Armen Race 2013, poised to begin with strong multihull division

From the following article on www.armenrace.fr

http://www.armenrace.fr/parcours-reduit-et-130-concurrents-sur-larmen-race/

here is the tracker for the race

http://www.dolink.fr/carte/armen-race-2013

and the rough bing translate of the article below

On the eve of the departure of the 3rd edition of the ArMen Race, the port of La Trinité-sur-Mer is booming! 130 Competitors are finalising their entries and prepare their mounts before dashing tomorrow from 2 pm on courses reduced due to muscular weather conditions. Professionals and amateurs, in multihulls or monohulls, the plateau of the 2013 Race ArMen portends a superb edition in express mode.

This holiday Wednesday was busy in la Trinité-sur-Mer! If it is rain that opened the village of ArMen Race, the public came numerous throughout the day to discover the most beautiful boats of race that are Prince de Bretagne, Actual, Maître Jacques or VOR60 Team Jolokia. The Pole ArMen Junior has not désempli the afternoon: construction of lighthouses, workshop of nodes or another angling have seduced younger. And tomorrow at 2 pm, departures of Ascension duplicate then the ArMen Race will be visible to the public and discussed since the peak of Saint-Philibert, a beautiful spectacle in perspective!

Ultimate 2, 3 MOD, 7 Multi 50, 10 Class 40 and a hundred lovers!
There will be game on this 3rd edition on the side of the multihulls where Prince de Bretagne, Banque Populaire and the MOD70, Edmond de Rothschild Group, Oman Air-Musadam and Virbac-Paprec 70 compete speed followed closely by the seven Multi 50 which should also swallow the 310 miles of the great V. speed race A great opportunity to calibrate offshore and the race before their next appointment: the Princes road which will start in June in Valencia. In the Class 40, expected including the new GDF Suez of Sébastien Rogues to Geodis, solidarity in platoon and Christophe Chido Partouche. In IRC, Nicholas Groleau cartridge, the TP52 Paprec-recycling of Stéphane Neve and the VOR60 Team Jolokia skippered by Eric Bellion should their side have the debates.

Reduction of course
Facing weather forecast, the race direction finally decided to cut routes: "more than the force of the wind, it is the strong swell at the crossing of the Western de Sein, which forced us to reduce the course. At the time of departure, we should have between 20 and 25 knots from the West, and this throughout the night"explains Jean-Luc Laurent, the race Director. Large units (ultimate, MOD 70, Multi 50, Imoca, IRC and Class 40) will set off on a loop of 310 miles between La Trinité-sur-Mer, Audierne, the ile d'yeu and Belle-Ile. As for the smaller boats, they will realize a 195 mile course via the island of Groix, Belle-Ile and the island of Yeu.

 

Programme for Thursday, May 9:

08 h 30-11 h 00: reception of competitors, finalization of registration and delivery of tags and documents of race.

11 h 00: Briefing of the skippers in the tent followed by a weather point

12 h: Presentation of safety equipment at the end of the mole Loic Caradec for ArMen Race competitors

14: 00: departure from the Double ascent (visible and verbose departures from the tip of Saint Philibert)

14 h 10, 14 h 55: departure of the ArMen Race by categories

14: 00: opening of the ArMen Junior - child workshops - animation Virtual Regatta

18 h 30: home of the competitors of the Ascension in Double

7 pm: closure of the village

A video by Ocean Fanatics of the 2012 Armen Race

GC32 Catamaran, first day of racing in the new series Austrian Youth Team come out on top

From the following article on the Great Cup website:

http://www.thegreatcup.com/newsitem.aspx?newsId=303bfcbb-f111-4199-b657-43665e9942be&month=05&year=2013

The first ever day of racing for The Great Cup, and the GC32 catamarans competing in it, went without too many hitches.

With the race committee shifting the course down to Ebensee and the ‘Little Garda’ area of Lake Traunsee, the most significant blow came when SPAX Solutions suffered gear failure within seconds of the start of the first race. Sadly this was deemed serious enough for her to stand down for the rest of the day, along with the two Dutch teams due to compete on board her – Laurent Lenne’s Spax Solution Sailing Team and the Firefly Team for whom Dutch ex-Olympic Tornado sailor Pim Nieuwenhuis helms.

This left the Swiss teams of Flavio Marazzi and Adam Minoprio and the Austrian AEZ teams of Andreas Hagara and Max Trippolt’s youth squad to spend the rest of the day match racing.

Thankfully even with two boats, the brand new GC32s put on a breathtaking show with crews screaming past the VIP spectator ship on one hull, with the breeze occasionally gusting to 13 knots, but more often around 10 knots.

While there were some races were one team gained a considerable advantage through a gust or their competitor being OCS, in others there was place changing between the one design catamarans. In a memorable one the young Austrian crew on AEZ GC32 Youth Sailing Team overhauled the Flavio Marazzi steered Team Marwin on the final run, only for the Swiss Olympic Star sailor to pick up a gust, the two boats crossing the finish line overlapped.

The surprise of the day was the team coming out on top being AEZ GC32 Youth Sailing, with the same crew that narrowly missed out in February’s selection trials for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. The team skippered by 22-year-old Max Trippolt even ended the day with a score line of 2-1 against former Match Racing World Champion, Adam Minoprio.

read more here

A video of the first day Highlights

Defi Saint-Malo Agglo purchase former Prince de Bretagne Multi50

Defi Saint-Malo Agglo have purchased the Multi50 Prince De Bretagne.  Previously they were competing on the early ORMA60 Elf Aquitaine which was not competitive with the Multi50 of Erwan Le Roux FenetreA Cardinal 3.  The next Quebec-St Malo race should be a lot more hotly contested. 

America's Cup update, Artemis Team receive AC72 catamaran #2

The Artemis Team have a big present in their workshop, here awaiting unpacking their second AC72 catamaran!

Photo Beau Outteridge, Artemis Racing

GC32 catamaran prepares to make racing debut on Lake Traunsee, Austria

From the following article on www.thegreatcup.com

http://www.thegreatcup.com/newsitem.aspx?newsId=cf8eb8b0-ebf6-4e2a-948b-7e9546f5029a&month=05&year=2013

While there appeared to be no wind on Lake Traunsee today, the experienced race committee, led by former Star Olympic sailor Stefan Puxkandl, moved the three GC32 catamarans down to the southern end of the lake at Ebensee and the area known as ‘Little Garda’, where there always seems to be the most breeze on this picture postcard Austrian lake.

All the teams got a chance to race with different winners in each of these informal races: Marwin Team of Swiss Star sailor Flavio Marazzi taking the first, Laurent Lenne’s Spax Solution Sailing Team claiming the second and their Dutch team mates, Firefly, first home in the third.

The Great Cup’s Chief Operating Officer Andrew Macpherson says that the one design aspect of the Martin Fischer-designed 32ft catamarans and the equality of their performance is working: “Over the last few days of test racing, we’ve all been lining up and no one seems faster.”

For the first time today all the crews and their skippers assembled. Austria’s great hope is AEZ GC32 Racing skipper Andreas Hagara, who over his lengthy career in the Olympic Tornado catamaran has been World Champion and has won 15 medals at World and European championship level. Hagara has also competed in the Extreme Sailing Series and was skipper of the China Team AC45.

Hagara is enthusiastic about The Great Cup and the GC32 catamaran: “I think the concept is really good, the size is good, it is state of the art, the latest you can get, apart from the wing rig [which the GC32 doesn’t have, but is fitted to the AC45 and AC72 America’s Cup catamarans], but that is not in line with the idea of the boat - a wing wouldn’t work for private owners.”
read more here

Tour de Belle Ile, Destremau sailing video covering the race

Team Lalou interview plus sailing footage from Grand Prix Guyader

The sailing segment starts at about 4 minutes in.  An interview with Lalou Roucayrol (in French) re: the new Multi50 Arkema.  They came in second overall in the Multi50 class in the Grand Prix Guyader behind the revamped Maitre Jacques a very impressive debut.

http://www.tebeotv.fr/emission/jt.html

Bay to Bay race 2013, article and results from the race

From the following article on the Hervey Bay Sailing Club website:

http://www.herveybaysailingclub.org.au/node/157

Trailable yachts flock to the Bay Trailable Yacht Race
                    

The change of the Labour Day long weekend from May did little to dampen the enthusiasm of trailable yachts from North Queensland to Melbourne in the south for this most prestigious event on the trailable yacht calendar.

It is expected that this passage race out of the Tin Can Bay Inlet, through the Great Sandy Strait marine national park with the heritage listed Fraser Island to the east and into Hervey Bay will attract large fleets of trailable yachts into the foreseeable future both from Queensland and the southern states as their sailing winds down with the onset of the cold winter months.A quality fleet fought hard to wrest the coveted corrected time trophy cups from last year’s winners.

The 33^rd Annual Bay to Bay Trailable Yacht saw Sunshine Coast based Bruce Nix in the modified Hartley 18 Hardly Normal sailed close to his CBH rating to win the Standard Monohull CBH cup. Graham Coffey returned from Sydney to claim back the Australian Sports Boat Association SMS sports monohull cup with a well prepared boat and crew and an impeccable tactical race sailed his Thompson 8 Rush under that huge blue spinnaker just above his SMS rating to narrowly win from Matt Bonzer out of Nelson’s Bay NSW in his Melges 24 Watch Me.  Chris Chapman in Coco, an Ostac Tramp Tri sailed above his PBH rating to win the standard multihull cup and George Owen in the Tony Considine Mad Max Grainger 101 showed the large sports multihull fleet a clean set of rudders to convincingly regain the OMR sports multihull cup and PBH trophy.

read more here

Grand Prix Guyader, article on letelgramme.com summing up the event

From the following article on letelgramme.com

http://www.letelegramme.com/sports/voile/grand-prix-guyader-a-douarnenez-un-premier-acte-magique-07-05-2013-2094753.php

and the rough bing translate:

The curtain fell, yesterday in Douarnenez, on the first act of the Grand Prix Guyader, little windy but sunny. A cocktail which met crews who ensured the show in a magical Bay.  
    
At the end of morning Loïc Ponceau took advantage of a small South stream to launch fleet, the Class 40, IMOCA, Multi 50 and maxi-multis on a 19-mile coastal course. Once more, the spectacle, visible from the Rosmeur Pier, was superb under a sky that had begun to be filling. Lionel Lemonchois, indented Sunday, was the first to launch the slender hulls of «Prince de Bretagne» at the Committee boat before the powerful 'People's Bank'.
Second curtain, Mod 70 "Musandam" and "Virbac" pasted-tight began a match that was going to last, and even to continue before the jury. 

  It was nothing next to the epic jam that brought together all the series in the first brand under the cliffs of Crozon. This ultimate day was placed under the sign of light and unstable winds with episodes instead. "" The day the tactician nightmare because the wind was erratic, said laughing Roland Jourdain. ".Oman"(Musandam) has played, they made a u-turn almost and the Tower of the parish to find wind".

Sidney Gavignet and his crew won this final round before "Virbac» of Jean-Pierre Dick who has managed its entry into runway in am. 70. In general, the "Bank-popular" maxi, which was the first release in competition, managed to keep the supremacy narrowly.

In Multi 50, Loïc Féquet and the crew of "Maître Jacques" sign a perfects with four victories on the four disputed coastal. Yesterday, Malouin, assisted by Franck-Yves Escoffier to the tactics, has signed a beautiful fourth place overall, at 20 seconds of "Prince de Bretagne» Lionel Lemonchois and the"Banque Populaire"maxi, it is true little favoured in these light airs.

"We are pleased with this result and the manner in which it happened. We have a good speed in the small time, but above all, the crew is, every season, a little more ground. Everything is flowing between us, it is a huge asset, entrusts the Malouin which perfectly began his season. 

IMOCA, "Groupe Bel" concluded on a victory for sleeve and stood out to the general. His victory at Douarnenez is balm to the heart of Kito de Pavant after not yet closed injury of the Vendée Globe. "The boat has been superbly repaired CDK and lost nothing in performance. In conditions complicated with little wind, we demonstrated its qualities and took a lot of fun to race with buddies such as Jacques Caraës and Bertrand de Broc. It's a beautiful weekend, sporting and humanly. «Win made a very foolish ", says Kito de Pavant, moved slightly.

On the side of the Class 40, a series that displays a beautiful vitality, there was game to the end. On the momentum of his double on Sunday, Victorien Erussard ("solidarity in platoon") won a new victory yesterday. But "EDF GDF Suez" by Sébastien Rogues, second in this final round, is necessary to the general. "What a day! It was the Bay of Douarnenez in all its States but we managed to escape,"unleash in chorus the skipper and his tactician, Fabien Delahaye, come relax in a month of the Solitaire.

Four days Grand prix Guyader really brought together sailors from all walks of life.

Tour de Belle Ile video from onboard Sodebo

Tour de Belle Ile, results

From the following article on www.letelgramme.com

http://www.letelegramme.com/sports/voile/grand-prix-guyader-a-douarnenez-ca-commence-bien-04-05-2013-2091964.php

Here is the rough bing translate (good enough to get the idea)

Yann Guichard and the crew of "Spindrift" won, yesterday, the Tour de Belle - Ile, shortened to 15 miles due to the weakness of the wind.They have beaten Sébastien Josse ' Gitana 11' and 'Prince of Brittany' of Lionel Lemonchois.

476 registered, once the Tour de Belle Ile has also full of competitors. Amateurs, of the sailors cautioned, the stars of the racing as Yann Guichard, Lionel Lemonchois, Sébastien Josse, Alain Gautier, Thomas Coville. For the first time, all had the same desire to do battle at the start of this sixth edition. As promised, the Sun was good to go to La Trinité-sur-Mer but wind, he, was absent in the Bay of Quiberon smooth as a lake. These crews were forced to arm themselves with patience before dashing at 11:35 in a Southwest of barely 4-5 knots wind. With this weather windless, the event record, held for two years by Sébastien Josse and the crew of Gitana 11', might not fall. But expected with curiosity the first exit in competition of the 80 foot trimaran "Prince de Bretagne' face 'Gitana 11' (77 feet). It'll have to wait because the very soft conditions really helped these cars to three hulls to express themselves. Approaching the entrance to the channel of the Teignouse, these multihulls were becalmed, and against all odds, it is the TP 52 'Paprec recycling', skippered by Stéphane Névé, who had taken the head of the fleet. The wind being slightly back, "Spindrift" regained power in the laborious ascent of this channel.

Arrival in foals

History likely to drag on indefinitely, especially for the more small vessels engaged, Denis Hughes race Director decided to reduce the course and judge the arrival at the point of foals. The MOD 70 "Spindrift" was the first to cut this line at 15 h 25' 31', ' after a little less than four hours, anticipating less five minutes 'Gitana 11', twice taking the test. Nineteen minutes after the winner, "Prince de Bretagne" cut the line, become two-minute "Ocean Sensation" the former 60 foot Orma of Alain Gautier, 4th as last year. The victory of Guichard and his crew in mind almost all the time, was deserved.

There is also a detailed article on the race over at the excellent SailRaceWin blog

http://sailracewin.blogspot.fr/2013/05/tour-de-belle-ile-sunshine-and-petole.html

Extreme Sailing Series update, The Wave Muscat triumph in Qingdao

From the following article on the Extreme Sailing Series website:

http://www.extremesailingseries.com/news/view/return-to-form-for-leigh-mcmillan-to-clinch-victory-in-qingdao-by-the-small#.UYZFmlpArrd

Qingdao saved its best for last on the final day of Act 3 of the Extreme Sailing Series™ and the pressure was understandably on from the first start gun with no quarter given on the water as the teams used classic match racing tactics to try and outwit their nearest rivals. The nine races came in thick and fast in the best conditions the fleet have sailed in all week in the heart of Fushan Bay which has once again demonstrated how they became such a successful Olympic sailing venue. Heading into the final classic Extreme Sailing Series style deciding double-points race, the battle for victory was well and truly on between Alinghi and The Wave, Muscat tracking each other around the course and mirroring each other’s moves. The Swiss America’s Cup winners used their experience to try and outwit Leigh McMillan’s team and although they won the final double pointer, it wasn’t enough to win the Act and an ecstatic, and somewhat relieved McMillan commented: “It's a massive relief! To actually get the better of Alinghi in the light winds was a big achievement for us. When it comes to the pure boat on boat battle, they (Alinghi) tend to get the better of us. It's a tough battle, they are a very tough team to beat and tough competitors. The rest of the year is shaping up to be really exciting.”

read more here

Qingdao winners The Wave Muscat, photo courtesy Extreme Sailing Series

Extreme Sailing Series update, video of Day 3 racing in Qingdao

Spindrift Racing take the victory in the Tour de Belle Ile

From the following article on the Spindrift Racing website:

http://www.spindrift-racing.com/fr/2013/05/francais-spindrift-vainqueur-du-tour-de-belle-ile/

Spindrift Racing have now issued a press release on the race in English:

http://www.spindrift-racing.com/2013/05/francais-spindrift-vainqueur-du-tour-de-belle-ile/

Spindrift Racing team ready to tackle the Tour de Belle Ile on their MOD70

The Spindrift Racing Team are ready to tackle the challenge of the Tour de Belle Ile

From the following article on Spindrift Racing's website:

http://www.spindrift-racing.com/2013/05/francais-tour-de-belle-ile-spindrift-en-son-jardin/

Yann Guichard and his crew of five men will make their comeback on the MOD70 Spindrift this Saturday at the sixth edition of the Tour de Belle île. “The Bay of Quiberon and around the Belle île is like our back garden,” Guichard said of the team based in La Trinité-sur-Mer.

The 44 miles of the “bigger” Belle île course – ‘Le Grand Tour’ – will serve as the first and last test for the Spindrift racing team, who won the MOD70 championship last year. The crew have only been back together for a few days on board their big black and white trimaran, which has been modified this winter. “The pleasure of sailing on this amazing machine has resurfaced in the first runs  this week” Guichard said. “In a few seconds we slipped up to 35 knots.” With the experience of last year and the triumphs in the Krys Ocean Race and the European Tour, Guichard has again assembled a crew according to the strict criteria of complementary skills, ability to work in a team and expertise in a multihull. “We are entering the season with some confidence, as the crew seems to me motivated and able,” Guichard said.

read more here