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Good news, Bad news for The Ocean Race

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Published on May 27th, 2020 (From our friends at: www.sailingscuttlebutt.com)

 

When The Ocean Race begins in the autumn of 2021 from Spain, the course will include 10 stopovers for this crewed around the world test. While changes to the previous course present interest, the greater intrigue will be the introduction of a new class of boats.

The 14th edition will be raced in two classes of boats: the high-performance, foiling, IMOCA 60 class and the one-design VO65 class which has been used for the last two editions of the race. After shrinking interest in previous races, the hope was for these two existing classes to halt the bleeding.

While early registration is quite advanced compared to past editions, the entrants at this stage need only pay a 5,000 EUR fee (5,494 USD) to access materials and information relevant to the The Ocean Race 2021-22. That’s still a long ways from securing a full budget.

While it’s certain that not all these efforts will get to the start line, the odds of securing adequate funding have not been helped by the coronavirus pandemic. However, the good news is how there are rumored to be up to six teams with serious, experienced people behind them that haven’t yet registered at this point.

The Ocean Race 2021-22 (formerly The Volvo Ocean Race) will be raced in two classes of boats: the high-performance, foiling, IMOCA 60 class and the one-design VO65 class which has been used for the last two editions of the race. Entries in the IMOCA 60 class will compete for The Ocean Race trophy, while those racing the VO65s will chase the Ocean Challenge Trophy.

MORE: https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2020/05/27/good-news-bad-news-for-the-ocean-race/

Japan takes first ever SailGP event win in New York 

6/22/19​

In front of fan-lined shores, Japan beat Australia to sit atop the leaderboard by one point

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NEW YORK – June 22, 2019 – In front of large crowds lining the waterfront in downtown Manhattan, the Japan SailGP Team – helmed by double Olympic medalist Nathan Outteridge – beat off strong competition from Tom Slingsby’s Australia SailGP Team to win its first event in the inaugural SailGP season.

 

An intense final match race took place between the two notorious rivals on the Hudson River racecourse, which saw drama before the start as the high-powered F50s, capable of intense speeds, made contact. A penalty to Australia saw Japan eventually get the better of the season’s leaders and take the victory in New York.

 

“Here we knew it would be a challenge and what I am really proud about is that our whole team focused every single step of the way,” said Outteridge. “I am relieved because we really needed a win, we deserved to win, and I am proud of everyone’s effort. The Aussies are, without a doubt, the team to beat, and I think now we are starting to even out the playing field and can’t wait until Cowes.”

 

New York’s urban landscape provided an extra challenge for the world-class athletes this week as they battled shifting breezes and varied wind speeds on a smaller, more challenging racecourse. Boat handling and maneuvering on the foils was significantly more of a factor than ever before as the boats flew around the Hudson at the fastest speeds yet seen on SailGP, with the Australia team hitting a top speed of 48.69 knots (nearly 60 mph). It was the superior adaptability of the Japanese team that won the event on the Hudson.

 

“It was tough conditions, but the Japan team was better. They’ve been better than us the last two days, and they deserve the win,” said Slingsby. “The way this sport has gone, and the way Nathan and my careers have gone has been amazing, and we’re so happy to be here racing each other; unfortunately, it’s on different teams, but it also makes it more fun.”

 

The United States SailGP Team, led by Rome Kirby, gave the estimated 30,000 people lining the shore a reason to cheer when they crossed the finish line first in race five. Scoring its first ever SailGP win on home turf was a special moment for the United States SailGP Team, and a move that placed the crew third overall at the event.

 

“The boys were pretty fired up to go racing today, and it showed,” said Kirby. “To win a race is awesome but we want to win events. But we’re happy to be on the podium, and it was awesome to see the crowd out there.”

 

Only one point separates Japan and Australia on the Season 1 leaderboard, but now four teams have proved they are capable of winning races, putting the pressure on for the next event in Cowes.

 

One team that will be looking forward to racing in Cowes is the Great Britain SailGP Team, which suffered a capsize on the Hudson that significantly damaged its wingsail. The British will be eager for redemption in front of their hometown crowd at the first European event of SailGP’s inaugural season.

 

“It’s been a disappointing weekend all in all for us – we learned a lot from our capsize yesterday, and I’m proud as a team of how we came back after that setback,” said helmsman Dylan Fletcher.

 

SailGP’s next stop is Cowes, UK, over the weekend of August 10-11, when the home of British sailing will be able to witness the intense racing and awe-inspiring speeds of the F50s. 

New York SailGP Results

1st // Japan // 49pts

2nd // Australia // 45pts

3rd // United States // 37pts

4th // China // 33pts

5th // France // 32pts

6th // Great Britain // 27pts

 

Season 1 Leaderboard (after three events)

1 // Japan // 140 pts

2 // Australia // 139 pts

3 // Great Britain // 106 pts

4 // United States // 105 pts

4 // China // 93 pts

5 // France // 93 pts

 

Individual Race Results

Race 1

1st // Australia // 10pts

2nd // Japan // 9pts

3rd // China // 8pts

4th // United States // 7pts

5th // France // 6pts

6th // Great Britain // 4pts

 

Race 2

1st // Japan // 10pts

2nd // Australia // 9pts

3rd // France // 8pts

4th // United States // 7pts

5th // China // 6pts

6th // Great Britain // 4pts

 

Race 3

1st // Japan // 10pts

2nd // Australia // 9pts

3rd // China // 8pts

4th // France // 7pts

5th // United States // 6pts

6th // Great Britain // 4pts

 

Race 4

1st // Japan // 10pts

2nd // Australia // 9pts

3rd // Great Britain // 8pts

4th // United States // 7pts

5th // China // 6pts

6th // France // 5pts

 

Race 5

1st // United States // 10pts

2nd // Japan // 9pts

3rd // Australia // 8pts

4th // Great Britain // 7pts

5th // France // 6pts

6th // China // 5pts

 

Match Race

1st // Japan // 1pt

2nd // Australia // 0pts

ABOUT SAILGP

SailGP is sailing redefined. Established in 2018 and headquartered in London and San Francisco, SailGP is an annual, global sports championship featuring bold, cutting-edge technology and awe-inspiring athleticism. The fan-centric, inshore racing takes place in some of the most iconic harbors around the globe and culminates with a $1 million winner-takes-all match race. Rival national teams from Australia, China, France, Great Britain, Japan and the United States battle it out in identical supercharged F50 catamarans, engineered for intense racing at electrifying speeds exceeding 50 knots (nearly 60 mph/100 kph). Visit SailGP.com for more information.

High drama on the Hudson

6/21/19​

New York City’s conditions provide an intense challenge for SailGP teams

Crowds turn out to watch high-speed racing in front of iconic city backdrop

 as Nathan Outteridge and Tom Slingsby continue to outpace the field

SOUND OFF!

YOUR THOUGHTS BELOW >>

NEW YORK – June 21, 2019 – It was a day of high drama on the Hudson for the first day of the New York SailGP, which saw the world’s fastest sail racing boats hitting high speeds in front of crowds lining the waterfront at Brookfield Place in Battery Park City.

 

The spectacle started before the starting gun was fired, after a strong gust of wind saw the Great Britain SailGP Team capsize in dramatic fashion 30 minutes before the first race. All sailors were safe, with no injuries, but damage to the wingsail caused them to be unable to compete on day one. It was the first capsize in SailGP history, and the shore crews will work through the night to repair damage and try to get the team back in flying condition for tomorrow’s racing.

 

“All was going to plan with pre-start preparations, then we got hit by a massive gust of wind, the boat did a porpoise jump, and we were over,” said Dylan Fletcher, helmsman of the Great Britain SailGP Team. “It was devastating watching the other guys race around in the sun with that backdrop; we had been looking to show some of our performance and hopefully sneak a race win.”

 

It was also a tough start to the day for the hometown heroes, as wing trimmer Riley Gibbs was replaced due to injury on the United States SailGP Team with shore team manager Jeff Causey. Though an accomplished sailor in his own right, the last-minute call-up marked the first time Causey stepped into the role on the U.S. F50.

 

Once the start got underway, it was the teams from Australia and Japan that managed to cope best in the challenging conditions. Nathan Outteridge, helmsman of the Japan team, took two of three race wins on day one. The team’s excellent boat handling allowed it to navigate the constantly changing breeze and challenging racecourse.

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“We tried to manage the differences between the gusts and lulls,” said Outteridge. “Downwind you can be speeding along at 40 knots but ahead of you there’s a massive hole, so you had to be looking ahead. What was so good for us today was our whole team knew what the game plan was – to expect anything and the team responded well.”

 

Outteridge was challenged in the first race of the day by longtime friend and rival Tom Slingsby, helmsman of the Australia SailGP Team, who took the win to continue his winning streak.

 

“It was crazy out there. I don’t think I’ve sailed in conditions like that before so there was a lot of safety involved just trying to get around the track,” said Slingsby. “We had a good day today – first, second, second – we’re happy with that, and we’re in the hunt tomorrow.”

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Coming off a severe crash in San Francisco, the China SailGP Team proved it is back with a vengeance. There was no sign of confidence shaken on the Hudson River racecourse, even after coming off the foils during race two. Helmsman Phil Robertson is a renowned match racer known for pushing the limits, and today, it paid off for him.  

 

Similar conditions are expected for tomorrow’s racing, and teams will be heading back to their respective bases to analyze what went right and what didn’t work.

 

New Yorkers can expect even more action during Saturday’s racing, which will feature two fleet races and a final match race, pitting the two highest scoring teams against each other in a nation-versus-nation battle to see who is crowned the overall winner of New York SailGP.

 

Leaderboard New York – Day 1

1st // Japan // 29pts

2nd // Australia // 28pts

3rd // China // 22pts

4th // France // 21pts

5th // United States // 20 pts

6th // Great Britain // 12 pts

 

Race 1

1st // Australia // 10pts

2nd // Japan // 9pts

3rd // China // 8pts

4th // United States // 7pts

5th // France // 6pts

6th // Great Britain // 4pts

 

Race 2

1st // Japan // 10pts

2nd // Australia // 9pts

3rd // France // 8pts

4th // United States // 7pts

5th // China // 6pts

6th // Great Britain // 4pts

 

Race 3

1st // Japan // 10pts

2nd // Australia // 9pts

3rd // China // 8pts

4th // France // 7pts

5th // United States // 6pts

6th // Great Britain // 4pts

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Inspiring youth for global change

From our friends at: World Sailing Trust, and Scuttlebutt

June 8th, 2019

Our planet cannot continue to consume the trash in the manner we are creating it, and a disrespect to the environment has exasperated the situation. But changing habits is hard, and while the current generation wrestles with new practices, it is incumbent for young people to be raised with them.

An initiative led by the World Sailing Trust, the charitable arm of World Sailing, and the Ocean Heroes team, will seek to do this by delivering youth sustainability training at the 2019 Hempel Youth Sailing World Championships in Gdynia, Poland.

The Championships, held from July 13 to 20, will see the delivery of the Ocean Heroes training program to the 415 competitors from 67 nations to activate them in stemming the flow of plastic pollution into the world’s oceans.

Comprised of three core partners – Captain Planet Foundation, Lonely Whale, and Point Break Foundation – the Ocean Heroes team aim to provide young people, passionate about the oceans, with the knowledge, skills, and support to become effective advocates and campaigners in solving the global ocean plastics crisis.

The partnership between the World Sailing Trust and Ocean Heroes will enable both parties to reach the sailors competing at the Hempel Youth Worlds, who regular participate in the sport and have a close relationship with the marine environment.

Ahead of the Hempel Youth Worlds, World Sailing, the World Sailing Trust and the Ocean Heroes team will develop a bespoke version of the online Ocean Heroes Bootcamp platform and called, World Sailing’s Ocean Heroes ToolKit. The platform, which will also be available to download, will be delivered at the Emerging Nations Program clinic ahead of the event.

World Sailing’s Ocean Heroes ToolKit will include information on how sailors can make a change and apply pressure on the system to move away from single use plastic. Three strategies for change are covered including:

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Demand-side / behavior change

• Convincing others to say no to single-use plastic items and finding reusable alternatives;


• Building demand for events and sailing clubs to go plastic-free through pledges and petitions.

Supply-side


• Convincing clubs, associations and events to provide alternatives to single-use plastic such as water filling stations and non-plastic wrapped food items


• Incentivizing the use of re-usables. For example: providing discounts in cafes to bringing reusable cups

Policies and rules


• Convincing their national and regional sailing associations to eliminate single-use plastic from sanctioned events

Up to 20 sailors from emerging sailing nations will receive training and guidance on how they can make a difference to sailing’s contribution to global sustainability before the platform is made available to the remaining sailors thereafter.

The platform would then be available as a resource for World Sailing’s ongoing use as a way of contributing to one of World Sailing’s Agenda 2030 targets as well as supporting the United Nations ‘Clean Seas’ initiative that World Sailing joined with the International Olympic Committee.

Dee Caffari, Chair of the World Sailing Trust, said, “At the 2018 Youth Worlds in Corpus Christi, USA, the event had a sustainability focus and set a benchmark for sustainability at World Sailing events. 96% of surveyed participants said they wanted to see sustainability initiatives at sailing events they participated in.

“The partnership between the World Sailing Trust and Ocean Heroes builds on the sailors’ enthusiasm. We hope to continue to inspire them to make a difference globally and with support of partners such as Ocean Heroes, we’ll have a strong and stable network for them to become ocean advocates and continue initiatives within their home country after the event.”

For more on the World Sailing Trust… click here.

Learn more on the Captain Planet Foundation and the Ocean Heroes Bootcamp.

WORLD SAILING AWARDS

Carolijn Brouwer (NED) / Marie Riou (FRA) and Pavlos Kontides (CYP) were crowned female and male Rolex World Sailors of the Year as the stars of sailing were recognized at the 2018 World Sailing Awards in Sarasota, Florida.

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From our friends at: sailing.org

Rolex World Sailor of the Year Trophy

© Evan Smith / World Sailing

Carolijn Brouwer (NED) / Marie Riou (FRA) and Pavlos Kontides (CYP) were crowned female and male Rolex World Sailors of the Year as the stars of sailing were recognised at the 2018 World Sailing Awards in Sarasota, Florida, USA.

Held at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, eight Awards were presented. The highlight of the Awards is the Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards and Brouwer / Riou were recognised for their success in the Volvo Ocean Race and Kontides for winning consecutive World Championship titles.
 

America's Cup News

AMERICA'S CUP:

DutchSail's Promotional Video

America's Cup: Carolijn Brouwer at the helm of Team The Netherlands

1/30/19

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Photo Ctsy: Getty

SOURCE: http://www.stuff.co.nz

Carolijn Brouwer will become the first female at the helm of an America's Cup challenger, when she leads Team The Netherlands at the 2021 America's Cup regatta in Auckland.

​Brouwer, a 45-year-old from the Netherlands, is a two-time World Sailor of the Year, three-time Olympian and winner of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Peter van Niekerk, a two-time America's Cup winner with Alinghi, has been appointed team manager and Dirk Kramers lead designer.

Team The Netherlands, led by two-time America's Cup winner Simeon Tienpont, was confirmed in December as the sixth challenger for the 36th America's Cup, joining Italy's Luna Rossa, US entries American Magic and Stars & Stripes Team USA, INEOS Team UK and Malta Altus Challenge.

Combined with defenders Emirates Team New Zealand, it is set to be the biggest lineup since the 2007 regatta in Valencia.

Brouwer will be the first female to helm an America's Cup challenger. Kiwi Leslie Egnot was the helmswoman on Mighty Mary in the 1995 America's Cup campaign, but that was in the trials to select the US defender. Dawn Riley was skipper of Mighty Mary, which was beaten by Dennis Conner's Stars and Stripes in the defender series. Conner was then granted the right to sail Young America instead in the finals, but was beaten by New Zealand's Black Magic. 

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Pictured: Anastacia, Simeon Tienpont, Duber

"STARS and STRIPES" - TEAM USA for 36th America's Cup

12/12/18

From our friends at "America's Cup"

The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is pleased to confirm that the identity of the 5th accepted challenger for the 36th America’s Cup is the Long Beach Yacht Club, another historic and internationally respected yacht club.

It will be represented by ‘Stars & Stripes Team USA’ which brings the number of Challengers that will race in Auckland in 2021 to five, with Defender Emirates Team New Zealand the 6th team.

Stars & Stripes Team USA is the second US challenge after American Magic in addition to the Challenger of Record Luna Rossa (ITA), INEOS Team UK (GBR) and Malta Altus Challenge (MT). 

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Established in 1929, the Long Beach Yacht Club it is renowned for the Congressional Cup, the premier match racing event in the world outside the America’s Cup – that since 1965 has attracted the world’s top ranked skippers aiming to be awarded with the coveted Crimson Blazer.

 The name  Stars & Stripes Team USA has been blessed by ‘Mr America’s Cup’ Dennis Conner himself.

“Our name is a nod to Dennis Conner’s ‘Stars & Stripes’ campaigns that defined all-American, America’s Cup racing for decades. We are the next generation,”  said Co-Founder Mike Buckley.

Working alongside Buckley is former Match Racing World Champion Taylor Canfieldwho has been ranked the #1 World Sailing match racer for three of the past five yearsand is a four time winner of the Congressional Cup.

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“We have begun assembling our sailing roster and will announce more details soon. It’s been my professional goal to compete in the America’s Cup my whole life and I’m confident we will be very competitive come 2021 in Auckland.” said Canfield. While more details will be released in early 2019 during a public launch, the team has already announced several key people. 

Justin Shaffer, with a career in Major League Baseball and Facebook and a TP52 background, is the team CEO and will be sided by Tod Reynolds, who ran the 2016 America’s Cup World Series Chicago, in the role of COO. General Counsel, Melinda Erkelens is an industry veteran who has participated in five America’s Cup campaigns.

At the head of the design team is JB Braun who was part of  Oracle Team USA in 2013 and 2017.

Stars & Stripes Team USA has already started building their AC75 race yacht in Michigan, a build process that was accelerated by a design and technology package purchased from Emirates Team New Zealand.

“Stars & Stripes and their Yacht Club are the reflection of the new America’s Cup; they value the history of the trophy and the event while wholeheartedly accepting the technological challenge that the new AC75 class represents.” Said Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand “We are really proud to have two American teams competing in this America’s Cup. United States is a country with outstanding America’s Cup sailing tradition and expertise.”

The Long Beach Yacht Club (Stars & Stripes) approval comes one week after the Royal Malta Yacht Club (Malta Altus Challenge) entry.

America’s Cup: Foil issues could delay launch

12/1/18  - From our friends at Scuttlebutt

Auckland, New Zealand (November 30, 2018) – Preparation for the next America’s Cup could be set back by up to three months due to technical difficulties, while a proposed second preliminary regatta in 2019 could be scrapped altogether.

Yachting commentator Peter Montgomery told Radio Sport the date syndicates will be allowed to launch the first boats on the water ahead of the 2021 event in Auckland will likely have to be pushed back by three months, after tests revealed that the foils featured on the radical monohull design couldn’t cope under load.

“They’ve been doing load tests and they have been breaking and so there comes the issue,” Montgomery said.

“Part of the agreement between the defender (Team New Zealand) and the challenger of record was to have certain components – and one of the components is the foils. They’ve been doing tests on them and several have been breaking meaning they just cannot cope with the loads.

“The protocol was that you were not able to sail the new boats until the first of April next year … it will be delayed until June.”

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The America’s Cup protocol currently states that the first boat is not permitted to be launched prior to March 31, 2019, ahead of a series of preliminary regattas to be raced internationally.

Organisers were hoping to have two World Series events next year for challenger teams and the defender to line up against each other, with the first opportunity confirmed for next October in Sardinia.

However, Montgomery said the delayed protocol would rule out the opportunity of a second event, ultimately putting a strain on preparations for the 36th America’s Cup.

“It will be a more compressed time because the dates for the America’s Cup, March 2021, and for the Prada Cup … will not be shifted,” he said.

Quick nap proves costly for sailor Alex Thomson in Route du Rhum race

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By Motez Bishara, CNN

(CNN) After 11 days and about 3,500 nautical miles at sea, Briton Alex Thomson was primed to win the solo transatlantic Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe race when his boat hit a patch of rocks approaching Grande Terre island.

What was even worse he'd overslept.

Thomson -- who like many sailors sleeps in 20-minute bursts throughout the day -- had forgotten to charge his shockwave watch, specially designed to release an electric shock to wake him up.

British skipper Alex Thomson removes a fishing net from his Hugo Boss sailboat off Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe, on November 16, 2018, prior to crossing the finish line of the Route du Rhum solo sailing race.

Instead, the 44-year-old from Gosport, England awoke to the thud of a damaged stern, bow and foil on the starboard side of his 60-foot Hugo Boss yacht -- and the pangs of a broken heart.

"It's a real shame for me and the team to be in the position that we are in," an emotional Thomson told reporters on Friday.

With no choice but to start his engine to escape the rough terrain, Thomson triggered a 24-hour penalty and has all but dashed plans for a champagne celebration.Although he crossed the finish line in Pointe-a-Pitre on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe first on Friday, the penalty means Thomson will likely place out of the top three 

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finishers of the race which began on November 4 off the coast of Saint Malo, in northern France.

"The jury has decided that I have a 24-hour penalty which will mean I will not win the race," he accepted.

"How do I feel about that? Well, I think that is very fair because I don't think I should win the race after hitting Guadeloupe."

'They don't think you're coming back'

Thomson finished second and third in consecutive Vendee Globe around-the-world solo races. He spent an astonishing 74 days at sea in the 2016-2017 edition.

"In some ways it's easier because it's not quite as daunting," Thomson told CNN Sport days before embarking on the Route du Rhum, "but on other hand, there's no downtime and you can't make a mistake -- so it's a bit unforgiving,

"You're still racing across the Atlantic on your own. The Vendee Globe is almost gladiatorial -- half a million people turn up at the start, probably because they don't think you're coming back.

"This one, I don't think about not coming back. I think about drinking rum in the Caribbean in a few weeks.

"It's a different challenge, but it's not a leisure cruise. The boats have become faster and faster, in theory it's a downwind race which is pretty stressful, there's no time to get into a rhythm and you'll be more tired than ever before."

That talk of fatigue proved prophetic and spelled Thomson's undoing.

Thomson planned to sleep in 20 to 40 minute bursts every two to four hours during this race, and made note of an alarm clock wired to a loud horn to wake him up.

In case he was still asleep five minutes later, the shockwave watch was designed to deliver a mild but "not very pleasant" electric shock.

Sadly, that system failed when Thomson slept right through the horn on Thursday, and the modern-day risk of not charging one's digital device caught up to him.

SAIL GP

Ok - So Larry Ellison's Team Oracle didn't win the last America's Cup series.  

Booo.  So what are they going to do with all of those fancy catamarans that they designed?

 

How about start a NEW (and hopefully commercially successful) sailing league!

That's what Ellison and Sir Russell Coutts hope to do moving forward.  

There will be teams from the United States, Australia, Great Britain, France, Japan and China.

The series begins Feb. 15-16 in Sydney, Australia, followed by regattas in San Francisco on May 4-5; New York on June 21-22; Cowes, England, on Aug. 10-11; and the finale in Marseille, France, on Sept. 20-22 that will include a winner-take-all $1 million match race.

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OYSTERS CLEAN NY HARBOR

Oysters have a remarkable ability to filter nitrogen pollution from water as they eat.

Restoring oysters and reefs will, over time, restore the local marine ecosystem’s natural mechanisms for maintaining itself, resulting in cleaner water and greater biodiversity.

Which is why the Billion Oyster Project is restoring oyster reefs in New York.

There are two good articles on the topic here:

Billion Oyster Project

  and

From "Eater.com"

National Sailing Academy Open Day

by Antigua Sailing Week 24 Nov 03:57 PST

2 December 2018

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The National Sailing Academy, Antigua Sailing Week's selected charity since 2013, invite you to their family friendly Open Day on December 2nd in English Harbour. During this free event youth and adults can discover sailing & swimming throughout the afternoon with qualified instructors. Food & drink will also be available for purchase. Antigua Sailing Week will also be launching the second year of the Youth to Keelboat (Y2K) program and applications can be completed during the event.

The National Sailing Academy offers the opportunity for Antiguan school children to learn sailing free of charge. In 2010 the Government of Antigua & Barbuda added sailing & swimming to the list of National Sports thus allowing these sports to be included in every school's curriculum. To facilitate this the National Sailing Academy was incorporated as an independent non-profit charitable organization which is administered by a volunteer board. The potential benefits of this programme are manifold – to both the Antiguan community and the Yachting Industry, which is growing year by year.

Click here to learn more about the National Sailing Academy and its endeavour to expose more Antiguan youth to the sport of sailing.

wind and solar-powered drones

Nov 21, 2018

No, this doesn’t have a bunch of cool sailing shots, but it sure as hell is a fascinating look at how little we know about the very environment that we all dedicate large portions of our life to.

Explorer Sebastien de Halleux shares how a new fleet of wind- and solar-powered drones is collecting data at sea in unprecedented detail, revealing insights into things like global weather and the health of fish stocks. Learn more about what a better grasp of the ocean could mean for us back on land.

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Take me home Cap'!

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Like Nautical Stories?

Check out some fun stories of nautical

nature here: Nauti Tales

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Check out stories and photos of

the HB Flagship GITANA.  1936

Alden Yawl.

Here for Ye Pirate Sail?

Yarrrrr!  Then go PLUNDER!

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