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Approaching the Finish—Sailing News from the U.S. and Beyond

Tensions are building in the double-handed, nonstop Barcelona World Race (BWR) as the leading boats are now a little more than 2,000 miles from the finishing line in Barcelona, Spain. Currently, Jean Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron, aboard Virbac-Paprec 3, are leading Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernández (Mapfre) by some 220 miles. While there's still some runway left, Fernández and Martinez are well-aware that their big-picture options are dwindling. 'We are going two hundred per cent,' said Martinez. 'Anytime we are nearer from the leader, [Virbac-Paprec 3] just moves away. We've still got some cards to play with and the first one will come most probably in the Canary Islands. If it goes well, we will face a new battle. If not, the French pair will run away once and for all. It is clear that we have to do something carefully considered, nothing crazy. We'll see if it is possible to catch them! To be honest, we are quite surprised at how fast she is going. But we hope to turn things around. We keep trying!' Check out our BWR coverage in this issue, and stay tuned for updates as the leaders approach Spain.

Sodebo leaves Brest on the start of the Round the World solo record  Yvan Zedda/Sodebo

Also offshore, the pressure is on for solo sailor Thomas Coville, onboard the maxi trimaran Sodebo. Coville has until March 28th to arrive it Ushant, France, in order to establish a new Jules Verne Trophy record—a deadline that's looking less and less feasible. Recently, Coville was forced to take a huge and unexpected hitch to the west due to trying meteorological conditions. 'When you look at the cartography you must be wondering where on earth I'm going!' said Coville. 'To the West Indies? To New York? No, I fully intend to return to Brest [France] but the weather has decided not to let me take the most direct route.' Check out this issue for more info on Coville's Jules Verne attempt.

AMERICAN solo ocean racer Brad Van Liew - Velux 5 Oceans  Ainhoa Sanchez/w-w-i.com

Meanwhile, the countdown has begun for the penultimate leg of the Velux 5 Oceans Race, which departs from Punta del Este, Uruguay at 1600 hours (local time) on Sunday, March 27. Four remaining skippers will sail the 5,700-mile 'ocean sprint' to Charleston, South Carolina. For race leader and Charleston resident Brad Van Liew, this leg is also a homecoming. 'I have a lot of incentives to get to Charleston first,' said Van Liew. 'My kids are there, my family is there and my home is there. The sooner I get there the longer I get to spend at home. Mentally that is a bit of a liability, and it will be important for me to keep my head straight and not get too excited about sailing home.' More inside.

Also inside, be sure to check out our coverage of the Melges 32 Sailing Series, the 505 Pre-Worlds, and the Congressional Cup.

May the four winds blow you safely home.

David Schmidt, US Editor Sail-World.com

Barcelona World Race - Virbac-Paprec 3 and their well-kept strategy Virbac-Paprec Sailing Team, Barcelona World Race - The strategy for Virbac-Paprec 3, leaders of the race is well-kept. During the official radio contact at midday, Loïck humorously dealt with tactical questions of organization to get out of answering directly!... [more] Share this story

All-American Offshore Team leads a new generation Kirsten Ferguson, All-American Offshore Team - In announcing the members of its 2011 sailing roster, The All-American Offshore Team (AAOT) is setting a course for a new generation of sailors to move into open ocean racing.... [more] Share this story

Charleston Race Week - America's largest regatta adds a fifth course! Charleston Race Week, Charleston Race Week – Now that the entry list topped 270 boats for this month, it became apparent that the organizers of 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week had a small problem. 'The last thing we've ever wanted to do was tell people we don't have room for them, but that's the position we found ourselves in,' explained Randy Draftz, the event's Race Director.... [more] Share this story

Yngling Class aims to keep keelboats in the Olympics International Yngling Association, International Yingling Class - Being a former Olympic Class we have a responsibility to our members and to keelboat sailors worldwide to prevent keelboat sailing being eliminated from the Olympics. As an International Class the IYA has the right to make submissions to the ISAF Council.... [more] Share this story

Congressional Cup day 1 to Bruni, Williams and Richard Rich Roberts, Congressional Cup, day 1. Ian Williams, Francesco Bruni and Mathieu Richard, all of scored 6-0 records. The racing conditions were ideal, starting before noon at five knots from the south but quickly shifting to 12 and ultimately a chilling 15 from the southwest source of Long Beach's notorious sea breeze funneling down the San Pedro Channel between Santa Catalina Island and the mainland.... [more] Share this story

America's Cup: AC45's together as a fleet on the Hauraki Gulf Ivor Wilkins, Four of the five AC45's were together as a fleet on the Hauraki Gulf today, with Emirates Team NZ remaining in the shed. This is the first time that the AC45's have been together as a fleet, two boat training is expected to start in the next couple of days, with Defender, Oracle Racing, expected to do their own thing with their two boats and the Challengers, Artemis Racing (SWE) and Emirates Team... [more] Share this story

505 Pre-Worlds 2011 - Consistency pays for Davis and Duffield Di Pearson, Consistent results have rewarded Nick Davis and Michael Duffield from Western Australia with the SAP 2011 Pre-Worlds title at Hamilton Island today, but it was a German woman's crew that stole the show, winning the only race today, sailed in light and extremely shifty winds on Catseye Bay.... [more] Share this story

America's Cup: Four AC45s flying on the Hauraki Gulf + Video America's Cup Media, The development of the new AC45 class reached another significant milestone in Auckland, New Zealand today when four of the high-performance catamarans lined up for a sailing session in the Hauraki Gulf. In a 10-15 knot breeze, the four yachts sped along at speeds reaching the mid-20 knot range, often within a couple of metres of each other. 'What we learned today is that we made the right deci... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race - Goodbye Groupama 70, hello Groupama 4 Groupama Sailing Team, The past few weeks have seen significant development within Groupama Sailing Team with the team no longer being allowed to sail on its training boat Groupama 70 because, from 15 March onwards, those competing in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 must sail aboard the boat on which they'll be taking the start.... [more] Share this story

Sodebo forced to make massive detour Kate Jennings translation, Having set off to tackle the solo round the world record some 52 days ago, 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... [more] Share this story

Oracle Racing News - 2 - covering the buildup in Auckland and SFO Oracle Racing, Oracle Racing's newsletter for 21 March 2011 covering the buildup in Auckland and developments in San Francisco and more.... [more] Share this story

Melges 32 Sailing Series overall leader Samba Pa Ti International Melges 32 Class Association, Melges 32 Sailing Series - Mascalzone Latino takes the win in the first event of the four part series, hosted by the Circolo Canottieri Napoli. John Kilroy's Samba Pa Ti, leads the overall series.... [more] Share this story

Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia Mapfre record numbers Neus Jordi, Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia Mapfre - Over 600 teams from 53 nations have already registered for the Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia Mapfre, first European event of the ISAF Sailing World Cup for Olympic and Paralympic events to be held in Palma de Majorca from second to 9th April.... [more] Share this story

Barcelona World Race 2011 Hugo Boss back on track Barcelona World Race, Barcelona World Race 2011 may have conclusively proved, for Hugo Boss co-skippers Wouter Verbraak (NED) and Andy Meiklejohn (NZL), that the best laid plans can indeed go awry. Having once again adapted to their changing circumstances they are today powering north-east, having resumed sailing at 1814hrs (UTC) yesterday evening... [more] Share this story

Velux 5 Oceans clock ticks down to to Charleston race start Velux 5 Oceans, Velux 5 Oceans - With less than a week to go until the 5,700-mile sprint to Charleston in the US, excitement and tension is starting to mount in the Uruguayan port of Punta del Este.... [more] Share this story

SAP 2011 505 Pre-Worlds day 1 mixed results Di Pearson, Stumping up with a solid performance on Day 1 of the SAP 2011 505 Pre-Worlds at Hamilton Island appeared to be a prerequisite to getting a psychological advantage for the upcoming SAP World Championship, starting from 1300 hours on Saturday local time at Queensland's beautiful resort island in Australia... [more] Share this story

Sydney Yachts impress with GTS 43 Sydney Yachts, The GTS 43 from Sydney Yachts, the new generation of racer cruiser has arrived. A performance bred design with a quality functional interior. Whether it be in a Hobart race or a Sunday afternoon at anchor with the family the new GTS 43 from Sydney Yachts impresses in all qualities.... [more] Share this story

Congressional Cup welcomes world's best match racers Rich Roberts, Congressional Cup - A lovely morning buffet of lightning, thunder, rain and sunshine is what welcomed some of the world's best sailors to the Long Beach Yacht Club's 47th Congressional Cup on Monday.... [more] Share this story

BVI Spring Regatta auction Linda Phillips, BVI Spring Regatta - Is sailing the name of your game? If so, you've likely seen Mount Gay's iconic, red regatta hats. Since 1987, these distinctive baseball caps have come to represent far more than just a stylish sunshade.... [more] Share this story

Melges 32 Sailing Series Napoli images by Borlenghi and Trombetta Sail-World.com, Melges 32 Sailing Series Napoli images from master photographer Carlo Borlenghi and Guido Trombetta.... [more] Share this story

Navtec's new anti torsion stay Emma White, Navtec - As we know, Navtec is the rigging solution of Lewmar Marine; Navtec has now produced a small-size, anti-torsional stay that is ideal for use with genoas and flying sails on yachts from around 40 foot and above, the new stay is sized at a seven ton break load.... [more] Share this story

Velux 5 Oceans stage regatta to support Red Cross Disaster Fund Velux 5 Oceans, Velux 5 Oceans saw a great deal of healthy rivalries on the water in Punta del Este as the charity regatta to raise money for the Red Cross Disaster Fund in support of New Zealand and Japan proceeded.... [more] Share this story

Windsurfing for 2016 voting Rory Ramsden, Windsurfing has launched its campaign to retain two sets of medals - men and women - in the Olympic sailing events ISAF will select to take part in the 2016 Olympic Sailing Regatta in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil... [more] Share this story

Announcing the 2011 Canadian Sailing Team Canadian Yachting Association, The Canadian Yachting Association is proud to announce the members of the 2011 Canadian Sailing Team. The team was established based on 2010 performance criteria. CYA also established a new national team structure that better defines a winning culture and more clearly delineates the way support is tailored to our sailors at various levels of development and international performance.... [more] Share this story

Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race official timekeeper named Zoe Williamson, The Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race will be sponsored by the Rotary Aquaspeed brand. As a brand that makes an aspiration into a reality, Rotary Aquaspeed will be acting as the Official Timekeeper for the duration of this year's challenge of a lifetime.... [more] Share this story

Barcelona World Race leaders distancing themselves Barcelona World Race, Barcelona World Race leader Virbac-Paprec 3 have put another 20 miles between themselves and Mapfre over nine hours last night. Renault Z.E. in third have around 500 miles of southern hemisphere sailing left.... [more] Share this story

IFDS Blind Match Racing day 1 David Staley, IFDS Blind Match Racing and on the first day of the Homerus Blind Match RacingChampionshop at the Royal Perth Yacht Club, Great Britain's Vicki Sheen has won each of her four matches.... [more] Share this story

The California Campaign Sailing O Canada Resolve Films, This video series will explore the life of sailors competing in a racing campaign in California. The team, led by International sailing star skipper Richard Clarke, compete in The Islands Race, The Border Run and The Coastal Cup as they prepare for The Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. They sail the rugged, powerful and fast Open 60 sailboat O Canada.... [more] Share this story

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