Dongfeng lead the pack as Volvo Ocean Race fleet takes on the Rolex Fastnet Race

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Dongfeng Race Team stormed down the western Solent to lead the fleet of Volvo Ocean 65s in the Rolex Fastnet Race (full story below)

Dongfeng Race Team stormed down the western Solent to lead the fleet of Volvo Ocean 65s in the Rolex Fastnet Race – part two of the Leg Zero qualifying series for the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18.

With 2.5 knots of outgoing tide against 18-21 knots of south westerly wind, the Chinese team, skippered by Charles Caudrelier, secured their lead by expertly covering the rest of the tightly bunched fleet.

The two red boats, MAPFRE and Dongfeng Racing won the start but the Spanish team were held up by bad wind coming off Nikata, the biggest boat in the race at 115 feet. In fact, all the Volvo Ocean Race sailors were challenged by having to sail around the record 390-boat fleet in this 605-nautical mile offshore classic.

Sailing in a mixed boat fleet will not be a challenge after this section of Leg Zero. Following the Fastnet, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet will complete two more legs – Plymouth to Saint-Malo and Saint-Malo to Lisbon – without any other boats as a distraction, or hindrance.

The opening leg of Leg Zero was a 50nm sprint around the Isle of Wight, won in record-breaking fashion by MAPFRE.

That makes the Fastnet the first offshore test for the teams that will take the start line of the Volvo Ocean Race on 22 October in Alicante.

“It’s the first time we are all going to sail offshore against the other boats so it’s important to see where we are amongst the other boats,” said Caudrelier. “It’s a good race to train, to start racing together.”

As the boats reached the famous chalky cliffs of the Needles, Dongfeng led by 0.3 nm from Vestas 11th Hour Racing, with MAPFRE in third.

Team AkzoNobel, Team Brunel, Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag and Turn the Tide on Plastic were closely grouped behind, with only 0.6 nm separating the entire fleet.

Leaving the Isle of Wight behind, the fleet will face stable upwind conditions until Land’s End where scrambled winds from an old cold front, and strong tides await. This transition will be hard fought and could split the fleet, with opportunities for more experienced teams to react faster to the changing circumstances.

While an overall Leg Zero winner will be declared, no points will be carried through to the Volvo Ocean Race itself, meaning there’s particular value in the series for some of the later teams to enter.

David Witt, skipper of Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, said: “The longer we can sail in the same water as MAPFRE and Dongfeng, the more we’re going to learn. Just don’t expect us to set the world on fire until the real stuff happens.”

The boats are due at the Fastnet Rock at around 0600 UTC on Tuesday, whereupon they will sail downwind in conditions building from 15-20 knots before a reach to the finish in Plymouth late on Tuesday night.

The fleet will re-start from Plymouth on the leg to Saint-Malo on Thursday.

via Dongfeng lead the pack as Volvo Ocean Race fleet takes on the Rolex Fastnet Race| Volvo Ocean Race.

Upwind slog forecast as Volvo Ocean Race fleet tackles Rolex Fastnet Race

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Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

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IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race

The second stage of Leg Zero qualifying is the Rolex Fastnet Race, starting on Sunday, and it will present a very different challenge to the Volvo Ocean Race fleet

The second stage of Leg Zero qualifying is the Rolex Fastnet Race, starting on Sunday (6 August), and it will present a very different challenge to the Volvo Ocean Race fleet – as well as an early chance for the chasing pack to show they can match early pacesetters MAPFRE.

Xabi Fernández and his Spanish team found record-breaking form in winds of up to 35 knots to take the first of four Leg Zero races on Wednesday, a blast around the Isle of Wight in the Sevenstar Triple Crown series at Lendy Cowes Week.

While MAPFRE took the honours, the racing was incredibly close among the entire fleet and there were plenty of positives for all the skippers to take from the first battle of the Volvo Ocean 65s in the official build-up to the race itself, which starts 22 October from Alicante.

But while that first test came in true Volvo Ocean Race conditions – with the boats blazing through a tormented sea, records smashed and salty smiles all round – the famous Rolex Fastnet Race? Not so much!

This year’s 605 nautical mile Fastnet is going to be a long upwind slog all the way from the start line off Cowes, Isle of Wight, to the turn at the Fastnet Rock at the south east point of Ireland.

The last class to start at 1140 UTC, and one of the fastest, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet will quickly find themselves amongst the smaller boats ahead as the entire 390-boat fleet tacks up the western Solent in a classic Fastnet start.

The excitement could soon turn to frustration if the light conditions don’t allow the Volvo Ocean 65 fleet to make it past the first major headland, the Portland Bill, before the tide turns against them. With a strong eastwards rush of the tide against them by the coast, and lighter winds below them to the south, the boats that just blitzed the Isle of Wight record will be crawling.

“This race is fraught with hazards,” said Dee Caffari, skipper of Turn the Tide on Plastic. “Right from the start line as you leave off the Royal Yacht Squadron line through the Solent you’ve got shallows and tide to contend with and several tidal gates along the way which are either going to make or break your race… But it’s not my first Rolex Fastnet so I’m comfortable that I know where I’m going and what I’m doing.”

No respite awaits at Land’s End as they’ll pass through a cold front that will add rain to the insult of upwind sailing. A new high pressure will establish itself on Monday in the middle of the Atlantic that will feed the fleet steady northwesterly wind to cross the Celtic Sea. More upwind!

The stable conditions will allow the crews to soak up a beautiful rounding off the famous rock – which should make for some nice photos in the early hours of Tuesday, if the sun is up by then – before a nice run back to Plymouth in 15-20 knots.

For David Witt, skipper of Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, it’s a good opportunity to test the wisdom of his decision to go with an all-male crew of seven instead of taking advantage of a rule that gives teams the option of adding up to two women to the team, or taking a fully mixed five male-five female crew.

Witt said: “We’ve got a bit of a strategy of having the least amount of people on board and the reason for that is for conditions like the Fastnet, especially coming back from the rock, when it’ll be VMG running 8-12 which is sort of what the majority of this Volvo is. We might tick a box and say we’re right, or we might say ‘hold on’ and change our whole strategy.”

The crews that are still new to their boats will be thankful for the opportunity to knock out some gybing practice before stages three and four of Leg Zero bring them into stronger downwind sailing again down the coast of Portugal.

Charles Caudrelier, Dongfeng Race Team, said: “It’s very good to be here because before the Volvo we couldn’t sail against the other ones, so we trained outside and we have no reference, only the numbers, so it’s good to race against the other ones and see how it goes and if we did a good job so it’s very important for everybody.”

For full crew lists for the Volvo Ocean Race teams in the Rolex Fastnet Race see volvooceanrace.com

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Remaining Leg Zero races:

Stage 2, starting 6 August: Rolex Fastnet Race

Stage 3, starting 10 August: Plymouth to Saint-Malo

Stage 4, starting 13 August: Saint-Malo to Lisbon

via Upwind slog forecast as Volvo Ocean Race fleet tackles Rolex Fastnet Race| Volvo Ocean Race.

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag name crew for Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18

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Konrad Frost/Volvo Ocean Race

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Hong Kong’s first ever Volvo Ocean Race entry Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag have named their full crew for the upcoming edition – featuring a mix of rookies and veterans, including a winner from 2014-15 and a history-making navigator back for his sixth edition (full story below)

Australian Luke Parkinson, who won the trophy as a rookie onboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing last edition, will race as part of skipper David Witt’s crew – and he is joined by navigator Steve Hayles, who returns to the event after almost a decade.

Hayles made his debut as a 20-year-old onboard Reebok/Dolphin & Youth in 1993-94 – and still holds the title as the youngest ever navigator to compete in the history of the event.

He went on to make it five consecutive races over 15 years, onboard Silk Cut in 1997-98, Tyco in 2001-02, Ericsson in 2005-06 and Green Dragon in 2008-09.

Also named in Witt’s squad are New Zealand’s Mark Fullerton, who raced with Brunel in the 2005-06 edition, Briton John Fisher, Hong Kong local Tiger Mok and Australian trio David Mann, Alex Gough and Ben Piggott.

“I’m delighted to have a crew of guys I’ve known for a long time – they’re all great sailors, and we’ve done a lot of miles together over the years,” said Witt.

“Steve Hayles is the best navigator I’ve ever sailed with, and Luke Parkinson comes with bags of Volvo Ocean 65 experience. That’s one of the areas where we’re a little bit light, so he’s a big asset to us and brings a lot to the team.”

He added: “We want to create a team ethos where everyone can reach their potential in whatever their role is – and to do that, you’ve got to trust and respect each other 100%.

“We want Hayles to become a Race-winning navigator, we want Piggott to become the next Parko, and we want Parko to become a future skipper in the race.

“We’re all a team and want to succeed in a team, but we recognise that part of our role is to promote and let everyone be as good as they can in an individual role in the team without ego or conflict.”

The team, which is backed by Seng Huang Lee and Sun Hung Kai & Co., the Hong Kong-based owner of super-maxi yacht Scallywag, aims to promote competitive sailing in Asia and build a long-lasting youth sailing legacy in the region.

“Tiger (Mok) is Hong Kong born and bred, and he’s a great sailor,” continued Witt. “He will race some legs – and he’s also the backup navigator, so will do a lot of onshore navigation and work closely with Steve (Hayles).

“Having him onboard will help to build the profile of the sport in the region, and encourage kids in Hong Kong to see that there’s a real future in offshore sailing.”

Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag had their first taste of competitive Volvo Ocean 65 action in the opening stage of Leg Zero – and now prepare to tackle the Rolex Fastnet Race, departing on Sunday 6 August.

He added: “We’ve finished with our squad selection for now, but the only thing that’s up in the air with us is whether we need to take more crew on the boat or not.

“Right now, we’re playing catch up a little bit with all of the idiosyncrasies of the boat. We still think we’re on the right track going with minimal crew – but we’re still open, and that could change as the race draws nearer.”

via Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag name crew for Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18| Volvo Ocean Race.

MAPFRE blaze to record victory in first pre-Volvo Ocean Race test

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Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

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Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

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Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

Spanish team MAPFRE took first blood in the opening battle of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet (full story below)

MAPFRE took first blood in the opening battle of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet – with Xabi Fernández and his Spanish team finding faultless form to smash the established record time for a monohull around the Isle of Wight.

MAPFRE clocked 3 hours 13 minutes 11 seconds in strong conditions off England’s south coast to hold off Team Brunel and notch up victory in the Around the Island Race – the first in a series of four ‘Leg Zero’ tests acting as qualifiers for the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, which starts on 22 October.

Race Results:

1. MAPFRE: 3 hours 13 minutes 11 seconds

2. Team Brunel: 3 hours 14 minutes 55 seconds

3. team AkzoNobel: 3 hours 15 minutes 16 seconds

4. Dongfeng Race Team: 3 hours 18 minutes 26 seconds

5. Turn the Tide on Plastic: 3 hours 24 minutes 16 seconds

6. Vestas 11th Hour Racing: 3 hours 25 minutes 10 seconds

7. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag: 3 hours 29 minutes 53 seconds

The first four of the Volvo Ocean 65s – MAPFRE, Brunel, AkzoNobel and Dongfeng – were all, subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council, under the fastest previous monohull time of 3:20, set by the super-maxi ICAP Maximus.

On a grey summer’s day in Cowes, scattered patches of drizzle couldn’t obscure the brightly coloured sails of the Volvo Ocean 65 fleet as the brass cannons of the Royal Yacht Squadron boomed out the first official start signal in the build-up to this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.

MAPFRE brought their team’s Olympic experience to bear as they won the start handily, beating Vestas 11th Hour Racing and Brunel across the line.

With wind from the south between 15-20 knots at the start and gusts up to 35 knots, the boats flew down the Solent on the outgoing tide. The most recently announced team, and thus the team with the least miles in training, Dee Caffari’s Turn the Tide on Plastic was the only boat with a reef at the start. They were quickly joined by the rest of the fleet as the wind built during the drag race down the Solent.

After the southern point of the island the Volvo Ocean 65s were finally able to bear away onto their favourite point of sail, with navigator Joan Vila perfectly choosing MAPFRE’s course and sail changes.

There was no surprise that all the top teams around the back of the island had done the previous race, with MAPFRE leading Dongfeng and Brunel. Bouwe Bekking’s strong performance demonstrated that despite only a week’s training before today, and crew trials still underway, the 39,000 miles sailed in the 2014-15 edition are worth gold.

The boats will now regroup in Gosport as a final opportunity to prepare for the Rolex Fastnet Race, the second stage of Leg Zero, starting on Sunday. After the Fastnet, the teams complete Leg Zero by sailing from Plymouth to St Malo and then on to Lisbon.

What the skippers said:

Xabi Fernández, MAPFRE: “Of course, I’m very happy wth the crew. It’s one of our strongest points – a lot of us have sailed together already and the new people are all good people, very switched on, and things are coming together nicely.”

Bouwe Bekking, Team Brunel: “I think we sailed well and made the right sail choices. AkzoNobel have been sailing for more than a year but MAPFRE was the fastest today. All in all, a good day!”

Simeon Tienpont, team AkzoNobel: “We felt we had a solid race and it was good to be in the top of the fleet. It gives us some confidence. Absolutely, there’s a few things we can work on but we’ll also take a lot of positives out of it.”

Charles Caudrelier, Dongfeng Race Team: “Windy and wet for sure. We had a nice match with MAPFRE, had a very good day and we were fighting with AkzoNobel and Brunel. We have seen a lot of things to improve and everyone is ready. It was not an easy day!”

Dee Caffari, Turn the Tide on Plastic: “We were a bit conservative with our sailing plan but we were fast and we’re learning how to sail our boats so I am happy. It’s the first time in my whole career, with all the miles I have done, that I have steered a boat on its bow with all its rudders out of the water. It was impressive!”

Charlie Enright, Vestas 11th Hour Racing: “It never feels good to have a poor result but it’s all about the process and making sure we keep within the right times. Plenty of stuff on the list today to get better at, and actually it was pretty constructive.”

David Witt, Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag: “It was very wet, very windy and we didn’t do very well but there’s a long way to go. We can take a fair bit out of this. It was the first time we’ve ever lined up against anyone and we were right in it. Far from dire straits. If it all went well then you probably don’t learn as much.”

via MAPFRE blaze to record victory in first pre-Volvo Ocean Race test| Volvo Ocean Race.

Team AkzoNobel sign up Brazil’s Olympic gold medallist Martine Grael for the Volvo Ocean Race

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Amalia Infante/Volvo Ocean Race

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Team AkzoNobel have added Martine Grael, Brazil’s sailing gold medallist from the 2016 Olympics in Rio, to their crew for the Volvo Ocean Race in 2017-18 (full story below)

Team AkzoNobel have added Martine Grael, the Brazilian sailing gold medallist from the 2016 Olympics in Rio, to their crew for the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18.

The 26-year-old is the daughter of race legend Torben Grael – Brazil’s most successful Olympic sailor of all-time, with five medals – and she will be joining an AkzoNobel squad that features three members of her father’s all-conquering Ericsson 4 team in 2008-09: British navigator Jules Salter, and watch leaders Brad Jackson from New Zealand and the Brazilian Joca Signorini.

Together with Kahena Kunze, Grael clinched gold in the 49er FX class in Rio. She is the first Brazilian woman ever to take part in the Volvo Ocean Race, and in taking on the 45,000 nautical mile round-the-world challenge, she is making a massive step up – but it’s one she’s looking forward to.

“Stepping up from the 49er FX to the Volvo Ocean Race with team AkzoNobel is a very exciting opportunity to expand my sailing skills and my fitness level,” Grael said. “My goal is to as quickly as possible get a good feel for the boat and understand the finesse required to produce the best performance.

“This is a big journey for me but I’m hoping to enjoy the experience and learn a lot from it. Most of all I want to prove that I belong on this team and I can’t wait to start racing against other boats.”

Team AkzoNobel is led by Simeon Tienpont and the Dutchman is delighted to add another huge sailing talent to his strong multinational crew.

“Martine is one of the world’s most talented young sailors and has proven her ability to perform at the highest level with her Olympic gold medal winning performance,” Tienpont said. “She is one of the few individuals who can successfully make the leap from small boat sailing into the professional arena of big boat racing in events like the Volvo Ocean Race.

“It’s no surprise that she is such a complete talent given the amazing sailing family she grew up in, where she learned from a young age what it takes to compete at the top of this sport. Aside from her sailing ability, Martine also has a great personality – she’s fiercely competitive and great fun to have on board.”

Grael will take part in Leg Zero – a mandatory series of four preliminary races for the seven competing Volvo Ocean Race teams prior to the race start on October 22 in Alicante, Spain.

Leg Zero begins on August 2 with a sprint around England’s Isle of Wight, followed by the Rolex Fastnet Race on August 6-9 followed by a further two stages from Plymouth to St Malo and St Malo to Lisbon.

The Volvo Ocean Race begins on 22 October from Alicante, Spain and will visit a total of 12 Host Cities around the world.

via Team AkzoNobel sign up Brazil’s Olympic gold medallist Martine Grael for the Volvo Ocean Race| Volvo Ocean Race.

Liz Wardley joins Turn the Tide on Plastic

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Jen Edney/Volvo Ocean Race

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Jen Edney/Volvo Ocean Race

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Jen Edney/Volvo Ocean Race

Turn the Tide on Plastic skipper Dee Caffari has named her first crew member of the 2017-18 edition by signing up two-time Volvo Ocean Race veteran Liz Wardley (full story below)

Turn the Tide on Plastic skipper Dee Caffari has named her first crew member of the 2017-18 edition by signing up two-time Volvo Ocean Race veteran Liz Wardley.

The Australian, who first competed in the Race in 2001-02 onboard Amer Sports Too, and more recently was part of Team SCA’s 2014-15 campaign, joins the team as Boat Captain.

Liz made her name winning numerous titles in the Hobie Cat 16 class, before becoming the first woman to win the Sydney-Hobart Race in 1999, having skippered a boat at the age of just 19 the previous year.

Wardley boasts more experience around the One Design Volvo Ocean 65’s than anyone else on the planet having clocked up over 80,000 nautical miles over the last four years.

Since the end of the Team SCA campaign, she has been working as part of the Volvo Ocean Race Boatyard team in Lisbon, as the facility completed a comprehensive refit of the whole fleet.

“I’m absolutely delighted to join Turn the Tide on Plastic for the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race,” said Wardley. “I’ve made no secret of my desire to compete for a third time and to do so as part of what will be a fully mixed crew is incredibly exciting.

“I’ve spent a lot of time around the Volvo Ocean 65s since the end of the 2014-15 edition and I’ve learned a lot which I can’t wait to put into practice during another race around the world.”

The Turn the Tide on Plastic campaign, backed by the Mirpuri Foundation and the Ocean Family Foundation, will amplify the United Nations Environment’s ‘Clean Seas: Turn the Tide on Plastic’ message throughout the Race.

Wardley, who was born and raised in Papua New Guinea, is a passionate ocean health campaigner and believes that this campaign can make a real difference to what is a growing issue.

“As someone who grew up around the ocean in some of the most remote parts of the planet, I have seen the heartbreaking impact of plastic pollution first hand,” she continued.

“We need to do something about it – and I’m extremely proud about being part of this trailblazing campaign, backed by some passionate partners, which I really believe can make an incredible impact on a global scale.”

Caffari, who has been trialling potential crew members in Lisbon over the past month as she aims to build a youth-orientated and mixed squad, added that Wardley’s experience makes her a key part of the team.

“I know Liz well having sailed alongside her on Team SCA and she is one of the best in the business,” she said. “She knows the Volvo Ocean 65 inside out having spent more time around these boats than any other sailor in the world – male or female – and that’s experience you simply can’t replicate.”

Caffari and Wardley oversaw a trial crew which recently sailed the Turn the Tide on Plastic boat from Lisbon, Portugal to Gosport, UK where the full Volvo Ocean Race fleet is stationed ahead of the beginning of Leg Zero on Wednesday 2 August. Further members of the Turn the Tide on Plastic crew will be announced shortly.

The Turn the Tide on Plastic boat will amplify the Volvo Ocean Race’s larger sustainability focus, and joins team AkzoNobel (Simeon Tienpont, Netherlands), Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier, France), MAPFRE (Xabi Fernández, Spain), Vestas 11th Hour Racing (Charlie Enright, USA), Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (David Witt, Australia) and Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking, Netherlands) in the fleet for the 2017-18 edition.

The Volvo Ocean Race starts from Alicante on 22 October and will stop at Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Auckland, Itajaí, Newport, Cardiff and Gothenburg before a big finish in The Hague at the end of June 2018.

via Liz Wardley joins Turn the Tide on Plastic| Volvo Ocean Race.

What to look out for on Leg Zero

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James Blake/Volvo Ocean Race

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Jeremie Lecaudey/Volvo Ocean Race

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Ugo Fonolla/Volvo Ocean Race

Who will draw #FirstBlood in the debut battle between the teams? (full story below)

Leg Zero not only takes care of the official qualifying for the Volvo Ocean Race – it’s also the first chance to see the teams in a competitive shakedown against each other.

No points will be carried forward to the race itself, but the overall Leg Zero winner still gets a confidence boost – and here, round-the-world Vendée Globe sailor Conrad Colman fills us in on how it might play out.

Leg Zero breakdown

Don’t go looking for the logic, but Leg Zero is actually made up of four separate races. The seven teams taking part – team AkzoNobel, Dongfeng Race Team, MAPFRE, Vestas 11th Hour Racing, Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, Turn the Tide on Plastic and Team Brunel – will face the following schedule:

2 August: an intense 50-nautical mile sprint around the Isle of Wight

6 August start: the famous Rolex Fastnet Race featuring some of the hottest yachting hardware on the planet in a 608 nm coastal race that has historically served up a hearty dose of danger – and a lot of stressed navigators.

Then comes another big challenge, with two Volvo Ocean Race-only legs:

10 August start: Plymouth, England to St Malo in France (125 nm)

13 August start: St Malo to Lisbon, Portugal (770 nm)

There are no other boats to act as a distraction on these last two legs, just the world’s strictest offshore One Design fleet and the clock ticking down to the start of the Volvo Ocean Race from Alicante, Spain on 22 October 2017.

Around the Island Race

A 50-mile coastal race in early August for some of the best sailors in the world who are preparing to tackle the world’s longest racetrack in sport? Okay, let’s be honest – we’re not going to learn a lot here. There’s nothing much at stake and in terms of racing, it’s tempting to say there’s nothing to see here… But then again, sandbanks, rocks and tides will make these 50 miles pretty challenging – and would you want to finish last out of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet?

The Famous Fastnet

Now we’re talking. The Rolex Fastnet Race boasts the biggest offshore racing fleet in the sailing world and traditionally, it can go one of two ways. Either a late summer depression will rip across the Atlantic Ocean and chew through the fleet, as happened in the infamous 1979 edition, or boats will be forced to pick their way along the English coast, searching for any puff of wind while being pushed in circles by the tides.

The series of bays and headlands along the southern coast of England make the first part of the course like sailing along the edge of a saw, where each point sticking down into the English Channel concentrates and accelerates the tide. This will give a welcome push to those that make it through on time, and punish those forced to fight against the flow. In the tight Volvo Ocean 65 fleet, rounding a headland just 10 minutes after a competitor might cost you an hour at the finish! Even though the Fastnet doesn’t count towards the points in the race around the world, MAPFRE skipper Xabi Fernández confirms that his team won’t get much sleep: “A 600-mile race like the Fastnet is not super relevant towards the real race but of course it’s always good to sail together as a crew. There will be plenty of manoeuvres and a lot going on. It’s going to be good training and we will take it very seriously.”

Look out for strange routes on the tracker by the Land’s End point as strong tides turn around this headland and there’s a huge obstacle in the way. Traffic Separation Schemes (TSS) act like salty motorways for commercial shipping, and because they guide hundreds of massive steel ships, they are off limits for competitors.

These off-limits TSS zones will appear later in the Volvo Ocean Race route, most notably in the Strait of Gibraltar, around Hong Kong and off the coast of Newport, RI. This American highway upended the leaderboard in the last race after MAPFRE, Team SCA and Dongfeng all entered the zone illegally and were penalised. Now is a good time for the teams to get to grips with these TSS zones to avoid problems later when the points are at stake.

As the English coast fades into the horizon behind, streaking across the Celtic Sea will allow the Volvo Ocean 65s to enter more typical ocean conditions until the handbrake turn around Fastnet Rock. We’ll talk about the actual weather closer to the time but here the wind is often from the west and with the route now leading eastwards back to the Cornish coast the wind will be coming from behind the boats – a wind angle that the crews will see a lot of in the coming race around the world.

From rocks to tides to TSS’s, one thing is for sure – the navigators will suffer!

via What to look out for on Leg Zero| Volvo Ocean Race.

St Malo Rocks

After back to back stopovers in Lorient in 2011-12 and 2014-15, the Volvo Ocean Race will visit another French city that’s crazy about ocean racing, St Malo. It’s best known for a solo transatlantic race every four years called the Route du Rhum (confirming the theory that sailors are obsessed with the sea, salt and rum).

Volvo Ocean Race boats have deep keels and are normally safe offshore in the deep ocean but in 2008-09 Bouwe Bekking skimmed the bottom in Taiwan and dramatically slammed into a submerged rock just off Gothenburg. A former pirate’s paradise, St Malo is also protected by a fearsome set of reefs and needless to say, it could be pretty stressful with freshly painted keels and a circumnavigation just around the corner!

Who’s hot, who’s not?

Cyclists count how many ribs are visible on their competitors to see if they are down to weight. Football players look for medical tape on opposing teams that might signal a sign of weakness. Sailors have less to go on, as physical form is only one factor in the pursuit of speed. In sailing, polished teamwork counts for more than the circumference of biceps and strong tides and fickle winds will make it hard to get an accurate measure of potential speed in real offshore conditions.

Dee Caffari, Skipper of Turn the Tide on Plastic: “As a form guide I think it would be misleading. We all have different sails for racing. Some have old sails some have race sails and some have a combination of sails. I am still using the Leg 0 race schedule as a trial for my sailing team so it is a test to see if we have the appropriate people.”

The short legs won’t allow teams to try out their ocean watch systems as most teams will probably chug a Red Bull and push hard in the knowledge that the next port isn’t far away. This fourth and final part of Leg Zero will probably give us the best sense of who’s up to speed and who’s got work to do before the big one comes around. That’s because the rounding of Cape Finisterre at the northwest point of Spain often accelerates the local wind before the trade winds blowing down the Portuguese coast allow teams one last blast to measure their performance before the boats go into maintenance.

83 days out from the start, the pressure is building!

via What to look out for on Leg Zero| Volvo Ocean Race.

Seasonal maintenance: A fair lead?

BY ADMIN • JULY 21, 2017 • BREAKING NEWS, YACHT MAINTENANCE • COMMENTS (0) • 50

In strong winds and ocean swells chafe is accelerated at an alarming rate.

On a long passage in an ocean swell running rigging such as sheets, headsail furling lines and so on can easily be wrecked in hours, let along days, if they do not have a completely fair lead that is clear of any obstructions. Chafe on guardrails, shrouds, other deck fittings and even anchors can chew through a new line at a rate that seems totally out of proportion to that seen in several seasons of coastal sailing.

The solution is to take a careful look at all lines to check they are routed clear of any obstructions. If necessary a problematic line should be re-routed, or either a snatch block or a low friction ring used to pull it clear of the source of chafe.

A few hours of very occasional rubbing against a guardrail wrecked this headsail sheet.

Reefing pennants and halyards are also at risk. These can chafe badly on their sheaves, particularly if the pulley or its housing have sharp edges. At an early stage in the preparation for a long passage it’s therefore worth checking sheaves with the mast lowered and, if necessary removing sheaves to file any sharp edges smooth. It’s also worth looking to see whether there’s any existing damage on the halyard in way of the sheave – this can be a useful early warning.

A length of Dyneema chafe jacket spliced over the end of the halyard, extending for around a metre each side of where it passes over the sheave, will significantly prolong the service life of running rigging. This has two main benefits, the primary being that the slippery nature of Dyneema means it’s very resistant to chafe. In addition, the extra thickness provides a physical barrier around the load-bearing elements of the line.

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Destination: Newport, Rhode Island, USA

BY ADMIN • JULY 21, 2017 • BREAKING NEWS, DESTINATIONS, HOMEMOSAIC • COMMENTS (0) • 38

This small city of 25,000 people on Aquidneck Island punches well above its weight in the sailing world. In many ways it’s the spiritual home of the America’s Cup. Granted competition for the world’s oldest sporting trophy started around the Isle of Wight and it is decades since the racing took place in Newport. Yet for much of the 20th Century, before Australia ll broke the longest winning streak in sporting history, more Cup matches took place here than anywhere else. Today that legacy lives on in a big fleet of ex America’s Cup 12 Metre yachts, many of which are available for charter, and in any case make a fine sight.

The lavish summer homes and mansions both on Aquidneck Island and the scenic myriad of islands in the sheltered waters of Narragansett Bay are also fit for the very top echelons of yacht racing. Newport was the location of the “Summer White House” for both the Eisenhower and John F Kennedy presidencies, while in earlier times some of the country’s wealthiest families, including the Vanderbilts and Astors, had grand summer mansions here.

Newport is a welcoming destination for the widest possible range of sailors and boats, whether ocean cruisers, powerboats, sailing dinghies or racing keelboats. There is a whole host of small boatyards, marinas and mooring providers, many of which cater for visiting yachts, as well as a couple of small anchorages.

Given its heritage it’s perhaps also no surprise that all marine trades are available in Newport and it’s an excellent destination for top quality refit work. A number of big name marine companies are based here, while others have strategic outposts. British boat builder Oyster Yachts, for instance, has an in-house yacht management and refit facility – the company’s only one outside of Europe.

The nine clubs in Narragansett Bay include a base of the New York Yacht Club, which formerly hosted the America’s Cup racing. Newport Yacht Club has a long history of involvement in short-handed racing, including the OSTAR and the Bermuda 1-2, while competitive keelboat racing takes place a variety of others, including Ida Lewis Yacht Club, whose clubhouse is on the tiny island of Lime Rock, connected to the town by a pier.

As might be expected, Newport is also well placed for crew transfers. Providence, RI, which has the nearest international airport can be reached by coach or ferry, while Boston is 72 miles north and New York 125 miles south, both also accessible by train or coach.

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