Ocean Racing

The year that was and wasn't

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 5, 2009

It says something about sailing’s prospects as a sport that 2008 left us with three round-the-world races under way at the same time. As we look to nail down just what that means, do keep your thumbs clear of the hammer.Certainly sailboat racing is as incoherent as ever in its public face. Hard-core fans have no trouble, or not so much, separating a crewed circumnavigation (the

61 Knots (!) FLIP (!)

by Sail Staff, Posted December 21, 2008

Sunday screaming Sunday -- It was only a burst, so kitesailor Alexandre Caizergues's official 500-meter speedsailing record is safe for now at 50.57 knots, but the big French trimaran, l’Hydroptre hit a speed peak of 61 knots in the Med on Sunday morning, and there is no way that's anything but fast under sail. It's a first.You had

Save the Whales!

by David Schmidt, Posted December 5, 2008

While everybody loves charismatic megafauna, whales occupy a special spot in the heart and imagination, especially amongst sailors. Watching these graceful creatures breach, swim, and dive is one of the true magic shows of offshore sailing, so it comes as little surprise that saving whales is popular everywhere from Washington D.C., to myriad yacht clubs worldwide, to even Team Russia’s

Ericsson 4 Goes 2 for 2

by Kimball Livingston, Posted November 29, 2008

Call him Torben Grael. That's his name.Or call him Torben Grail . He has the golden touch, and now as skipper of Ericsson 4 he has won two of two legs of the Volvo Ocean Race. The five-time Olympic medalist (two gold) was also tactician for the Luna Rossa challenge for the 2007 America's Cup.He and his crew brought Ericsson 4 across the leg-two finish line at Cochin,

Buckin' Volvos

by Kimball Livingston, Posted November 19, 2008

Leg Two, a pleasant jaunt north through the tropics to exotic India? At some point, part of the way, maybe. Not now. The Volvo Ocean Race fleet left Cape Town last weekend and deliberately worked into the path of a series of low pressure systems to blast them east toward their scoring gate.For some, it's been an overachievement.A broken boom on Green Dragon. Plus a broken

Tough Start for Vendee Globe

by Peter Nielsen, Posted November 12, 2008

Just a few days after it started off the coast of France, the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world race is already living up to its reputation as the ultimate test of sailors and equipment.Battered by huge seas and strong winds in the Bay of Biscay, nine of the 30 starters have either retired or been forced back to the French port of Les Sables d’Olonne for repairs.The race started in

Another Solo Record

by Peter Nielsen, Posted November 12, 2008

The French dominate the world of shorthanded ocean sailing, and the man of the moment among French solo sailors is Francis Joyon.Last winter Joyon became the fastest person to sail single-handed around the world, setting a remarkable time of 57 days, 13 hours, knocking nearly two weeks off the previous record.Last weekend the 52-year-old Frenchman set another record aboard his 97’

The Miracle Race

by David Schmidt, Posted November 4, 2008

The Vendee Globe is the real deal: A singlehanded sailor, a massively powerful, 60-foot canting-keel carbon-fiber racing shell with some of the fastest sails around, and Planet Earth. Solo. No assistance. Just the sailor, aboard his/her boat, taking on the world. What could be simpler?Obviously, “simple” is not a standard word used to describe the work list necessary to just arrive on the

Bases Loaded

by David Schmidt, Posted October 22, 2008

So, you want to campaign a Volvo Open 70. The 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race (VOR), a fully crewed around-the-world marathon, started on October 4, 2008, in Alicante, Spain, so you're out of luck unless your time frame is far downstream. As in, the next race. When the time comes, you could model yourself this way: You could start by buying the VO70 that holds the monohull 24-hour distance record

Cutting Their Teeth

by Sail Staff, Posted July 27, 2008

By Lyn HinesLa Rochelle, FranceLa Solitaire du Figaro, three stages long and 50 boats strong—sailed single handed in purpose-built boats—finally got a start over the weekend after a dreary, windless and rainy postponement. Conditions were opposite to the windy, sunny prologue last week, won by the “Green Giant”, Gildas Morvan, who is a favorite to win again despite