Extreme Sailing News: Kite Bull Takes On The EX40
High-Speed in Cardiff – Extreme Sailors meet Kite-Boarder
Kite-boarder Ruben Lenten took on the Red Bull Extreme 40 catamaran skippered bei Double Olympic Champion Roman Hagara by displaying some incredible tricks alongside the high speed boat.
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| @Rutger Pauw |
CARDIFF (UK). Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher, both double Olympic gold medalists to their native Austria, and their international crew (Graeme Spence/AUS, Matt Adams/UK, Pierre LeClainche/FRA) invited Ruben Lenten to ride with them during the Welsh stop of the Extreme Sailing Series 2012.
The Extreme 40 catamaran measures 20 meters by 14 meters and can reach speeds of up to 75km/h and for Lenten, it's all about getter higher, faster and more extreme giving the perfect blend of the two forces to give crowds an awe-inspiring display. The perfect end to an action packed day.
Ruben Lenten said, “I'm always trying to build on my tricks and take the sport to the next level and it's been a dream of mine to kite next to Roman Hagara. It was absolutely unreal!”
Roman Hagara said, "It was a fun experience. We had to take care a lot not to sail over Ruben. His tricks are crazy and we are looking forward to the next shooting."
With gusts of winds up to 46 km/h, it was Team Red Bull who took the lead on the first day of this four day competition. The Extreme 40 teams will be sailing in Cardiff Bay until Sunday 2nd September as part of Cardiff's largest Harbour Festival where then they move onto Act 6 in Trapani, Italy.
To follow more of the action please visit www.redbullextremesailing.com
Images free of charge for editorial use. Credit: Rutger Pauw for Red Bull Content Pool
Ruben Lenten said, “I'm always trying to build on my tricks and take the sport to the next level and it's been a dream of mine to kite next to Roman Hagara. It was absolutely unreal!”
Roman Hagara said, "It was a fun experience. We had to take care a lot not to sail over Ruben. His tricks are crazy and we are looking forward to the next shooting."
With gusts of winds up to 46 km/h, it was Team Red Bull who took the lead on the first day of this four day competition. The Extreme 40 teams will be sailing in Cardiff Bay until Sunday 2nd September as part of Cardiff's largest Harbour Festival where then they move onto Act 6 in Trapani, Italy.
To follow more of the action please visit www.redbullextremesailing.com
Images free of charge for editorial use. Credit: Rutger Pauw for Red Bull Content Pool
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| @Rutger Pauw |
AMERICAS CUP NEWS : USA 17 HAS A BABY
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60 seconds with British Olympian Leigh McMillan
http://extremesailingseries.com In the fourth episode of our '60 Seconds with' series, we meet British Olympian and current Extreme Sailing Series 2012 tour leader Leigh McMillan. What does it take to be a winning team? McMillan thinks The Wave, Muscat have it sussed with a 'work hard, play hard' attitude. Find out about the teams race winning qualities and why McMillan say's you should support The Wave, Muscat in their bid to return the 2012 Extreme Sailing Series trophy to Oman
Louis Vuitton News : The Foils come out to play ETNZ Flying Machine
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© CHRIS CAMERON 2012 |
Seven hours with the AC72 on a very good day
POSTED ON 09 AUGUST 2012
Grant Dalton blogs on progress with the AC72 and reflects on the story so far…
After three days on the water we’re starting to get the feel for the AC72 although we’re still somewhat in awe of what the team has created.
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© CHRIS CAMERON 2012 |
Today we had a good seven hours on the water with the breeze around 14-18 knots with puffs over 20. That was more breeze than we really wanted but we got more relaxed with every passing minute.
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| © CHRIS CAMERON 2012 |
It was a really good, productive day. As it wore on, we grew more confident and a lot less jumpy. We came in because we had completed the tasks for the day – not because the boat told us to. That’s always a bonus.
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| © CHRIS CAMERON 2012 |
Less than two years ago the team’s experience with multihulls was almost zero. I had campaigned the 110ft Club Med around the world in The Race. That was in 2001 – and we won.
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| © CHRIS CAMERON 2012 |
So I had good memories of cats, but the harbour racer that Oracle was proposing for the 34thAmerica’s Cup had no relationship with Club Med which was built to race around the world.
A few of the sailing team had had some limited encounters with cats.
I remember thinking that if we were to campaign a cat for the America’s Cup we were not starting from an ideal base.
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| © CHRIS CAMERON 2012 |
That was in late 2010 and it now seems so long ago. The team had just won the season championship of the Med Cup circuit for the second year in a row and we had ended the Louis Vuitton Trophy series winning four of the five regattas.
We were firmly in the monohull world. We knew the old AC monohulls, which made their debut in 1992, like the back of our hands. We knew how to design them, build them and make them very reliable. And the boys knew how to sail them well.
But cats? That was rather different. Soon after Oracle announced the cats were on, we held an in-house strategy meeting.
It lasted all day. Its purpose was to get some direction on what we needed to do immediately to have a hope of mounting a successful challenge.
It all came down to finding people with experience in design, engineering and sailing catamarans who could be integrated into the Emirates Team New Zealand design team and work within the Emirates Team New Zealand culture.
By the end of that year, after a three-day design seminar, I could see the beginnings of a great multihull America’s Cup campaign.
Now with the AC72 on the water, that opinion stands. The commitment and focus shown by team members, the unwavering support of sponsors and suppliers, the expertise of the New Zealand marine industry … the team could not have asked for better.
A lot of people have worked long hours for more than 19 months to get to this point. A lot more work has to be done as we evaluate performance and learn about sailing the AC72even as prepare to start building the second one.
We’ve come along way in a short time. And we still have a long way to go
US Sailing Releases Full Report on Farallones Race Tragedy
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| 2012 Sophie Webb - Latitude 38 |
US Sailing Releases Full Report on Farallones Race Tragedy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Jake Fish
US Sailing Communications Manager
jakefish@ussailing.org
401.683.0800 x614
Chief Petty Officer Mike Lutz
Public Affairs Officer, US Coast Guard
Michael.Lutz@uscg.mil
415.399.7317
PORTSMOUTH, R.I. (August 6, 2012) – A US Sailing independent review panel has released the report on its investigation of the sailing accident that occurred on April 14, 2012 during the Full Crew Farallones Race out of San Francisco, Calif. The accident resulted in the deaths of five sailors from the sailboat, Low Speed Chase.
The crew of eight aboard Low Speed Chase encountered larger than average breaking waves when rounding Maintop Island, the northwest point of Southeast Farallon Island. These waves capsized the vessel, a Sydney 38, and drove it onto the rocky shore. Seven of the eight crew members were thrown from the boat into the water. Only two of those sailors in the water made it to shore and survived.
As a result of the panel’s research and analysis, they determined that the primary cause of the capsizing was due to the course sailed by Low Speed Chase, which took them across a shoal area where breaking waves could be expected. During the course of the analysis, multiple track lines from other racers that day were obtained and are provided in the report. It is noted that the Low Speed Chase was not the only vessel which crossed or sailed very near this shoal area.
Although the course sailed was the direct cause of the accident, there were additional safety issues that came to light during the investigation. The panel concluded that improved personal safety gear, including life jackets and harnesses, may have increased the sailors’ chances of survival. They also concluded that enhanced communication capabilities between the race committee and race boats, and improved race management protocols could have better assisted the search and rescue efforts. The panel noted that these additional issues did not directly affect the outcome of this incident. However, improvements in these areas may save lives or reduce injuries in future accidents. The essential key to prevention would have been a more conservative course selection to avoid breaking seas in shoal water on a lee shore.
Coast Guard Sector San Francisco called for an offshore racing safety stand down to provide the time necessary to review safety procedures. US Sailing, the national governing body for the sport, conducted an independent review of the sailing accident and investigated the circumstances in an attempt to help reduce the chance of future similar tragedies and make offshore racing safer.
The panel formed in response to this request collected factual information through extensive interviews, review of available GPS tracks and weather data, and questionnaire responses from race participants. The team also relied heavily on the panel’s deep knowledge base and sailing experience.
“The entire panel extends deepest sympathy to the families of the deceased and survivors of this tragedy," said Sally Lindsay Honey, Panel Chairperson. "We hope the effort we have put into our report will make offshore racing safer and promote broader awareness of seamanship principles. We are pleased to see the improvements in race management that have already been implemented locally in response to the tragedy.”
As a result of the tragedy, the seven Organizing Authorities which run local ocean events, all with disparate equipment requirements and safety procedures in the past, have come together to form the NorCal Ocean Racing Council (NorCal ORC). The goal of the NorCal ORC is to settle on a common set of best practices for safety in offshore events, and to develop an on-going process for continuous improvement of those practices. Numerous improvements have been implemented already, including a web-based system for managing crew information, new mandatory safety equipment inspections, and improved protocol and log for all race committee communications. These improvements will help the race committee to better support the deployment of Coast Guard resources.
"The Coast Guard appreciates the tremendous support of the local sailors, the offshore race organizers and sponsoring yacht clubs during the safety review period," said Capt. Cynthia Stowe, Coast Guard Captain of the Port of San Francisco. "Our thoughts will always be with the families of the five sailors who lost their lives during the tragic accident aboard the Low Speed Chase, and we hope that the sailing community takes to heart the recommendations put forth in this report to help minimize the chances that other families will have to go through what these families have.”
The members of the panel include Chairman, Sally Lindsay Honey (Palo Alto, Calif.), John Craig (San Rafael, Calif.), Jim Corenman (Friday Harbor, Wash.), Bill Barton (Boston, Mass.) and Bartz Schneider (Crystal Bay, Nev.). Offshore Special Regulations Consultant on the panel is Evans Starzinger (Milford, Conn.). The Safety-at-Sea Committee Chair and panel liaison is Chuck Hawley (Santa Cruz, Calif.). Medical advisors are Dr. Kent Benedict (Aptos, Calif.) and Dr. Michael Jacobs (Vineyard Haven, Mass.). Jim Wildey (Annapolis, Md.) advised on investigation procedures and formats. Panelist bios are included in the report.
Read the US Sailing Report on the 2012 Full Crew Farallones Race.
About US Sailing
The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing), the national governing body for sailing, provides leadership, integrity, and growth for the sport in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. US Sailing offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including National Championships and the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org.
Olympic Sailing News Big Bens Hunt For Gold New Pic Carlo Borlenghi
Big Ben, rockin' Dane sail for Finn Olympic gold
Updated: August 4, 2012, 1:30 PM ETAssociated Press
All photos @carloborenghi.net
All rights reserved
WEYMOUTH, England -- One has been called the greatest sailor Britain has seen since Admiral Lord Nelson, who was felled by a musket shot during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 but lived long enough to learn of victory over the French and Spanish fleets.
The other is a red-bearded Dane who works for concert promoter Live Nation and is proud of founding a metal music festival called Copenhell.
It'll be epic in so many ways Sunday when Britain's Ben Ainslie sails for his fourth straight Olympic gold medal and fifth games medal overall. If he gets the gold, he'll eclipse Denmark's Paul Elvstrom, who won four straight golds from 1948-60, as the most successful Olympic sailor ever.
Standing in the way of Ainslie's nautical coronation is Elvstrom's countryman, Jonas Hoegh-Christensen. The smiling, unassuming Dane has led the Finn class since Race 1 and says he feels no pressure despite what's at stake.
"I think I have a very good chance of winning. But you've got to remember, Ben is the best sailor of modern times. He's going to be a hard guy to beat, no doubt about it," Hoegh-Christensen said Saturday, an off day for the 10 sailors who've advanced to Sunday's medals race.
This seaside resort has seen its share of history. The Black Death plague first touched England's shores here in 1348. King George III spent several summers on the long, curving beach taking therapeutic saltwater dips in the English Channel. The majority of American soldiers who landed in Normandy on D-Day shipped out from Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbor, the second-largest manmade harbor in the world.
On Sunday, some 15,000 paying fans are expected to jam the grassy hillside at Nothe Fort, most of them to wave their Union Jacks and cheer on the 35-year-old Ainslie.
There are plenty of pubs along the old-fashioned harbor where they can celebrate if Ainslie wins -- or drown their sorrows if he loses.
Although Hoegh-Christensen fell for Ainslie's mind games in Race 10, he isn't worried about the British star's home-water advantage.
"I know quite a few people who will be rooting for me out there tomorrow. I'll stay with those guys and wave to them," the 31-year-old Dane said. "I'm sure there will be a lot of British guys. You know what? I came here and I've fulfilled my goal that I set before the event. I wanted to finish in the medals and have a chance of winning gold going into the medal race, and that's what I've done.
"I don't have that much stress on me," Hoegh-Christensen added. "He has his back against the wall. I don't think he had thought it would be this close going into the medal race. He has a lot of pressure on him. So I think I'm sleeping a bit more sound than he is these days."
Hoegh-Christensen won three of the first 10 races and finished ahead of Ainslie seven times. He won the regatta opener on the Nothe Course, where the windward mark is right in front of the crowd and the shifting winds coming off the channel make it a hard place to sail.
Although Hoegh-Christensen leads Ainslie by two points, they're essentially tied. The medals race awards double points. It's basically a case of whoever finishes ahead of the other will win the gold medal.
If the fleet were bigger, Ainslie might try to match race Hoegh-Christensen to the back of the pack. Ainslie did that to Brazil's Robert Scheidt in the Laser class in 2000 to win his first gold medal.
But with only 10 boats in the medals race, that won't work because Pieter-Jan Postma of the Netherlands is sitting in third, 14 points back.
"I think we're in a spot where we have to pay attention to P.J. Postma," Hoegh-Christensen said. "Yes he's quite a few points behind, but he's not further behind that if we go into a total match-racing duel, he'll end up winning the Olympics. We can't do that. We have to go and race. With that said, I still think that, knowing Ben, he's probably going to try and make a couple of moves. Once we get close to the start I don't think there's any chance of going into a total match-racing duel. Ainslie needs to finish no lower than seventh and ahead of Hoegh-Christensen to win the gold.
While Ainslie was the favorite coming in, Hoegh-Christensen has been an intriguing story. After finishing sixth in Beijing, he quit sailing for three years and became a commercial director with Live Nation Denmark.
He's proud of starting Copenhell, which he said drew close to 15,000 fans this year.
"Some of the best concert moments I've had is watching Metallica," he said. "But I'm a big fan of some old-school rock like Led Zeppelin and a big fan of a guy called Jack White."
On Saturday, he was definitely in his sailor mode rather than a rock mode. He was dressed in khakis, a plaid shirt and blue cardigan with the Danish team logo -- and the motto Every Second Counts -- on the left breast.
Hoegh-Christensen, whose father, Jens Christensen, is an executive with North Sails, said this is probably his last Olympic campaign because the physically demanding Finn class has been hard on his body. He'd like to sail in other classes and maybe do a Danish America's Cup campaign if the economy recovers.
Hoegh-Christensen said Elvstrom has passed along his best wishes.
"He doesn't pay a lot of attention to his record," Hoegh-Christensen said. "It's not that important to him. He had a motto, 'If by winning you lose the respect of your competitors, you've won nothing at all.' I've tried to live by that standard."
In Sunday's other medals race, Britain's Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson will try to repeat as gold medalists in the venerable Star class. Percy also won the Finn gold in 2000.
On Saturday, Australia's Tom Slingsby, a crewman with America's Cup champion Oracle Racing, won both races to take a 14-point lead over Pavlos Kontides of Cypress into Monday's medals race.
In the women's Laser Radial, China's Xu Lijia and Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands are tied with 33 points. One point back are Ireland's Annalise Murphy and Belgium's Evi Van Acker. American Paige Railey reached the medals race in ninth but is 58 points out of bronze medal position.
After four races in the women's' 470, Americans Amanda Clark and Sarah Lihan are fourth, seven points behind leaders Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie of New Zealand. All photos
@carloborenghi.net
WEYMOUTH, England -- One has been called the greatest sailor Britain has seen since Admiral Lord Nelson, who was felled by a musket shot during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 but lived long enough to learn of victory over the French and Spanish fleets.
The other is a red-bearded Dane who works for concert promoter Live Nation and is proud of founding a metal music festival called Copenhell.
It'll be epic in so many ways Sunday when Britain's Ben Ainslie sails for his fourth straight Olympic gold medal and fifth games medal overall. If he gets the gold, he'll eclipse Denmark's Paul Elvstrom, who won four straight golds from 1948-60, as the most successful Olympic sailor ever.
Standing in the way of Ainslie's nautical coronation is Elvstrom's countryman, Jonas Hoegh-Christensen. The smiling, unassuming Dane has led the Finn class since Race 1 and says he feels no pressure despite what's at stake.
"I think I have a very good chance of winning. But you've got to remember, Ben is the best sailor of modern times. He's going to be a hard guy to beat, no doubt about it," Hoegh-Christensen said Saturday, an off day for the 10 sailors who've advanced to Sunday's medals race.
This seaside resort has seen its share of history. The Black Death plague first touched England's shores here in 1348. King George III spent several summers on the long, curving beach taking therapeutic saltwater dips in the English Channel. The majority of American soldiers who landed in Normandy on D-Day shipped out from Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbor, the second-largest manmade harbor in the world.
On Sunday, some 15,000 paying fans are expected to jam the grassy hillside at Nothe Fort, most of them to wave their Union Jacks and cheer on the 35-year-old Ainslie.
There are plenty of pubs along the old-fashioned harbor where they can celebrate if Ainslie wins -- or drown their sorrows if he loses.
Although Hoegh-Christensen fell for Ainslie's mind games in Race 10, he isn't worried about the British star's home-water advantage.
"I know quite a few people who will be rooting for me out there tomorrow. I'll stay with those guys and wave to them," the 31-year-old Dane said. "I'm sure there will be a lot of British guys. You know what? I came here and I've fulfilled my goal that I set before the event. I wanted to finish in the medals and have a chance of winning gold going into the medal race, and that's what I've done.
"I don't have that much stress on me," Hoegh-Christensen added. "He has his back against the wall. I don't think he had thought it would be this close going into the medal race. He has a lot of pressure on him. So I think I'm sleeping a bit more sound than he is these days."
Hoegh-Christensen won three of the first 10 races and finished ahead of Ainslie seven times. He won the regatta opener on the Nothe Course, where the windward mark is right in front of the crowd and the shifting winds coming off the channel make it a hard place to sail.
Although Hoegh-Christensen leads Ainslie by two points, they're essentially tied. The medals race awards double points. It's basically a case of whoever finishes ahead of the other will win the gold medal.
If the fleet were bigger, Ainslie might try to match race Hoegh-Christensen to the back of the pack. Ainslie did that to Brazil's Robert Scheidt in the Laser class in 2000 to win his first gold medal.
But with only 10 boats in the medals race, that won't work because Pieter-Jan Postma of the Netherlands is sitting in third, 14 points back.
"I think we're in a spot where we have to pay attention to P.J. Postma," Hoegh-Christensen said. "Yes he's quite a few points behind, but he's not further behind that if we go into a total match-racing duel, he'll end up winning the Olympics. We can't do that. We have to go and race. With that said, I still think that, knowing Ben, he's probably going to try and make a couple of moves. Once we get close to the start I don't think there's any chance of going into a total match-racing duel. Ainslie needs to finish no lower than seventh and ahead of Hoegh-Christensen to win the gold.
While Ainslie was the favorite coming in, Hoegh-Christensen has been an intriguing story. After finishing sixth in Beijing, he quit sailing for three years and became a commercial director with Live Nation Denmark.
He's proud of starting Copenhell, which he said drew close to 15,000 fans this year.
"Some of the best concert moments I've had is watching Metallica," he said. "But I'm a big fan of some old-school rock like Led Zeppelin and a big fan of a guy called Jack White."
On Saturday, he was definitely in his sailor mode rather than a rock mode. He was dressed in khakis, a plaid shirt and blue cardigan with the Danish team logo -- and the motto Every Second Counts -- on the left breast.
Hoegh-Christensen, whose father, Jens Christensen, is an executive with North Sails, said this is probably his last Olympic campaign because the physically demanding Finn class has been hard on his body. He'd like to sail in other classes and maybe do a Danish America's Cup campaign if the economy recovers.
Hoegh-Christensen said Elvstrom has passed along his best wishes.
"He doesn't pay a lot of attention to his record," Hoegh-Christensen said. "It's not that important to him. He had a motto, 'If by winning you lose the respect of your competitors, you've won nothing at all.' I've tried to live by that standard."
In Sunday's other medals race, Britain's Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson will try to repeat as gold medalists in the venerable Star class. Percy also won the Finn gold in 2000.
On Saturday, Australia's Tom Slingsby, a crewman with America's Cup champion Oracle Racing, won both races to take a 14-point lead over Pavlos Kontides of Cypress into Monday's medals race.
In the women's Laser Radial, China's Xu Lijia and Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands are tied with 33 points. One point back are Ireland's Annalise Murphy and Belgium's Evi Van Acker. American Paige Railey reached the medals race in ninth but is 58 points out of bronze medal position.
After four races in the women's' 470, Americans Amanda Clark and Sarah Lihan are fourth, seven points behind leaders Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie of New Zealand. All photos
@carloborenghi.net
All rights reserved.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
ACD 50 Teaser - Ben Ainslie
This week on America's Cup Discovered we catch up with Ben Ainslie as he aims to becoming the most decorated Olympic sailor in history. After London 2012 Ben will fly directly to San Francisco to launch his team as the skipper of 'Ben Ainslie Racing' in the AC World Series in San Francisco. We also get the inside scoop on sailor nicknames, including: Cheese, Cat Flap, T-Hutch, Avatar to list a few.
Tune in to youtube.com/americascup on Saturday August 4 at approx 0800 PDT 1600 BST
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