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Spindrift 2 Takes Multihull Division Line Honours In 2013 Rolex Fastnet Race
Team SCA rounding the rock at 0330 this morning. Photo by Rick Tomlinson, rick-tomlinson.com 
Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard, co-skippers of Spindrift 2, a VPLP 131 Trimaran racing in the Multihull Division, crossed the finish line of the 2013 Rolex Fastnet Race at the Plymouth Breakwater at 02.53.58 BST on Tuesday 13th August after an elapsed time of 38hr 53m 58s.
Earlier report:
With the wind resolutely in the northwest, the leading monohulls are hard on the wind as they head out west across the Celtic Sea. The Jochen Schuemann-skippered Esimit Europa 2 continues to lead the on-the-water battle of the 100ft maxis from Mike Slade's ICAP Leopard, both boats soon to tack north. Given the wind direction, several boats have continued west while staying to the south of the Scillies. This includes the Baltic 78, Lupa of London, which remains ahead on handicap in IRC Canting Keel, followed by the two VO70s.
In this particular match race, the women's Volvo Ocean Race team on Team SCA has managed to stay ahead of the Ian Walker-skippered Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, since passing them at Start Point.
"It was a night full of tacks and sail changes," reported Team SCA's Sam Davies. "It has been physically hard work, but our training is paying off and we have done some nice manoeuvres." Directly upwind, Team SCA's ETA at the Fastnet Rock is not until 0400 BST tomorrow, as the gradient wind is getting lighter and with the wind from the northwest the Fastnet Rock is effectively in the lee of Ireland.
Davies reckoned that she had had one hour's sleep last night, although as navigator she is not part of the watch system. Unusually, as the VO70s are racing this year under IRC, the crew is not allowed to stack the sails and so there has been more emphasis on the crew sitting on the rail.
The Mini-Maxi competition in IRC Zero continues with both American Hap Fauth's Bella Mente and Niklas Zennstrom's Ran 2 both also heading west, waiting to tack north, but with Bella Mente now five miles ahead of her rival. Since this morning, the US Mini Maxi, with a crew that includes Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper Mike Sanderson and Northern Irish navigator Ian Moore, has taken the lead in IRC Zero.
470 World Championships
Mat Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS) finish the Medal Race in 6th place to win the 470 World Championship gold, and Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie (NZL) win their Medal Race to secure victory. In a fitting anniversary for the newly crowned 2013 470 World Champions, it was exactly one year ago that Mat Belcher won Olympic Gold, with Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie achieving their gold medal glory shortly after on the Nothe Course in Weymouth. A fitting conclusion to the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the International 470 Class.
It was a tense medal deciding day, with the top 8 boats in the 470 Men and 470 Women events ready for the challenge of the short course 25 minute double-points scoring medal race to decide the Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists. From a very light breeze in the morning, the wind was around 10 knots for racing.
Belcher/Ryan did what they needed to and finished in sixth place, which was more than enough to crown them as the 2013 470 World Champions - a year to the day that Belcher became the 2012 Olympic Champion. Leboucher/le Berre secured silver and Mantis/Kagialis bronze, despite finishing last in the medal race.
Four back to back World Championship titles must certainly be an unprecedented achievement in the sport.
Sixteen World Championship gold medals are now the legacy of 470 teams coached by Victor Kovalenko. "It means too long a time in the class," smiled Kovalenko. "In my mind Mat, is the best 470 sailor ever in the history of the class. With four World Championship victories in a row and unbeaten over the past two years, that must make him the best sailor ever."
470 Men - Top Ten Final Results Overall
1. Mat Belcher/Will Ryan, AUS, 44 points
2. Pierre Leboucher/Nicolas Le Berre, FRA, 51
3. Panagiotis Mantis/Pavlos Kagialis, GRE, 55
4. Lucas Calabrese/Juan de la Fuente, ARG, 59
5. Luke Patience/Joe Glanfield, GBR, 62
6. Stu Mcnay/Dave Hughes, USA, 77
7. Paul Snow-Hansen/Daniel Willcox, NZL, 87
8. Sofian Bouvet/Jeremie Mion, FRA, 88
Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie have secured two previous 470 World Championship medals, a silver in 2010 and bronze in 2011, and today they completed their collection by winning the ultimate gold medal.
Achievements don't get much better than being crowned Olympic Champions and World Champions within one year, as Jo Aleh acknowledged, "It is pretty good. We were actually just talking about it on the way in and we are almost more excited today I think than the Olympics." Laughing she said, "I guess we've done five World Championships and we have stuffed up three of them in the past, and we really wanted to get it right. We have had a few medals, but never the gold."
470 Women - Top Ten Final Results Overall
1. Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie, NZL, 31 points
2. Lara Vadlau/Jola Ogar, AUT, 51
3. Xiaoli Wang/Xufeng Huang, CHN, 58
4. Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron, FRA, 59
5. Sophie Weguelin/Eilidh McIntyre, GBR, 61
6. Xiaomei Xu/Chunyan Yu, CHN, 64
7. Tina Mrak/Veronika Macarol, SLO, 66
8. Elise Rechichi/Sarah Cook, AUS, 93
Key West Registration Is Open!
Registration for Key West Race Week is live and the entries are coming in! Quantum Key West 2014 is the ideal winter escape for world-class competition, unique shoreside fun, and Florida's southernmost sunshine and dependable breeze.
Top tier programs from Europe and the US will compete in exciting one design and rated classes. The TP52's will be holding their second consecutive US Super Series; strong one-design classes include Melges 32, Melges 24, Swan 42, and J/70.The exciting High Performance class and mini-maxis will be back.
Enter now and let the world know you are planning to race in North America's premier winter regatta! January 19 - 24, 2014.
Entries and more: www.premiere-racing.com
Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week
The final day of Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week dawned with very light airs that necessitated a postponement before a west-south-westerly breeze climbing to 10 knots kicked in. Although shifty at first it continued to build through the day, peaking with gusts of more than 20 knots.
The overall Sportsboat class result was one of those decided on the final day, with Julian Cook and Caroline Aisher's Viper 640 Oh No leading the fleet on 8 points, followed by Jon Powell's Hunter 707 Betty on 9 points and Charlie Esse's modified J/80 Darwin Property on 13 points at the beginning of the final race.
At the finish Oh No was first to cross the line, by an impressive margin of more than 12 minutes. However, she was not able to save her time on Betty, one of the lowest-rated boats in this fleet, who won today's race by three minutes on corrected time. Oh No's second place today leaves her tied on 10 points with Betty, with the count back resolved in the latter's favour thanks to her four race wins this week. Fourth place today for Darwin Property was sufficient for her to comfortably retain third place overall.
Five wins in the first six races gave the overall win in the Dragon class to Graham and Julia Bailey's Aimee with a day to spare.
The podium of the Flying 15 class was decided with a race to spare, with Rupert and John Mander's Men Behaving Badly counting only first places to take yet another class win. =
The Redwing class has seen a close fight for first place all week between last year's class and White Group overall winner, John Raymond and Matt Alexander's Harlequin and Bruce Huber's Quail, with the two boats separated by only one point at the start of the final race.
There was a large fleet on the start line, initially led in by Nick Wakefield's Bizarre and Toucan, with Harlequin hanging back mid line, clearly conscious that they could not afford another OCS. However, it was Caroline and Edmund Peel's Redstart ll and Fraser Morrison's Skua that accelerated away from the line fastest. Redstart ll won today's race, ahead of Goose and Harlequin, but the top five overall places remained unchanged.
In the Sonar class Andy Cassell and Ken Newman's Jenny won today's race, finishing eight seconds ahead of Alistair Barter and Ed Suckling's Bertie. This cemented Cassell's position as overall class leader, winning the event four points ahead of Bertie. David Peerless' Miscreant took third overall.
In the Swallow class, Oliver Sloper's Marengo won today's race, ahead of Sir Malcolm Green's Archon and Anthony Lunch and Andrew Reid's Solitude. However, again the overall finishing order was unchanged after today's race, with Fiona Hampshire, Arthur Henderson and Honor Fell's Curlew taking first overall with 16 points, Paul Ward's Cockersootie second on 18 and Solitude third on 20 points.
Full report of all classes at www.aamcowesweek.com
Sills Crowned Eurosaf Youth European Champion
RS:X windsurfer Imogen Sills was crowned European Champion on Friday after a windless final day of the 2013 EUROSAF Youth Sailing European Championships in Tavira, Portugal (9 August).
The RYA RS:X UK Youth Squad sailor emulated the success of her twin sister Saskia Sills at the 2012 event in Aarhus, Denmark last year by dominating proceedings from start to finish. The 17-year-old from Launceston, Cornwall, opened her European account with a bang taking nothing but races wins from the first two days of competition to cement her position at the top of the leaderboard from the outset.
Continuing her fine form, the Tavistock College school student entered the final day of racing on Friday with eight race wins under her belt from the 12 race series and an eight point cushion over her nearest rival Maelle Guilbaud from France. However, with as little as one knot of wind at the designated start time and the breeze not materialising throughout the day, the race committee had no option but to cancel racing with the final standings being those at the end of the 12 fleet races.
The EUROSAF regatta is the only event in the Youth Racing calendar which holds a stadium-style medal race which would have been Sills' first taste of a final double points race, which she admitted to being a little disappointed from missing out on.
For the full list of results from the 2013 EUROSAF Youth Sailing European Championships visit the event website: tavirasailing.org
For further information regarding the RYA Racing programme please visit the RYA Website. www.rya.org.uk/racing/youthjunior/
Marlow Excel Dinghy Series Upgrades
The upgrades to the Excel Dinghy Series launched at the beginning of the year prove successful for new breed of high performance Olympic classes. The higher performance 49er rigs, the 49erfx and Nacra 17 all demand higher performance than ever from their ropes.
Excel Elite 90
Excel Elite 90 utilises the super high strength Dyneema SK90 yarn which is 15% stronger than the Marlow standard SK78 equivalent. The cover features a highly durable blend of Technora and polyester which improves abrasion resistance 300% compared to a full polyester cover.
Excel Racing GP 78
Compared to Excel Racing 78, the cover features a highly durable blend of Technora and polyester which improves both abrasion resistance and also grip in wet hands.
British sailing team member and 49er European champion Dylan Fletcher explains "Performance and reliability are key factors, the members of Team GBR are upgrading some high load lines such as spinnaker halyards to Excel Elite 90. The added abrasion resistance and improvement in strength can only benefit our performance and decrease needless retirements due to gear failure."
ISAF World Rankings
The ISAF World Sailing Rankings for 12 August 2013 have been released.
- Belcher still dominant in Men's 470 after 17th straight victory and fourth world title in a row
- Paine (USA) shifts Casey (AUS) off Finn top spot
- Croatians become 49er World #1 for first time
- Six British sailors in top three
Top ranked sailors:
470 Men: Matthew Belcher / William Ryan, AUS
470 Women: Lara Vadlau / (two different crew) Anneloes Van veen / Jolanta Ogar, AUT
49er: Pavle Kostov / Peter Cupac, CRO
49er FX: Alexandra Maloney / Molly Meech, NZL
Laser: Tom Burton, AUS
Laser Radial: Tatiana Drozdovskaya, BLR
Finn: Caleb Paine, USA
Nacra 17: Thomas Zajac / Tanja Chiara Frank, AUT
RS:X Men: Ivan Pastor Lafuente, ESP
RS:X Women: Bryony Shaw, GBR
Full rankings and reports: www.sailing.org/rankings
Mini-Transat
The Transgascogne was a last opportunity for some competitors to qualify for the Mini Transat. For instance Stan Maslard (Sefico Group), who needed foremost to finish the race to ensure he had the number of miles required to obtain the right to start on 13 October in Douarnenez. The race has also helped to strengthen the ambitions of many competitors who were keen to gain an advantage over their competition before the big crossing.
The strong wind, no wind, tactical game, and the round trip crossing of the Bay of Biscay, which marks the route of the Transgascogne, has offered a wide variety of conditions where everyone has had the opportunity to show their strengths. More importantly, this last race before the great confrontation has shown how extremely well matched the fleet for this 2013 edition is.
It is difficult today not to consider Gwenole Gahinet as the favorite of the 2013 edition of the Mini Transat. The Trinidadian navigator has dominated the pre-season racing with only the Trophy Marie Agnes Peron eluding him in favour of Giancarlo Pedote.
But the game is far from over. The opposition is getting stronger. We have already seen the potential of Giancarlo Pedote (Prysmian), who was absent from the Transgascogne, but other candidates are pushing themselves forward. Bertrand Delesne (Teamwork) has lost none of his bite while Julien Pulve (Chasseur de Primes) had managed to get on the podium in the Transgascogne for his second race of the season. These four guys will also be looking out for Stan Maslard and some serious outsiders such as Louis Segre and Benoit Marie, who are never far from the forefront.
To date, 82 have been awarded places of the 84 available. The two remaining seats are normally allocated to prototypes built in the year of the race. With no prototype currently under construction, August 25, the deadline for qualifying for the Mini Transat 2013, should see these two places being reallocated to the first two competitors on the waiting list. There are currently 12 skippers on the waiting list of the 94 enrolled.
The Mini Transat course: returns to its origins
Leg 1 - Douarnenez to Arrecife (Lanzarote): 1200 miles.
Leg 2 - Arrecife to Pointe a Pitre: 2800 miles.
Dates
Prologue October 6, 2013.
Start from Douarnenez October 13, 2013 at 13h. Arrival in the Canary Islands between 23 and 26 October 2013.
Start from Canary Islands November 9, 2013. Arrival in Guadeloupe between 23 and 30 November 2013.
Shark Cam!!!
Marine researchers have attached a video camera to the dorsal fin of a basking shark off Donegal in what's described as a "world's first".
RTe News reports that the footage captured by the team from the Irish Basking Shark Project, who affixed their camera to the giant six-metre shark off Malin Head last month.
Team spokesperson Emmett Johnston remarked on the basking shark bonanza off Donegal at present, commenting that the research "haven't seen sharks in such good numbers since 2010".
As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the gathering of beasts was a surprise for an angling kayaker who posted his own video of being 'stalked' by a basking shark off the Inishowen Peninsula.
But he was never in any real danger as despite their fearsome appearance, the gentle giants live on a diet of plankton.
An Eventful Start To A New Career
An historic racing yacht restored on the Suffolk coast had an eventful and challenging start to her new career as a sail training boat.
The 42ft long Leila, skippered by Southwold sailing instructor David Beavan, has been competing in Tall Ships races in the Baltic Sea. Adventures afloat have included a blown-up engine, seasickness and a brush with the law in Poland.
The engine on the 121-year-old gaff-rigged cutter blew up before the first competition off Copenhagen - sparking a race against time to get her back in the hunt. The crew - all youngsters from the region who had raised funds to crew on the yacht - were transferred to another boat.
With the help of a team of mechanics Mr Beaven, who oversaw the four-year £170,000 restoration of the Leila at a Southwold boatyard, found a replacement engine in just three days, allowing them to head off to Helsinki to catch up with the rest of the fleet.
The drama continued as the Leila arrived at the Polish town of Szczecin on the Odor River, when a police boat tried to stop the yacht by cutting across its bows, only for her bowsprit to damage the officers' blue flashing light.
The Leila - built in 1892 and the fifth oldest sailing yacht in the country - is due to return to her home port of Lowestoft on August 20. Four days later she will head to the Ipswich Maritime Festival before racing to the Solent. -- Craig Robinson
See www.leila2C.org for more details.
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