Rolex Fastnet Won by Amateur Frenchman COWES, United Kingdom (August 12th, 2005) – One of the smallest yachts in the fleet, a Nicholson 33, has won the Rolex Fastnet Race on handicap. Jean-Yves Chateau and his six crew sailed Iromiguy across the line just after noon local time on August 12th after more than five days at sea. For a race traditionally dominated by big boats, Iromiguy’s victory is a dream come true, proof that just occasionally the Corinthian weekend enthusiast can prevail in an unremarkable boat. What is remarkable is that you have to go back 30 years, to 1975, for the last time that a yacht less than 40 feet long won this offshore classic. And the boat that won it then was Golden Delicious, a Nicholson 33, the very same design as Iromiguy. The IRC handicap leaderboard is dominated by the smallest boats in the fleet from Class IRC 3, and also by overseas entries. After Iromiguy comes Cavatina, an Eric Lisson’s Granada 38 from Ireland, and in third is Exile, a French X-312 owned by Nicholas de la Fourniere. For a while it looked as though the 98-foot ICAP Maximus would win the race on IRC handicap, but she still takes home the trophy for line honours and Class Super Zero, where she beat the TP52 Patches by over four hours on handicap. In Class Zero, Robert Boulter’s Mills 37, Thunder 2, beat Steven Blom’s Grand Soleil 45 Satori by an hour and a half. Roger Dunstan’s Prima 38 Bounty Hunter won IRC 1, and the Harry Heijst’s Sparkman & Stephens 41 Winsome won IRC 2. Sailingworld.com Exclusive Interview With Andy Horton NEWPORT, R.I. (August 15th, 2005) – With a few weeks off from his duties with Luna Rossa Challenge, Andy Horton tried to get away from sailing. So the America’s Cup rookie spent a good deal of his vacation at his parents’ home in northern Vermont before making a brief stop at his adopted hometown of Newport, R.I. But it’s hard to be in Newport and not sail. Last Thursday evening, Horton found himself at the helm of a J/24. The night didn’t quite go as planned, especially the OCS in the second race. But the primary goal was hoist a few beers with some close friends and in that sense, he said with a laugh, it was a success. Horton has plenty of more serious races in the near future. He flies back to Spain tomorrow to continue Luna Rossa’s preparations for Acts VI and VII in Malmo, Sweden, at the end of this month. Q: Was the decision to sign with Luna Rossa a difficult one? A: It was pretty difficult. I really want to keep as my priority my Star sailing, or at least as a high priority. So I made sure that I put in there that I get a bunch of time to sail my Star. Once that happened it was a no-brainer. That was the big thing for me, to make sure I didn’t totally get locked down. Q: You’ve now been with the program for a few months. Is there a certain amount of professional development that goes on in Cup racing that you can’t find elsewhere in the sport? A: Any time you go sailing with a boat where everyone is a professional you learn from other people and you don’t have to worry about covering other positions as often. You can just really focus on your job. If you sail Farr 40s you’re trying to help other people and you’re in a bit of a coaching situation and you’re trying to do and learn your job as well. When you with a group of people that are that good, it makes it easy to focus on your job. You can really just look at your game and pinpoint any weaknesses. Q: Speaking of “your game,” what is your role with the team? A: I was hired as a guy up the mast, a back-of-the-boat type of person. I’ve been doing that and doing tactics. In the last two regattas I was tactician for a few of the match races and then the last two days of the fleet racing and then I was weather guy for one day in the match racing. It’s a cool team because there aren’t people who are 100 percent stuck in their roles. We rotate around. Charlie [McKee] is the tactician and he was up the mast doing weather for me one day. Q: Was it intimidating to call tactics in your first America’s Cup Class regatta? They didn’t bother to break you in softly. A: It was a bit interesting. There’s just a lot in it and you just have to be yourself. The first day, I looking at it as I was going out on the water, just the infrastructure, the money, and the time and the energy that are focused on that one thing. There’s a lot to it. But if you start thinking about all that, you’ll never perform as well as you can. Q: Is there a tendency with all that pressure to overcomplicate things? A: I’m trying not to let that happen. You can overcomplicate it, but if you miss the first shift or a big puff, the race is over. Q: Luna Rossa didn’t move up the pecking order in the match racing in Act IV in June. But the win in Act V must’ve been a shot in the arm for the team. What’s the mood among the crew as you close in on Act VI? A: We’re pretty psyched, its great to be racing against the other teams. We’ve been working on the boat and on the equipment and on our sailing for a while now. But perhaps we didn’t start with the best equipment-an even tool with other people-from the last Cup. We had some tough races in the last regatta and we didn’t beat any of the big teams in the match racing. Then we got down to the fleet racing and we had a great regatta. We know we can do it and we’re looking to take some scalps in the next couple of regattas up in Sweden. We’re much further along than we were in Valencia. That’s the feeling, anyway. Q: Have you been keeping track of the latest Star results? The Europeans just finished over the weekend. A: I haven’t looked. Who won? I’ve been trying not to look or think about sailing for two weeks. You kind of pick and choose your time to think about things. You just need time away from it. Q: So what are your future plans with the Star? When will you be sailing that again? A: This winter and hopefully next winter and then we’ll do a couple of regattas next year in Europe and the Worlds next year in San Fran. I have some time this fall and this winter and we’re going to try to get a lot of time in our boat then. Worst case we’re done in July 2007 and you’ve got a couple of months before the Trials. Farr Yacht Design Announces Formation of Farr Yacht Sales, LLC ANNAPLOLIS, Md. (August 15th, 2005) – Farr Yacht Design announced the formation of a new company – Farr Yacht Sales, LLC. – to focus on the sales, marketing and brokerage of performance racing and cruising yachts. This new entity will seek to expand contacts with existing and new customers, while Farr Yacht Design can remain focused on the design and engineering of performance yachts. Heading up the brokerage will be Bill O’Malley, a long time member of the performance sailing industry. “Bill brings 22 years of race boat experience as a leading member of sail making teams,” said Russ Bowler, President of Farr Yacht Design. “Bill will be a valuable asset to our operation and helpful adviser to clients participating in the sport.” www.farryachtsales.com Bank Wins First Swedish Match Tour Event SKOVSHOVED, Denmark (Aug. 14, 2005) — To the delight of the home crowd, local hero Jesper Bank won his first career Swedish Match Tour event when he captured the 9th annual Danish Open. Bank and crew Henrik Blaksjaer, Thomas Jacobsen, Mike Mottl and Jan Schoepe of United Internet Team Germany, defeated Gavin Brady (NZL), BMW Oracle Racing, to win the championship, but they didn’t do it in the final. Bank relied on the fortune of his undefeated first day and a head-to-head victory over Brady in Flight 1, Match 3 last Thursday to secure the championship. The first to 3 points series ended in a 2-2 tie when the fifth and final flight was abandoned due to lack of wind and the 4:00 p.m. time limit. Bank’s first win on the Swedish Match Tour earned him DKK DKK112,500 (approximately $18,600) of the DKK375,000 (approx. $62,000) prize purse. www.swedishmatchtour.com -Danish Open Final Standings 1. Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany, 13-7, (approx. $18,600) 2. Gavin Brady (NZL) BMW Oracle Racing, 12-8, (approx. $12,400) 3. Jochen Schuemann (GER) Alinghi, 13-6, (approx. $9,300) 4. Dean Barker (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand, 11-8, (approx. $7,400) 5. Henrik Jensen (DEN) Team Jensen, 9-4, (approx. $5,500) 6. Lars Nordbjaerg (DEN) Team Nordbjaerg, 7-6, (approx. $3,700) 7. Jesper Radich (DEN) Desafio Español, 6-7, (approx. $2,700) 8. Thierry Peponnet (FRA) K-Challenge, 6-7, (approx. $2,100) 9. Philippe Presti (FRA) Luna Rossa Challenge, 4-7 10. Chris Law (GBR) Team Shosholoza, 4-7 11. Pierre Mas (FRA) China Team, 2-9 12. Flavio Favini (ITA) Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia, 0-11 – Swedish Match Tour Leaderboard (After 2 of 9 stages) 1. Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi, 25 points T. Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany, 25 points 3. Ben Ainslie (GBR) Emirates Team New Zealand, 20 points T. Gavin Brady (NZL) BMW Oracle Racing, 20 points 5. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 15 points T. Jochen Schuemann (GER) Alinghi, 15 points 7. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) Gram-Hansen Racing, 12 points T. Dean Barker (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand, 12 points Ainslie Wins Finn Europeans KALMAR, Sweden (August 14th, 2005 ) – With 5 wins and a total score of 8 points, Ben Ainslie is adding one more Finn trophy to his extensive collection. Dan Slater who proved to be a fast improver after only six months in the Finn class took second. Gasper Vincec (SLO) taking the third place on the podium. The Junior championship has been dominated by sailors new to the class. Ivan Kljokovic Gaspic from Split, Croatia is the Junior European Champion after a few months in the boat. Zach Railey (USA) made his first international debut by taking second. 1 Ben Ainslie 8 2 Dan Slater 33 3 Gasper Vincec 35 4 Marin Misura 36 5 Papathanasiou Emilios 37 6 Rafael Trujillo 43 7 Jonas Høgh-Christensen 47 8 Olexiy Borysov 60 9 Daniel Birgmark 69 10 Waclaw Szukiel 73 http://www.eurofinn2005.org/eng/default.asp Ronstan Announces New GM and HQ ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (August 1st, 2005) – Ronstan International has made two major moves in the company. Ronstan has appointed Scot West as its new General Manager President of US operations. West moves to Ronstan after recently vacating the position of Executive Director of Sail America, the trade association for sailing in the US. West brings over 12 years of marine sales, marketing, and management experience to the post at Ronstan. In addition to hiring West, the company also announced that it will be relocating its Ronstan US headquarters office from St Petersburg, FL to Portsmouth, RI. The move is a tactical shift to better position the company closer to more of their sailing industry clients. The company and will maintain its sales offices in Alameda, CA and St Petersburg, FL. www.ronstan.com Acura to Sponsor Key West and Race Week KEY WEST, Fla. (August 11, 2005) – Premiere Racing today announced that Acura, the luxury division of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., will be the title sponsor for both Key West and Miami Race Weeks. Acura extended its naming rights sponsorship of Miami Race Week (formerly SORC) and added Key West Race Week, to its portfolio. 2006 will be an extraordinary year for both Premiere Racing events with Nautor’s Swan choosing Key West for their Swan 45 Gold Cup and the high profile Transpac 52 class hosting their inaugural Global Championship in Miami. Acura Key West 2006, now in its 19th year, will take place from January 16 to 20. Over 300 racing programs from across the US and all points of the globe compete there every year. Projections for Acura Miami Race Week 2006 (Mar 9-12) point to continued growth with up to 200 boats racing on the Biscayne Bay and ocean venues. US SAILING NEWS -Roble Wins U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship NEWPORT HARBOR, Calif. (August 8th, 2005) – In the last few years, 16-year-old Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.) has quietly been making a name for herself in the sailing world, making it onto the U.S. Sailing Team earlier this year as one of the youngest team members. Last Friday, she topped off what has been a successful year thus far with a convincing win at US SAILING’s U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship, a.k.a the Leiter Trophy, winning the ten-race event with six bullets and ten points total (two discards). For the full story, final results, and photos from the event, please visit the event website at -U.S. Team Race Championship Applications (August 10th, 2005) – Applications for the 2005 U.S. Team Racing Championship to be held at Larchmont Yacht Club, Larchmont, NY will be open from August 5 to 19, 2005. Interested teams can apply online at -U.S. Junior Championships NEWPORT HARBOR, Calif. (August 12th, 2005) – In the Singlehanded series, Cameron Cullman from American YC did what he had to do by winning the first race of the final day and pushing the previous night’s leader, Thomas Barrows from Pleon YC, deep into the fleet in the last race to win the Smythe Trophy. Michael Easton from Portland (ME) YC came in third. In the Doublehanded Championship for the Bemis Trophy, Cole Hatton and Blair Belling from the host Newport Harbor YC finished with second and third place finishes to win the series while the former leaders faltered. Also moving up significantly, Taylor Canfield and Nathan Rosenberg from St. Thomas (VI) YC came in second for the series and Joshua Leighton and Aaron Dombrand-Lo from San Francisco YC came in third. Annapolis Yacht Club’s team of Ted Hale, skipper, Evan Aras, middle, and Joe Morris, foredeck, was crowned the 2005 U.S. Junior Triplehanded Champions and the crew was awarded US SAILING Gold Medals and received the Sears Cup which was first won in 1921. Full Results: Singlehanded – Doublehanded – Triplehanded – -US SAILING’s One-Design Symposium: Nov. 19th to 20th In Annapolis, Md. ANNAPOLIS, Md. (August 12th, 2005) – Are you concerned about the future of one-design sailing? Would you like to see more boats on the one-design starting lines? US SAILING’s 2005 One-Design Sailing Symposium, scheduled for Nov. 19-20, 2005 in Annapolis, will address these issues and many more. The two-day event will feature more than 25 presenters on topics ranging from web development to fleet building. Sailing commentator Gary Jobson tops the list with the featured presentation on Saturday night at Annapolis Yacht Club. You can now register online for the event. For details on the event and registration, please go to http://www.ussailing.org/odcc/2005_ODSS.htm. -U.S. Sailing Team Members Compete in Championships in Europe and at Home Here’s a quick overview of European and U.S. Championships with U.S. sailors competing: Two US sailors competed at the Laser European Championships in Cartegena, Spain, from August 4 to 12. Andrew Campbell finished 17th and Emery Wager finished 69th. Two US sailors participated in the Laser Radial Europeans from August 5 to 12 in Split, Croatia. Paige Railey won the gold and Anna Tunnicliffe placed 8th. http://www.euroradial2005.com There were four US teams at the Tornado Europeans from August 6 to 13 in Vastervik, Swede. John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree placed 6th, Robbie Daniel/Mike Hoey placed 33rd, Michael Grandfield/Mike Kuschner placed 50th, and Don Thinschmidt/Drew Wierda placed 53rd. http://www.multihullsweden.com/index.asp Two teams raced in the Star Europeans from August 5 to 12 in Varberg, Sweden. US sailors Mark Mendelblatt/Mark Strube finished 4th and George Szabo/Christian Finnsgard finished 14th. http://www.vss.org.se/em/index.htm The 470 Nationals were held from August 8 to 10 in Santa Cruz, CA. Anderson-Mitterling/Hughes placed 3rd, McNay/Biehl finished 5th, Maxwell/Manard finished 6th, Brown/A. Kinsolving finished 10th, Tulloch/Maxam placed 11th, Carapiet/Besse placed 14th. http://www.scyc.org 49er Europeans took place August 8 to 14 in Vallensbaek, Denmark. US sailors participating were Morgan Larson/Pete Spaulding, who finished 2nd, Dalton Bergan/Zack Maxam, who were eliminated in the gold fleet semifinals with a 21st, and Ty Reed/Bora Gulari, who were eliminated in the silver fleet semifinals with a 14th. http://www.vallensbaek-sejlklub.dk/VSK2/artikel.asp?id=36&style=EM2005 -U.S. Sailing Team members Get Third in Team Vote (Aug. 12, 2005) – The U.S. Olympic Committee voted the U.S. Women’s Sailing Team members as the third finsher in the Team of the Month honor. Sally Barkow (Chenequa, Wis.), Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) and Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.). The trio was crowned world champion after winning the Yngling Women’s World Championship. The Americans defeated 33 boats to take the title, including last year’s world champion, Denmark’s Trine Palludan, and 2004 Olympic silver medalist Surlana Taran of the Ukraine. Competition Begins Today for the 2005 U.S. Summer World University Games IZMIR, Turkey (August 15, 2005) – The United States will be represented by a total of four sailors at the 2005 Summer World University Games. Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif./Georgetown University) and Brendan Fahey (Kingston, Wash./University of Washington) will compete in the Laser and Anna Tunnicliffe (Norfolk, Va./Old Dominion University) and Jennifer Gervais (Charleston, S.C./St. Mary’s College of Maryland) in the Laser Radial. The team is coached by Gary Bodie (Hampton, Va.), the Head Coach of the US Sailing Team and US SAILING’s High Performance Director. 2005 marks the second time that sailing is part of the Summer World University Games program since FISU organized the first Games in 1959. US sailors won a bronze medal at the 1999 Summer World University Games when they were held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Lightning North Americans SHEBOYGAN, W.I. (August 12th, 2005) – Top Finishers Burridge,Matt 13 Fastiggi,Bill 34 Swanson,Jody 35 Starck,David 39 Wake,Todd 40 http://www.2005lightningnas.org/NAs_News.htm
