VOR news, match racing—Sailing news from North America and beyond

by David Schmidt, Sail-World on 17 Jun 2015 For fans of offshore racing, these are Halycon days, with the 2014/2015 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race is nearing its completion as the fleet races from Lorient, France to Gothenburg, Sweden, by way of a 24-hour stopover in The Hague. While this stopover is a bit unconventional in a race that typically goes weeks outside of the sight of land, it provides fans and sailors alike the chance to interact, while also adding an element of competitive risk.

hile there are no points for the first arrivals in The Hague, boats are released from their 24-hour stopover in the order in which they arrive (finishing-line deltas used to determine the exact time that each team is allowed to continue sailing), thus turning the sprint to The Hague into a race within a race.

As of this writing, Team Alvimedica-fresh on the heels of their proud in-port win on Sunday-were leading the hunt, followed by Mapfre and Team Brunel. According to reports, inside this issue, teams have been bucking strong currents that have been robbing the fleet of boatspeed.

Team SCA boldly opted for an inside track at the leg’s first tidal gate, but they got stuck in a windless hole off of Pointe du Raz. After three tries, the magenta-colored VO65 punched through the current and tapped into a fresh breeze.

“We approached the area with a few knots of boat speed,” wrote Team SCA’s onboard reporter, Anna-Lena Elled (SWE). “Would it be enough to take us past? The [current] got stronger and stronger the closer we got.”

“When we arrived, it looked like the water was boiling under us,” continued Elled. “The boat started to move in various directions as the wind was weak, and we started to drift sideways. We looked like we were not going to make it.”

Fortunately for Team SCA, Mother Nature cooperated and granted the team safe passage after a couple of attempts but-as of this writing-they are currently sitting in fourth place, astern of Dongfeng Race Team and ahead of Brunel, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Team Vestas Wind.

While the current might have been rough for Team SCA, they were by no means alone in their misery. “We’ve been slammed, spun, knocked over and pushed backwards, but never before has it felt like there’s a monster beneath the waves tugging the hull whichever way it wants,” wrote Matt Knighton (USA), onboard reporter for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, who are currently topping the race’s overall leaderboard and who are expected to win overall honors in this edition of the VOR. “The currents grab our fins and shake the boat with no regularity.”

Still, with some 859 nautical miles remaining (again, at the time of this writing) out of the leg’s total 960 nautical miles, there’s still plenty of opportunity for on-the-water drama, so stay tuned to the website for the latest news, as it unfurls.

Meanwhile back at home - The McLaughlin name is a staple in the Canadian sailing world with generations of success dating back to the 1940's. This year is no exception with two generations competing in separate boats at the 2015 Pan Am Games. A good news story indeed for the Canadian sailing scene.

This week marks the start of the U.S. Youth Match Racing Championship (June 19-21), which is being hosted by the Balboa Yacht Club in Corona del Mar, California. The Rose Cup, as it is also called, started in 2010 as an invitational event that was designed to bolster match-racing skills amongst U.S. sailors, and it has grown into a prestigious youth-level regatta.

“We could not be more excited to finally have a true youth match racing national championship in the U.S.,” said Dave Perry, US Sailing Match Racing Committee Chair and four-time U.S. Match Racing Champion. “It will be quite an honor for the team who wins. Match racing is an exciting discipline in our sport, and we want to encourage the 16 to 20 year old group to get involved and be proficient at match racing, as this is an excellent bridge to higher levels of sailing.”

Also inside, get the latest news from the Marion to Bermuda Race, the J/111 Worlds, the Extreme Sailing Series and the Rolex Big Boat Series.

May the four winds blow you safely home,