News

The tightness of racing in the men’s 470 Fleet at the ISAF Sailing World Cup is best illustrated in the accompanying pic. Asenathi Jim and Roger Hudson finished 4th in the Medal Race – having led for 2 legs. Looking at their performance over the 4 days of this championship event it was clear that they were fast upwind, very fast, and simply not up to scratch downwind. It’s a pity as they simply were not able to convert those …

by Matthew Thomas As dawn broke on the their eighth day at sea, Madeira was roughly 100nm to the WSW of Philippa and Pips as they continue to duel with 8th placed ‘Groupe Setin’ in Class 40. Looking at the tracker and overlaying the predicted weather, it looks like the ‘Two Pips’ have decided that the best wind lies to the east, while the duo on ‘Groupe Setin’ are still sailing south west parallel to the rhumb line course. Initially, …

by Matthew Thomas It is often said that battle makes you stronger and this morning, the Pip’s are locked in a close battle with ‘Groupe Setin’ for 7th place. Overnight, they’ve slipped back a position, but this is somewhat academic as the distances are simply calculated via “distance from finish” and in ocean racing, this doesn’t mean much as the weather plays such a huge roll in the overall contest and while you might have a shorter distance to sail, …

by Matthew Thomas Now that they are in the trades and starting to approach the Azores High Pressure system, there is time to rest a bit, update friends and family and start the drying out process, and also send some email. This is what we received from Phillippa during the night: “It’s very rough, it’s been blowing 30 knots all night and the seas are quite big and the boats are really wet. It’s very rough going, we’re looking forward …

Hard on the wind and diving south. By Matthew Thomas As they dive south towards the Canaries, Phillippa and Pip are now in the strong south easterlies that are preceding the dominant westerlies that will let them crack off and start the drag race to the Canaries with the rest of the Class 40s. I’m sure it’s pretty darned wet and cold still and the ride is uncomfortable in the 30 knot winds and accompanying seas. Most definitely not for …

There are no bigger favourites in the 470 men’s fleet for gold in the UAE capital than multiple world champions Mat Belcher and Will Ryan, although the Australian duo had to come from behind to land the opening race in the men’s 470 class. Down in third at the first mark, they eventually came through to victory by 29 seconds from Austrians Matthias Schmid and Florian Reichstädter, with Americans Stuart McNay and David Hughes in third. In race two the …

The time has finally come for the RSA 49er team of Graeme Willcox and Andrew Tarboton to make final preparations for their trip down to South America for the World Championships. This event is their last chance to qualify for a quota slot for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. After this event, the only slots available are Continental qualification positions. There are just 3 slots for the Rio Olympics available to those looking to qualify at the World Champs. …

Pippa Picks Up a Place to 9th by Matthew Thomas Fast sailing in big seas on a Class 40 is wet, very wet. Step into the cockpit and you’re in a washing machine. If you’re helming, the waves constantly roar down the deck and you better be harnessed on with your spare hand wrapped around a stanchion or you’re going to be washed away. Sailing in the current conditions, Phillippa Hutton-Squire and Pip Hare are taking turns helming while the …

by Richard Crockett Asenathi Jim and Roger Hudson are the only South Africans competing in this top-flight event, and will be up against 10 other 470 sailors. This is another feather in their caps, having just two weeks ago qualified for the Rio Olympics next year. Their performance here will be closely watched as they will be sailing a far newer boat to the one they qualified in. A 470 hull has a limited life at top level competition, and …

by Matthew Thomas It takes a lot of work and effort to push hard enough to gain back miles on the leader, especially in bad conditions and in a close boat race, but this is exactly what has happened overnight. Phillippa Hutton-Squire and Pip Hare have clawed back 16 miles on the Class 40 leader, which is now ‘Le Conservateur’. For the leader, the westerlies have arrived and they have now gybed to the south. Phillippa and Pip will be …

by Matthew Thomas As the second morning dawned, it was clear that the Bay of Biscay had lived up to its reputation of breaking boats. Out front, the Ultime 100 trimaran ‘Prince de Bretagne’ had capsized. Both crew members were safe inside the hull and their technical team was on its way to salvage the vessel. IMOCA 60’s ‘Safran’ and ‘Edward de Rothchild’ were also out and heading back home, while in the Class 40 fleet, ‘Concise 8′, Phillippa Hutton-Squire’s …

by Matthew Thomas The TJV as it’s known in France is by far the greatest offshore race, attracting teams from all over the world in 4 classes as they compete double-handed to race from Le Harve to Italjai in Brazil. This year, our very own, Phillippa Hutton-Squire is skippering Concise 2, a Marc Lombard designed Class 40, together with Pip Hare. This year’s start was in a gentle breeze and the girls got a decent start in the front pack. …

They have done it! Well done Asenathi Jim and Roger Hudson for qualifying for Rio 2016. They were in a really top quality fleet with some of the worlds best dinghy sailors – yet they pulled this off in 5th spot out of the 6. What is interesting is that they were probably sailing the oldest boat in the fleet by a long way, and now that they have qualified for Rio, will be getting a new boat. It is …

Two races were sailed yesterday in winds around 10 knots, with the persistent unpredictably of the race track unseating some teams, and changes again at the top with a new overall leader. But for the South Africans of Asenathi Jim and Roger Hudson, a 6th in the first race of the day was followed by a 22nd. And the most important aspect of this is that they are 5th in terms of the 6 teams seeking qualification to Rio 2016 …

It was all change on day 3 at the 470 World Championships in Haifa, Israel as the series intensified as places changed and two new leaders took over at the front. Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic (CRO) scored two second places to escape the shadow of overnight leaders Mat Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS) and give themselves a useful safety net of 11 points to head this tough championship fleet. An upset in race 6 pushed the Aussies to a 21st place finish, following …