Racing News
Recent Headlines
Alinghi Appeals Court Decision - 04.15.08
Am I the only one who gets a headache when I hear the words “America’s Cup” coupled with the word “court”? I highly doubt it, especially given...
Team Alinghi Capsizes Foncia - 03.29.08
At 11:30 this morning, in 20 plus knots and a lumpy Atlantic swell, the 60ft trimaran Foncia capsized off Lorient with Alinghi sailors onboard...
No End in Sight - 03.26.08
BMW/Oracle Racing and Alinghi fail to find middle ground. MW Oracle Racing’s Tom Ehman and Russell Coutts traveled to Geneva to meet with Alinghi’s Lucien Masmejan and Societe Nautique Geneve's (SNG) Vice Commodore Fred Meyer...
Caribbean Gears Up for Antigua - 03.24.08
In my hometown of Boston, MA — a town with a strong maritime tradition — a big sailing event typically gets a passing nod in the local newspapers...
Juby Wynne Regatta Announced - 03.21.08
Looking for a fun regatta in the New Orleans area for Memorial Day Weekend? If so, check out the Juby Wynne Regatta...
BMW Oracle Sets Roster - 03.20.08
Immediately following on the heels of Justice Herman Cahn’s decision to uphold his November 27, 2007 decision that the Golden Gate Yacht Club...
It's ON - 03.18.08
If you mean a Deed of Gift match for the America's Cup, in giant multihulls. It's off, if you mean a "proper" match with multiple challengers and a format agreed by all parties. Ready for a grudge match are we?...
Coutts Goes Headhunting - 03.14.08
In high-end sailing as in the business world (really, are the two worlds all that separate in these elite niches?), talent is recognized and rewarded—or the competition buys it up...
VOR Names New CEO - 03.07.08
For those of you who closely follow the Volvo Ocean Race, you will know that Glenn Bourke, who steered the managerial duties of the event since November of 2002, stepped down in December of 2007...
Now the Kiwis Sue - 03.06.08
It's been a long-festering relationship between the Kiwi team that once held the America's Cup and the Swiss team presently holding the Cup...
February
Truth in (MedCup) Engineering - 02.25.08
It's the hottest game going, but it's not coming to a port near you unless you live close to the Mediterranean glamour circuit...
Groupama Breaks Up, Flips - 02.18.08
Last night at 2343 UT, Franck Cammas, skipper of the trimaran Groupama 3 engaged in the Jules Verne Trophy, alerted the shore crew to the capsize of the maxi trimaran...
Paprec-Virbac 2 wins BWR - 02.12.08
Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall completed their non-stop circumnavigation aboard their Open 60, Paprec-Virbac 2, to win the first edition of the Barcelona World Race...
Movie Time: Key West Race Week Video - 02.12.08
Grand-prix boats are spectacular: the finest sails, the best equipment, and the brightest minds in the sport of sailing...
One-Designs Shine at Key West - 02.08.08
When Peter Craig took over management of Key West Race Week in 1994, the event featured one racing circle, 12 boats, and seven starts. Since then...
January 2008
Daubney Exonerated - 01.31.08
The Swiss Olympic Association’s Disciplinary Chamber has cleared Alinghi’s veteran headsail trimmer, Simmon Daubney, of doping charges....
Ainslie wins 5th Finn Gold Cup - 01.30.08
The term “living legend” is a heady one, but by all measuring sticks, that’s precisely what England’s Ben Ainslie, 31, has become. Yesterday Ainslie won his fifth Finn Gold Cup...
Numbers: 20.28 knots - 01.23.08
In sailing, numbers are ephemeral. One second, VMG is up; the next it’s down. Crews battle for gains that are won and lost in heartbeats...
Walkin' the Dock at Key West - 01.21.08
Getting here isn’t easy. For some, it involves a multi-leg prop-job hop from a major airport to a local airport to the tiny airstrip known as Key West. For me, it involved a hair-raising journey on a jet-powered CRJ...
What a FIASCO!
There's no explaining the Three Bridge Fiasco to people who expect things to make sense. We're talking about a race sailed in the dead of winter, when you can't count on breeze on San Francisco Bay...
American Promise: 2008 Olympic Preview - U.S. Sailing Special Section
Meet the 2008 U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Sailing Teams—young, talented, and hungry for medals in Qingdao, China...
Joyon Rules on Planet Earth - 01.20.08
Francis Joyon completed his solo round-the-world voyage in 57 days, 13 hours 34 minutes, smashing Ellen MacArthur's existing record by 14 days...
VOR Names Indian Stop - 01.18.08
Rickshaws, chai, incense, street vendors, sacred cows, sardhu’s, ashrams, and Volvo Open 70’s? Indeed, the world’s highest-tech monohulls might seem oddly juxtaposed with India’s...
IRC Gaining Traction - 01.15.08
If you race sailboats in the U.S., you have no doubt witnessed a parade of rating-rule acronyms in the past decade: IMS, Americap, PHRF...
2007
December
Five Standing: BWR Update - 12.18.07
In what is rapidly becoming an expensive race for many competitors, Veolia Environnement, skippered by Roland Jourdain and co-skippered by Jean-Luc Nelias, was dismasted, and has now retired from the Barcelona World Race (BWR)...
Estrella Dame Quits BWR - 12.14.07
After hitting two unidentified floating objects (UFO’s) within a 48-hour time span and sustaining damage to both rudders, the Estrella Damm team...
Usurped! Joyon Sets Record - 12.12.07
The venerable Breton Francis Joyon, aboard the 97-foot trimaran, IDEC2, has ticked an impressive feat: sailing 616.07 nautical miles in the 24-hour period...
Going Green - 12.12.07
There’s something about hardcore offshore sailing that has been known to lure top inshore sailors away from the “comforts” of Cup or Olympic sailing and into the often-brutal environment of the Southern Ocean...
Out of the Wild: An Unconventional VO70 Experience(PLUS VIDEO)
“Hey David, do you have a life-insurance policy?” Ken Read asks, poking his head through the companionway of the Volvo Open 70 Puma Avanti as we pound through small-but-growing seas near Ambrose Lighthouse off New York City. Behind us, the evening glow of the Big Apple ignites, painting a prominent reminder of humanity on an otherwise empty canvas of ocean...
Tough Times: BWR Update - 12.11.07
After months of anticipation, of kicking tires dockside, of comparing which of the IMOCA 60’s are lighter or carry more beam, the Barcelona World Race’s (a non-stop, double-handed round-the-world race) fleet has entered the Southern Ocean, opening the Pandora’s Box of “what if’s” on both man and machine...
November
Portimo Race Publishes NOR - 11.29.07
The Portimo Global Ocean Race—the world’s first “Solo-Double” Race—has officially published their Notice of Race, the official document that governs next year’s solo/doublehanded round-the-world ocean race...
Farr 40’s Celebrate Tenth - 11.29.07
It’s hard to believe, but the Farr 40 class just turned 10, and to celebrate, there will be two regattas held in Miami, Florida, during the week of November 27 – December 2, 2007...
TP52 Wings - 11.29.07
If you’ve ever tried to sail a beam-reach course with a kite up on standard spinnaker-pole rigged boat, you have undoubtedly had to deal with the difficulty of tight sheeting angles on the guy when the pole is eased forward to the forestay...
Sidney Gavignet on Ocean Racing - 11.28.07
Meet Sidney Gavignet. At age 38, Gavignet is already on his fourth “lap” as co-skipper on Delta Dore in the Barcelona World Race. This piece, The Inside Story was originally published in the BWR's publication, Duo...
COURT RULES AGAINST ALINGHI - 11.27.07
Alinghi was first out the gate with a public statement in the wake of Justice Herman Cahn's November 27 decision in the Supreme Court of the State of New York...
Team Origin Responds to AC 33 Delay - 11.22.07
The following was released on Thanksgiving Day, and it is rather more candid than most of the public utterances we've received on the subject of America's Cup, delays, and legal issues...
New Spanish AC Challenge - 11.20.07
As most Cup pundits can tell you, things with the AC are “turbulent” at best; others may use stronger adjectives to describe the situation. There is some good news for the America’s Cup Management (ACM) and Alingi...
Volvo Race to Stop in Singapore - 11.19.07
Singapore named as the first Southeast Asia stopover during the 2008/2009 Volvo Ocean Race...
Golden Rock Regatta Grows Up - 11.11.07
In only three years, the Golden Rock Regatta -- island to island racing in the Caribbean -- has grown from eight boats to 20...
Ed Baird Becomes ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year - 11.14.07
Ed Baird on Tuesday became the second American to win the title of world sailor of the year in the 14-year history of the event...
Olympic Umpires Named, Tornado Capsized - 11.12.07
ISAF on November 12 announced its officiating team for the 2008 Olympic Games at Qingdao, China, noting that the emphasis on the final-day medal races places extra pressure on the quality of the judging...
The Accidental Pro: An Interview with Jonathan McKee
For most dinghy sailors, co-skippering an Open 60 in the Barcelona World Race, a non-stop double-handed circumnavigation race via the three capes, would be a suicide mission...
ISAF Inducts Six Into Hall of Fame - 11.07.07
Sailing’s history is long, storied, and rich with personalities, adventure, and the desire to see just a bit further down the road of possibility...
Samba Pa Ti Wins IRC - 11.05.07
Sometimes bigger isn’t always better, as was the case for Dan Meyers and his new Judel/Vrolijk-designed Numbers, an IRC 67, at the IRC East Coast Championship, held in Annapolis, Maryland...
Salter Joins Ericsson Racing - 11.01.07
Following Ericsson Racing Team’s recent news that sailing-great Torben Grael will skipper the team’s internationally-crewed “A” boat...
The Hit Parade: Now Playing—J/105s
A North American Championship fleet of 69 35-foot one designs is nothing to be ignored, even if it were not a record, which it is...
October
AC 33: ACM Launches a Rule - 10.31.07
AC Management, as scheduled, published the AC90 Rule marking an exciting milestone in the path to the 33rd America's Cup...
Mopeds No, Zodiacs Yes: Chatting With Ernesto
Ernesto Bertarelli will have his own chapter in future histories of the America's Cup. He reinvented how to win and how to defend. He put the venue out to bid, created pre-event racing—and is starring in a celebrated controversy. Now he tells SAIL how a young, Italian-born Swiss billionaire came to this...
The Long Haul - 10.26.07
Now catching up on rest, sleep, and the feel of what it's like to walk around on an unmoving surface: American Clay Burkhalter, 12th finisher in the Transat 6.50...
Bracken Wins Luders Invitational - 10.26.07
Julie Bracken, in her first turn at the tiller of the beautifully restored Spirit, won the three-day MDI Luders Invitational in Southwest Harbor, Maine...
Rambler Scores in Middle Sea Race - 10.24.07
The 28th Middle Sea Race proved shorter than expected for many competitors as 45-knot sustained winds with lashing, 50-knot-peak puffs forced nearly half...
Panerai Challenge Wraps Up - 10.24.07
Perhaps not as well known on the yachting circuit as Rolex, Panerai, the Italian watchmaker, is hot on the sponsorship heels of its Swiss counterpart...
Middle Sea Race Rescue - 10.23.07
The Med is not known for its high winds, but the stereotype was blown away this past weekend during the 28th Rolex Middle Sea Race, a 607-mile classic during which the fleet of 57 boats encountered 50 knots of wind and big seas...
Grael Joins Team Ericson - 10.22.07
The 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race is still more than 11 months out, but teams are gearing up for the world’s most brutal fully crewed ocean showdown...
Marblehead vs. Newport: A W-Class Showdown - 10.19.07
On October 4–6, a quiet, invitation-only regatta-within-a-regatta was held in New York City during the Panerai New York Classic Week aboard the world’s only W-Class yachts— two beautiful 76-footers (“Wild Horses” and “White Wings”) that were designed in 1997 by Joel White...
Depth of Field: U.S. Olympic Trials Update - 10.14.07
No racing sailor ever wants to see a regatta determined in the protest room. But when the regatta in question is the final race in the U.S. Olympic Trials...
U.S.A, U.SA, U.S.A: Olympic Trials, Paralympic Trials - 10.07.07
What a drama. The Laser Trials go all the way to a tie and a decider in "the room" while the Laser Radial Trials go to a peaking-at-the-right-moment Anna Tunnicliffe...
For Whom the Bong Tolls - 10.01.07
Baseball, pro cycling, and … sailing? It seems that these sports now have something more in common besides being time-honored recreational pursuits. Performance-enhancing drugs have long plagued these other games...
September
Countdown to Belief - 09.18.07
After three years of prepping for a dream, American Clay Burkhalter counted the time remaining to the start of Mini Transat 2007...
