News Around the World
Francisco Vives and Miguel Roig begin the first stage of this year’s hugely popular solo/doublehanded Transquadra from Barcelona to Madeira. The pair won the two-handed division in their fleet while a mirror fleet was racing to the same destination from St Nazaire. As usual the race also featured a large singlehanded division, also split into two start ports. The combined fleet will shortly restart for the final race finish in Martinique. On the opening stages the results were dominated by JPK 1010s and Jeanneau SunFast 3200s
This year also saw the addition of superyachts sharing the same spectacular sailing waters – and sometimes the same racing marks – for the New Zealand Millennium Cup. This event saw its heyday during the 2000 and 2003 America’s Cup events in Auckland, when more than 50 boats competed in various divisions, even including a motoryacht section!
This year five superyachts competed for the Millennium Cup, with two smaller yachts, the old Whitbread maxi Steinlager 2and a Laurie Davidson 66, Antaeus, sailing for the Pacific Cup. Joining forces with the Bay of Islands event proved a smart move. The Auckland event was beginning to look somewhat stale and the change of venue sparked new interest, which will hopefully grow in future. It is a glorious body of water, where masses of yachts migrate for the summer in any event, so the amalgamation makes perfect sense. ‘The Bay of Islands Sailing Week has been taken to new levels in 2015 with the addition of the Millennium Cup, with exciting and spectacular action on the water,’ noted yachting commentator Peter Montgomery.
Superyacht racing has of course evolved with its own credible performance-based handicapping system, with staggered starts intended to bring the competitors back to the finish line en masse. This year the Perini Navi ketch Silenciowas the most consistent performer, taking out the top prize. Beneath the glamour and the sunny images of the Bay of Islands event lies a somewhat darker reality. The strength of the New Zealand dollar makes importing former race yachts like TP52s and even new production boats an attractive, rational economic decision. Market forces and all that. But this is at the expense of local builders who are feeling the strain. Very few new local boats have been built in recent years and a look through the Bay of Islands and other race fleets confirms the trend to new and used imports. Similarly, the strong dollar (combined with the hangover from the global financial crisis) is a factor working against the superyacht sector in New Zealand. Two significant super yacht yards have closed their doors in recent years. The survivors, Yachting Developments, McMullen & Wing and Alloy Yachts, which once had owners queuing up to get their boats built, are now forced to work extremely hard to secure orders. From an industry perspective a fall in the exchange rate cannot come soon enough. Ivor Wilkins
14 SEAHORSE ITALY (Well) on the way – Team Vestas Wind
As the Volvo fleet crossed the finish line of the leg to Sanya, China, the VO65 Vestas Wind was onboard a container ship drawing in to the terminal in Genoa, Italy, on its journey to the hoped- for reconstruction and return in time for the final stages of the race. On Monday 26 January the yacht was unloaded in the presence of a small group of journalists, welcomed by Mirella Vitale, vice- president of Vestas Wind, together with the company’s Volvo Race media manager Carla Anselmi. Of course, many others from the team were also present, including skipper Chris Nicholson and shore manager Neil Cox.
The close-up view of a wreck always arouses a strong impression, emitting an unearthly charm. Anyone going to sea is pleased that it was not him onboard. In Genoa this feeling was further exacerbated by the presence, clearly visible from the other side of the basin, of another ‘world-class’ wreck, but very much larger: the Costa Concordia. Two completely different stories that share a great recovery operation – in the case of the Concordiato remove her from the Island of Giglio in an operation that has no equal in the history of the marine industry. In the case of Vestas Windto remove the boat from a pristine reef in the Pacific with the goal to try to get back into the race was also a significant challenge. On arrival in Italy the salvaged VO65 presented with a hull completely destroyed in the stern area, while from the bow to amidships only a few scratches are visible. In reality, the impact with the reef, while violent, was not the main cause of the damage that can be seen; that was the result of the breaking waves that combined with a fast moving tide to pound the stern against the coral for more than a week. The deck of Vestas Wind, on the other hand, is almost completely intact and will be recovered along with some bulkheads to be coupled to a new or repaired hull. Sadly the mast, although intact, had to be cut down to remove it from the boat, as did the keel – both will be replaced with new elements. But most of the deck equipment was safely recovered and will be reinstalled. As you read this article reconstruction is well underway. However, it has yet to be decided whether the damaged hull will be rebuilt or, more likely, a brand new hull will be grafted onto the existing deck and surviving frames. A new hull is now being laminated
VAN MALLEGHEM/DPPI
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