Top Devon sailor, Henry Bomby is excited to announce that his boat for this racing season will be named after Mitch Tonks’ award-winning Seafood & Chip restaurants, RockFish. The celebrity chef has supported 22 year old Henry for several years but this title sponsorship is taking his backing to a new level.

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Mitch Tonks: “Henry has to be the most driven, committed, enthusiastic, charming young man I have met, he is an inspiration to be around. It was his charisma, ability and belief that led us at the Seahorse and RockFish to want to sponsor his solo sail round Britain a few years ago and we have been closely following his progress since. This latest challenge on the Figaro circuit is seriously hard work and requires determination and support. He is an inspiration to those around him and we are so proud to be involved”

Mitch and Henry met in Dartmouth back in 2010 when they both sailed Contessa 26′s. Mitch’s growing business means he has less and less time to spend on the water but having contact with Henry inspires him to keep sailing. It’s a relationship that Mitch hopes will last a lifetime.

Henry: “Raising sponsorship and the funding to compete this year has been a real struggle, so to have the support of Mitch and RockFish has made a huge difference to my campaign. RockFish is a growing brand in the South West of England, and an exciting one too and we have many exciting ideas to help activate the sponsorship once the racing in France and the Solitaire is over, I can’t wait to be working with his team again and am looking forward to the year’s racing ahead.”

Henry, a graduate of the Cowes-based Artemis Offshore Academy is currently in France ahead of the month-long Solitaire du Figaro race. The first leg starts in Bordeaux on June 2nd where Henry will be one of 41 skippers racing single-handed on identical Figaro II boats. Once the race is over Henry will be sailing back to Dartmouth to thank all his local supporters and help Mitch launch his latest RockFish restaurant in Plymouth.

Ramnö
Price: SEK 1.000.000 + VAT. Keen Seller. Reduced 200.000 SEK off!

www.shipsforsale.se

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Price: SEK 1.000.000 + VAT. Keen Seller.

Reduced 200.000 SEK off!

12 pax covered RIB on the Swedish west coast. Working in areas with rough conditions. She can handle the highest waves. Some new machinery and engine parts.
Specifications

Flag state:
Sweden

Classification:
Not certified

LOA:
11.00 metres

LWL:
9.42 metres

Beam:
3.31 metres

Draft:
0.50 metres

Consumption:
40 l/hour

Shipyard:
Redbay Boats Ltd, Ireland

Year built:
2008

Vessel type:
Stormforce 11 X-Cabin Commercial

Built to class type:
MCA Category B

Material hull:
GRP

Displacement:
6 tonnes

Cruising speed:
28 knots

Top speed:
35 knots

No. of passengers:
12 + 2

Machinery

Main engine:
2 x Yamaha, ME 422, 225 bHp, 2300 running hours
, overhauled 2012, Overhauled 1 engine and new stern drive.

Stern drive:
Yamaha Twin prop

Engine room equipment

Inverter:
Waeco inverter

Navigation equipment

Navigational Unit:
Raymarine C120

Instruments:
Radar, GPS, Charts

Surveillance camera:
FLR night vision camera with heating sensors for navigating in the dark.

Autopilot:
Raymarine, ST6002

Echo sounder:
Navman, Fish 430

VHF:
Icom, IC-M421
Uniden

PA speakers:
Adastra, F-4 12 Volt

Tank capacity

Diesel:
2 x 450 liter

Safety equipment

Fire fighting, engine room:
CO2

Deck equipment

Anchor windlass type:
Lofrans

General arrangement

Deck. New fenders in 2012.

Engine

Wheelhouse

Passenger area

Fore peak

* JET TERN MARINE, A YARD IN MOTION
* SELENE YACHTS TAKES PART IN GERMANY’S LARGEST IN-WATER BOAT SHOW
* CONSTRUCTION OF SELENE 92 OCEAN EXPLORER IN FULL SWING
* SELENE YACHTS EUROPE RENDEZVOUS, MARINA PUNAT (CROATIA)

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JET TERN MARINE, A YARD IN MOTION

Selene Trawler yachts are built by Jet-Tern Marine Group in its production facilities in the cities of Zhuhai and Dongguan in China. The yard was established in 1998 by owner Howard Chen from Taiwan. Howard graduated from the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan with a degree in naval architecture. He received his master’s degree in architecture from Tunghai University in Taiwan, followed by an MBA degree from Sun Yat-sen University in China.

Despite the economic downturn, Jet-Tern Marine is alive with activity. Selene Yachts Europe asked Howard a number of questions to learn more about the success of this fascinating yard. Click here for the complete interview.

SELENE YACHTS TAKES PART IN GERMANY’S LARGEST IN-WATER BOAT SHOW

The next hanseboot ancora boat show will be held from 24 to 26 May at the five-star Ancora Marina in Neustadt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. With more than 140 participating yachts, this event is the country’s largest in-water boat show. At Selene Yachts, we see this as one of the major international events and are delighted to take part. The Selene Trawler 54 Blue Light will be on display to the public and we would love to welcome you aboard this beautiful trawler yacht.

The exceptionally comfortable Selene 54 is based on the same characteristics that have made the Selene brand so renowned. These include a generous salon, spacious cockpit, wide side decks, large deck spaces, and the ‘Deep Hull’ feature. Like her sister models, the Selene 54 has a solid and robust structure, making her ideal for offshore trips. Moreover, she is the most popular Selene model in our range (more than a hundred have already been built). The Selene 54 has also won the Trawler of the Year award several times in the USA.
www.hanseboot-ancora.de

CONSTRUCTION OF SELENE 92 OCEAN EXPLORER IN FULL SWING

The construction of the impressive new Selene 92 Ocean Explorer is well underway and Jet-Tern Marine is set to deliver to her American owner in the spring of 2014. Guido de Groot Design from the Netherlands is responsible for the exterior and interior design of this new flagship. The client, Guido de Groot and the yard have had numerous consultations on the detailing of the yacht, and the designers again visited the shipyard in China a few weeks ago to discuss progress.

The photos show how the hull and part of the deck looked after coming out of the mould. The hull, deck and superstructure have since been completed and the yard has started preparations for the construction of various installations. The experienced interior craftsmen at Jet-Tern Marine have now also now begun fitting the interior. The whole process can be followed in detail on the website of Selene Yachts Europe.

SELENE YACHTS EUROPE RENDEZVOUS, MARINA PUNAT (CROATIA)

This July will see the first Selene Yachts Rendezvous take place in Europe. The event will be held from 19 to 21 July at Marina Punat Croatia (www.marina-punat.hr), located in a lovely, small protected bay on the island of Krk. A comprehensive programme has been created for the event, including various activities and presentations for owners and their crew. In addition, there will be some great events such as dinners and lunches with live music and a short wine-tasting tour to the ancient village of Vrbnik. There is also an opportunity for people to visit the event during the open house on Sunday 21 July.

A number of Selene Trawlers ranging from 40 to 66 feet (12 to 20 metres) have already signed up for this unique event. If you would like to take part with your Selene Trawler yacht, or would like to come and see the other boats and get to know their owners, please contact us via info@selene-yachts.eu.

WWW.SELENE-YACHTS.EU

Musicians from Around the Globe Gather to Celebrate Maritime Traditions

Mystic, Conn. – Musicians from around the world will come to Mystic Seaport to celebrate the musical traditions of the Golden Age of Sail at the 34th annual Sea Music Festival, Thursday through Sunday, June 6-9.

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The weekend’s festivities include concerts, a storytelling stage, instructional workshops, folk dancing, and a scholar’s symposium. The Festival is the premier sea music event in North America.

In addition to the Mystic Seaport Chantey Staff, scheduled performers include the Sicilian group AcquAria , Kapriol’! from The Netherlands, and Australia’s Danny Spooner. Sara Grey, recognized as one of the finest traditional performers ever, will appear with her son Kieron Means, and the group OCEAN Celtic from Washington DC, will entertain with their unique blend of Celtic and folk based on the research of two members who work at the Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture.

A special appearance will be made on Thursday night by the Polish group Sasiedzi (“the Neighbors”), a quintet that carries on a sea chantey craze that first emerged in that country under Communism. Overall, more than 20 individuals and groups will perform at the Festival.

Returning this year is a storytelling stage co-sponsored by the Connecticut Storytelling Center and an evening sea music “contra dance,” a style of partnered folk dancing traditional to New England. The storytelling stage will feature gifted storytellers from throughout the region, who will entertain the audience with original stories and folktales from a wide range of sources. The Museum’s Wendell Building will host the stage on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The contra dance will be held Saturday evening from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Mystic German Club’s Frohsinn Hall, located directly across the street from the Museum’s main entrance on Route 27. There is an $8 admission fee for the dance.

In addition, the annual Music of the Sea Symposium, hosted in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the University of Connecticut at Avery Point, will be held on Friday and Saturday, June 7-8. The Symposium, which features presentations of themed papers by some of the country’s leading maritime music scholars, explores the interaction between sea, music and song. The Friday session will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at McAllister Hall Auditorium on the Coast Guard Academy campus and is free to the public. The Symposium continues Saturday from 9:30 a.m.to 12 p.m. at the Greenmanville Church on the grounds of Mystic Seaport. Museum admission is required. For further details and a list of Symposium presenters and topics, visit www.mysticseaport.org/smfsymposium.

All workshops and daytime concerts in the Festival are included in regular Mystic Seaport admission. Museum admission is good for two days upon ticket validation (visit must be made within one week of purchase date). Special tickets are required for evening concerts and can be purchased by calling 860.572.0711, or at the Museum’s main entrance. Weekend passes are also available. College students will be admitted into the Festival for the youth rate upon presentation of a current student ID.

For more information, including ticket packages, musicians’ bios, and a schedule of performances, visit www.mysticseaport.org/seamusicfestival.

This event is made possible by the Friends of the Sea Music Festival, who raise funds each year to generously support sea music at Mystic Seaport.

About Mystic Seaport

Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, the Museum is home to four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaleship in the world. The Museum is located one mile south of Exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT. Admission is $24 for adults and $15 for children ages 6-17. Museum members and children 5 and under are admitted free.

For more information, please visit www.mysticseaport.org.

Key points:
- 13 teams will be on the start line of the 36th edition of the TFV
- Professional teams will still face amateurs
- A.S.O. is breathing new energy into shore activities: a stronger race village, a travelling convoy and an event pole on the beaches and in the cities – details in the media guide available for download

Follow the Tour de France à la Voile
on the web :

www.tourvoile.fr/us/2013/
www.facebook.com/TourDeFranceALaVoile

https://twitter.com/#!/tourvoile
Hashtag : #TFV

The beginning of the M34 season augured of the fights to come. Newcomers Franck Cammas and Thomas Coville skillfully faced their competitors. Veteran Daniel Souben was the only one to match Cammas, recent winner of the Volvo Ocean Race, and Thomas Coville, skipper of the Sodebo maxi-trimaran. 35 days before the Tour de France à la Voile, it’s only logical for the three sailors to lead the Spring Championship, which will finish in a few days with the Normandy Sailing Week.

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Once Le Havre’s race is over, Cammas, Coville and Souben will head to the Tour de France à la Voile, a major event in the M34 circuit. There will be 13 one-design boats to race along the French coast, where high-level and amateur teams will sail altogether. But who will take the title of Fabien Henry and TPM Coych, who won in July 2012 for the third time? Groupama 34, Courrier Dunkerque 3 or Sodebo are the obvious favourites, but they will still face serious competition with Nicolas Troussel (Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite) and Omansail skippered by Cédric Pouligny.

Impressive favourites and tough competitors

The three favourites were meeting in Paris today, speaking about how impatient they were to begin the month-long race. Franck Cammas, who has been very well since he joined the class, foresees “a very tight race because of a highly competitive fleet.” His objective is clearly to win. Also seeking victory, Thomas Coville has gathered a strong team around him. “The team Sodebo has a total of 26 victories on the Tour de France à la Voile! With the quality of the crew gathered here, our goal clearly is to compete with the leaders.” Meanwhile, Daniel Souben is keeping a similar crew to last year. That method worked well at the beginning of the season and, as in 2008 and 2009, he is keen to take the Tour’s trophy again. “We are delighted to race against competitors such as Cammas or Coville. They are spoiling us with a true sport challenge. It’s a great opportunity for us to have international names on the Tour. That being say, we are obviously aiming to win!”

These three teams capture much of the attention but their competitors also showed their ambitions at the beginning of the season. Cédric Pouligny and his Omani crew are getting better and better on the Tour de France à la Voile. Nicolas Troussel finished third last year and has once more gathered some very talented sailors around him, including offshore and strategy experts Dimitri Deruelle, Christian Ponthieu and Eric Peron; Troussel calls them the “executives.”
Corentin Douguet is once again mixing experience and learning onboard Nantes Saint Nazaire E. Leclerc. The spirit of the project is untouched and Douguet, seventh in 2012, hopes to get the best out of his 15 crew. Elodie Jane Mettraux is also coming back with Ville de Genève Carrefour Addictions. The Swiss won the amateur ranking last year and they are aiming for the overall ranking this time.
Last year’s winner TPM Coych has changed entirely, with the project now managed by the youngsters of the club. French Sailing Team Laser athlete Jean-Baptiste Bernaz will lead with two other helmsmen, Mathieu Frei (French Sailing Team, 49er) and Cédric Boeri (COYCH). Alexis Littoz and Pierre Brasseur will bring navigation experience to the offshore legs.

Rookies, veterans and diversity

On the amateur side, Team 85 is made up of youngsters from Vendée. Skipper Pierre Casaux took part in the Tour several times with Mady Fobert’s Belgium team (a feature of the race since 1993).
Normandy, another region close to the Tour de France à la Voile, will also have an entry at the start in Dunkirk. 23-year-old Baptiste Choquenet will once again lead this youth project.
Last year Mathieu Mourès led a Martinique team and he returns this year to sail under his island’s colors and… the Belgian colors too, joining forces with Mady Fobert on a boat named Martinique BE Brussels.
Finally, two foreign teams are entering the amateur competition. The faithful Swiss team, Bienne Voile, is back once again. Sönke Brunhs and Christiane Dittmers’ German team, Iskareen, has been training in Kiel and will begin the season at Normandy Sailing Week.

____________________________________

Interviews:

The message of Yann Le Moënner, CEO of A.S.O:

“We took over the Tour de France à la Voile at the last minute last year. This time around, with the teams of Baptiste Kern (event director) and Jean-Baptiste Durier (assistant director), we led three key projects to breath a new energy into shore activities. We worked a lot on making the race village stronger and will also offer animations on the beaches. We will also launch a small advertising convoy to be closer from the public. We are proud and happy to a high-quality fleet with Franck Cammas and Thomas Coville. They will give a hard time to Daniel Souben and the big names of the Tour de France à la Voile. The crisis is affecting everyone and I won’t lie, we hoped for even more boats. Some prestigious sailors are still fighting to be on the start line in Dunkirk. We hope for it to happen, even though, to second what everyone has been saying here, we are satisfied with the quality of the fleet as such. The Tour de France à la Voile is a major event for us. It’s our fifth sport sphere. We are investing all our energy to make the most beautiful party possible in July. See you in Dunkirk in a month.”

The message of Thomas Coville, skipper of Sodebo:

“While I am a solo sailor, I have never stopped crew racing. These two ways of navigating really help to develop my skills on the water. With Sodebo, we are happy to participate in the Tour de France à la Voile. This team adventure will allow us to compete with top level crews. Our team gathers sailors from different background: Volvo Ocean Race winners, America’s Cup experts and sailors who participated in the Olympic Games and the World Match Racing Tour. The team Sodebo has a total of 26 victories on the Tour de France à la Voile! With the quality of the crew gathered here, our goal clearly is to compete with the leaders.”

The message of Franck Cammas, skipper of Groupama 34:

“The Tour de France is our main objective of the season in M34. The three races we entered before the Tour’s start allowed us to get ready in the best possible conditions against top-level competitors. Nothing beats racing to train in real conditions. We were late compared to some of our competitors, especially Courrier Dunkerque – we are rookies. But our shared training sessions helped us to improve. Our team is mixing Groupama sailing team veterans, with whom we won the Volvo Ocean Race, and young sailors as efficient as they are enthusiastic. It’s a real pleasure. I’ve done the Tour several years ago, but only as a one-shot thing. To sail it all is a real challenge. With its inshore and offshore legs, it reminds us of the Volvo.
We will have to be very consistent and capable of improving from the start in Dunkirk and the finish in Marseille. In any case I’m excepting a very tight race because the teams are great.”

The message of Daniel Souben, skipper of Courrier Dunkerque 3:

“We are delighted to race against competitors such as Cammas or Coville. They are spoiling us with a true sport challenge. It’s a great opportunity for us to have international names on the Tour. That being said, we are obviously seeking the victory! Courrier Dunkerque 3’s core team has been the same for the past seven years and it’s paying off. We started well the beginning of the season. Cammas and Coville are pulling us up. I’m extremely motivated about this season!”

Barcelona, May 23rd, 2013
Azzurra are Barcelona’s best as 52 SUPER SERIES opens in Europe

Just one point separates regatta leaders Azzurra from second placed Quantum Racing after three races at Barcelona’s showcase Conde de Godo regatta, the first event of the European season of the 2013 52 SUPER SERIES.

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In breezes which built from 10 knots for Race 1 to a sparkling 16-18 knots for the third heat, it was a day marked by tit-for-tat racing between the two rivals with the current 52 SUPER SERIES champions laying down the early marker by winning Race 1 comfortably.

Quantum Racing countered by winning the second race with Azzurra third to leave the top duo on equal points going into Race 3. The team which races under the flag of the Yacht Club Smeralda then executed another great pin end start, a near facsimile of their Race 1 opening, and were well clear of second placed Quantum Racing by the finish line.

The differences between the leading two boats were small across the day. Quantum Racing’s strategy in Race 1 did not work as planned and they rounded each mark in sixth but staged a valuable recovery on the final run, using the building breeze to good effect, to just steal a useful third on final approach to the finish line. After that they looked increasingly strong.
Ed Baird, skipper-helm of Quantum Racing recalled:“ We made an assumption about the first race and stuck to our plan but the plan didn’t quite work out but we were fortunate at the end of that race that the breeze came up from behind and we were able to get into some good situations and we were able to get third. We rounded sixth in most of the mark roundings so we were lucky there.”

Well executed starts at the pin end of the start line twice were the foundations for Azzurra to build on. The number of sails allowed over the season is limited. With their programme foregoing new sails in the USA in order to bring on line a new inventory for the European season Azzurra were notably quick in key situations:

“ The reality is that we didn’t use new sails for Miami. We suffered a little for that. We decided to keep all our new buttons (each counted sail has a registered button) for European season. So we have an all new fresh inventory here. We are going a little quicker and so can hang in there when we get in some tough positions.” Guillermo Parada, Azzurra’s skipper explained.

For Quantum Racing Terry Hutchinson and Jordi Calafat combined neatly on the first run of the final race, more readily identifying a big change in the late afternoon breeze which allowed them to pass Rán Racing and Interlodge to gain that second place.

Niklas Zennstrom’s world champions Rán Racing finish the first day of racing in third place overall counting a 2,4,3, a consistent scoreline given that conditions may have looked good but there was always something happening to challenge the tacticians.
Adrian Stead, Rán Racing’s tactician confirmed that he felt they could have been one or two points better for the day and that now need to be going out punching tomorrow to win races.

Good starts and first windward legs were vital. Austin Fragomen’s Interlodge – with John Cutler calling tactics – held on to second all the way around Race 2 and in Race 3 Ergin Imre’s team on Provezza scored a good fourth place which keeps them in touch with Interlodge which lie fourth overall.

Azzurra are Barcelona’s best as 52 SUPER SERIES opens in Europe

Quotes
Ed Baird (USA) skipper-helm Quantum Racing (USA): “It was a pretty interesting day there was a lot going on, especially towards the end of the day with some major windshifts but we made it through with a pretty reasonable scoreline.”

“ We made an assumption about the first race and stuck to our plan but the plan didn’t quite work out but we were fortunate at the end of that race that the breeze came up from behind and we were able to get into some good situations and we were able to get third. We rounded sixth in most of the mark roundings so we were lucky there.”

“ The new guys are all great but that’s part of the mission is to figure out the communication between each other and make sure we are doing the right things that each other are expecting of what has to happen around the race course, and understanding that language. It’s all English but everybody says it a bit differently!”

“ Azzurra had a good day but we are very happy to be in the hunt and looking for our opportunities.”

Guillermo Parada (ARG) skipper-helm Azzurra (ITA): “ It’s a good start if you look at the scoreboard its shows that the fleet is still pretty much together still. Its good to start on the right foot, we had two very good races, two clean ones but in the other one we were in the middle of the fleet but we hung in there and we were able to recover one position in the last run which was very good. I think that was the most important part of the day. It is a lot easier when you are in front but when you are not so good you have to be tough.”

“ I am very happy with the boat, the crew, the tactics, everything went very good so a good day for us.”

“ It is a difficult venue because many times you are looking at the right but the starts were a little bit on the left and so in order to get that advantage to get the bias of the line you need to make it perfect, to take all the bias that you can and then hope that when the right comes you have enough of a lead to hang on to the lead. We were lucky that there was not a big fight for the pin and Tomislav did a very good job on the starts, getting the starts that Vasco was after.”

“ The reality is that we didn’t use new sails for Miami. We suffered a little for that. We decided to keep all our new buttons for European season. So we have an all new fresh inventory here. We are going a little quicker and so can hang in there when we get in some tough positions.”

Conde de Godo Trophy, Barcelona after 3 races
1- Azzurra (ITA), (1-3-1) 5 points
2- Quantum Racing (USA), (3-1-2) 6 points
3- Rán Racing (SWE), (2-4-3) 9 points
4- Interlodge (USA) (4-2-6) 12 points
5- Provezza (TUR) (5-5-4) 14 points
6- Rio (USA) (7-6-6) 18 points
7- Gladiator (GBR) (6-7-7) 20 points

52 SUPER SERIES 2013 Event Calendar:

* Quantum Key West Race Week, Key West, Florida, January 20 – 25, 5 day WL racing, dual scoring IRC & 52 Super Series.??
* 52 World Championship, Miami, Florida, March 5 – 9, 5 day WL racing, TP52s and IRC52s.?
* Trofeo Conde de Godo, Barcelona, May 23 – 26, 4 day WL racing, IRC52s invited.??
* Royal Cup, Ibiza, July 2 – 6, 4 day WL & 1 day Coastal, TP52s and IRC52s.
* Copa del Rey, Palma, July 29 – August 3, 6 day WL racing, dual scoring IRC & 52 Super Series.
* AUDI Week Of The Straits, Porto Cervo, September 10 – 14, 3 day WL & 2 day Coastal, TP52s and IRC52s.

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Barcelona, May 22nd 2013
52 SUPER SERIES Teams Firing on all Cylinders in Barcelona

Azzurra, the 2012 52 SUPER SERIES champions, proved they are in close to perfect shape as they start out in Barcelona on the European stages of the 52 SUPER SERIES when they lead Wednesday’s official practice race right up to the finish line.

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That they chose to bypass the finish line, passing half a metre outside of it, bowed to the prevailing superstitions of the perhaps more vociferous Latinos on board, believing it is unlucky to win the practice race.

But, after having established a decent lead by the first windward mark, the champions were not challenged again.

Quantum Racing were second all the way around the course, gliding across the line to accept the first gun. With their brand new afterguard line up, Terry Hutchinson as tactician and 1992 Olympic gold medallist and America’s Cup winner Jordi Calafat as strategist, they proved that they are not short of pace in the 10-12 knots breeze, but they might still need just a little more time together to finesse their starting.

Azzurra, with skipper-helm Guille Parada (ARG) steering, may have made the early jump in the practice race but it was evident that racing between the seven 52’s will be very close. There was very little separating the fleet at the first turn and it is clear that even those who have just joined the circuit recently have the potential to win races.

The fleet has grown in size since this time last year and while it is still the circuit and class of choice for some of the very top names in world sailing, so too there are more amateur, Corinthian sailors enjoying their racing here than for many years.

Those returning stars with an America’s Cup history include Dee Smith (USA) who sails as tactician on Manouch Moshayedi’s Rio (USA), John Cutler (NZL) previously tactician with Spain’s Desafio is tactician on Austin and Gwen Fragomen’s Interlodge (USA).

And on Quantum Racing Terry Hutchinson, new tactician, finds himself as the only former Team New Zealand sailor among an afterguard which is otherwise all derived from Alinghi, the team which eclipsed him and his ETNZ contemporaries to win the 32nd America’s Cup.

Hutchinson fits into the all star ex Alinghi posse including skipper-helm Baird, navigator Juan Vila also now Jordi Calafat as strategist, and admits that he is taking some preliminary ribbing from the former Alinghi sailors.

While the sport’s big names are still visibly loving their racing with the flourishing 52’s so too in the fleet there are a big number of hard working ‘amateur’ sailors – that is to say those who do not derive their main income from racing sailboats. Tony Langley, owner-skipper-helm of Gladiator (GBR) still enjoys having a couple of good sailing friends sail with his crew. And on Rio, as well as on Ergin Imre’s Turkish flagged Provezza, which is steered by double Olympic silver medallist Nick Rogers (GBR) with Tony Rey (USA) as tactician, both crews are composed of somewhere around 50-55 percent of ‘amateur’ sailors.

While the smart money is probably still riding on Azzurra, on Niklas Zennström’s Rán Racing, the recently crowned world champions, or on Quantum Racing to win overall across the four regatta 52 SUPER SERIES in Europe, today’s evidence showed again that all have the potential to win races, and in time perhaps regattas.

Barcelona, and the Conde de Godo regatta in particular, opens the European season with a particular challenge. The early season Garbi sea-breeze can be erratic, the winds are seldom well mixed and settled and the influence of the nearby cityscape and interesting topography can all come into play and the tacticians and afterguards be well tested.

Racing starts each day at 1300hrs CET with live coverage on www.52superseries.com including live tracking and audio commentary.

Quotes:

Terry Hutchinson (USA), tactician Quantum Racing (USA): “ It feels great to be back. It’s such a different world to what we have been involved in for the last couple of years, but the competition is as good as ever so its a pleasure to be back and take it all on. Now, having been racing around in the 7 knot range for the last couple of months, where things happen a lot slower, racing in the 14 knot range you have to be very methodical about where you want to be and how you get there. Whereas in the multi-hull you are 2-3 knots faster and all of a sudden you get to a spot a lot quicker”

On fitting back into the team:
“ Its a bit of mixing Team New Zealand with the Alinghi mafia! so every so often ‘ribbing’ takes place! Jordi spends some time up the rig and its simply a matter of gathering the infomation. Then about 7-8 minutes before the start we decide what we want to do in the race and decide the plan. Jordi’s looking up the race course looking where the boat needs to be whilst I am more the ‘boat on boat’ man and Juan helps get the boat off the start line quickly and will help with the lay-lines. At the moment we are stepping on each others toes a bit but we are evolving and I am quite confident we will get there.

Vasco Vascotto (ITA) tactician Azzurra (ITA): “ I hope that we will do better here than the last two years. Today we did quite well and we hope that this is only the start of a good week for us.”
“ Obviously there are always some problems with a southerly here, you are expecting the local Barcelona breeze the ‘Garbi’ to blow in and it arrives and then just as suddenly, it disappers.
All the boats this year have improved, Quantum already had an amazing campaign in the winter (in the USA 52 Super Series), they are already a fantastic team and now Terry is back so potentially they are very strong.
We are the opposite, we have the same team so we are looking forward to a great friendship and competition here.”

Jules Salter (GBR) navigator Rán Racing (SWE): “The seebreeze is quite intense here. It shifts a bit, its quite different each day. We are still learning, Miami was very good but we need to maintain that performance here and we have to start again. There are some new boats here and everone is stepping up a gear. For the overall series you just need to take it race by race. We have a couple of new sails but all the same team.”

52 SUPER SERIES 2013 Event Calendar:

* Quantum Key West Race Week, Key West, Florida, January 20 – 25, 5 day WL racing, dual scoring IRC & 52 Super Series.??
* 52 World Championship, Miami, Florida, March 5 – 9, 5 day WL racing, TP52s and IRC52s.?
* Trofeo Conde de Godo, Barcelona, May 23 – 26, 4 day WL racing, IRC52s invited.??
* Royal Cup, Ibiza, July 2 – 6, 4 day WL & 1 day Coastal, TP52s and IRC52s.
* Copa del Rey, Palma, July 29 – August 3, 6 day WL racing, dual scoring IRC & 52 Super Series.
* AUDI Week Of The Straits, Porto Cervo, September 10 – 14, 3 day WL & 2 day Coastal, TP52s and IRC52s.

Brixham coastguard tasked the Exmouth’s all-weather lifeboat, Margaret Jean at 1.48pm on 21 May. A fishing boat with fuel blockage was adrift 17 miles south east of Straight Point with two men aboard.

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Six crew volunteers with Mechanic, ‘Tommo’ Thompson and Coxswain, Tim Mock took a total of four hours to locate the troubled 22-foot vessel and tow it back to its mooring at Starcross. Tim describes the events;

‘We found the casualty boat in the middle of Lyme bay, approximately 17 nautical miles south east of Exmouth. The wind was a freshening north westerly and needless to say that at distance offshore, the sea was starting to pick up. They were at anchor, as requested by the coastguard, to eliminate any drift. The two men aboard were in good spirits, wearing lifejackets and had a good quality VHF radio. They were very appreciative of us launching to recover them back to Starcross. The boat was suffering from fuel blockage problems preventing the engine from running.’

‘Whilst these two men had the correct safety kit and knew how to use it, some pre-season maintenance of the fuel system might have prevented their predicament.’