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Latest News Links News - Southampton company dropped by RYA . . . News - Alex Thomson and the Keel Walk revealed . . . News - Entrants for new Olympic boat evaluation named . . . News - UK-Halsey prepare China Team's AC45 sails . . . News - Ainslie and the possible Olympic ban . . . News - Manager for Olympic sailing Live Site appointed . . . News - Hannah Snellgrove receives Marlow Ropes Award . . . News - Dutch teenager Laura Dekker completes solo circumnavigation . . . News - Coroner records narrative verdict in Sunsail drowning . . . News - London Boat Show visitors down 6% on last year . . . News - Ainslie incident referred to RYA Tribunal . . . News - Transport plans for Olympic sailing events . . . Back to latest Sailing News reports here . . . Southampton company dropped by RYA . . . The RYA has removed its recognition of ‘Hot Liquid Southampton’ as a provider of RYA training courses. This means that Hot Liquid Southampton is now no longer able to offer or run RYA training courses. The decision was made by the RYA following three serious safety related incidents involving Hot Liquid Southampton between January 2011 and January 2012. RYA Training Manager and Chief Examiner Richard Falk said: “The removal of RYA recognition from a training centre is never a decision that is taken lightly. However, it is essential that customers are confident that appropriate safety management routines are in place at any centre displaying the RYA Recognised Training Centre logo.” The RYA advises that any customers booked on an RYA course at Hot Liquid Southampton should contact the school directly to discuss their situation. In the event that a customer has a further query they may contact the RYA at 02380 604100. Hot Liquid Gibraltar will retain RYA recognition for all disciplines currently on offer due to the fact that the operational safety management routines of that site are controlled separately to that of the Southampton site. Alex Thomson and the Keel Walk revealed . . . Alex Thomson attempts the Keel Walk - You may remember the image from his last attempt several years ago. It’s a great picture, but many people doubted it’s authenticity and thought it might be Photoshopped. So this time Alex decided to get a camera crew involved. And here is what happened . . . Getting the keel out of the water and keeping it there requires precision sailing and knowing the boat inside out. From his position at the helm, skipper Ross Daniel cannot see either Alex or the jet ski, so he relies on the information given to him by the spotter (port side of stern / left back). Full story at http://www.alexthomsonracing.com/ Entrants for new Olympic boat evaluation named . . . Following the request for proposals, ISAF has announced that they have received entrants for, six Women’s Skiff and seven Mixed Mutlihulls. All have been invited to the evaluation event in Santander, Spain in March 2012. The six skiff entries: • 29erXX – Ovington Boats • ARUP Skiff - ARUP • AURA – Ovington Boats • Hartley Rebel – Hartley Boats • Mackay FX – Mackay Boats • RS900 – RS Sailing The seven multihull entrants: • Hobie 16 – Hobie Cat • Hobie Tiger – Hobie Cat • Nacra 17 – Nacra Sailing International • Nacra F16 – Nacra Sailing International • Spitfire S – Sirena Voile • Tornado – International Tornado Class Association • Viper – Australian High Performance Catamarans (AHPC) Images of the selected boats here Throughout the nine day evaluation, sailors nominated by their Member National Authorities will sail the boats and provide feedback. A report will then be produced at the 2012 ISAF Mid-year meeting in Stresa, Italy where ISAF Council will make the final selection. The centre that’s hosting the evaluation event, will also host the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships, where the selected boats will be put on the ISAF Worlds stage for the first time before their Olympic debut in Rio, Brazil 2016. The boats will also be a part of the ISAF Sailing World Cup from 2013. UK-Halsey prepare China Team's AC45 sails . . . Sylvain Barrielle, owner of UK-Halsey San Francisco, is the sail coordinator for China Team's latest America's Cup challenge. This is his second campaign with China Team and his sixth consecutive America's Cup campaign. As he says, "This may seem like another day at the office, but the difference between all the previous monohulls and the new winged multihulls is totally different." Here's how he sums up the program so far:  The AC 45 one-design was an interesting process that we started in end of December 2010. We only had one month to come up with a set of practice/racing sails. We never planned a large R&D budget for the AC 45 because, at the end of the day, we are not going to race the 45 in the America's Cup.For a team without a "sky is the limit" budget it doesn't make sense to spend a lot on the AC 45; instead we are saving resources to develop the sails for the AC 72 that we will be racing for the Cup shortly. The main objective for the first set of sails was to validate the MatriX Titanium product, which are proprietary membrane sails made with continuous yarns by UK-Halsey Sailmakers. Next we had to make sure the communication flowed between the all the different parties of the sailing team and design team. Finally, we needed to validate some of the design tools. An interesting point is that we all live in different parts of the world, which has the advantage that the project can keep moving 24 hours a day. The one problem with the 24-hour workday is that you end up with a fractional night. We achieved what we intended, which was to find out right away where we were right and wrong. After one year we did not validate 100% of our upwind sail inventory, but we ended up with a clear view on where we stand in terms of boat speed for 2012 events in Italy. While that work was for the AC 45; work on sails for the much bigger and more complex AC 72 as been going on since December 2010 on a parallel track. On the AC 45 we have mainly worked with UK-Halsey France in Mandelieu as well as with UK-Halsey Hong Kong. Stay tuned for more stories and photos as our efforts to win the Cup continue. Full story at http://www.ukhalsey.com Ainslie and the possible Olympic ban . . . If Ben Ainslie needed any greater motivation in his quest to strike gold at his home Olympics, then the television camera crew who cost him a world championship in Perth before Christmas may just have provided it. In an interview with Ian Stafford in the Daily Mail, the man who has been Olympic champion three times and is widely regarded as the best sailor in the world admits that he is still furious at the incident which, even now, could cost him his place at the Olympic regatta. Ainslie, 35 on Saturday, will not discover whether he is to be robbed of the chance to go for his fourth Olympic gold on the water at Weymouth until a Royal Yacht Association inquiry to be held by the end of next month rules on the incident in Australia, when Ainslie swam from his Finn to board a TV camera boat and remonstrate with the crew because he believed they had impeded him. The RYA have the power to ban Ainslie from the Olympics, although a reprimand and fine are thought more likely. Even so, Ainslie admits to harbouring fears over the outcome. He said: 'I hope everyone will consider what I've done in sailing, that I apologised and that a probable world title was taken away from me. But until the matter is officially closed it's always a worry. 'What happened with that TV crew had happened all year, and at Perth it became the worst situation I'd ever known in sailing. It tipped me over the edge. I just lost it. The alarm bells rang the moment I stepped on to their boat. A voice in my head said: "What the hell are you doing? You shouldn't be on this boat." That's why I was on and off in just a few seconds. JP Morgan Asset Management is the title sponsor of Ben Ainslie's Olympic campaign. Manager for Olympic sailing Live Site appointed . . . Weymouth and Portland Borough Council has appointed an experienced events manager for the Live Site for the 2012 Olympic Games sailing events. Roger Woods has been appointed to run the site at Weymouth Beach during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Site will be located at the southern, Pavilion end of Weymouth Beach and will be run every day from July 27 to August 12. Viewers will be able to watch live and recorded Olympic sports, including the sailing events on two huge screens. The site will have a capacity of 15,000 people, meaning access will be closely controlled and monitored for safety reasons. Mr Woods has been involved with several events companies, has put on live music events across the world and site managed the International Festival of the Sea. He has also worked for five years as Production Manager of 'The Park' area at Glastonbury Festival. Full story at http://www.thisisdorset.co.uk/story-15040643-detail/story.html Hannah Snellgrove receives Marlow Ropes Award . . . Rising Laser Radial sailor Hannah Snellgrove has received an additional boost to her thriving campaign after she was awarded the coveted Marlow Ropes Award. The Marlow Ropes Award was introduced in 2002 with the aim of rewarding Britain’s most promising young sailors for their determination, focus and talent.  Snellgrove is a current member of Skandia Team GBR Transitional Squad giving her access to an array of world class training resources used by Britain’s Olympic gold medal winning sailors – a real stepping stone to succeeding at the highest level. The 21-year-old from Lymington, Southampton has been in fine form in recent regattas, with her career highlight coming at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships, last month, where she finished 14th. Barrie Edgington, Skandia Team GBR Development Squad Manager, commented: “I am sure that the experiences of being part of the 2012 programme will put her in a great position when she is able to commit 100% in the next Olympic cycle. A name to watch for!” Dutch teenager Laura Dekker completes solo circumnavigation . . . Dutch teenager Laura Dekker has sailed into harbour on the Caribbean island of St Maarten - becoming the youngest sailor to complete a solo circumnavigation of the world. Following a court battle for the right to embark on the challenge, sixteen-year-old Laura Dekker sailed into harbour at Sint Maarten in the Caribbean on Saturday afternoon to complete her round-the-world voyage. She arrived a year and two days after setting out. Dekker has originally planned to set out a year earlier, at the age of 14, but the court ordered her placed in the care of welfare officers on the grounds that she was too young to guarantee her safety at sea. Coroner records narrative verdict in Sunsail drowning . . . Nottinghamshire coroner Mairin Casey has recorded a narrative verdict in the case of a Nottinghamshire girl who drowned after becoming trapped under a catamaran. Laura Morgan, 11, died when the catamaran she was on capsized in Paleros, Greece, in 2003. The coroner said the reason for her entrapment was unclear at the time and remains so. During the five-day inquest the coroner heard Laura was sailing with two other children when the tragedy occurred at a resort in Vounaki. Rescue staff at the Sunsail holiday resort, told the coroner how they battled to unhook Laura's harness after the boat "inverted". In a statement, Sunsail said: "Laura Morgan's death was an untimely tragedy and this has been a difficult inquest for all parties, particularly the Morgan family. The coroner acknowledged Sunsail took advice from the Royal Yachting Association in all matters relating to sailing activities and facilities." Note: A narrative verdict is a verdict available to coroners in England and Wales following an inquest. In such a verdict the circumstances of a death are recorded without attributing the cause to a named individual. London Boat Show visitors down 6% on last year . . . The economic crisis continues to blight the yachting scene in the UK. The Tullet Prebon London Boat Show reported that visitor numbers were down 6% on last year, despite multiple shows being combined together and London’s relatively milder weather. A total of 134,753 visited ExCeL London across the 10 days, with 102,841 of those attending the Boat Show. In a bit of PR juggling, the show managed to report that numbers are up on 2010, just . . . 102,655 Visitors – the lowest attendence since 2002. Visitor numbers in the years preceding the Global Financial Crisis were between 130-150,000 people. It seems that the build-up to the London Olylmpics failed to have a positive impact and Sport England will have to wait for Team GB success at the actual Games to trigger the legacy of increased mass participation in sport. A very different boat show, the Volvo RYA Dinghy Show will take place over the weekend of the 3 and 4 March at Alexandra Palace, north London. Featuring most of the UK dinghy classes this is very much an enthusiast’s show, but has not been immune to the downturn. Recent attendance has been 10% down on pre-recession levels but Britain's high profile Olympic sailing presence could give it a boost. - GN Full story at http://www.yachtracing.biz/ Ainslie incident referred to RYA Tribunal . . . RYA has referred Ainslie incident at the Finn Gold Cup in Perth to the RYA Tribunal for further consideration. A hearing is likely to take place in the next two months.  Gus Lewis RYA Head of Legal and Government Affairs has advised that: "The RYA has received and considered the report regarding the incident which took place at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships involving British sailor Ben Ainslie from the International Jury at the event.""On the face of it, the report identified a case to answer that might warrant further action. The RYA has therefore referred the matter to the RYA Tribunal in accordance with its established procedures for further consideration. A hearing is likely to take place in the next two months". In accordance with established procedures the RYA will make no further comment on this matter until the RYA Tribunal has reached its conclusions. Ainslie, Britain's choice for the Finn event at the 2012 Games, received a two race disqualification for gross misconduct after he climbed aboard the media boat after race 9 of the Finn worlds to confront the crew. In the final stages of the race the media boat came close to the two leading Finn sailors, Postma and Ainslie, to get images of the pair as they battled to the finish line, causing the RIB wake to slow Ainslie. In the official decision the race jury found that the media boat, repeatedly interfered (with the boats racing) over multiple legs. Due to Ainslie’s reaction to this interference in boarding the media boat, he was found guilty of gross misconduct under rule 69 of the racing rules. No action was (or could) taken against the media boat. Transport plans for Olympic sailing events . . . Transport plans for visitors to the Olympic sailing events at Weymouth, Dorset have been released. Plans for the area near the sailing venue include six park and ride sites. The infamous restricted access 'Games Lanes' which will be used in London to move athletes and officials are not planned for Weymouth.  Plans for the county include five park and ride sites with dedicated walking routes from the railway station and bus drop off points for the estimated 30,000 extra visitors to Weymouth and Portland each day. As a designated Olympic Route Network the A354 in Weymouth will become a clearway during the Games. The Weymouth Relief Road (A354) opened in March 2011. Prices at new Mount Pleasant park-and-ride in Weymouth will rise from £3.50 a day to £10, plus an optional £2.50 online booking fee, in the summer of 2012. The £10 charge applies to all park-and-ride facilities outside London while the Games are running. Mount Pleasant, which has 1,000 spaces and is usually run by Dorset County Council, will be used exclusively by sailing ticket-holders during the Games, the Olympic Delivery Authority said. There will be about a total of 8,000 Olympic park-and-ride spaces at six sites in Dorset. These sites are: Monkey Jump, Littlemoor, Park Street Car Park, Lodmoor South, Mount Pleasant and Kingston Maurward College. As part of the security measures for the sailing events the Royal Navy and Royal Marines will support Dorset Police during the Games. The amphibious assault ship HMS Bulwark will be stationed off Weymouth and Portland during the Olympics with a specialist unit of Royal Marines on board. The Weymouth Harbour Authority has reported that half the places for visitor berthing in Weymouth Harbour and anchoring in Weymouth Bay during the Games have been taken. All berths and anchorages between 16 July and 9 September 2012 must be booked in advance for security reasons. |
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