Offshore Racing

Yesterday, US ocean racer Brad Van Liew set sail from Charleston South Carolina for La Rochelle, for the start of the Velux 5 Oceans Race next month onboard his Eco 60 racer ‘Le Pingouin’. The boat underwent a thorough refit as it has several times before when it had done business as ‘Whirlpool,’ ‘Tiscali,’ ‘Global Challenge’ and ‘Pro Form’. The 42-year-old will sail about 3000 nautical miles across the Atlantic and use the passage as a qualifying sail and as a shakedown cruise to test electronics, sails, communication systems and hardware. On October 25, Van Liew and seven others will begin their 30,000-mile solo journey around the planet. Stopovers are set for Cape Town RSA, Wellington NZL, Salvador BRA, Charleston USA before returning to the finish in La Rochelle. It will be Van Liew’s third race after 1998/99 and 2002/03 editions, winning class two in the latter race. More on the Team Lazarus Web site and on the Velux 5 Oceans site.

Dame Ellen MacArthur says she learnt about sustainability from her experiences sailing around the world. She told BBC Radio 5: "Having collected everything I would need for my survival for two and a half months and having to manage it...I had a real idea of the notion of finite." MacArthur has set up an educational foundation to promote sustainability. Key objectives include: To provide a framework for change through inspirational content, education programs and communication. To help seed the future economy with people with the knowledge and skills to build a sustainable future. To engage with industry and showcase what is already happening in this area and challenge the status quo. For more of ellen's plans, visit the Foundation's Web site.

Iker Martinez's ‘Teléfonica Blue’ was in hot pursuit of Franck Cammas' ‘Groupama’ at times surfing down the west of Ireland at up to 20 knots of boat speed. ‘Groupama’ however still had an 18-mile lead in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race as they were bracing for more big breeze. With just over 500 miles to go, the winner of this duel is highly likely to break the race record. In IRC, the British Keelboat Academy's TP52, ‘John Merricks II’ was averaging over 15 knots as they built a three-mile lead over ‘Tonnerre de Breskens’ NED a Ker 46 that holds the overall lead under IRC. Yesterday’s afternoon report, the race viewer and the standings.

Reaching and scooting along at 15 knots+, the two leading Volvo 70s already passed the northerhn tip of Ireland. 'Groupama 70' extended her lead over 'Telefonica Blue' to 50 miles. The race viewer, the report from 'Groupama' and the videos. The official report talks about more boats retiring.

Yesterday around noon, the two leading Volvos 70 rounded the Shetland Islands, the northernmost point of the British Isles. 'Groupama 70' with Franck Cammas FRA sailing in a fresher breeze closer to the coast passed 'Telefonica Blue' with Iker Martinez ESP, and stretched the lead to 15 miles. With 800 miles to go to the finish, conditions are forecast to remain challenging. The race-viewer and the reports.

Two days after the arrival of winner Bertrand Delesne FR, six boats were still at sea, among them Ryan Finn USA, who had to deal with serious auto pilot issues. They are expected to arrive today. This morning, the Chuan Guo CHN successfully completed his first international regatta, arriving at Les Sables d'Olonnes. Delesne has a 13 hour-advantage over Jörg Riechers GER for the overall win in this race from les Sables to the Azores and back. He clocked an average speed of almost 9 knots. Véronique Loissel FRA, the only woman in the fleet, did surprisingly well and finished sixth among the 35 boats in the final standings . The videos of the finish and the report of the day.

The Volvo Open 70, ‘Telefonica Blue’ is scorching along at a blistering speed. After the first 24 hours of the Round Britain and Ireland Race, the Spanish yacht has covered 440 miles of the 1,800-mile course. Hurtling along six miles behind them is ‘Groupama 70’ with Franck Cammas FRA. The two Volvo 70s are already north of Edinburgh, and could well be north of mainland Scotland by morning. Several hours behind is Jonny Malbon and his crew on the IMOCA 60 ‘Artemis Ocean Racing.’ More wind is expected, which will turn this into a even more of a speed fest. The complete report and the live tracking page.

The Round Britain and Ireland singlehanded record was pushed into a new dimension by Sidney Gavignet FRA on the 100-foot trimaran ‘Oman Air Majan’ who took no less than a day and 15 hours off the old record held by Thomas Coville FRA. Gavignet sailed the 1787-mile course in a time of 4 d 15 h 9 m 47 sec., which is also more than one hour faster than the record for fully crewed boats, set by Steve Fossett on ‘Playstation’ in 2002. It was the first real test for ‘Oman Air Majan’ and Gavignet who is preparing for the singlehanded Route du Rhum race this coming November. The report.

Up to 30 knots greeted the 27 teams at the start for the roudn Britain & Ireland Race, including the two vintage Volvo-70s 'Telefonica Blu' skippered by 49er-Wolrd Champion Iker Martinez ESP and 'Groupama 70' with Frank Cammas FRA. The odds-on favorite, the 100-foot Super Maxi 'ICAP Leopard', didn't get very far and had to withdraw with an unspecified defect. The race can be followed via GPS tracker, which revealed that 'Telefonica Blue' has the early lead over 'Groupama 70'. The positions and the event Web site.

Xavier Macaire FRA pulled the mega-surprise. With his production Mini 6.50 'Starter' he took third in Leg 2, ahead of most of the faster protos and won the production-boat class by a wide margin. As of today 4 am CEST, only 12 of the 35 boats have crossed the finish line at Les Sables d'Olonne FRA. Jörg Riechers GER, winner of Leg 1, trudged in as seventh and will be lucky if he can hold second overall behind Leg 2 and overall winner Bertrand Delesne FRA. Ryan Finn USA is still at sea in 34th, 380 miles from the finish, which he will reach Wednesday late or early Thursday. The positions, the race viewer and the report.

Alain Thebault, the French skipper of the world sailing speed record holder ‘l’Hydroptere’ unveiled ‘Hydroptere.ch’ (see our previous report), a 35-foot prototype designed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne as a test vehicle for future attempts at breaking ocean-racing records. The goal, Thebault said, was to develop new sail and hull configurations for a future 90-foot maxi craft that would attempt Transatlantic, Pacific and a run at the round-the-world speed record in 40 days. The current record is 48 days set by Franck Cammas FRA on the conventional trimaran ‘Groupama 3’ last winter. The project’s Web site.

At press time Bertrand Delesne FRA just had finished Leg 2 with an impressive 80-mile advantage over second-place holder Thomas Normand FRA. After taking second in the first leg to the Azores, Delesne, who also set a new 24-hour distance record for the Mini class with 298 miles, stands to win overall on accumulated time, because Jörg Riechers GER, the winner of the first stage, currently is only seventh, 130 miles behind. Ryan Finn USA seems to have a handle on his earlier autopilot issues and continues to race. He even picked up one spot and is in 33rd, 500 miles out. The positions, the race viewer and the report..

For almost 48 hours Bertrand Delesne FRA with his 'Prati'Buches' has been sailing 1-2 kn faster than his opponents on this extended sleighride that's been powered by a solid westerly breeze. In second, an incredible 115 miles behind is Thomas Normand FRA (' Financière de l'échiquier') followed by Vincent Bernaud FRA ('NorthStar') 118 miles behind and Jörg Riechers GER ('mare.de') who is 130 miles off the pace and sailing noticeably slower than his immediate competitors. Approximately 200 miles remain to the finish in Les Sables, which Delesne could reach around midnight CEST. Ryan Finn USA had veered far off course yesterday and was incommunicado. The Portuguese Coast Guard tracked him down by plane and learned that he had autopilot troubles, but now he's back on an easterly course to finish the race. He's in 35th and 650 miles from the finish. The race-viewer, the rankings and the daily report.

Covering 298.8 miles from 8 am on August 19 to 8 am on August 20, Betrand Delesne FRA (‘Prati'Buches’) set a new 24-hour distance record for the Mini 6.50 class at an average speed of 12.45 knots, which helped him extend his lead in the interim standings to 48 miles over Leg-1 winner Jörg Riechers GER (‘mare.de’). At last sched. Delesne was 550 miles from the finish in Les Sables d’Olonne FRA. It will be a dramatic couple of days that will decide the overall winner since Delesne finished the first leg in second, a mere 1 h 45 behind Riechers. Third place holder Luc Montagne FRA (‘ONG Conseil’) already is 86 miles off the pace. Ryan Finn USA looks to be in some serious trouble as he has dropped from fifth in the beginning of the stage to 32nd, limping along at 2 knots far behind and way to the north of the fleet. The RC is contemplating diverting a chase boat to see if he needs assistance. The report (French) and the race viewer.

Recording up to 16 knots the Mini 6.50 are hurtlingeast with the favorites in command. Bertrand Delesne FRA ('Prati'Buches) has a whopping 22-mile advantage over Jörg Riechers GER ('mare.de'), who had won the first leg to Horta ESP. Ryan Finn USA tumbled from fifth yesterday to 24th, trailing the leaders by 97 miles as he sailed along at 9 knots, but at a much more northerly course. There are still 800 miles to the finish in bis Les Sables d'Olonne and the forecast predicts the wind to die down. The positions and the der report.