Phaedo3 MOD70 trimaran victorious in Caribbean 600 sets new course and race record

Phaedo³, RORC Caribbean 600 2015 finish from Ocean Images on Vimeo.

Phaedo3 at the start of the Caribbean 600

Caribbean 600, Big trimarans attempt to better race record

The multihull record for the Caribbean 600 was set in 2009 by the ORMA 60 trimaran Region Guadaloupe.  It narrowly escaped being bettered in 2013 by the flying cruiser/racer trimaran Paradox who fell short by about 11 minutes.  This year the MOD70 Phaedo3 (Ex Foncia) will be having a crack at the record and the now turboed Paradox sporting foil assist and an increased sail area with a new extended bowsprit will compete to attempt to claim the crown.

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2015/02/20/rorc-caribbean-600-multihull-record-risk/

the race tracker:

http://caribbean600.rorc.org/Race-Information/Tracking/

Weather forecast indicates a reach for a fair bit of the course but lower wind velocity than would be ideal for these big tri's. 

https://www.windyty.com/spot/location/17.089/-61.789/name/Antigua?surface,wind,now,17.217,-60.043,8

Corsair Marine update, Pulse 600 trimaran prototype out for first sail

From the following update on the Corsair Marine website:

http://sail.corsairmarine.com/first-look-photos-of-the-pulse-600

all photos courtesy of Corsair Marine

Searail 19 trimaran updates on present production status

Thanks to the excellent smalltrimarans.com

http://smalltrimarans.com/blog/?p=12824

The SeaRail-19 program had an excellent 2014 with 10 boats now delivered and 5 scheduled to arrive in the Midwest this Spring. We are totally committed to building the most affordable, high quality, and high performing, One~Design Trimaran fleet on the market. With a team compiled of some of the highest-regarded individuals in the multihull industry and over 2 ½ years of on the water, development the SR-19 has evolved into a very dynamitic watercraft.

Offering an unmatched power-to-weight ratio with a fully laden weight of only 700 pounds, upwind sails of 258 sf and a 278 sf spinnaker totaling an impressive 536 sf of sail. The 19 is the total package – whether it’s day sailing, camping, or racing, the 19 is like no other.

read more here

Extreme Sailing Series, Roman Hagara and the Red Bull team win first event of the 2015 season

From the following press release on the Extreme Sailing Series website:

http://www.extremesailingseries.com/news/view/rivalries-dominate-the-start-of-the-season-as-red-bull-sailing-narrowly-den

- Down to the wire battle sees Roman Hagara snatch Red Bull Sailing Team’s first ever Act victory from the hands of the Danish SAP Extreme Sailing Team in the final metres of the final race. Replay the final races here.
- Thousands get up close and personal over four days as the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series™ kicks off on one of the most iconic city centre stadium racecourses on the global tour. Watch the highlights here.
- Land Rover recognises youth sailing talent, awarding the Above and Beyond Award to Red Bull Sailing Team protégé, Jason Waterhouse for a stunning debut performance.
- Next stop – Muscat, Oman. 11-14 March
Double Olympic gold medallists Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher and their team on Red Bull Sailing Team have won the opening Act of the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series™, soaking up the pressure of expectation in front of the crowds in Singapore to become kings of Marina Bay after 32 hard fought races. The team from Austria had the points advantage heading into the final day and held their nerve, despite the onslaught from SAP Extreme Sailing Team in a cut and thrust battle that went down to the last few metres of the final race that eventually denied SAP Extreme Sailing Team the Singapore trophy by just five points. With The Wave, Muscat rounding out the podium positions, the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series is well and truly up and running!

read more here

Corsair Marine, Pulse 600 trimaran production update #10

Corsair Marine in their most recent update show some of the folding system components and the carbon rear traveler/beam assembly.  All photos courtesy Corsair Marine:

read more here:

http://sail.corsairmarine.com/development-update-10-on-the-pulse-600

Extreme Sailing Series, video of day 4 of racing in Singapore

Extreme Sailing Series, video of day 3 of racing in Singapore

Extreme Sailing Series, video of day 2 of racing in Singapore the first event of the 2015 season

Banuls designed N53 trimaran constructed by McConaghy launched

The Banuls designed N53 trimaran has been launched a performance oriented cruiser with comfortable accomodations.  More details on the Banuls design website:

http://banulsdesign.com/_bd-cms/index.php?page=n53-trimaran

Photos by Clint Clemens:

Farrier F-33 RXC trimaran build approaching completion at Multihulls Direct in the Phillipines

An update has been posted by Ian Farrier on the construction progress on the F-33 RXC trimaran being built at Multihulls Direct in the Phillipines:

http://www.f-boat.com/pages/News5/F-33Update4.html

Photos courtesy of Ian Farrier:

GC32 catamaran update, results from the recent Key West Race week:

The Great Cup press release on the Key West event:

http://www.gc32racing.com/

Quantum Key West Race Week provided the opportunity for the GC32s to make a spectacular debut in the USA.

During the five days of racing held in balmy temperatures off the southernmost tip of Florida, crews experienced a range of conditions. The beginning of the week saw lighter winds in which the foiling catamarans could sail at almost twice wind speed and the 20 knots on the final day enabled them to foil not only downwind, but upwind too.

Four GC32s took part: Flavio Marazzi’s ARMIN STROM Sailing Team and Erik Maris’ ZouLou made the trip from Europe to line up against two US teams – two time Melges 32 World Champion Jason Carroll on ARGO and fellow Melges 32 sailor Alex Jackson racing Leenabarca.

ARGO set the pace at the regatta. Despite Quantum Key West Race Week being its first competitive GC32 outing, Carroll’s team benefitted from training time in Key West prior to the start and familiarity with the race course and seemed to relish the light to moderate winds early on. ARGO led up until the penultimate day, but was not dominant, with all but Leenabarca claiming bullets in races along the way.

By Thursday the ARMIN STROM Sailing Team and ZouLou crews were getting into their stride, and two races in stronger winds left the top three boats impressively tied, but with ZouLou ahead on countback, going into the final day.

Former Olympic Star sailor Flavio Marazzi’s team won the first race on the last day, the Swiss crew demonstrating their experience in the brisk conditions. They led around the top mark and then extended away.

Sadly while lying in second, one point off the lead, ARGO was forced to retire after this race when one of the fittings broke holding her transom-hung rudder to her hull – a race course littered with lobster pots providing an additional hazard for the crews.

“We thought about whether or not we could repair it or lash it in place, but given how rough it was out there it was going to be a recipe for further damage if we continued to race,” explained Jason Carroll.

With ZouLou claiming the final race, a second was enough for ARMIN STROM Sailing Team to win the GC32’s inaugural prize at Quantum Key West Race Week.

While the GC32 can easily handle 20 knot winds, Friday’s short sharp chop meant crews had to throttle back. Marazzi explained: “The problem was that if you went too fast on the downwind, you jumped out of the waves and that was a risk. Since we just had to finish the race, it was a balance between holding back and going fast enough to win the regatta.”



Despite three crews making their GC32 race debuts at Key West, Marazzi was pleased with the high level of racing and there being no stand-out crews. “It was great that everyone was on the same points going into the final day and that it doesn’t come down to the boats or materials or different sails, but boat handling and team work.”

Despite his disappointment, Jason Carroll enjoyed his week: “It was awesome - I had a great time. Clearly this was the boat to be on at this event.”

ZouLou skipper Erik Maris has previous experience on Extreme 40 and D35 catamarans, but had only spent one week training in October aboard the GC32 prior to Key West. America’s Cup multihull sailor Thierry Fouchier, the jib and the genniker trimmer on board and who has sailed most top racing multihulls, commented: “I am pretty impressed with the boat and all the systems work pretty nicely. It is still early days for the class, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t attract more and more owners and get some very good racing. The boats are easy to sail and you can learn foiling fast. And they are pretty safe which is good.”

Former Team New Zealand helmsman Cameron Appleton was calling tactics on Alex Jackson’s Leenabarca, which suffered some technical set-backs. “I’ve never come last in a regatta before and had so much fun! Alex walked away with a huge smile on his face. These boats have made multihull foiling accessible to less experienced guys. You can get into them and steer them well, then it is about refining your skills. The learning curve is huge, but it is not on a level you can never achieve.”

During the latter part of the week Appleton said they had been hitting speeds into the high 20s, but it was the GC32’s handling that was impressive: “Once you get up on the foils and you are used to the sensation, the boats are actually a lot more comfortable than you’d think. We were doing stuff that you couldn’t do on other multihulls – bearing away and so forth - you would have flipped over. After racing we power reached at an angle that you would never usually consider on a multihull, but the sense of power and control was right there.”

Flavio Marazzi is also President of the GC32 Class Association and says that he hopes GC32 racing in Florida will become a regular feature over future northern hemisphere winters.

In the meantime the GC32s are gearing up for the start of the Europe circuit, the GC32 Racing Tour, kicking off with the GC32 Austria Cup, to be held on Lake Traunsee, Austria over 27th-31st May. The participation of more teams will be announced over the next few weeks.

And a video of the racing filmed from a drone:


GC 32 Racing Key West Race Week 2015 from Nick Bowers on Vimeo.

Corsair Marine, Development updates 7, 8 and 9 on the Corsair Pulse 600 trailerable trimaran

Corsair has released the next three updates on the Corsair Pulse 600 trimaran.  You can find them here:

#7 http://sail.corsairmarine.com/development-update-7-on-the-pulse-600

#8 http://sail.corsairmarine.com/development-update-8-on-the-pulse-600

#9 http://sail.corsairmarine.com/development-update-8-on-the-pulse-600

Spindrift Racing update, team prepare maxi trimaran Spindrift 2 for attempt to improve Jules Verne record in 2015

From the following press release on the Spindrift Racing website:

http://www.spindrift-racing.com/2015/01/2015-let-the-adventure-begin/

On 6th January 2012, just over three years ago, the Jules Verne Trophy record was beaten for the seventh time in its history. A new record for sailing around the world without stopping via the three capes was beaten by 14 sailors aboard the largest trimaran ever to be built. The crew travelled 40,000 km around the world in 45 ½ days, just over half the time that Jules Verne famously gave to Phileas Fogg.

Spindrift racing is planning to use the same boat to shave more time off what is considered to be the most extreme record against the clock for crewed sailing boats. The team has been working meticulously and creatively to achieve this goal for several months. Now, as 2015 gets underway, this monumental challenge is taking shape every day.

read more here

The Spindrift Racing team are preparing Spindrift 2 to attempt to improve the Jules Verne Record time, photo courtesy Spindrift Racing