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September 18, 2007The Princess Royal names Ecover

The newly built Open 60, ECOVER 3 was officially named today by HRH The Princess Royal at the Southampton Boat Show celebrating the result of more than ten months hard work on her by Mike Golding’s team. During the ceremony, the Princess Royal took some time to look over the boat and was given a guided tour by Mike. She had a chat on board with the main designer, Merfyn Owen, the builder, Paul Hakes and a long time friend and supporter of Mike’s, Jorgen Philip-Sorensen as well as Mick Bremans, the CEO of ECOVER. An obviously overjoyed Mike Golding gave his reaction: « Of course there is always lots of protocol and stuff to work through in the lead up, but she instantly puts you at ease and was very knowledgeable. I have met her a few times in the past and she is always up to date with what I have been up to. She is genuinely passionate about the sport and does follow what is going on in the sport. It is nice when she arrives and asks pertinent questions which she did. She is very natural and very easy to get along with. »

September 15, 2007Bravery award for Mike Golding

Mike Golding was yesterday awarded a silver medal for gallantry by the “Royal Humane Society”, for the rescue of the British yachtsman, Alex Thomson, during the Five Oceans race. Founded in 1774, the Society has only awarded four silver medals in the last five years, in recognition of the bravery of someone, who has saved a life. It was on 24th November that Alex called for help and Mike Golding immediately came to his rescue. Golding said he was honoured to receive the medal, but added, “The very best reward for me will always be the fact that Alex is safe and I was able to help.”

September 11, 2007Sébastien Josse flying the colours of BT

The British telecommunications company, BT announced today that they have signed a three year partnership deal with Offshore Challenges Sailing Team to become the headline partner for ‘BT Team Ellen’. Under the terms of the contract, two boats will be sporting the firm’s colours and Ellen MacArthur will become an ambassador for the company’s social responsibility programme. The team, which brings together, under the colours of BT, Ellen MacArthur, Sébastien Josse and Nick Moloney among others, will be taking part in several ocean races for the IMOCA class, of which Sébastien Josse’s participation in the 2008-09 Vendée Globe will be the climax.

September 06, 2007Jonny Malbon goes it alone

The British yachtsman, Jonny Malbon has just returned home after a week of training alone on board Artemis. He sailed the Open 60 into Cowes on Tuesday evening after a voyage out into the Atlantic past the Scillies to the South of Ireland. Here’s what he had to say on arriving home, \" A lot of good things came of the training sail and it was a testament to how the boys had worked, the boat was brilliant and trouble free for the whole trip. A big learning curve for me for sure, and just a step towards the big one next year. I was really happy out there and I\'m sure that when the competition side of things come into play, then I will relish the experience even more.\"

September 06, 2007First sail for Spirit of Canada

On Friday, Derek Hatfield’s Open 60, Spirit of Canada had her first sail while taking part in the celebrations for the Canadian military air display team, the Snowbirds. The team’s pilots, who flew past the monohull were able to experience her for themselves this week on the boat’s second sail. Derek Hatfield will shortly be making an announcement about his Vendée Globe qualifying run. Meanwhile onboard visits are being organised to stimulate the interest of the Canadian public.

September 03, 2007Groupe Bel has come out of the yard

The 60-ft Open monohull Groupe Bel, designed by Guillaume Verdier and the Van Peteghem - Lauriot Prévost team, came out of the Indiana Boating boatyard in Tuscany today. The most recent addition to the IMOCA fleet to be skippered by Kito de Pavant will be launched mid-week before sailing for the first time off the Italian coast. She will then head for her home port of Port Camargue. On 3rd November, in Le Havre, Kito de Pavant and Sébastien Col will be lining up for the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre to head for Salvador de Bahia in Brazil.