Entries Tagged 'News' ↓

French windsurfing champion Antoine Albeau has broken the world speed sailing record. Although yet to be ratified Albeau clocked up 49.09 knots, which is 91 km/h, beating the previous record by 0.4 of a knot. A World Sailing Speed Record Council observer was on hand to verify the record breaking run.

The record was set on a specially built canal at Saintes Maries de la Mer in the south of France. The area is subject to the “Mistral” a strong cold wind which funnels down the Rhone Valley from the Alps in winter and spring.

Would be contenders for the record have been waiting for the right wind conditions to hit the canal. On Wednesday a 45-50 knot Mistral came in with gusts up to 60 knots, although conditions were rough and the wind angle was not ideal for a record breaking run. 14 windsurfers spent the day trying to break the elusive 50 knot limit to no avail with Albeau topping out at the 49 knot mark around midday.

French trimaran l’Hydroptere is due to be launched in a weeks time. The boat is being optimised for all out speed with the object of breaking the 50 knot speed barrier.

Earlier this week there was an unfortunate capsizing and sinking of a trawler off the northern NSW coast after the boats fishing nets caught on a reef. The skipper of the vessel is still missing and hopes are fading for his survival. In two amazing feats of endurance the two crew men have survived the ordeal. One crew man managed to swim 12km to shore to alert the authorities and is still in hospital suffering form exhaustion and dehydration. The 2nd crewman was rescued after 30 hours in the water clinging to an esky and suffering badly from dehydration and hypothermia.

Although the water temperature in the area is 22-24 degC, hypothermia can start to be a problem in less than 3 hours and many people would lose consciousness after 12 hours. In this case the capsize and sinking was sudden and the crew have ended up with no lifejackets and no means of alerting anyone to their plight.

All this emphasises the need to prepare ourselves as much as possible against the unexpected.

In a previous article I reported on David Vanns attempt at a single handed sail around the world in his aluminium catamaran. His motivation appears to be to provide the material for a book about his trip.

David is a good writer and is obviously very determined. It would definitely take determination and perseverance to see this project through to the end. However, as many other commentators have surmised, these qualities are not necessarily enough to design and build a boat that is going to make it around the world in one piece.

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105′ trimaran Groupama III’s attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy has ended in spectacular disaster. Last night the leeward float apparently broke in two and then the beams broke causing the hull to capsize. Groupama III was half way through the non stop round the world record attempt. They had been at sea for 24 days and were a day ahead of current record holder, Bruno Peyrons maxi catamaran Orange II.

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In 1977 legendary British explorer, mountaineer and yachtsman Bill Tilman was invited to join a group of adventurers aboard the converted tug En Avant. The expedition was organised and led by 24 year old Simon Richardson with the intention of climbing Mt Foster on Smith Island close to Antarctica. Richardson had accompanied the now 79 year old Tilman on some previous expeditions and Tilman had led an unsuccessful attempt on Mt Foster in the 1960’s. The En Avant disappeared without trace en-route from Rio De Janeiro to the Falkland Islands.

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Reports are coming in of an 18m charter yacht “Romance” which has run aground during atrocious weather conditions in the Whitsunday Islands.

The vessel is believed to have smashed into rocks off Hook Island. 37 passengers and 5 crew are onboard for a 2 day cruise due to return to Airlie Beach today. Police have been unable to get a rescue boat to the scene due to the rough conditions. Two rescue helicopters are heading out this morning to airlift the passengers and crew to safety.

The area has been subject to gale force winds and rough seas overnight as a monsoonal trough moves south through the area. Weather conditions are expected to ease during the day.

Update:

It seems it was a dramatic time in the Whitsundays overnight with many boats breaking free of their mooring. One family with four young children had to be rescued from their boat just metres from the rockwall in Airlie Beach by the Police.

The charter yacht “Romance” was moored on the Northwest side of Hook Island and presumably broke free of her mooring ending up on the rocky shore some time around 3.30 am. Having experienced more excitement than they bargained for all the passengers and crew were airlifted to safety by the RACQ CQ Rescue helicopters with no serious injuries sustained.

In France, a team led by Alain Thébault is preparing to break the world speed record for a sailing vessel. l’Hydroptere is a trimaran with hydrofoils. The current speed world record of 48.7 knots for a sailing vessel is held by Finian Maynard on a windsurfer.

In April 2007, l’Hydroptere broke two speed records, averaging 44.81 knots over 500 meters and 41.69 knots over one nautical mile. The highest unofficial speed reached l’Hydroptere is 47.6 knots. The boat is now being configured for pure speed with the aim of beating Maynards record and breaking the 50 knot speed barrier.

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The BYM News reports that the conviction of visiting yachtsman James Manzari has been upheld. He has been fined $4000 and has to pay costs of $16000 plus legal costs for not announcing his arrival in his yacht within the prerequisite time frame.

Mr Manzari did in fact break the recently changed law by not informing Australian Customs of his arrival 96 hours in advance making him guilty, a fact which he has not denied. Believing there were extenuating circumstances, Mr Manzari decided to fight the charges against him.

What is not revealed in this report is that prior to his departure, Mr Manzari checked with the Australian Authorities in New Caledonia about the entry conditions for Australia. The information, which he sought in good faith, was out of date and incorrect. This apparently is Mr Manzari’s fault. He should have known better than to rely on an Australian Government agency for reliable information. In an apparent attempt to prove that we are not totally incompetent here, Australian Customs has doggedly and successfully persued Mr Manzari through the courts for this serious breach of Australia’s borders.

Mr Manzari did not try and sneak in to the Country but reported to the Authorities within the guidlines he had been given and acted in good faith. However Customs National Director Enforcement and Investigation, Brian Hurrell thinks this conviction is important in helping protect Australia’s borders from illegal activity. Onya Brian.

For a full report on this sorry saga visit The Coastal Passage

The Around In Ten is organising a round the world single handed yacht race for boats 10′ long. The race is due to commence in the Bahamas in January 2009. The aim is to beat the world record for the smallest boat circumnavigation of the world. The record, set in 1987, is currently held by Serge Testa in his 11′ 10″ aluminium yacht “Acrohc Australis”. Testa set sail from Brisbane in 1984 and spent 500 days at sea.

The Around In Ten so far has 4 confirmed entrants, with most building their own craft. These days most sailing challenges are dominated by a few (justifiably) well known sailors backed up by sponsors with deep pockets. This race, whilst quirky to say the least, gives the “little” guys a go.

On 26th January Russian adventurer/sailor Fedor Konyukhov set off from Albany on his 86ft monohull ‘Trading Network Alye Parusa’ to be the first challenger for the Antartica Cup.

The Antarctica Cup is the brainchild of Bob Williams and has taken six years to come to fruition. The concept is a race track 900 miles wide around the Antarctic continent between 45 and 6o Degrees South. The outer lane is 14,600 miles long and the inner lane 11,600 miles. Entrants are competing in a non stop time trial and may traverse the whole width of the course to take advantage of weather conditions or to avoid hazards like icebergs.

So far Konyukhov is the only yachtsman to take up the challenge.

The Antarctica Cup website has more information.