Picton: The New Place for Sailing Events

The sailors, volunteers, and members of the Queen Charlotte Yacht Club will be busy as the club is going to host quite a few championship events across different boat classes. From 14th to 15th December, 4 different events have been arranged at Picton being the base. The regional race for the Marlborough Nelson Centerboard Sailing, A Class South Island Championships, Zephyr South Island Championships 2019, and the Skiff Regatta Regional Open are the four events that will be held there.

It is also known from the Queen Charlotte Yacht Club that races will run on different courses including the outer and the inner harbors. More than 80 sailors and 15 boat classes will be involved in the regatta that will go on for two days. The classes include Starling, Laser radial and full, Optimist rainbow both open and green, open skiff, Splash, Farr 3.7, Finn, A-class, Flying Dutchman, 29er, and 420. Other than these, the volunteers and members of the club are expecting that some more foiling yachts will also be present on the day of the races as entries are continuously arriving. They are also taking all the necessary measures so that every sailor who has registered their yacht names can take part in the variety of races.

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Boat Designs for America’s Cup

Even if the next edition of America’s Cup is up for 2021, there is much that is being worked upon on the boat design. As decided, the boats would be foiling monohulls of 75 foot. There is much secrecy, science, and subterfuge that is being explored in this aspect besides the sailing strategies and capabilities.

This is a covert operation of testing and design phase that is on now at full swing. The teams are working on the best dream machine they can build to win the Auld Mug. While the basic boat design has been set, there is much that can be worked around the capability of the monohulls. Known as AC75s, they can lift the boat out of the water, due to the canting hydrofoils and they can fly at speeds of 50 knots in this way. The concept definitely brings in a new era of fast sailing boats, even faster than the foiling catamarans that were used in the last two America Cup editions.
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Trinity House To Light Up Beacons To Commemorate The 100 Years For The First World War To End

10 Trinity House lighthouses and locations to be lit in memory of the casualties of First World War on 11 November 2018, to commemorate the end the World War one. Across the UK, many beacons are planned to be lit on the same day, representing the culmination of darkness and return of the light of peace and harmony at 7 pm where Trinity House will participate and all public members came to witness the display. The following locations are designated for lighting the beacons. Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Minister and Viscount Grey of Fallodon made a comment on August 1914 about the gas lights that lighted up at dusk along London. Mall while he was gazing out of the window and it paved the way for the inspiration of this event. He stated to his friend that the lamps were lit all over Europe and some of them might not even be lit in their lifetime. The commemorative event will be held throughout the day on 11 November 2018, where Beacons will be lighted as a part of Battles?

It is brought to the attention people wishing to attend the Trinity House beacon lightings that no comfort facilities are available on site and access is usually difficult. It will be interesting to see the further response to this event. The sailing world and the world of boating have been deeply affected by the same.  The heroes of the First World War have been remembered and their memories must cherish for a lifetime. It is through these noble actions in one sport can the same be replicated in the others. Trinity House actions were commended by the World media and that is indeed a good thing for the popularity of the sport.

New Zealand Got Hopes Of Gold, Thanks To A Friendly Rivalry Between Finn Pair

The sailing duo from New Zealand Andy Maloney and Josh Junior will probably remain in a head-to-head race for a spot in the team of 2020 Olympic, however, they are willing to support each other during the process. The New Zealand team teammates are working alongside and together. They are sharing information with each other in that one of the pair will deliver Olympic Gold for the nation in Olympic of 2020 Tokyo.

The junior said “Our coach is the same, we all live together and we travel together. We have been trained together, so we are friendly rivals. We just try to encourage each other to perform better and be better than others. Thus, when we are out for training and if someone is doing something good, we all talk to each other and try  to understand what they are doing and learn off from each other.”
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Sailing Races Around The World

There are several sailing events of international importance that are ongoing this weekend and next. Foremost among them is the Volvo Ocean Race that starts from Alicante. There is also a middle sea race that would span 608 miles and would start from Valletta which is a harbor area in Malta. The third event to look out for is the Annual Student Yachting World championship that is in its 37th edition and was flagged off from Frioul islands which is off the coast of Marseilles. This race concludes this weekend, which would be completing five days of consequent races.

There is also the 690 mile long race between Hong Kong to Vietnam which is happening this weekend and is in its biennial edition.

Among all these races the Volvo Ocean Race is eminent which is inevitable. This event has a lot of glitz and glamor attached to it as it will carry on through winter and continues till June 2018 when the contenders will be reaching Cape Horn or Cape of Good Hope. The race would finish at The Hague in The Netherlands. This race has a predominant European flavor, though the Chinese connections are also evident. This race will have seven skippers among whom one skipper position underwent a change when a replacement had to be sought as there was a budget overrun issue. The first leg of the race starts this weekend from the Alicante harbor of Spain, which is located on the Iberian Peninsula. The first leg continues till Lisbon in Portugal which would span 1450 miles. There are stars like Damian Foxall and Annalise Murphy, who are sailors on Volvo 65 One Designs and would be holding the attention of most people. Damian being a boy from Derrynane has proven himself in several international sailing events, Annalise Murphy has signed up to be part of the Turn the Tide on Plastic campaign.

Azzurro Claims Overall Win At Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race

The 2017 Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race is a very popular event and this time the overall victory was claimed by none other than Komatsu Azzurro.


This is the second time that Azzurro of Shane Kearns has won the overall title in three years at this prestigious event. He finished with a corrected time of 3 days 1 hour 40 min and 25 seconds. The second position was grabbed by Ian Creak’s Beneteau 47.7 Ausreo who finished 2 hours 36 min and 23 seconds behind Azzurro.

The Monday night wind shifts blew in favor of Azzurro and it moved from northerly to southerly. This change meant that the faster boats were able to get better results than the other boats. His team of six strong crew members had the wind advantage on their side and this helped them to steer the boat ahead of the competition and enjoy a comfortable lead. Continue reading Azzurro Claims Overall Win At Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race

Newport To Ensenada Race All Set To Go

The Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race (NTEIRC) 70th edition is all set to start. For the contest of its type, it has attracted 187 entries.


Here one can see sailors of all types, the serious one, recreational cruisers and weekend racers, all competing for over 45 trophies.

The starting point of the race is Newport Beach, CA Balboa Pier and the finish point is 125 nm later off Ensenada, Baja Mexico. This is for most of the fleet participating in the race. To fulfill the requirements of Transpac Race, a longer course is there which will extend 176 nm. The starting of the course is San Clemente Island and the finish point is Ensenada.

Before the beginning of the race, the forecast has been made. According to the forecast, the conditions on the day will be unstable during the early hours. However, this has no impact on the confidence and morale of all the participating teams. Continue reading Newport To Ensenada Race All Set To Go

Alex Thomson And Vendee Globe

Alex Thomson has his own stories to tell as he has completed the eighth edition of the Vendee Globe tour that had a total of 29 skippers participating across the nations and four continents. Alex Thomson can be considered to be the first winner from Britain of this historic solo world race in sailing.

He recounted in the media his experiences of the day the group set sail from the Les Sables d’Olonnne on November 6th. For him the race was the fourth attempt. The atmosphere was incredible among the thousands of people who came to see the skippers off. He admits that waving goodbye to his family is the hardest thing to do, but his wife understands that it is his life’s ambition and supports him in his endeavors. Continue reading Alex Thomson And Vendee Globe

Seychellois Sailor Wins Gold & Silver

Allan Julie the sailor from Seychellois won gold medal in the African championship under the laser standard category. The event took place in Maputo in Mozambique.


After winning the championship Julie shared his thought and said, “The championship was tough and I was competing with sailors that were much younger to me, I am very happy with the result and my performance too. Now I am feeling motivated, I think at this age, I have potential to win the tournament then I think I have lots more to give.,” He further added that “All the participants of the category in which I was competing had come back from recently held Olympic Games and in this entire year, in this category; I have not completed any championship. Thus, the championship was challenging to me and I had to put all my efforts to the best to win,” Talking about the preparation made for this event Julie said, “I did not do any extra thing except focusing on fitness and skill. But yes, I participated in various regional sailing competitions in August to stay motivated and brush my skills.” Continue reading Seychellois Sailor Wins Gold & Silver

Bertrand Very Happy To Win Etchells Worlds

The Etchells Worlds was held at the Cowes form 5th to the 10th September 2016. John Bertrand and his team comprising of Paul Blowers and Ben Lamb were adjudged the overall winners of the Cowes Etchells Worlds. Bertrand was over the moon after winning the Etchells and said that it has been a roller coaster ride.

Bertrand has won the Etchells Worlds for the second time in his career. What makes this win even more special is that he has won it at the age of 69. He said that he had put together this team to compete in the Worlds and was happy that the team was able to pull it out at the Cowes. The last time Bertrand won it was in 2010 when Tom Slingsby was at the bow. Now the team has Ben Lamb in place of Tom and he has had a wonderful week, according to Bertrand.

His other sailing partner Paul Blowers knows the UK waters in and out having helped set up Yacht Charter in Scotland and this helped the team to sail better on it. Winning the worlds is always special because a lot of tough teams and popular sailing teams compete in the Worlds. The sailors taking part in the Worlds are from all over the world and also from every aspect of the sailing sport. Continue reading Bertrand Very Happy To Win Etchells Worlds