Spring, Clipper, Laser Radials—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 22 Apr 2016 As spring’s march across North America becomes more pronounced, American and Canadian sailors are reacting to the longer days, the warmer temperatures and the greening forests by doing what we do best: Racing sailboats.

Here in Seattle, we have been actively celebrating spring’s onset with our local Puget Sound racing series, as well as with the arrival of the Clipper Round the World Race fleet, which started arriving in the Emerald City last week after a marathon leg from Qingdao, China.

While several of the Clipper boats sustained broken bowsprits and other various bits, word on the docks is that Da Nang Vietnam sustained serious damage after taking a knockdown on Day 22 that forced their retirement from the leg.

The good news for Clipper boats seeking to tend to their various battle wounds is that Seattle-and nearby Anacortes-have some of the best boatbuilders in the country (you might remember that BMW/Oracle’s 90-foot trimaran, which was used to contest AC33, was built here in the Pacific Northwest). The less sterling news is that next Thursday, April 28, marks the start of the next leg, which will take the fleet from Seattle to Panama, meaning that time is limited.

While there’s an excellent chance that local boatwrights-and the Clipper’s own repair team-have been burning the candle at both ends (likely with metaphorical blowtorches), the Clipper sailors have been enjoying some fine spring weather and the chance to explore a new city.

The race has extended invitations to the local media to step aboard one of the boats for a media sailing day this coming Sunday (April 24), so stay tuned for more Clipper news, as it unfurls.

Speaking of the Pacific Northwest, I recently caught up with Ryan Breymaier, the super fast solo and shorthanded skipper, to learn more about his work with John Sangmeister’s Tritium Racing program and their plans to break some longstanding West Coast records aboard their heavily modified ORMA 73 trimaran.

The team has three objectives for their year, namely the Newport to Ensenada Race (April 22 to 24), the Swiftsure International Yacht Race (May 26-30), and the ambitious Race to Alaska (June 23). While we will soon get to see the team’s results in this weekend’s Newport to Ensenada Race, the other two races, which straddle American and Canadian waters, require some patience.

Given that Tritium Racing will be the fastest sailboat to have graced Pacific Northwest waters since BMW/Oracle’s 90 footer was packed off to Spain for the 33rd America’s Cup (February of 2010), it’s fair to say that there’s more than a bit of local anticipation!

Looking beyond the Pacific Northwest, news recently broke that Paige Railey earned a proud Silver medal at the Laser Radial Worlds (April 12-20), which just wrapped up off of Riviera Nayarit, Mexico. Railey will represent the USA at this summer’s Rio 2016 Olympics; she also represented the Stars and Stripes at the London 2012 Olympics.

This recent medal marked Railey’s fifth trip to the podium following a Laser Radial Worlds, and while the talented young Floridian still needs to train hard for Rio, this great result certainly bodes well for her upcoming Olympic campaign.

And from the East Coast, word has arrived that four additional Class 40 teams will be joining the 2016 Atlantic Cup, which begins racing on May 26. This brings the total fleet count up to twelve boats for this three-stage event, with entrants coming from the USA, France, Spain, Sweden, Canada and Great Britain. Learn more about these new teams, inside this issue.

May the four winds blow you safely home,