terça-feira, 15 de fevereiro de 2011

Trimaran da Vodafone em Auckland parte mastro a fazer 25knots

Manuel Cunha e António Tinoco a treinar 420 no Porto

quinta-feira, 10 de fevereiro de 2011

Tavira Sailing

Em 2011, velejadores de todo o mundo vão invadir o destino turístico de Tavira, para disputar as mais conceituadas provas e campeonatos de Vela, promovidos pelo projecto pioneiro – Tavira Sailing.

Numa altura em que a modalidade de Vela tem cada vez mais aficionados, o projecto Tavira Sailing vai transformar a cidade de Tavira na Capital Portuguesa de Vela Ligeira, com a organização de um total de seis campeonatos e regatas de nível Nacional, Ibérico e Internacional, que serão realizados na cidade algarvia.

Entre Março e Julho de 2011, estima-se que mais de 5 mil pessoas passem por Tavira para assistir às provas. O primeiro campeonato – Campeonato Ibérico de 420 - arranca já no próximo dia 9 de Março e conta receber cerca de 80 embarcações e quase duas centenas de velejadores.

Entre as restantes provas destaca-se o Campeonato Nacional de 420, Campeonato de Portugal de Juniores, Campeonato de Portugal de Juvenis, Campeonato Nacional Absoluto de 420, Campeonato Europeu de Optimists e o Campeonato Europeu de 420.

Para Guilherme Ferreira, Presidente do Clube Náutico de Tavira e responsável pelo projecto Tavira Sailing: "Tavira tem condições excelentes para a prática da Vela. É um grande orgulho conseguir trazer para Tavira campeonatos desta ordem e contribuir não só para o crescimento da modalidade, como também para a promoção do turismo da região."

O projecto Tavira Sailing conta com o alto patrocínio do Montepio, que tem uma forte uma ligação a esta modalidade, e com o apoio institucional da Câmara Municipal de Tavira, Clube Náutico de Tavira, Federação Portuguesa de Vela,Associação Portuguesa da Classe Internacional de Optimist e da Classe Internacional de 420. O grupo Vila Galé associou-se a este projecto desde a primeira hora numa parceria estratégica.

Calendário de provas Tavira Sailing

9 a 12 de Março – Campeonato Ibérico de i420

23 a 26 de Abril – Campeonato de Portugal de Juniores

25 a 29 de Maio – Campeonato Nacional de i420

7 a 12 de Junho – Campeonato de Portugal de Juvenis

2 a 10 de Julho – Campeonato Europeu de Optimists

20 a 29 de Julho – Campeonato Europeu de i420

Sobre o Tavira Sailing

O Tavira Sailling é a imagem criada pelo Clube Náutico de Tavira para a organização de todos estes eventos. O Tavira Sailing será por isso a imagem e a face visível do Clube Náutico de Tavira que encabeça e agrupa todos os eventos de vela a realizar em Tavira. Este projecto, lançado em 2011, terá outro momento alto em 2014 com a organização do Campeonato do Mundo da Juventude da ISAF, candidatura conjunta da Federação Portuguesa de Vela e do Clube Náutico de Tavira.

Fonte: FPVela

AC 45 - ORC

Artemis Racing muda-se para a sua nova base em Valencia

It feels like 2005 again, when the 32nd America’s Cup challengers were slowly occupying their brand new bases in Port America’s Cup in Valencia. The only difference this time is that with the new format the 34th edition has, there won’t be as many teams choosing one of the Valencia bases as their permanent home. In fact, there is just one right now, Artemis Racing.

The Swedish challenger has moved into the base formerly occupied by Areva Challenge and its shore crew is already busy. When we visited the base on Friday morning (Valencia time) there was just one door half open, so it wasn’t possible to verify what was going on inside. However, thanks to reliable information we received, the shore crew is currently building various daggerboards that will be tested on the team’s Tornado catamaran.

This move into a base is also a clear sign that the Swedish team, bankrolled by Torbjorn Tornqvist and led by Paul Cayard, is by far the most prepared and active of all the, now, six challengers in the 34th America’s Cup. In fact, just across the street from the base, Juan Kouyoumdjian and his team are already working on the design of the new AC72 boat while a few miles further down the road, in the yacht club, lie the Tornado catamarans used for test purposes.

The former Areva Challenge base, now home of Artemis Racing. Valencia, 4 February 2011. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Not much to be seen, but according to reliable information the Artemis shore crew is building test daggerboards for the team. Valencia, 4 February 2011. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Fonte: VSail.info

Vasco Vascotto demonstra insatisfação em relação à AC

Em entrevista à VSail.info Vasco Vascotto vem a publico dizer que maior parte dos velejadores não gostam da ideia de alterar a America's Cup para multi cascos. Diz mesmo que 98% dos velejadores não gostam da mudança e cerca de 70% dos jornalistas que fala também não é apologista mas que têm receio de expor a sua opinião.

Entrevista:

When Italy’s most famous sailor calls to talk about the America’s Cup, you answer the phone and write down his opinion. Vasco Vascotto wanted to express his “disappointment” with this edition of our sport’s pinnacle event, claiming he was expressing what “98% of sailors said in private but never voiced in public.” He strongly opposes the move to catamarans and sees it as a “move to penalize” strong teams such as Team New Zealand and Team Origin.

VSail.info: Vasco, what is it you want to tell us? Why do you want to criticize the current America’s Cup?
Vasco Vascotto: You know, I wouldn’t say I ‘m angry but rather disappointed. It seems to me that the team that legitimately won the 33rd America’s Cup then didn’t act in a way to help the sport of sailing.

VSail.info: Hasn’t the America’s Cup always been like that? At the end of the day the Defender does what is best for them.
Vasco Vascotto: Yes, I agree. If they want to do whatever they want, that’s fine with me but then they should expect criticism from the sailing world. I think my opinion is shared by 98% of the world’s sailors. Maybe the remaining 2% are happy with the changes but 98% of them strongly oppose them, as well as at least 80% of the journalists I talked to. Now, if those journalists don’t openly write their opinion because they might be afraid or feel under pressure, that’s another issue. I think I have never seen such level of discontent with the change to catamarans in the America’s Cup during my 40 years of sailing.

VSail.info: This is a strong claim you make. Is it because you are angry you are out of the loop without a job in any of the teams?
Vasco Vascotto: Let me tell you something. I, personally, have never had so much work. I have never been busier in my life and I’m very happy with what I’m doing. I’m just telling you what the rest is afraid to say. This is what everybody discusses on the dock when we are in a regatta. This America’s Cup, sailed on catamarans, will have very few teams and will not even be a cheap one, as they claimed so many times. It won’t even be a fair America’s Cup because we already know who is going to win and this is quite evident. Oracle fought hard in the 33rd edition to have a fair regatta. That’s very good but I don’t think they are now acting in the same way. I’m not convinced there has been any discussion between them and the Challenger of Record and this comes from good friends I have inside the team. Given all those factors, I don’t think this America’s Cup will be a success and so far it has failed to live up to its promise. I don’t think they have waken up the interest for a new and different America’s Cup.

Back in 2008-9 the world financial crisis had already started but there were more entered teams in the 33rd Cup with the AC90 than now. The crisis was already there and in fact, we are now getting out of it. What lacks today is the enthusiasm we had then. Let alone the fact sailors are unhappy. In 2007 in Valencia we had a total of 1,000 people working in the teams while in this one we won’t have more than 100. If this is the result of one’s action that are supposed to promote the common good of the sport of sailing then something is wrong. This is my personal opinion, I don’t wish this edition of the Cup to fail, on the contrary, I wish enormous success. However, I think we’re heading the wrong way. The discontent of the sailors was seen in Key West when during the prize-giving ceremony a person went on stage and was booed.

VSail.info: A few hours ago we had in Paris the official presentation of the sixth challenger, the second one from France. We still have another 50 days before the inscription period ends and there is talk of challengers from China, Korea or Australia. Don’t you think prospects aren’t as dark as you depict?
Vasco Vascotto: They might not be as dark but they certainly aren’t rosy, not even green or blue. Now if someone wants to contradict me, he will be doing like the ostriches that hide their head in the sand. The fact that a few days ago the Challenger of Record stated they couldn’t find the necessary funding means that what they are doing is not attractive to investors. If it were attractive, Mascalzone Latino, a team that has always found the money to take part in the previous editions, wouldn’t be in that situation now. They can’t find money even if they are the Challenger of Record and this gives the event a bad image.

VSail.info: You can’t compare what was happening 5-6 years ago when it was raining money in Spain or Italy to the current situation.
Vasco Vascotto: No, you can’t but as I told you before, even in 2008-9 during the crisis we had 20 teams that had paid their inscription for the AC90′s. Do you think this new format that was supposed to create enthusiasm, has really brought enthusiasm?

VSail.info: However, this time we have a team from Australia, two from France.
Vasco Vascotto: Are you sure they will go ahead? I repeat, I would be very happy if this turned out to be very successful. Forget my personal interest. I express the sentiment of 98% of the sailors and I’m not just sure about it, I’m absolutely sure. Everybody asks why we don’t have a Cup in monohulls, a conventional event that would have provided jobs to everybody. Everybody was ready to start. Team Origin were ready to start. Team New Zealand still has serious doubts about their future. It’s true, there are new teams and I hope they bring fresh air. I still haven’t seen them, I’m not sure they are there.

You mentioned the French. Today Team Energy stated they had a budget of 70 million euros. So much for cost reduction! So much for the fact that we are already in February and we don’t know where the next races will be. I personally don’t see any planning or seriousness so far. I see people working, I hope with enthusiasm but I’m convinced I can already tell you who will win, I can tell you that right now. Don’t forget that the previous Cup was blocked because it wasn’t fair. Tell me that: If Oracle were then Little Red Riding Hood and Alinghi were the bad wolf who is Little Red Riding Hood now because I only see bad wolves?

VSail.info: Even if you might not agree with Oracle’s decision you have no alternative right now. Couldn’t this move be a positive one, longer term? Couldn’t you see it as a move from the bicycle to the motorcycle?
Vasco Vascotto: Saying that we move from the bicycle to the motorcycle is stating that we move from something antiquated to something modern. First of all, let me tell you that catamarans exist since 50, 70 years or even more. It wasn’t necessary to win the America’s Cup to claim you made a world revolution with the catamarans. The catamarans already existed. If the Cup existed for many years in a certain format that means there was some reason. For me, the best Cup ever was the one in 2007. I don’t remember it going through any moment of crisis. None. If you want to change the best Cup in history with something different, you have to aim at something certain. I now have a question for everybody: Do you think that this proposed revolution has brought any benefits? To me the answer seems absolutely clear. In addition, I’m not entirely convinced that a motorbike race is always more exciting than a bicycle race. Then in this Cup the teams will only have 11 sailors onboard while in 2007 you had 17 or 34, depending on the number of yachts each team had…

VSail.info: … Sure but if you now have two boats can’t you have 22 sailors?
Vasco Vascotto: Maybe, but it will still be 22 versus the 34 you had last time. Now, if the budgets are established so that they reduce the human factor, I’m not sure they do the sport of sailing any good. In order to further promote the sport of sailing we should increase the number of sailors on the water, not always try to reduce it. Let’s add engines, let’s add remote controls so that we have virtual races on a computer with no need for sailors. In addition, they still have to prove that catamaran races are more exciting than monohull races. I really hope I’m not the only to talk that way. I’ll take my responsibility, I will tell it to you just as I will tell it to others, because it seems logical to me that some criticism must reach the ears of those in command.

I listened in silence to the criticisms advanced to Alinghi in the past and I listened in silence to all the statements from Oracle in the past. I was expecting from them something better, a little more seriousness, after all the fuss they made. Long live the MedCup circuit, this I can scream clearly, and the fact that we are in a crisis like this one and we have 6-7 new boats, is a clear sign that people want something serious on monohulls, how much people want monohulls and that the prepared teams want monohulls. This is obvious. The MedCup is not a circuit within the reach of everyone, especially in times of crisis like this. Yet clearly there is need for such a circuit.

What I can say is that until yesterday the favorite team to win the next America’s Cup was Team New Zealand and, in my opinion, these new rules were made almost entirely to penalize a team as strong as them. Prepared, serious, with very experienced sailors that have lost but also won the Cup. In doing so they have broken them up. Old sailors that had by now created a group, have been demobilized. Team New Zealand is now a team comprising of few people, assuming they go ahead. It has now lost all its strength. For Team Origin the same applies. It was a team ready to, probably, win the next Cup. By doing so they have broken them up as well, they took away their power. They made them weak just as they did with Team New Zealand. So, if this is the way to win the next America’s Cup, this is bullshit. If we do not like the catamaran, at least let us consider the aspect of sport. In the sport of sailing there were highly trained team, serious, that had made the right steps: they have been disassembled. They were told: “As of today we sail on catamarans. Since you are strong we do it with catamarans crewed by 11 sailors so that half the people you have hired stays at home.” These are strategies and things that harm the sport of sailing.

VSail.info: What about the longer term, not just this Cup? Can’t you see Artemis becoming a strong team in 2017 or 2020?
Vasco Vascotto: Artemis will be strong in 2017? I’m happy for them. I only know that in 2011 the America’s Cup, instead of taking a step forward, stops. Everyone was happy when Oracle won against Alinghi in 2010. We said: “A new world starts, a new era. Finally.” Now I ask you a question: are you still so happy or do you have more doubts? I’m not the one that holds the sense of truth, but I say that the Cup in 2007 was the most beautiful in the history of sailing. Can anyone say otherwise? No, nobody and I am convinced about that. What the next Cup will need, thanks to you journalists and bloggers, is visibility. If you’re interviewing me now is thanks to the 2007 Cup, to that kind of America’s Cup, we have become famous and I am not convinced that those who come out of the next America’s Cup will have the same visibility. This is to let you know that we are taking a step back. And it shouldn’t be like that.

VSail.info: Last but not least, let’s talk about you. What are your projects for this season?
Vasco Vascotto: I will be in the AUDI MedCup circuit with Matador, Alberto Roemmers’ TP52 yacht, that in April will present a new team, a new sponsor and above all a very serious yacht club.

VSail.info: I have heard of the new AUDI Azzurra Sailing Team. Are you referring to that one?
Vasco Vascotto: Well, let’s wait the official presentation before making nay comment. However, I’m very happy because it’s a great opportunity for me to be able to race in the best-organized and professional circuit that exists right now. I will not miss other events such as the Primo Cup in Montecarlo, the Farr 40 Worlds in Sydney, the Melges 32 in Sydney. As you see, I have enough racing…

VSail.info: So, again, it isn’t a personal feeling that drives you to make those statements because you joined the ranks of jobless sailors that can’t get a job in the Cup?
Vasco Vascotto: No, no and no. Look, I’ve got more than enough commitments. I’m fine and I am happy. Nevertheless, I would, probably, do the Cup with a catamaran, if the opportunity existed. But then again, for me it is a big step backwards. Even Team New Zealand will be forced to build catamarans, just like the other teams. But between being forced and being happy there is a big difference and it is something entirely different. I know many people will disagree with what I’m saying and what I said, but I will never become tired of repeating that 80% of journalists and 98% percent of sailors agree with me.

As melhores do dia por Capizzano no Mar del Plata

Foto copyright Matias Capizzano

Foto copyright Matias Capizzano
Fonte: Juanpa Cadario

Volvo 70 Camper foi medido [Video]

Open 6.50 e 5.70

6.50

5.70

Mortes na Povoa do Varzim

Two British sailors feared dead as yacht hits rocks after being struck by a giant wave

Two British sailors were feared dead last night after their yacht capsized when it was hit by a huge wave as they tried to enter a barricaded harbour in Portugal.

Chris Hull, 53, and Glen Foster, 23, screamed for help, then disappeared, as their vessel overturned and smashed against rocks outside the port of Póvoa de Varzim, which had been closed due to stormy weather.

A third crew member, Chris Brook, 24, survived after he clung to a lifebuoy and swam towards the shore, where he was plucked from the water by a fisherman.

Wreck: The wreckage of 'Water Wave' at Povoa de Varzim harbour entrance, near Porto

The men had been sailing their yacht, Water Waves when they hit a storm and the vessel was hit by a large wave.

It is believed the men, who had originally set off from Southampton but were thought to be sailing from Vigo in Spain to Gibraltar, became disoriented after discovering Póvoa de Varzim was closed at 3.30am on Saturday.

Destroyed: The vessel was torn apart on the rocks in heavy seas in the accident in the early hours

Remains: Some of the wreckage remained stuck on the rocks near Povoa de Varzim harbour

Officials said messages advising sailors about the closure had been broadcast in Portuguese and English.

A search involving a helicopter and three Portuguese Navy rescue vessels continued yesterday, but coastguards said the chances of finding the missing men alive after so long in the freezing water were 'very slim'.

Mr Brook was due to be reunited with his family in the Portuguese city of Porto last night after treatment for hypothermia.

Smashed: Rescue workers inspect the wreckage of the British yacht

terça-feira, 8 de fevereiro de 2011

Fotos da largada da Velux 5 Oceans

Fonte: Juanpa Cadario

Torneio Internacional do Carnaval

Nos procximos dias 5,6 e 7 de Março irá decorrer a 37ª Edição do emblematico Torneio Internacional de Vela do Carnaval.
Durante 3 dias as velas voltam a colorir as aguas de Vilamoura.
Este ano com a presença de uma nova modalidade no mundo da vela, o Kitesurf.

segunda-feira, 7 de fevereiro de 2011

Banque Populair termina a sua participação no Trophée Jules Verne

1ª PAN Laser

Realizada no último fim-de-semana a 1ª Prova de Apuramento Nacional da Classe Laser contou com a participação de mais de sessenta Laseristas das regiões Norte, Centro e Sul. A Classe Laser Standard contou com oito velejadores, a Laser Radial com 20 participantes e a Laser 4.7 com 33.

Durante os dois dias de prova foram realizadas cinco regatas para a Classe Laser Standard e quatro regatas para os Laser's Radiais e 4.7. O vento foi sempre fraco e a forte corrente que fazia-se sentir no campo de regatas exigiu muita perícia de todos os concorrentes.

Gustavo Lima conclui-o a prova em primeiro ganhando todas as regatas. Tiago Morais do Clube Naval de Leça e José Tor Jervell do Clube de Vela Atlântico finalizaram no 2º e 3º lugar respectivamente.

Na Classe Laser Radial o domínio foi dos velejadores da região Norte comFrancisco Menezes do Clube Naval de Leça em 1º e Luís Manso do Clube de Vela Atlântico a conquistar o 2º lugar. Pedro Miguel Roque do Clube Naval de Portimão completou o pódio levando o prémio pelo 3º lugar. A representar a Equipa CMCoimbra esteve presente Guilherme Portas que ficou em 17º.

A disputa na Classe Laser 4.7 foi intensa, com diversos velejadores a brigar pelos lugares cimeiros da tabela de classificação. Ao final vitória de Maria Luisa Cunha do Clube Naval de Leça que levou duas taças para casa, pelo 1º lugar da classificação geral e 1º lugar feminino. Pedro Furtado do Clube Naval de Portimão e David Petiz do Clube Naval de Leça obtiveram o 2º e 3º lugar respectivamente. O CMCoimbra esteve representado com Nuno Duarte e António Caseiro respectivamente em 16º e 28º.

Resultados