MURRAY HARBOUR PEI

The key matchup of the day was Price and George Anyon (NZL) at the end of Round Robin one. Both were undefeated through their first ten matches.

After a closely-contested pre-start, Anyon gained control on the final stretch to the line and won the start cleanly. Price had to tack away for clear air, but then Anyon got ensnared in dirty air from another match that was on their second upwind leg. Price had clear air on the upwind right, and was welcomed by a bit of a right shift.

He grabbed the lead and never looked back, winning by a distance of five boat lengths. With a nice 7-8 knot late afternoon air current, the Race Committee kept the sailors on the lumpy Pacific Ocean until nearly 1900 (7pm), completing four flights of Round Robin two. Price continued his victorious bout, taking all four of those matches to end the day undefeated on 15-0. The upset of the day was the Anyon-Whitfield match in Round Robin two which caught the audience unawares. Matt Whitfield (GBR) has been coming on strong and defeated Anyon, his second defeat of the day.

Anyon led early, but Whitfield found some breeze on the second upwind leg to surge ahead. Despite the loss, Anyon still stands second among all on 13-2. (more…)

John Levinson, skippering the Jambi, should be on cloud nine as he crossed the finish line first to take the line honors in the 40th anniversary Marion Bermuda Race. Jambi is a new Hinckley Bermuda 50.

The successful attempt made by the crew members of the Jambi won them the “Beer and Champagne and a Line Honors” banner. It was awarded to them by the executive director of the race Alan McLane and the compliance chairman Willy Forbes.

Jambi completed the race with an elapsed time of four days, 23 hours, 36 minutes and 11 seconds. She started the journey on June 9^th at 1:55pm. Levinson said that he was part of the trip six to seven times before and he knew what to expect. He was also happy to be in a side that had good Bermuda race experience. All this helped the team take the line honors. This was the first time that the new Bermuda 50 left the US. (more…)

The sailing team of US is on an operation to be an Olympic Powerhouse.

However, to develop skilled sailors is indeed a time consuming mission. The program indeed took a strong step forward in 2016 games. The progress mainly lies in motivating and nurturing youth sailors and ensuring sustainment of the existing team members in terms of their commitment. As the new Olympic cycle of the Tokyo 2020 Games start, it is important to figure out how the team is preparing to take part in the race.

The strongest team is the Men’s 470 and Dave Hughes and Stu McNay are class veterans. They were the new team for 2016 and succeeded in achieving medals by finishing 4^th. The team is all geared up to take part again and it would be the 4^th game for Stu and 2^nd for Dave. Finn has been yet another team that is known for being the strongest. It is one person heavy weight game and Caleb Paine was the champion of the Rio Games. (more…)

Sports Directors of Red Bull Youth America’s Cup Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher have announced that 12 teams of young sailors have been invited to the 2017 Red Bull Youth America´s Cup.

All the team members are in the age group 19-25.

Red Bull Youth America’s Cup started in 2013 by the two Olympic legends from Austria with the objective of identifying sailing talents and to provide a pathway to a sailing career in America’s Cup.

The 2017 race will use the AC45 foiling catamarans for the first time in the history of the Cup. Steinacher said that the teams are picking younger sailors as the new boats are suitable for younger people who can handle the high speed with confidence.

Apart from the six teams affiliated with the full America’s cup team, another six teams have been identified by Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher to compete in the race. The selection was completed after extensive trials of 20 teams registered for the process. Now the number of fleets to compete in Bermuda in June 2017 has reached 12 teams. (more…)

Super yachts will soon have a Corinthian class.

The America’s Cup has proved to be a breeding ground for several developments and categories for different kinds of sailing activities. Sailors often pick up different skills that they learn to use as well. Today there have been several shifts in the way super yachts are sailed. For instance, multihulls have been moved and crew sizes have reduced for such boats. That has also impacted the professional lives of people who compete in world sailing events like America’s Cup.

For instance, today, many older people are taking to sailing and keeping up to the physical challenges that the sports presents. The Volvo Ocean race is one instance. Today there is a surplus of talent when it comes to competitive sailing and there are skilled personnel who are looking to use their talent. For them the super yacht category, offers them the perfect opportunity. (more…)

GC32 Oman Air of Oman Sail started their Extreme Sailing Series 2016 season with a magnificent showcase of foiling putting them at the top of leaderboard on the first day in Muscat. Oman’s ancient sea port Muttrah is just twenty kilometers north of the Al Mouj Golf Course race track in Muscat. Oman Air, with Morgan Larson’s new look crew, swept a grand win.

After training only for a few days in the new GC32, the squad appeared to have made a strong and exciting bond that underpinned a 2nd win in the next race plus 2 further victories to post an emphatic score of 4 wins in 6 races.

The breeze refreshened to sixteen knots before propelling Race Director Phil Lawrence to call off the coastal race to Al Mouj that made for ‘some tight, challenging and fun’ racing in front of the audience in Muttrah, the place where Nasser Al Mashari, the Oman Air bowman, lives.

Larson told that it was really magnificent to sail in a brand new location in Muscat, in front of the city. It was a great call by the race director as the conditions were really great – it was challenging, fun and tight. He added that going into that day, they were not that confident but everything came together. They require to build on where they are at now. This is a long season so for them, they need to just take the perfect steps without cutting any corners, and even if in the short term they do not get it right, they need to for the long term.