Vraiment Incroyable! It’s official, we have now truly entered a “Brave New World” of sailing; either that or the world has truly lost its mind. This past fall, SAIL magazine first covered the Brest Ultime Challenge, a singlehanded nonstop round-the-world event set to take place ...read more
In what is being described as a return to the Volvo Ocean Race’s roots, the route for the 2017-18 will feature almost three times as much Southern Ocean racing as the previous running. No longer will crews have to contend with an often light-air slog north through the Indian ...read more
Photo courtesy of Carlo Borlenghi Be warned. If you ever get a chance to go out on a photo boat with world-renowned marine photographer Carlo Borlenghi, what he likes best is taking dramatic shots of big boats in big waves—really big waves. It was for this reason that Carlo, our ...read more
The 35th America’s Cup, set to take place on Bermuda’s Great Sound, officially kicks off May 26 with the start of the Louis Vuitton Qualifiers, comprised of a pair of elimination rounds that conclude June 12. The winner then takes on the Defender, Oracle Team USA, in a best of 13 ...read more
Over the weekend the 35th America’s Cup marked a pair of major milestones, with the French being eliminated and the Defender bowing out until the finals two weeks from now after winning the first qualifying round. The high point of the weekend was Saturday’s first race between ...read more
¬© ACEA 2017 / Photo Gilles Martin-Raget Well, somehow they did it: America’s Cup Race Management managed to pull off all four scheduled races on Thursday, despite light winds that rarely climbed much above the 6-knot minimum as stipulated by race rules. It wasn’t pretty, hardly ...read more
The crew of the Farr PH 56 Monterey has reportedly abandoned ship after the boat began taking on water. The cause of the water ingress is as yet unknown. According to the Antigua Bermuda Race Committee, the crew and its skipper, Les Crain of Bermuda, are safe and well after ...read more
As evidence of just how far foiling has come in the America’s Cup, look no further than Oracle Team USA’s capsize this past Sunday. Time was that capsizing your boat could have signaled the end of your campaign, but not anymore. Remember when Oracle first dumped its AC72 while ...read more
It’s been a strange Cup cycle. For all the press releases and hoopla surrounding the America’s Cup World series, AC35 continues to feel somehow distant—no surprise given it’s taking place off a small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean—and this sense of distance has been ...read more
The antipodal summer of 2016-17 has proved to be the season when no round-the-world record was safe. First, in December, Frenchman Thomas Coville set a new solo round-the world record of 49 days, 3 hours, 7 minutes aboard the 110ft trimaran Sodebo. Then, soon afterward, ...read more
The Maxi Trimaran IDEC SPORT sailed by Francis Joyon, Clément Surtel, Alex Pella, Bernard Stamm, Gwénolé Gahinet and Sébastien Audigane won the Jules Verne Trophy, the outright round the world sailing record, this morning. The crew crossed the finish at 0749hrs UTC on Thursday ...read more
Looking back over the years we’ve been running our Pittman Innovation Awards, it’s incredible to see the variety of different products that have been featured. There’s been everything from sails to navigation aids to clever little gadgets that can’t help but make you wonder, “Why ...read more
Amel Le Cléac'h, 39, from Brittany, France, crossed the finish line of the Vendée Globe Race in Les Sables d'Olonne, France, earlier today at 1537hrs UTC after 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds at sea aboard his 60ft racing yacht Banque Populaire VIII. Le Cléac'h’s ...read more
With less than a day to go in the Vendée Globe, it appears Armel Le Cléac'h aboard Banque Populaire VIII will successfully fend off the recent challenge by British sailor Alex Thomson aboard Hugo Boss and finish first in Les Sables d'Olonne, France: despite Thomson’s having cut ...read more
British sailor Alex Thomson aboard Hugo Boss has been playing catch-up ever since pre-race favorite French sailor Armel Le Cléac'h aboard Banque Populaire VIII took the lead on December 2—thanks in no small part to Thomson losing his starboard daggerboard following a collision ...read more
Olympic Bronze Medalist Caleb Paine (San Diego, CA) and IKA Formula Kite World Champion Daniela Moroz (Lafayette, CA.) have been selected as US Sailing’s 2016 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year. Paine and Moroz will be honored on Thursday, March 2 during a luncheon at ...read more
The sailors who compete in the Vendée Globe truly are a breed apart As I write this the two leading sailors in the Vendée Globe, Armel Le Cléac’h on Banque Populaire and Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss, are heading up the Atlantic Ocean toward the Doldrums, and what I’m wondering is ...read more
I’m not gonna to lie to you. When Rich said he wanted us to plug in the A3 I could have killed him. It was the middle of the night, raining cats and dogs, blowing like hell and gusting into the mid-30s. We had just unrolled the Code 0, and the entire crew was hot and cold and ...read more
France’s Vendée Globe has to be seen to be believed Before leaving for Les Sables d’Olonne on the southwest coast of France this past November I told some curious non-sailing friends of mine that I was off to witness the start of the most popular sailboat race in the world. “You ...read more
Endeavour to Persevere! Lessons learned during the stormy 2016 Chicago-Mac Race Ed Note: special thanks to Chief Dan George for the headline ...read more
