Maserati listo para buscar records

Fuente info Autoblog

Maserati sets sail to beat speed records at sea

By Noah Joseph

With Poseidon's trident on the nose and more chrome portals than a marina full of mega yachts, the link between Maserati and boats isn't imaginary. In fact, its engines have propelled racing boats to a number of powerboat championships in Italy and around the world. But now the Modenese automaker is embarking on a different kind of voyage with the sailboat you see here.

Rechristened under the name Maserati, this 70-foot VOR carbon-fiber mono-hull racing yacht previously competed in a round-the-world race in 2008-2009. Now unburdened by some 10% of its mass, Maserati will be sailed by world-renowned skipper Giovanni Soldini and his nine-man crew in an attempt to break the records for the three ocean routes: Cadiz to San Salvador, Miami to New York, and New York to Lizard Point, UK.

Maserati's participation doesn't appear to extend beyond lending its name, but it isn't the only automaker to have done so: the Volvo Ocean race is named by the Swedish automaker that sponsors it, much as Audi sponsors the MedCup sailing race and BMW once sponsored the USA-17 racing trimaran.

Volando con el Vestas Sailrocket 2

Vestas sailrocket 2 se suma al club de los 50 nudos

Fuente info sailworld

Vestas Sailrocket 2 joins the 50 knot club + Video

The team behind the Vestas Sailrocket 2 program are in Walvis Bay in Namibia to continue their quest to set the outright world speed sailing record.

Paul Larsen:

We just got back in from a great session and I’m happy to say that Vestas Sailrocket 2 is now in the 50 knot club. We did three runs culminating a great final sprint where she just surged over the 50 knot mark recoding a peak of 50.53 knots. On the previous run she hit over 46 knots.

Overall it has been a pretty stunning progression for the new ventilated foil. In successive runs she has gone from 27 knots to 36.7, 42.7, 46.3 and now 50.5 knots. The great thing is that she isn’t even getting close to any limit. Hydrodynamically 50 knots is the same as 60 is the same as 70. The only limit is structural. On the test bench we have taken her to a load equalling 65 knots with a 1 G turn and a respectable safety margin. It won’t be the foil that fails.
Vestas Sailrocket 2 behaved impeccably on the course. I knew it was in the 50 knot region although she felt a lot different from VSR1. No spray for starters. I wear a full face helmet but no visor or sun glasses. It’s a nice dry ride up there. The acceleration comes hard but also drops off pretty quick. It feels like I am pulling along a good chunk of drag. One of the coolest things about these ventilated foils is the noise... sort of a hollow, haunted ‘yowl’ that you would make by sucking in through an ‘o’ shaped mouth. You hear the noise as a gas turbine starts up before the fuel ignites. Whatever... it’s a cool sound. I don’t have to do much steering. The mainsheet was too undergeared and I couldn’t sheet in over 45 knots now that I am reclined in the low profile seating. I’ll have to add another purchase. It will easily add another 5 knots. I was in close to the shore but I could still feel the chop. The leeward pod had started to ‘float’ in ground effect. Basically it’s all working. Now we have a heap of optimisation to carry out. Some of it will yield free speed.
Of course we are getting increasingly excited to be where we are at. Just ahead of todays performance lie many great ‘scalps’. Today’s 500 meter average put us up with the legendary game changer (And great inspiration to me), Yellow Pages Endeavour. From here I can see Vestas Sailrocket 1, then Maquarrie Innovation, then the mighty Hydroptere. At the rate this boat is progressing, I know the future looks bright. Each one of these days is to be savoured.

Right now i would love to add all the bolt-on speed bits to the boat and give the wing a deluxe skin makeover but that will have to wait as tomorrows forecast is equally good.
The 50 knot bottle of Pol Roger has been drunk and the rest of the team are down the pub. I wrote this blog once but the computer crashed when I tried to upload the pictures... so here it is again. I could complain... in fact I did (actually I’m quite impressed with myself that I still have a computer) but then again, this is a nice topic to be writing about.

So happy days. From here on in Vestas Sailrocket 2 will just get prettier and prettier. She’s really earning the respect.
Time to go. Hope I can still get some food.

Cheers, Paul.

Trimarán Banque Pupulaire y su nueva tripulación para el record Jules Verne

Fuente info BP

LUNDI 10 OCTOBRE 2011 - 17H00
Loïck Peyron dévoile l'équipage du Trophée Jules Verne

Il y a quelques mois, la Banque Populaire confiait la barre de son trimaran géant à Loïck Peyron et lui donnait la mission de mener une nouvelle campagne de records avec toute l'aide et la compétence d'un Team fort et soudé. Une belle moisson de temps de référence en poche, le skipper de Banque Populaire V dévoile aujourd'hui, non sans une certaine fierté, les noms des équipiers qui s'attacheront cet hiver à tisser la trame d'une belle histoire avec le Trophée Jules Verne.

Marin multi-capé, personnalité incontournable du monde de la course au large, si Loïck Peyron affiche de nombreux faits d'armes en solitaire, à commencer par trois victoires sur la Transat Anglaise, il n'est jamais plus heureux en mer qu'entouré d'un équipage. Ainsi, depuis le 19 juin dernier, date officielle de son entrée en piste aux manettes du Maxi Banque Populaire V, et ce premier rendez-vous victorieux avec le chrono du Record SNSM, les navigations s'enchaînent-elles comme autant de sessions achevant de souder le collectif et de le pousser à se surpasser. Skipper d'exception, Peyron se définit avant tout comme un chef d'orchestre : "Un chef d'orchestre doit savoir écouter, beaucoup, et si possible être extrêmement bien secondé par tous les solistes. Un équipage a besoin d'être guidé, pour bien jouer ensemble, il faut regarder dans la même direction. Mon rôle est donc d'imprimer un rythme, une ambiance, une confiance. Pour faire un bel orchestre, il faut de bons musiciens. La musique est belle, l'instrument est incroyable".

Un collectif inscrit dans la continuité
Loin d'opérer une révolution, c'est sur une base solide que le Baulois a choisi de s'appuyer. Expérimentés, compétents, humbles et foncièrement humains, les marins qui joueront la symphonie du tour du monde cet hiver connaissent leur monture et la pratiquent tous sans exception depuis longtemps, la majorité ayant fait partie de la tentative autour du monde il y a quelques mois. Ainsi, Frédéric Le Peutrec et Yvan Ravussin retrouveront-ils leur casquette de chef de quart, tout comme Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant qui, après une traversée de l'Atlantique Nord mémorable, fait son retour à bord pour une première boucle. Barreurs/régleurs affûtés, Kévin Escoffier, Xavier Revil, Emmanuel Le Borgne, le Britannique Brian Thompson, le boat-captain Pierre-Yves Moreau, ou encore Thierry Duprey du Vorsent, déjà membres de l'équipage lors de la tournée méditerranéenne, seront à nouveau des acteurs clés de l'aventure ; quand de leur côté, Florent Chastel, Thierry Chabagny et Ronan Lucas (directeur du Team Banque Populaire), joueront les équilibristes sur la plage avant. Enfin, pour tracer le meilleur des sillages, Loïck Peyron pourra compter sur la science du navigateur espagnol, Juan Vila, embarqué sur la tentative, et sur celle de Marcel van Triest, routeur à terre.

Rendez-vous avec le globe
Un casting inscrit dans la continuité qui se tient prêt pour s'attaquer à une tentative sur le Trophée Jules Verne dans les prochaines semaines, une grande première pour le skipper du Maxi Banque Populaire V qui n'a encore jamais eu l'occasion de défier ce fameux record autour de la planète. Avec un temps de référence à battre de 48 jours 7 heures 44 minutes et 52 secondes, l'objectif théorique est fixé. Mais nulle question de compter sur Loïck Peyron pour jouer les mediums : "Ce joli navire et son équipage détiennent le record en 24 heures. Si on divise la distance d'un tour du monde par ce chrono sur 24 heures, on arrive à un temps totalement indécent... L'utopie est là, la réalité se place entre ça et rien... S'il y a bien une chose dont les marins sont sûrs, c'est qu'ils ne sont sûrs de rien !". Voilà qui est dit, place maintenant à la plus belle des navigations.

Composition de l'équipage du Maxi Banque Populaire V pour le Trophée Jules Verne :
Hors quart
Loïck Peyron, skipper
Juan Vila, navigateur embarqué, responsable électronique/informatique

Quart n°1
Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant, chef de quart, responsable voiles
Kévin Escoffier, barreur/régleur, responsable vidéo et structure
Xavier Revil, barreur/régleur, responsable avitaillement et vie à bord
Florent Chastel, numéro 1, responsable médical et gréement courant/dormant

Quart n°2
Frédéric Le Peutrec, chef de quart
Emmanuel Le Borgne, barreur/régleur, responsable médical et composite
Thierry Duprey du Vorsent, barreur/régleur, responsable mécanique et énergie
Ronan Lucas, numéro 1, responsable sécurité

Quart n°3
Yvan Ravussin, chef de quart, responsable composite
Brian Thompson, barreur/régleur
Pierre-Yves Moreau, régleur, responsable mécanique et hydraulique
Thierry Chabagny, numéro 1, barreur/régleur, responsable accastillage et voiles

Marcel van Triest, routeur à terre

Suivez et soutenez le Maxi Banque Populaire V !
Devenez fan du Maxi Banque Populaire V sur Facebook

Suivez les aventures du Maxi Banque Populaire V sur Twitter

Fotos del trimarán IDEC tumbado

Foto copyright Jim Miller

Francis Joyon con IDEC tumba apenas comenzar el intento de record del Atlántico

Foto copyright Don Emmert / AFP / DPPI / IDEC

Fuente info The daily sail

UPDATED: IDEC capsizes

Disaster for sailing legend Francis Joyon soon after start of solo transat attempt

Monday August 22nd 2011, Author: James Boyd, Location: France
Francis Joyon aboard his 100ft maxi trimaran IDEC capsized this morning around 05:00 GMT off New York, having just started his attempt on the singlehanded west to east transatlantic record.

Joyon had passed the start line off the Ambrose Light at 00:08:10 GMT this morning and at the time of capsize IDEC had been sailing in 25 knots form the south when allegedly she was hit by a violent squall.

Joyon was not injured in the incident and has been in contact with his route Jean-Yves Bernot. He is likely to remain on board until a tug arrives capable of towing IDEC back to safety.

This afternoon from IDEC's upturned hull Joyon, quiet calm as usual, explained what had occurred.

"I was in my seat to watch what was going on outside the boat. I was in the process of extricate myself from a meteorologically disturbed area close to the American coast. [Since starting] I had managed to sail about 90 miles in very irregular and highly unstable wind, shifting in direction and fluctating between 10 and 30 knots. I went through some very intense squalls, marked by violent gusts, but it was when I thought I was leaving this area that I received a massive gust that catapulted the boat on its side.

At the time I was sailing under triple reefed mainsail and with the small ORC [storm jib]. The violence of the squall was such that the sensor, and the anti-capsize alarm did not have time to go off. The wind continued to build very violently and I felt the boat literally catapulted into the air. Within seconds, I was 'on the roof'. I found myself under water, beneeath the nets. I tried to guide myself back to open air. It was night and chaos. Eventually, I made it to one of the floats. I'm not sure how I reached the forward beam but I was able to climb up onto the platform. I then got inside the boat through the escape hatch.

"I don't think IDEC has suffered too much. I have about 10 cm of water down below. I have managed to save the electronics. I was able to retrieve my Iridium phone to report the capsize. I have a very powerful flash light and as the boat has drifted onto a major shipping lane into New York, I spent the last of the night on deck signalling my presence to freighters.

It's daytime now and I can assess what danger there is. I am in contact hourly with Christophe Houdet on land. I know that many people are mobilising to find a tug. I know I am only 50 miles from Newport, Rhode Island. The boat seems intact and I know the rig does seem to be bumping against the platform. The sea state is relatively calm and the air temperature quite bearable. I have something to eat. Once a towing vessel arrives, I will be able to dump the rig, and perhaps consider a righting operation to facilitate towing..."

Record de la Vuelta a las Islas Británicas para el Maxi Banque Populaire V

Fuente info BP

SAMEDI 09 JUILLET 2011 - 00H10
Loïck Peyron et les 12 équipiers du Maxi Banque Populaire V nouveaux détenteurs du Record du Tour des îles Britanniques !

L'heure officielle de passage de la ligne d'arrivée au Cap Lizard enregistrée par le World Speed Sailing Record Council est 23h 06mn 58sec (heure Paris). Le maxi trimaran océanique Banque Populaire V est alors devenu le nouveau détenteur du Record du Tour des îles Britanniques ce vendredi 8 juillet 2011.

Bravo à Loïck, Juan Vila, Kevin Escoffier, Xavier Revil, Florent Chastel, Frédéric Le Peutrec, Emmanuel Le Borgne, Billy Besson, Jean-Baptiste Levaillant , Yvan Ravussin, Brian Thompson, Thierry Chabagny, Pierre-Yves Moreau !
Loïck Peyron, son skipper et ses douze équipiers ont parcouru 2077 milles (3900 km) en 3j 3h 49mn 14s. Le Team Banque Populaire bat de 1 jour la performance réalisée, en solitaire, par le navigateur français Sidney Gavignet à la barre de Oman Air Majan (4j 15h 9mn 27s) en août 2010.

Temps de référence du Maxi Banque Populaire V / FRA - 08 juillet 2011 en attente d'homologation par la WSSRC (World Speed Sailing Record Council)
3 jours 3 heures 49 minutes 14 secondes
Distance parcourue : 2077 milles (3900 km)
Ecart avec Oman Air Majan : 1 jour

Oman Air Majan / FRA (Sidney Gavignet solitaire) : 4j 15h 9min 27s - août 2010
Playstation / USA (Steve Fossett et son équipage) : 4j 16h 9mn 36s - octobre 2002

Equipage du Maxi Banque Populaire V
Loïck Peyron : skipper, Chef de quart
Juan Vila : navigateur, hors quart

Quart n°1
Kevin Escoffier : barreur/régleur
Xavier Revil : barreur/régleur
Florent Chastel : n°1 / réglage / responsable médical et gréement

Quart n°2
Frédéric Le Peutrec : Chef de quart
Emmanuel Le Borgne : Barreur / régleur
Billy Besson : Barreur / régleur
Jean-Baptiste Levaillant : Barreur / régleur

Quart n°3
Yvan Ravussin : Chef de quart, responsable vidéo et composite
Brian Thompson : Barreur-régleur
Pierre-Yves Moreau : Réglage / responsable accastillage et composite
Thierry Chabagny : N°1 / Barreur-régleur

Marcel van Triest : routeur à terre

Maxi Banque Populaire V va por un nuevo record

Foto copyright B.STICHELBAUT/BPCE

Fuente info BP

MARDI 05 JUILLET 2011 - 17H30
Maxi Banque Populaire V : à l’assaut d’un nouveau record

Loïck Peyron et ses hommes, partis à bord du Maxi Trimaran Banque Populaire V depuis vendredi dernier pour une semaine de navigation dans les mers du Nord, s’apprêtent à tenter le Record du Tour des îles Britanniques, profitant ce jour d’une fenêtre idéale pour établir le nouveau temps de référence.

Les 13 hommes s’attaqueront, dès ce soir, 19h française (17h TU), au record en solitaire établi en 4j, 15h, 9m, 27s, par « Oman Air Majan » skippé par le français Sidney Gavinet, en août 2010. Il avait lui-même battu d’1h la performance en équipage, de « Playstation » mené par le navigateur américain Steve Fossett en octobre 2002.

Le skipper baulois et ses 12 membres d’équipage franchiront la ligne « virtuelle » de départ situé au large du Cap Lizard, au sud-ouest de l’Angleterre et mettront le cap sur le nord de l’Ecosse. Ils contourneront les îles Shetland pour redescendre vers l’Irlande qu’ils laisseront à bâbord, et aller franchir de nouveau la ligne du Cap Lizard. Un tour long d’une distance de 1787 milles nautiques (3310 km) dans des conditions de mer et de vent généralement musclées que les hommes comptent parcourir en moins de 4 jours !

Equipage de la tentative de Record du Tour des îles Britanniques

Loïck Peyron - Skipper/Chef de quart
Kevin Escoffier - Barreur/Régleur
Xavier Revil - Barreur/Régleur
Florent Chastel - N°1/Régleur
Frederic Le Peutrec - Chef de Quart
Emmanuel Le Borgne - Barreur/Régleur
Billy Besson - Barreur/Régleur
Jean-Baptiste Levaillant - Chef de Quart
Yvan Ravussin - Chef de Quart
Brian Thompson - Barreur/Régleur
Pierre-Yves Moreau - Régleur
Thierry Chabagny - N°1/Barreur/Régleur
Juan Vila - Navigateur

Loïck Peyron, nuevo skipper del maxi trimarán Banque Populaire V

Fuente info Sailworld NZ

Loïck Peyron announced as skipper of Maxi Banque Populaire V

Loick Peyron was announced today as the skipper of the Maxi Banque Populaire V. The press conference was held in Paris with Olivier Klein, CEO of the Commercial and Insurance Bank of BPCE Group, making the announcement.

Peyron, a La Baule native and holder of 42 Atlantic crossings and three laps around the World, will now be the skipper of the largest ocean racing trimaran ever built on the next Bank’s attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy. Within the Team Banque Populaire, led by Ronan Lucas, Loïck Peyron joins Jeanne Grégoire and Armel Le Cléac'h.

Owner of the Maxi Banque Populaire V, a Figaro Bénéteau and a 60-foot monohull, Official Partner of the French Sailing Federation, the French Sailing Olympic Team, of Eric Tabarly Association and of the CNOSF, Banque Populaire 'is in full sail' and heads for 2012, reaffirming its performance objective. After having designated Armel Le Cléac'h to helm her new monohull for the next Vendée Globe, she has now entrusted Loick Peyron with the helm of her maxi multihull for the next record attempt round the world sailing crew non-stop and unassisted.

Loick Peyron, with impressive credits on all types of boats, is a multihull specialist who has developed numerous boats in this category. His experience with world tours and the G-Class is unquestionable. At the helm of the Maxi multihull Innovation Explorer, he ranked second in 'The Race', the first 'no limits'

Loïck is a perfect ambassador of the Banque Populaire’s values. Enterprising, intelligent, audacious and always ready to face new challenges, he is also one of the most popular sportsmen in France for many years. Olivier Klein, CEO of the Commercial and Insurance Bank of BPCE Group has, during the press conference, stressed the consistency in the selection Loïck Peyron.

'The Maxi Banque Populaire V is an illustration of the credo that animates every Banques Populaires: confidence in the willingness of men to reach their full potential through their projects and work, through their desire to excel, their personal commitment, as their team spirit. Every day in our regions, Banques Populaires accompany daring and enterprising people to make their desire to act a reality. This project also demonstrates the taste of the Bank for challenges. Loick Peyron, by his exceptional career and his appreciation of challenges seemed the perfect candidate to lead this ship so emblematic of our company. '

Loick Peyron said he was 'very pleased to be entrusted with such a great project within a high quality team. ' He also 'thanked Banque Populaire, the historic sailing sponsor, for her confidence. '

A new chapter in the sailing history of the Bank, a major player in the nautical world, has begun. It is now time for Loick Peyron and his crew to write the lines.

The beginning of the season will be dedicated to training, in the next few days off Lorient, home port of the largest multihull. Then, from June 17 to 21st, the Maxi Banque Populaire V and her team will take part in the Record SNSM and in the historic Fastnet race in August.

Then, the time will come to prepare for the Jules Verne Trophy which standby’s period is set for early November 2011.

Para seguir leyendo la nota hacer click acá

Mirabaud LX y otra temporada en busca de records

Foto copyright Jurg Kaufmann

Mirabaud LX: a record breaking season starts now

Thomas Jundt's foiling, wing masted monohull is preparing for a new season of Lake Geneva classics. First on the radical foiler's race card is the Geneva-Rolle-Geneva sprint and the defence of its record. Then comes the Bol d'Or Mirabaud.
Geneva, 7 June 2011 – Mirabaud LX will be racing to defend its record at the 47th edition of the Geneva-Rolle-Geneva Lake classic this Saturday. This sprint heralds the Bol d'Or Mirabaud which is scheduled for the following weekend.

Mirabaud LX is the only Lake Geneva foiler that has achieved its goal of winning regattas and breaking records. It is also the only foiler with a wing mast.

“For maximum performance, we must fly,” says Thomas Jundt, Mirabaud LX designer. “Our ideal wind speed would be somewhere between 10 and 15 knots. In these conditions, our new wing is extremely quick, the balance of the boat is amazing and we can point well.”

Two years ago, Mirabaud LX made the headlines by establishing a sensational new Geneva-Rolle-Geneva record of 3h43'47”. The radical foiler finished ahead of Lake Geneva's fastest monohulls, including Full Pelt owned by englishman, Jo Richards. Its exploits were discussed around the world.

Last year, Thomas Jundt and his team developed new foils and a manual trim system to further improve the experimental yacht. Their efforts were rewarded with a win at Weymouth Speed Week in the UK.

In keeping with his pioneering reputation, Thomas Jundt didn't stop there. With the 2011 record season in his sights, he developed a wing mast which we will see on the start line for the Geneva-Rolle-Geneva on Saturday. All eyes will be trained on Mirabaud LX this weekend.

Thomas Jundt will be racing the 2011 Lake Geneva classics with his usual crew: helmsman and coach Antoine Ravonel and bowman Eric Gobet.

Mirabaud LX technical specifications:

Length overall: 10m
Hull length: 8.5m
Overall beam: 5.4m
Wing surface area: 17m2
Weight of the wing: 29kg
Upwind sail area: 26m2
Downwind sail area: 49m2
Displacement: 170kg (including 25kg of foils)

L´Hydropetere en busca de un nuevo record

Foto copyright Guilain GRENIER/www.martin-raget.com

Fuente info Sail world

Isle of Wight record attempt by l’Hydroptère

The Trimaran l’Hydroptère is on her way to England and is preparing to challenge and beat the record around the Isle of Wight.

The current record has been held since November 2001 by Steve Fosset’s catamaran Playstation. l’Hydroptère's very first attempt will be on Sunday June 5 and will be prolonged until June 14, 2011. Last year l’Hydroptère missed the record by a few minutes. In fact at mid-term of the race, she was 40 minutes ahead of Playstation, but due to a fall in the wind, l’Hydroptère finished eight minutes after Playstation’s record.

This year, with the full support of the House of Champagne Lanson, the official partner of this record, the Hydroptère team is attempting this challenge again, more motivated than ever and determined to sign a triple wake of bubbles and spray.

About l’Hydroptère

This exceptional project began in the 1980s under the joint leadership of Eric Tabarly and Alain Thébault, surrounded by scientists and sailors. From 1987 to 1992, the dream became reality. Sponsored and supported by Eric Tabarly, Alain Thébault developed different models and came up with the concept of a flying boat. l’Hydroptère was launched in 1994. The first flight was a success. There followed several years of research and development for which Alain Thébault was careful to bring together a diverse mix of cultures and skills.

Broken in 2005 by tropical storm Delta on the Isle of Lanzarote, l’Hydroptère managed to recover thanks to the help of Thierry Lombard, from the private banking house Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch and Cie, who brought a new dimension to the adventure: Two new boats are in development, the first being l’Hydroptère.ch, a laboratory model that will be used to develop the second, l’Hydroptère Maxi, whose objective is to tackle ocean records and to sail around the world in less than 40 days.

l’Hydroptère has been enjoying a string of successes since 2005: On 2nd February 2005, l’Hydroptère crossed the English Channel faster than Blériot in his airplane; on 4th April 2007, she set two world speed records.

And on 4th September 2009, she definitively made sailing history by crossing the mythical 50 knot barrier - the equivalent of breaking the sound barrier in aviation - reaching 50.17 knots over one nautical mile with a top speed of 56.3 knots (104 km/h) in the Hyères Bay, France. By breaking the wind barrier, l’Hydroptère became the fastest sailcraft on the planet.

The launch of l’Hydroptère.ch in Spring 2011 represented a new milestone for the project. Now heading to the open sea, the Hydroptère Team is focused on the versatility of the concept and prepares the arrival of flying boats in the offshore sailing world.

Primeros pasos para Vestas Sailrocket 2 en Namibia

Fuente info Vestas Sailrocket

We are just gearing up now to head out for our first sail... albeit with a
small wing. The wind is around 12-15.
This will be a good day.
Enjoy the vid.

Cheers, Paul.

Vestas Sailrocket 2 llega a Africa para intentar un nuevo record mundial de velocidad

Fuente info Vestas Sailrocket

Fri, 15 Apr 11 23:09

VESTAS SAILROCKET 2... MEET AFRICA.

Today was agreat day. A special day. Today was the culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people who care about the adventure that is to follow.

Yesterday the 'Amber Lagoon' finally made it into Walvis Bay with our precious cargo onboard. Whilst things were being unloaded we re-arranged the container space at the Walvis Bay Yacht Club in anticipation of creating the space required for the new boat.
Right now, at this stage of the game, I'm pretty happy about where we are at. With that comes awareness and appreciation of every little achievement. Just seeing the ship come into port with VSR2 on it is a cool thing,seeing the truck come around the corner with the new boat is a cool thing... and opening the container doors and seeing nothing broken is a very, very cool thing. I guess it stems from knowing what we have had to do to reach this stage of witnessing the evolution of a new boat. This location is the same and yet here we are with a new boat crafted from everything we have learnt before. This new boat should be the solution to all our previous problems. That's the vision... the dream... yet just less than a kilometer away is speed-spot. A perfect example of cold, hard, emotionless, reality. I tell myself that this is all just a question of physics but it is hard to separate the emotion that is a part of, almost a requirement of such an effort. To deny the emotion would be to deny your humanity. So, at times like this I embrace it. Later on when we get right down to business it will be controlled and the emphasis will go back to physics.

So the doors came open and everything arrived in perfect order. Helena left shortly after to pick up the rest of the team who had also just arrived at Walvis Bay Airport. Hiskia and I began burrowing into the heaped container and were well into it when Ben, Jonny and Jeffro arrived fresh of a long flight. Here we all were with a great adventure ahead. Happy days.

Well we did a quick catch up and then ripped into the job at hand. The old tent went up as it has so many times before. After the boat itself and perhaps the support RIB, this would be the next most important piece of equipment in the project. It protects the boat and wing from the punishing winds and weather of Walvis Bay night and day. If it is neglected and comes apart then its flapping destruction will probably take the wing with it whilst we sleep at night. This one is getting tired. We will see how it fares with the shapes of the new boat and make a decision as to its future.
Of course it was a joy to get the new boat out. I still think fondly of the old one and what a magnificent job it did... but now it's time to pour everything into the new one. It's time for its story to unfold.
I was pretty happy at how much we got done today. It's such a luxury for us to have a good solid team around us who are all as keen as we are to see this thing work. Ben has been part of the build of this boat from the very beginning, he knows every part intimately. Hiskia has been with us from our first run with VSR1 and every run thereafter. He helped us withe the scale model tests for this new boat 18 months ago and we brought him to England to see the build a year ago. He knows where this boat came from and what it has to do.
This is Jeff's second time down here and he helped us on our last record attempt when we pushed VSR1 to the limits. He has also followed the build of VSR2 closely. For Jonny this is his first time down at the coal-face. We have been neighbours throughout the build but friends for a far longer time. It will be fun to welcome him into a side of sailing that he has never experienced before.
At the end of today, everything was thrown together in an organised manner. The ice was broken and tomorrow we will begin on a long job list that focuses purely on safe sailing. I am in no hurry to get to the scene of our first wipe-out. We have a clever boat here but it will need some care before it can reveal just how clever it is.
VSR2 will spend her first night outside and that first night will be under the Southern Cross. She will have to become acquainted with Africa as we hope that together they will do great things.
A nice feed and a few beers were had as we introduced the 'new guys' to The Raft. Now that's a great pub!
Tomorrow, we really get into it.
A big thankyou must go to both Peters and May (especially Sarah) for... well, for just doing the job they say they can do. It is appreciated. Also to Eddie from Transworld here in Namibia who also just made s**t happen the minute the ship hit the port. To make this all happen so smoothly takes 'do'ers'. Too many companies just take and don't care. It's a pleasure to see some real, heartfelt effort.
After a day like to day you realise how many people it has taken to make this happen... to just get us here. This has not been a story of cash changing hands. I love it when people get involved because they realise it's a real challenge and adventure and that they don't have to sit on the fence and watch it pass by.
I promise we'll make it worth it.

Cheers, Paul

Thomas Coville con Sodebo sin chances de record

Fuente info Jaume Soler

30 marzo 2011
Intento fallido

El francés Thomas Coville a la caña del trimarán Sodebo, quería ser el hombre en dar la vuelta al mundo en solitario más rápido y en menos tiempo. Pero su sueño deberá esperar ya que no ha podido superar el récord que tiene su compatriota Francis Joyon que lo consiguió con el Idec y que lo dejó en 57 días, 13 horas, 34 minutos y 6 segundos.

Coville ha hecho una gran vuelta al mundo y aunque salió varias semanas después adelantó a todos los barcos participantes en la Barcelona World Race, a algunos en el Pacífico y a otros ya en este último tramo del Atlántico.

El Sodebo ya vio que se quedaba sin opciones al récord cuando se encontraba navegando al norte de las Azores, con lo que a partir de ahí ya tomó rumbo a Finisterre sabedor que lo único que le resta es acabar esta vuelta al mundo en solitario una vez cruce la línea de meta situada en Ouessant.

Durante estos 57 días de lucha contra el reloj, el Sodebo ha ido en varias ocasiones por delante del récord, fue sobre todo en la bajada del Atlántico, pero en la segunda parte de la vuelta al mundo se vio que la empresa sería complicada.

Aún así el Sodebo acabará probablemente cuatro días por encima del tiempo marcado en su día por el Idec.

Seguro que Coville antes o después lo volverá a intentar. No tengo ninguna duda.

Sodebo se aleja del record del IDEC

Fuente info Sail world USA

Sodebo forced to make massive detour

Thomas Coville onboard the mai trimaran Sodebo is attempting to break Francis Joyon's IDEC 'solo' round the World Record - the Jules Verne Trophy record.

It is the 52nd day at sea for round the world soloist Thomas Coville and it brings more setbacks. The skipper of Sodebo is having to face another meteorological barrier on his journey back to Europe. Due to the 'anticyclonic swamp' sprawling across the North Atlantic, Thomas Coville is being forced to make a massive detour via the West.

Since crossing the equator last Sunday, the sailor has been focusing on his speed rather than his heading, in a bid to snatch up an opportunity to hook onto a depression rolling in to the North. The trimaran has managed to retain a good average speed and was still making around 19 knots this morning, however the wind will gradually ease as it enters the ridge of high pressure associated with this immense Azores High, which is sprawling across an area from the Canaries to less than 1,000 miles to the East of the West Indies.

Thomas won’t hit the desired westerly wind under the depression until he’s out of this transition zone. As such, though he’s positioned just 2,800 miles from Brest, level with the Cape Verde archipelago, the solo skipper can see his chances of beating Francis Joyon’s record (57d 13h 34’) slipping from his grasp.

'When you look at the cartography you must be wondering where on earth I’m going!' he says to camera. 'To the West Indies? To New York? No, I fully intend to return to Brest but the weather has decided not to let me take the most direct route.'

Thomas knows that after the calms at the end of the South Atlantic, the current weather configuration cannot give him the optimum route for traversing the North Atlantic. 'After Cape Cap Horn, when we thought that the hardest part was behind us, we traced a superb wake, but it was entirely upwind, going into heavy and very difficult seas. The boat and I were really put to the test but we got a sense of pride when we managed to get ahead of Francis Joyon’s trajectory again, after amassing such a deficit in the other three oceans. For a moment I believed that I’d have a classic weather scenario to ascend the Brazilian coast and enter the northern hemisphere, but it was nothing of the sort. After having endured a very difficult and stormy low to the North of Brazil, which killed the SE’ly tradewinds, we remained in light, unusual conditions off the horn of South America. Right now, it’s an enormous zone of high pressure which is preventing us from hooking onto the disturbed circuit of W and SW’ly wind, the same system that is supposed to carry us back towards Europe. That means that I’ll have to make a massive detour to the West so I can hunt down the appropriate breeze a long way ahead of this disturbance.'

by Kate Jennings translation

Sailrocket 2 va a Namibia en busca del record mundial de velocidad

Fuente info Sailworld

Sailrocket 2 off to Namibia

Vestas Sailrocket 2, the second-generation speed sailing boat was launched from East Cowes on the Isle of Wight on Tuesday March 8th. Paul Larsen and his team have designed Vestas SailRocket 2 to be significantly faster than its predecessor, with the ultimate aim of breaking the ‘Outright World Speed Sailing Record’.

From Paul Larsen:

Off she goes! After yet another very busy week, we have just seen the new boat on her way to Namibia. We spent the week pulling her all apart and preparing her new home in the container. She goes from being a pampered pet living indoors to being a beast of burden that lives outdoors. Walvis Bay provides so many of the key ingredients that we need, but composite boat building facilities are not one of them. We have to take it all with us.

Whilst loading up, one satisfying moment was when I noticed that one large, defiant bottle of champagne that we never got to drink sitting in the new container. It was the big bottle only to be opened when we got the outright record. It went on ice many times but survived every time. Well I'd like to think that the cork didn't feel so smug and secure when the new, bright orange hull sidled in alongside. Only one of those two items will be coming back from Namibia!

So as we prepared the container, Simon and the boys from Cosworth came in and finished putting the 'nervous system' into the boat in the form of the data-loggers, load sensors and associated displays. The two boats sat side by side in the shed. The general feeling of moving on began to envelope along with the associated feelings of sadness. We have spent 16 months working here alongside the Vestas R+D employees and they have been great. I think they too felt proud of the boat at that launch. Some of them were there when we started the first boat way back in 2002 and have followed the whole journey from the first sweep of the broom. We share a journey. I made a small plaque which we stuck in the cockpit. It says 'Redux Rocket 08/03/11' after the building where we all worked and the launch date. I got Mick, Dave and Richy to stick it on.

Sodebo vuelve a ponerse delante del record del Idec

Fuente info Thedailysail

Coville back into the lead!

Weather comes good for Thomas Coville in the South Atlantic
Monday March 14th 2011, Author: James Boyd, Location: none selected

For the first time since 4 February, when he was crossing the Doldrums outbound, Thomas Coville and Sodebo have achieved what seemed to be impossible when they were back in the Southern Ocean and have edged ahead of the record pace for the solo non-stop round the world record set by Francis Joyon and IDEC.

Just nine days ago, Sodebo was 1269 miles astern of her rival thanks to IDEC's almost unbeatable progress outbound in the Southern Atlantic, when he was able to cut the corner of the St Helena high pressure and enjoyed near ideal weather conditions crossing the Indian Ocean. While he was in the Southern Ocean, Coville said that he believed he would still be in with a chance if he was less than 1000 miles astern of IDEC at Cape Horn - he was and today's outcome has come to pass as a result.

As the chart above indicates, Coville has been more fortunate with his track north returning up the South Atlantic than Joyon was and aside from a four hour window on Saturday morning Sodebo's boat speed has not dropped below 10 knots and more typically has been full bore 105ft trimaran cruising speed of 18-20 knots average.

At the latest sched Sodebo is at the latitude of Rio and given her proximity to the Brazil coast, her lead is likely to reduce once over the course of the next 24 hours as she is forced to tack offshore once again in order to get enough sea room to get her past Recife - still some 1000 mile up the race track.

However finally the weather gods may be smiling on Coville for at present the northeasterly trades, which would normally be blowing where he is now and would force him to make a badly losing tack offshore, are in fact more northerly and it could be that firstly this offshore tack won't prove as costly and secondly the forecast for 24 hours hence indicates that due to the position of the St Helena high (with a giant lobe reaching out towards Recife come tomorrow morning) the wind may veer into the east only once he has got offshore...which would be a result. We shall see. Another downside of going on to port tack is that Sodebo's damaged crashbox on her starboard bow is likely to start unpeeling itself. Fortunately the remainder of the passage back to Brest should be predominantly on starboard with the float out of the water.

At present Sodebo has 4800 miles to go and must reach the finish line off Ushant before 00:40 GMT on Monday 28 March.

Susto para Sodebo que rompe el crash box de un pontón

Fuente info Sodebo

NEWS : Incident de parcours
10.03.2011

A 16h40 heure française, Thomas Coville a senti un choc sans incidence directe sur la route du bateau. Quand il est sorti pour évaluer le contexte, il a découvert que la peau de la crash box située à l'avant du flotteur tribord était partie, sans doute à la suite d'un choc avec un globicéphale. Une crash-box est une fausse étrave ayant un rôle comparable à celui d'un pare-choc de voiture.

L’équipe technique de Sodebo a évalué à terre les dégâts suite à la photo que thomas a envoyée aussitôt et l’intégrité structurelle du flotteur est conservée. S’il est impossible d’estimer aujourd’hui l'incidence sur les performances du trimaran sur la suite du parcours, Thomas Coville poursuit sa route.

Actuellement en bâbord amure à la vitesse de 18/20 nœuds, Sodebo passera dans deux jours en tribord amure dans un vent faiblissant. Sur cette allure qu’il devrait conserver au moins jusque dans le Nord du Brésil, le flotteur au vent, celui endommagé, restera hors de l’eau.

Dans 30 nœuds de vent de Nord-Ouest, le trimaran navigue actuellement au près bon plein dans le Nord-Est des îles Falkland avec deux ris dans la grand voile et sous ORC. Son retard sur la route de Francis Joyon est passé sous la barre des 500 milles à 15 heures (HF).

Trimarán Sodebo cruza Cabo de Hornos

Fuente info Scuttlebutt

"Cape Horn Is A Gift From Above"

"It's incredible. I'm rounding the Horn with you. I'm with Neutrogena which is just 50 metres from me! It's the first time I've passed so close to the Horn. I'm 200 metres away". It is exactly 1124 GMT, early morning at Cape Horn, as Thomas Coville announces mid audio link-up that he's passing the longitude of Cape Horn live.

Just a few hours ago, the solo sailor was tackling a storm; a real squall with 6 to 8 metre waves and wind gusting to 50 knots: "At times like that," admitted Tom, "You feel very small I can tell you." It was night and using his instinct alone, he put a third reef in the mainsail. "Nothing was forcing me to do it" he explains. Doubtless this is the survival instinct and experience that is kicking in above all else.

Concentrated for the past 38 days, or over 5 weeks, on the exceptional reference time achieved by Francis Joyon in 2008, the skipper of Sodebo is racking up the miles with consistency. Setting out from Brest on Saturday 29 January, Thomas Coville has already clocked up 19,186 miles, which he's covered at an average speed of 21.03 knots. The solo sailor aboard Sodebo is rocketing across the oceans with a target average speed of 20 knots. He has 7,000 miles to go as the crow flies between the Horn and Brest. Working furiously to stay in the present, forcing himself to focus on his speed and "avoid getting annoyed by going over the same scenario over and over again", he tries to stand up to the pressure of the clock which keeps on ticking. However, being a competitor at heart, he surely knows that he has 19 days, 13 hours, 16 minutes and 34 seconds ahead of him to beat the solo round the world record which stands at 57 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes and 06 seconds.

When heading into battle with the Pacific, Tom set himself the objective of having a deficit of less than 1,000 miles at Cape Horn before taking on the climb up the Atlantic in psychologically more comfortable conditions than he had four years ago, where he had a deficit of 4 days. On crossing the longitude of Cape Horn today, Tuesday 8 March, he had a deficit of 687 miles in relation to IDEC. As such he still has everything to play for. Francis Joyon had to slow down the other side of Cape Horn to repair his boat. Thomas' boat is apparently in perfect condition with the exception of two mainsail battens which were snapped in a broach a few days ago. As regards the physical challenge represented by the 7,000 miles left to go, this doesn't seen to be a concern for the skipper of Sodebo. -- Translated by Kate Jennings

www.sodebo-voile.com

Vestas Sailrocket 2 va por el record mundial de velocidad

Fuente info vestas Sailrocket

First look at vestas Sailrocket 2

Tue, 8 Mar 11

The SailRocket Team today launches its second-generation speed sailing boat from East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Vestas SailRocket 2 is designed to be significantly faster than its predecessor, with the ultimate aim of breaking the ‘Outright World Speed Sailing Record’.
We welcome our many friends and supporters to visit our updated website at www.sailrocket.com, containing first shots of the new boat, a description of the design philosophy, and photographs taken throughout the many months of construction.
Immediately after today's launch the team will prepare the new boat for shipping to Walvis Bay, Namibia, where sailing record attempts will begin in April.