Ocean Racing

Crushed!

by Sail Staff, Posted July 15, 2008

Since the days of Clipper Ships, sailors heading for England on fast boats have faced an obvious challenge: Break the trans-Atlantic record, starting from Ambrose Lighthouse, off New York Harbor, to the iconic Lizard off England’s southern tip. Given the number of boats and fine sailors who have made this journey, you can bet that the bar for this record has been set high. Very high. In fact,

Sagarmatha of the Southern Ocean

by David Schmidt, Posted April 6, 2009

Sherpas call Mount Everest Sagarmatha, “the mountain so high that no bird can fly over it”. Western sailors know the Vende Globe—a non-stop, solo, around-the-world race sailed on wildly powerful, lightweight 60-footers—as sailing’s Mount Everest. Study the attrition rate in this year’s race—19 of the original 30 boats dropped out, many in the stormy waters of the Southern Ocean—and you realize

Debriefed: a Post VOR interview with Ken Read

by David Schmidt, Posted August 4, 2009

In May of 2007, a fledgling team called Puma Ocean Racing announced their intentions of competing in the 2008/2009 Volvo Ocean Race — a 37,000 mile round-the-world grudge match that’s fought out in the world’s fastest monohulls — in Boston, MA. As an attending journalist, I can report that while excitement ran high, expectations were fairly limited. Not because of the sponsor

Volvo Ocean Race Visiting Middle East

by Adam Cort, Posted March 16, 2010

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, has broken new ground for the Volvo Ocean Race by being confirmed as the first Middle East stopover in the history of the event.A boat from Abu Dhabi will also take its place on the start line of the 2011-12 race, which is scheduled to begin in Alicante, Spain, in the autumn of next year.The agreement was signed yesterday by

Aggressive Starts at Bermuda Race

by John Rousmaniere, Posted June 20, 2010

The Newport Bermuda Race fleet made their upwind starts in 16 classes over a period of more than two and a half hours on Friday afternoon. There now are 183 boats, after Avatar didn’t start. In addition, Blue sailed back to the shipyard to get her broken centerboard cable fixed; she’s expected to start again after the repair. (text continued below video)

A Dramatic Start to the Barcelona World Race

by MacDuff Perkins, Posted January 5, 2011

Disappointing winds and a strong westerly current have wrecked havoc on the entrants of this year’s 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

Tragedy and Triumph in the Chicago Mac

by Adam Cort, Posted August 2, 2011

A capsize in the 103rd Chicago Mackinac Race that took the lives of Mark Morley and Suzanne Bickel highlighted the dangers inherent in offshore racing and brought out the best in the competitors who responded to the accident.Ironically, in this era of EPIRBs and other technological “miracles,” it was a simple whistle—required equipment for all Mackinac racers—and a half dozen rescue lights

MOB: Keep Your Men (and Women) On Board

by Lindsey Silken, Posted January 27, 2012

It was every sailor’s worst nightmare when 22-year-old Sam Goodchild fell overboard during Leg 2 of this year’s Global Ocean Race. Luckily, both Goodchild and his co-skipper, Conrad Coleman, are sailing instructors, so they knew what to do. And with SAIL's detailed analysis, so do you.

Class 40s and The Atlantic Cup Soar on Grand Prix Dreams

by Chris Museler, Posted August 13, 2012

It was the start of Leg 2 of the second annual Atlantic Cup, a mixed-format regatta raced in high-speed water-ballasted Class 40 sloops, and we were bound for Newport, Rhode Island.

Global WiFi

by Sail Staff, Posted March 10, 2008

One of the biggest wildcards in the next Volvo Ocean Race will be the role of the dedicated media man. This crewmember will not have an actual sailing role (it remains to be seen if he/she can even help out with domestic duties such as cleaning the galley), but instead will be responsible for shooting still- and video footage of the boats as they rip their way around the world. This job will