February 2011 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 21. Yacht Racing News


New fleet for longest race as Sir Robin Knox-Johnston celebrates 15 years of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race British sailing legend, Sir Robin Knox- Johnston, is celebrating 15 years as chairman of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race by announcing a brand new fleet of twelve 70- foot racing yachts for his global ocean chal- lenge.


CLIPPER ROUND THE WORLD YACHT RACE


seas, the Clipper 70 is likely to set new speed records compared to the previous fleets; crews can expect to top 30 knots when con- ditions suit.


Sir Robin says, “Racing around the world still remains one of life’s great chal- lenges and I’m extremely proud to have wit- nessed over the past 15 years how the Clipper Race has changed people’s lives and turned almost 3,000 sailing novices into experienced ocean racers. With the eighth edition of the race, Clipper 11-12, set to start in August 2011, we have commissioned the highly re- spected naval architect, Tony Castro, to de- sign us a new fleet that will bring the Clipper Race to the next level for Clipper 13-14 and beyond.”


Tony Castro’s Clipper 70 will form the third generation of Clipper racing yachts and his design is an exciting one, perfectly suited for this particularly gruelling sailing event. The new yachts will be built in China and fitted out by UK and international suppliers and the fleet will increase from ten to 12 yachts, with an option for a further four. The crew capacity of each yacht has also in- creased from 20 to 22.


The original Clipper 60 fleet completed four races between 1996 and 2003 before being replaced by the longer, lighter and faster Clipper 68 for the next four races. For the Clipper 13-14 Round the World Yacht Race the introduction of the Clipper 70 steps things up a gear once more.


The inclusion of state of the art features in the new hull design will give better perfor- mance and, when surfing on big following


Sen. McCain’s Son Earns Wings of Gold By Jay Cope, NAS Whiting Field PA WHITING FIELD, FL (NNS) — Arizona Sena- tor John McCain served as the guest speaker for the winging ceremony that included his son, aboard Naval Air Station Whiting Field, FL, Jan. 28.


Ens. John S. McCain IV, received his “wings of gold” following his completion of initial helicopter training. Fifteen other stu- dents achieved the designation with Ens. McCain and were praised by the senator during his speech.


“Your mission is the same as it has al- ways been,” Senator McCain said. “You are the defenders of our freedoms and the custo- dian of our values. We are blessed to be Americans, not just in times of peace and prosperity. We are part of something provi- dential: a great experiment to prove to the world that democracy is not only the most effective form of government, but the only moral government…On behalf of our coun- try, and for myself, I can say I am certain we are in good hands.”


More than 30,000 helicopter pilots have achieved this designation as the Navy pre- pares to celebrate the 100th year of Naval aviation. Every Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard helicopter pilot now receives their training at NAS Whiting Field through one of the three helicopter training squad- rons on the base.


The younger McCain graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2009. He was selected for naval aviation and after Aviation Preflight Indoctrination aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, he attended primary flight training for the T-6A with the 33rd Flying Training Squadron aboard Vance Air Force Base, OK.


He continued his training at NAS Whit-


New features include twin helms, twin rudders and a six-foot bowsprit which allows the inclusion of a huge Code Zero sail to complement a suite of Yankee headsails, staysail and main. This new sail will increase performance in light airs and deliver higher daily average speeds across the 40,000-mile race. The mainsail will have three reefing points and will be set from 92-foot mast. Clipper Ventures Plc’s chief executive, William Ward, believes the race has carved a unique niche in the market which has given the UK based company the confidence to commit to a multi-million pound (GBP) invest- ment in a new fleet in order to meet the growing demand from crews and sponsors. He says, “We have amassed huge expe- rience in the last 15 years. The Clipper Race is the only event of its type in the world. We have had to develop robust crew training, race management, international relations and business development expertise. Crew places on the last race sold out well in ad- vance and Clipper 11-12 is set to do the same. We will therefore be using the 2011 London International Boat Show to launch our crew recruitment drive for Clipper 13-14 and be- yond.”


The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is the only event of its kind for people from all walks of life regardless of previous sailing experience. The next edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race starts in August 2011 and, at 40,000 miles, it is the world’s longest global ocean challenge. Crew taking part in this unique event repre- sent more than 40 nationalities and in Clipper 09-10 were drawn from more than 230 profes-


UNITED STATES NAVY NEWS


ing Field with Helicopter Training Squadron (HT) 18. The winging ceremony is the step- ping stone to his next phase of training in the fleet.


Senator McCain is also a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served for 22 years in the Navy as a naval aviator. During his time in service he became a Prisoner of War for more than five years. After his release, he returned to the U.S. and continued to serve in the Navy until his retirement in 1981. McCain has been involved with the United States Congress and Senate for 27 years in on-going service to the United States.


USS Abraham Lincoln Passes Key Maintenance Inspection


By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Seth Clarke, USS Abraham Lincoln USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, At Sea (NNS) — USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) success- fully passed its 2010-2011 Maintenance and Material Management Inspection (3MI) Jan. 25-29, demonstrating a high level of expertise in shipboard equipment and maintenance procedures.


Lincoln received a final score of 92.34 percent from Naval Air Forces inspectors who conducted spot checks of equipment maintenance, tested the crew’s knowledge of the Navy’s Material Data System (MDS), and performed administrative reviews to ensure maintenance accountability and validation paperwork was correct.


“The results are fantastic,” said Master Chief Electrician’s Mate James T. Jennings. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is deployed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility, conducting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts to establish conditions for regional stability.


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sions. They can sign up for the whole circum- navigation or one or more of eight legs. The overall race is divided into individual stages and points are accumulated in a Formula 1- style scoring system. The yacht with the highest total at the finish wins the Clipper Trophy.


www.clipperroundtheworld.com Clipper Ventures Plc: More than 40 years have gone by since Sir Robin Knox- Johnston’s record breaking solo and non- stop circumnavigation in 1968-69. Now, as Chairman of Clipper Ventures Plc, he is at the forefront of promoting round the world yacht


racing. Clipper Ventures, the marine events company founded in 1995, is focused on developing and pro- moting major events capable of at- tracting significant participation, income, media coverage and asso- ciated sponsorship revenue. Sir Robin founded the company on the premise that sailing should be made available to everyone, creating the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in which anyone, regardless of age or experience, can take part. More than 2,000 people have now competed in the seven races to date. The company also owns the rights to the VELUX 5 OCEANS race and runs successful events and training divisions.


Sir Robin Knox-Johnston is the Executive Chairman and founder Director of Clipper Ven- tures Plc. Sir Robin has been in- volved in sailing all his life and holds a Department of Transport Master’s Certificate. He is the first person to sail solo and non-stop around the world and has also set


the record for the fastest circumnavigation with Sir Peter Blake. In 2007 he completed his second solo circumnavigation when he com- peted in the VELUX 5 OCEANS race. Sir Robin has considerable experience of the administration of round the world races hav- ing served on the Whitbread Race committee from 1990 to 1994 and having organised the BOC Challenge Round the World Race in 1982 and 1986. He has been named RYA/YJA Yachtsman of the Year an unprecedented three times and will be participating in the 2010 Sydney-Hobart race at the age of 71.


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