Ocean Racing Magazine - #6 - December 2007 & January 2008 - (Page 10)

NEWS no Cup in 2009! As we go to press, the organiser of the America’s Cup (ACM) has just announced the next edition planned for 2009 has been cancelled, and postponed for an indefinite length of time… The least you can say is that during the past two months they have all been very busy, but to no result. A summary of the latest episode: The New York Supreme Court has listened to the case without giving its judgement – which may lead to an appeal. In any case, Switzerland is not within American jurisdiction, which complicates matters. Shortly after the case was heard, the Spanish Federation recognised that the CNEV, which is till officially the defender of record, is indeed a fictional club invented by a sponsor and deliberately set up for the event – so in contradiction with the Act of Deed. The current uncertainty stops the smaller challengers from finding sponsors and two of ©BMW Oracle Racing the five, who had rallied to the Swiss cause, are backing off. Bertarelli is said to have agreed to pay compensation to Valencia, if there are fewer than ten teams (10 M euros per missing participant, according to rumours), but we are a long way from achieving that result. Meanwhile the Swiss have revealed the characteristics of the future boat. She will be big (27.4 m LOA, and probably as much on the waterline), with a lot of canvas (475 m2), very stable (6 m of draught), very tough to sail (only twenty crewmen), and will weigh 23T like the current Class America boat. She will be faster on a straight line than the older boat, but perhaps will be able to evolve less because of her long waterline. She will also be much more expensive. The ultra-light bobsleigh planned in our previous issue has been left to one side. We now must await the decision of the Supreme Court, which if it accepts the Golden Gate YC case, representing Oracle, will force Alinghi to accept a duel aboard a catamaran. A duel, which would throw everything into question and which if Oracle wins, would see the Cup going to America. D. Charles America’s Cup: Nicolas Troussel single-handed champion Groupama 3 on stand by in early December Thanks to his win in the BPE Trophy and his regular success – 4th in the Figaro single-handed event and 4th in the final of the Championship- Nicolas Troussel has won the title of French single-handed ocean racing champion. He follows in the footsteps of Yann Eliés. The Figaro sailors from the Finistère centre have won just ©Solitaire du Figaro/Marmara/Vialeron about everything in ocean racing, with two other members completing the podium : Thomas Rouxel and Gildas Mahé. The Top Ten: 1.Nicolas Troussel (Financo) 44 pts - 2.Thomas Rouxel (Défi Mousquetaires) 77 - 3.Gildas Mahé (Le Comptoir Immobilier) 80 - 4.Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) 95 – 5.Franck Le Gal (Lenze) 106 – 7.Ronan Treussart (Groupe Céléos) 114 – 7.Eric Drouglazet (Luisina Design) 120 – 8.Liz Wardley (Sojasun) 124 – 9.Armel Tripon (Gedimat) 146 – 10. Frédéric Duthil (Distinxion) 207. They will be wearing the distinctive numbers from 1 to 10 in 2008. Franck Cammas’s maxi trimaran Groupama 3 will be on stand by from 3rd November for his attempt at the round the world crewed record, the Jules Verne Trophy. The widest ocean racer in the world (22.50m and 31.50m long) will be sailed by a team of ten. Among them, Stève Ravussin, recent winner with Franck Cammas of the Transat ©Y. Zedda/groupama Jacques Vabre, and Jacques Caraës (see the portrait on p.64). The crew went through a training session in Chamonix. The goal: grabbing the record held by Bruno Peyron and his Maxi Orange II, the current Jules Verne record holder, in 50 days, 16 hours, 20 minutes and 4 seconds at an average speed of 22.2 knots. Ocean Express : lthe Atlantic in a racing cat ©Martin Coudriet Crossing the Atlantic is a trendy sport… However, Benoît Lequin and Pierre-Yves Moreau are quite unusual. No 60’ Open or maxi trimaran, just a small 20-foot racing catamaran. The goal? To beat the record held by the Italians, Andréa Gancia and Mattéo Miceli: 13 days 13 h58’27’’. To cover the 2700 miles between Dakar and Pointe-à-Pitre, the crew of Ocean Express has left nothing to chance. A tailor-made prototype, logistics, training sessions… It must be said that the two sailors are no newcomers: Mini 6.50, Figaro, Class Orma, Imoca, Lequin and Moreau have already taken part in a number of events on various craft. However, crossing the Atlantic on a beach cat is still quite a challenge: "We know we are embarking on a tough challenge and that we shall be facing some extreme conditions." On stand by in Dakar from December, the start of Ocean Express will only depend on the arrival of a favourable weather opportunity. Then, the two yachtsmen will be trusting Jure Jerman, the weather expert behind the victorious Phil Sharp in the last Route du Rhum : "a router from the east, who will take us out to the west " Ocean Racing - december 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ocean Racing Magazine - #6 - December 2007 & January 2008

Cover
Edito
Contents
What they said
News
Portfolio - The news in the picture
Transat Jacques Vabre - Monohulls in power
In the words of the skipper - Michel Desjoyaux, A little bit more
Barcelona World Race - A couple sailing around the world
Imoca - Growth crisis in the Imoca class
Transat 6.5 - A whole series of records
Mini Class - Anatomy of a winner
Multihulls - What sort of trimarans tomorrow ?
Volvo Ocean Race - Second generation
Trials - Mach 45 : an unusual IRC
Match Racing - King Richard
Tactics - A good start
Portrait - Jacques Caraës
Lab - Tubular or wing mast ?
Forty years ago - Chichester, the lonely sea and the sky
Equipment - Shop window
New products - From the drawing board to the boatyard
Opinion - The mirage of worshipping technology

Ocean Racing Magazine - #6 - December 2007 & January 2008