Great Cup 32 Catamaran makes it's racing debut at Lake Traunsee, Austria as part of the Allianz Traunsee Week

From the following article on the Great Cup 32 website:

http://www.thegreatcup.com/newsitem.aspx?newsId=04f65659-6828-4c4e-b962-e7b22e263e9a&month=05&year=2013

Grand prix catamaran racing comes to the idyllic setting of Lake Traunsee, Austria next week (8-12 May) with the much anticipated debut of The Great Cup, as part of Allianz Traunsee Week.

Competing will be the first three GC32s built (a fourth is already en route to Europe from the UAE).

For the event, the three carbon fibre catamarans will sail under the colours of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria and to maximise the number of teams competing, each boat is being allocated two crews, who will alternate.

Thus, Spax Solution Sailing Team from the Netherlands, skippered by creator of The Great Cup, Laurent Lenne, and whose four man crew includes Aussie catamaran ace Andrew Macpherson and Swedish Volvo Ocean Race and America’s Cup sailor Micke Lundh, will be swapping with another exclusively Dutch crew led by ex-Tornado Olympian Pim Nieuwenhuis. The latter team includes Thijs Visser, who won the new Nacra 17 catamaran class at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia in Palma in March.

read more here

Multi 50 update, First day at the Grand Prix Guyader

The Multi50 Association has put up a short news item on the Season opening Grand Prix Guyader which is held in the bay of Douarnenez.

From the following article on the Multi50 Association website:

http://www.class-multi50.org/bon-depart-pour-la-saison-multi50/a8.html

and the rough bing translate below.

The Multi50 launched the 2013 season this morning under ideal conditions in Douarnenez. The departure of the first round of the Grand Prix Guyader is played under a Sun of lead and with a breeze of 10 to 12 knots, sector North, perfect to wake up trimarans and crews. Maître Jacques took the best start. Arkema France has refined its settings. For Lalou and his crew, this is the first confrontation. Venue this evening with the skipper Aquitaine to learn more about his first impressions.

Extreme Sailing Series update, news from the Qingdao event

From the following article on the Extreme Sailing Series website:

http://www.extremesailingseries.com/news/view/game-on-at-half-way-stage-in-qingdao#.UYQCtlpArrd

On a packed-eight race day at Act 3 of the Extreme Sailing Series™ in Qingdao, where all the action was broadcast live for the third year running on local broadcaster Qingdao TV, the eight international Extreme 40s competing moved into stadium mode in the heart of Fushan Bay where the battle lines were drawn between Alinghi and The Wave, Muscat. It was a game of cat and mouse as the Swiss and Omani flagged teams hunted each other around the compact racecourse, which at times resulted in a few near misses and protest flags being pulled. Alinghi did well to defend their lead and cling onto a three-point advantage at close of play, and both teams have one eye firmly fixed on each other and the other looking over their shoulders at the rest of the fleet with only 20 points separating positions two to six – the difference of just two races as we head into tomorrow’s penultimate day in China’s Olympic Sailing City.

read more here

A gallery of photos is here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.652203858138782.1073741832.115337595158747&type=1

Photo courtesy The Extreme Sailing Series

 

Tour de Belle Isle update, Maxi multihulls prepare for the race

From the following article on the Tour de Belle Ile website:

http://www.tourdebelleile.com/tour-de-chauffe/

and the rough bing translation.

Sunny on Quiberon Bay this Friday, and 24 hours of the sixth edition of the Tour de Belle - île, many participants who take advantage of this beautiful day to go to provide output at sea as a warm-up lap. Among the largest units, if Sodebo (Thomas Coville) remained at the port, Gitana 11 (Sébastien Josse) dropped the mooring lines early in the morning, followed by Spindrift racing (Yann Guichard) and at midday by Akena Verandas (Arnaud Boissières). Meanwhile, Lionel Lemonchois arrived Lorient in the afternoon on his brand new Prince de Bretagne.

Extreme Sailing Series update, Alinghi team do well on first day of racing in Qingdao

It seems like they are suffering from another bout of light winds at the next act of the Extreme Sailing Series at Qingdao.

From the following article on the Extreme Sailing Series website:

http://www.extremesailingseries.com/news/view/alinghi-dominate-on-open-water-racecourse-as-land-rover-reveals-extreme-40#.UYMRF1pArrd

China’s International Sailing Centre came alive on the opening day of the Extreme Sailing Series™ in Qingdao, where Land Rover’s three-year sponsorship as Series Main Partner of the original stadium sailing series was officially signed before the unveiling and naming ceremony of the Land Rover-branded Extreme 40. On the open water racecourse, the Swiss teams Alinghi and Realteam dominated in testing light winds, edging ahead on the leaderboard at the end of day one as the teams prepare to move into stadium mode over the next three days.

Morgan Larson has taken the tiller from regular helm Ernesto Bertarelli on Alinghi for this Act and after winning three of today’s five races and as the fastest boat on the water (average speed of 8.03 knots) according to the SAP analytics, the Swiss team is deservedly the top of the leaderboard after day one. Larson commented: “I think we just picked up from where we left off in Singapore and it felt pretty good. It would have been easy to have made a couple of errors and then fall apart but it felt like everyone had a good grasp on their jobs and the communication was solid.”

America's Cup video, Artemis Racing and Oracle Team USA head to head on foiling 45's

The crews at Artemis Racing and Oracle Team USA have been out training on their foiling AC45 catamarans, they call it training, looks like plain honest fun to me.

Team Sodebo and Thomas Coville to compete in the Tour de Belle Isle

The Maxi trimaran Sodebo is racing in the Tour de Belle Isle in competition against the new Prince de Bretagne, Gitana XI and Spindrift Racing on their MOD70. 

From the following article on www.sodebo.fr

http://www.sodebo.fr/voile/actualites/article/belle-douarnenez-sodebo-fait-grand-pont

Here is the rough Bing Translation:

Belle-île in Douarnenez, Sodebo made the large bridge

For this first weekend in may, Sodebo stable will be on all fronts. Saturday, the maxi-trimaran participates in the 6th edition of the Tour de Belle-Ile and will be skipped by Thomas Coville, whereas in Douarnenez, the crew of the monohull Sodebo M34 takes the departure of the Iroise Cup with Damien Iehl at the helm. Two beautiful playgrounds for two boats very different measurements Sodebo! 
 
From her home port of La Trinité-sur-Mer, the 31 meters trimaran for single-handed records dispute the Tour de Belle-Ile; navigation of 42 miles around this corner of Brittany which is so aptly named.

In six years, this event has become the largest French regatta in terms of number of registered with almost 500 participants at the start! The small boat family to the maxi-trimaran Sodebo, the longest boat of this edition, the sailors share this same pleasure of a journey to 'human' size allowing everyone to compete with its own weapons.

After three weeks of sailing where Thomas Coville and his team did discover this boat of exception to employees and guests of Sodebo, it is the turn of the management team to respond to the invitation of the skipper and share a few thrills at his side!

"Belle-Ile is a meeting of lovers of sailing in the image of what know to do since so long the Anglo-Saxon," explains Thomas. "I am very happy to live this pleasant moment with the people with whom we work on a daily basis to the development and the dynamism of our project Sodebo."

The weather conditions ahead light Saturday (10-12 knots from the West) which could instead benefit the lighter multihulls as the 80 foot Prince de Bretagne of Lionel Lemonchois trimaran (ex-Sodebo 60 feet) or even the 77 foot Gitana 11's Sébastien Josse and the Spindrift of Yann Guichard MOD70.

Response Saturday, kick-off at 10 o'clock!

Route des Princes update: Plymouth prepares to welcome Route des Princes yacht race

From the following article on BBC News website:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-22366166

 

Plymouth has been included as a stopover in a new 3,045-mile transatlantic yacht race, this summer.

 

Route des Princes will see yachts - measuring at least 50 ft (15m) long - race between France, Spain, Portugal, the UK and Ireland.

A giant 80 ft (24m) "maxi yacht" will be among the "10 enormous multi-hulls" that will stop over in Plymouth, say the race organisers.

The event will begin on 9 June and will reach Plymouth between June 26 - 29.

read more here

The official website for the event is here

Neel Trimarans publish details of their new model the Neel 60 trimaran

Neel Trimarans have published details of their new Neel 60 cruising trimaran model.

The NEEL 60 is a lightweight craft with sleek lines and all the sailing qualities of its smaller brother the NEEL 45 – High Performance, a lightness of touch and comfortable sea keeping.

http://www.neel-trimarans.com/en/nos-trimarans/neel-60/

AC Uncut - Cup Cameraderie

Farrier F-85SR constructed by Multihulls Direct for Glynn Thomas has been launched and is now sailing in Subic Bay, Phillipines

I just noticed that Glynn Thomas has put up the following post on Sailing Anarchy his F-85SR is now launched and he has put up some observations of the first sail and photos of the boat in action.  You can read about the build process and see more photos of the boat in build on the same thread. This is the first boat constructed to this design to launch.

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=114970&&page=3

I have just had a great long weekend sailing my F-85SR in Subic Bay.

KatRat was launched on 22nd April, 2013 and was berthed alongside the F-44SC also built by Multihullsdirect.
 
On Friday, 26th April, we stepped the mast and took her for the first sail. We very quickly knocked up 10 nm with the boat handling very easily.

On Saturday, we decided to join the local fun round the buoys race. In Subic, the racing is very fun and easy going as long as the Beneteau First 36.7 gets line honours. Well this Saturday, status quo changed, as we easily out pointed the monohull and took line honours by a couple of minutes, sailing only Jib and Main on a course, which included a long upwind and downwind leg. Most of the talk after the race was about what handicap they will give us, given they know we are relatively inexperienced and didn't even try to raise the screecher or spinnaker.

In light to medium breezes, it was great to see how responsive the trimaran is and how it just seems to keep gliding along, even when the breeze drops out to nothing, allowing us to bridge the wind holes that exist all over the bay.

On Sunday, we took her out for another short cruise, but enjoying it so much we stayed out for over 3 hours. With only 3 on board it was still effortless and could easily be sailed 2-up.

We keep the boat partially folded in a pen at the moment and we have lots to do to make it easier to head out and return as we seem to spend a lot of time adjusting the rigging and fixing up the nets. We also need to install the rigging for the screecher and spinnaker. Nonetheless, the boat is fun and easy and I can't wait until the 11/12 May for my next weekend on the boat.

Overall it is a great boat and I really have to thank the designer, Ian Farrier and the builder, Michael Mallory for a wonderful boat.

The biggest challenge now is to get the boat insured, but that is another story.

Cheers
Glynn
KatRat F-85SR #10
Subic Bay, Philippines

Photo courtesy of Glynn Thomas

Photo courtesy of Glynn Thomas

Photo courtesy of Glynn Thomas

Farrier F-22 trimaran production update 26/4/2013

Main hull deck #3 out of the mold.  New shipping cradle concept that has potential to be converted into a trailer looks quite innovative.

read all the updates at the production page

http://www.f-boat.com/pages/News4/FM-Factory2013.html

Multihull competitors at the Grand Prix Guyader and Tour de Belle Isle

Article on the upcoming Grand Prix Guyader and Tour de Belle Isle and the multihulls that will compete:

Here is the rough bing translate of the following article by Axel Capron:

http://www.sports.fr/voile/articles/...entree-621308/

Offshore racing season really began at the beginning of the month of may with two events, the Tour de Belle - island and Grand Prix Guyader, which will give the opportunity to the multihulls of all sizes to offer first confrontations. We think including the new Prince de Bretagne of Lionel Lemonchois, the Bank Populaire VII of Armel Le Cléac ' h, the MOD70 and the Multi50.

Brittany waters will bubble at the end of week! Douarnenez in La Trinité-sur-Mer, where respectively compete for Grand Prix Guyader (3-5 May) and the Tour de Belle-Ile (4 May), multihulls will be at the party after a winter 2012-13 media dominated on the Vendée Globe Imoca class monohulls. Some Imoca incidentally also benefit from the beginning of the month of May to make their re-entry (Akena Verandas on the Tour de Belle-Ile, master cock, Safran, Initiatives heart, Groupe Bel in Douarnenez), but it is on the trimarans will have attention with first clashes expected share and other Atlantic water plan.

The Tour de Belle-Ile will thus provide an opportunity for Lionel Lemonchois to try out racing his new Prince de Bretagne, trimaran of 80 feet (24.38 meters) which is other than the old Orma (60 feet, 18.28 meters) from Thomas Coville, Sodebo. After a year of construction of elongation in Vannes, the vessel proceeded to water last October, he sailed since January and his skipper does not hide his haste to do battle with the competition, history of measuring the potential of his steed. "It is clear that we have wanted to run with the boat, there's nothing better that to have competitors to feel where it is in the capacity of the boat," he says on the site of the Tour de Belle-Ile. And that fall well, since Norman has just found competitor facing him in the person of its former Gitana 11, with which he won the Route du Rhum 2006, record key, extended from 77 feet the same philosophy as that of Prince de Bretagne.

"Ours, I think, is more successful," considers Lemonchois, while in the opposite, Sébastien Josse, double camp taking this Tour de Belle - Island, which meet more than 500 boats on the same starting line, waiting to see: "Prince de Bretagne is a little bigger, he has no doubt of the things that we do not, but there is no tilting mast. "This first confrontation looks super interesting."A confrontation that is summarize elsewhere not to this single duel, as a third grand multihull will part, MOD70 Spindrift racing (Yann Guichard) which, if the conditions are favourable, could well play the spoilsports.

Debut for Bank popular VII

Of the MOD70, there is also in Douarnenez on GP Lesley, with the debut of Jean-Pierre Dick at the helm of his new Virbac-Paprec, nice, after more than a decade dedicated to the Vendée Globe and the Imoca class, having decided to go have fun on three hulls. And to fill his lack of experience, it is surrounded by a "friendly to the skills crew" with denominator common "experience of the offshore race" found among others at Vincent Riou, Roland Jourdain, or Thierry Duprey. In southern Finistère, the VP Boys in découdront with Oman Air's Sidney Gavignet, which hosts including aboard her Irish multi-card Damian Foxall.

Multihulls again with the presence at Douarnenez from a beautiful fleet of Multi 50, the tenors of the class of the 50-foot trimarans that are Actual (Yves Le Blévec, also on Tour of Belle - île), master Jacques (Loïc Féquet) and ˜windowâ-Cardinal (Erwan Le Roux), welcoming a new kid in the person of Lalou Roucayrol coming to water his brand new Arkema-Francepending Gilles Lamiré who bought the former Prince of Brittany. Finally, finally, the largest multihull of this fleet will be also on le Guyader GP, it will be Bank Populaire VII, former Groupama 3 of Franck Cammas and Armel Le Cléac ' h, second of the Vendée Globe, comes from taking charge. And as the Saint-Politain is not rancorous, it embeds this big weekend time that deprived him of victory on the tour of the world for a little more than three hours, François Gabart.

All this small world, except the latter, will be then in June for a new tour of Europe for the multihulls, the Route des Princes, that will take from Valencia to the Morlaix Bay passing through Lisbon, Dublin Bay and Plymouth, before the final bouquet will be the Transat Jacques-Vabre, that only MOD70 will compete, the Organization (but also other classes)did not want to open the race to the larger units.

Francis Joyon, Captain Incroyable to attempt to better TransAtlantic record

Francis Joyon is going on standby from the 15th of May in New York for an attempt on the Transatlantic record if he manages to improve on the reference time of Thomas Coville set on the trimaran Sodebo 5 days, 19 hours, 29 minutes and 20 seconds with an impressive 20.97 knot average speed.

http://www.trimaran-idec.com/

Pensacola US Trimaran Nationals 2013, regatta report and results by Bob Hodges

Thanks to Bob Hodges and Mike Parsons for the scores.  Posted on Sailing Anarchy forums this round up of the 2013 Trimaran Nationals held at Pensacola Beach Yacht Club in Florida.

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=144832

Quick Regatta Report.

Small fleet (12 PHRF Corsair and Farrier tris and 4 Wetas) but excellent event with "Chamber of Commerce" sailing conditions for three days. Day 1 had two races with race 1 being an 11 mile beat from Pensacola Beach to Navarre Beach in 8-13 knots of wind. After lunch at Juana's Pagoda (very cool spot), the fleet raced back on a beam reach with the wind initially at around 12 knots but backing down to 7-8 knots by the finish. Day two started out with an 11 mile race for the PHRF boats around navigation marks in Pensacola Bay in 10-14 knots of breeze, great fun going 11.5 knots up the last beat to the finish! After lunch on the beach, the fleet came out and did three W/L races in a bit less wind (started at 10-12 knots and by race 3 was down to 7-8 knots). The final day of sailing we got in three more W/L's again in 10-12 knots and sunny skies.

Thanks to Rick Zern at Zern Rigging for organizing this event and PRO Bert Rice for putting together a great race management team on the water and finally Pensacola Beach Yacht Club for hosting and hospitality. Randy Smyth on his F-25C YO dominated the PHRF class correcting out for the win in every race (your rating might be coming down Randy). Behind him was a great battle for 2nd. Mike Parsons and Kevin Blank sailing a Corsair F-24 Mk II had a 4 point lead on Bob Hodges and Don and Andrew Brennan sailing a Corsair Sprint 750 Mk I going into the last day. The Sprint team worked hard to close the gap in the last three races but missed by a point. In the Wetas, Jim "Yoda" Leonard dominated all five races that fleet sailed with all firsts. Great racing, great friends, good times!

This event will return to Fort Walton Beach, FL next year. It's hoped to get a good turnout from around the country and perhaps some interest in another region hosting it in 2015.

PHRF Top Three and Scores

Randy Smyth F-25C                1-3-1-1-1-1-1-(1)   7
Mike Parsons C-24 Mk II          3-1-2-2-3-3-3-(3)  17
Bob Hodges Sprint 750 Mk 1  (5)-4-3-3-2-2-2-2   18