Category: Big Beachcats

After eight races on Saturday 10 and Monday 12 June 2006, Team Holmatro (NED) climbed on the leaderboard of the Rotterdam Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix. The Dutch entry is in fourth position not far from the podium. On Saturday, the VX 40's competed off the coast of Hoek van Holland, while four Volvo Open 70's were finishing their eight leg. On Monday, the 40-foot catamarans returned to the Nieuwe Maas with a tough competition. Halfway the series in the Netherlands, Tommy Hilfiger (USA) took over the lead from Motorola-CHR (UK). The crowd onshore and on the water enjoyed the spectacle. They could clearly see the crews working hard on the trampolines and they could hear the winches.

Tropical temperatures prevailed on June 12th and the South-easterly was variable in direction and strength. Due to a small race area, the course was short and because of the wind angle it was only reaching. A good start turned out to be essential, as there was very little room left for tactical moves. The one that rounds the mark first, is likely to take a bullet. Out of five races, the fourth was by far the most exciting one. Tommy Hilfiger with Randy Smith on the helm and Basilica of skipper James Grant (UK) were off first, followed by the Volvo Ocean Race of Nigel Pit (USA). At the buoy, Holmatro sneaked to the Volvo-boat and Pit did not give enough water. He had to take his penalty and Holmatro took over their third position. Tommy Hilfiger caught up on Basilica, but hit the British hull while rounding the bottom mark. They had to turn a 360 as well and Holmatro passed them. The Americans chased them up and at the next corner it went wrong again. This time, it were the Dutchmen that hit the Tommy Hilfiger.

Newport, Thursday 8th June 2006 - Frenchman Bruno Peyron, the skipper of Orange II, has moved to "Code Orange " today, which means that Peyron and the crew of the giant maxi-catamaran may set sail in the next few days on their attempt at the North Atlantic crossing record, between New York (USA) and The Lizard (GB).

1. French adventurer Bruno Peyron is on standby for the "window of opportunity" to break American Steve Fossett's North Atlantic crossing record (from New York to The Lizard, in England)
   • Fossett's record is 4 days, 17h, 28 minutes and 06 seconds. (established in 2001)
   • By comparison, a cruise ship takes 6 days to make the 3100 nautical mile Transatlantic voyage
   • Only Peyron has tackled this record since Fawcett's '01 accomplishment; in 2004, he missed the record by a mere 31 minutes
2. Peyron will use as his weapon the giant maxi-catamaran Orange II
   • The boat is longer (121 ft.) and nearly as wide (59 ft.) as a tennis court
   • It stands, with its rotating wing mast, as tall as the Arc de Triomphe
   • It sails downwind with 5X more sail area than a Volvo Open 70
3. The best weather would be a low pressure system, with constant wind at 27-35 knots (and no waves), that Orange II could ride -- without interruption -- across the entire ocean
   • To beat Fossett's record, a boat speed average of 26 knots must be maintained at all times
   • Peyron holds the 24-hour speed record (established in 2004) aboard Orange II, having averaged 29.42 knots.
   • Peyron holds the around-the-world speed record (established in 2005) aboard Orange II (50 d, 16 h, 20 min, 4 sec, established in 2005)
   
   
    Read full article: 'Bruno Peyron and Orange II Set to Attempt Transatlantic Record' (181 more words)

Team Holmatro started inconsistantly at the Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix in Portsmouth (GBR). After two days and eight races, the Dutch entry claims a fourth position overall. The Austrian Andreas Hagara, former European and national Champion Tornado, did the honours as a skipper on Sunday. He performed pretty well with a series of 4-2-2-4. On Tuesday May 30, Mitch Booth returned in his role as skipper with Hagara next to him. The crew experienced difficulties with the short course and a drop on the point table was inevitable. Tommy Hilfiger and subsequently the Volvo Ocean Race multihull made history as first VX 40's to capsize in a breeze up to 25 knots. Basilica stood up against all risks and is leading, followed by Tommy Hilfiger and Motorola.

"That was an entertaining day", said Mitch Booth afterwards on the dock. "I was so much distracted on the downwind leg, that I sailed over the starting buoy." It was Leigh MacMillan that pitchpoled first with the Motorola in the second race. The crew was hanging in the air for seconds, with the rudders free. The VX 40 came down snail-like and everybody drew a breath of relief, as nobody knew the consequences of a capsize. The answer came in the last race: the carbon boat and the sailors were very strong. Randy Smith and his teammates were given the honour to be the very first VX 40 upside down. They were just recovering from a pitchpole, as the next wind gust came in. It blew the American multihull over. A heavy rib was needed to upright it. While being in this rescue process, the Volvo Ocean Race team pitchpoled merciless. Skipper Yves Loday, designer of the VX 40 and 1992 olympic champion Tornado, could not avoid this unvoluntary swim and crashed badly into the mast. Loday, who had a bruise in his face: "The cold water relieved the pain, but my back hurts now." Nevertheless, the sailors could still make fun of it. Randy Smith, sitting on the upper hull and shouting down to the people in the rib: "Of course we will finish the race anyway." This did not happen.

Afterburner (52 foot Bladerunner Catamaran) sweeps all six categories in Tommy Bahama Newport to Ensenada race. The crew aboard the fastest boat on the West Coast, "Afterburner" swept all six categories they were eligible for including the coveted first to finish in the 2004 Tommy Bahama Newport to Ensenada race held this weekend off the coast of Southern California. Afterburner finished the course a full three hours ahead of the next boat "Alchemy" Richard Compton's Andrews 77. With more than 500 entries from all of the West coast including Canada, the event took place under moderate wind conditions, absolutely flat water and clear skies.

Afterburner reached speeds in excess of 25 mph during portions of the race and finished in time for dinner Friday night in Ensenada Mexico. Several entries were still coming in more than 24 hours after Afterburner finished the course as conditions varied out on the water.