TP52 World Championship

Between October 6th - October 11th, the Real Club Nautico de Palma will host the 2009 TP52 World Championship.

The TP52 Class has been described as the Grand-Prix class of the global sailing circuit because the 52' yachts are extremely fast. As described on the Transpac52 website:

"TP52’s are flat out racing platforms, fully crewed, high performance monohulls capable of racing in both buoy regattas and offshore races. The 2800 pound weight limit provides for approximately 14 crew members with the flexibility to bring along a guest or a sponsor in the back of the boat and out of harms way. TP52’s race in true time, the first boat across the finish line wins. TP52’s are designed to be raced by both amateur and professional sailors alike. TP52’s elected not to use water ballast, canting keels, running back stays; preferring to keep it simple, safe & reliable. There is no time credit to build a slow TP52. They can easily exceed 25 knots off the wind with the record being 32 knots in a race set by 4 TP52’s racing down the California coast in 2003. Upwind, they are very stiff and fast as approximately 60% of the weight of the boat is in the metal fin & lead bulb."  Quote ©Transpac52
In this year's Transpac 52 Worlds there will be 10 crews competing for the world title, including Quantum Racing (USA) who will be defending their title. There will be two new entries to the TP52 class, France's Paprec Recyclage and Great Britain's Henri Lloyd Weapon of Choice.

The other eight crews are regular competitors on the Audi MedCup Circuit 
The Ten Crews competing will be:

Quantum Racing (USA), Bribón (ESP), Matador (ARG), Cristabella (GBR), Artemis (SWE), Audi TP52 powered by Q8 (ITA), Valars III (RUS), Paprec Recyclage (FRA), Henri Lloyd-Weapon of Choice (GBR), Synergy (RUS)

The World Championship will follow a similar schedule to a typical Audi MedCup event with a practice race on Tuesday, a coastal race on Friday and a series of windward-leeward races Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

                            

                             Image © Transpac52

Tom McNally's World Record Attempt

We recently read about Tom McNally’s attempt to regain the World Record for the smallest craft to cross the Atlantic. This year, Tom McNally will embark on a double Atlantic crossing in his 3 foot, 10 inch boat, the Big C. Tom is aiming to create a new World Record and to raise money for the cancer charity, Sail 4 Cancer.
Tom will set off from Cadiz in Southern Spain and sail to across to Central America, up to Texas, and then Newfoundland before returning to his home town of Liverpool, England. The journey is estimated to last between 15-18 months, and will amount to a total of approximately 10,000 miles. Just imagine having to sleep whilst standing up for so many months!

Tom has crossed the Atlantic many times, and in early '93 he set a new world record for the smallest craft to cross the Atlantic, in a boat 5 feet 4 1/2 inches. The previous record holder, Hugo Vihlen, subsequently recrossed the Atlantic later that year, in a boat which was just half an inch smaller, and regained the record. Now Tom wishes to beat that record in the tiniest yacht possible: 3 foot 10 inches! Good Luck Tom!
 
 

Copyright © Tom McNally

Follow Tom on his website  http://tom-mcnally.co.uk/

http://www.sail4cancer.org/  Read more about the Sail4Cancer charity

Update on International Shipping

We are very pleased to announce that we have just updated our International Delivery options at the Roan Star Sailing Outlet. This is due to an upgrade of eBay's postage and packing options on the eBay UK website. We have now been able to include all of the following European countries to our listings: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. We also ship to the USA and Canada. This is a big improvement on the list of 5 countries that eBay had provided before the change.

We offer very competitive shipping prices, and full insurance and online tracking with all orders.

Geoff Holt: Atlantic Challenge & Disability Sports Ambassador

We recently saw Geoff Holt on the BBC news talking about his plans to sail across the Atlantic this year. Geoff is planning on sailing the 3,000 mile journey in December, and aims to become the first quadriplegic sailor to cross the Atlantic unassisted. It will not be the first time that Geoff has sailed across the Atlantic, but it will be his first transatlantic crossing since he became disabled in 1984. Geoff has already sailed single handed around Great Britain, in 2007.

Geoff will be sailing the Atlantic on "Impossible Dream", a beautiful wheelchair accessible yacht owned by the charity Sporting Activities for the Disabled. The boat has push-button technology allowing Geoff to navigate and sail the boat. Because Geoff is confined to a wheel chair, he will have a professional carer with him on his trip. The carer will not be involved with any aspect of sailing the yacht.

We wish Geoff all the very best for his Atlantic Challenge!

Follow Geoff on Twitter @WetWheels -  http://twitter.com/WetWheels

Read his personal blog: http://www.geoffholt.com/blog/2

The Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race

In 1969 Sir Robin Knox-Johnston was the first man ever to sail solo and non-stop around the world. In 1995 Sir Robin set up Clipper Ventures. Based in Royal Clarence Marina, in Gosport, Clipper Ventures is an international marine events company. Clipper Ventures also operates a world-class training division, Clipper Training, which provides yachts, equipment, qualified skippers and intensive training for novice yachtsmen. Clipper Ventures has successfully organised 6 round the world yacht races for non-professional sailors, and also runs the Velux 5 Oceans solo round the world yacht race.

Clipper Ventures is best known for organising the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, which was first run in 1996. The Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race will start this Sunday, the 13th of September 2009, on the Humber in the North East of England. There will be a fleet of 10 stripped down identical 68-foot yachts that will race each other over 35,000 miles on a full circumnavigation of the world. The teams will stop at 14 different ports along the way including Hull & Humber, La Rochelle, Rio de Janeiro, South Africa, Western Australia, Singapore, Qingdao, California, Panama, Caribbean, New York, Cape Breton Island & Cork

Sir Robin founded the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race so that more people can experience the challenge of ocean racing. As it says on the Clipper website: “This is the only opportunity for people from all walks of life to compete in a round the world yacht race”.

The race is open to anyone who feels they are up for the challenge and willing to pay the sign-up fee, regardless of whether or not they have previous sailing experience. Crew can either sign up for the whole race, or one or more legs. The fact that crew members can choose the stages that they are competing in offers much more flexibility for competitors who might want to take part, but can’t necessarily take 10 months off work. This latest edition, the Clipper 2009-2010 race is completely sold out and it is advised to sign-up early for future races in order to secure your place.Clipper is already recruiting crew for Clipper 2011-2012 which, at 40,000 miles, will be the longest round the world yacht race.

There are 10 teams taking part in the race this year, totalling approximately 400 crew members over the entire race. Each team is sponsored by an international city, region or country, and this year the teams are: Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, Hull & Humber, Uniquely Singapore, Qingdao, Jamaica Lightning Bolt, Cape Breton Island, Cork, Team Finland, California and Spirit of Australia.

The teams are expected to return in July 2010.

Great Sailing Bargain MUSTO MPX Gore-Tex OffShore Race Jacket Save 20% off Retail Price

This brand new size XL Musto MPX Offshore Race jacket is now on sale at the Roan Star Sailing Outlet for just £260. Save 20% off the full retail price ( Usual selling price in shops ranges between £325-£355) and get free UK delivery. We can't find a better deal than this anywhere online, so grab this great bargain fast. International shipping available.

The Charente-Maritime / Bahia Transat 6.50

Created by Bob Salmon, in 1977, the 17th edition of The Charente-Maritime/Bahia Transat 6.50 will start next week, on Sunday the 13th of September 2009. Originally called the Mini-Transat, the race will start off the coast of the Charente-Maritime (France) and go to Funchal (Madeira / Portugal) and finish across the Atlantic in Salvador de Bahia (Brazil)
This year’s Charente Maritime / Bahia Transat 6.50 race has 84 skippers representing 12 different nationalities. The race is open to amateur and professional sailors, provided that they qualify. Many world famous sailors have competed in this event on previous years including Ellen Mc Arthur, Isabelle Autissier, Catherine Chabaud, Yves Parlier, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, Michel Desjoyaux, Loïck and Bruno Peyron, Yvan and Laurent Bourgnon, Roland Jourdain, Sébastien Josse, Thomas Coville, Lionel Lemonchois, Halvard Mabire. This 17th edition will bring together American, Australian, English, Spanish, Italian, Swiss, South African, French, German, Portuguese, Norwegian and Brazilian competitors.

The Transat 6.50 has very strict entry requirements for the boat and the skipper. The competitor and the boat must have a sailing "history" acquired in races and sailing qualifications. This is to ensure that the competitor has a chance to meet the challenge of this long and completely solo race. The 6.50 Series and Prototype boats will be sailed 4,200 miles (7800 km) single-handed without any assistance (7800 km) The first 1,100 nautical miles are between Charente Maritime, France and Funchal, Madeira and then the next 3,100 nautical miles are between Madeira and Salvador de Bahia in Brazil corresponding to 4,200 nm. This is the same course as the 2007 edition of the race.

Below are the rules regarding entry requirements:

The races' rules:

"The boats that will participate to The Charente-Maritime/Bahia Transat 6.50 have to be completely self sufficient. The skippers cannot rely on anyone during the race but themselves. They have to be able to face every kind of situation on their own and be able to join a port if necessary without any external help. There are two categories on the race: prototypes and series boats. These categories determine two rankings. No routing is accepted and each participant has to sign a statement of intent that undertaking them to respect this rule. The navigation electronics or computing assistants are forbidden on board. Also, no supplying or physical contacts with another boat are accepted during the race. Any kind of radio assistance apart from medical assistance is allowed.

-Qualifications:

The Charente-Maritime/Bahia Transat 6.50 qualification process was created in 1999 when half of the fleet had to abandon. The aim is simple and clear: permit to the candidate/sailor to consider their true technical skills and psychological capacities to sail solo. So, to be qualified, the couple skipper/boat has to sail 2.000 miles, including 1.000 miles racing and 1.000 miles training. If the sailor already sailed 2.000 miles, he has to participate to at least one race of the qualifying calendar. The skippers that already participated to The Charente-Maritime/Bahia Transat 6.50 on the same boat are exempted from the 1000 miles training. But they have to participate to, at least, one of the qualification race of the 2009 Mini calendar."

Rules & Qualification criteria taken directly from the Charente-Maritime / Bahia Transat 6.50 website : http://www.transat650.org/en/  © Grand Pavois Organisation

There are three British sailors in this year’s Transat: Oliver Bond, Keith Willis and Andrew Bond. We wish them all the very best of luck and hope for their safe and speedy arrival in Salvador de Bahia (Brazil) on Thursday the 20th of October, the estimated finish day.

Follow the Transat 6.50 here

Musto Caribbean Sailing Jacket - now only £55

BIG Savings on Musto Sailing Jackets at the Roan Star Sailing Outlet.

We've just knocked down the price of our popular Musto Caribbean jackets.

Our new MUSTO © Sailing Waterproof Caribbean Jacket is very useful waterproof jacket suitable for any time of year. This jacket features: Lightweight, Waterproof and Breathable Tough durable ripstop fabric. Mesh lining. Taped seams. Roll-away peaked hood. Two way front zip. Adjustable cuffs. Two external zipped pockets, internal security pocket. Scooped back hem with elasticated drawcord. Reflective Musto logo on collar. Available in Large or XL, Colour: Red
Now available for £55.  Free UK delivery.

See our eBay shop for further delivery information. International shipping available.

We have also reduced the price of the MUSTO © Windward Jacket - Now only £79.  Navy Blue, size XL only. This is a warm fleece lined, breathable and waterproof jacket from Musto.

Technical Specification: Lightweight ripstop polyester shell - Waterproof, Windproof, Breathable Hydrophilic Coating. Microfleece lining. Taped seams. Roll-away peaked hood. Two way front zip
Adjustable cuffs. Two external zipped pockets, internal security pocket. Scooped back hem with elasticated drawcord

The MUSTO © Leeward Jackets are also reduced in price, and are now £59. We have this jacket available in Black. This lightweight Jacket Features: Fully waterproof outer, made from a tough durable ripstock fabric. Fully taped seams. Mesh lining. Rollaway peaked hood. 2 external zipped pockets. Internal security pocket. Scooped back hem with elasticated drawcord.

If you require further shipping information, garment measurements or product details please contact us through eBay messages. We are happy to assist.