Disappointing winds and a strong westerly current have wrecked havoc on the entrants of this years Barcelona World Race, as the 14 boats struggled to get out of the Straits of Gibraltar and into the North Atlantic. Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron managed to win the 540-mile first leg with a time of 3 days, 7 hours and 55 minutes on the evening of January 3rd, while other contenders
Belgian sailor Christophe Bullens has withdrawn from the 28th VELUX 5 OCEANS after a broken mast track thwarted his latest attempt to set sail from Cape Town, South Africa.The setback was the latest in a long list of technical difficulties for the 49-year-old solo sailor. His troubles began before the races start, when his first Eco 60, Five Oceans of Smiles, was dismasted en
Back in the early 1960s, Americas Cup veteran and long-time one-design proponent Cornelius Corny Shields decided that the cadets at the various maritime academies in this country needed quality sail training if they were to become truly competent seamen.He hired Sparkman & Stephens to design the 30-foot Shields, one of the most striking one-design racers ever, with its long overhangs,
Twenty hours after the 100-footer Wild Oats XI was first to cross the finish line in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, she has been declared the official line-honors winner after being cleared of a protest lodged by the race committee.Wild Oats XI completed the 628-course from Sydney Harbor to Hobart, Tasmania, in 2 days 7 hours and 37 minutes, in the process surviving one of
After several years of mostly tactical racing in comparatively benign conditions, the 2010 Rolex Sydney Hobart is set to return to its more traditional ways, with meteorologists telling competitors they are in for some very tough, boat and spirit-breaking sailing for at least the first 300 nautical miles of the race.The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted that early in the race the fleet
The second running of the Barcelona World Race is set to begin on New Years Eve in front of the ultra-chic W Hotel on the Barcelona waterfront. The event features two-person crews sailing supercharged IMOCA Open 60 racers nonstop around the planet via the three great capes: the Cape of Good Hope, New Zealands Cape Leeuwin and, of course, Cape Horn. Some other numbers to consider:25,000:
The Lemsteraak The shouts of the crews mingle with the sound of timber meeting timber. Eased-out booms sweep across decks, grinning sailors ducking as the treetrunk-sized spars brush their scalps. On shore, screaming spectators wave banners and urge on their local heroes. As the fleet approaches the mark, the race turns into a barging matchliterally. For we are on the
Skipper Jim Sminchak of Cleveland’s Lakeside Yacht Club and the crew of his J/105 it prevailed over a strong field in SAIL’s 2010 Best Around the Buoys (BAB) contest and will be heading to Florida in January to take part in 2011 Key West Race Week.
On October 28th, 2010, American kitesurfer Robert Douglas became the new, outright world speed sailing record holder with a speed of 55.65kts in a maximum windspeed of 45kts, in 18cm of water. We got a hold of Rob and asked him the question that every sailor wants to know: what’s it like?SAIL: At the risk of sounding clich, what goes through your head when youre
On October 17, Brad Van Liew will return to the sport of solo sail racing after an eight-year break as the only American in a fleet of five boats sailing the VELUX 5 Oceans race around the world. While over 500 people have been shot into space, Van Liew is one of less than 180 that have sailed around the globe solo. Of those who have a circumnavigation under their belt, only 73 skippers have
Catching and prepping your own dinner while underway is one of those one of a kind cruiser experiences. The process gets a whole lot better with the right gear.
In her first Marion-Bermuda Race as skipper of a Navy 44, Nancy Rhodes and her team of U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen aboard Integrity stuck to their strategy—even when things looked grim—and walked away with bragging rights and an armful of silver.
In addition to having the trophy for fastest circumnavigation named after him, what other Junes Verne reference might be found in the modern sailor’s vocabulary?A)
Managing Editor Lydia Mullan sits down with the winningest navigator in Transpac history for a breakdown of what this year’s fleet can expect.
By Tim Queeney (304pp, St. Martin’s Press, $27.00) In ancient times man responded to the urgent need for food, transportation, and trade by building all
The Marion-Bermuda Race wrapped up yesterday after a slow approach to the finish, but it certainly wasn’t a drifter for the whole way. The first
48 years after the first Marion-Bermuda race, 20 boats competed in this summer’s event, including the J42 Dianthus, on which SAIL Editor in Chief Wendy Mitman Clarke and crew won the Class A division.
Winning scores of races or cruising thousands of miles, their 34 years with a Cal 40 has always been about great sailing.
Four Seas has announced a new folding inflatable RIB, the Fore Runner, designed for convenience, durability, and a few adventures of its own.
Known for its racer-cruisers, Grand Soleil builds a sleek daysailer with sustainability driving its brief.
