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August 20, 2007Groupe BEL to be launched in September

Designed by the Van Peteghem-Lauriot Prévost team, in conjunction with Guillaume Verdier, Kito de Pavant’s boat (Groupe Bel) will be launched in early September in Rosignano, south of Livorno in Italy. "There’s still a lot to do,” explained Kito. "We´re currently fitting the boat out and installing the equipment, before the painting can begin in a few days." Since the deck was fitted in mid-July, all of the pieces of the puzzle have been coming together. The keel, daggerboards and hydraulic systems were made in Milan, the winches in England, parts for the rig in Spain, the sails and rudders in La Trinité (Southern Brittany), and finally the mast in Montpellier.

August 15, 2007PRB winner of the Fastnet Race

Vincent Riou and Sébastien Josse won the 42nd edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race on Wednesday 15th August. In so doing, they also set a race record of 50 hours 17 minutes and 44 seconds, smashing the previous record set by Catherine Chabaud on Whirlpool in 1999 of 2 days 5 hours and 19 minutes. A great victory after a particularly hard race. The 608 miles separating Cowes from Plymouth via the Fastnet Rock were far from being quiet for the 17 competitors in the Imoca 60-foot class. Gusts of 40 knots and very unstable winds made the race particularly difficult, forcing six competitors to retire. Cheminées Poujoulat was runner-up and Hugo Boss third.

August 02, 2007Great American III back in the water

At the end of a refit that will have lasted ten months, Rich Wilson’s Great American III was relaunched yesterday at the Maine Yacht Center in Portland, U.S. In the next few weeks, the boat will be undergoing the compulsory Imoca tests before being re-christened later in the month. Several weeks of sea trials are planned (some of which will be taking place in Marblehead, Massachusetts) in order to prepare the boat for the Vendée Globe 2008-09.

August 01, 2007Dee Caffari tries her hand in a Mini in the Transgascogne

The second leg of the Transgascogne race across the Bay of Biscay got underway from Santander last Saturday. Among the 53 racers setting sail, a certain Dee Caffari, the skipper of the Aviva monohull, who will be racing in the next Vendée Globe. An occasion for the English yachtswoman to try her hand in some strong to gale force winds on her little \"nutshell\" of a boat. The start of the Transgascogne from Les Sables d’Olonne was a way for her to look into the future and imagine the exciting start of the Vendée Globe. Dee Caffari: «As day broke and the lights of Les Sables d’Olonne disappeared at dawn, I had a lump in my throat. The next time I shall have this sight in my vision will be at the end of the next Vendée Globe.»

August 01, 2007Ecover 3 in Auckland

Mike Golding’s new ECOVER 3 built in New Zealand left the Hakes Marine yard in Wellington on Sunday evening to head for the famous \"Viaduct Basin\" in Auckland, the base of the America’s Cup winner, Alinghi. This new boat built for the 2008 Vendée Globe is due to race for the first time in the forthcoming Transat Jacques Vabre. During the last Vendée Globe, Mike finished third on ECOVER 2. Here are his first impressions of his new boat: \" It is great to see the boat here. I am hoping that working at the Alinghi base will be a good omen. But after all the work and stresses over the last month it is great to see the boat in the flesh, it looks fantastic here, and you start to appreciate what we have. It looks like we have a great boat.\" On Wednesday, the boat is due to undergo her 180 degree righting test, which involves turning the boat over with the help of a crane and a belt wrapped around the bulb. The skipper is inside and without any outside help must right the boat using simply her swinging keel system. \"It a very scary test\" warns Golding, \" If things go wrong - it would not be just a little wrong!\" Today the mast and rigging will be stepped for the first time. On Thursday if the weather is perfect, the ECOVER team may attempt the second test stipulated by the race and class rules, a 90 degree test in which they measure the pull up load on the mast with the boat pulled over at 90 degrees. On Friday the boat must be lifted out again, disassembled and packaged for shipping. On Saturday the container and boat and mast will be finally packed for movement early on Sunday. Then it’s off to Europe!

July 30, 2007Paprec-Virbac is going to have to change her keel changed

Launched in early February 2007 and having sailed half way around the world, Jean-Pierre Dick’s new monohull Paprec-Virbac 2 has gone into the yard in Lorient for a complete overhaul. It was during this thorough verification that the technical team noticed some cracks on the keel. Better safe than sorry, so a new keel blade is going to be built in New Zealand. Paprec-Virbac 2 will therefore not be able to take part in the Rolex Fastnet Race in August. The boat will be relaunched in early October.
Here’s what Jean-Pierre Dick had to say: \"There are cracks in several places in particular at the top of the keel blade near where it is attached to the ram. The metal (steel) is not homogenous. There was fault in its manufacture, so we can’t be sure of how solid the appendage is. It’s better to resolve the problem now rather than lose the keel in the middle of the ocean! We don’t want to take any risks in the next few races and are thinking in particular of the safety of the sailors. A new keel blade has to be made in New Zealand. The Paprec Virbac sailing team has a lot of experience in carrying out thorough checks in several phases: sea trials, hald way around the world and checks in the yard in Lorient. This process works well, and the proof is clear today, even if this discovery was not really a happy one for us.\"