Coming to a London near you.

I know this isn't all that olympic sailing is about but the Finn has to be the one everyone wants to watch, with that chap in it...... his name escapes me. But this gives a good look at the boat and what we can expect come race day.

Champagne breakfast for Telefónica

VOR media

Team Telefónica crossed the finish line of the final Volvo Ocean Race qualifier in first place today, her crew celebrating their arrival back in Alicante with a breakfast of sparkling wine and chocolate croissants.

Telefónica, skippered by Olympic 49er gold medallist Iker Martínez, arrived at 05:45:24 UTC/GMT (07:45:24 local time) after completing a 360-nautical mile race which started at 1300 UTC on Friday and took the fleet out to Palma de Mallorca and back, in fickle winds which varied from 25 knots to almost nothing.

Puma Ocean Racing powered by Berg Propulsion, Team Sanya, Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand and Groupama sailing team also completed the qualifier on Sunday.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing arrived back, but officially retired from the race after skipper Ian Walker, satisfied the crew had completed all the required drills checks, turned on the boat’s engine on while they were becalmed. Race management was considering whether to take any action on Sunday.

Martínez played down the importance of finishing first, as no points were awarded in a race introduced to test safety procedures including the man overboard drill, emergency steering and storm sails.

“It was not a real race,’’ Martínez said while dripping with champagne following the team’s onshore celebrations. “We spent a lot of time doing those manoeuvres for the safety procedures, and we could have won or lost on any one of those.”

The race turned into a north-south gamble when the fleet split on Saturday, with Telefónica, PUMA and Sanya taking the southerly route around Ibiza and hooking into much stronger winds.

Camper, Groupama 4 and Abu Dhabi took a more direct northerly route but were becalmed for longer. Puma finished behind Telefónica, with Team Sanya following soon afterwards.

Ken Read judged the race a great chance to compare Puma’s Mar Mostro with the five other Volvo Open 70s for the first time: “We learned some valuable lessons about ourselves and the other teams,” he said. “We’ve always known that all the boats are going to be really fast and this race confirmed that. There are no dogs out there.”

Team Sanya’s watch leader Cameron Dunn, who skippered the boat in the absence of Mike Sanderson, said the performance was a confidence boost for the only team racing in an older generation boat.

“We have proved that if we sail smart and don't make mistakes then we can beat some of the newer boats," he said.

Camper made the best start and her crew enjoyed a warm welcome at Palma de Mallorca, their Spanish base, before being hit by the lack of wind. They finished just behind Groupama in the early afternoon in Spain.

Racing will officially begin when the six teams go head to head in the first in-port race in Alicante on October 29. Leg 1 will start on November 5 when the teams race out in to the Atlantic to Cape Town, South Africa.

Lots More Here!

Buy yourself a wild cat.

PUMA FOR SALE  < Clicky


PUMA's il mostro will be auctioned off to the highest bidder! You've got until the end of October. But its not going to be cheap, starting bid is € 800,000!! Its a lot of boat for your money with a proven record of being able to compete (but then Ken Read does know what he's doing). and if it gets to keep the PUMA logo then its also damn sexy!

What a start!

Well thank you to all who have viewed so far. Nearly 120 of you, well 119 to be precise in our 1st day and nearly a quarter of that again today already. We've receive a few emails on what you'd like to see so watch this space!

Formula One on water

The 18footers made it to San Francisco this year too. Some great racing to be had with some epic mist. That must be a scary sight.... a bunch of 18footers appearing out of the mist heading for you at 20knts! CST finally got the title but some close racing through out.
Here's day 3 where you can see what we mean by the mist!



And then we had to show you this... it just sums up what its all about sailing an 18 foot skiff. Its an oldie, but a goodie!

V TWIN. Twice as good?

I've been following this blog since it started with great curiosity. You don't get many people out there that cant really find the boat they want, so go and build it themselves.... Brave man. Is it a good idea? or is it just stunting the growth of other dinghy classes by throwing a few one off's into the pond? Basically yes, its a great idea. Its a fresh set of ideas, and looking at dinghy designs at the moment they need a bit of inspiration and competition.

It looks like a cross between a Vortex and a B14? well that's because the Vortex was considered instead of the build and the B14 influence? That comes from synthesizegroup. Where the B14 is now being built (Another of my favourites)

I hope it all goes well for Graeme Fuller and he gets the boat of his dreams. Head over to his blog to read the story from start to finish. Clicky Here!

Let me know what you think about this little boaty and on the subject in general!

SO IT BEGINS....

So this is it, the beginning of another blog..... As a lot has happened this year already I'm going to spend a couple of days showing you what you've all been missing out on!

So lets start with the Americas Cup



 From Cascais to Plymouth and off to San Francisco next. I love it @ 0:45. Check it out and HOLD ON TIGHT!