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Mon02062012

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DRUMMERS AND DRAGON DANCERS GIVE SANYA SPECIAL HOMECOMING

February 5, 2012 - 1300 UTC, Leg 3 Stage 2 Day 15. Thousands of fans lined the dock to deliver a raucous late night welcome to Team Sanya, the first sole Chinese entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, as they sailed into their home port on Sunday.

Photo Credit: IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race

Firecrackers sounded as the exhausted team, including the first Chinese sailor to compete in the race Teng "Tiger" Jiang He, stepped ashore for hugs, kisses and cheers from friends, family and well-wishers at Sanya Serenity Marina.

The 37-year-old entrepreneur, who started sailing only two years ago, was greeted with open arms by his wife and two sons, plus his extended family, in an emotional dockside reunion.

Earlier, skipper Mike Sanderson handed the wheel to his Chinese team mate for him to steer Team Sanya across the finish line in his home country.

Tiger said that moment had been a unique and emotional experience and confessed to being lost for words at the sight of his countrymen’s turnout.

"We’re all very happy to be home to my motherland, especially in time for the Chinese traditional New Year," said Tiger. "Tomorrow is a big holiday, so I’m very happy. To see my family is just the best."

Team Sanya crossed the finish line in Sanya Bay at 19:35:17 local time, 12:35:17 UTC, after more than 14 days at sea completing the 3,051 nautical mile Leg 3 Stage 2 race from the Maldives to China.

Sanya receive five points after racing into a stopover for the first time in the race, bringing their total to 16 points. Team Telefónica, who completed a hat-trick of victories from the first three offshore legs when they led the fleet home on Saturday, are top of the overall standings with 95 points.

Despite being visibly exhausted, the crew of 11 were all smiles at the warmth of their rock-star like reception, which came complete with autograph requests and locals queuing for a photo opportunity.

Cameras flashed constantly as the team walked to the main stage on the red carpet path. More than 200 local performers joined the procession, including dozens of traditional drummers as well as lion and dragon dancers.

Skipper Mike Sanderson said bringing Sanya across the finish line of an off shore leg for the first time in the 2011-12 edition of the race was made all the more sweet by the home crowd.

"It’s amazing," said the New Zealander, who led ABN AMRO ONE to victory in the 2005-06 edition. "It’s late on a Sunday night here and the reception is amazing. Tiger steered for the last few hours and across the line and did an amazing job of it. He’s come such a long way."

Commenting on their sixth place finish Sandreson said he and his crew were disappointed not to have done better but would now refocus on improving their performance in the rest of the race.

“We’re competitive racers, we’re not here to sail around at the back of the fleet," he said. "We’ve got to look forward now. We’ve got lots of positives to take from and we can definitely get the boat going faster.

"I’m already looking forward to having another chance to race the other guys. I really feel this isn’t a true reflection of our performance and we need to get out there and have another go.”

Team Sanya’s race home wasn’t without adversity, with the team encountering a problem with the structure supporting two of their winches on Saturday.

Sanderson’s men were quick to respond and return to full speed in a north easterly monsoon, crossing the finish line more than 32 hours after leg winner Team Telefónica.

Leg 3
Report: 05/02/2012 12:48:04 UTC
DTL   DTLC   BS   DTF
1           TELE   FIN   012d 19h 58m 21s
2           GPMA   FIN   012d 21h 45m 24s
3           CMPR   FIN   012d 23h 28m 23s
4           PUMA   FIN   013d 00h 29m 12s
5           ADOR   FIN   013d 03h 05m 05s
6           SNYA   FIN   014d 04h 35m 16s

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High-Speed chase towards Sanya Finish in the Volvo Ocean Race

February 3, 2012 - 2200 UTC Leg 3 Stage 2 Day 13. At 2200 UTC tonight, the first four boats racing in Leg 3 Stage 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race were screaming towards the Sanya finish in a high-speed chase led by Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP). Groupama sailing team were holding on to second place, 30.20 nautical miles (nm) behind.

After an exhausting 13 days at sea, Team Telefónica is on the home straight with 91.2 nm left to run until the team crosses the finish in Sanya in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas/FRA), in second place, are 30 nm behind, averaging a speed of 14.7 knots, nearly a knot slower than the leaders. CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand still keeps third place, 59.9 nm behind, but second place is probably beyond the team’s grasp now.

Slightly to the east of the fleet, and with sheets cracked, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (Ken Read/USA) have tonight swept past Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR), the most inshore of the fleet. Read and his men are sailing faster than anyone, averaging 16.1 knots, while Abu Dhabi drops 10 nm and one place to fifth position, 88.6 nm behind the leader.

The first four boats are expected to finish sometime after 0430 UTC (1230 local time) on Saturday.

Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson/NZL) has left the coast of Vietnam and has begun to position themselves for the final stretch to the finish, 295 nm ahead. Yesterday the team noticed that one of the top batten cars had broken. The mainsail was dropped briefly and two crew wearing harnesses were hoisted aloft to fix the damage. They replaced the car on the track in less than two minutes as the boat continued to dive off massive waves, after which the mainsail was successfully re-hoisted and a gorgeous sunset lit up the deck.

The team is expected to finish Leg 3 on Sunday around 1300 UTC (2100 local time).

Leg 3
Report: 03/02/2012 22:03:17 UTC
DTL   DTLC   BS   DTF
1           TELE   0.00       0   15.8   91.2
2           GPMA   30.20       3   14.7   121.4
3           CMPR   59.90       5   14.2   151.1
4           PUMA   73.90       1   16.3   165.1
5           ADOR   88.60       10   12.3   179.8
6           SNYA   295.30       44   10.7   386.5

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PUMA FALTER AS TELEFÓNICA CONSOLIDATE

February 2, 2012 - 1300 UTC Leg 3 Stage 2 Day 12. After two weeks and over 2500 nautical miles (nm) of sailing on the second stage of Leg 3 from the Maldives to Sanya in China, today the top five boats are separated by just four hours as they take on a gruelling 500 nm beat to the finish.

Overall race leaders Team Telefónica were the first to reach the coast of Vietnam overnight and this morning began an arduous zigzag along the shore, tacking on average once an hour to avoid the worst of a strong south westerly flowing current.

Nine nautical miles behind Telefónica, second placed Groupama sailing team continued to put pressure on the leader, while keeping a wary eye on third placed CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, who have been making steady gains.

A gutsy attempt to sail around the fleet by PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG came to nothing this morning, after they encountered an unexpected light wind zone and an anticipated right hand wind shift failed to materialise.

Photo Credit: Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race. PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, The Mar Mostro goes upwind in the South China Sea during leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China.

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PUMA GAMBLE EVERYTHING ON LAST-DITCH ATTACK

February 1, 2012 - 1400 UTC Leg 3 Stage 2 Day 11. PUMA skipper Ken Read launched a surprise tactical gamble on Wednesday that could take the Leg 3 fight all the way to the wire, with the American taking his team offshore just as Telefónica led the main fleet towards the coast of Vietnam.

In a calculated risk taken with the team’s need for points in mind, Read defied conventional wisdom by investing in a position around 150 nautical miles to the east of the fleet as the race to Sanya in China enters a fraught final phase.

The move relegated PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG to fifth in the leg standings with less than 800 nautical miles to go as the rest of the leaders headed north towards Vietnam, the more traditional route.

Photo Credit: Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race

With the other teams preparing for a 35-knot upwind battering, PUMA were banking on kinder winds, less tide and a better sea state to put them in contention for their first leg win. Success in the leg would also see them make vital gains on the overall race leaderboard where they currently lie in fourth place, 35 points behind Telefónica.

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The Cruising Club of America has awarded its 2011 Blue Water Medal

New York, N.Y., USA (January 30, 2011) – The Cruising Club of America (CCA) has awarded its esteemed 2011 Blue Water Medal to Thies Matzen and Kicki Ericson for a commendable 24 years and 135,000 miles of sailing the oceans of the world with a focus in the high latitudes of the Southern Ocean. The first Blue Water Medal was awarded in 1923; and is given to “the most meritous example of seamanship.” Its recipient is selected from among amateurs of all the nations.” The medal will be presented by Commodore Daniel P. Dyer, III at the annual Awards Dinner on March 2, 2012 at New York Yacht Club in Manhattan.

Matzen was born in Germany in 1956 and grew up to be a wooden boat builder. In 1981,Matzen purchased Wanderer III, a 30 foot wooden sloop, built in 1952 for Eric and Susan Hiscock who made two circumnavigations with it and received the Blue Water Medal in 1955.Matzen sailed Wanderer III to Scandinavia where he cruised extensively, including to the Lofoten Islands (Norway), and then crossed the Atlantic Ocean. In 1989, while sailing in the Caribbean, he met Swedish-born (1964) Ericson, and the two have lived on Wanderer III ever since. After leaving the Caribbean, the duo sailed through the Panama Canal and into the Pacific Ocean where they spent seven years traveling from site to site. After that, Ericson and Matzen sailed to Indonesia, explored the Indian Ocean, and sailed around the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa).

From 1997 to 1999, Matzen and Ericson did two circuits of the South Atlantic, starting in Cape Town (South Africa) and visiting Argentina, The Falkland Islands, and South Georgia before heading back to Cape Town (South Africa) and South America, where they rounded Cape Horn before returning to the Pacific. The couple’s last twelve years have been comprised of exploring sites in the Southern Ocean, including Tasmania, The Auckland Islands, Antarctica and the Falkland Islands. Recently the two spent 26 months in South Georgia. Currently, Matzen and Ericson are in Brazil and plan to do some work on Wanderer III, which has been kept in its original condition with no electronics onboard except a VHF radio and handheld GPS (added in 2007). The vessel has a 16 horsepower diesel engine and the hull, rigging and gear have been self-maintained using traditional methods.

In addition to presenting its Blue Water Medal, the CCA will present the following 2011 Awards:

Far Horizons Award awarded to Brian and Mary Alice O’Neill (Bainbridge Island, WA) for an admirable 25-month cruise circumnavigating the Pacific Rim, North Pacific Ocean on their 44-foot Robert Perry Designed sloop Shibui. En route the two delivered school supplies to those in need and toured WWII sites.

Richard S. Nye Trophy awarded to Gary Jobson (Annapolis, Md.) for sharing with the club his meritorious service, racing, and statesmanship in the affairs of international yachting.

Rod Stephens Trophy awarded to Bob Arzbaecher (Milwaukee, Wisc.) and the crew of the Beneteau 40.7 Sociable for their dramatic rescue of the crew of the Kiwi 35 WingNuts during the Chicago Yacht Club’s 103rd Race to Mackinac held this past July.

About the Cruising Club of America
The Cruising Club of America is dedicated to offshore cruising, voyaging and the “adventurous use of the sea” through efforts to improve seamanship, the design of seaworthy yachts, safe yachting procedures and environmental awareness. Now in its 90th year, the club has 11 stations throughout the U.S., Canada and Bermuda, with approximately 1200 members who are qualified by their experience in offshore passage making. In even-numbered years, the CCA organizes the Newport to Bermuda Race in conjunction with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Through the club’s Bonnell Cove Foundation, grants are made to 501 C3 organizations for safety at sea and environment of the sea projects. For more information on the CCA, go to http://www.cruisingclub.org.

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