Defi Azimut, Sebastian Josse wins Ultime class in a light air race

Seb Josse led home Sidney Gavignet on Musandam-Oman Sail followed by Loick Peyron on Banque Populaire V.  Class debutante Yann Elies on Paprec Recyclage kept the rest of the field honest coming in fourth with a good performance only 7 minutes shy of Loick.

The final results:

Defi Azimut prelude to the Route du Rhum, Ultimes racing this year

This year the Defi Azimut (Azimuth Challenge) is welcoming the Ultimes which are racing a long course. There is also an IMOCA group that are racing the short course. They are off and racing now.

The tracker is here:

http://www.defi-azimut.net/?mode=cartographie

The Defi Azimut website:

http://www.defi-azimut.net/?

A gallery of photos showing the Ultimes at the start of the race:

http://www.defi-azimut.net/?titre=azimut-ultimes-challenge--c-est-parti&mode=actualites&id=2069

Yvan Bourgnon circumnavigation on a beach cat, video of the trip so far

While Yvan is attempting to raise money to continue his adventure after the sad loss of his beach cat in Sri Lanka he has published a video of the journey so far with subtitles for English.  If you would like to donate to help him on his way the support page is here: http://www.fosburit.com/projets/projet/yvan-bourgnon-derniere-ligne-droite-autour-du-monde/

Armin Strom team victorious in GC32 catamarans at the Marseille One Design event

From the following press release on thegreatcup.com

http://www.thegreatcup.com/newsitem.aspx?newsId=06a40871-16fd-46b8-94c5-f26fe90eb0c9&month=09&year=2014

Flavio Marazzi and his Armin Strom Sailing Team crew came out all guns blazing today to claim first place in the GC32 foiling catamaran class at the inaugural edition of Marseille One Design.

A light forecast didn’t look promising for the fourth and final day’s racing on Marseille’s Roucas Blanc, but the breeze filled in and built to around 15 knots at lunch time and the race committee was able to squeeze in four races before the final cut off of 15:00 local time.

For the first time in this regatta, the sea breeze today was from the southwest, blowing into the bay and surprisingly was more volatile than on previous days, very shifty and ranging in strength from 5-15 knots. As a result much came down to the tactical calls and there was more tacking and gybing and splits to opposite sides of the race course. This made for an exciting day with plenty of lead changes and close calls. It was also challenging for the crews with their boats at times fully powered up and foiling, or, at others, coming off the foils and ‘low riding’ when the wind dropped.

read more here

The Armin Strom team came through to win the event, photo Sander van der Borch / The Great Cup 

Extreme Sailing Series, Emirates Team New Zealand wins Instanbul event

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

http://www.extremesailingseries.com/news/view/istanbul-delivers-four-days-of-spectacular-racing-for-act-6-of-the-land-rov#.VBaEmK8cTrc

- Four days of spectacular racing closes in Istanbul with Emirates Team New Zealand snatching victory in the final race on final day.
- The Land Rover ‘Above and Beyond’ Award presented to Groupama sailing team for their persistence, commitment and tactical performance on the water.
- Taking on the Bosphorus Strait: Traffic shut down on one of the world’s busiest shipping channels for an incredible Extreme 40 showdown.

The stunning city of Istanbul has delivered in spades for Act 6 of the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series™ with four days of spectacular action in the Land Rover backed Stadium Racing circuit. Near perfect conditions saw the 12 international teams compete in 31 action-packed races, as the stars of the international sailing world came together in the city where ‘east meets west’ for the sixth Act on the global Series calendar.

read more here

Flashback Friday, Maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V overtakes a cruising catamaran at high speed

Sidney Gavignet completes solo qualification for Route du Rhum on the Multi70 Musandam/Oman Sail

From the following article on BYMnews:

http://bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=137740

Sidney Gavignet, French skipper of the Sultanate of Oman’s flagship Musandam-Oman Sail, completed the single-handed 1,000 nautical mile Route du Rhum qualifier over the weekend marking the start of his race to prepare for one of the biggest challenges of his career and providing a new benchmark for Oman Sail's Omani sailors to aspire to.

With the fully-crewed racing season behind him, including the epic sprint around Great Britain and Ireland with a 50% Omani crew for the first time, obliterating the record set by a boat almost twice the size, and setting a new one at 3 days 3 hours 32 minutes and 36 seconds, Sidney Gavignet is now fully focussed on preparations for November's Route du Rhum.

“It is back to school for me,” he said on Sunday morning in Lorient after four and a half days at sea alone. “I was lucky with my first solo experience, the conditions were favourable which is a very good way to start and I was happy to get four and a half days of experience in one hit as it is unlikely to be possible again during my training,” he said.

read more here

Hydros Team smash record on the Munich-Rapperswil-Munich route on Lake Zurich

From the following article (in German) on 20 minuten:

The rough bing translate is below:

http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/zuerich/story/31746558

Lorenz von Meiss - for the line Zurich-Rapperswil and back the catamaran of hydros needed only 2 hours and 25 minutes. Thus, the previous fastest was undercut by almost an hour.

The catamaran «Hydros» breaking the existing speed record on the line Zurich-Rapperswil Zürich.

One of the most modern catamarans in the world was developed in cooperation with the EPFL. With almost 50 km/h, the catamaran plowed this week by the waves of the Lake of Zurich. For sailing expert Caspar Büttner several conditions must be fulfilled in order to set a speed record: «as first you need Of course a really fast boat and knowing how to work around it.» Also the wind conditions must accept in order to make such a record», says Badenhorst.

Low water resistance

The wing installed on the hydros allow a minimum water resistance and higher top speeds the sailing ship. Further is a system of hydraulic pumps aboard to optimally explore the ship. The previous best mark for the long-haul distance Zurich-Rapperswil and back was 3 hours and 18 minutes and was in the year 1990 also by a catamaran set up. Only if fit all circumstances, such a record can be set.

Hydros Foundation receives financial support from the Geneva private bank Lombard Odier. The Bank supports the development of new technologies and more efficient research projects. The Foundation of hydros is also planning a motor boat with the same wing technology as the catamaran. The lower water resistance to help consume less fuel.

There is a video also at the article link:

http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/zuerich/story/31746558

Loick Peyron steps in to skipper maxi trimaran Banque Populaire VII in the Route du Rhum

From the following press release (in French) on the Banque Populaire Sailing website:

http://www.voile.banquepopulaire.fr/Armel-Le-Cleac-h/LOICK-PEYRON-REMPLACERA-ARMEL-LE-CLEAC-H-POUR-LA-ROUTE-DU-RHUM-10167.html#suite

The rough bing translate is below:

LOÏCK PEYRON WILL REPLACE ARMEL LE CLÉAC ' H FOR THE ROUTE DU RHUM
Thursday, September 04, 2014 - 09 h 15
Armel Le Cléac ' h, skipper of the Maxi Solo Bank Populaire VII, severely wounded in the hand and forced to forfeit for the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe 2014, will be replaced, the time of this race, Loïck Peyron. People's Bank, in perfect harmony with its skipper, naturally turned to the browser from La Baule, a great connoisseur of multihulls which won the Jules Verne trophy aboard the Maxi Bank popular V in 2012.

Loïck Peyron, quickly seduced by this opportunity, took time to reflect before agreeing to this challenge. Navigation test aboard the Maxi Trimaran with the Team Banque Populaire allowed him to judge the intrinsic frame and, it is excited by this great challenge posed by participation in the Route du Rhum in the final category, that it will align at the start of the most famous of the transatlantic with the trimaran wearing the colours of the Bank of the sail.

Armel Le Cléac ' h, which control perfectly its support, will accompany Loïck Peyron in his preparation for him deliver all his experience gained in 4 transatlantic and 2 records carried out aboard the Maxi Solo Bank Populaire VII.
At the same time, in agreement with Banque Populaire, which he retains all his confidence, it will focus during this period forced ashore on the construction of the new monohull Banque Populaire for the Vendée Globe 2016-2017.

Windrider to distribute Astus trimarans in the US

From the following entry on Small Trimarans blog:

http://smalltrimarans.com/blog/?p=11924

Windrider has just Signed a deal with Astus Boats to sell their trimarans in the United States. The online version of the marine industry magazine, “Trade Only Today,” posted this news a few days ago (on August 27th).

That’s pretty neat. I’ve periodically wondered when (if) somebody would become an Astus dealer here in the US. The Astus trimarans are featured in the book, “More Small Trimarans.” You can also find out more about them at the website of one of their European dealers here.

read more here

Yann Guichard successful in solo qualification run from Horta in the Azores to La Trinite sur Mer for the Route du Rhum

From the following press release from the Spindrift Racing team:

http://www.spindrift-racing.com/2014/09/40-metres-en-solo-episode-21-yann-guichard-and-spindrift-2-successfully-qualified-for-the-route-du-rhum/

« Solo sailing a trimaran the size of Spindrift 2 requires complete physical commitment, » says Yann Guichard, who recently sailed from the Azores to La Trinité-sur-Mer, alone at the helm of the world’s largest racing multihull. With two months to go before the start of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe, the skipper arrived late Monday afternoon and appeared positive and satisfied with his single-handed sail. His arrival fulfils the compulsory qualification required for the event.

Since Spindrift 2 was launched in 2008, nobody has had the audacity to sail this maxi-trimaran single-handed. The 40 metres long Spindrift 2 was designed to be raced by crews and holds several respective major ocean-sailing records. Spindrift racing thought long and hard about taking part in the Route du Rhum, adapting the trimaran especially for this epic race which will commence on November 2nd this year. The cockpit has been redesigned for use by a single-handed sailor, with the commands placed suitably within reach. Meanwhile, the surface area of the sails has been reduced by around 20% and an ingenious autopilot system has been fitted. The trimaran has not been reduced in size, however, and Spindrift 2 remains by far the largest boat taking part in the 10th edition of the most iconic of transatlantic races.

read more and see the video here

Yann Guichard departing Hortas on his Route du Rhum qualification, photo E Allaire

Team Vodafone Sailing relaunch their ORMA60 trimaran

Surely one of the most unlucky teams in regards to mast failures.  Team Vodafone have just relaunched their ORMA 60 trimaran "Team Vodafone" this boat is none other than the former ORMA60 "Geant" once skippered by the professor Michael Desjoyeaux in which he sailed to victory solo in the storm battered 2002 Route du Rhum.

The relaunched ORMA60 Team Vodafone, photo courtesy Team Vodafone Sailing