Breakwater News Update

Monday, November 28, 2005

 
RAW POWER
In the South Atlantic Sunday, the raw power of the new Volvo Open 70s was
demonstrated in spectacular fashion when ABN Amro One, skippered by Mike
Sanderson, and Seb Josse's ABN Amro Two broke the 24-hour distance record
for a monohull. Sanderson is now the holder of the outright record, having
traveled an incredible 543 nautical miles in 24 hours, eight miles farther
than the old record held by Bouwe Bekking's Movistar, which was damaged on
the first night of the race and is undergoing repairs in Portugal.

Simon Fisher, the British navigator on ABN Amro Two, which is in second
position, 60 miles astern, described life on board as the boat rampaged
across 537 miles in a day. "Without doubt this is definitely life at the
extreme," Fisher said. "The whole boat is shuddering and shaking as we
crash through one wave to the next. All the winches and blocks are
screaming and cracking like cannon fire under the load. Water is pouring
down the deck and into the hatch, so we have to bail out every half an hour
or so to avoid turning the leeward side of the boat into a swimming pool.
On deck it's like standing in front of a fire hose and you have to hang on
to stay in the cockpit. Only an hour ago Bicey (Nick Bice) was swept off
the stack (sails piled up on the windward side deck) and down the cockpit."
-- Edward Gorman, Times on Line, complete story:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4041-1894005,00.html

Position Reports -- Sunday, 2200 GMT
1. ABN Amro One, 1507 miles to finish
2. ABN Amro Two, +64 miles
3. Brasil 1, +135 miles
4. Ericsson Racing Team, +173 miles
5. Sunergy and Friends, +1306 miles
6. Movistar, Retired
6. Pirates of the Caribbean, Retired
posted by Breakwater 11/28/2005 07:35:00 AM

Friday, November 25, 2005

 
Finishes in 20 days
Biggest comeback of the fleet
After 4,500 nautical miles, it came down to one hour and six minutes: Kip Stone and Merfyn Owen aboard Artforms crossed the finish line today in second place at 13:46 local time (16:46 GMT), just one hour ahead of Vedettes de Bréhat in the closest finish of the 2005 Transat Jacques Vabre, for a final time of 20 days, two hours, and 46 minutes.
The wind died less than a mile from the finish, then filled in nicely as Kip and Merf took down the spinnaker and cruised in heeled over on starboard tack at 10 knots boat speed. “You know it’s a good race when your competitors are in sight at the finish line!” said Kip after Artforms was welcomed to the dock by a crowd of supporters and presented with a couple of caipirenhas, the local cocktail.
Kip and Merf made the biggest comeback of the entire fleet after their pit stop in Lorient, France to replace a damaged mainsail on day three of this double-handed transatlantic race. They went from first to seventh place overnight, trailing class leaders Joe Harris and Josh Hall on Gryphon Solo by 400 miles. In the end, they finished just 17 hours 41 minutes behind their rival.
The team faced a tough choice in Lorient. Realizing their chance to win was slim, they decided nonetheless to continue sailing, and set out to chase down the Open 50 fleet. “Just in case anyone at the front of the fleet has written us off,” wrote Kip, “let this serve as notice that there are still two highly competitive spirits aboard this boat who will be pushing the boat hard until the palm-lined shore of Brazil rise up over the horizon.”
Before they had a chance to catch their breath, they collided with a large fish after rounding Cape Finisterre in Spain, causing them to lose a spinnaker on day 5 of the race. "A moment on our side was all it took for the flogging kite to shred," wrote Kip. Not long after that, they had yet their third major setback of the race. “At the tail end of our Code 5 run in 25-30 knots from Finisterre, the bale at the top of the mast let go and dropped the sail in the drink. That now makes two we've left behind, so we're finding our wings a bit clipped.”
Midway through the race, Kip and Merf got a big break on day 11 when Gryphon Solo and Vedettes de Bréhat (Escoffier/De Broc) sailed into a larger-than-forecast wind hole. By the time the two boats had dug themselves out, Artforms had narrowed the gap to 280 miles from leader Gryphon Solo.
Sailing a course west of their competitors, Artforms then elbowed their way into third place after passing Polarity Solo (Metcalf/Finn) and Top 50 Guadeloupe (Coquelin/Foligné) (unfortunately, two other Open 50s, Défi Vendéen and Adecco - Etoile Horizon, had to drop out of the race). “Going this fast puts big smiles on our faces and neither one of us can wait for the other to hand over the helm. We're climbing our way back up through the fleet and we're having fun doing it - hard to imagine things being too much better than this,” wrote Kip at the time.
They continued to reap the benefits of their westerly course and by day 13 had edged their way into second place.
Crossing the windless area of the doldrums was the last chance for Artforms to catch up to number one Gryphon Solo. “We're tasked with the double duty of trying to close the lead ahead without losing the slim hold we have on second place - no doubt, we have our work cut out for us here!” wrote Kip of his doldrums strategy. But they didn’t gain the ground they were looking for, while Gryphon Solo had a relatively easy crossing. “Somewhere along the way, someone must have handed Joe and Josh the wrong script for the past few days - they were supposed to slow down crossing the doldrums!” wrote Kip on day 17 of the race.
The last 1,000 miles featured a nail-biting drag race between Artforms and Vedettes de Bréhat. “It was a nerve-wracking 48 hours coming down the Brazilian coast,” said Kip. “They came so close to beating us so many times. They are so tenacious and they sailed brilliantly. My hats off to them,” said Kip of skippers Bertrand de Broc and Servane Escoffier.
When asked about whether he’d be back to Brazil, Kip replied, “We’ve got 23 months to lick our wounds and then we’ll be back. We’ll see if we get it right the next time!”
posted by Breakwater 11/25/2005 10:03:00 PM

 
Gryphon Solo wins the Open 50 Monohull race!
Galileo Open 60 and Open 50s Artforms and Vedettes de Bréhat ETA Friday night To the sound of African drum beats permeating the pitch black Brazilian night, the Anglo-American team of Joe Harris and Josh Hall won the Open 50 Monohull Class in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2005 when they crossed the finish line at 2005 local time (23:05:45 GMT) after 19 days, 9 hours 5 minutes and 45 seconds racing at sea. They haven't broken the course record set by Alex Bennett and Paul Larsen in 2001, but they have sailed a terrific race...read on for the first reactions from the skippers after stepping onto the pontoon.
Big winners of the ‘little’ Open 50 class, American Joe Harris and Brit Josh Hall, on board their Finot design Gryphon Solo, complete the plateau of winning teams across the 4 classes in the 2005 Transat Jacques Vabre 2005, following Crêpes Whaou! (Multi Open 50), Virbac-Paprec (IMOCA Mono Open 60), and Banque Populaire (ORMA Multi Open 60). “It was incredible! We pushed the boat to her full potential, it’s an amazing feeling to have won the Jacques Vabre race!” an elated Joe Harris exclaimed after stepping onto the pontoon. The Anglo-American pair on Gryphon Solo had the good grace to arrive into Salvador at the start of the Crew Party being held at the CENAB marina waterfront. As the boat was manoeuvred alongside the pontoon, an 8 strong Brazilian drum band were beating out the samba and fireworks were let off to herald the arrival of these last winners. All the partygoers whooped and cheered as Josh and Joe let off the champagne corks and hugged each other, grins as wide as Cheshire cats, and clearly overjoyed at coming first after what was a very tough race for all the fleet, them no less. Joe revealed that they didn’t escape their share of misfortune. “Just a day into the race I had a bad fall, my ribs were badly bruised, I had no idea if they were broken, and I needed to lie down but the boat was crashing up and down on each wave, and I couldn’t get comfortable. I took lots of medication for the pain, but couldn’t even grind a winch for 3 days. We thought we might have to retire but Josh just said, ‘can you breath?’ and I said yes, so he said, okay we’ll keep going – some doctor he is!”Gryphon Solo took the lead on the 7th November at 1800 GMT and held it all the way to the finish. Their greatest rival was their fellow Anglo-American team of Kip Stone and Merf Owen on Artforms, who made a pitstop in Lorient to replace their torn mainsail. “At that stage in the race, we didn’t relax one minute,” Josh takes up the story. “We had no idea if Kip and Merf would set out again or when, and any lead we could get would be crucial. So from then, we decided we had to switch our focus to covering Vedettes de Bréhat, but that resulted in us getting stuck in the same ‘bubble’ of light airs as we didn’t want to separate from them too much. However, Artforms came back from the West and became a real threat again, and at that point we wished we’d been 100 miles further over to the West, although we did then pull out a 100+ mile lead over Vedettes, I reckon we could have been in at least the same time as Roxy. This boat looked after us so well, she gave us hardly any problems, we really opened her up and had some incredible days’ sailing. She sails like an Open 60, but she’s much easier on my old bones, the sails aren’t so big! Hey, Mike, you should try sailing an Open 50, much easier on the back!”Born into a family of offshore sailors, this ex-fisherman and naval boat builder has won his first transatlantic victory, as has the experienced British solo circumnavigator Josh Hall, who has entered the Transat Jacques Vabre 3 times (abandoned in 1997, 7th in 1999). They managed to end up with a lead of over 200 miles from their nearest adversary, Artforms, who at the 1900 GMT position report was 208m behind, battling for second place with Vedettes de Bréhat (De Broc / S. Escoffier) just 21 miles behind. These two boats are expected to arrive on Friday night.Gryphon Solo:Arrival time: 23:05:45 GMTElapsed time: 19 days, 9 hours, 5 mins 45 secondsAverage boatspeed on theoretical route of 4,340m: 9.33 knotsTHE FOUR WINNING TEAMS IN THE 2005 TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE :Open 60 Multihull: Pascal Bidégorry and Lionel Lemonchois (Banque Populaire)Open 60 Monohull: Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron (Virbac-Paprec) Open 50 Multihull: Franck-Yves and Kevin Escoffier (Crêpes Whaou !)Open 50 Monohull: Joe Harris eand Josh Hall (Gryphon Solo)Mary AmblerInternational Media RelationsBrazil: +55 71 3319 3435mary.ambler@xalt.co.uk
posted by Breakwater 11/25/2005 10:53:00 AM

Monday, November 14, 2005

 
From the JBoats website:

J/100 ‘Ice Nine’ Crew Rescues Man Overboard in Peconic Bay… Oct. 8, 2005... I was sailing Silent Passage, my Tartan 33 in the Whitebread Regatta (108 boats entered). The wind was gusting to 33+ on Great and Little Peconic Bays. Beating upwind, I fell overboard, winch handle in hand between the top and bottom lifelines. The flotation device I was wearing was under my foulweather jacket. I had boots on, am a poor swimmer and almost lost it searching for the pull halyard under my jacket. I was becoming very concerned and along came a new J100, 'Ice Nine' owned by Tom Stewart of Shelter Is. His crew were able to take down their sails, circle me with a life-sling and pull me to the stern of the boat. At that point I was exhausted but with their help was able to board the excellently designed stern and stern ladder. I owe my life to Mr. Stewart but want also to thank you for your design which incorporated a practical safety feature. Yours truly, Bill Coster, Silent Passage, New Suffolk NY.

posted by Breakwater 11/14/2005 11:18:00 PM

Saturday, November 05, 2005

 

Breakwater Yacht Club News

Breakwater Yacht Club 2005 Awards Night

More... Boats for Sale Every year we replace two of our JY15 fleet. This year we have for sale: 2- JY15s, 1 for $1500, 1 for $1200. 2- Club 420s with spinnaker gear. $1500 each, and 1-JY14 for $1500 For more information see club steward Steve Novak, or call 725-4606 The American Hotel, Suffolk County National Bank One Design tee shirts Future Events! BYC's Annual Membership Meeting, Friday, November 11 at 7:00PM, at the Comunity Sailing Center. click here to renew your membership By-laws BYC's by-laws are now viewable on our website. Use this link below to see them. Don't forget that durring this year's annual membership meeting a vote will be presented to modify the by-laws. A mailing detailing the proposed changes was sent to all members two weeks ago. Click here for BYC's by-laws

Dear John, The awards dinner was a great success. Spinnakers Restaurant was packed with BYC members, family, and guests. After a nice cocktail/appetizer hour and dinner/desert the following awards were presented. May Cup best 2 of 3 races: 1st Osprey, 2nd Purple Haze, 3rd White Lightning. Summer Series best 9 of 14 races: 1st and overall Angel 2, 2nd Purple Haze, 3rd White Lightning. Non Spin: 1st Ace, 2nd Sequin, 3rd Wave Equation. Oz Female Helmed race:1st and overall, Purple Haze helmed by Sara Nightingale, 2nd White Lightning helmed by Sharon Horn, 3rd Angel helmed Mary Whelan. Non Spin: 1st Ace helmed by Dennise Fenchel, 2 Wave Equation helmed by Joan Worthing 3rd Sequin helmed by Nancy Pride. Sag Harbor Cup: 1st Windswept 3, 2nd Angel 2, 3rd Firewater. Non spin: 1st Wave Equation, 2nd Kismet, 3rd Waypoint. J80: 1st Margaret, 2nd Grace, 3rd Best Betts. Fall Rum Series best 4 of 5 races: 1st Angel 2, 2nd Osprey, 3rd White Lightning. Non Spin: 1st Plurabelle, 2nd Wave Equation, 3rd Blue Blazer. 2 yr perpetual trophy awarded for best combined 2 yr without penalties: Osprey, Non Spin: Ace. Broken Mast Award - Best Betts. Sportsmanship Award - Craig Sinclair. The Wheel - Carol Morse. Music and dancing followed the awards presentation. If you have not paid your entry fee ($20) for the Fall Series, please do so now. Checks can be mailed to Carol Morse, 421 North Main St., Southampton, NY, 11968 dropped off at the office, or given to Chris Dowling or Carol Morse. Thanks for taking care of this. Breakwater Yacht Club's Annual Meeting and elections will be held Friday, November 11, 2005 at 7:00PM at BYC's Community Sailing Center. Please mark this date on your calendar and plan to attend. The American Hotel, Suffolk County National Bank One Design tee shirts are available for $15.00 each, sizes small, medium, large and x large. Sweat shirts will also be available for $30.00 each. Money raised from the sales will go to BYC's junior programs. Contact Lee Oldak to order at 631-267-6325 or 1mortoy@amagansettbeachco.com. To art work on the shirts may be view on BYC's website main page. Click here to view tee shirt art work

We hope to see you at the Annual General Membership Meeting and Elections, Friday, November 11th, 7:00 PM, at BYC's Community Sailing Center! Sincerely, 2005 Officers and Directors Breakwater Yacht Club

posted by Breakwater 11/05/2005 08:34:00 AM

Friday, November 04, 2005

 
THOUGHTS ON SPORTSMANSHIP
The subject of sportsmanship in sailing is a frequent topic at post race
discussions these days. There has also been a lot written about
sportsmanship problems recently. Sailors are concerned about illegal
kinetics, lying, unfair tactics and unprotested infractions, to name a few.
I agree that there are some problems. But instead of focusing on the
negatives, I'd rather look at what we can do about the situation. So I have
made a list of actions that any sailor can take to make our sport a little
more pleasant for us all.

Compliment your competitors when they make a good move. A few weeks ago
during one frostbite race, two interclubs rounded the weather mark, one
with a pretty good lead over the next boat. "Nice weather leg, " I heard
from the second place boat. At which point the leader smiled a bit and
said, "Thanks." Another natural time for compliments is after the race.
It's easy to say, "Good going" to the top couple of boats, but they'll hear
that from almost everyone. It's more of a challenge to notice what someone
in the middle or back of the fleet did well, and appreciate that. "Hey,
George," you might say, "I know you didn't end up so well, but it looked
like you played the shifts almost perfectly on the second beat." I'd feel
pretty good if someone said that to me.

Make it part of your goal to play by the rules. It's clear that winning is
a major objective of sailboat racing. Unfortunately, some people seem
willing to use almost any means to get to this end. But that only makes for
a hollow victory. If your goal is to play fair and square, you may not win
as many races, but I guarantee that the respect you get from your
competitors will be much greater. And this will certainly be the best
strategy in the long run. Pretend for a minute, that you're leading the
race and you hit the last leeward mark. No one sees this except you and
your crew. Do you keep going and win the race, or re-round the mark and
lose a few boats? Either choice is possible; it depends on what you value.
If winning is not your only goal on the race course, you'll certainly be
happier more of the time. -- Excerpts from a story by Dave Dellenbaugh on
the Yacht Racer Online website, full story:
http://www.yachtracersonline.com/sportsmanship.htm
posted by Breakwater 11/04/2005 08:49:00 AM

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

 

Le Havre, France. Artforms skippers Kip Stone and Merfyn Owen are ready for Saturday's start of the Transat Jacques Vabre (TJV), a 4,500 nautical mile race from France to Brazil. They join 36 other skippers in the monohull and multihull divisions in the 7th edition of this prestigious double-handed event. Over 60,000 people visited the race village of the TJV last weekend to see the boats and take in the excitement. Read on for news of the final preparations as Artforms begins the countdown for the 7th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre!

Kip Stone and Merfyn Owen primed for Saturday's start "This boat is ready for some heavy downwind sailing" Artforms left Plymouth shortly after midnight a week ago Monday and blasted across the English Channel in 25 to 30 knots breeze, surfing at speeds of over 20 knots. Kip was joined on the delivery by Merfyn Owen of Owen Clarke Design, who is the designer of Artforms and Kip’s race partner in the Transat Jacques Vabre; and Rodney Keenan of Quantum Sails - New Zealand. “No question that this boat is ready for some heavy downwind sailing,” said Kip after docking in Le Havre Tuesday afternoon, where Artforms was met by race organizers and KSOpen50 shore crew Tim Sadler and Caroline Kurrus. One week later, all 34 boats are moored in the Paul Vatine yacht basin, where skippers and crew are busy making final preparations for the race. The race village is buzzing with coffee, Brazilian music, shops and cafés, as well as a full schedule of events leading up to the race start. “A Tide of Humanity for the Transat” read the front page headline of Sunday’s Le Havre-Presse, and a wave of people it was. In the warm and blustery weekend weather, over 26,000 people visited the village of the Transat Jacques Vabre on Saturday, and over 41,000 on Sunday – to see the boats up close and mingle with the boat crews. Taking in the excitement were the very young and the very old, people in wheelchairs and on scooters, celebrities and the media, and even the occasional pet chien. Many thousands more are expected through the week. Artforms passed its safety inspection on Sunday, and Kip and Merf have started their training regimen, which includes breaking up their normal sleep schedule to prepare for the race. Highlights of the upcoming week: Thursday: Artforms employees Bobbi Jo Pramis and Tanner Kennedy join the KSOpen50 team for the start! Friday: A pre-race interview with Kip and Merf will be broadcast across the race village at 11 a.m. Saturday: The monohull fleet leaves the dock at 10 a.m., followed by 3 p.m. race start. Sunday: 3 p.m. - multihull start.

More about the skippers and the race Accomplished entrepreneurs and sailors The Transat Jacques Vabre is a 4,500 nautical mile double-handed race from Le Havre, France to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, held every four years and sponsored by Kraft Foods France and its coffee brand Jacques Vabre. For more information about the race and to track Artforms across the Atlantic, visit the race website at www.jacques-vabre.com. Kip, 44, is president and owner of the company Artforms, the current sponsor of the KSOpen 50 campaign. Located in Westbrook, Maine, the company employs 40 people who design, market, and produce high quality tee shirts for specialty retailers in resorts across the US and Caribbean. Kip has over 70,000 offshore miles to his credit, including his win in the 2004 Transat and the 2005 Bermuda 1-2 aboard Artforms. Merfyn Owen, 42, is a naval architect and principal of Owen Clarke Design. Merf is a double Cape Horner and former round-the-world race boat skipper on the 96/97 BT Global Challenge, and recently won the Bermuda 1-2 with Kip. Artforms is an Open 50 designed for single- handed sailing on the open ocean. Designed by Owen Clarke Design and built by McConaghy Boats in Australia, Artforms was launched in September 2003.

posted by Breakwater 11/01/2005 06:02:00 PM