2016 Vendée Globe: all lights are go

With less than two years to the start of the Vendée Globe, Bruno Retailleau, President of the Saem Vendée, gave a complete rundown of the situation concerning the eighth Vendée Globe at the Paris Boat Show this afternoon (Tuesday). As well as confirming the start date for Sunday 6th November 2016, we also learnt that around fifteen sailors are already certain to compete and that 20-25 were well advanced in their project. This press conference was also an opportunity for Sodebo and the town of Les Sables d’Olonne to announce that they have renewed their commitment to the race. Many skippers were also present to present their projects.

The start date is now official. The start of the eighth edition of the non-stop solo round the world race, the 2016-2017 Vendée Globe, will take place on Sunday 6th November 2016. Bruno Retailleau, President of the Vendée Council and the SAEM Vendée, the event organiser, appeared very optimistic. “Everything seems to be looking favourable for this edition, both in terms of the race and the organisation.” After showing a teaser video, Bruno Retailleau reminded everyone of some very impressive figures. “The Vendée Globe is already France’s leading sporting event in terms of media coverage along with the Tour de France and Roland-Garros with coverage representing 200 million euros. We can also see some other data about the 2012 event, which illustrated how exceptional the impact was for such an ocean race.  9 million single visitors looked at the website during the three months of the race, 285 million pages were viewed, 30 million videos watched, 500,000 players joined in with the Vendée Globe Virtual Game, 85 hours of live TV were watched, 1,700 accredited  journalists attended the Race Village at the start…”

Hawaii to provide a complete showcase of SUP Surfing at the World Tour Opener in February

From the 6th to 18th February, Oahu’s North Shore will play host to the most complete SUP Surfing spectacle of the year, featuring World Tour Openers for both Men and Women,the Na Kama Kai Youth Challenge and Clinic, not to mention the Tribute to the Legends, honoring the leading figures and pioneers of the ever evolving, but well rooted Ocean Sport culture.

More; Hawaii to provide a complete showcase of SUP Surfing at the World Tour Opener in February

Super Boat Iinternational Key West Worlds Preview

A great preview of the SBI Worlds from Matt Trulio, writer for Offshore Only

Look for Miss GEICO to repeat as the SBI Unlimited class World Champion in Key West in November. (Photo by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.)

A month after the Super Boat International National Champions are crowned in the organization’s various classes—and that happened two days ago in Clearwater, Fla.—an entire “mini season” called the SBI Key West Offshore World Championships begins. Three days of racing off the fabled Florida city produce the world-title holders, and it doesn’t matter who won what during the regular season.

Or does it? In terms of points carried over or anything like that, no. In the SBI Key West Worlds, everyone starts from scratch. World titles are determined by the results in races Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. But when it comes to handicapping and picking favorites in each class, yes, it makes sense to look at what happened during the season.

So here’s my take on how it will play out in five classes in this year’s brand-new mini season.

Read more;

DOMINANT RACE 2 WINS FOR FENDI RACING AND AQUASPORT

Sunday, 19 October, TERRACINA (Italy): Luca Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella produced a breath taking performance to take their first win together in C1 at the team’s home Grand Prix, with Aquasport’s Daniel Cramphorn and Nico Huybens producing a totally dominant performance to win in V1.

Lining up in first and second at the start, Victory and LFF10 delivered a sensational opening lap with Fendi and Carpitella stealing the advantage from the pole-sitters immediately and leading them to the first turn, then holding them off in a nail biting run to the start-finish line as the two closed on each other and just inches apart going into turn one of lap 2, LFF10 coming out in front.

WINS FOR VICTORY AND CHAUDRON – TEAM ABU DHABI CRASH OUT

Sunday, 7 September, IBIZA: Victory and Chaudron produced the stand-out performances of the afternoon and dominated race 2 of the Mediterranean Grand Prix, cruising to emphatic victories in their respective classes in a dramatic race that was red flagged after Abu Dhabi crashed out at the first corner, both Faleh AL Mansoori and Rashed Al Tayer emerging unscathed from the upturned boat.

It was a bitter blow for Al Mansoori and Al Tayer on their debut Grand Prix outing in their new boat, and after going second quickest in qualifying earlier in the day were running in second spot behind Victory at the first turn when they hooked and went over.

VICTORY CRUISE HOME TO WIN RACE 1 – TOMMY ONE WINS IN V1

Saturday, 6 September: Thirteen boats lined up for the first race in over two decades with Class 1 catamarans and V1 monohulls running side-by-side, with Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi carrying on from where they left off and last raced together in 2011, cruising to an easy victory in race 1 of the Mediterranean Grand Prix to win by a massive 49 second margin.

The Victory duo who earlier in the day shared the pole position spoils with LFF10, led from the start and were never challenged, going on to complete the 13 laps in 35:41.85s.

Despite matching the winners in qualifying Luca Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella could not match the sustained pace of the leader’s, but looked comfortable in second spot when they suddenly hit trouble on lap 9 and stopped.

From third place at the end of lap 1 Guido Cappellini and C1 rookie Mikhail Kitashev held off an initial challenge from Ugur Isik and Christian Zaborowski in Relekta-Zabo-Isiklar before opening out a comfortable advantage to move into and take second spot following the exit of LFF10.

The Relekta-Zabo-Isiklar crew in turn faced a race long challenge from Faleh Al Mansoori and Rashed Al Tayer in Team Abu Dhabi’s new MTI, who passed them on the final lap to take the chequered flag in third, only to be hit with a 25-second post-race penalty for destroying a turn buoy, handing the podium spot back to Isiklar and Zaborowski, the Abu Dhabi duo dropping to fifth behind LFF8-Polimersan.

The performance of the day came in V1 from the Tommy One crew of Maurizio Schepici and Stefano Bonanno who powered their way through the field from a long way back in fourth spot, first passing Bernico-New Star, then the early race leader’s Chaudron before setting their sights on and overhauling the pole sitters Antonio and Giuseppe Schiano in Karelpiu, to take the win in 36:33.39s.

CLASS 1 AND V1 SET FOR MEDITERRANEAN GRAND PRIX IN IBIZA

Monday, 1 September: The Spanish Island of Ibiza is all set to host the heavyweights of world powerboat racing when they take to the waters off Playa D’en Bossa for the Mediterranean Grand Prix on 5-7 September.

For the first time in over two decades catamarans and monohulls will race alongside each other in the UIM Class 1 and V1 World Powerboat Championships, with an anticipated 14-boats lining up as the revised new-look Championships format debuts in Ibiza and Class 1 returns to Spanish waters for the first time since 2006.

Holding on to the King’s Cup Crown : 52 SUPER SERIES – Pure Performance

There was to be no succession at the 2014 Copa del Rey Mapfre. Rán Racing may have gone into the final day of the Mediterranean’s showcase regatta with designs on the King’s Cup, just three points behind reigning champions Quantum Racing, but the defending champions squashed the challenge from Niklas Zennström’s team on the start line of the final and rolled out overall winners in Palma for the second season in a row.

For Doug DeVos’ American flagged team which is lead by America’s Cup winner Ed Baird it was their second Barclays 52 SUPER SERIES event win in a row, adding to their victory in Porto Cervo, Sardinia.

Dock Talk: Dongfeng Race Team’s mid-Atlantic near miss with a whale

 

ALICANTE, Spain, June 5 (Volvo Ocean Race) – Dongfeng Race Team’s Chinese rookies came face to face in the mid-Atlantic with a whale in a taste of the kind of larger-than-life experience the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 will throw at them.

They have already sailed through a storm, faced up to 40 knots of wind and French skipper Charles Caudrelier says he has navigated “one of the darkest nights I’ve known with absolutely no moon at all and barely any visibility”.

He continued: “We had the scariest experience to date during the night when we came so close to hitting a whale, so close we could hear it breathing.

“You can smell whales in the air but in the pitch black you can’t tell where they are. You can’t sense them in the water because very often when whales are at the surface it’s because they’re sleeping so it’s a nasty surprise for both the whale and us!

“I just held my breath knowing how close we were to potential danger but, thankfully, we didn’t hit it – we just had a near miss.”

Thunder on Cocoa Beach - A First Class Event

It was obvious this past weekend that the race organizers and Port Canaveral truly knows how to have a first class event.  The 5^th annual Thunder on Cocoa Beach part of the Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix was just that.

The new venue area for the dry pits around Port Canaveral’s Exploration Tower provided a perfect location for the event and created a festival type of atmosphere where race enthusiast could walk among the race boats, chat with the drivers and crew, watch a bikini contest or listen to a band as they nibble on some food or had a cold drink.

The 5^th Annual Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix on Sunday in Cocoa Beach was even more exciting as Miss GEICO won the Superboat Unlimited class.  Winners in other classes included Instigator - Superboat Extreme, STIHL - Superboat, Sun Print - Superboat Vee, SOS Venezuela - Superboat Stock, Black Pearl - Manufacturer Prod P3, and Dare Devil - Manufacturer Prod P4.

Racers, spectators, vendors, port restaurants and businesses all applauded Thunder on Cocoa Beach and look forward to its return next year as well as more festival and events of this magnitude.  If you did not make it out this year for the races, please join us next year in Port Canaveral for Thunder on Cocoa Beach.

Unofficial Ressults: SBI Thunder on Cocoa Beach Offshore Powerboat Race

Photo: Official Miss GEICO Racing

It was exciting racing in rough water this weekend for the Superboat International Thunder on Cocoa Beach, Superboat Grand Prix with racing action on beautiful Cocoa Beach.  Miss GEICO took 1st place  overall today.

If you missed this race, we to see you at the next SBI event for the 30th Annual Suncoast Super Boat Grand Prix Festival July 4-6  in Sarasota, FL.  Complete unofficial results by class are listed below. (Click on results image)

Complete race day photos coming soon from Watermen News and Dave Crago Photography.

 

 

BARCLAYS 52 SUPER SERIES entrants Phoenix and Provezza warm up at Gaastra Palma Vela : 52 SUPER SERIES – Pure Performance

Gaastra Palma Vela regatta on the Bay of Palma proved a useful training and preparation event for two BARCLAYS 52 SUPER SERIES teams as they make ready to head to Capri, Italy for the first regatta of the four of this European season.


For Eduardo de Souza Ramos and his crew on the brand new Botin designed Phoenix – the first boat to be built to the 2015 TP52 rule – it was their maiden regatta outing, the first ever races for the boat which will represent Brasil for the first time on the circuit.

After a few days of sail testing in Valencia where the King Marine built TP52 was launched and a couple of days informal racing on the Bay, after three years away from competitive sailing it was an exciting and very pleasing time for the owner to be on the helm and take the first start gun on Friday. 


Ergin Imre’s Provezza sailed against Phoenix informally before the regatta started and also used the three days of racing to ensure the team which flies the Turkish flag will be in the best possible shape for when the Barclay’s 52 SUPER SERIES starts on May 20th in Capri. Provezza has a new Future Fibres rig and some new crew on board.

More; BARCLAYS 52 SUPER SERIES entrants Phoenix and Provezza warm up at Gaastra Palma Vela : 52 SUPER SERIES – Pure Performance

Thunder on Cocoa Beach - 5th Annual Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix

Thunder on Cocoa Beach - 5th Annual Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix is the loudest, fastest power boat race in Florida - www.ThunderOnCocoaBeach.com

This year's race features more world class race teams than ever before. No where else in Florida can you witness the thunder of unlimited power boat racing up close and at the beach. The party gets started on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at 6pm. Join us for a night you'll always remember as we celebrate the Grand Re-Opening on the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront Hotel and the invitation only Official Thunder on Cocoa Beach VIP, Sponsor & Media Reception. Enjoy an open bar, live music and a fabulous buffet.

Outerlimits Kilo Marks Officially In The APBA Record Book / Speed on the Water

The American Power Boat Association finished reviewing and approving the paperwork yesterday from the Special Event Outerlimits kilo runs in late April, and the records are officially in the books. (For more information, see the Related Stories below.) That's the word from Mark Wheeler, the president of the Eastpointe, Mich.-based organization. To that end, the APBA posted the following press release to its website this morning

"Two APBA Special Events Straightaway Speed records were established in Washington, N.C. on April 29, 2014. Both records were set using Outerlimits boats powered by Mercury engines and Mercury stern drives. More; Outerlimits Kilo Marks Officially In The APBA Record Book

Team Warpaint Rebuilt and Ready for Space Coast Grand Prix | OffshoreOnly.com – Powerboating Online

After crashing its 42 MTI in Key West, Fla., last November, Team Warpaint Offshore Racing is excited to have its boat back in time for next week’s race in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Photo by Lucididee Fast Boats.

Six months after wrecking its boat in the second race of the Super Boat International Key West Offshore World Championships, Team Warpaint Offshore Racing is ready to return to action, starting with next week’s fifth annual Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

“We got the boat back from MTI right after Easter,” said Bob Vesper, owner and driver of the 42-foot Marine Technology Inc. (MTI) catamaran that he runs with throttleman Danny Crank in the competitive Superboat class. “They did a beautiful job on the boat. The damage was enough that we really needed to let the manufacturer do the work, and I’m glad we did—she looks great. Now it’s time to get her back on the water.” More; Team Warpaint Rebuilt and Ready for Space Coast Grand Prix | OffshoreOnly.com – Powerboating Online

Volvo Ocean Race / SCA Cross the Atlantic: Check

Cory Silken / Team SCA

Sam Davies is walking down the dock in Newport when a group of three school girls come running up seeking her autograph. Team SCA just sailed across the Atlantic but Davies obliges willingly, much to the girls' delight. “My daughter is a huge fan of Sam’s,” says one father. “She has posters of her on her walls.”

The Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 made its first official stop in Newport, Rhode Island, on Wednesday evening when Team SCA, the all-female crew, glided into town.

Family, friends and race fans were on shore and on the water, cheering on the crew that had just completed a 13-day passage from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.

“It’s an impressive welcome, especially because it’s just a training leg, not a race leg,” said Sam Davies, the Person in Charge. “We have a few Americans onboard and we knew their families were going to be here. And because Newport is part of the race it’s pretty nice to have the first Volvo Ocean 65 in town.”

“It was cool watching the stealthy silhouette coming in,” said Quintin Ciszek, the 31-year-old brother of crewmember Sophie. “I’ve only known this campaign through photos and blogs, but this is very impressive. The gravity of what they’re preparing for hits home when you see it all.”

25th Annual Waterman's Weekend Dates Set, Honorees Announced / SIMA

SIMA will honor Tom Carrol as Waterman of the Year

SIMA Celebrates 25^th Anniversary of Waterman’s Weekend, Honors Tom Carroll, Rusty Preisendorfer, Ted Danson and Hobie Alter

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif.  — The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) will celebrate 25 years of uniting the surf industry and protecting the environment by honoring surf legend and two-time world champion Tom Carroll as Waterman of the Year, Golden Globe Award Winner and environmental activist Ted Danson as Environmentalist of the Year, and legendary shaper Rusty Preisendorfer with the Lifetime Achievement Award. A Special Recognition Award will also be presented to the family of influential surf industry figure, Hobie Alter, in memory of SIMA’s first-ever Waterman of the Year.

The 25^th Annual Waterman’s Weekend will be held August 8-9, 2014, at The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, Calif. The weekend begins Friday, August 8, at the Monarch Beach Golf Links with the Waterman’s Classic Golf Tournament, and concludes on Saturday, August 9, with the Waterman’s Ball and Auction.

Swiss dominate as Alinghi and Realteam lead the charge ahead of the final Extreme Sailing Series™ Qingdao showdown

On a packed-eight race day at Act 3 of the Extreme Sailing Series™ in Qingdao, the battle lines were drawn between the 12 competing international Extreme 40 teams ahead of tomorrow’s final showdown on the compact stadium racecourse, which at times resulted in a few near misses, protest flags being pulled, a man overboard for SAP Extreme Sailing Team and a collision in the final race of the day between GAC Pindar and Team Extreme Qingdao, that will see the Aussie team with a night of repairs ahead. Alinghi – the team who have led the Act since race one – managed to cling onto a 10-point advantage at the close of play, but it was their fellow Swiss country men Realteam who had their strategy sorted, strengthening their hand with each race, including a win in the day’s opener, to head into tomorrow’s final showdown in China’s Olympic Sailing City in second place, to the delight of skipper Jérôme Clerc. “We started in fourth place today and we are now second so we are very happy. It shows that our strategy is working. We have stayed conservative all day and didn’t take too many risks, but at the same time have had good starts and our tactics were spot on. Tomorrow we will be happy if we manage to keep Alinghi behind us.” The defending Series champions The Wave, Muscat are just two points behind Realteam, and with up to 90 points for the taking tomorrow, and huge gusts up to 28 knots set to return, the Land Rover Extreme Sailing Series Act 3, Qingdao is set to go down to the wire.

The first four races were played out in around eight knots of wind, and executing the starting procedure well was crucial, with decisions made in the pre-start often dictating the outcome of the race. On the short start line the fleet struggled to get away cleanly, with the on-water referees dishing out starting penalties including two general recalls, before the third attempt saw nine of the 12 boat fleet red flagged. After five races, there was a change in tempo, and a building southerly breeze outside the harbour brought with it big swell, that saw the teams punching through the waves in 12 knots of breeze. One team to relish the conditions was Emirates Team New Zealand, who finished the day strongly with two back-to back-wins, leaving them trailing the defending Series champions by just one point in fourth place. 22-year old Pete Burling, who has taken the tiller from Dean Barker this week said: “We started the day a little slow, but in the last three races of the day we really got off the start-line well which is the first time all week we have really managed to do that. I think the level is really high right now, we’re slowly getting better each day, and we’re happy with the boat speed and hopefully we’ll be able to give it a good crack tomorrow. Tomorrow we’ll need to do the same as we did in those last races today – good starts off the line and consistency.”

Greg Long at Puerto Escondido • 2014 Ride of the Year Award Winner / Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards

Different day paralleled in  greatness, BWWT champ grabbing rail on his backside for a healthy dose of

Puerto Escondido,. Photo: Billabong XXL | Edwin Morales

 

Greg Long (San Clemente, California, USA) is a Ride of the Year Award Winner for this wave at Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico. Video by Mike Mortimer. A finalist in the 2014 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards on May 2. For more info see the event website at www.BillabongXXL.com

 

Second Place: Shawn Walsh (HAW)
Third Place: Grant Baker (ZAF)
Fourth Place: Shane Dorian (HAW)
Fifth Place: Billy Kemper (HAW)

 

More from the 2014 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards coming soon.

 



Tense Finale in Paradise / Antigua Sailing Week

Piet Vroon's Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens 3, Credit: Tim Wright/Photoaction.com

 

High drama and fantastic conditions rounded off the 47th edition of Antigua Sailing Week. Going into the last day, two yachts racing under CSA were undefeated, scoring seven straight bullets: Piet Vroon's Dutch Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens 3 and David Cullen's Irish J/109, Pocket Rocket were both vying for the prestigious overall prize, The Lord Nelson Trophy.

Several classes hung in the balance and the outcome of a whole week of racing was to be decided by seconds in CSA 2 & CSA 4. The last day of racing provided the windiest conditions of the week. Gusting up to 20 knots with an agitated sea state, the spray was flying off hulls on the south coast of Antigua and there was a 'Cinderella moment' for one of Antigua's veteran yacht racers.

Extreme Sailing Series / Full pressure day as the Extreme 40 fleet battle huge gusts on the Qingdao stadium racecourse

It was a full pressure day as the fleet moved into the stadium racing mode at the Land Rover Extreme Sailing Series™ in Qingdao, described by the skippers as ‘radical’, ‘full-on’, ‘unpredictable’ and gnarly’, with gusts up to 32 knots weaving their way through the surrounding skyscrapers like bullets screaming across the stadium racecourse. The racing was right on the edge, and the teams used all their strength to muscle their speed machines expertly around the track, tackling a huge wind range of over 20 knots. The experience of both Alinghi and The Wave, Muscat was evident, and the teams relished today’s big breeze as much as yesterday’s light winds, remaining first and second respectively, while one first and two second places for the Kiwis on Emirates Team New Zealand upgraded their overall position to third, ahead of tomorrow’s penultimate day’s racing.

There was plenty of hull flying, bows down and extremely close mark rounding’, with the fleet reaching top speeds of 25 knots as they tried to predict the huge wind shifts which saw the breeze go from 10 to 32 knots in a second. Before racing, Race Management made the call to split the fleet, first into groups of eight, and then groups of four, to minimize the chance of collisions on the tight race track. Leigh McMillan, skipper of The Wave, Muscat who is out to defend his title in Qingdao, commented: “We like it when the breeze is up, today was pretty radical. Gusts and big shifts is quite a handful. But we’re happy to have made it through the day with no big collisions which is great - it was pretty full on out there.”

2014 Consolidated Offshore Powerboat Racing Season Schedule - Update

A quick update to the consolidated 2014 U.S. offshore powerboat racing season with races from organizers such as Super Boat International (SBI) and Offshore Powerboat Association (OPA) and P1 Superstock USA.  Also, we cannot forget the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, where you can you see a boat like My Way run 224 mph.  

Have a race event you want listed, send it to us and we will add it to the list!

	April
Apr 11-13	SBI - Charlotte Harbor Super Boat Grand Prix	Charlotte Harbor, FL
Apr 25-27	OPA - Biloxi's Smokin' the Sound – Divisional	Biloxi, MS
Apr 26-27	P1 -  Daytona Beach, FL	Daytona Beach, FL
	May
May 2-4	OPA - Lake Hopatcong Grand Prix	Lake Hopatcong, NJ
May 16-18	SBI - 5th Annual Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix	Cocoa Beach, FL
May 17-18	P1 – Stuart Florida	Stuart, FL
	June
June 5-8	OPA – Lake Race, Lake of the Ozarks, MO NEW	Lake of the Ozarks
June 7-8	P1 – Jacksonville, FL	Jacksonville, FL
June 20-22	OPA - Atlantic City Offshore Grand Prix	Atlantic City, NJ
	July
July 4-6	SBI - 30th Annual Suncoast Super Boat Grand Prix Festival	Sarasota, FL
July 12-13	P1 – Tampa, FL	Tampa, FL
July 25-27	OPA - St Clair River Classic Offshore Powerboat Race	St Clair, MI
	August
Aug 1-3	SBI - 6th Annual Super Boat Great Lakes Grand Prix	Michigan City, IN
Aug 8-10	OPA - International Offshore Powerboat Race	Port Huron, MI
Aug 16-24	Lake of the Ozarks Shootout	Lake of the Ozarks
Aug 20-24	SBI - 11th Annual Thunder on the Gulf	Orange Beach, AL
Aug 20-24	SBI - 1st Annual Pensacola Grand Prix	Pensacola, FL
Aug 22-24	OPA - Great Race on the Sea	TBA Long Island, NY​​
Aug 23-24	P1 – Cocoa Beach, FL	Cocoa Beach, FL
	September
Sept 5-7	24th Annual New York Grand Prix – Tribute to 911	New York, NY
Sept 12-14	OPA Nationals  - Solomons Offshore Grand Prix	Solomons, MD
Sept 20-21	P1 – St Cloud, FL	St Cloud, FL
Sept 26-28	6th Annual Clearwater Super Boat National Championship	Clearwater, FL
	October
October 3-5	OPA World Championships	Ocean City, MD
	November
Nov 2-9	34th Annual Key West World Championship	Key West, FL