppe Capaldi ITA and Samuel Naldi ITA. Travis Greenberg USA follows as 57th among the 96 participants. ----- The results and the video.
The Caribbeans offer Europeans and North Americans the best sailing conditions every winter. Now would be the time for the return trip, since the hurricane season will begin there in June. Due to the Corona-restrictions, the recruiting of crews has become difficult, and the usually planned stopovers on the Bermudas and the Azores cannot be carried out either. Those affected try now to organize themselves and start the return journey in larger fleets for safety reasons. An article in the German FAZ newspaper (translate with Google).
With the successful conclusion of Mission One, the Ocean Cleanup has begun preparations for their next system, System 002. The aim of this new design is to create an operational system to a full-scale cleanup of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. ----- The report with video.
The start to the 2019 Atlantic Rally of Cruisers will be given on the Canary Island this afternoon for the over 200 teams heading for the Caribbeans on time for Christmas. ----- The preview. The race can be followed over GPS tracking.
A cruising yacht in distress in the heavy storm over the Bay of Biscay on Whitsun Saturday North of La Coruna was rescued by the Spanish Coast Guard. The five person crew was lifted of the yacht by helicopter, an action filmed with a helmet camera. The video.
In light winds, the start to the RORC-Transatlantic Race was given on Lanzarote ESP yesterday with the two MOD-70-Trimarans taking the lead right from the beginning. 'Maserati' (Giovanni Soldini ITA) is 3nm ahead of 'PowerPlay' (Ned Collier USA). In the monohulls, the 130-foot 'My Song' of Pier-Luigi Loro Piana ITA is already well ahead of the half-as-large opponents. 'Kuka' of Franco Niggeler SUI with Roberto Bermudez ESP steering follows on rank 2.
The race tracker and the report on the start.
The bulk of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers fleet will depart from Las Palmas on Sunday to the Atlantic crossing.
Already today, the first half of the fleet will start to the RORC-Transatlantic Race on Puerto Calero with among others the two MOD-70-Trimarans 'Maserati' (Giovanni Soldini ITA) and 'Powerplay' (Ned Collier USA), repeating the duel they delivered at the Middlesea-Race a month ago. In the monohulls, the 130-foot 'My Song' (Pier-Luigi Piana ITA) will be the favorite. In calculated time overall (IRC), Franco Niggeler SUI with his Cooksen 50 (steered by the Volvo-Ocean-Race-winner Roberto Bermudez ESP) will have to be considered.
The preview and the event website.
As always in November, the Atlantc Rally for Cruisers is on the program with numerous European yacht owners transferring their boats to the Caribbeans for the winter season, and this in a friendly yachtracing mode. Last Sunday, the first group sailing in two legs via the Cape Verdes started in Las Palmas/Canaries. The bulk of the fleet will depart on the coming Sunday. The race tracker with the positions after leg 1.
The event website with the latest news.
Good sailing conditions prevailed yesterday off Trieste ITA were the "largest regatta world-wide" was held. In a fast race, 'Portopiccolo' of Fabio Benussi ITA was the winner after 57 minutes only. The ranking list (80 pages !) nd the event website without more new information unfortunately.
Today at 9.30h UTC in Trieste ITA, the start to the Barcolana, the Worlds arguably largest regatta with a 115-page entry list of 2688 boats in total.
The preview.
After 3 light-wind days, a fresh breeze exceeding 35kn filled in on Lake Michigan yesterday and racing was cancelled for the day. Today, the last races will be held to bring about the crucial decisions.
In the 2.4m, the ten best sail for the first time a Medal Race. Everything is open as to the podium wiht Damien Séguin FRA, Mathew Bugg AUS and Dee Smith USA separated by 2 points only.
The ten best of the Hansa 303 men sail a Semi Final, the four best will race for the title in a Final.
The three best in the RS Venture, i.e. Alexandra Rickham/Hannah Stodel GBR, John McRoberts/Scott Lutes CAN and Will Street/Jonathan Currell GBR have already been qualified for the Final. Four more team will race for the last Final place today.
The news and all ranking lists.
In the mean time, 125 of the 182 teams have completed their Atlantic crossing. In category E, 'Aranui', the Xc45 of Niki Schmid SUI finished first as 29th overall after 19 days and 3 hours.
The race tracker and the event website.
Except two latecomers, the ARC fleet on the long course around the Cape Verdes has safely reached St-Lucia.
Winner of the direct traditional ARC was the catamaran 'Guyader Gastronomie' of Christophe Guyader FRA finishing the race on Sunday. 'Saudade' with Christof Petter AUT with his catamaran followed 6 hours later. Up to now, 7 boats have reached the port of destination.
The race tracker and the news.
Yesterday, the start was given to the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers in Las Palmas / Canaries ESP. The route is heading directly across the Atlantic Ocean to St-Lucia in the Caribbeans. Already a week ago, a small first fleet started deviating the course around the Cape Verdes. Both races can be followed via race trackers.
The news from the start.
This afternoon UTC, the start to the 2017 Atlantic Rally will be given in Las Palmas ESP for the 236 teams on the entry list, dislocating their yachts to the Caribbeans on time for Christmas. Among the participants is the Swiss Olympian Lukas Erni SUI with nhis family.
The preview. The race can be followed on a race tracker.
Sailing on the North Atlantic, Thomas Coville FRA attacks the final 3'000 nm of his round-the-world record attempt with a 2'300 nm advantage on the existing record. He will probably finish next Saturday and the theme is now 'handle with care' to bring the stressed multihull safely over the home stretch.
The race tracker and the daily news.
Pushed by the southern trade winds, Thomas Coville FRA crossed the Equator during the past night with his Maxi-Trimaran 'Sodebo'. 2'159 nm (roughly 6 days) is the advantage on the existing record and with only 3'300 nm to sail, he is about to establish a fabulous new record time, provided he will not be hit by an incident.
The race tracker and the latest news.
One day and 5 hours after the winning 'Rambler', the VOR70 'Trifork' did cross the finish line in St-Lucia as 2nd of the Atlantic Rally. The majority of the 216 yachts is still sailing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean heading West to the Caribbeans.
The race tracker and the event website.
The 88-foot-Maxi 'Rambler' of George David USA took the line honors of the 2016 Atlantic Rally in St-Lucia/Caribbeans after 8 days, 6 hours and 29 minutes, improving the record of the last year by 1 hour and 10 minutes. The news.
The bulk of the fleet is not yet at mid-distance over the Atlantic.
The race viewer and the event website.
After a race week, the 88-foot-maxi 'Rambler' of George David USA sailing all alone in front of the 216 boats' fleet is already approaching the Caribbeans.
The race tracker and the event website.
The leading 'Rambler 88' of George David USA has already completed 3/4 of the distance from the Canaries to the Caribbeans, while the bulk of the fleet is about at mid-distance of the transatlantic passage. 216 teams participate. The race tracker and the report of yesterday.
On day 4 of the Atlantic Rallys, the two big racers on top of the fleet extended their lead again. The 88-foot Supermaxi 'Rambler' (George David USA) has a 150 nm advantage on the VOR 70 of Jens Dolmer MLT.
The race viewer and the event website.
Last Sunday, 210 teams started in Las Palmas on Gran Canaria ESP to the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers direction St-Lucia in the Caribbeans. The trade winds are lighter this year and the teams can run in gently with a 12 kn breeze. The fast racers have already taken the leading positions with the 88-Foot Maxi 'Rambler' of George David USA followed by the VOR70 'Trifork' of Jens Dolmer MLT. No major incidents happened so far in the moderate conditions. Bad luck only for the German 'Noah' team of Alexander Grefrath GER, who had to be evaquated from their boat sinking.
The race tracker and the daily news.
Last week, the 'Race for Water Foundation' published its program for the next five years. With their Solar-Catamaran, they will round the globe in five legs to draw the attention on environmental problems in and off the Sea. The first leg will lead from France across the Atlantic Ocean to the Bermudas. Acting as an ambassador boat for the programme, “Race for Water” will serve as an educational platform, travelling laboratory and a working demonstration of Clean-tech innovations.
The report.
During the past 11 years since our sailing web platform has been launched, it has emerged as the most important news media for nautics interested individuals in Switzerland. Almost 100'000 Swiss sailors have contacted our pages in the past year.
Advertising on our pages can be booked at very competitive conditions. In addition to banner promotion in various formats, it is also possible to order anytime sponsored content in our news for US$ 300. We look forward to informing you in detail.
The Ocean Youth Sailing Association, a Club of young sailors, plans to build an ocean-worthy 13,5-meter catamaran in the next two years, that shoud allow over 1'600 youth to experience ocean sailing in the next ten years. Two initiators present the project in a video. Donators shalll finance the project and the budget of CHF 120'000 CHF for the construction of the multihull is already 75% covered. The remaining CUF 30'000 shall be collected with a Crowd-Funding-campaign. Participation highly recommended !
More information on the project website.