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ABU DHABI, January 1 – Neal McDonald, the performance director of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, has been pulled out of retirement to join the crew for the third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race starting on Saturday. The 51-year-old Briton…
Wednesday the 31st December saw the second day of the ISAF Tornado World Championships and Global Mixed Championships in Perth, Western Australia. The wind started from the West with lots of cloud cover, this was due to disappear later in…
The blocking pattern of a huge stationary high pressure system over the Tasman Sea is going to decide conditions for the Club Marine Pittwater to Coffs Yacht Race fleet of 28 yachts. Other than some variation at the start and…
Competitors for the 2015 Tasar World Championships were busy today preparing for tomorrow (Saturday 3rd) afternoon’s Practice Race which will be sailed in an area close to the west side of Busselton Jetty, within good viewing distance for spectators on…
Before the start of the Pittwater-Coffs Race, owner of the ORMA 60 trimaran Team Australia, Sean Langman, said he would try to make up the 15 minutes start the multihull had given the monohulls, then “cover” the 80ft Beau Geste. …
Following a long day of waiting for the breeze, the fleet at the 2014 OK Dinghy World Championship at Black Rock YC in Melbourne, Australia was finally rewarded by two great races in a rapidly building sea breeze. Matt Stechmann…
GrindTV. By Johnie Gall: Liz Clark spends a lot of time alone, and not because she’s an introvert. It’s simply a side effect of having spent almost a decade captaining her 40-foot sailboat, Swell, to some of the most far-flung…
He's a hero in Australia and the USA, but twice America's Cup winner Jimmy Spithill is the man they love to hate in New Zealand. When the website stuff.co.nz named its five sporting villains of 2014, the Oracle Team USA…
Tuesday dawned as an easier day on the water with 10 knots forecast out of the south west and it was so for the first race with the lighter sailors and the Masters reveling in the soft stuff. Despite that,…
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race came to an end on January 1 at the Royal Club of Tasmania, where the Official Prize Giving took place. Welcoming guests, including Her Excellency, the Honourable Kate Warner, A.M. Governor of Tasmania, Commodore…
When Roger Hickman and his crew went to bed last night, it still looked as though his 29-year-old Farr 43 Wild Rose could be pipped for the handicap honours in the 2014 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Two smaller yachts,…
The 16 skippers, eight duos, who are set to take on the 2014-2015 Barcelona World Race gathered to face the media at today’s busy official press conference, the last official gathering of all the teams before the race start on…
The West Coast race has been a competitive affair with multiple boats vying for the lead at various times and tactics playing a key role. Laurie Ford’s Cameron De Lange 12m, Spirit of Downunder, was not first out the heads…
The 2015 Open Laser Nationals have begun and the sea breeze is in. The event is being held at the Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club just south of Perth and it opened with the renowned sea breeze in full…
The Zhik 2013-2014 AUS 9er Championships practice race scheduled for 1500hrs yesterday had to be cancelled for all 29er, 49erFX and 49er fleets after a gale warning was issued for Port Phillip Bay. However, the fleet of 76 boats did…
Who could have known at any stage of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race that boats touched by Bob Oatley and both bearing the name ‘Wild’ in their title would take line honours and overall corrected time honours in the…
On Monday, we were fortunate enough to have a tour of Jim and Kristy Clark’s new 100ft weapon “Comanche”. Here is Ken taking us around the boat and showing Comanche in a perspective that isn’t seen by most. It’s a…
Strong winds battering Port Phillip caused the first day of the OK Dinghy World Championship to be cancelled, leaving sailors on shore all day. After the practice race on Monday was also cancelled because of strong winds, the fleet is…
Defending champion The Fork in the Road last night took line honours in the National Pies Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race, slashing three-and-a-hours off the race record. Skippered by former world champion and Olympic sailor Gary Smith, the Bakewell-White 45…
It is inconceivable for most of us to understand the frustration of being within a single nautical mile of the finish and have the wind shut down on you completely. That is what happened to Gusto at the mouth of…
After three days of fantastic Port Phillip weather, the 2014 OK Dinghy World Championship was opened on a hot and sunny Sunday evening at Black Rock Yacht Club, Melbourne, Australia. Following the official opening of the regatta, there followed three…
After the exciting finish to the Rolex Sydney Hobart between Wild Oats XI and Comanche, the officials at the finish line had a long night checking in the next 10 competitors. It wasn't until 2.26am that the third finisher, Syd…
The entire fleet of 24 boats in the National Pies Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race should be tied up at Elizabeth Street Pier by lunchtime today – in time for a feed of the sponsor’s famous pies. The 285 nautical…
Illawarra Mercury. By Bree Fuller: It was the maiden voyage that dreams were supposed to be made of, but Melbourne skipper Damien Smith got more than he bargained for when his new yacht, All That Jazz, lived up to its name….
Shortly, the winner of the Tattersalls Trophy, the ultimate prize in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, will be awarded to the winning skipper on Constitution Dock. Along with a Rolex watch. I don't know who it will be, which…
As the boats dock in Hobart so do the stories. Everyone has a tale to tell, some funny, some of outright terror, some apocryphal to tell about the Rolex Sydney Hobart. This morning Daryl Hodgkinson jumped off his Cookson 50…
Ever wondered about the cost of breaking and damaging gear – and the repercussions of it in a long race such as the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race? Well wonder no longer. Three boat owners confidentially whispered this morning “Don’t…
The New Zealand Volvo 70 Giacomo limped into Kings Street Pier in Hobart at midday today, minus her towering rig, her crew dejected but determined to come back and do the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race again. Owner, Jim Delegat,…
Cockburn Sound Regatta began the second day of competition in perfect sailing conditions. A light to moderate south westerly under a cloudless sky made sailing a joy. Division 3 and Premier Cruising division both set out for their passage race…
Have a look at the IRC standings, the list of boats leading the Rolex Sydney Hobart overall on handicap; it’s a long time since such venerable names have graced the top of the list en masse as they do today….
Three very long-standing Australian members of the OK Dinghy class were inducted into the OKDIA Hall of Fame during the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Championship at Black Rock Yacht Club, Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday 28 December. Bill Bell,…
Bruce Taylor and the crew of his Caprice 40 Chutzpah would have been sipping nervously at their beer. In Hobart since 10.49 when they were ranked well below 20th on the IRC table, one by one they have seen the yachts…
Wild Rose has crossed the finish line at Hobart and her owner Roger Hickman now looks likely to win the Tattersalls Trophy for handicap honours in the 2014 Rolex Sydney Hobart. When the 29-year-old Farr 43 finished just before 8pm…
The 10-year-old super maxi Wild Oats XI had a good run during the second night of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and now looks to have the defence of her line honours title in hand. Shortly after 7am on…
With fast spinnaker running conditions forecast for all the way from Low Head to Tasman Island, the entire 24 boat fleet in the Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race could finish by Monday evening, with a race record also on the…
If anyone was on their first ocean race they well may be wondering what all the fuss is about when people speak of Bass Strait in reverential terms. No wind reduces it to just another piece of water, photos from…
Skate skippers from around the country gathered at Cockburn Sound to compete in their 2014 national championship. The little 14 footers with their distinctive hiking planks have been updated to incorporate many features found on more recent designs, including asymmetric…
Bob Oatley's 100ft super-maxi Wild Oats XI was the first of the yachts in the Rolex Sydney Hobart to pass Tasman Island, the southern-most point in the 628nm race. The big silver beast passed the landmark at 11.45 this morning…
The Catalina Owners Lake Macquarie Rendezvous (# 10) will be held from January 2-4, 2014 at Royal Motor Yacht Club, Toronto. This regatta is for the owners and guests of Catalina yachts who have got over the silly season and…
The Eastcoaster race fleet have struggled with a complete lack of wind overnight, at the moment the measure at Hogan Island has them in 10 – 12 knots East South Easterlies. In a tactical difference XLR8 has stayed on the…
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