VOR- Auckland madness—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 14 Mar 2012 The Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) village in Auckland, New Zealand, is the place to be this week if you love fast boats and salty stories. Take, for example, the mileage measuring stick. Puma Ocean Racing set the IWC Schaffhausen Speed Record Challenge standard for leg four with a speedy 24-hour distance run of 527.8 miles. Quick, but not faster than Emirates Team New Zealand’s high-water mark of 553 miles, which they established on leg one of this edition of the race, which took the fleet from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa.

And while heady, both of these numbers fall far shy of the 596.6 miles that Ericsson 4 sent in a day during the 2008/2009 VOR, setting the current 24-hour record for a fully crewed monohull. It will be interesting to see if any of the 2011/2012-generation VO70s can best E4’s record on the Southern Ocean leg, which takes the fleet from Auckland to Itajaí, Brazil.

The other major VOR drama that’s unfolding is the race against the clock that shore teams are facing. Given that the next inshore race is Friday and that the mammoth leg to Brazil kicks off Sunday, shore crews have had precious time to make repairs. Groupama is in an especially tight spot, having damaged their bow en route from Sanya, China. Stir in some wet, dank weather (not unlike Seattle at the moment), an outside cradle—rather than indoor shed space in which to work the repair—and the job becomes tough. Get the full VOR story, inside.

In Cup news, the Challenger of Record for the 34th America’s Cup, Artemis Racing, recently tested a new wingsail design, which they mounted on an Orma 60 trimaran. While facts and details are scarce, the images that have hit the Web show a massive, multiple-element airfoil. Get the scoop, as well as news on personnel changes on various teams for the two upcoming America’s Cup World Series events that are being held in Italy, inside.

In One Design news, the Laser World Masters Championships are being sailed on Moreton Bay, in Brisbane, Australia. Some 233 sailors from around the world have gathered to enjoy some fantastic conditions and some serious pre-Olympic competition. 'I came to this event hoping for plenty of wind, I need more of that in my Olympic program and the second race today was windy at the beginning, up to 20 knots, so I was really pleased with that,' said current regatta leader, Chile’s Matias Del Solar. Racing continues on Thursday and wraps up on Saturday, so check the site regularly for updates.

Also OD-related, US Sailing has announced its 32-member 2012 Development Team. 'We are starting to see pay off from our increased emphasis on youth development in the Olympic classes,' said Dean Brenner, Chairman of the Olympic Sailing Committee. 'In the past few years the level of talent has noticeably increased in all classes targeted for the 2016 Games. With the new structure in place and increased resources, we plan to see our performance improve in all areas as we work toward future Olympic medals.' Get the names of the new Dev Team sailors, as well as their respective classes, inside.

And lastly, be sure to also check out this issue’s reports from the Clipper Around the World Race, the Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup/Cal Maritime Invitational Intercollegiate Regatta wrap-up report, and an inside look at what it takes to win the storied Newport-Bermuda Race.

May the four winds blow you safely home,