News

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag were showing no signs of relinquishing their grip on the Leg 4 lead as they went under the 1,000-miles-to-go barrier. Hell-bent on arriving in their home port of Hong Kong as heroes, Scallywag have maintained their comfortable lead of 73 miles over closest rivals Vestas 11th Hour Racing as the action reaches fever pitch. The only team not to lose miles to Scallywag in the six hours leading up to the position report was third-placed Dongfeng …

Visit Seattle, led by 24-year-old British sailor Nikki Henderson, the youngest ever Skipper to lead a team in the Clipper Round Race, held off a strong challenge from three other teams to chalk up a thrilling maiden victory in Race 6 which finished in Whitsundays. During one of the most challenging stages so far, Visit Seattle completed the 1,600-nautical mile sprint up the east coast of Australia from Hobart in eleven days. Arriving into Abell Point Marina where the Clipper …

Report from OBR Amory Ross onboard Vestas 11th Hour Racing: Lat/Long: 12.147N / 139.938E Wind: 20 kts Air Temp: 29c Sea Temp: 30c Boatspeed: 22 kts Heading: 307-degrees In the very early hours of this morning we sailed over the Mariana Trench just south of the deepest known point in Earth’s oceans, Challenger Deep. It is nearly 11,000 metres deep (37,000 feet, 7 miles, 11 km), which is deeper than Mt Everest, Earth’s highest mountain, is tall. It’s practically space. …

Crossing the doldrums on this leg has been described as one of the longest and most painful doldrums crossings in memory! Certainly it created some excitement and tense moments for race followers as the fleet bunched up, and then rocketed off, only to slow again in another light patch. For the crews, the less said the better as they were “gatvol” of the conditions and needed to leave them behind. For some the doldrums created opportunities, and for others the …

Yesterday, as the giant trimaran made its way to the Créac’h lighthouse (Isle of Ouessant) for a second attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy, Spindrift 2 dismasted south of Pointe Saint-Mathieu in a strong 30 knot westerly breeze and rough seas. Spindrift 2 was ready for this new attempt around the world with a relatively favourable weather window, after a long two-month stand-by at La Trinité sur Mer and then in Brest, Brittany. Once Spindrift was into the Iroise, an …

There is another attempt on the Jules Verne around the world record about to start, this time with Spindrift which is skippered by Yann Guichard. They abandoned an attempt last week after a few hours as the wind simply did not play ball. Despite a good though not ideal weather window, after two months on stand-by Spindrift racing has decided to take its chance and will leave the dock late this morning to be at the Créac’h lighthouse in the …

Crew member Alex Gough was washed overboard by a wave during a sail change on Sunday afternoon, in winds of 15-20 knots. The team swung into recovery mode, and Gough was back on board within seven minutes, unharmed. Scallywag resumed racing immediately. “He went out on the outrigger, I was driving, and we went off a big sea and it picked him up threw him off, like a horse,” skipper David Witt said. “The main thing is, we got him …

Safeguard the future of our industry: Ideas for creating new, life-long boaters. The International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) has launched the first ever ‘Grow Boating Guide’ – a collection of strategies and tactics to increase participation in recreational boating globally. The Guide is aimed at both new and established trade associations, as well at special interest groups wishing to start a national trade association and/or develop a unified campaign to attract new boaters. It is also a key …

  Following an active discussion with World Sailing, the NYYC are developing a new, global, invitational keelboat team race to be sailed October 4-7, 2018 at NYYC Harbour Court in Newport, Rhode Island. The event is planned as a ‘2 v 2’ team race, sailed in their fleet of identical Sonars. Their goal, beyond a great regatta, is to demonstrate to World Sailing the global interest in adult, keelboat team racing and to provide a proof of concept for both …

Now that the boats are moving and it’s not as stifling hot below as it is when there is no wind, several tales of woe have made their way back from the boats. It’s tough out there and certainly not for the feint hearted. Dee Caffari on Turn the Tide on Plastic All it takes is just one cloud – and what a cloud it was. The radar showed a pretty intense cell of activity, we knew it would contain …

by Richard Crockett The past 3 days of flappy sails and glassy seas have been torture for the fleet as the light conditions frustrated progress and the intense heat sapped all energy from the crews bodies. Used to sailing hundreds of nautical miles per day, they were reduced to about 100nm in a 24 hour period. But overnight things have changed and the fleet is once again on the move, moving at 10+ knots. For these three days the crews …

Volvo Ocean Race skipper Dee Caffari, whose Turn the Tide on Plastic boat is collecting samples that are analysed for levels of microplastics, has welcomed the news that the UK Government has introduced legislation to ban the manufacture of plastic microbeads. The Turn the Tide on Plastic boat, which is currently in the Pacific Ocean competing on Leg 4 of the 45,000 nautical mile round the world race, is gathering the data as part of a ground breaking scientific research …

by Richard Crockett One thing in sailing is for certain and that is that the doldrums are a lottery. On the way South on Leg 2 to Cape Town as the fleet crossed the equator in the Atlantic, they were given an easy passage and literally whistled through. It’s now very different. Speeds are down. It’s stifling hot and humid, and the leaderboard has been turned on its head. Just ask MAPFRE as they know, having dropped from 1st to …

Part 3 of 3 parts by Oloff de Wet Brothers Oloff and Muir de Wet recently launched their aluminium sloop, ‘Ongemak’, which they built over a period of five years. This is part 1 of their nautical adventure in their backyard which offers some very sage advice to anyone contemplating a self-build sailing yacht project. Now This evening we sit in Hout Bay Yacht Club, having brought ‘Ongemak’ round from Cape Town. The forecast warned of heavy weather in the …

by Richard Crockett Being a crew member on a VOR yacht is far from being glamorous. Yes, people around the world may look up to you in awe, but the dangers involved go far beyond the dangers of bad weather and big seas. Just ask Bouwe Bekking who is on his 7th race around the world! “Yesterday we ran through a massive thunderstorm, with a huge amount of lightning. The stable breeze instantly changed and before we knew it we …