America's Cup, VOR in Newport, Sailing news from Canada and beyond

by David Schmidt & Guy Nowell, Sail-World on 8 May 2015 The Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) was commanding international headlines last as the VOR fleet started arriving in Newport, Rhode Island late last Wednesday evening, led first across the finishing line by Dongfeng Race Team, followed by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Team Brunel. Hometown favorites Team Alvimedica, led by skippers Charlie Enright and watch captain Mark Towill, finished in fifth place, and were sandwiched by Mapfre (fourth place) and Team SCA (sixth place).

Impressively, Dongfeng Race Team’s leg win was anything but assured: After 5,010 miles of ocean racing, they finished within three minutes and twenty-five seconds of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR). “We were within a couple of lengths of getting over them at Block Island,” said Ian Walker (GBR), ADOR’s skipper, “literally three or four boat lengths from rolling them-but they held on and dug deep. Very well deserved win.”

For Dongfeng Race Team, this leg victory represented a much bigger win, given the fact that they snapped their mast some 200 miles to the west of Cape Horn on Leg Five, sparking an epic motor-boat delivery and a down-to-the-wire pit stop in Itajai, Brazil prior to the leg’s start. Moreover, the team broke the fresh watermaker just two days into the leg, forcing the team to hand-pump their potable water until they were able to fix the broken desalinator without having to seek shore-side assistance and being forced to take a mandatory 12-hour pit stop (VOR rules).

“For this leg, the goal was to be ready in Itajaí and the (shore) crew did a fantastic job. I’d like to give them the victory,” said Charles Caudrelier (FRA), the team’s skipper. “I’m very proud of them and very happy to take this first place. They worked very hard to get this boat ready. I’m really, really happy.”

For Enright and his Team Alvimedica crewmates, the arrival was marked by a huge reception of family, friends and fans who took to the water to see the team cross the finishing line. “It’s pretty humbling to see all these guys out here at such an obscure hour in no wind for such a long period of time,' said Enright. 'Obviously, not the result we were looking for by any means, but it’s always good to be home.”

Still, Enright is anything but deterred. “We’ve learned a ton,” continued Enright. “We’ve been behind since day one with not having experience from previous races, but we’ve learned a lot about the boats, how to sail them, boat speed stuff, tactical stuff, comms stuff. Every day we are learning – as is everybody.”

Get the full VOR report, inside this issue, and if you live anywhere close to Newport, don’t miss the opportunity to experience this great event. Sail-World's Greg Nicol and Guy Perrin will heading down to Newpor from Toronto later this week.

Meanwhile, in America’s Cup news, top international sailing scribe Stuart Alexander speculates that Louis Vuitton may continue their sponsorship of the Challenger Selection Series. “The Louis Vuitton Cup for 30 years was part of the prize for winning the challenger elimination series and the sole right to line up against the holder,” writes Alexander. “But relations between the two sides deteriorated ahead of the 2007 series in Valencia – the LV Cup had almost become bigger than the main event.”

“Now the old partnership may be renewed for the whole of the warm-up, the America’s Cup World Series, three regattas in 2015 and still being formulated for 2016, and the Cup challenger finals, due to be staged in Bermuda in 2017,” continues Alexander. “The first of the ACWS regattas leading up to 2017 is to be staged in Portsmouth in July.”

Get the full AC scoop, inside.

Also Cup-related, don’t miss the news about the plan to return 12-Meter racing to San Francisco Bay with a $500,000 purse and an enforced nationality clause. 'This is an opportunity to do something for the sport and the former cup community,' said Tom Ehman, vice commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club and the organizer of the new Golden Gate Yacht Racing Challenge. 'There's a crying need in the world of yacht racing for such an event, especially in monohulls and especially in a lot of breeze. We're seeing that because of what's happening or not happening in other parts of the sport and in other parts of the world.” More, inside.

And in Olympic sailing circles, the second leg of the Eurosaf Champions Sailing Cup (aka the Garda Trentino Olympic Week), sailed last week inis taking place on Lake Garda, Italy (May 6-10), offering high-level One Design racing for 2016 Olympic hopefuls. For the Canadian Sailing Team the focus will be on Weymouth from June 10-15 when another top ten performance from Sail Canada's Sailors of the Month Nicola Girke and Luke Ramsay, as they advance impressively in the Nacra 17 class.

Also inside, get the latest news from the World Match Racing Tour, the Virtual Sailing World Championship and the 2015 PWA World Tour, as well as interviews with Knut Frostad, CEO of the VOR, and offshore legend Loick Peyron.

And finally, for anyone who could use a shot of adrenaline, don’t miss the great video gallery from this year’s Antigua Sailing Week. Enjoy!

A guest piece from Guy Nowell, Sail-World's Asian Editor, Guy calls a spade a spade.

Here is an extract from his latest editorial

'Don’t we all get tired of listen to PR and Marketing drivel? Here’s the latest piece of nonsense, concerning Bremont’s appointment as 'Official Timing Partner of the America’s Cup and Oracle Team USA'. There’s plenty of fluff about 'core values of precision, reliability and durability' in the press release, but the real purler is the quote put into Jimmy Spithill’s mouth. 'Everything is down to the split second now with the boats,' he is reported as saying. 'Timing is the number one key piece of information for starting and manoeuvres, so it is particularly important that we have partnered up with Bremont. This is a company that has a lot of experience in aviation, where timing is everything too, so ultimately I see this partnership as a competitive advantage.' Oh really?

'I have a friend who sports a solid gold Rolex Yachtmaster, but can’t explain to me how the ‘race start timer’ function works. “I use a digital watch when we are racing,” he says. That’s the point. I don’t know any sailor who doesn’t use an electronic digital watch, and the bigger the numbers the better. Bremont, to the best of my knowledge (and I apologise if I am wrong) make exceptionally beautiful mechanical analogue watches. So Jimmy, here is your competitive advantage - you may start when the big hand is pointing at the 12…

We laughed a lot, sorry Jimmy, but we trust you will see the funny side too

May the four winds blow you safely home,