Though the Spanish have once again taken victory in this third oceanic leg, Franck Cammas and his men have earned themselves a superb second place in China and boosted their position on the podium in the overall standing. Groupama 4 is now proving to be a real threat to Camper and is gaining an edge over Puma and Abu Dhabi.
Groupama 4 crossed the finish line in China at 05:45:25 UTC after 12 days 21 hours 45 mins and 25 seconds at sea, taking them through the Straits of Malacca and along the Vietnamese coast.
The French crew thus earns 24 points in this third leg, really putting the New Zealanders on Camper under pressure in the provisional overall standing and reinforcing its lead over the Americans on Puma, despite only being a third of the way into this crewed round the world with stopovers. Six legs and six months of competition remain for the French to contest the current domination by the Spanish crew, skippered by double Olympic gold medallist Iker Martinez.
Australian sailors have won two medals on the final day of the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Miami, Florida, with Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page claiming Gold in the 470 class and Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Lucinda Whitty picking up Silver in the Women’s Match Racing. Paralympic sailors Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch have picked up Australia’s first medal at the ISAF Sailing World Cup round in Miami, Florida, winning Gold in the Skud 18 class.
Though Ian Walker unquestionably dominated the In-Port race off Abu Dhabi, Franck Cammas and his men demonstrated outstanding potential in the light airs, which swept a race zone covered in spectator boats. By scoring second place, Groupama 4 confirms that her slight deficit in breeze of less than eight knots is already ancient history...
Franck Cammas: "It was a fine battle and a very fine score. Particularly of note was a fruitful confrontation with Camper, which is a real specialist in this type of short course. Our consistent performance enabled us to get past them. It's also great for Ian Walker and his crew on Abu Dhabi! They weren't the best conditions for us but we managed to get some good boat speed and that's good news for the next stage... We have to believe in what we do, take the initiative and be aggressive: we have to keep up the work we're doing. We've adapted the boat for the third leg where there will be a fair bit of close-hauled sailing and light airs and today's results back up our options: it's getting better and better aboard the boat in terms of communication and refining the trim. Even the best crews, such as that on Telefonica, can lose races, but we know that we're all very similar in terms of performance and the Volvo Ocean Race is very long! Things are working well for us at the moment and it's very hard to say who's going to lose and gain places over the coming legs..."
Points for the In-Port race in Abu Dhabi:
1-Abu Dhabi (Ian Walker) 6 points
2-Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas) 5 points
3-Camper (Chris Nicholson) 4 points
4-Puma (Ken Read) 3 points
5-Telefonica (Iker Martinez) 2 points
After 6 hours and 52 minutes of racing, just 52 seconds separated the winner from the team in second place.
Polled in fourth place at the first mark, Franck Cammas and his crew picked off their rivals one by one through a combination of good speed and tactical choices, particularly during the final downwind sprint in which they snatched the lead.
Though this victory doesn't alter the standing for this leg, it has enabled Groupama 4 to make up a few points in the overall standing.
It has also served as a confidence boost for Franck and his men after an especially unlucky run in the first part of this second leg, which saw them leading before becoming ensnared in the Doldrums.
Ranking for the second part of the second leg:
1.Groupama 4 in 6hr52 mins
2.Telefonica 52 seconds astern of the leader
3.Camper 5 mins 29 seconds astern of the leader
4.Puma 6 mins 19 seconds astern of the leader
5.Abu Dhabi 10 mins 12 seconds astern of the leader
eg
Franck Cammas’ Groupama sailing team may have been edged out of the top three in the first stage of Leg 2 but they will get a consolation prize – the IWC Schaffhausen Speed Record Challenge trophy.
The French team led the race from Cape Town to an unnamed ‘safe haven’ in the Indian Ocean for three days but eventually had to settle for fourth place after becoming snared by the Doldrums.
Although Leg 2 isn’t over yet, Groupama’s 24-hour run of 478.28 nautical miles up to 0910 UTC on December 21 is good enough to hand them the award for this leg because the next part of the leg to Abu Dhabi should not last 24 hours.
SLAM by partnership with Australian Sailing Team and Yachting New Zealand has won 6 medals at the ISAF worlds in Perth. Three gold medals (M Laser, 49er M and 470 M, 1 silver (49er M) and two bronzes (470 F and M LASER).
Slingsby’s win was his fourth world title in five years, cementing himself at the top of the Laser class as he continues his preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Capping off the week for Australia the nation was awarded the IOC President’s Trophy for the most successful team at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships with three Gold medals.
Gold medals: 470 M Belcher-Page, Australian Sailing team
LASER M Slinsgby- Australian Sailing Team
49er Outteridge-Jensen-Australian Sailing Team
SIlver medal: 49er Burling-Tuke, Yachting New Zealand
Bronze medal: 470 W Aleh-Powrie, Yacthing New Zealand
Laser M Murdoch, Yachting New Zealand
Congratulation!
Australian sailors Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page have won the 2011 470 World Championships with another strong day of racing in Western Australia. The win came at the end of an incredibly consistent week where they didn’t finish outside of the top 10 once, winning six races on the way to the 2011 World Championship title.
“Today’s feeling is just the best,” said Page. “It’s something we’ve been aiming for all year, it’s our peak regatta and to come here and to sail how we have is a really good confidence builder for us towards London 2012, I’m very happy with how it panned out, you won’t be able to wipe the smile off my face.”
Belcher and Page went into the final 10 boat medal race with an 18 point lead over Great Britain’s Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell, knowing that they just had to make sure they didn’t finish last if the British team won the race, to secure the title.
http://www.perth2011.com/competition/PER...
Australian Sailing Team members now sit at the top of the world in three classes following the overnight release of the latest ISAF World Sailing Rankings.
Australian crews continue to hold down the number one positions in the Laser and 470 classes and now add first and third in the 49er class after the latest release.
The world rankings show Australia as sitting at the top of three of the 10 Olympic classes, the only country to currently have three world number ones and with the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships beginning in Western Australia on December 3 the rankings show that the team is progressing well.
Australian reigning Laser and 470 World Champions, Tom Slingsby and Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page, continue to lead the way in their respective classes but they’ve now been joined by 49er crew Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen who have got to the top spot for the first time.
http://www.yachting.org.au/...
The final day of Sail Melbourne featured close racing across the fleets with the top 10 boats in each class hitting Port Phillip Bay for the medal races.
Australia claimed its first Gold medal in the 49er class with Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen prevailing in a tight finale. Outteridge and Jensen had to stay ahead of fellow Australians Will and Sam Phillips and keep New Zealanders Peter Burling and Blair in check to claim the medal and the pair finished the race second to grab the Gold medal.
Tom Slingsby already had the Laser Gold medal secured thanks to his 19 point overnight lead but went on to claim the title in style, with a medal race win giving him a 27 point buffer over Great Britain’s Nick Thompson with Australian Tom Burton winning Bronze.
“I just wanted to keep my nose clear out there, I was back off the line and steady in my movements and found myself last three-quarters of the way up the first beat,” said Slingsby. “A big set of waves from a boat going past gave me a good boost and I shot around the top mark in first.
Jessica Crisp won Gold in the RS:X women’s in the tightest finish of the regatta, with the triple Olympian only claiming the title after a count back following the medal race. Crisp knew that she had to beat Great Britain’s Bryony Shaw to get the Gold and she did it in style, pushing hard the whole way through the medal race and crossing the line first, with Shaw second and Italy’s Flavia Tartaglini third. JP Tobin (New Zealand) won the gold medal in the RS:X men's.
Elise Rechichi and Belinda Stowell continued their dominance of this week’s 470 women’s class with the new pairing winning the medal race and Gold in just their first regatta together.
Rechichi and Stowell have only just teamed up and are working hard towards the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships which will be sailed on their home waters in December.
“It’s nice to have the win and our first medal race together which has given us some great practice,” said Rechichi. “While it’s great to have the results it’s been an awesome opportunity to improve everyday given our short time in the boat, everyday is hugely valuable and hopefully we can keep building on that and putting in the work for Perth.
Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page went into the 470 medal race third overall, in a tight battle with fellow Australians Sam Kivell and Will Ryan and American’s Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl for the medals.
Belcher and Page did all they could in the medal race, taking the win, but McNay and Biehl’s second gave them the Gold medal with Belcher and Page finishing with Silver and Kivell and Ryan Bronze. The leading crews have been neck and neck all week with all three spending some time at the top of the leaderboard across the event.
In the Laser Radial class Krystal Weir went into the medal race in third position, just three points ahead of the fourth and fifth placed crews. The Australian finished the medal race in third, giving her the Bronze medal by a single point off Great Britain’s Alison Young.
Matt Bugg finished the 2.4mR regatta in the same way as he started it with a race win to claim the Gold medal. Bugg won nine of the 10 races to secure himself the Gold medal by a massive 21 points from fellow Australians Greg Hyde and Michael Leydon.
Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch continued their great second half of the regatta in the Skud 18 class with a final race win securing the Silver medal for the pair, with fellow Australians Jamie Dunross and Rachael Cox third. Australian sailors claimed Silver and Bronze in the Finn class with Oliver Tweddell winning the medal race to cement his second position behind Ukrainian Oleksiy Borysov with Australian Rob McMillan winning Bronze.
Next stop for the Australians is Western Australia with the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships beginning on December 3.
SEE MORE: SLAM SKIFF COLLECTION
The long awaited Round the World race with crew, the famous but extremely tough Volvo Ocean Race, left from Alicante on Saturday 5th November with a first leg scheduled from Alicante to Cape Town for a total of 6500 miles. The only Italian representative is the Genoese SLAM, the official technical sailing clothing supplier to the Groupama 4 team. SLAM has developed new cutting edge oceanic oilskins, custom made to the demands of the French circumnavigator Franck Cammas and his crew, to tackle this Volvo Ocean Race.
In this way SLAM, who already won the Americas Cup with BMW ORACLE Racing, has another opportunity of continuing to develop the technical “Sailing gear” line, this time devoting itself to the rules dictated by the ocean and extreme, long distance regattas, introducing new improvements both from a fabric and detail point of view.
The start of the regatta proved to be a hard one straight away under the feared conditions which even the Mediterranean Sea is capable of unleashing: strong winds with short choppy waves. An important stress test right away for the SLAM oilskins therefore – and not only, seeing that two boats suffered technical damages to mast and hull just a few miles out from the start – that should give the SLAM Research&Development team essential feedback. But after the first stormy hours the crews will have to reckon with heat and humidity as they approach the equator en route for Cape Town; here again SLAM has a series of articles developed to protect and save the yachtsmen from these weather conditions. Articles exploiting modern materials and offering the skin a sensation of wellbeing, essential in long distance regattas. Polypropylene, seamless, state-of-the-art microfibre, which the crews just simply dreamed about in the 70’s and 80’s in the first editions of this Round the World race with crew! Everything is absolutely concentrated on the speed of the yacht only nowadays and the clothes being worn must assure maximum comfort so as not to create distractions having nothing to do with the boat’s performance and result of the regatta. SLAM is proud of being the only Italian technical clothing business present at the Volvo Ocean Race, bringing – in its own small way – a little bit of honour to our peninsula and demonstrating that Italian research as well as in many other fields, is very much active in yachting as well, in its search for technical and technological excellence.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FRENCH PRESS RELEASE
With 4 races on Saturday, 3 races on Sunday and only one discard, every single race could make a difference. The fleet quickly found out that the left hand side of the course was favoured and that having a fast start at the correct end of the line (adjusted after each race) was the key competitive advantage to be able go left in as much clean air as possible. The current was also an important factor and a number of competitors overstood the port layline by a few boat lengths on the first races.
Karl Grebstad the defending champion sailing his new boat (D51) lead the series after day one with a handy 5 point lead ahead of his rival Tam Nguyen (D55) and 7 points ahead of Lowell Chang (D46). Counting discards, Phyllis Chang (D50) and Simon Chan (D50) were also in the competition for the title.
However D51 went into Sunday’s first race too aggressively and was caught OCS. This damaged his points buffer and with Tam Nguyen (D55) winning the first two races of the day it was all down to the last race for the championship. To retain the titles Karl Grebstad and his team had to place no lower than 4th in the last race. Knowing this Tam Nguyen (D55) and his team elected to cover Karl Grebstad and his team (D51) and force them back into the fleet. While the championship top two boats D51 and D55 were dancing together around back of the fleet, the battle for first continued between husband and wife Lowell Chang (D46) and Phyllis Chang (D50). Phyllis Chang stayed ahead of her Husband to win the final race. However Lowell won overall against his wife in the championship results with a 3rd while Phyllis came in a close 4th.
After a quick way back to Middle Island with strengthening wind and chop conditions, the participants, families and sponsors enjoyed a nice casual hamburger dinner on Middle Island lawn before the Prize Giving ceremony where Slam representative Jack Young offered prizes to the first three overall winners.
The success of the event was made possible by the strong support of the sponsors, Nepa Shipping, Slam and Northrop & Johnson and was covered by photographer Guy Nowell and cameraman Oliver Merz both driven around the course on the Northrop & Johnson rib.
ph. credit: With 4 races on Saturday, 3 races on Sunday and only one discard, every single race could make a difference. The fleet quickly found out that the left hand side of the course was favoured and that having a fast start at the correct end of the line (adjusted after each race) was the key competitive advantage to be able go left in as much clean air as possible. The current was also an important factor and a number of competitors overstood the port layline by a few boat lengths on the first races.
Karl Grebstad the defending champion sailing his new boat (D51) lead the series after day one with a handy 5 point lead ahead of his rival Tam Nguyen (D55) and 7 points ahead of Lowell Chang (D46). Counting discards, Phyllis Chang (D50) and Simon Chan (D50) were also in the competition for the title.
However D51 went into Sunday’s first race too aggressively and was caught OCS. This damaged his points buffer and with Tam Nguyen (D55) winning the first two races of the day it was all down to the last race for the championship. To retain the titles Karl Grebstad and his team had to place no lower than 4th in the last race. Knowing this Tam Nguyen (D55) and his team elected to cover Karl Grebstad and his team (D51) and force them back into the fleet. While the championship top two boats D51 and D55 were dancing together around back of the fleet, the battle for first continued between husband and wife Lowell Chang (D46) and Phyllis Chang (D50). Phyllis Chang stayed ahead of her Husband to win the final race. However Lowell won overall against his wife in the championship results with a 3rd while Phyllis came in a close 4th.
After a quick way back to Middle Island with strengthening wind and chop conditions, the participants, families and sponsors enjoyed a nice casual hamburger dinner on Middle Island lawn before the Prize Giving ceremony where Slam representative Jack Young offered prizes to the first three overall winners.
The success of the event was made possible by the strong support of the sponsors, Nepa Shipping, Slam and Northrop & Johnson and was covered by photographer Guy Nowell and cameraman Oliver Merz both driven around the course on the Northrop & Johnson rib.
The first round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup has kicked off at Sail Melbourne, with a number of Australian Sailing Team and new zealand crews enjoying a strong opening day on Port Phillip Bay.
http://sailmelbourne.com.au/website/resu...
It has to be said that the Mediterranean has been serving up some very tough conditions for the VOR-70s, with over thirty knots of westerly wind on the nose and above all increasingly big seas where the waves are in excess of five metres!
http://www.cammas-groupama.com/fr/index....
The in-port race marked the start of the epic 39,000 nautical mile round the world race, tipped to be the most hotly contested edition in the event´s 38-year history.
Strong winds and pelting rain greeted the teams as they left the dock in Alicante, Spain, but by the time the start gun fired at 1400 local time (1200 UTC-GMT) the weather cleared with a 10-15-knot breeze blowing down the race course and the state-of-the-art Volvo Open 70s blasting along Alicante's coast around the short inshore course.
An incredibly close start saw Abu Dhabi, CAMPER and Groupama lined up and equally matched, each looking for the slight advantage over their rivals...
SLAM is back in the Ocean: at the end of October it will face the unpredictable round the world “Volvo Ocean Race” with its weather and water adversities along with its irresistible charm.
SLAM has created a special technical and sportswear line to climb aboard Groupama, designed to face the 40,000 miles of the Volvo Ocean Race, battling waves, storms and equatorial calms.
SLAM will be present with an itinerant shop at the nine legs, at the round the world race stopover sites.
More... download press release in english
French Press release, click here
Download pdf http://www.slam.com/products/groupama.ht...
Igor Simcic’s Esimit Europa 2 crossed the finish line in Marsamxett Harbour in Malta just before 0100 CEST (00 hours, 54 minutes, 35 seconds) on Tuesday, 24 October, to claim the line honours win at the 2011 Rolex Middle Sea Race.
Esimit Europa 2 registered an elapsed time of 61 hours, 24 minutes and 35 seconds.
http://www.rolexmiddlesearace.com/index....
Just two days before the start of one of the most demanding regattas in Europe, the Rolex Middle Sea Race, one thing is clear – a record fleet of 81 participants from 18 different countries will face the unpredictable Mediterranean. A 606-nautical mile course starts in Malta and is sailed anti-clockwise around Sicily toward the finish line in front of the Marsamxett Harbour in Valletta. Crew members of the Esimit Europa 2 with Jochen Schümann as a skipper will do their best to repeat last year’s success, when Esimit Europa 2 took line honours by the time of 54 hours and 52 minutes.
On Wednesday, 19th October, was a warm-up for the 16 yachts. They competed in a 35.6-mile coastal race, which started in Fort St. Elmo in Valletta and finished opposite the Royal Malta Yacht Club in Marsamxett Harbour. As always the Esimit Europa 2 crew took their mission very seriously, took line honours in fast 2 hours 45 minutes and won also in corrected time, therefore will be awarded with the Malta Rolex Cup Trophy. According to Jochen Schümann, the yacht and the team are well prepared for the Saturdays’ kick-off and they are very much looking forward to the last challenge in this season’s schedule.
The Rolex Middle Sea Race is organized by the Royal Malta Yacht Club in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The main award for the race is the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy, which will be given along with over fifteen other major trophies at the final prize giving on Saturday, 29th October, in the historic Mediterranean Conference Centre. The current course record, 47 hours 55 minutes, was established in 2007.
AUDI ultra crossed the finish line in Nha Trang, Vietnam, this morning at 0939h and 24s – leaving Grant Wharington's record of 42h 45m 41s intact by a margin of 59m 17s. ON board SLAM Sailing gear: bermuda Hissar, giacca Campbell, Code-1 shoes, T-shirt Bonifay.
http://www.bigboatracing.com/index.html...
SLAM also involved in racing in the East and more specifically in the tract of the South China Sea between Hong Kong and Vietnam, aboard the maxi Ultra Racing Audi. The crew was given the line of garments such as jacket Campbell sailing gear, t-shirts Bonifay shoes Code-1, Bermuda Almeria, all items personalized with the name of the team and the prestigious Audi 4 circles, the main sponsor of the team, which has led the skipper Ludde Ingvall. The race began on October 19 and now you can follow along live tracking in the web from this link. All cheering so that he may be shot down yet another record with the colors SLAM!
http://www.bigboatracing.com...
SLAM s.p.a.
Via G.Adamoli, 521 - 16165 Genova (Italy)
info@slam.com - T. +39 010 8420.1 - F. +39 010 8420.200
C.F. e P.I. 01119840104 - C.C.I.A.A. n° 2541102 - Iscr. Trib. di Genova n° 34805
Capitale 2.326.012,00 Euro interamente versato - 2011 All rights reserved | NOTE LEGALI | CREDITS
