The Sail Blog

The new sailing online community

2009-05-13T14:06:00.002+02:00

Please check out www.yachtbook.net. It's an online community in the starting blocks. All comments, tips and constructive critisism will be highly appreciated.

Perfect start for GOC

2007-03-14T19:07:00.001+01:00

Global Ocean Challenge, the brain child of Josh Hall and Brian Hancock, has secured the Portuguese town of Portimão as their main sponsor. This is great news for two reasons:1. The only Corinthian round the world race is one giant step closer to becoming a reality and giving a number of sailors and adventurers the possibility to fulfil their dreams.2. Portimão is on the south tip of Portugal and

VOR podcast

2007-03-07T16:09:00.000+01:00

This is genius. I have just downloaded the first VOR podcast and I enjoyed every minute of it. Off course it's biased towards VOR content, but it also gives the listeners insight in to themes as Americas Cup and and Velux 5 Oceans.Best of all: You can download the program to your iPod and listen to it whenever you like. I'm already looking forward to the next episode. Good move, VOR.Listen to it

The Velux 1 Winner

2007-01-25T06:56:00.000+01:00

Is the Velux 5 Oceans really a race?According to the latest press release Bernard Stamm is claiming too sail his boat conervatively at 17 knots to conserve his boat. Anything else would be just stupid as he is 465 nautical miles in front of the next boat.With 17 knots he is sailing 5 + knots faster than the rest of the fleet, and, according to him self, he could be doing 25 knots if he had

This is the kind off quotes we want:

2007-01-23T18:50:00.000+01:00

Till Pohlmann, Head of Sports Sponsorship, Hugo Boss AG:“Sailing is a growing market in the business of sports sponsorship. As a title sponsor of international ocean racing, we at Hugo Boss have a unique skipper in Alex Thomson, with whom we are able to achieve fantastic global press coverage, both print and broadcast. Being a lifestyle brand we activate this sponsorship in every single one of

Looking for a dream job?

2007-01-04T07:25:00.000+01:00

OC Events, part of the OC Group owned by Dame Ellen MacArthur and Mark Turner, are looking to expand its events team in charge of a number of high profile projects including the inaugural double-handed Barcelona World Race and the new Extreme 40 European grand prix circuit. Primarily looking to fill two positions Account Director and Operations Director for the above two named events. The role

Bubbs new move

2006-12-30T09:50:00.000+01:00

Nick Bubb has just set up Class 40 Racing after arriving home from his record delivery (32.4 knots on a Class 40) from the Azores. It's an interesting new site for everyone that’s interested in Class 40. Here you can find boats for sale, basic information about the different boats and Bubb is also offering training weekends for the keen sailors.This service is just what the fast expanding class

Express 40 - Fifth boat goes to Norway

2006-12-12T15:21:00.000+01:00

With five boats on order and boats six and seven provisionally reserved, the Owen Clarke designed production Class 40 Express 40 has proved to be a Global hit. With a competitive base price starting from as little as 132K GBP or 195K Euros this UK/France build collaboration represents serious value.Sail Ventures Ltd led by offshore racer Paul Metcalf have put together the Express 40 package on

No good arguments

2006-12-12T14:37:00.000+01:00

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston after losing his wind instrument: - You might consider a withdrawal in any other race but not in the Velux 5 Oceans as you can never tell what is going to happen next. This is such a trial of the stamina of both boat and sailor through the most inhospitable ocean of the world that you know it must be right to press on if you possibly can because if you are having problems,

Speed record for Watski Skagerrak TwoStar entries

2006-11-01T20:06:00.000+01:00

The fourth edition of the double handed regatta Watski Skagerrak TwoStar opened for registration November 1st. Only three hours later the 150 spots for Norwegian sailors where filled up. There is still room for foreign entries.Watski Skagerrak TwoStar is a challenging test of stamina, endurance, tactical skills and sleep management – just to name a few winning factors. The course stretches for

KENMORE HOMES in the top five

2006-11-01T19:48:00.000+01:00

Out of the 24 boats still racing in Classe 40, the three British sailors are dominating the top five in Route du Rhum. At the last polls Nick Bubb, in the most northern position, was the fastest of the three Brits, with over a knot more boat speed than Phil Sharp. Ian Munslow is following in the wake of race leader Gildas Morvan, who is sailing close to the rhum line. Ian reports on his website

Textbook PR

2006-10-20T07:01:00.000+02:00

Wednesday ABN AMRO announced that they won’t participate in the next Volvo Ocean Race due to the fact that they had achieved all their commercial and sporting goals for the sponsor project. That’s unfortunate for VOR, but both ABN AMRO and VOR had to stop the rumours about the team’s possible next involvement in the race early. Good PR move.But it gets better. A few hours after the ABN AMRO

It's time to pay up

2006-10-16T20:06:00.000+02:00

If you got lost at sea, would you like the idea of the whole international sailing community gave the ones you left behind both moral and financial support? What a stupid question. Please join the HORREVOETS FUNDRAISING.When Hans Horrevoets lost his life in the North Atlantic earlier this year on the Volvo Ocean Race '05/06, the sailing community came forward to provide monetary support to his

Very good VOR Q&A

2006-09-25T19:33:00.000+02:00

The recent posting on the Volvo Ocean Race site where Glenn Bourke answers the critics, is a text book example of a good Q&A. But all things considered it should have been out there a few months ago.Q&A is PR term for Questions and Answers and it is used as preparation before every major press event. This is where PR firm with a finger on the industry pulse figures out what sort of potential

Full on round the world

2006-09-19T10:45:00.000+02:00

The entries for the round the world races are pouring in at the moment. Yesterday Peter de Ridder announced his first ever VOR project under the Mean Machine umbrella. Is he picking up on the old Whitbread tradition (or ruling AC tradition) where wealthy sailors paid out of their own pocket to race around the world? We think not. Because de Ridder is a business man who has the skills to make a

Two entries ready

2006-09-16T10:39:00.000+02:00

Barcelona World Race has just published their Notice of Race. The concept of a double handed round the world race with a high focus on media relations and content management should be attractive to potential sponsors looking to lift their brand.The possibility of using the Open 60 as a platform both before and after the race to build strong relations to key stakeholders is also a bonus in this

The VOR-show has started

2006-09-13T14:18:00.000+02:00

Volvo Ocean Race has just launched it's first official entry for the next race. Ericsson Racing Team are ready to follow up their commercial success from the last race and at the same time make sure that their ambitions for a podium place will be a reality.Glenn Bourke also promises that this first entry will be followed by four more official entries in the coming weeks. I guess this line off

The Corinthian spirit

2006-09-03T08:07:00.000+02:00

In a sailing world that is growing more and more professional, it’s great to follow the progress of the Global Ocean Challenge. They have the true Corinthian spirit and will make for a great spring board for those sailors that want to take the dive in to the world where sailing is a full time job. But also for those adventures spirits that wants to get the kick that everyday life can’t

Please be more proactive

2006-08-28T09:37:00.000+02:00

It was a relief to open Scuttlebutt Europe today and finally see that Glenn Bourke, VOR boss, has joined the debate about the event he is in control over. That is: He hasn’t been in control of the debate since he launched the new VOR in Gothenburg just before the boats arrived early this summer. After that day the Volvo Ocean Race Management has let the sailors and armchair curmudgeons rule the

The launching of a new company

2006-08-19T22:17:00.000+02:00

Sail Logic is a brand new company dedicated to manage and produce commercially valuable sport projects world wide. We are based in Norway but our experience and drive will take us outside our borders. Sail Logic has a strong focus on PR, communication and design in all levels of our operation and we believe that this mix will give substantial Return on Investment (ROI) for our partners.Sail Logic

From mutiny to good PR

2006-03-18T07:36:00.001+01:00

Don’t get me wrong. The video clip from the internal crew meeting on movistar in Ushuaia is a PR disaster for the project and the skipper. The program is in Dutch, but the crew meeting is in English and it starts at 12.52.The footage should never have left the team inner circle. But the concerns that the crew are putting forward in the meeting is exactly what the press and the audience are

Sail TV reached NYT

2006-03-14T08:34:00.000+01:00

It isn't every day that sailing gets into The New York Times and even more seldom that sailing on TV reaches the columns of the prestigeous news paper. But Andy Steward managed to get inside with a story about his Sail.tv. Thats great work and good PR for his web based TV station exclusively for sailing. The WWW, with WebTV, audio, text, pictures and video podcast, are the sailor’s football

Sign of the times

2006-02-23T09:09:00.000+01:00

The winter Olympics from Turin is not a great success when it comes to television broadcast. But the net is a whole different story. NBCOlympics.com opened up for traffic January 9th and this Wednesday they reached 261.1 million page views. That’s 10 million more than Athens two years ago.That’s probably not that much of a surprise, even if it’s a whole lot of people. But what’s more interesting

SailTV in your pocket

2006-02-19T14:10:00.000+01:00

This might be a posting for the dedicated gizmo-freaks. But since I'm one of these and sailors tend to have a high rate of the high income, high educated and high-tech users on the dockside, I'm going to give it a go.Salt PR pushed to get SEILtv, the Norwegian based web-TV for SEILmagasinet, launched in Apples iTunes. This means that you can subscribe to all the content and get it on your iPod as

Chorintian boost for shorthanded sailors

2006-02-10T09:58:00.000+01:00

Josh Hall and Brian Hancock have just brought us excellent news. The professional circuit for IMOCA 60 boats is crowded and leaves little room for the Corinthian spirit that wants to move up in the sailing world. One of the few options is transatlantic races in Transat 6.50 or Routhe de Rhum. Now an adventurous sailor can sail solo or double handed round the world with an acceptable budget. Keep

Mike Golding enters Velux 5 Oceans

2006-02-07T15:17:00.000+01:00

Big names create big events. It’s a truth with some modifications, but when it comes to round the world sailing it’s the deal that makes it real.The Velux 5 Oceans, former Around Alone, has been regarded as a B-event in the sailing community for years. It has not managed to draw neither the sailing stars nor a title sponsor. But now things have been starting to change and Clipper Ventures seems

The future is pretty bright...

2006-01-30T16:41:00.000+01:00

Sailing will never ever be a spectator sport. There is no fun standing on the dock or on the deck of a spectator boat seeing boats sail round and round the buoys. Never has been, and never will be even for the most addicted of us. The really good stuff you get when you sit behind your computer.New technology brings new opportunities to our sport and web-TV is definitely one of them. On for

Volvo Ocean Race by the numbers

2006-01-27T09:22:00.000+01:00

Here we finally have some good and realistic communication from Volvo Ocean Race Management: - If all the boats fall apart, or even if we are down to just two, we will have a problem. But by the time we get to the last leg, from New York to Portsmouth, everyone will be talking about how tough and strong they really are, said Anders Lofgren, commercial director for the Volvo Ocean Race, in Sweden

Simrad goes solo in Scandinavia

2006-01-26T10:42:00.000+01:00

The Scandinavians are flocking to the shorthanded scene. The next big thing will be a 250 nautical miles solo regatta with stop overs starting August 1st 2006. Simrad Marine is backing the event with full force and they are title sponsor for Simrad OneStar.- Our ambition is to make Simrad OneStar one of the best solo regattas in Northern Europe in the years to come. The goal is to expand

Volvo and safety

2006-01-12T21:04:00.000+01:00

Ten sailors on board Pirates of the Caribbean are in the middle of the Southern Ocean with a keel problem that can turn in to a possible catastrophe. But it's also an opportunity for VOR to do something right.The best thing they can do right now is get a rescue or navy ship steaming towards Cayard and his men. If the boat gets to shore in one piece they have showed that they take safety serious,

No good Farr PR

2006-01-12T08:45:00.000+01:00

While the ABN AMRO boats are surfing along to new podium places and world records, there is a whole different case for the Farr boats in the Volvo Ocean Race. All their boats have been out of the race so far. Pirates of the Caribbean and movistar broke down on the first leg and Ericsson and Brasil 1 on the second.The teams don't get bad press from this. It all comes back to VOR that created the

Bad press from bad management

2005-12-06T18:35:00.000+01:00

When Brasil 1 decided to fire Adrienne Cahalan they should have worked out a communication strategy and sell it to all involved parties before the press got wind of it. Now they have an extremely bad case to communicate:1. They have kicked out the only female in the race2. They are in second place overall so her calls can't have been that bad3. The skipper Torben Grael didn't have the balls to

The VOR-flight round the world

2005-11-30T07:21:00.000+01:00

Pirates of the Caribbean beat the other boats to Cape Town when the arrived Sunday November 27. We are not sure if there is a scoring gate for taking a VO 70 over 10.000 feet altitude, but there should definitely be one because this is the first time a boat has taken a flight on the first leg in the history of Whitbread and Volvo Ocean Race. It’s also the first time that a boat that hasn’t

Not easy being Grant

2005-11-28T12:57:00.000+01:00

It can’t be easy being Grant Wharington these days. They have an impossible mission of playing catch up to the rest of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet over 1000 nautical miles in front. On shore they have to hunt down more money and sponsors in an effort to try to stay in the race. Today they finally secured enough money to sail the second leg from Cape Town to Melbourne. At least he has financed his

TJV: The fisherman and his sailboat

2005-11-19T08:06:00.000+01:00

This is great storytelling with a strategic goal in mind; support the corinthian Open 50 trimaran class. Read the words from Mary Ambler.TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE 2005: Crepes Whaou! arrives first boat across the line and winner of Multihull Class 2 on her maiden voyageThe Father-son pair Franck-Yves and Kevin Escoffier onboard their 2005 Van Peteghem / Prévost Open 50 multihull crossed the finish

Keep it simple sailor

2005-11-17T14:14:00.000+01:00

This is our positive spin on the famous, but oh so easy forgettable, KISS: Keep It Simple Sailor.Meet Dee Caffari. She wants to be the first woman to complete a non-stop westabout circumnavigation. She leaves on the 20th and in record time she and her highly skilled team from Challenge Business has launched the project.Her website is an impressive example of how things should be done to

Talk of the sailing town

2005-11-16T09:17:00.000+01:00

The big talk of the international sailing community these days is the Atlantic disasters; Two Volvo 70s are getting ready for shipping as cargo to Cape Town and four 60 foot trimarans have gone belly up. That’s only good news for reporters that usually don’t write about our sport, and it’s definitely not the kind off happenings that makes potential sponsors see the big value in sailing.But there

VOR: A nightmare start

2005-11-13T13:29:00.000+01:00

It’s always good to have some boat disasters, not human disasters, in an offshore race to draw media attention. But fragile swing keels neither give dramatic photo opportunities or safe environment for the sailors.The seven VO 70s didn’t even get 24 hours on the water before over a quarter off the fleet where heading for shelter with damage. We hope that both moviestar and Pirates of the

The proof of the Open 60’s

2005-11-10T09:54:00.000+01:00

There is no doubt that Offshore Challenges has taken the right choice with the IMOCA Open 60 in the Barcelona World Race. The three trimarans turning turtle this week in the Jaques Vabre made headlines all over the world but it’s not the kind of media attention the sponsors, sailors or the sailing community really needs. Well, a little carnage is good in the overall PR perspective because it

VOR: Lucky Aussies

2005-11-08T08:47:00.000+01:00

We are not sure who has the biggest grins in the VOR camp right now. Grant Wharington's Premier Challenge team who got a last minute mystery sponsor to finance to legs, or the mystery Dutch sponsor? My guess is the sailors because it will take a PR and sponsor plan of so far unseen proportions and a giant effort to actually get return on such a last second investment. Unless fun is all you are

Farr-Juan K 1-0

2005-11-06T09:34:00.000+01:00

The Volvo Ocean Race kicked off in a very light breeze Saturday and the Farr boats came out on top. The two Ericsson Racing Teams tactician John Kostecki definitely earned his salary this weekend with a go-left call that gave Neal McDonald and his crew the victory. Next Saturday is the start of the real offshore stuff and we will hopefully have the chance to see if the ABN AMRO twins are better

TJV underdog preview

2005-11-03T18:31:00.000+01:00

Father and sons, old friends and other out of the ordinary keen shorthanded sailors are drawn to the Open 50 class in the Transat Jaques Vabre. The price ticket is cheaper than in the 10 foot bigger class, but the thrills and excitement are just as big for these Corinthians. Transat Jaques Vabre is on of the very few long distance regattas that still has an Open 50 class. There should be

The VOR spin are finally heating up

2005-11-03T10:35:00.000+01:00

It is two days to go before the first ever inshore race in the worlds premier fully crewed offshore race takes place and finally the PR heat are upon us. The last couple of days we have seen a massive surge in articles about the seven teams, the Volvo Ocean Race it self and all other aspects of this high tech sprint around the globe. Even Jaques Vabre has been put in the media shadow the last

New format on the Baltic Sprint Cup

2005-11-01T10:27:00.000+01:00

All events need to move forward and last years sucess in the Baltic has done exactly that. The last years NORD/LB Baltic Sprint Cup have extended their sponsorship deal and thereby extended the regatta to Norway. Next year the regatta will be named DnB NORD Baltic Sprint Cup and start on the beautiful west coast of Norway. The first stopover will be Oslo after the start from Stavanger in the end

The hunger for adventure

2005-11-01T07:35:00.000+01:00

New record for double handed regatta in NorwayThere is a huge hunger for adventure among sailors in the Nordic countries. Sitting on the rail for hour after hour in the big offshore regattas is not the best of kicks, but doing shorthanded regattas are the big thing. This morning on Tuesday 1st November a lot of Norwegians had set their alarm clocks for a sailors wake up call. At 07.00 the

Douget wins Mini Transat

2005-10-29T11:28:00.000+02:00

Corentin Douget finished at 19 hours 22 minutes and 09 seconds local on Wednesday 26th October, just 38 minutes and 38 seconds behind Spaniard Alex Pella on the second leg og the Mini Transat. Douguet exploded the event's original overall reference time to take outright victory on his 2003 Manuard design.The time set by Armel Tripon (29 days and 13 hours) in 2003 has also been significantly

The bright sailing future

2005-10-27T17:15:00.000+02:00

Offshore Challenges has gathered massive support for their new event, The Barcelona World Race. One of the quotes that really stands out commercially is this from Keith Glasspoole, Sponsorship Research, IPSOS: - We measure periodically the general interest of the public in various sports. Things like football obviously come out on top but interest in sailing doubled before and after Ellen

Offshore Challenges goes Barcelona

2005-10-26T18:42:00.000+02:00

- Farr has already received the first order on a new Open 60 for the Barcelona World Race. We don't know who the owner is yet, said Mark Turner, the business brain behind Offshore Challenges during the launch of the new double handed race Wednesday.There are no doubt that this race will attract both high profiled skippers and navigators from fully crewed racing, but also more Corinthian spirited

The VOR mindgame is on

2005-10-26T09:40:00.000+02:00

The mind game in Volvo Ocean Race is definitely full on 10 days before the guns goes off. All the boats, except for Premier Challenge, have gathered and the top guys in each project have started the important game of psyching the competitors. The latest update from Bouwe Bekking on Movistar is a very interesting must read.

Why do the Spanish bother?

2005-10-26T08:48:00.000+02:00

This is Sail PR for dummies. If you have a group of 40 international yachting reporters flying in from all over the world to attend the launch of Offshore Challenges new doublehanded round the world race and you want to get some free PR for the local yacht exhibition, don’t hand out press kits in Spanish. In fact don’t even bother to hand out anything else than free tickets if you don’t have the

Disaster for Le Blevec

2005-10-24T06:59:00.000+02:00

Yves Le Blevec's Mini Transat is over. He lost his mast Friday morning while lying in third place. Le Blevec was one of the race favourites and has been in constant battle for the lead with Corentin Douguet since 17 September. Disaster struck in the same area where Jonathan McKee lost his mast in the last race while he was leading the race.Spanish Alex Pella has taken over the lead in the fleet

VOR: Big difference in sails

2005-10-24T06:48:00.000+02:00

The VO 70s are starting to check in with each other 12 days before the start, and there are obviously some exciting times ahead for us all. Magnus Olsson on Ericsson Racing Team reports on an on the water meeting with Moviestar and the Swedish boat had a little speed edge on the Spanish guys. But they where a bit distance and Olsson isn't certain if the competitors gave full throttle.Cayard got

Ellen with new race

2005-10-21T09:46:00.000+02:00

Ellen MacArthur didn't get the weather window she needed for a Transatlantic record attempt. She has put the project on hold to focus on other Offshore Challenges tasks. She will be sailing Transat Jaques Vabre with Roland Jourdain, launching here program for B&Q, doing a reserach trip to South Georgia and most off all: Next week she will launch a brand new doublehanded round the world race

Hot Mini class - hot race

2005-10-21T08:56:00.000+02:00

While the 72 competitors in Transat 6.50 are fighting their way through the Doldrums the new long distance race Nantes-Azores are just days away from having a full entry list. Nearly 70 sailors have pre-registered just a month after the new 1260 miles race each way was launched. A lot of sailors will use the race as a qualifier for the Transat in 2007.The Sam Manuard Series designed TipTop will

This is the true adventure

2005-10-20T12:37:00.000+02:00

Dee Caffari is ready for the adventure of a lifetime in ‘The Aviva Challenge’ - her bid to sail solo, non-stop around the world against the prevailing winds and currents. If she succeeds, Caffari will become the first woman to achieve this feat, setting a new world record.Caffari, 32, is scheduled to set sail in Aviva from Portsmouth on 20 November. She will take the same route as her mentor Sir

VOR to your mobile

2005-10-20T08:55:00.000+02:00

Volvo Ocean Race has taken a step further towards how the promissed the race would be communicated four years ago. In the coming race you can get all the news and drama of the race delivered direct to your mobile phone handsets. VOR has choosen Ericsson as their partner and the Swedish based international company will deliver content to all handsets. Ericsson is also the main partner of Ericsson

Any chance for catch up?

2005-10-19T15:54:00.000+02:00

The front runners Yves Blevec on Point Marriage and Corentin Douguet on E Leclerc-Bouygues Telecom will enter the Doldrums any minute now. They are on a direct course for the Islands of St Peter and St Paul - just north of the Equator. Spanish Alex Pella on Open Sea/Team Work, is in third and further to the east just 30 miles behind Le Blevec. Who will come out on the other side first is the big

Fast, exciting and good PR

2005-10-19T11:32:00.000+02:00

The Volvo Extreme 40 is on the verge of attracting just as many projects as the Volvo Ocean Race. The boats are fast, simple, exciting, have a price tag that is presentable for a wide range of companies. Last women out in the class are Hollands ex-Amer Sports Too and Tornado sailor Carolijn Brouwer. She and her crew will compete under the Volvo Ocean Race banner. That makes three boats in the

No news is the best from Equator

2005-10-17T10:45:00.000+02:00

There isn’t a sailor alive that doesn’t know about the dirty baptism for those who cross the equator. But the story about the Equator Virgins seems to be pouring in from all the races. Now it’s time for the sailors in the Clipper Race to get dirty.If you really are interested you can read about it here, or you can start thinking about other stories to put out to the people. Because it has to be

Kickoff for the ladies match

2005-10-17T10:41:00.000+02:00

A sailing marathon took place on Sunday on Hamilton harbor during The Virtual Spectator ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship where 12 teams from seven nations completed 36 races in a round robin elimination series that will ultimately decide this year’s 2005 ISAF Women’s Match Racing champion. American veteran Betsy Alison came out of the first day undefeated.- We had a lot of confidence

Comeback Sharp

2005-10-16T20:20:00.000+02:00

Phil Sharp has made a remarkable comeback after he joined his fellow countryman Nick Bubb on the very lonesome western route after the start from Lanzarote. Sunday afternoon he was only 76 miles after front runner Yves Le Blevec when on Friday he was 115 miles behind. Sharp is currently lying in 19th. Nick Bubb hasn’t recovered just as good, but he has climbed the field to. The young British is

Time for the Italian

2005-10-15T22:15:00.000+02:00

The solosailors and their 21 footers have completed on third of their journey on the second leg, and Saturday was the day of the Italian Andrea Caracci on Speedy Bonsai. He has overtaken Yves Le Blevec and Corentin Douguet is following, writes 4ocean. But the three has taken completely different routes and are spread out on a 70 mile horizontal gap.The leader Caracci has decided to take the route

Ellen running out of time

2005-10-14T20:14:00.000+02:00

After six weeks on standby for an attempt on the solo transatlantic record to beat Francis Joyon’s time of 6 days, 4 hours and 1 minute, the window of opportunity is quickly drawing to a close for Ellen MacArthur. The 75-foot trimaran arrived in New York (USA) on 23rd August and officially went on standby from the 1st September, she has been waiting patiently but to no avail. Now only one week

Endless list of Mini-damage

2005-10-14T06:34:00.000+02:00

The Cape Verdes and Mindelo on the island Sao-Vicente in particular, some 150 miles from the head of the fleet, is likely to play host to a number of pitstops over the next day or so as lots of skippers pop in to make repairs prior to their Atlantic crossing, writes Yachting Universe.Cyril Ducrot (Région Nord Pas de Calais) is still suffering from a leak and doesn't have enough materials aboard

Minis blasting south

2005-10-13T20:52:00.000+02:00

The solosailors in Transat 6.50 have been enjoying some hot angled sailing the last couples of days. The three up front, Corentin Douguet, Yves Blevec and Stanislas Maslard respectively, has put over 200 nautical miles in their wake the last 24 hours. That’s hard driving in a 21 foot overpowered Mini. The biggest fear of each skipper is falling asleep and has the autopilot sending the boat in to

Tacktick with new gizmo

2005-10-13T16:58:00.000+02:00

Not just a remote control, the Tacktick Micronet Remote Display is an independent, wireless, palm sized display unit as well as remote control. The dot matrix screen not only shows you all the data from the full onboard Micronet electronics system, it also functions as a full remote control for the Micronet Maxi display units. The new product will be launched in January 2006.

Cayard: Pimp my ride

2005-10-13T07:52:00.000+02:00

Paul Cayard, skipper on Pirates of the Caribbean, have the power of the word. Here is his last update. Photo: Oscar Kilhborg.We are in the middle of a work week on the boat. The mast is down, the keel is off and the boat is in the shed. The later fact has been a great move as it has been raining a lot this week. Following the 2000 miler and the trip to Holland and back, we got enough time in the

Bubb off the wagon

2005-10-12T15:27:00.000+02:00

Nick Bubb has gone from favourite to backbencher after his back breaking choice after the start. West was not the best. Wednesday morning he is in 68th place and has less breeze than the competitors up front. Bubb might end up in another weather system beacause of this.Phil Sharp on the other hand has managed to recover from the disaster route, and during the night he has moved from 55th to 39th

VOR: Scary unknown one month away

2005-10-12T14:33:00.000+02:00

Only one month left before the Volvo Ocean Race fleet departs for Leg One to Cape Town, and just three weeks before the first in-port race! We get up close and personal with Ericsson Racing Team skipper Neal McDonald, to talk about the many bridges crossed and the hills still to climb.Just one month to go before the start of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 - what is your current state of mind?"Right

The Transat winner is back

2005-10-12T08:47:00.000+02:00

The winner of the first leg of the Transat 6.50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia, Corentin Douguet was back at the head of the ranking this morning. Less than a mile behind at the first ranking of the day, Stanislas Maslard has tonight taken the driving seat, albeit by just 1.2 miles, the duo orchestrating a series of gybes in a prevailing 10 knot N/NE'ly set to build to 15 knots down the African coast.

Battle of the Melges

2005-10-12T08:42:00.000+02:00

Three-time America’s Cup winning skipper Russell Coutts and Australian America’s Cup skipper James Spithill have joined a distinguished roster of past class world champions and America’s Cup sailors who have entered the 2005 Corum Melges 24 World Championship to be sailed off Key Largo, Fla., in December. That was a long sentence...You will find more on the upcoming World Championship that

VOR pictures and TV

2005-10-12T08:37:00.000+02:00

Independent sports producer Sunset + Vine has signed adeal with ITV to provide coverage of the Volvo Ocean Race. Sunset+Vine,part of The Television Corporation, will produce 32 weekly half hourprogrammes for ITV4 and eight one-hour long programmes for ITV1.Ericsson Racing Team has signed up two of the best photographers in the sailing business. Thierry Martinez (FRA) and Rick Tomlinson (GBR) are

British corner

2005-10-10T15:34:00.000+02:00

The two British solosailors Nick Bubb and Phil Sharp are on a real flyer one day in to Transat 6.50. The two has together with a third skipper gone for the far right corner and has even been sailing the wrong way for a while.The three, Jaime Mumbru is the third, have gone due west after the start and none of the 67 other boats have seen any reason to follow. The three musketeers have been

Bubb took the lead

2005-10-09T10:23:00.000+02:00

Nick Bubb, skipper on Whittlebury Hall, is definitely the best and most aggressive starter in the Transat 6,50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia race. Saturday he once again won the start when the 70 boat strong fleet started on the second leg in the race. He launched a Code 0-like sail and powered in front of the whole fleet on port tack. He also won the start from La Rochelle over three weeks ago and he

No more rest for the Minis

2005-10-08T12:52:00.000+02:00

Saturday the 70 solo sailors in Transat 6.50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia will set of again. They have enjoyed two full weeks in the sun and now they are ready for the 2.900 nautical mile last leg over the Atlantic.The weather forecast is not the best. While the sailors enjoyed full on spinnaker sailing from La Rochelle to Lanzarote on the first leg, the usual downwind start in the second is none

Transat Jacques Vabre kickoff

2005-10-08T07:12:00.000+02:00

The Offshore Challenges PR machine is again up to speed on Transat Jaques Vabre and the Skandia team. Brian Thompson and co-skipper Will Oxley have just completed their compulsory 1000 mile qualifier onboard the Open 60 for this year’s transatlantic adventure. Its 30 days to the start and the teams are starting to gather.

Solosailor goes multimad

2005-10-07T20:21:00.000+02:00

Conrad Humphreys will use the spectacular Volvo Extreme 40 to learn, excite the crowds and attract sponsors to his Velux 5 Oceans and Vendee Globe campaign. There are only two teams in the all carbon flat out catamaran class right now, but more teams are said to rise from the sea as the start of VOR draws closer. But how close do we have to be?

Big day out in Trapani

2005-10-07T19:55:00.000+02:00

Americas Cup goes Italy has been a big success spectator wise. Friday the course was surrounded by hundred of boats filled to the brim with happy people. School children has been given time of to join the AC-party and when some of the home teams have done well there have been horn-honking all over Trapani. Thousands of spectators has poured in to the race village. No other AC-town has showed