More sailing news

Today marks 100 days to the historic 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - the 75th 628-nautical-mile race to Constitution Dock in Hobart, Tasmania.

The 90 sailors in the Mini-Transat La Boulangère have been dockside in the Bassin des Chalutiers in La Rochelle since Wednesday evening. As such, they’re ready to welcome visitors wishing to come along and admire their 6.50m monohulls before the start of leg one to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Sunday 22 September.

The 30th edition of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, which saw more than 50 boats gathered in Porto Cervo, ended with another fantastic day of racing. The event is organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the support of the title sponsor Rolex and the International Maxi Association.

Emirates Team New Zealand christened their first AC75 at their team base in Auckland today.  The Defender is the first America’s Cup team to launch the first generation of the 75-foot foiling monohull  that will be racing in less than 250 days in Cagliari for the America’s Cup World Series Sardegna. 

In less than three weeks, on Sunday 22 September at 14:15 hours local time, 90 sailors (including 8 women), will take the start in La Rochelle of the 22^nd edition of the Mini-Transat La Boulangère with Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canaries) as the destination of the first leg.

Two-time Volvo Ocean Race participants Charlie Enright (Bristol, RI) and Mark Towill (Honolulu, HI), Co-Founders of 1 Degree, announced today that they have formally renewed their team’s sponsorship with 11th Hour Racing for a long-term and visionary campaign, with their eyes set on the 2021-22 “The Ocean Race.”

The first day of racing brought ideal wind conditions for the fleet of 50 boats competing in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, an event organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the support of title sponsor Rolex and the International Maxi Association which celebrates its 30th edition this year.

Harm Müller-Spreer’s Platoon team won the Rolex TP52 World Championship title on the Bay of Palma today, but the German-flagged team, led by the Hamburg-based owner-driver did not make it easy for themselves as they had to contend with two additional penalty points that they were given for twice making contact with rival boats as well as two penalties for different infringements during a tense, nervy showdown with Azzurra.

A testing, northwesterly offshore wind of 12-17kts produced fantastic racing conditions today at the Rolex TP52 World Championship on the Bay of Palma out of Puerto Portals as Harm Müller-Spreer’s Platoon took control of the title race. They posted two first places and a fifth to lead the championship by seven points going into the final day, Thursday.

Pieter Taselar’s Bliksem team provided a masterclass in success through making the least mistakes rather than winning races on the opening day of the M32 World Championship on Lake Garda. The US-based Dutch team never won a race but never scored worse than a fourth leaving them with a might nine point lead, ahead of Don Wilson’s second-placed Convexity, in turn just a point ahead of Larry Phillips’ Midtown.