How to Sail Across the Transatlantic Trade Winds?

Many sailors have one place in their bucket list and that is the transatlantic trade wind crossing to visit the Caribbean passing the Canary Islands. This is because they can witness endless days of sunshine and spending nights under the night sky full of stars. The trade winds can act as the driving force to sail across the Atlantic and it becomes quite obvious to choose the direction as the air over there circulates clockwise around the Azores High. It is important to find out the climatic changes that can be found at which place at first before setting out on the voyage.

The sailors must find out how much north or south they would have to go to get to the Azores High. They must also know whether any kind of low pressure is there over Africa. This will help them to determine the exact place where the strongest winds can be found. It may be beneficial for the sailors to find out the direct route at the beginning of the journey. But sometimes gains may come moving towards the west because some wind swing can be expected there. Weather and sailing largely depend on the calculations made by the sailors. They have to have thorough knowledge about the acceleration zones and wind shadows for avoiding a dead run. Read more… »

Second To Finish Line Of Golden Globe Race

On January 28th Mark Slats, who was the second place in the Golden Globe race, faced a penalty when he sought assistance from the Dutch team members as well as breached certain rules of satellite communication.

He was facing a dilemma at that time; there was a northwesterly storm that was headed his way and he wanted to reach the finish line at Les Sables d’Olonne for which he was hoping to run ahead of the storm clouds. The storm was about to strike the Vendee coast around the same time he was supposed to reach the finish line. His other option was to wait by the Bay of Biscay till the storm has gone past. He could have also sought refuge which is allowed as per rules of the race though he could not step ashore and neither could communicate with the world outside through radio.
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Glimpse Of RC44 Cascais Cup

Giant waves from Atlantic gale came as fortuity for the NicoPoons team ‘Charisma’, while it proved to be a misfortune for the rest, because the final race was canceled due to high waves and no wind. In such water conditions, more than normal wind is required to sail the boat. The decision to conduct race or not was made on the fact that there was no wind at all, states PRO Peter Reggio.

But the results were shocking for everyone; NicoPoons team Charisma who lost the race in initial rounds with 7-8. The new team Mirpuri Foundation was ahead enjoying the RC44 fleet; Monaco based Dutchman’s team scored the 4th position on day 2 by 2-2-6-1. Day 2 was turned out to be the unlucky day for Team Nika as their mistakes lead them to lose and boosted up Charisma. No racing for the finals procured Charisma the ‘RC44 Cascais Cup’ and made them the winner just by 3 points. Chris Bake’s Team Aqua acquired the second position followed by Lah’s team that was placed in the third position. Out of 5 events, Poons won Nico said that the competition was so intense that the victory itself gave an intense amount of satisfaction which was unparalleled with any other class or sport for that matter. He says Team Nika have sailed very well but had a lot of misfortune. During that calamity Team, Nika lost their removable bow and water started spraying inside the boat through empty holes, and their boat started to sink. The third Team on countback – Team CEEREF’s Igor Lah said that he was a bit disappointed with the season. Adding they were sailing well but might have done some mistakes, hence they need to improve and have to be much better next year.
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EIGHT TEAMS SET FOR 2018 ATLANTIC CUP

The sixth edition of the Atlantic Cup is set to begin on May 26 in Charleston, South Carolina. The organizers say two more teams have been added to make a total of eight. In about two months, another four teams are set to be added.

The organizers have Hyatt Place, Sea Bags Maine, United MileagePlus,North Sails, Bainbridge International, and Code-Zero as official partners. Sea Bags would be the sustainability partner while Sails would be the official sailmaker. Read more… »

Clipper Race Third Stage To Start

For those who are unaware of the Clipper Race, this is a sailing event that is held biennially. It is a round the world yacht race, this year it started around August 20th. Thefleet comprises of twelve boats that are designed identically, named as Clipper 70s. The course will cover 40,000 nautical miles and would have thirteen individual race categories. The team that would have the best score on a cumulative level will win the Clipper Race Trophy. Every team has a professional skipper that has an amateur crew. They can sign up for one of the races, some or all of them. The race will take place across a time span of eleven months; with about seven hundred and more people taking part across forty or more nationalities, it is considered one of the largest events till date.

 

The third stage was recently concluded in Cape Town which comprised of a triangular course around the Table Bay. The fourth course is about to begin that would take place between forty and fifty latitudes where the sailors will experience the raw and full glory of Mother Nature. This region will see the boats facing strong easterlies. The boats will need to exercise the tactics for ocean racing and try to maintain a speed of 25 knots as they move towards Australia.

Among the present participants Greenings has won two stages in this race and they hold second point as per cumulative scores. They are presently behind the leading team, Dare to Lead. Qingdao as well as Greenings has opted for the Joker Card which means that they will be able to double their points once the final race is run and the fleet reached Fremantle. Both teams feel the pressure and are hoping to make good of the two remaining races.

Cahalan The First Woman To Sail The Race 25 Sydney To Hobart Yacht

Adrienne Cahalan the mother of two from Australia was honored as the first woman who has sailed in the 25 Sydney to Hobart yacht races.


It is not like this is only honor that Cahalan has received till time. She has received the honor of best sailor of the year; she is a skipper and also a lawyer.

An event was organized to honor the Hobart Heroes, the sailors who achieved the feat of 25 races at the annual Quiet Little Drink (QLD) fundraising event. The name of the sailors were added to the board to honor them.

Adrienne Cahalan claimed this award with crewmate Anthony Nossiter, after receiving the line honors on Nicorette.

At the same event another award was given and it was for the young sailors. Brad Kellett was the one who received this award and was honored as the youngest sailor at who achieve the feat of 25 Hobarts along with Peter Sheldrick, Andrew Taylor, Bruce Clark and Michael Bellingham and all received the honor for reaching the milestone. Read more… »

Robert Scheidt Misses From France Series

Just like a Masters achievement is penultimate for golfers, there are the Sailing World Cup achievements for sailors.


Indeed, to win gold medal in sailing is one of the highest achievements for a sailor and is a respected achievement indeed when it is part of the World Cup series. However, this year the World of sailing seems to have left out Robert Scheidt’s name from the series of invitees for the Hyeres event that was held recently in France. Indeed, the last news about Robert was his switch from the laser to the 49er category in Miami. Being an Olympic medalist five times in a row definitely brings him in the limelight no matter what he does. However, his absence at the recent World Cup Series in Hyeres was found strange by many.

Robert has been seen practicing with other sailors on Lake Garda along with others who were also not part of the French leg this year. Read more… »

Alinghi Won 2016 ESS Title

In 2016 Extreme Sailing Series™ team of Switzerland’s Alinghi was crowned as champions.


This happened after final-day shootout that was epic.

The entire championship was very challenging and it was like a nail-biting situation, however, Alinghi handled things efficiently and came out as winner.  It is not like Alinghi is winning this match for the first time. But, he is the third time winner of Extreme Sailing Series. The first time he won a series in year 2008, second time in 2014 and now 2016. Though, this is the third victory of Alinghi, but in this victory, he has done something for the first time. Team of Alinghi flied on his new fast and light GC32 catamarans.

Oman Air started racing taking the lead of narrow two-point onto Sydney Harbor’s  iconic waters, however Alinghi was aware that if they manage to defeat the crew of Larson then they would be able to claim the crown of the series. Read more… »

The Melges US Nationals

The Melges US Nationals are going on and the line honors were started off on the 7th of October at Lake Geneva. The championship was hosted by Lake Geneva Yacht Club where forty seven teams are participating. These teams are coming from North America as well as from other countries of the world to participate in the biggest event of the US Melges 24 class association.

There were four races that were run on the first day. Many have come out on top such as teams like Monsoon. This team won second place in all races that offered them a position ahead of the team in the second place. Air Force 1 team won the second position overall which is followed by the Embarr team from Ireland. The racing will continue on the weekend as well. Read more… »

Tactical Problems In Rio

The tactical experts will tell you how difficult the courses are for the sailing and rowing races. That is mainly due to the unique geography of the bay area, making it perfect to present Olympian challenges to the contestants.

David Dellenbaugh being a tactical adviser of the US team, stated that the currents and back eddies that are around the island at the mouth of the bay create challenges that are unique to those who race close to it. Again, the Sugarloaf Mountain and granite monoliths as well as the bridge nearby also create specific breeze and wind currents. Read more… »