Mistrals and Flipping Cats—Sailing News from the U.S. and Beyond

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 7 Sep 2011 When it comes to jaw-on-the-deck hardware, it’s hard to beat the annual Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in Porto Cervo. Yesterday’s racing had to be cancelled due to a strong mistral wind howling through the rigging, and forecasts are calling for more of the same for the next few days, with things calming down by the weekend. 'We have a Mistral arriving from France, which is curling down the mountains in a Venturi effect between Sardinia and Corsica,' said Mike Broughton, navigator aboard Whisper. 'It keeps on pumping between the two islands, so we’ve got winds in the high-twenty/low-thirty knot [range] out there. It is on the edge and a little on the wrong side.'

Things aren’t looking much better for the next few days. 'Often you have days when the wind stays between 20-25 and it makes for tricky but very enjoyable racing,' said Nacho Postigo, the navigator aboard Open Season. 'But days like today when wind conditions are well above 25 knots makes for extreme and dangerous sailing, considering size of the boats. The difference of just three knots can be really big.' Hopefully the wind gods will relent, letting the big dogs run. Racing wraps up on Saturday, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, in Cup circles, Green Comm Racing has become the latest victim of vanishing stability and the newest member of the 'capsize club', an inevitable badge of honor that all teams will eventually receive aboard their AC45s, and probably their AC72s, as well. 'This incident didn't come as a surprise,' said Vasilij Zbogar, Green Comm’s helmsman. 'Conditions were fresh with a southwesterly breeze between 20 and 25 knots, gusting at 30 knots, and we were pushing the boat to her limits throughout the day.' Thankfully, no one was hurt and there was only minor damage to the wing. Check out the full report, as well as the video, in this issue.

Also inside, read about Emirates Team New Zealand’s trip to London in their new VO70, learn how the Canada’s Cup was won and check out the latest on the Charente-Maritime/Bahia Transat 6.50, which kicks off on September 25.

And finally, be sure to scroll through George Berkins’ image galleries from the 32nd Annual Museum of Yachting Classic Regatta. Enjoy.

May the four winds blow you safely home,