Author: Liam

Roger Badham (popularly known as the weather guru of team New Zealand) has recently and very bravely questioned the legitimacy of the boat that was utilized by USA team Oracle during the America’s Cup 2013.

Oracle was able to win the America’s Cup last year in spite of the good performance of team New Zealand. During the America’s Cup 2013 there were some speculations in relation to the boat utilized by team Oracle. However, team New Zealand did not pay that much attention to it.

Later on, team NZ protested against Oracle’s boat claiming that the team had used some automatic, computer-based and hydraulically powered stabilizing system that allowed the boat to be in a stable condition while gibing. But the protests were dismissed by the authorities on the basis of timing.

While giving an interview to the Australian online yachting magazine named Afloat.com.au, Badham highlighted the fact that team NZ’s Dean Barker struggled during the regatta to keep the boat stable. On the other hand, team Oracle’s captain- Jimmy Spithill was sailing his boat very conveniently.

One of the spokesmen of team Oracle stated that the article in the Australian magazine did not state any facts which were true and many incorrect assertions have been made in the article which seems to be ridiculous to a certain extent.

Concerns that were raised by Roger Badham during the interview have also been a part of the extensive review that was carried out by team New Zealand after its failure to win the 2013 America’s Cup.

Sir Stephen Tindall (director of team NZ) had hinted that a portion of the review will be released. However, it seems that the team New Zealand has decided not to make the review public as it consists of sensitive details which will turn out to be helpful for the rival team.

Two young boys have been arrested by police in link with a huge blaze that devastated a historical yacht club. According to reports, around 30 fire fighters fought through the whole evening to extinguish the fire at the Alexandra Yacht Club located in Clifton Terrace in Southend. A single chimney is all that stays as the immense fire reduced to ash.

Essex Fire and Rescue and Essex Police started a probe earlier this morning into the reason of the fire that was so fierce the house in Clifton Terrace got collapsed. In the meantime, 2 boys aged sixteen and seventeen, both from Westcliff, are presently being questioned by the police. They were caught on arson suspicion after being stopped by the police in Westcliff at around 3 am.

The hundred and thirty year old club house that has been shut down and would be torn down because of subsidence was well ablaze at around 11.45 pm previous night. Fire crews from 6 engines spent the next 2 hours eliminating the flames from the Royal Terrace with an aerial ladder when police shut down either side of the road there as well as the pavements on the Western Esplanade.

Fire officers as well as police officers have had yet to wait till day light to start an investigation into the matter as the ground is too unstable for investigating officers to be carried out in darkness. Steve Parker, the station officer and incident commander, stated that the fire started in Alexandra Yacht Club on Southend seafront just before midnight on Saturday evening. The building was derelict and was situated on the side of the cliff on stilts.

As the excited people throng the streets of Monaco the port Hercule dresses up once more for the most fabulous yacht show of the season. The luxurious witnesses of prosperity and success adorn the harbours. But there is something special in the sir this year. The Solar 1 races and Vripack are combining the most hyped about Formula One craze and the yacht show to launch the first ever solar-powered yacht Grand Prix at the solar one race. This is set to take place from July 10 to July 12 in Monaco.

This race began in Holland eight years ago, then known as the Dong energy solar challenge. It comprised of two levels, first the hobby level cruising class and then the professional yachting class, whose cost made it almost prohibitory for most of the entrants. So after competing for three years in a row in the hobby level cruising class, Vripack decided to come up with a third level, that would judge the expertise of the skipper and not the boat builder. They would be tested on a fair and uniform platform. For this purpose they came up with the V20 series. When compared (on the plain sailing facebook page) to the Navy vessels Vripack make “there’s not that much boat” Droogsma has been quoted saying. And why not? While a fully equipped yacht may take over a year to build the 19 foot V20 takes only six weeks, because it lacks the complex on-board systems.

The boat has a molded carbon shell and as many solar panels as feasible as this is the prime source of energy for the yacht. Set to reach a maximum of 18mph. It comes for a mere 55,000 Euros where as a professional yacht can cost as much as 130,000 Euros. So a mere compromise in the top-speed seems acceptable especially when there’s no cost for fuel.

Latvia has reportedly emerged victorious at Yachting Russia championship this time. The regatta was held last week with j/80 International on-design sportsboats.

It was the 9th edition of the Yachting Russia championship which is hosted by Fraglia Velva Riva, one among the oldest of yachting clubs from Europe. The race is meant for Russian-speaking sailing community.

Around sixty athletes from Ukraine, Russian, Latvia, Italy, Germany and Belarus were distributed into 11 squads for the race. The championship allows each of the skippers to pick 1 crew member from all the participants & the remaining crew is decided by a lottery. Given such a selection method, each squad is somehow forced to get involved in team training, organization  & a unified team-work culture. The winner is the squad which shows up with great team work with least mistakes. It’s quite a unique and fun format leading to amazing camaraderie & fun parties among the team members as sun sets.

The initial 3 days feature an unusual ambience for Lake Garda with lighting, heavily overcast sky & variable breeze blowing from all wind direction. However, it was the harmonious and accurate operation on part of the racing committee that finally enabled the sailors to take part in forty0three matches to decide the top 4 crews. It was followed by semi-final meetings & selection of championship participants & consolation finals.

Since the very start of the championship, the participants have shown signification escalation of skill. The final day of the race featured the perfect ambience with the shining sun and nice wind. The finalists had quite an intense fight and finally it was Riga’s Sergey Pervushkin who won the honor for Latvia on Baltic Sea. Russian sailor Sergey Ezhikoy came second while it was Dmitry Zaritsky who was the second runner-up.