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Latest News from the Sail Search Blog

Archipelago Raid

www.Sail-Search.com: Stockholm, May 15 2008 In one month’s time the most extreme sailing race in the world will be hosting some of the biggest names in sailing, who will be competing against less unknown but talented and persistent teams in the 8th edition of the Archipelago Raid.

In Formula 18 catamarans the Raid pushes the teams of two to the edge, both mentally and physically, as they navigate round the 100,000 islands that make up the Swedish, Aland and Finnish Archipelagos. For six days the teams will battle through some of the most challenging and beautiful landscapes in the world, with uncharted rocks and changing weather conditions, stopping only for a brief ‘overnight’ rest.

This year’s edition takes place just before midsummer, when the almost non existent Scandinavian summer nights will demand even more of the competitors as one can more or less sail throughout the night.

Almost 20 teams from nine nationalities have already signed up. Impressive personalities like Dame Ellen McArthur belong to the line up. Ellen McArthur competed in the Archipelago Raid once before in 2003 but had to withdraw early in the race after an unfortunate leg injury. After sailing around the world solo non stop in monohull and multihull, (Vendee Globe, Solo Round the World and Jules Verne records) McArthur stopped sailing for two years. Now she is back with a new project and has chosen the challenging Archipelago Raid as a part of her comeback. She will team up with Greg Homann from Australia.

Official website

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Thu, 15 May 2008 14:48:54 +0000

www.Sail-Search.com: At around 23h30 last night, as the Safran monohull was sailing under full mainsail, solent and with the automatic pilot in 22 knots of wind, a squall surprised Marc Guillemot causing the boat to accelerate away: "I was inside. The boat was on pilot and suddenly broached. The boat went over on her side with the mast in the water. I hung on to the pedestal. I very quickly shifted the keel and the boat came back up. I think I may have cracked or broken a rib," explained Marc to his shore team on a radio link-up.

Marc added: "I have informed the race directors. On medical advice, I have taken a painkiller and put on some ointment. It feels better. It would really annoy me if I had to stop. I’m going to have a rest and then see if I can hoist some canvas. I’m currently sailing with one reef in the mainsail and under solent. I’m going to keep a close eye on my state of health and if I’m suffering too much and can no longer keep up, in conjunction with the team, we will take the necessary decision. Meanwhile, I’m staying in the race."

Marc Guillemot is sailing in the Artemis Transat Transatlantic Race

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Tue, 13 May 2008 13:33:53 +0000

www.Sail-Search.com: The Saab Cruiser National Championships at Howth YC this weekend (May 16th-18th) has attracted 104 entries across four classes, representing 23 clubs in Ireland and the UK.

Eamon Rohan won Class 0 on home waters last year and is back to defend his IRC title with his latest ‘Blondie’ (IV). Again, he can expect stiff challenges from fellow Corkonians Anthony O’Leary (‘Antix Eile’) and Conor & Denise Phelan (‘Jump Juice’) while the Dublin challenge will be headed by Tim Costello’s ‘Tiamat’ and the Howth boats ‘Rosie’ (Roy Dickson) and ‘Team Kingspan’ (Matt Davis).

Class 1 was headed by Eamon Crosbie’s ‘Teng Tools’ from the National YC in 2007 and he is looking to repeat the success this year. Among those planning to upset the odds will be the Tyrrell’s ‘Aquelina’ from Arklow, Barry Cunningham’s ‘Contango’ (RIYC) and the Breen/Earls/Hogg combination from HYC in ‘Flashback’.

There are more clubs involved in the 33-strong Class 2 fleet than in any other class yet it probably represents Howth’s best opportunity to do well, with ‘Kinetic’ (Colwell/Murphy), ‘King 1’ (Cullen/Bourke) and ‘Tigger’ (Cassidy/Mulhall) – the ECHO winners in Cork last year – among the candidates. The opposition, however, includes the defending IRC champion Barry Rose in ‘Obsession VI’ from Cork and the always competitive Tim Goodbody on ‘White Mischief’ from RIYC.

With a number of regional titles in recent years, Vincent Gaffney’s ‘Alliance’ will be fancied to be among the front-runners in Class 3. The challengers come in the shape of at least three J24s – Jamie Bergin’s ‘Jaws’ from Lough Ree and Brian McDowell’s ‘Scandal’ and Chris Shackleton’s ‘Johnny Bravo’ both from Malahide – as well as Roger Cagney’s recent acquisition ‘Chanser’ and Basil McMahon’s veteran ‘Holly’, both HYC.

Racing starts at 1100 hrs on each of the three days and will be spread over two race courses – one giving windward-leeward courses and the other round-the-cans. The programme has seven races, with prizes awarded daily and overall on both IRC and ECHO.

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Tue, 13 May 2008 05:04:03 +0000

www.Sail-Search.com: They’re off! It was in very light conditions that the start of the transatlantic race, The Artemis Transat, took place on Sunday 11th May at 2 p.m. (BST) in Plymouth (3 p.m. CET). From the outset, Marc Guillemot and its Safran were up with the leaders. The 2800 mile adventure to Boston has begun…

Marc Guillemot did warn us: «As soon as we get ready to line up for the start, all the stress leading up the race and all our worries disappear. We’re in it to race and when the gun is fired…we really go for it. We give it our all and try to get the maximum out of the boat. It’s as simple as that.»

At exactly two o’clock (local time) or three (CET) on Sunday 11th May 2008, that is exactly what happened on board the thirteen IMOCA monohulls and the eleven Class’40 that are taking part, as they crossed the start line separated in two by a Royal Naval vessel, HMS Argyll. A clean start with no penalties in light conditions with a 5 to 8 knot sou’westerly wind under skies veiled simply by a heat haze and on a flat calm sea, which was only made choppy, because of the presence of hundreds of spectator boats that turned up to watch the event. According to Sylvain Mondon of Météo France, who studied the weather with Marc Guillemot right up to the final moments before the start, the wind should strengthen to become a fifteen-knot northerly, once they get out of Plymouth Sound and pass the Eddystone Lighthouse, the first mark located 11 miles from the start line.

When the starting gun was fired, Marc Guillemot managed to place its Safran in the most windward position of the fleet. Under mainsail and small gennaker, the large monohull sailed by the yachtsman from La Trinité got off to the third best start, behind Sébastien Josse’s BT and Loïck Peyron’s Gitana Eighty, but ahead of Armel Le Cléach’s Brit Air, in fourth place. They were followed by Yann Eliès’s Generali, and then Michel Desjoyeaux’s Foncia, sixth, and Vincent Riou’s PRB, seventh.

In spite of the inevitable low speeds (6 knots) due to these light conditions for the initial upwind sail over the first ten miles of the race, it was a wonderful sight seeing these large monohulls so closely grouped together. Thirty minutes into the race, Safran was still in third place, behind Sébastien Josse (BT) and Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia), but the gaps, down to a few tenths of a mile in terms of distance to the finish in Boston, some 5300 kilometres ahead, were of course, highly insignificant.

However, Safran is now on its way and Marc Guillemot is up with the action. The race is on. After the first Omega Gate at the Eddystone, the single-handed yachtsmen will head for The Lizard, before making their way out into the Atlantic. They’re off for a fortnight of adventure and transatlantic racing!

At 15h16 (BST) (an hour later for CET), the leading competitors had managed to step up the pace to ten knots and were passing the Omega Gate at the Eddystone Rocks. Marc Guillemot’s Safran was very well placed, as it checked in in second place, less than three minutes behind Loïck Peyron’s Gitana Eighty, which was leading the fleet.

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Sun, 11 May 2008 18:31:22 +0000

www.Sail-Search.com: IMOCA Open 60 skippers at the Artemis Transat 2008 pre-race press conference.

(l-r top row) Yannick Bestaven (Cervin EnR), Dee Caffari (Aviva), Vincent Riou (PRB ), Armel Le Cleac'h (Brit Air), Unai Basurko (Pakea Bizkaia 2009), Steve White, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia); (l-r bottom row) Loick Peyron (Gitana Eighty), Arnaud Boissieres (Akena Veranda), Sebastien Josse (BT), Marc Guillemot (Safran), Yann Elies (Generali), Sam Davies (Roxy).
Photo credit: onEdition/The Artemis Transat/OC Events

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Sat, 10 May 2008 10:28:22 +0000

www.Sail-Search.com: Hull & Humber has won Race 9 of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race, crossing the revised finish line at 2022 GMT on Tuesday 6 May. It is the team's third individual stage victory of the 35,000-mile race which is being contested by ten internationally-backed 68-foot yachts.

Skipper Danny Watson says, "It was incredibly close racing from start to finish. Gybing under spinnaker at night with Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper a quarter of a mile away on our beam was pretty exciting stuff! Routing repositioning meant you dropped from first to mid-fleet within a sched. We needed to have belief in our navigation which ultimately paid off.

"Keeping Hull & Humber moving in the lightest of airs required a tremendous team effort from all but everyone brought something to the table. We have belief and pride in abundance!"

Hull & Humber was one of a group of boats which also included New York, Qingdao, Nova Scotia and Uniquely Singapore who have been matching each other move for move in the bid for a podium position and the all-important points to add to their overall tally and for much of the race from Santa Cruz several of them have been within sight of each other.

Crew member Natalie Booker, 28, from Beverley, East Yorkshire, joined the crew in Santa Cruz for the last two legs of the race back to Liverpool. She says, "It was very frustrating trying to keep the boat going in light airs but it turns quickly into perseverance to keep going forward. It gets increasingly exciting when another Clipper boat is in view. It gives you that extra energy and adrenaline to put in more and more effort to be able to push harder!"

The crew of Hull & Humber come first across the revised finish line at Gate Angel at the end of Race 9 of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race. Photo credit: onEdition

Qingdao was second across the finish line at 2313 GMT, followed nine minutes later by New York in third place at 2322 GMT.

Marcus Cholerton-Brown, skipper of Qingdao said, "All through the race we kept having close quarters racing with various boats, the most memorable being with Nova Scotia. They overtook us one morning before light winds settled in, then we fought back all day and ended up eight nautical miles ahead of them after some very slick sail evolutions from the crew."

Skipper of the US entry, Duggie Gillespie, commented, "It was very good sailing for most of the race until we came across this light winds - that was frustrating, very frustrating and a lottery at times. I said to the guys that there would be winners and losers given this race finish amendment and the time scale. Still, we are always pleased to be on the podium in this competitive fleet. The team work on board reached new heights with the continual spinnaker work. They did really well."

The results are provisional until all the skippers have submitted their race declarations for scrutiny by the race committee. If the results remain as they are Hull & Humber's victory will take them into overall first position, one and a half points ahead of second placed New York.

Clipper Race Director Joff Bailey says, "As much as this has been a thrilling race for us to watch unfold at home, with the variety of tactics being played out and the really close racing, this has been a difficult one ace for the crews taking part. There is great skill involved in keeping a yacht moving in the kind of light airs they've been experiencing and Danny, Duggie and their teams have done very well."

Because of the lighter than expected winds that the fleet has been experiencing since leaving the Californian port, and the forecast for the coming days, yesterday the Race Committee made the decision to shorten the course for Race 9, in accordance with the Sailing Instructions. The finish line is now off the coast of Mexico at ŒGate Angel', one of several pre-determined gates included in the Race 9 course. The rest of the fleet is expected to cross the finish line over the next 36-48 hours and will then motor sail towards Panama, with the arrival of the first yachts anticipated on 13 May.

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Thu, 08 May 2008 06:29:50 +0000

www.Sail-Search.com: Yvan Noblet onboard his Class 40 Appart City arrives at Sutton Harbour Plymouth ahead of the start of the Artemis Transat.

Photo credit: onEdition/OC Events

Organised by OC Events, the 13th edition of The Transat, now known as The Artemis Transat will start 11th May, 2008 from Sutton Harbour, Plymouth (UK), and finish in Boston, USA. Created in 1960 by Sir Francis Chichester and Blondie Hasler, and often known until 2004 as the OSTAR, the oldest solo race in history has created many legends over the last four decades. The 2008 edition will be a monohull only race for the first time since multihulls were introduced in 1964.

Two monohull classes are confirmed as IMOCA 60 and Class 40 - a mix of pre-eminent ocean racing IMOCA skippers with a class that contains aspiring ocean racing professionals and accomplished amateurs.

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Thu, 08 May 2008 05:36:55 +0000

www.Sail-Search.com: The Algoa Bay Yacht Club in Port Elizabeth, South Africa has once again found it's sailing roots and hosted a successful four days of yacht racing in Algoa Bay from the 1st to the 4th of May 2008. After two years of dwindling competitors, with 27 yachts on the water in 2006 and 22 yachts in 2007, the Giza group of Companies stepped up as a late sponsor and injected much needed financial comfort into a regatta that was in serious danger of being renamed the ABYC Weak.

And the numbers show the difference that can be done by a committed sponsor and enthusiastic organising committee. In total there were 41 boats and 221 sailors on the water. The Pacer 27 class committed seven of their yachts to attending the Giza Challenge and held their East Cape Provincials, sponsored by Harveys Composites as part of the Giza Challenge Regatta as well, duking it out with the rest of the ABYC Class 1 fleet with a local PHRF handicap of 1.028.

Warrior (Simonis 60) Laps Knysna Challenger (L26)

The fleet were divided into three Classes; One, Two and Three. Seven Pacer 27 yachts sailed in Class One and contested their East Cape Provincials. Five IRC certified yachts sailed for IRC Honours in Class One. The Notice of Race also allowed for classes of four or more yachts to sail for class honours. In Class Three the Sadler 32 and Spirit 28's qualified for separate class status with four Sadlers and five Spirits taking part.

The Pacer 27's caused quite a stir and visual impact as they bobbed in the moorings closest to the club, with old cruising salts shaking their heads and looked for a stove, en-suite heads, teak finish and cruising comforts and came up empty handed, whilst young dinghy sailors looked upon the Pacer with naked lust in their eyes pleading with Dad to stump up the cash for one. Local Algoa Bay Yacht Club junior sailors, Philip Straton, Scott Stephens, Michael Collier, Thomas Ochabski and Luke Mann were the lucky sailors chosen to sail with Chris Frost from Durban on the Pacer factory boat, Pacer 3, managing a second as their highest race placing in the series and fifth overall in the Pacer Class.

Racing was scheduled to start midway through Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. and all the yachts left the harbour just after 9:00 for the race area. A serious lack of wind resulted in the entire fleet bobbing whilst we waited for the North Easterly to settle, a wind shift to the South at 12:30 p.m. and Race Officer Brian Reynolds sent Ronnie Baer and his mark laying team haring across Algoa Bay to lay the top and bottom marks for the first race of the Giza Challenge 2008. The slightly port biased line was set, the Class One preparatory and Course One flags hoisted and the fleet set off in a 6 to 8 knot East for the top mark. Class One had to do four laps of the Windward Leeward Course, Class Two three laps and Class Three two laps. The long beats and runs were ideal for Phil Gutsche's 60 foot Simonis, Warrior as the tall 'block of flats' made it's purposeful way through the fleet and lapped every other Class One competitor to complete the course in an elapsed time of 1 hour 30 minutes and thirty six seconds. The last Class One yacht to complete the course took two hours thirty five minutes and forty two seconds.

Close racing was the order of the day as the J27's; Just in Time (Andrew WARD / Justin ONVLEE) and Jouster (Richard Rath) were out to accept the challenge to see just which yacht out of the J27 and Pacer 27 class is 'top dog', thrown down by Andrew Heathcote on Pacer 1. In Class Three, the Sadler 32's made a magnificent sight as they battled in close competition on the runs.

The wind was predicted to be light and fluky on Friday and not many sailors expected to have to sail at all and were seen to be tucking into the Old Brown and pasta, compliments of Giza with great gusto followed by large amounts of liquid refreshments disappearing rapidly down thirsty throats. Friday morning started with not even a cats paw on the surface of the bay and dire predictions of waiting around in vain for the wind to come up. Then the North East came up and seemed to be settling in. Normally the North East blows for around ninety minutes and then does a rapid swing to the West to blow really hard or back to the South for a strong steady blow. Brian Reynolds made the decision to start Race number two at 12:55 p.m. with the wind in the North East betting against the wind swinging significantly and was proven to have the right stuff as we set off on another windward leeward course with no significant wind shifts.

Warrior seemed a bit off the pace as elapsed time difference between her and the last yacht over the line was reduced to thirty five minutes on a much shorter course.

In Class Two Jessica Lenz on After Dark continued with her second first of the series completing the course in one hour twenty six minutes and twenty one seconds, followed four minutes and sixteen seconds later by Rob Smith on his 30 foot Muira, Tikalox II.

With time in hand Brian Reynolds, elected to start one more race and the third of the series at 3:57 p.m. Friday evening's results took longer than normal to be processed as the protest committee dealt with five protests from the day's racing.

Cooking (Ladd 27). Spot the Sail Search webmaster

Saturday's racing only got underway at 1:06 p.m. after the fleet motor sailed out into the bay at 11:30 a.m. With the fleet sailing for Race number four to constitute the regatta Brian Reynolds elected to sail a windward leeward course in the light easterly wind.

Simon Baer on his newly acquired Benetau First Eight, La Chevalier, had his best result of the Giza Challenge and he sailed to third place in the flat sea and 8 knots of wind. We have seen in the past that La Chevalier is almost impossible to beat in such conditions.

An early start on Sunday in a rising west which was predicted to go to 28 knots in the afternoon presented competitors with different conditions to the previous three days and the first of the triangular courses was laid with the windward mark close inshore between Happy Valley and Kings Beach, the tight reach mark off of Shark Rock Pier and the bottom mark well off to the east.

Most of the yachts in Class One opted for smaller jibs and no reef in the main and we set off in 14 knot rising westerly. The first reach was very tight with even the asymmetric Pacers struggling to hold their course. At the reach mark, Chris Frost and his young crew took the prize for the most successive broaches in the least time. Teak reef talk after racing put it at six broaches in a row. On the last of the triangle reaches Graham Wentworth on another Pacer, Unmatched, had a lesson in broaching as well, and then proceeded to entertain the passing sailors with many hand signals and a final clout to the tiller extension as his struggling crew forced his Pacer in circles over a submerged spinnaker. Not too many comments were passed, though, as most crews realised that they were also sailing on the edge and liable to the same form of treatment from a fast freshening westerly.

Harry Brehm, on Pacer Two, fresh from the experience of a dismasting and taming of the 28 knot Cape winds, revelled in the harder conditions and sailed to his first win on elapsed time in the Class One fleet, breaking Andrew Ward on Just In Time's row of bullets by finishing nine minutes ahead on elapsed time and seven minutes ahead over the line. Prize of the race had to go to Cooking who broached right after finishing.

The westerly increased to over 25 knots and Brian Reynolds kept the fleet out eventually choosing the sausage windward leeward course for the last race of the Giza Challenge and sent the first of the fleet off at 12:51 p.m. More fun and games with 20 of the 41 competitors deciding that discretion was the better part of valour and opting for a Did Not Compete (DNC) result rather than breaking more equipment.

Reported Breakages were; Cooking (Gavin Stephens) a main sheet block that went flying on the third lap, torn Number Two jib and lost batten, Warrior (Phil Gutsche) - a broken Spinnaker Pole, Chinook (Bill Lee) - a broken Spinnaker Pole. Chinook Bowman, Bevan Galloway said; "I was getting ready to get the spinnaker down and gather through the fore hatch when I heard an 'explosion' and, looking up saw the jagged end of the spinnaker pole pointing down at my head."

Race number Six proved to be the quickest race of the series with Phil Gutsche from Warrior remarking, "We were covering the downwind runs in around six minutes which certainly didn't give the six crewman in charge of bagging and wooling our spinnaker time to complete the job."

Warrior

Weary crews made their way back to the Algoa Bay Yacht Club for prizegiving. At the prizegiving the Supersport Crew, who had been filming the entire regatta warmed the sailors up with a short first edit DVD of the last four days sailing, the normal thank yous were given to the race committee, Mark layers, organising committee and generous sponsors, Giza and the serious prizes handed out.

GIZA Challenge 2008 Final Results:

Class One:
1st - Just In Time (Andrew WARD / Justin ONVLEE, J27)
2nd - Jouster (Richard RATH, J27)
3rd - Chinook (Bill LEE, Farr 38)

Class Two:
1st - After Dark (Jessica LENZ, J22)
2nd - Tikalox II (Rob SMITH, Muira)
3rd - Adamo (Steve ARNOLD, Van Der Stadt 34)

Class Three:
1st - Sea Mole (Anton HAUTMANN, Sadler 32)
2nd - Skybird (Josef SCHABLE, Cape 28)
3rd - Lady (Eugene LOMBARD, Harry LAMPRECHT, Astove 30)

Harvey Composites Pacer 27 East Cape Provincials:
1st - Pacer Two (Harry BREHM)
2nd - Pacer One (Andrew HEATHCOTE)
3rd - Wild Thing (Russel MORGAN)

GIZA Challenge IRC Results: (Five yachts in total):
1st - Just In Time (Andrew WARD / Justin ONVLEE, J27)
2nd - Chinook (Bill LEE, Farr 38)
3rd - Pacer Two (Harry BREHM, Pacer 27)
4th - Warrior (Phil GUTSCHE, Simonis 60)
5th - Felix the Cat (Andrew WENTWORTH, Pacer 27)

Sadler Class:
1st - Sea Mole (Anton HAUTMANN)
2nd - Talisker (Iain BANCROFT)
3rd - Bee Haven (Kevin EVANS)

Spirit Class:
1st - Whisper (Tim LIPPSTREU)
2nd - Free Spirit (Mike ROBINSON)
3rd - High Spirit (Greg OCHABSKI)

Danny Tenner, CEO of the Giza group of companies showed what a committed sponsor can do to help raise the profile of sailing as well as gaining good exposure for his own business, promised to be back bigger and better next year with a target of 80 yachts on the start line.

The GIZA Challenge attracted some big names in sailing which included America's Cup Shosholoza team member David Rae, sailing on Warrior and Gary Sindler whose crewed with Mark Sadler in the J22 that won the 2008 J22 World Championships in Durban this year. Sailing with Simon Baer on La Chevalier was the Commodore of the Hoo Ness Yacht Club in England, Richard Cassem, who remarked; "I have sailed in many prestigious regattas, and the Giza Challenge and ABYC beat them all hands down for the friendliness of the sailors and sailing conditions." Also sailing on La Chevalier was the South African Sailing (SAS) president, Rob Mc Crystal who had a great time adding to the meat on the rail.

Dave Claxton, the builder of the Pacer 27 Yacht, said the following about Port Elizabeth and ABYC; "Their sailing waters have to be the best of all coastal venues, bar NONE."

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Wed, 07 May 2008 15:23:50 +0000

www.Sail-Search.com: The movers and shakers overnight appear to be Hull & Humber, Nova Scotia and Qingdao. All three have posted better than average 12-hour runs and it makes the top half of the table extremely open for any of the top five or six teams to challenge for the podium places. With the generally light winds across the area these three benefited from a very narrow band of slightly stronger wind that only lasted a short period of time but gave them another ten miles towards the finish.

Qingdao’s skipper, Marcus Cholerton-Brown says, “The race is set for the next sprint to the gate, and we are in hot battle with Nova Scotia. All day we have been at each other in very light and variable winds, but by nightfall we had gained the upper hand. Hull & Humber seems to be the next target, but we can rest assured Nova Scotia will keep coming at us.”

The team on Hull & Humber know they are in the other crews’ sights and skipper Danny Watson says, “We’re doing all we can to keep Hull & Humber moving in light winds to the revised finish line at the second gate.”

It just shows how fickle the winds are becoming as Jamaica, who have taken the middle road, and were less than 100 nautical miles away from the lead group have not benefitted from this additional pressure and have had a terrible 12 hours, making only 17 miles towards the finish.

Many of the skippers are reporting massive wind holes that appear to grab hold of the boat and trap them for hours with no boat speed before a slight increase in wind allows the very smallest of boat speed to be generated.

Durban 2010 and Beyond appears to have benefitted slightly overnight from their inshore route but this is probably too little too late and they will struggle to make any impact on the top half of the table. Meanwhile Liverpool 08, although still in last place, continues with her offshore route and is always threatening the back of the fleet.

Skipper Ben Galloway says, “Only a couple of hundred miles to the finish and although the scheds show us in tenth we know we are closer to the gate than at least one other boat and it’s not impossible to catch another or two and get some points. So, as usual we are at the mercy of the wind gods and remain optimistic.”

It would only take a few hours of steady wind for Ben and his team to leapfrog several of the yachts ahead of them.

The course for Race 9 has been shortened due to the lighter than expected winds en route to Panama City, threatening the fleet’s scheduled transit through the Panama Canal. With the fleet currently logging 12-hour runs of between just 17 and 48 nautical miles and the winds forecast to remain light before building as headwinds, the Race Committee has decided to utilise the pre-determined Gate Angel, approximately 140 nautical miles ahead of the lead boats, to finish the race that started 13 days ago in Santa Cruz.

Gate Angel is one of several intermediate gates contained within the Sailing Instructions for Race 9 that allow the Race Committee to shorten the course and finish the race early in case of abnormal weather conditions that seriously affect the safety of the fleet or the overall programme for the race. Most of the fleet crossed the first gate yesterday off the coast of Acapulco.

Race Director Joff Bailey said, “The Race Committee has been studying the forecasted winds for the next seven days and monitoring the fleet’s slower than expected progress towards Panama City due to the lighter than expected winds since the start in Santa Cruz. In order to ensure a smooth transit through the Panama Canal, the fleet has been informed that the Race Committee has opted to shorten the course and finish the race at Gate Angel.”

It is expected that the first teams will finish during Wednesday with the remaining teams finishing over the following 24 – 36 hour period. After finishing, each of the teams will motor sail to Panama with the first boats expected to arrive in Panama City on 13 May.

POSITIONS AT 0600 GMT 6 MAY 2008

1. Hull & Humber: Distance to Finish (DTF) 1266
2. New York: DTF 1283 (Distance to Leader 17)
3. Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper: DTF 1285 (+19)
4. Qingdao: DTF 1286 (+ 20)
5. Nova Scotia: DTF 1286 (+20)
6. Uniquely Singapore: DTF 1297 (+31)
7. westernaustralia2011.com: DTF 1342 (+76)
8. Jamaica: DTF 1370 (+104)
9. Durban 2010 and Beyond: DTF 1378 (+112)
10. Liverpool 08: DTF 1414 (+148)

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Tue, 06 May 2008 13:06:29 +0000

www.Sail-Search.com: Having just finished four hard days of sailing in the GIZA Challenge we noticed that one of our winches was a little bit tired and had taken to groaning with pain whilst being turned, so we whipped it apart and did a little bit of maintenance.

And then in a deja vu moment I opened up my mail this morning to see that my old mate, Vince from Sailboat2Adventure had sent a quick technical article on winch maintenance.

Actually I think he was thinking along the lines of the Sharks Rugby team needing a bit of maintenance as well, but, at the moment in South Africa, we do not talk too much about Rugby.........

Vince writes:

Just returned from a few days sailing on the yacht of a good friend of mine. First day out we noticed that one of the main winches was a tad stiff and revolving none too smoothly.

We decided to strip it down, clean it, re-grease and re-assemble it. This sounds a daunting task if you have never done it before, but in fact it is really quite simple and any sailor can do it easily with the few simple tools required and a little patience and care. It is a good exercise and one that should be included in your general maintenance programme from time to time.

Take a look at the illustration and you can see what you need. Some winch manufacturers supply a key for unlocking the top inner ring, but in the absence of that, Allen keys, a hammer(hard rubber preferred), brush, tube of winch grease, rags and a bucket with a goodly depth of diesel fuel in it. I prefer to use diesel as it is readily available(from your tank if you are in a far away place), but kerosene is ok too.

Insert the key in one of the holes in the top plate and tap it anti clockwise until it revolves. Once freed it should undo four to six revolutions quite freely. Always be super careful as you lift it off so that if it slips or falls, it drops inboard not outboard.

Gently prise off the main cover - usually done by standing astride the winch, one foot in the cockpit and the other on the deck and working it upward until it comes free. If it hasn't been off for sometime and dry inside, it could take some effort to move it and then come suddenly. Once again ensure that you have some ready hands outboard in case a loose part pops out unexpectedly. Remove the self tailing piece as you go and place in the bucket.

Take a Allen key the right size and undo the three or four screws at the base of the gears unit. From here you take each piece(cogs and spindles) and place them into the bucket as you go, noting carefully the order in which they come apart. Be careful not to dislodge the pawls and springs as they tend to fly away in directions you would rather they didn't!

Wash all parts thoroughly in the diesel with your brush and then wipe clean with the rag. Lay them out in order on your cockpit seat as shown.

Wipe a thin coating of the grease on spindles, inner surfaces and flat surface of the base. Grease the bearing races well and ensure they run well. Dab liberally into and onto gears and cogs. It is good to have them well coated but don't overdo it - too much grease and the surplus tends to dry out and go hard over time.

Re-assemble taking care that every part goes in in the correct order and fits properly. Check that you have not left any stray bits in the bottom of the bucket.

Refit the top ring, polish with your rag and you will have a shiny new winch again.

Spin it a couple of times and you will hear the satisfying way it revolves freely with the muted clicking of a newly greased winch - you will be most pleased with yourself.

Allow yourself a couple of hours for the first winch - after that it will be cinch.

We carried out this operation and the winch sounded so good that we stripped down all the others on the boat the following day - great fun!

You can read more about daily maintenance when you are passagemaking in Vince's ebook 'Voyage of the Little Ship 'Tere Moana' downloadable from Sailboat2Adventure.

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Tue, 06 May 2008 06:39:12 +0000