Sailing Notes

By Esther Pope

November 30, 2009

Manhasset Bay One Designs

Skipper Tim Herring, of the Royal Burnham Yacht Club in Essex, U.K., along with his crew mates, Cathy Herring, Jo Head and owner’s rep, Carol Alexander, battle to the windward mark in the best of nine team race against Manhasset Bay (N.Y.) Yacht Club sailing in Manhasset Bay One Designs. The RBOD/MBOD Challenge celebrated its 10th anniversary this July at Manhasset Bay and was won by MBYC, 5-1. The Manhasset Bay One Designs are Olin Stephens’ first commission, design No. 1, and still race every weekend at the venerable Long Island club. www.manhassetbayyc.org.

Bliksem takes Audi Melges 32 championship

Pieter Taselaar’s Bliksem from Mamaroneck, N.Y., won the Audi Melges 32 world championship 2009, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in Porto Cervo. Taselaar’s team included Jeremy Wilmot of Newport, R.I., as tactician and his brother Nathan of Sydney, Australia, who is a 470 Olympic gold medalist. Other crewmembers were Americans Willem van Waay of San Diego, George Peet of Detroit, Alex Clegg of East Greenwich, R.I., and Australians Paul Atkins and Michael Coxon.

Bliksem’s victory became a reality when its protest against Italian Claudio Recchi’s Team 93, then sitting in second place, was upheld, leaving them untouchable at the head of the overall classification.

Ten races were completed during the course of the class’ first world championship.

Miami OCR set for January

US Sailing’s Rolex Miami OCR will bring together the world’s top sailors Jan. 24-30 for elite-level competition in the classes selected for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Held on Biscayne Bay in Coconut Grove, Fla., the event is the second stop on the International Sailing Federation’s Sailing World Cup 2009-’10 circuit.

The Miami OCR is open to the 10 Olympic classes chosen for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing competitions. For fleet racing in the Olympic classes, the regatta will consist of a five-day opening series and a double-point medal race. The top 10 finishers in the opening series of each event will advance to the medal race. Competitors in the Paralympic classes will have five days of fleet racing and no medal race. For match racing, which makes its debut in the 2012 Olympics, the regatta will consist of an opening series, a knockout series and a sail-off for boats not advancing to the knockout series.

Italian team preps for Vuitton Trophy regatta

The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda is to launch a new challenge that will bring the Italian flag to international waters under the name Azzurra. YCCS Commodore Riccardo Bonadeo announced the participation of team Azzurra in the Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta, scheduled to be held in Nice starting Nov. 7. At the first event in Nice, racing will take place on equalized version 5 ACC boats supplied by the organization, and Azzurra will be competing against BMW Oracle Racing, Emirates Team New Zealand, K-Challenge, Swedish Challenge Artemis, Synergy Russian Sailing Team, Team Origin and Team French Spirit. The team will also evaluate participating in future World Sailing Team Association events co-organized by Louis Vuitton in 2010. All events will be similar to the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series. New US Sailing appeals book available

“The U.S. Sailing Appeals Book for 2009 – 2012” is now available in hard copy at www.store.ussailing.org. This new edition includes the ISAF Case Book for 2009 – 2012, and comprises interpretations of the rules that assist sailors, race officials and judges in making the best decisions according to the rules, according to US Sailing.

“As a competitive racer, coach and judge, I can say this book is loaded with important and useful interpretations of the rules,” says Dave Perry, US Sailing appeals committee chairman.

The appeals are decisions of the US Sailing Appeals Committee, and the cases are decisions of national authorities from around the world published by the International Sailing Federation. Typically, protest committees base their decisions on appeals and cases with similar facts.

Members can read it online for free at www.ussailing.org/appeals.

Schedule set for Olympic events

The International Sailing Federation has published the provisional dates and venues for the world championships of the events selected for the 2012 Olympic sailing competition.

The world championships are a one-off, winner-takes-all affair, with each Olympic event visiting a different venue every year.

The London 2012 Olympic sailing competition comprises 10 events, featuring racing in eight different classes or equipment.

In 2011, all the world title battles in the Olympic events are combined into one massive championship called the Perth 2011 ISAF sailing world championships. For information, visit www.sailing.org.