Harken returns as official supplier to the Volvo Ocean Race

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Ugo Fonolla/Volvo Ocean Race

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Ugo Fonolla/Volvo Ocean Race

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James Blake/Volvo Ocean Race

Harken has been named official supplier of winches, blocks, traveller systems and mast car systems for the 2017-18 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race (full story below)

Harken has been named official supplier of winches, blocks, traveller systems and mast car systems for the 2017-18 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.

It is the second consecutive race that the USA and Italy-based manufacturer has equipped the One Design Volvo Ocean 65 fleet with some of the most advanced deckware products on the market. The agreement ensures Harken hardware will continue to be a fixture of the racing boats when they line up in Alicante on 22 October 2017.

Each Volvo Ocean 65 features seven hand-operated, manual Harken winches on deck, which allow the sailors to hoist and trim huge sails under high-pressure racing conditions.

“We’re delighted that the Volvo Ocean 65s will once again feature a wide range of Harken products in 2017-18,” said Neil Cox, Head of the Boatyard, the Race’s shared services maintenance centre, which travels around the world alongside the fleet to keep the boats in tip top shape.

“With the fleet set to sail three times more Southern Ocean miles than in recent editions, the gear will really be put to the test – and we have faith that Harken’s products can withstand the most extreme conditions on the planet.”

Harken has a long and successful history supplying many Volvo Ocean Race teams before officially linking up with the event when the race moved to a One Design fleet ahead of 2014-15, and will supply carbon fibre racing winches, TTR2 Air® blocks, CRX roller bearing travellers, and Battcar systems in 2017-18.

“The Volvo Ocean Race is the toughest test for a team in offshore professional fleet racing. There is no better showcase for our grand prix winches, gearboxes and deck hardware tuned for this extreme event, that we’re very proud to service,” said Andrea Merello, Managaing Director Harken/ Italy.

In addition to hardware, as it did in the previous edition of the race, The Harken Tech Team will again provide expert assistance to The Boatyard. Assembled from Harken offices around the planet, The Tech Team expertly maintains the Harken winches and hardware at maintenance stopovers throughout the eight-month race.

“When the teams finish a leg, The Harken Tech Team’s race begins. Our best technicians work round the clock to be sure these precisely matched Volvo Ocean 65s are ready for the next leg’s start,” said Mark Gardner Custom Project Manager Harken/UK.

Harken’s network includes distribution in 48 countries, with group offices located in Australia, France, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The 2017-18 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race departs Alicante, Spain on 22 October 2017 and will stop at Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Auckland, Itajaí, Newport (USA), Cardiff and Gothenburg, before a big finish in The Hague in summer 2018.

WATCH THE VIDEO: ‘HOW TO BUILD A HARKEN WINCH’ HERE

via Harken returns as official supplier to the Volvo Ocean Race| Volvo Ocean Race.

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Millie Mackintosh will officially open Britain’s biggest festival of boating

16 Aug 2017

Millie Mackintosh will officially open TheYachtMarket.com Southampton Boat Show

Fashion and lifestyle entrepreneur Millie Mackintosh is to officially open Britain’s biggest festival of boating.

TheYachtMarket.com Southampton Boat Show will run for ten days from September 15 to 24 with attractions including special appearances from celebrity pirate, Gemma Hunt, from CBeebies programme, Swashbuckle.

“I’m thrilled to be opening this year’s TheYachtMarket.com Southampton Boat Show,” said Ms Mackintosh. “I’m really looking forward to spending some time at the event, soaking up the atmosphere and exploring some of the beautiful boats that shall be on display.”

Murray Ellis, chief officer of organisers Boat Shows at British Marine, added: “We’re delighted to welcome Millie Mackintosh to the Show this year.

“Attracting visitors from the UK and overseas from those new to boating to our stalwart experts, this year’s show offers a fantastic day out for friends and family.”

Out on the water, there will be the opportunity for visitors to take part in passenger boat trips, bell-boating and Stand Up Paddleboarding, dinghy sailing and kayak experiences, all included within their show ticket.

Feature boats including the tall ship Kaskelot are also set to be highlights for this year.

Ms Mackintosh will officially open the show on September 15 at 11am.

via Boating Business | Millie Mackintosh will officially open Britain’s biggest festival of boating.

Cadets experience joys and challenges of sailing in first CadetFest

16 Aug 2017

Barton Marine is investing in the next generation of sailors

A marine fittings and equipment company is investing in the next generation of sailors by supporting cadet events.

Barton Marine has teamed up with Whitstable Yacht Club for its first CadetFest that will feature joint activities with cadets from Herne Bay SC.

“Barton Marine has a keen interest in encouraging young people to get out on the water and try sailing,” explained Suzanne Blaustone, Barton Marine chief executive. “By supporting initiatives like the Whitstable Yacht Club Cadetfest, we hope that more people will enjoy and take up the sport.”

Barton Marine will provide prizes for the cadets taking part throughout the week and supply memorable keepsakes for all attendees.

Young sailors will also have the chance to gain insight into the marine industry on a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the Barton HQ and factory.

In addition, the company is supporting Royal Burnham Yacht Club Cadet Week with all participants receiving rigging equipment for use on their dinghies.

via Boating Business | Cadets experience joys and challenges of sailing in first CadetFest.

New investment allows yacht group to target further expansion

16 Aug 2017

new investment is allowing Discovery Yachts to expand with a new 48ft yacht

A new 48ft yacht is the first new model to be launched by Discovery Yachts since raising additional investment capital.

The luxury cruising yacht will be shown at the Düsseldorf Boat Show in January 2018 and forms the first stage of plans to expand the yacht builder’s current range.

The additional investment has come from Nick Gill, founder and former CEO of Gill Marine and Michael Putziger, chairman of the Winn Group of Companies in the US. Further investors are expected to be announced in the autumn.

“This is great endorsement of our plans for the long-term growth of the group and both Nick and Michael will bring extensive commercial knowledge and wisdom,” said Sean Langdon, CEO at Discovery Yachts Group. “We may look for one or two further investors in the Autumn to further accelerate our growth.”

Discovery Yachts Group was formed to complete the acquisition of Discovery Yachts through a management-led buyout headed by Mr Langdon, following the retirement of the company’s founder and chairman John Charnley.

After the acquisition, the group purchased the Southerly Yachts business and assets and has so far sold three yachts.

The latest funds will be used to strengthen the financial structure of the group and potentially allow the acquisition of further brands in the future.

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via Boating Business | New investment allows yacht group to target further expansion.

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Vintage boats galore at Classic Boat Festival

18 Aug 2017

Vessels at the Classic Boat Festival will include 14 of the Dunkirk Little Ships

More than 40 vintage sailing and motor boats will be on display at St Katharine Docks’ Classic Boat Festival this September.

Vessels include 14 of the Dunkirk Little Ships, former London Fire Brigade fireboat the Massey Shaw, the Queen’s Royal Rowbarge Gloriana and Portwey, the only twin screw, coal-fired steam tug still active in the UK.

Visitors will have the opportunity to go onboard the vessels and talk to their owners at the Docks, managed by Camper & Nicholsons Marinas.

Activities at the festival, which takes place from 8-10 September, will include free stand-up paddle boarding and canoe taster sessions.

Children’s activities include a treasure quest, pirate sword decorating and flag decorating.

Live music will be provided by the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and Barnet Hill Lifeboat Crew sea shanty singers will also perform.

This year, the festival will host ‘Future Dust’, a large-scale art work made from plastic debris cleaned from the over 40 beaches along the tidal River Thames.

via Boating Business | Vintage boats galore at Classic Boat Festival.

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Largest ever Clipper Round the World Yacht Race set sail

21 Aug 2017

This year’s Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has more participants than ever before

The largest ever Clipper Race which this year has higher participation numbers than ever before representing 41 nationalities has set sail from Liverpool.

After heading out of the River Mersey and into the Irish Sea, the twelve-strong Clipper Race fleet is heading 6,400 nM south, the equivalent distance of ten Fastnet Races, through the Atlantic Ocean towards Punta del Este, Uruguay.

“The Clipper Race has got bigger and better with each edition and I can’t help feeling incredibly proud as I watch our crew head off on what will certainly be a life changing journey,” said Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Clipper Race chairman.

This opening leg of the eleven-month series will take approximately 35 days to complete and is the longest ever in the race’s 21-year history.

Following their stopover in Uruguay, the teams will then head to Cape Town, Fremantle, Sydney, Hobart, The Whitsundays, Sanya, Qingdao, Seattle, Panama and New York, before a final crossing of the Atlantic Ocean towards Derry-Londonderry.

The Clipper Race will return to Liverpool’s Albert Dock almost a year later on Saturday 28 July 2018, where one of the twelve teams will be awarded the illustrious Clipper Race trophy.

via Boating Business | Largest ever Clipper Round the World Yacht Race set sail.

MAPFRE set the Volvo Ocean Race bar with overall Leg Zero victory

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Konrad Frost/Volvo Ocean Race

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Konrad Frost/Volvo Ocean Race

MAPFRE completed Leg Zero victory while Vestas 11th Hour Racing celebrated a first stage win in another sign of just how competitive this Volvo Ocean Race is shaping up to be (full story below)

Spanish team MAPFRE completed overall Leg Zero victory in the early hours of Wednesday (16 August) and struck the first psychological blow in the build-up to the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18.

But what the Leg Zero series of qualifiers confirmed above all is that all the teams boasting race experience and/or preparation time are extremely closely matched.

The newer teams know they have more work to do, but there are still plenty of positives to take from the progress they have made – and they still have time to close the gap with more than two months to go before the race starts from Alicante on 22 October.

Charlie Enright’s Vestas 11th Hour Racing became the third team to grab a victory from four stages in Leg Zero – a series of pre-race qualifying stages for the next edition of the round-the-world race – as they sneaked ahead of MAPFRE in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

With team AkzoNobel also overtaking MAPFRE to grab second place, it was more proof that the leaders will always have to watch their backs.

For experienced teams and new entries alike, Leg Zero has proved to be an extremely valuable test.

The teams faced a variety of conditions, from a rough rounding of the Isle of Wight in conditions that Turn the Tide on Plastic skipper Dee Caffari described as ‘almost as hard as the Southern Ocean’; a classic Rolex Fastnet Race; a quick sprint from Plymouth to Saint-Malo and an agonising drift in the leg from Saint-Malo to Lisbon, which eventually led to the stage being split in two and then brought to a premature close at 0430 UTC on Wednesday.

Enright was particularly satisfied to be able to grab an early victory heading into the 2017-18 edition.

“There may never be another one quite like that, but we’ll take it,” said the American. “We’ve been improving every day we spend on the boat together and it’s nice to see that improvement manifest itself in the form of a win.”

First-time skipper Simeon Tienpont on team AkzoNobel said after the series finish: “We knew already it’s close action but definitely learnt how important it is to have the routine on board right and keep everyone focused all the time.”

After months of training together in all conditions MAPFRE skipper Xabi Fernández is eager for his team to recuperate before attacking the final preparations. “One of the things we have to do now is have a good rest because it has been a lot of work over this last month,” he said. “Then we work on the small details of the boat, do the last push in the gym, make sure everyone is healthy, then be focused on the start.

There will be no rest for British skipper Dee Caffari as Turn the Tide on Plastic – carrying the message of the United Nations Environment Clean Seas campaign – will be running at full speed in order to finalise their crew selection.

They may be playing catch-up but the 50/50 male/female, predominantly youth team, can certainly challenge the rest of the fleet as they proved in the last 48 hours: “To actually lead the fleet in this final stage of Leg Zero was absolutely awesome. The confidence it gave the team, you could see it, and the focus, the intensity, everyone raised their game because they could see the other boats so close.”

via MAPFRE set the Volvo Ocean Race bar with overall Leg Zero victory| Volvo Ocean Race.

With only 53 days remaining until the start of the Prologue from Lisbon to Alicante, now is the time for the teams to complete their final training at sea, their sponsor engagements and safety training.

These few weeks will be precious for Hong Kong entry Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, who had less than a week of training before starting Leg Zero.

Skipper David Witt and his team have years of experience of sailing together and will now redouble their efforts to extract the best from their One Design Volvo Ocean 65.

“The racing on Leg Zero has shown us what we’re strong at, what we’re weak at,” said Witt. “MAPFRE have dominated, they’ve shown everybody how strong they are and they’ve set the bar where we’ve all got to get to. We are not weak in all areas – there are some areas we are quite good at. It’s good to find this out now rather than on Leg 2 of the race. And now we’ve got five weeks to fix, I’ve got a pretty good idea how to fix it and now we’ve just got to get on with it.”

While it’s tempting to label MAPFRE as favourites going into the race, none of the skippers will be taking anything for granted.

“I think Dongfeng is well prepared and they have been working hard all the winter as well,” said MAPFRE’s Xabi. “The new teams, like AkzoNobel, are coming together with some good experience and improving every day they sail together. There is a good mix of crew across Brunel, very experienced and they will be very competitive.”

Charles Caudrelier, whose Dongfeng team finished second overall and won the Volvo Ocean 65 class in the Fastnet, added: “I think I am happy. I think we had a good speed and a good spirit onboard. I’m pretty sure we can do very well.”

Standing on the dock in Alicante in a couple of months’ time, the crews will have 45,000 miles of sailing in front of them – and the knowledge that anything could happen.

Leg Zero, overall final rankings:

1. MAPFRE 29 points

2. Dongfeng Race Team 24

3. Team Brunel 23

4. team AkzoNobel 22

5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing 20

6. Turn the Tide on Plastic 13

7. Sun Hung Kai Scallywag 9

via MAPFRE set the Volvo Ocean Race bar with overall Leg Zero victory| Volvo Ocean Race.

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A modern rebuild for a classic schooner

08 Aug 2017

Vagrant has already arrived at the Royal Huisman facilities where it will be rebuilt

A vintage 39m schooner which has fascinated yacht lovers for more than a century is to be rebuilt to preserve it for future prosperity.

Team Huisfit’s task is to fully reconstruct the Herreshoff Vagrant protecting the vessel’s historic value, while re-engineering it with the most modern quality materials and board systems available.

Vagrant has already arrived at the Royal Huisman facilities in Vollenhove where the yacht will be fully stripped.

The rebuild will begin with sandblasting and preservation of the vessel’s 33m, 100-year-old steel hull, after which a new deck and all necessary outfitting will be re-installed.

Dykstra Naval Architects and Rondal will provide the re-rigging of Vagrant’s schooner-rigged sail plan with yankee, staysail, main staysail and queen fisherman, while new Rondal aluminum masts will be constructed for the inside furling of the fisherman and mainsail.

Without compromising on space the engine, generators, heating, air conditioning and more will be smartly concealed behind wooden panels and cabinetry.

Meanwhile, the luxury owner and guest accommodation will be refurbished, while new crew’s quarters will be created by Royal Huisman’s joinery.

The rebuilt Vagrant is scheduled for delivery in 2019.

via Boating Business | A modern rebuild for a classic schooner.

Foldable mast enables easier adjustments and access

10 Aug 2017

The Balpha Mast has been developed to be easily raised or lowered

A new foldable mast system will make rigging adjustments, maintenance, repairs, winter storage and transportation easier.

The Balpha Mast has been developed to be easily raised or lowered to avoid heavy weather damage.

Inventor Stuart Balfour developed the mast in collaboration with carbon mast designer Ceilidh Composite Technologies and naval architect Dick Koopmans.

After being fitted onto a 7m traditional Shetland model boat in the Netherlands, the aluminium prototype was tested by Scotland-based Stuart Balfour and his brother Ewen on a journey from Hellevoetsluis to Amsterdam.

The journey was selected for its difficult navigation with a large mast. The vessel also went to the Oosterdok after arriving at Amsterdam Marina and was reported to have navigated both waterways with ease.

The Balpha Mast system will be launched during the HISWA boat show in Amsterdam, beginning 29 September.

via Boating Business | Foldable mast enables easier adjustments and access.