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Rainbow II - Kiwi Classic heads home

5/31/2012

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Chris Bouzaid, the original owner and skipper of the Sparkman & Stephens 36-footer, RainbowII, has bought her back and will return the yacht to New Zealand to be restored.   

Restoration work will be led by the man who built her in 1967, Max Carter, at the Percy Vos Boatyard in the Wynyard Quarter. She will receive new flooring and mast step, using New Zealand kauri donated to the Classic Yacht Charitable Trust by Origin Quarries' Gerard van Tilborg.  Bouzaid plans to donate Rainbow II to the newly established Maritime Museum Foundation in Auckland

Rainbow II notched up a string of major international victories in the 1960s.  After her historic win in the 1969 One Ton Cup off the German archipelago of Heligoland, Rainbow II was sold to an owner in Bermuda. Now, 43 years later, she is going home.

On the back of Jimmy Davern's 1966 Sydney-Hobart line-honours win  on Fidelis, this little yacht - along with her dedicated crews - was originally responsible for putting New Zealand on the international sailing map."  - winning 121 races over two years.  

Among the victories were the Whangarei- Noumea and the Sydney-Hobart races in 1967, Kiel Week  in Germany and the One Ton Cup in 1969. A month later, she won her divisions in both the Channel Race and the Fastnet Classic.

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Seawind Catamaran 950

5/26/2012

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Seawind Catamarans' Founder  Richard Ward unveiled his comány's new 950 model - a long overdue multihull option for the "bottom end of the market" - on the opening day of the 24th Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show.
The 32-foot cruising cat Seawind 950 is a bolt together kitset  cat that can be shipped around the world in two 40ft containers at a fraction of the cost of piggy-backing a fully assembled catamaran on a yacht transporter. 

 The concept is expected to open up new markets in Europe and on the Great Lakes in Canada, as well as appealing to charter companies and young families, who have previously been priced out of the multihull market. 
"The Seawind 950 is a boat normal people can afford. It has a big boat feel, a great family boat capable of coastal cruising , but comes in a box, two boxes in fact."
The Seawind 950 has: 
  • a three cabin layout as standard with a spacious bathroom to port aft and a full galley down to starboard. Like its bigger sister the Seawind 1000, the saloon table in the 950 also drops down to offer another double berth. A two cabin, two-bathroom option will also be made available for the charter market.
  • The cat is powered by a fully-battened mainsail and overlapping jib
  • twin Yamaha 9.9hp high thrust outboards for auxiliary propulsion.
"We think it will charter very well, at the base charter level, for two couples. There is absolutely nothing like this anywhere in the world as far as we know so it's very exciting," Ward said.

The Seawind 950 can be shipped from Seawind's Vietnam factory to any major port from a starting price of A$225,000. Two qualified boat builders could assemble the boat in 1.5 days. Seawind offers to assemble the boat for an additional $10,000 although with just six bolts, Ward believes many owners will choose to put the kitset cat together themselves."Shipping a 30-footer to Europe costs roughly $70,000 which is just ridiculous. We think it will open up a lot of markets now there is no barrier to shipping."

The Seawind 950 will be available from November 2012. 

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Americas Cup - Venice

5/26/2012

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Three points separate the top four yachts in the America's Cup World Series regatta in Venice, after another light, flukey day on the Grand Canal with  Emirates Team New Zealand in 4th place only two points behind leaders Energy Team.

Current world championship leaders Oracle 4, driven by James Spithill, are in fifth place going into the last race.
With the forecast again for light and shifty breezes, Team NZ coach Rod Davis says a little luck may yet decide this regatta. The final fleet race in these World Series events carries triple points. And this can turn a regatta on its head. 
"Tomorrow's a must win race - a must win for every team, has a very simple game plan: drive fast and take chances," says Team NZ coach Rod Davis 

The race counts three times a 'normal' race. With only a few points separating the top five boats, it is no time to be faint-hearted," he says.

"So Dean has a green light to go for it. So does Terry [Hutchinson, Artemis skipper], James and every other skipper. The start will be the key. It's the highest risk and biggest reward of the regatta. Well, truth is more risk than reward, but it is do or die time.

"We will be ready... so will everyone else."

Fleet Racing Championship - Provisional Leaderboard (after six races)

1 Energy Team, 44 points
2 Luna Rossa Piranha, 43 points
3 Luna Rossa Swordfish, 43 points
4 Emirates Team New Zealand, 42 points
5 Oracle Team USA Spithill, 38 points
6 Artemis Racing, 37 points
7 Team Korea, 37 points
8 Oracle Team USA Bundock, 22 points
9 China Team, 18 points

Match Racing Championship - Semi Final Results

Semifinals: Artemis Racing bt  Energy Team, 2-0; Luna Rossa - Piranha bt Oracle - Spithill, 2-1.

3 Oracle Team USA - Spithill
4 Energy Team
5 Emirates Team New Zealand
6 Team Korea
7 Luna Rossa Swordfish
8 Oracle Team USA Bundock
 China Team

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Camper Takes the Lead

5/25/2012

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 Team New Zealand's round the world yacht Camper has pulled off a stunning comeback to snatch the lead on leg seven to Portugal.  Two days ago, Chris Nicholson's Camper was almost 100 miles behind the leaders and facing disaster on a leg crucial to the outcome of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Nicholson and navigator Will Oxley split from the fleet and headed north to reap the benefits of better winds and  marched to the lead.  Now, Camper has a 12-mile lead over the improved Abu Dhabi and overall leader Telefonica has slipped to third. The fleet is spread over 75 miles and Camper is at the right end.

Now, they await a new weather system for a downwind to Portugal with the leg expected to finish on Friday.

"Will's and Nico's long-laboured and meticulously conjured up plan to head north and split from the fleet paid big dividends," Camper crew member Hamish Hooper said.

"It's a nice feeling going from one wrong extreme to the right one, but by no means anything to get too carried away with other than a quiet grin and momentary warm sense of satisfaction for the guys who have all been toiling away quietly and focused, sailing the boat to its optimum from a point two days ago where a lot of other teams might have just given up."

Nicholson was just as keen to put things into perspective in this incredibly competitive fleet: "There's a lot of variable weather going on in this leg and not all of it is panning out for some people. It all makes for a very unstable leaderboard."

The fleet, having to change tactics to chase Camper's bold and successful move, was still pushing north-east trying to skirt a high pressure system.

"Somehow we need to hang in for the next 24 hours when conditions will once again open up and the fast downwind sail towards Lisbon will begin," Abu Dhabi skipper Ian Walker said.

Camper's main rivals on the points table were all looking at ways to get back into this leg which is nearing the halfway stage.

"Basically, we couldn't do anything to avoid these guys overtaking us," Telefónica skipper Iker Martínez said of Camper. "They just rolled us with a completely different wind.

"Now we are just in the moment that should stop this loss because a new wind is coming again and something different is going to happen.

We just hope that we're going to stop losing and start racing again to make gains."

Groupama skipper Franck Cammas was equally optimistic about their chances of a fight back.

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Volvo Ocean Race

5/25/2012

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Twelve days before the official start of the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season, Tropical Storm Alberto swirled off the coast of Georgia as a compact storm with a tight center of circulation.   http://spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=40928

It has impacted the luck of the Volvo Qcean Race Contenders-  At the last position report, Camper had made the biggest gain - picking up 15 miles on Telefonica in three hours.
  • Leader Telefonica are now only 13 miles ahead.
  • Abu Dhabi has been the other big mover in the fleet, claiming second place seven miles off the lead.
  • Camper have worked their way back through the Volvo Ocean Race fleet - from last to within striking distance of the lead.  Heading north in search of wind in the Atlantic has finally paid off for Chris Nicholson's crew, sailing from the back of the pack to third place in the space of 48 hours. The Camper crew are working frantically to eke out every last notch of speed - with the help of the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto and the last eddies of the Gulf Stream.
Camper's decision to sail north, after suffering frustrating losses, was quickly followed by the rest of the six-boat fleet.  The cold front the fleet had hoped to leap on to for a quick ride across the Atlantic has already passed them by.  Now they head north-west to meet the next predicted front, and sail towards iceberg territory in the process.

Race organisers have put ice gates in place to keep the fleet south of ice brought down on the Labrador current.
Camper navigator Will Oxley says.: Nico and I have been scratching our heads pretty hard down here, and the boys have been doing a pretty awesome job on deck just gybing the boat and moving the stack around trying to optimise it," 

"We took a couple of big shifts to the north on the remains of Alberto that were still around, so we got a bit of a shove from that. Right now we should be in 12 knots of wind and we are in 22.  "We're trying to use the last of the Gulf Stream eddies, which are pretty important. The current is significant - two and a half knots at the moment - so trying to stay on this makes a massive difference. Right at the moment, we are reaping some of the benefits of it. But it's still a pretty confused situation."

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Oracle's AC72 Wing Sail leaves NZ

5/25/2012

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Oracle Racing's new 38m-long wing and the cross structure for the first of Oracle's AC72 multihulls has left the manufacturer Core Builders Composites in Warkworth for shipping to San Francisco and the Pier 80 base of the Cup defender.


"That's $6-7 million of kit going out the door," said Core Builders Composites general manager Tim Smyth as the radical wingsail left the factory.
The wingsail took six months to build - at 25,000 man hours - and there will be more assembly work to do once it arrives in San Francisco. The wing's flap elements have already been shipped across, and once all the pieces are joined together, the wingsail will be ready to be fitted into Oracle's first AC72 multihull, designed for the 2013 America's Cup. Under Cup rules, the hulls of Oracle's yachts must be built in the United States; Oracle plan to launch their first yacht in July. 

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Americas Cup Results - Venice

5/18/2012

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Fleet Racing Championship - Provisional Results (after two races)
1.    Energy Team, 18 points
2.    Luna Rossa Swordfish, 16 points
3.    Team Korea,15 points
4.    Emirates Team New Zealand,13 points
5.    Artemis Racing,13 points
6.    Luna Rossa Piranha, 12 points
7.    ORACLE TEAM USA Spithill, 10 points
8.    ORACLE TEAM USA Bundock, 7 points
9.    China Team, 4 points 
Match Racing Championship - Qualifying and Quarter Final Results
Qualifier 1 - ORACLE TEAM USA - Bundock defeated China Team 

QF 1 - ORACLE TEAM USA - Spithill defeated Luna Rossa - Swordfish; 2-0
QF 2 - Luna Rossa - Piranha defeated Team Korea; 2-0
QF 3 - Artemis Racing defeated Emirates Team New Zealand; 2-0
QF 4 - Energy Team defeated ORACLE TEAM USA - Bundock; 2-0

The winners of the Quarter Finals advance to the Semi Finals. The losers are assigned final finishing positions (5th to 9th) as per the Sailing Instructions.

5. Emirates Team New Zealand
6. Team Korea
7. Luna Rossa Swordfish
8. ORACLE TEAM USA Bundock
9. China Team

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Kiwis win Four Titles at the 7th World Superyacht Awards

5/14/2012

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New Zealand has scooped four titles at the 7thWorld Superyacht Awards in Istanbul.The international panel of 17 judges awarded

  • Auckland's Alloy Yacht's  67.9m ketch - designed by Philippe Briand (France) and launched in Auckland as the biggest yacht ever built in New Zealand gained two titles: Neptune Award for Overall Sailing Yacht of the YearSailing Yacht of the Year 40m+ size range. Construction took one million man-hours.
  • Antares III, took the top prize in the Sailing Yacht 30-40m category. The 30m sloop rigger, of Auckland's Yachting Developments and Dixon Yacht Design was built in just 400 days, defying the expression that "good things take time".
  • Neville Crichton, was honoured with a Legacy Award for his "instrumental role in the establishment and growth of the New Zealand superyacht building industry, for his leading position in the world of sailboat racing, his generosity of spirit and his inspiration to others in these fields." He is the owner of 41.1m powerboatComo.
  • Karia, the 45m Ron Holland design, built by RMK Marine, received a judges' commendation in the displacement yacht below 500 gross tonnes division.
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Panamanian Fisherman Sues Princess Cruise Line

5/14/2012

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Young Panamanian fisherman, 18 year-old Adrian Vasquez, who survived 28 days at sea on a small disabled fishing punga is suing Princess Cruise Lines in the United States, because the cruise ship failed to stop and give aid in compliance with SOLAS regulations.

Princess Cruise Line's Star Princess passed the crippled craft and did not stop, despite being alerted by birdwatchers on board that the people on the small boat was signalling for help.

As a result, Vasquez two companions died a short time later and young Vasquez drifted on alone.

Lawyer Edna Ramos says the lawsuit alleging negligence by Prince Cruise Lines was filed in a Florida state court on behalf of Adrian Vasquez.  Ramos said the lawsuit included testimony from two cruise ship passengers who said they saw the disabled boat and reported it to a cruise representative on the Star Princess liner.

So now the enforcement of the SOLAS (Save Our Lives At Sea) regulations has moved to a civil suit in the US against the company.  The incident is also being investigated in Bermuda, where the ship is registered.

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Volvo Round the World - Brasil to Miami

5/13/2012

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Final Results:

1. PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG / 17 days, 01 hour, 13 minutes, 59 seconds / 30 points

2. CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand / 17 days, 02 hours, 21 minutes, 24 seconds / 25 points

3. Groupama sailing team / 17 days, 07 hours, 29 minutes, 03 seconds / 20 points

4. Team Telefónica / 17 days, 08 hours, 06 minutes, 38 seconds / 15 points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing / 17 days, 15 hours, 57 minutes, 37 seconds / 10 points

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