Plenty wins the Farr 40 Pre-Worlds
Porto Cervo, July 11, 2017. Today there were three hard fought races in southwesterly breezes between 12 and 15 knots. It was the final day of two days of racing in the waters off Porto Cervo in the Rolex Farr…
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Rain fails to dampen spirits on Day Three of Panerai British Classic Week
11 July 2017 – Heavy rain and strong winds were the order of day three at Panerai British Classic Week in Cowes, but nothing can keep a good classic yacht crew down and spirits were high despite the lousy weather….
RIP Graeme “Frizzle” Freeman
Graeme Freeman, known in the sailing world as “Frizzle”, has died in Hobart after battling pancreatic cancer. He was one of Australia’s most respected offshore sailors, boat maintenance professional and yacht-building project manager through local and overseas campaigns including three…
Entries now open for Multihull Solutions Australian cruising rallies
Entries are now flowing in for Multihull Solutions’ cruising rallies in late 2017 with the events shaping up to become popular fixtures on the annual multihull calendar. Relaxed cruising is the primary focus of these events, which give participants the…
Dramatic drop in number of containers lost at sea
According to the website Maritime Executive, the World Shipping Council (WSC) estimates that the average number of containers lost each year has dropped since 2014 by 48 percent. Based on the most recent survey results, an average of 568 containers…
470 World Championship 2017 – light winds, wide open
The 2017 470 World Championship is being sailed on the Bay of Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, and after the five race qualifying series, the Australian dual Olympic 470 medalist Mat Belcher says this regatta is wide open. The reason? The…
Multihull and Monohull records both fall in 2017 Transpac
HONOLULU, HI – Due to wind conditions veteran navigator Stan Honey described as a “surprisingly strong breeze,” both the multihull and the monohull first-to-finish race records have fallen in the 2017 Transpac. Over a 2225-mile course that starts from Pt…
Francis Joyon beats his own solo Atlantic record
French sailor Francis Joyon crossed the longitude of the Lizard at 0137 hrs UTC this morning (Wednesday 12th July 2017). This marks the finish line for the North Atlantic crossing from Ambrose Light off New-York. With a race time…
Quantum Sails acquires Hood Sailmakers
Traverse City, MI—Quantum Sails today announced that it has completed an agreement with Hood Sailmakers in Newport, RI to acquire the company’s sailmaking rights and manufacturing assets. The acquisition, which includes occupancy of Hood’s world headquarters in RI, will increase…
2018 Australian Yachting Championship heads to Sandringham next January
The Australian Yachting Championship returns to Victoria next year and will be hosted by Sandringham Yacht Club from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 January 2018. Racing will be held across four keelboat divisions and one Multihull division with up to…
Busy weekend for AMSA's Coral Knight as solo yachtsman assisted
It was a busy weekend for AMSA's Coral Knight, assisting in two rescues. The first call out happened on Saturday night when the ship assisted a solo yachtsman with mechanical trouble off the coast of Cape Melville National Park. The…
Lisa Blair – wild ride, even wilder ride coming
Lisa Blair is in the final stages of her Antarctic cirumnavigation but the loss of her rig and subsequent repairs in Cape Town mean she is taking on the Southern Ocean in winter. After two days of calm conditions, the…
Belcher and Ryan in second place after action-packed opening day at 470 Worlds
A two-hour postponement ashore waiting for the thermal breeze converted to 8-10 knots for the first race, building to 15-16 knots, under a clear blue sky. The glamour day saw racing for the one hundred and thirty-three teams from 32…
Race records set to fall in 2017 Transpac
Monday, July 10th looks to be our first finish day. Howard Enloe's ORMA 60 Mighty Merloe continues to perform outstandingly, maintaining a lead over the MOD70s Phaedo3 and Maserati. At the July 10th 0500 HST real time position report, Mighty Merloe was 251nm…
Weather and tide cause course change for Panerai British Classic
10 July 2017 – Day two of Panerai British Classic Week 2017 was to have featured the Around the Isle of Wight Race sponsored by EFG, but the weather forecast promised a combination of strong south westerly winds and a…
Thirty days and counting to Airlie Beach Race Week
Whitsunday Sailing Club is in serious gear-up mode for its signature event, Airlie Beach Race Week Festival of Sailing, putting the final touches to its renowned activities and entertainment program ahead of the August 10 start date. Airlie Beach Race…
Mighty Merloe and Comanche on record pace in 2017 Transpac
HONOLULU, HI – One week after the first wave of starters and four days after the last wave, the bulk of the 55 entries in this year's 49th edition of the Transpac are at about their halfway points to the…
Team SFS debut with Dunkirk dream double
French 470 Olympian Sofian Bouvet and the Team SFS crew laid down a clear marker to the 28 other Tour de France à la Voile teams that the Mediterranean based outfit can already be considered serious title contenders to win…
Scorching start to Panerai British Classic Week
9 July 2017 – The opening race day of Panerai British Classic Week 2017 was an absolute scorcher with barely a cloud in the sky and glorious sunshine showing the fifty-one participating classic yachts off to absolute perfection. The regatta…
Foilers take on Downwind Dash at Foiling Week Garda
Lake Garda was a mass of foilers for another steamy hot day at Foiling Week 2017 and by midday 12 knots was the sweet spot for all boats tuning up for the Downwind Dash. On the water entry level foilers…
Robertson successfully defends match title in Sweden
Marstrand, Sweden: After beating Pieter-Jan Postma’s Sailing Team NL in this morning’s semi-finals, Phil Robertson and his CHINAone NINGBO crew went on win the final of GKSS Match Cup Sweden, dispatching Taylor Canfield’s US One Sailing Team. This repeated the…
Foilers congregate in Italy for Foiling Week Garda
The first day of the 2017 Foiling Week was bathed in warm sunshine and humid sailing conditions on Lake Garda with the typical ‘Ora’ afternoon breeze never really building to full strength. It did however prove ideal for trial sailing…
Canfield and Gilmour keep drama going at GKSS Match Cup Sweden
Marstrand, Sweden: Light winds on Sweden’s Marstrand Arena demonstrated how versatile the one design M32 catamaran can be, providing good close racing in the lightest winds, with the Quarter Finals all decided and the giant spectator turn-out not left disappointed….
Second wave starts 2017 Transpac
LOS ANGELES, CA – The second wave of three starts to the 49th edition of the 2017 biennial Transpac Race left Pt Fermin today in a pleasant 8-10 knot Southern California seabreeze, en route to a finish line awaiting them…
Strong Australian representation in this year's Fastnet Race
As ocean racing enjoys rising entry lists around the world, the classic Fastnet Race is expecting more than 400 boats from over 20 countries on the startline on August 6, 2017. Among them are four strong Australian entries. CQS, Maxi,…
David Gilmour is lone Aussie in quarter finals at GKSS Match Cup Sweden
Marstrand, Sweden (6th July, 2017) – The three remaining Quarter Finalists were decided at GKSS Match Cup Sweden in front of a substantial crowd of spectators around Marstrand Arena today. The puffy, shifty offshore southerly breeze of 6-14 knots, made…
Lisa Blair – halfway home and enjoying good conditions
Lisa Blair is making good progress on the final leg of her circumnavigation of Antarctica. Having put in to Cape Town after breaking her mast, she is now halfway across the Indian Ocean and heading back to the starting point…
Watch: Dolphins help rescuers guide a stricken yacht to safety off Irish coast
The Independent (Ireland). Dolphins helped rescuers guide a stricken yacht to safety off Co Antrim, the RNLI said. A Larne crew rescued two men on Wednesday afternoon after their vessel became tangled in fishing nets. As it was towing them…
Australian sailors set for 470 World Championship battles
It’s high summer in Europe and racing starts at the 2017 470 World Championship in Thessaloniki Greece, 300 km north of Athens on Monday next, 10th July. There is a strong Australian presence, six crews in all and the media…
All competitors now underway in 2017 Transpac
LOS ANGELES, CA – Another perfect Southern California summer day yielded perfect conditions for the final wave of 17 fast monohulls and five fast multihulls to set off on their 2225-mile odyssey to the finish in Honolulu of the 2017…
Imperiet overall winner of ÅF Offshore Race 2017
Imperiet II is the overall winner of ÅF Offshore Race – round Gotland 2017. Early Wednesday morning it was clear that none of the boats behind would be able to catch up. The boat from Stockholm with skipper Paul Nord…
Swedish David topples Aussie Goliath in five race marathon
Marstrand, Sweden (5th July, 2017) – GKSS Match Cup Sweden is renowned for drawing out exceptional performances from local sailors, fired up by crowds cheering them on from the perimeter of Marstrand Arena and with assistance from the Nordic wind…
Buy yourself a tall ship – they aren't all that expensive
Halifax Chronicle Herald. I’ll have a tall ship to go, please. Not quite as ridiculous an order as it might sound to tall ships broker Peter Milley. His website, Privateer Yacht Sales, lists half-a-dozen tall ships taking part in the…
Jon Sanders – arrival in Tahiti
Jon Sanders is on his way back to Australia on his 10th circumnavigation of the globe. As always, his insights into the places he visits are priceless. Now Tahiti. A lot of years back France resumed underground nuclear testing at…
Williams firing on all cylinders at GKSS Match Cup Sweden
Marstrand, Sweden (4th July, 2017) – Qualifying at GKSS Match Cup Sweden concluded in magnificent conditions on Marstrand Arena today with northwesterly winds gradually building to 15 knots by mid-afternoon. With the teams divided into three groups of six teams,…
“Wings” wins the Robbe & Berking 12mR European Championship
Eleven 12mR yachts took part in their “Robbe & Berking 12mR European Championship” on the Flensburg Fjord until last Sunday. The oldest participant was “Heti” from Hamburg, built in 1912, the youngest participant was “Kiwi Magic” that belongs to a…
Calls for an encore as ARC Portugal comes to an end in Marina de Lagos
It is one month to the day since crews of the 2017 edition of ARC Portugal gathered together at Mayflower Marina in Plymouth, eagerly awaiting the latest weather forecast which would dictate their departure across the Bay of Biscay to…
First wave of the Transpac leaves Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES, CA – Seventeen yachts in three divisions set off yesterday in the first wave of three starts to the 49th edition of the 2017 biennial Transpac Race. Under sunny skies and light winds the fleet left the start…
Nexba for Melbourne to Osaka Double-Handed crusade
Sydney based John Bacon and one of his core MC38 and Melges crewmates David Sampson have linked up for their first Melbourne to Osaka Double-Handed Race in 2018, an epic 5,500 nautical mile ocean adventure aboard Bacon’s Class 40. Designed…
Second Antigua Bermuda Race announced
Hamilton, Bermuda: July 3, 2017: The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club announces that the second edition of the Antigua Bermuda Race will start on the May 9, 2018. The 935-mile offshore race is organized in association with Antigua Sailing Week and is…
