What’s Being Said on Twitter About the Transat Jacques Vabres.

Here’s a collection of what people are saying about the TJV which starts today in La Havre.
The Official site is at: http://www.jacques-vabre.com/en/s01_home/s01p01_home.php

IMOCA AGM Focus on Safety and Fleet Numbers.

The IMOCA Class has held its AGM with a focus being on reliability, safety and the long term success of the class.

Dominique Wavre, President of the Class said:

“the resolutions that have been adopted are very important… All members are in agreement that the Class needs to continue evolving in order to ensure the success of the Vendée Globe and to offer all skippers, sponsors and followers a good race programme. As we have done up until now. We also need to confront the present economic crisis with a spirit that will ensure the highest possible number of boats at the start of races.”

As a result of the high number of incidents during the Vendee Globe, much attention was given to safety withing the boat rule. Here are some of the decisions:

• To limit the number of sails to 10 (no matter how many crew onboard);
• To limit the number of appendages to 5 (1 keel, 2 rudders, and 2 dagger boards.)
• To establish a maximum mast height.
• New keel tests for tortion, bending and vibration.

The last resolution will also improve safety by limiting the strength of the masts. It is a direct result of the number of breakages in the Vendée Globe.

Other safety measures include – the study of how to make the use of the boom easier when setting up a jury rig.

Sustainable energy was also discussed. The members of the assembly agreed that there is a need to develop new technology in this area. One of the future rules will permit the development of electrical engines that will function through wind, solar or hydrodynamic generators.

The race calendar has also been defined. The most awaited decision was confirmation of the European Pro Tour starting from Istanbul with stopovers in Nice, Barcelona, a UK port (to be confirmed) and Brest. The other regattas in the calendar will be the Transat Jacques Vabre, the Route Du Rhum, The Barcelona World Race and the Vendée Globe.

The new board of IMOCA was also voted and agreed on as follows:

• President Dominique Wavre;
• Vice Presidents Pascal Chadail and Jacques Guilbaud;
• Secretary General Bernard Stamm.
• Technical committee: President Pascal Chadail.
• Events Committee: President Jean Le Cam.
• Executive Committee Yann Eliès and Alex Thomson.
• Treasurer Luc Talbourdet.

OffShore Challenges Adds Another Imoca 60 to the Fleet.

An interesting thing is happening in sailing. The concept of the team is being muddied by management companies running multiple boats with multiple sponsors akin to the way large NASCAR ‘Teams’ work.

Artemis Ocean Racing, sponsored by one of the UK’s leading investment management companies, has appointed Offshore Challenges to oversee the management of their existing IMOCA 60 sailing team and campaign. Artemis Ocean Racing will compete in various events this year including the Artemis Challenge at Cowes Week, the Fastnet race, and the double handed Transat Jacques Vabre, that starts in November.

Offshore Challenges is part of OC Group which includes another IMOCA 60 campaign – BT Team Ellen. As a result, the company has a world class reputation for ocean racing campaigns. OC Events, the events arm of OC Group have worked together with Artemis before, during The Artemis Transat 2008 and share joint values of professionalism and integrity, as well as seeking to support British industry and endeavour.

Artemis Investment Management’s CEO Mark Tyndall commented:

“Entering a highly competitive, top level sporting arena for the first time is always a challenge and the team have learnt a great deal from the last three years. We have an undiminished commitment to strive for success in the future and we believe that a partnership with Offshore Challenges will be a great way to leverage what has been started. We are greatly looking forward to building on this experience with Offshore Challenges and look forward to the year ahead.”

It is believed that Vendée Globe skipper Jonny Malbon, will continue to be involved with the team.

The concept of a single company running two competing entries with separate branding is quite new in sailing, though it does happen in other sports. The most high-profile is NASCAR where a company like Hendrick Motorsport runs champions Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr side by side – one sponsored by Lowes, one by DuPont and one by Amp energy drinks.

Harry McGoughan Joins Mike Golding.

The Open 60 ‘Draft’ is underway with personnel changing teams as the last competitors finish the Vendee Globe. Harry McGougan, who has worked alongside Alex Thomson for the past two editions of the Vendee Globe has announced that he will switch to Mike Golding’s Ecover team.

“It is a bit like football, and you transfer between teams at the end of a Vendee Globe cycle. Mike is the ‘godfather’ of the Open 60 class and I have a lot of respect for what he has done and what he has achieved. It will be a very good opportunity for me in terms of learning more about the boats and it remains one of my biggest goals to work on a successful Vendee Globe Project. As shore crew, it is the biggest preparation job around.”

Harry has spent the past eight years managing teams of people across various projects including the Swan 56, Noonmark VI and Magical. Before that he worked on super yachts and ran a specialist lighting company for outdoor events.

“ECOVER 3 is now at Endeavour Quays in Gosport where she will go into the shed for a minor refit and to repair the damage from the dismasting. It is nothing dramatic, but we will do a few small modifications/improvements and give her a new paint job before we go back in the water,”

Harry will have a small team working with him including Tim Carrie (Preparatuer), Rob Dudden (Boat Builder) and Iain Henderson.

“Our aim is to do the most efficient job possible to get the boat up and sailing again. The replacement mast, which is currently stored at JMV in Cherbourg will arrive here in Gosport on the 5th March. This spare mast is brand new and untried therefore Southern Spars will do a formal handover and together with Blew Stoub our rigger, we will get everything up and running quite quickly”

“Meanwhile ECOVER 3’s carbon keel has just arrived at JMV, it is currently being surveyed as whilst in the event, it did not actually fail, there are cracks appearing on the keel head which need to be explored fully. It is not the carbon blade that is in question but rather how the head/rams are attached to that blade so we are waiting to get engineers, designers and builders to help us to decide upon the best course of action,” he concluded.

On completion of the work the yacht will be launched and fully sail tested to ensure that both rig, keel and modifications are all in order. Currently no decisions have been made about the sailing/racing program going forward.

Gitana Team to Compete in iShares 2009

A lot of news out of the team backed by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild yesterday, including the annoucement that Loïck Peyron, skipper of IMOCA 60, Gitana Eighty, will leave the team. The focus of the team will switch from monohulls to multihulls.

In a statement the team says that after over nine years on the offshore racing circuit, Baron Benjamin de Rothschild and the Group he presides over are still backing sailing by committing to a new circuit – the iShares Cup – and by starting on modifications to Gitana 11 alongside the members of Gitana Team:

‘In a banking world where the multinationals are thriving, our own establishment, whilst continuing to progress, has been keeping to its original philosophy and remains a human size enterprise. I wish for it to be the same within the Gitana Team. Sailing is a family passion, a story of love and conviction. My forefathers sailed on Lake Geneva, my father specialized in monohulls, and me in multihulls some years later.

These boats have always fascinated me. They are incredibly elegant and the gliding sensations you get from them are something else. However, beyond this enthusiasm, our commitment is based on a desire to pass things on and be innovative. As such, our arrival on a new circuit, the work initiated on one of our fleet’s flagships and the desire to provide a young talented sailor with the opportunity to flourish, all fall within the scope of this lineage.’

In 2009, the Gitana Team will participate in the European circuit of the iShares Cup.

Launched in 2007, this circuit has attracted a host of international teams, and the French have also shown an interest in the event. Indeed the Groupama team has already announced its participation this season and other compatriots may well imitate them. Racing with four crew, the Extreme 40 races are aimed at enabling the public to witness the nautical jousts close up by favouring race zones which are close to the shore and, where possible, at the very heart of the chosen towns.

The Extreme 40 circuit combines the clever mixture of sport and spectacle, which proved to be a tremendous success for the owner of Gitana Team during the multihull Grand Prix circuit.

Yann Guichard, a regular in the Gitana Team since 2004, is joining the stable’s ranks as a skipper-helm aboard the Extreme 40 Gitana. This young 34 year old sailor is just as much at ease racing around the cans, as a result of his Olympic career, as he is sailing offshore using his transatlantic experience. As such he will now have to show what he’s made of on this new medium, which is tailor-made for his talent. Indeed, it’s worth remembering that Yann Guichard is a grand specialist on these sports catamarans as his three Olympic preparations on the Tornado, as well as his fourth place in the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 bear witness.

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