News

On Sunday Phillippa Hutton-Squire sets out alone (singlehanded) as the first South African ever to compete in the Route du Rhum race from St Malo to Guadeloupe – a distance of 3500 nautical miles. This is a tough race and a challenge Phillippa is up for. She is just one of 4 women competing. So let’s all get behind her and wish her luck. Like this post or send personal messages via her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Phillippa-Hutton-Squire-Sailing/527627230614680?fref=ts Follow the race at:  …

Over 30,000 people took to the water for the first Bart’s Bash! (go to the end to see some RSA results) Our final results, now PUBLISHED!!!, show an amazing 30,717 participants took to the water, many for their first time, around the world, for the first “Bart’s Bash” on 21 September 2014. As you know, the sailing race was a fund raising event in memory of Andrew Simpson, the Olympic sailor who died in a training accident in May 2013. …

A lot can happen in a week at sea, and for the seven international teams competing in the first leg of the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race the last seven days have dished up one challenge after another.A week ago the fleet passed Cape Verde, a cluster of 10 islands 350 miles (570 km) off the coast of western Africa. Four teams, lead by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, chose a safe path to the north of the island chain, Team Vestas …

The search is on for what could be the toughest job on the ocean: The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is currently searching for twelve highly skilled sailors for the challenging role of race skipper. Race Director, Justin Taylor, who has previously been a skipper in this unique global event, said the recruitment process was intentionally gruelling: “We have a duty to make sure we search out the best skippers who can lead effectively through the raw elements. “You …

Dynamic Stability Systems welcomes last week’s decision by IMOCA to place no further restrictions on its class rule. This permits both the six new IMOCA 60s currently under construction, as well as the existing fleet, to be fitted with the lateral lifting foils which DSS has spent the last decade pioneering. The foils are already fitted to performance production yachts from Infiniti and Quant, and also helped the 100ft maxi Wild Oats XI to its victory in last year’s Rolex …

Report number 3 from Optiworlds 2014: by William Brooks Conditions The Rio del Plata race course was always going to be a big challenge for a young team with very little experience of big fleet racing and dealing with courses with current. Racing has been very tricky with huge emphasis on the starts and positioning for the correct shift on the first beat. The starts have typically involved one or two U flag starts invariably resulting in general recalls then …

Following is an extract from a BBC story. Boyan Slat is a 20-year-old on a mission – to rid the planet’s oceans of floating plastic. He has dedicated his teenage years to finding a way of collecting it. But can the system really work – and is there any point when so much new plastic waste is still flowing into the sea every day? ‘I don’t understand why ‘obsessive’ has a negative connotation, I’m an obsessive and I like it,’ …

AIRBUS, the world’s leading aircraft manufacturer and ORACLE TEAM USA, the defending champion of the America’s Cup, have forged a technology partnership. As Official Innovation Partner of ORACLE TEAM USA for the 35th America’s Cup, AIRBUS will share the know-how of its engineers and experts in fields such as aerodynamics, instrumentation and simulation, composites, structures, hydraulics and data analysis to work with the ORACLE TEAM USA design team. “This is a completely new endeavor for us,” said Fabrice Brégier, AIRBUS …

Exciting on- and off-shore roles available (ED. This is a wonderful opportunity for young people to experience something more than just a holiday job. During the last Volvo Ocean Race I was able to interact first-hand with many of the volunteers who had come from many different countries, had many interesting stories to tell, and who were experiencing our country first hand. In my opinion it is an opportunity not to be missed.) As preparations ramp up for Abu Dhabi’s …

Yesterday (23 October 2014) in Lüderitz, Namibia, will go down in the history books as French kite surfer Chris Ballois set a new World Record for disabled riders, ratified by the WSSRC and ISAF-IFDS. In only 25 knot average winds and after reaching 39.14 knots on his very first run down the multiple-record breaking channel, Ballois took off on his second run and reaching 42.94 knots (80 kph!) (average speed) over the official 500 metre long course to claim the …

by Richard Crockett Phillippa is well known in Cape sailing circles as a no-nonsense committed sailor with tons of ability and enough drive to make most of us feel tired! She has, at her tender age, already circumnavigated the globe with Nick Leggatt in a two-handed race, so her sojourn into singlehanded sailing is really not surprising. I suppose it’s a case of, if you can sail two-up you should be able to do it singlehanded, as in many instances …

William Brooks reports It has been an interested few days. I will try to describe them in a few short chapters. The trip over A rather rushed and early start in ct was followed by an equally long check in at jbrg where we eventually managed to check all the gear through to ba as planned. We were so enjoying the time to relax in the departure area that we almost missed the boarding on our flight to sao paulo, …

Ahoy from the Barque PICTON CASTLE – currently on a voyage on route to Cape Town! While we are in the midst of an epic voyage around the world – currently in Bali, but soon leaving to cross the Indian Ocean and head to Cape Town – we at the PICTON CASTLE are very excited to be announcing our next voyage: the Transatlantic Voyage. She has been so far away from home for such a long time, we are eagerly …

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com/nz Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race would seem to have gone from being a tightly fought contest to being a procession to Cape Town. Even though only 40% of the course has been sailed, the distance between the boats are significant (other than the two lead boats) and look set to increase. The big change came as the boats entered the Doldrums and the two westernmost boats Abu Dhabi and Team Brunel sailed through the …

by Agathe Armand A day and a night of uncertainty – later, the Doldrums will come to an end for the Volvo Ocean Race teams. By tomorrow morning, the fleet should be sailing safely in the southeasterly trade winds. So – who won this equatorial lottery? What was the best place to cross this convergence zone, where two hemispheres and two weather systems collide? ‘People like to say west is best and maybe there is something to it,’ admits Bouwe …