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Race 3 got underway at the 60th SAP 5O5 World Championship in light conditions. After a lengthy delay to that start due to a wind shift, the race committee could lay a course and racing could get underway at around 14h00. As Day 2 was a 1 race day, sailors could braced themselves for a long day on the water and a long race. Conrads/Haines opened the gate and headed to the right on the required port tack, which seemed …

Volvo Ocean Race HQ can confirm that Dongfeng Race Team broke its mast early on Monday (GMT, March 30) but fortunately nobody has been injured and there is no immediate danger to the crew. The incident happened 240 nautical miles west of Cape Horn at 0315 UTC on Monday, in the final hours of the night onboard Dongfeng. The crew reported that the mast broke above the third spreader. They are not planning to continue racing on this leg and …

The distance of a Fastnet Race to go, but the Volvo Ocean Race fleet will probably cover it in under 2 days as they surf their way east, pushing along by a classic Southern Ocean swell and an ever increasing following wind. A ‘classic’ Cape Horn seems on the menu for the determined men of Dongfeng, only 3 of which have passed the mythical rock before. Having held the lead for much of the last two days, as the conditions …

Only one 11 leg race was sailed on day 2 on a traditional Olympic course of windward leeward legs combined with a fast soldiers reach. Sailed in a 150 degree south east rising from 7 to 12 knots and settling in at 10 knots for the final two legs the course had sailors guessing which side would pay as the steady 150 degree wind direction shifted to 125 degrees and back in the rising wind. The first few days have …

Two Bullets Fire Holt into Early Lead Mike Holt and Carl Smit put the hammer down on day one of the SAP 505 World Championships to nail the first two races in sunny Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The first race, held in steady, 15-knot easterly winds on a lumpy Algoa Bay, saw a four-way battle develop between some of the hot favourites. Australians Sandy Higgins/Paul Marsh and Michael Quirk/ Luke Payne were up at the front from early on, with double …

The 60th SAP 5O5 World Championship got under way on Saturday with two races being sailed back to back. The breeze came out of an easterly direction and conditions for sailing were great. Race 1 was started in 7 knots of breeze but this was always going to build and by mid-afternoon, was forecast to strengthen to 16 knots. Race 1 was led by a number of different sailors but in the end was won by the defending World Champion, …

Head-torches on, Howie Hamlin and Jeff Nelson were working another late night in the boat park, on the eve of the SAP 505 World Championships in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Forced to fit out a brand new boat in record time, the former 505 World Champions are in a race against time to be ready for the first heat at midday on Algoa Bay. Hamlin wasn’t even aware of who had won the two-day Pre-Worlds which concluded yesterday, as he …

by Thomas Funke Race 2 of the pre-worlds got under way in strong westerly conditions – a good indication of what PE can offer the sailors. After an abandoned start, the fleet got clean away in the conditions and raced towards the lighthouse at Cape Recife. After an eventful beat, the front runners, hoisted spinnakers and gybed away for the mark. Teams that gybed and set spinnakers immediately caught up slightly. On the second beat the wind changed slightly and …

Nigel Milln, a previous multiple winner of this tough ocean race, has entered his trusty steed Skitzo – a Fast 42. Milln is no stranger to racing along the East Coast, although it is believed that this will be his first foray southwards on a Vasco da Gama Race. Sailing 8-up, he always manages to cobbled together a really good crew who drive his boat hard and usually end up on the winners podium. He’s a wiley old salt is …

Sparkling Water and Light Shifty Conditions for first pre-worlds race in Port Elizabeth The first race of the 5O5 pre-worlds and South African Championships in Port Elizabeth, was sailed in very light shifty conditions. The first race had to be abandoned halfway through after a 180 degree wind shift. Back at the starting area Race Officer Di Hutton-Squire attended to the resetting of the course and started the race once again. Only one race was sailed in the South West …

“Chinese crash gybe” on Dongfeng read the headline! Crew ok, nothing broken, but paid the price in energy and time! “Quite a few of us had never done one before, and we had to wait until we were on a Chinese boat to do it…” Yann Riou exclaimed. It had been on the cards – Yann tweeted direct from the boat a few hours before, at the start of a very dark night – “30 knots of wind, very dark, …

by Sophie Thompson Watching the sailing brothers Thomas and Peter Funke carve through the water offshore of Durban on their 505 is pure sporting artistry. The young duo are about to tackle top international sailors at the 505 World Championships in Port Elizabeth at the end of this month. This will be their sixth outing at a 505 World Championship. “Our Dad started us off young on his keelboat, when we were only a few months old at Hartbeespoort Dam. …

The Azores high pressure system has proven to be a road block for Bernard Stamm and Jean Le Cam. Their passage northwards at the head of the Barcelona World Race fleet, saw them running out of breeze and so their tack eastwards, towards the Straits of Gibraltar, was made early this morning. And as the Swiss-French duo progress east towards the Moroccan coast, passing south of Madeira, they will reconnect with the better NE’ly trade winds. Cheminées Poujoulat has 1100 …

After a few days delay due to a strong cyclone presence the race is underway again as the race’s six-strong fleet finally headed out of Auckland this morning (Wednesday) after the Leg 5 departure was delayed 67 hours to avoid the worst of Cyclone Pam. However, the crews, led out of the ‘City of Sails’ by Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA), knew they may have avoided the deadly weather system, but still face the toughest of all nine legs as …

World Class sailors from Denmark, Great Britain, South Africa, United States, Australia and Germany will be in Port Elizabeth from 23 March to 3 April to sail in the 60th SAP 5O5 World Championships being hosted by the Algoa Bay Yacht Club (ABYC). The regatta is in two parts – a South African Championships incorporating a pre-worlds and the World Championships. The International 505 is a one-design high-performance two-person monohull planing centreboard dinghy, with spinnaker, using a trapeze for the …