Winds force MedCup cancellation

Mark Pawlak    sailingbreaks     Sailing, sailing events, sailing holiday, sailing races

The final day of racing has been cancelled at one of Europe’s biggest sailing events.

Strong Mistral winds made it impossible to hold the last scheduled showdown of the Audi MedCup Marseille Trophy 2011. The tough conditions saw the magnificent yachts of the TP52 fleet remain firmly moored in Vieux Port.

The 16-metre racing yachts, constructed entirely of carbon fibre, are widely considered to be the Formula 1 craft of the sea, with the brand also a popular choice for those taking part in corporate sailing events.

The cancellation in Marseilles made the previous day’s results final, with Container named the winner followed by Quantum Racing.

There was also silverware for the Audi Azzurra sailing team, who took third place as they did in the first leg in Cascais.

The overall classification for the circuit after two legs also sees Azzurra in third place with Quantum in the lead and Container in second.

Azzurra tactician Francesco Bruni said: “We came in the top three again, even if with some difficulty, it is still a good result.”

“We made a few too many mistakes and on two occasions we could have done better, in any case this is a positive result. The next objective is to be protagonists during the home leg in Cagliari from July 19.”

AZAB racers: Back from the Azores

Mark Pawlak    sailingbreaks     AZAB 2011, AZAB race, Sailing, sailing events, Sailing for charity

And we’re back!

(Position 13 (of 60 boats), time taken – 7 days 8 hrs 55 min – distance 1140 miles +)

We have now (finally) finished our Azores and back race (Falmouth to the Azores). After an eventful trip of nearly hitting whales bigger than the boat, boat breakages, violent broaches (where boat skews round out of control) and generally living in a washing machine of a boat with 2 hrs of sleep for days on end – we came about 13th (yet to be confirmed on handicap). Which for my 1st Ocean Race is a great result. We pushed hard and got a pleasing result!

In fact iGOSKi was the first Cruiser/racer over the line and we pushed her hard for 9 days out and 7 days back – across part of the Atlantic in a bid to raise funds (and my blood pressure!) for Sail4Cancer. Thanks ever so much to all those who have pledged, there is still time for those who haven’t. I will get around to more personal thanks if I can, but so many of you have been so generous to this great cause.

Find out more about the race at AZAB 2011 and more about the crew’s nominated nominated charitySail 4 Cancer

New Zealand to host sailing events

Ian K    ash, sailingbreaks, Tribe Sailing Blogs     Auckland International Boat Show, Ciaduct Events Centre, Dinghy Sailing, Millennium Cup, New Zealand, NZ Marine Export Group, Pacific, regatta, Sailing, sailing events, Superyacht Captains Forum, Volvo Ocean Race, Yachting

New Zealand might be hosting the Rugby World Cup later this year, but sailing – its other national pastime – is being celebrated with a few events of its own for good measure.

People who have a keen interest in sailing events might be interested to discover that the NZ Marine Export Group is hosting the 2011 Superyacht Captains Forum on September 15-16, which will take place at the Viaduct Events Centre to coincide with the Auckland International Boat Show.

Photo from Flickr user: arriba

Furthermore, Auckland will also host the 2012 Millennium Cup between February 23-25, with one of the highlights being a race between 11 identical 34ft MRX Farr-designed yachts. The Millennium Cup regatta for sailboats and motoryachts of 24m and above will also take place between February 23-25.

The NZ Millennium Cup proceeds the Auckland leg of the Volvo Ocean Race between March 8 and 18 next year.