"Unluckiest sailor of the month" Award

The AsianYachting award for the "Unluckiest sailor of the month" must go to Gurra Krantz and the crew of SEB after breaking the mast 1250 miles from Cape Horn at approximately 58.12S 106.47W during the fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. They had to cut the rig free and abandon it, but they managed to keep the main boom which was broken and a spinnaker boom, also broken. The crew where safe and the boat not damaged so a jury rig was hastily built and they managed to sail on to the Chilean port of Punta Arenas, located on the western shore of Magellan's Sound.... 

SEB was loaded onto a freighter for Rio where the spare mast stored in Gothenburg, Sweden has been flown and the necessary repairs conducted before the start of Leg 5 to Miami on the 9th of March.

After headboard problems on Leg 1, broken rudder on leg 3 and now a broken mast I can't but keep remembering my sailing instructors old sea tale that anything green on a yacht is considered by ancient mariners as bad luck or jinxed.

It all happened in a 28-knot breeze while doing 17 knots of boat speed, "A severe storm gust from a snow squall pushed us over on our side and made us wipe out, and in that moment we lost the rig.

The mast had to be cut away and disappeared overbo ard" skipper Gurra Krantz reported. "This is of course a very sad situation for us, but the most important thing in a situation like this one is that the crew and boat are safe" says Pelle Norberg, Managing Director for the SEB syndicate. This leg is considered one of the hardest and during the 1997/98 race Silk Cut and the girls on EF Education broke their masts as did Tokio, Fortuna and New Zealand Endeavour during the 1993/94 race in one of the remotest and unfriendliest parts of the ocean on the planet.

ASIAN NEWS

1. KEEL BOATS In a all out effort to increase the number of boats competing and provide new competition for sailors wanting to regularly race sailing yachts in Malaysia the Royal Selangor Yacht Club in Port Klang is conducting three pointscore racing series during the year and the Raja Muda Int. Regatta between February and November. Kicking off on March 10th with Harbour Race 1 Series 1 and a veranda barbeque thrown in afterwards. Malaysian sailors or would be sailors are invited to join the yachts in a mixture of Non competitive coastal cruises over the weekends and tricky one day harbour races which is open to all sailing yachts that have IRC handicaps are asked to contact John Furgerson or Letchu at the RSYC rmir@rsyc.com.my More info on their website http://www.rsyc.com.my

2. Don't miss the remaining official events coming up on the exciting 2001 / 2002 Asian Yachting Circuit. Interested competitors, sponsors or crew on yachts just passing by can get more info, NOR and Sailing Instructions by simply clicking on the races web addresses....

RHKYC's China Sea Race 2002 - 28th March http://www.chinasearace.com
Philippine President Cup - 3rd to 6th April

If you have not had enough action by now or are left back in Singapore or Malaysia wandering what to do as the seasons change plan a trip around to the east coast of the SE Asian mainland up to Thailand for the inaugural Koh Samui Regatta - from the 28th April to 4th May. The committee reports on some of the classic offshore racing yachts taking part and the Royal Varuna Yacht Club announces that their catamaran fleet will be joining in the action at....  www.samuiregatta.com

3. No pictures, No reports from the Phang Nga Bay Regatta held over the Chinese New Year (11th - 14th Feb) other than pure rumour and scuttlebutt that David Bailey's Hocux Pocux won the racing class from Peter Ahern's Yo and David Bell's Grafetti third. How unfortunate as this regatta is billed as one of the most popular sailing events for cruising yachts and visitors in the region. Other results and 2002 summary may have appeared at http://www.bayregatta.com by now!

4. CRUISING The Oz-Med Rally will join the Blue Water Round the World Cruising Rally 2001-3 presently onroute in the Pacific Ocean some where from Darwin to the Mediterranean latter this year.  Interested participants are welcome to join this cruising only event from Cairns on August 4 - 11 or from Darwin on September 29 and are asked to visit their website for more information, entry details or to follow the fleets progress at: www.yachtrallies.co.uk

5. OFF THE BEACH SAILING CLASSES The International Sailing Federation has made a move they hope will lead to the addition of sailing in the Commonwealth Games. The ISAF together with the Commonwealth Games Federation have endorsed the inaugural Commonwealth Sailing Championships to be run during the Sail Melbourne International Regatta from 18 - 23 January 2003 at the Sandringham Yacht Club (SYC) on Port Phillip. The classes to be sailed include the Laser (Mens), Laser Radial (Womens), Mistral (Mens), Mistral (Womens) and Hobie 16 (Open). The Commonwealth Sailing Championships will be preceded by the ISAF Grade 1 Olympic and Invited Classes Regatta from January 11-16, also at SYC. The ISAF hopes that a successful Commonwealth Sailing Championship will lead to sailing's inclusion in the Commonwealth Games.

6. Under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation, Government of Dubai and Chairman of Emirates Airlines The Middle East VIP Boat Show 2002 (MEIBS 2002) is to be held at the Dubai Creek Gulf & Yacht Club from March 20-23. Manufacturers of boats 15m and over in length are invited to attend this prestigious and exclusive event in an area which contains a large number of the highest net worth individuals in the world and the buying power of visitors to last years event was extremely high. Visitors consisting of Sheikhs, wealthy businessmen and government ministers from across the region are greeted on arrival at one of the finest yacht clubs in the region.

7. International Hobie Class Association President Thomas Poulsen signed an agreement with Michael Lee Chief Executive Officer of Raffles Marina in Singapore on Sun, 17 Feb 2002 to host the 3rd Hobie Tiger World Championships in Singapore from the 10-14 February 2003. This is the first time the newly appointed ISAF International Class has held its world championship out side Europe and brings together Carlsberg who have sponsored 10 Danish Championships and 2 European Championships to sponsor their first Hobie Tiger World Championship at the 5 star Raffles Marina facility and the IHCA are very excited to offer this event to its sailors. They may have to do something about the Tiger in the name as it may conflict with another popular beer brand available in Singapore and brewed just down the road from Raffles Marina..........

8. Yachts intending to visit the Kingdom of Thailand any time soon can now view the revised customs laws and get a better understanding of the often controversial and misquoted Thai regulations.

9. Here's your chance to get some outrageous deals on the boating products you may need for Spring Outfitting. Go to the http://asianyachting.com homepage and click on the SailNet banner to go Where Sailors Get It. If what you want isn't on sale, don't be left out of the savings: just place the code 85BUJFTP in the e-coupon field of your shopping cart and watch your sailing dollars stretch. For your convenience, SailNet's 2002 catalogue is now available online in PDF format. You can download a section (or sections) of the catalogue to your hard drive and browse them at your leisure without being online.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1. First it was Bruno Peyron and his crew on the Maxi catamaran Orange waiting for the right weather pattern and starting their attempt from Brest (France) on the mystical Jules Verne around the world trophy. Half an hour after departing from the imaginary starting line (Ushant-Lizard point) on Thursday 14th February the top of the mast snapped off . Photo thanks to Gilles Martin-Raget (www.martin-raget.com)

Then it was Olivier de Kersauson's crew on the 34 metre maxi trimaran Geronimo crossing the Trophée Jules Verne start line off Ushant at 25 minutes and 16 seconds past 1 on Feb 18 doing 29 knots. Having waited patiently for the favourable weather conditions forecast by meteorologist, Pierre Lasnier, the giant trimaran set off to cross the Bay of Biscay in excellent sea conditions, driven by a good north-westerly 20-knot breeze. After reaching the equator in record time the massive yacht developed steering problems and had to abandon their record attempt and is presently in the process of returning home to Brest.

NOW it is Bruno Peyron and the maxi-catamaran Orange again after crossing the Jules Verne Trophy starting line on Saturday 2nd March at 08h 36m 21s, only two weeks after having broken her masthead shortly after the first attempt.

Will Geronimo be fixed in time to join Orange for the promised battle royale in the Southern Ocean? There is talk of 55 days around the world. Is this really possible? Which is much faster than the unofficial record of 62 days set by Grant Dalton on Club Med during The Race with an average speed of 18 knots. Olivier de Kersauson expects to smash the present Trophée Jules Verne record he has held since 1997 of 71 days on Sport Elec.

2. Larry Ellison from Oracle Racing does not seem to be having much fun down in NZ with mast breakings, keels falling off, replacing skippers and tempermental crew will have to pay about NZ$160,000 to restore the electricity supply to Motutapu Island in the Hauraki Gulf after the anchor of his 75m superyacht Katana snagged the undersea power cable from the mainland on January 5. More America's Cup news can be found at the New Zealand Herald.

3. It came as no surprise that the ACC Sail Number 69 has been allotted to Le Defi Francais as didn't the French once have a yacht called French Kiss competing in Australia. Sail number 69 was warehoused (as for sail number 13) after GBR Challenge declined it as it just wouldn't be British and was allotted sail number 70.

4. At last! Things are starting to heat up at the America's Cup during the northern winter, (summer in New Zealand). Hamish Ross, a member of Team Alinghi and a great specialist of the America's Cup Rules (he's currently in the process of writing a book about the Deed of Gift) noticed that the Deed bore the following paragraph: "Centre-board or sliding keel vessels shall always be allowed to compete in any race for this Cup, and no restriction or limitation whatever shall be placed upon the use of such centre-board or sliding keel, nor shall the centre-board or sliding keel be considered part of the vessel for any purposes of measurement."

As a result, Team Alinghi found itself faced with a dilemma - whether to turn up with a centerboarder and build a yacht which is different from all the others, a boat with much greater performance capabilities but which does not respect the spirit of the competition (ala Alan Bond) or ask the America's Cup Arbitration Panel to make a clear ruling on the matter, determining whether the Deed of Gift or the Class Rules prevail. At the moment the second solution has been chosen by Team Alinghi who are determined to race the competition according to rules which are identical for all those taking part". That should keep the sailing lawyers busy and rush the designers back to the drawing boards! More at....http://www.alinghi.com/

5. As if sailing at this level is not expensive enough without all these lawyers running around members of Team New Zealand are deeply upset by an allegation that their former team-mates may have divulged secrets to rival syndicates.... Despite these members having previously signed life binding confidentiality agreements with Team NZ. An Auckland lawyer Sean Reeves has been accused of peddling America's Cup secrets has deepened the spying scandal by claiming NZ Black Boat designs were obtained by an American rival during the Team New Zealand break-up after the last cup.... Chief executive Ross Blackman said 'if the allegations prove to be correct, Team NZ will pursue every possible legal action against any individual involved'. The Panel's ruling and decision on all this is eagerly awaited by the general yachting public at large and all of the Challengers as well as the Defender of the next America's Cup. We'll keep you informed as and when we receive news...

6. Leg 4 Summary - Volvo Ocean Race

The Volvo Ocean Race fleet after racing for 23 days can be thanked for staging a thrilling battle of wits, gambling on weather analysis, making the right moves and most of all concentration as the navigators and tacticians worked overtime on the 2000nm run up to Rio after rounding treacherous Cape Horn.

Including one hell of a ‘grandstand finish’ over the last 1000nm on the toughest leg with the closest finish ever decided in the history of the Volvo / Whitbread Round the World Races.

A 5 way battle spread over 30nm developed with places swapping from position report to position report inspiring the crew to give that little bit extra, trimming more and grinding that little bit harder to try and gain that small jump and maybe a psychological edge on the others.

llbruck saw their healthy 100nm lead cut back to a mere 16 (frustrating stuff eh!) and was by no means in the clear up front as the hunting pack behind closed in. Their ultimate fate rested with who picks up any favourable winds during the last night of the race and whose chosen course manages to avoid the parking lots so often found within sight of the finishing line in one of the most spectacular harbours of the world.

 

John Kostecki and his llbruck crew clung on onto their slender lead to win this remarkable leg and only one pundit got it right by predicting " I would not like to give the crew on llbruck a 20 mile start in a 100nm Volvo 60 race. Would you?" During the early hours of the morning Knut Frostad and the crew of Djuice Dragons pulled of one the greatest come backs since Ben Hur coming from 5th place to finish second and narrow in the overall pointscore to fancy their chances of taking a place on the remaining 5 legs of the race where it seems "Anything can and usually does happen" Tyco was 3rd, ASSAY ABLOY 4th and Amer Sports One, which had been consistently 2nd, placed 5th and all finished within a few hours of each other after close to 7000nm of racing.

 

Imagine how stressful that can be coming after numerous wipe-outs and near misses driving these huge over powered rigs through the icebergs with SEB dismasting and NewsCorp losing their rudder during one of the closest duels and highly publicised Southern Ocean crossings ever from Auckland definitely proves that there is no easy cruise into carnival town anymore. Don't miss the action as teams begin to turn up the heat on the fifth leg to Miami which starts on Saturday the 9th of March