RORC Transatlantic Race, Team Concise Update, Sailing Videos

Video above: Team Concise Day 4 Update, RORC Transatlantic Race

• Latest news, blogs from the boats and photos: http://rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/
• Follow the progress of the race via the Race Tracker. 

Day 5 - Cat and Mouse across the Atlantic | 2015 Race Updates | News: Lloyd Thornburg’s MOD 70, Phaedo3 has 1,139 miles to the Port Louis finish and is enjoying a cat and mouse duel with Tony Lawson’s Concise10 (Ms Barbados). There’s just 30 miles between the mighty trimarans as they power along notching up the Atlantic Ocean miles with speeds of over 28 knots. Brian Thompson, Skipper of Phaedo3 explains what it’s like on board: “It’s pretty incredible sailing here, two MOD 70 trimarans tearing across the Atlantic Ocean at 30 knots, spray flying everywhere and long streaks of white wake shooting off our transoms,” says. “It’s Master and Commander stuff across the high seas - playing cat and mouse with each other, dodging and fencing as we zigzag downwind. Not to fire cannons and capture each other, but to be the first in to Grenada and to have beers ready for the second boat to the finish!” At the end of day four, Thompson reported: “Conditions are great with 19-23 knots of wind, puffy tradewind cumulus clouds, 2m waves which we are punching through at 30 knots. When we first got into these conditions when we gybed at Mindelo in the Cape Verdes, it was pretty full on. There was spray everywhere on deck and it was hard to even stand up down below and impossible to sleep. But we adapt, and now this is the new normal. Water shrieking off the propeller leg, boat jumping around as we bounce from wave to wave, and now we are sleeping fine in our off watch until it’s time to go on watch again or we gybe. We had better be used to it as this is just what we are going to have for the next 1500 miles, which is a little less than 3 days.” Read the full blog from day 4 on board Phaedo3 HERE

Video below: Jules Verne Trophy - Day 8 - Retour de la vitesse / Return to speed: 

Spindrift 2 - more info: http://www.spindrift-racing.com/jules-verne/en/home


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RC44 Virgin Gorda Cup, Fleet Racing Final Day, Sailing Videos

Day 4 Fleet Racing - RC44 Virgin Gorda Cup - Published on Nov 29, 2015: Artemis RC44 wins in Virgin Gorda as Team Nika clinches 2015 title

Artemis Racing today won the fleet racing at the RC44 Virgin Gorda Cup, with a four point margin over Peninsula Petroleum, having led from the outset of the four day regatta. While this was close, the outcome of the 2015 RC44 Fleet Racing Championship was far closer, only decided in the last seconds of the final race, followed by some intense mathematics and the breaking of a tie. 

For Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Swedish team this win represented a late charge this season, achieving their first RC44 regatta victory since the Austria Cup in 2012.

The 2015 Fleet Racing season for the one design 44ft race boats ended up a two horse race between Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika and Vladimir Liubomirov’s Bronenosec Sailing Team. The two teams had either won or come second in the two previous events and, in the championship, Team Nika was one slender one point ahead of her rival going into the RC44 Virgin Gorda Cup. 

Ahead of the final races today, Bronenosec was lying third, one place ahead of Team Nika, but needed another boat to finish the regatta between her and Team Nika to win the Championship. Initially this seemed all but impossible, but with the leaders doing badly in the first of day’s three races, by today’s last race overtaking second placed Peninsula Petroleum had became a real prospect for Bronenosec. In fact they had comfortably achieved this going into the final leg of the last race when a squall bringing with it torrential rain and 30 knots turned the leaderboard on its head. Because of this Peninsula Petroleum maintained second and while this left Bronenosec and Team Nika tied on points at the top of the 2015 leaderboard, Team Nika won on tiebreak – the closest ever finish to an RC44 championship. For more info: http://www.rc44.com/   #RC44VirginGorda


Jules Verne Trophy - Day 8 - Retour de la vitesse / Return to speed - more info: http://www.spindrift-racing.com/ #julesvernetrophy

RORC Transatlantic Race Update: On the third day of the RORC Transatlantic Race, the duelling MOD 70s are locked in a high speed battle approaching the Cape Verde Islands. 800 miles to the north, Zed 6 is cutting a cold lonely figure and Tales II is back in the race after a pit stop in Tenerife. The trio of powerful maxis have played their first tactical battle and further back in the fleet, there is a very different standard of cuisine aboard Nunatak and Aloha. On the second night at sea, Lloyd Thornburg's Phaedo3, skippered by Brian Thompson was still leading the charge south, but only just. Tony Lawson's Concise 10, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield - re-branded Ms Barbados - has significantly closed the gap... more info: http://rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/ #rorctr

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RC44 Virgin Gorda Cup, RORC Transatlantic Updates, Sailing Videos

Day 2 Fleet Racing - RC44 Virgin Gorda Cup: Despite the wind gods repeatedly throwing curve balls at competitors, Torbjörn Törnqvist and his Artemis Racing crew firmly consolidated their lead in the RC44 Virgin Gorda Cup regatta today. The Swedish team led going into the day and promptly won the opening two races and followed this up with a 6-2, making them top scoring boat of the day, eight points clear of Vladimir Liubomirov's Bronenosec Sailing Team in second overall. Bronenosec Sailing Team survived best in race three when a small squall passed through North Sound. Now second, while Vladimir Prosikhin's Team Nika has dropped to fourth, Bronenosec is currently favourite to win the overall RC44 Fleet Racing championship. John Bassadone's Peninsula Petroleum finally came good in the last race, while a solid 2-2-1 in the final three races elevated the Gibraltar-based team to third overall. Published Nov 28, 2015. More info: RC44 Virgin Gorda Cup


MOD70 Delivery down to Lanzarote for the RORC Transatlantic Race - Sometimes the hardest part of a race is getting to the start line! Team Concise's MOD70 makes her way down through tough conditions to the start of the RORC Transatlantic race. Published on Nov 26, 2015.

The @RORCRacing Transatlantic Race #rorctr has started! Keep track in real time with the 2015 Fleet Tracker: RORCracing Transatlantic Tracking

See also: Race Updates and JohnTheCrowd | Sailing News: 2015 RORC Transatlantic Race, Nov 28 Start, Lanzarote to Grenada and

2015 Race Updates | News: "The second edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race got away as scheduled from Marina Lanzarote with the fleet enjoying a reaching start in Atlantic swell and a solid 15 knots of breeze from the north east. Close battles are expected within the fleet for the next 3,000 miles before the yachts reach the finish at Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina in Grenada. "A fantastic start," enthused Eddie Warden Owen, Chief Executive of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. "Beautiful conditions for the fleet which all got away extremely well under full sail. Every single yacht competing in this race has been so well prepared and they are all expecting a very competitive race across the Atlantic...."

RORC Transatlantic Race Tracking - Route Destination: Grenada

Northerly Route Likely for the Start | 2015 Race Updates | News: "... Gerald Bibot's Belgian 42ft catamaran, Zed 6 is likely to be one of the first yachts to finish the 3,000 nautical mile race and will be hoping to win the Multihull Class after MOCRA time correction. Racing with Gerald will be Michel Kleinjans, who has set numerous world records, including the Round Britain and Ireland and Round Ireland races. Gerald Bibot is the founder of Great Circle which produces the revolutionary weather prediction and routing programme Squid. One of the features of Squid is Ensemble Modelling, running 20 related but different analytical models and then synthesizing these results into a single spread in order to improve the accuracy of predictive analytics...."

Other SAILING News:

Regatta cancelled after shipping blunder | The Royal Gazette:Bermuda Sailing: "The Flying Phantom Series finale has been cancelled. The regatta featuring 18-foot foiling catamarans, which was scheduled to take place on the Great Sound next week, was supposed to start on Sunday. However, the start was postponed after a container housing ten Phantom catamarans from Europe arrived on the Island on November 16 on the Oleander cargo ship, but was mistakenly then shipped to New York the following day. Despite efforts to salvage the event, including having the boats returned to the Island by Monday, the decision has been made to cancel the regatta."


Scuttlebutt Sailing News
Giles Scott secures third Finn Gold Cup
About Scott's performance he said, “Giles was just sailing in a different league to us this week. Not making any mistakes, he has no big scores so ...
Scott wraps up early victory at Finn Gold Cup - Eurosport.co.uk
Giles Scott: GB sailor wins third Finn World Championship title - BBC News
Finn Gold Cup: Scott sweeps to early World Championship victory - BYM News (press release)


Scuttlebutt Sailing News
Para World Sailing Championship Gets Underway
Melbourne, Australia (November 28, 2015) – In perfect conditions on Melbourne's Port Phillip, the first two races of the Para World Sailing ...
Para World Sailing Champs - Australian sailors ready for the challenge - Sail World (press release)
Para World Sailing Championships - Aussies and Brits shine in Melbourne's sun - BYM News (press release)
Ireland Lying Mid–Fleet at Paralympic Worlds – Day One - Afloat


3News NZ
Burling, Tuke win NZ sailing award
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have won New Zealand's top sailing award for a third consecutive year. The world championship-winning 49er crew were ...
Burling and Tuke make history with NZ Sailing's Top Honour - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Sailing: Burling and Tuke scoop top yachting prize - New Zealand Herald

Prestigious sailing prize for the fabulous Baker boy
Belfast Telegraph
Northern Ireland's most talented sailors and dedicated volunteers have been honoured in celebration of their huge contribution to sailing and boating ...

Club reminisces about sailing days
Chronicle
DARLING Downs Sailing Club commodore Peter Mullins said it was outstanding to see so many boats on the water and to see so many past members ...

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2015 RORC Transatlantic Race: Life in the Fast Lane (2014 video)

Above: RORC Transatlantic Race 2014 - Transatlantique à la voile de Lanzarote à Grenade sur un Class 40 en 14 jours, du 30 novembre au 14 décembre 2014. - Transatlantic sail from Lanzarote to Grenada on a Class 40 in 14 days, from November 30 to December 14, 2014.

THE RORC TRANSATLANTIC RACE:

• The second RORC Transatlantic Race starts in Lanzarote on Saturday 28th November 2015 and the 2,995 nautical mile race runs through the Canary Islands before crossing the Atlantic to arrive in Grenada
• The race is run in association with the International Maxi Association (IMA) 
• The winner of the inaugural RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy for best elapsed time under IRC in 2014 was Jeremy Pilkington's Lupa of London. The Baltic 78 was also presented with the International Maxi Association's Line Honours Trophy at a prizegiving ceremony held at Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina at the finish in Grenada 

2015 RORC Transatlantic Race - In association with the International Maxi Association - Race begins Saturday 28th November - Start: Lanzarote - Finish: Grenada

Life in the Fast Lane
Competitors in the RORC Transatlantic Race, jointly organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the International Maxi Association, are making their way to the start from Marina Lanzarote with many of the international fleet sailing thousands of miles to take part in the second edition of the race. However, just 10 days before the start, Tony Lawson's MOD 70, Concise 10 was still in its home port of Hamble, UK, over 1,500 miles from the start line. For the RORC Transatlantic Race, Concise 10, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield will be taking on Lloyd Thornburg's Phaedo3 in a high speed duel across the Atlantic.

"Trying to get south at this time of year when you have depression after depression rolling across the Atlantic always makes things interesting, so it is going to be a fairly fruity delivery for Concise 10," commented Collier Wakefield. "We have had quite a lot of work to do on the boat to get ready for the RORC Transatlantic Race and with our base in Hamble and all the team living close by, there was no reason to leave earlier. We originally planned to leave on Monday 16th November but the change in that decision was driven by the weather. Our primary goal for the delivery is to arrive in one piece and with several weather depressions coming through, we are holding out for a weather window on Friday 20th November."

Legendary French solo sailor Francis Joyon, concurs with Concise 10. Joyon's Maxi-trimaran, IDEC SPORT is on amber alert in the Bay of Biscay for an assault on the Jules Verne Trophy. The French team may leave on Saturday at roughly the same time as Concise 10 pass their proposed start.

Collier Wakefield describes the weather scenario: "This departure takes into account more favourable conditions with a shift in the breeze to the north west, we should have about 15-20 knots, a good angle to get out of the English Channel and past Ushant. The breeze is due to build later on to 35 knots and we really want to stay just in front of that all the way down, which will mean sailing the boat to about 80% of its capability until we reach Cape Finisterre. Once we make the Portuguese coast, the weather should settle down considerably with the depressions passing north over the top of us so we should have a fast downwind ride to Lanzarote.

"At the moment, we are looking at three and a half days for the delivery, which over 2,000 miles will be very quick. We are looking at boat speeds often over 30 knots and in the early part of the delivery, the northwesterly wind chill factor will be about -5ºC, so it will be woolly hats, thermals, boots, full dry-suits, helmets and goggles."

The RORC Transatlantic Race is organised under ISAF Offshore Special Regulations, RORC Prescriptions, Category 1 plus Satellite Phone. Competing yachts are inspected before the start to ensure that they have complied with the regulations. Concise 10 will also be following these regulations for the delivery to Lanzarote.

"Safety on board is always hugely important and is always at the forefront of our minds," commented Collier Wakefield. "We have been going through all of our MOB and capsize procedures and we have everything in place with Falmouth Coastguard. On deck, all of the crew will be wearing lifejackets at all times and a bum-bag containing an AIS Beacon, knife and torch - nobody is allowed on deck without them. We are very vigilant towards all aspects of safety. Concise 10 is carrying, to the letter, all of the safety equipment required for the RORC Transatlantic Race and we are sailing with the full race crew.

"Once we get to Marina Lanzarote we will take a day off and then we will be sailing everyday to practice in the conditions for the RORC Transatlantic Race. We are really looking forward to it and it is exciting to line up against Phaedo again. We are under no illusions that they have had a lot more time on their boat than we have, and effectively it will be a one-design match race across the Atlantic. I don't want to ramp it up, but we have met each other twice and we have come out one-all so far. Phaedo have been pushing their boat hard, breaking lots of records and it is going to be very interesting to see how we come out against them. More than anything, it will be really enjoyable racing in two boats with such enormous capability in trade winds with Atlantic swell across an ocean."

Marina Lanzarote is finalising preparations for the start of the RORC Transatlantic Race with a full social calendar for all competitors and invited guests. The Welcome Reception at the Real Club Náutico de Arrecife is on Monday 24th November with the Westerhall Rum Party, held in Marina Lanzarote the following day. There will be social activities every evening in the week before the start, including the Gala Dinner on Thursday 27th November.

For more information about the RORC Transatlantic Race: www.rorctransatlantic.rorc.org
source: Press Release 19 November 2015

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