When the competitors representing 11 nations gather in Newport for the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, September 12-19, 2015, there will be some new faces among the 17 entered yacht club teams. Testing the talents of amateur sailors, the fourth edition of this regatta will feature one of the most competitive fields thus far in event history: almost half of the entries are competing for their fourth consecutive time. The only new kids on the block will be the Middle Harbour Yacht Club team from Mosman, Australia, about 20 minutes north of Sydney.
While Middle Harbour Yacht Club is new to this event, it brings a wealth of experience. At the team's helm will be 2011 Rolex Farr 40 World Champion Guido Belgiono-Nettis who is familiar with the challenging conditions found on Rhode Island Sound and Narragansett Bay from having raced here many times, including during the 2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship.
Belgiorno-Nettis has stacked the deck with several members of his 2011 world championship-winning crew, including Sam Williams (trim), Pete Sheldrick (pit) and Chris Cook (offside trim), who all raced together in the 2014 world championship as did 2004 Etchells World Champion Julian Plante, who will handle tactics. Katie Spithill, the 2014 Australian Women’s Match Racing Champion, will be the team strategist. Rounding out the 11-strong crew is Matt Stenta, the current MC38 Australian Champion, 2010 Australian Match Racing Champion Jack Hubbard, James Bury, Michael Dunstan, and Australian Youth Championship silver medalist Ryan Wilmot.
Coaching the Middle Harbor team is Bob Wilmot, who represented Australia in the 1988 Olympic Games in Korea, father of Ryan Wilmot and a member of one of Australia’s most well-known sailing families. Wilmot explained how the team was preparing for the 2015 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup: “We are continuing Farr 40 racing through the Aussie winter and have borrowed a boat with similar layout to the Swan 42 to get used to wheel steering and asymmetrical spinnakers. As the winter breezes in Sydney are mainly in the early morning, we are doing our Swan 42-type training sessions at 0700.
For more information: http://nyyc.org/yachting/invitational-cup
By Andy Adams
100% Electric performance available now
When we arranged to interview the designer and manufacturer to write a profile of the X Shore Eelex 8000 for the June 2021 issue of Canadian Yachting magazine, it was on the understanding that we always prefer to actually drive and experience the boats we write about, and we were especially keen to drive the X Shore when BCI Marine here in Canada, got their first boat from Sweden.
There has been a lot of media attention around everything electric lately, especially electric vehicles, but so far, most electric boats are a concept, not yet a reality. The X Shore Eelex 8000 is a reality and a very impressive one at that.
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Beneteau Oceanis 34.1
By Zuzana Prochazka
Boats have been in high demand for the past two years and there’s no sign of this easing. Sailboats, that can move with the power of the wind, have made an especially significant comeback probably because of the high prices of fuel.
Even more interesting is the increased interest in smaller models that have been doing well at recent boat shows. These compact cruisers have definitely held their own even among the 50-foot behemoths at the docks. A good example of this is Beneteau’s new Oceanis 34.1, the second smallest in the line.
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Text and Photos by Marianne Scott
Cowichan Bay is a waterfront village with a row of shops, artisan products, marine supplies and a variety of places to eat. It also has a delightful Maritime Centre. You can easily spend a day or more here at one of three marinas hosting transient moorage. The place feels like an old-fashioned fishing village.
We arrived at this quaint hamlet on a calm day when the sun burned off twists of mist and created undulating oval diamonds on the wavelets. From the water, the village looks enticing with its dense jumble of colourful character buildings, float homes and houses-on-stilts lining the coast.
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Story and photos by Timothy J.S. Martin
It seems like everyone has their “guy”, usually a marine surveyor they either know personally or have been referred to by another boater (or someone in the marine or insurance industries). Marine surveyors are often hired based on this type of referral, rather than on the merits of their qualifications and skills.
I often hear boaters express their displeasure about an experience where a marine surveyor “condemned” a boat, or the surveyor was viewed as unreasonable in relation to their recommendations. As a result, surveyors known to be less thorough and less detailed in their work tend to be favoured by boaters, especially for insurance surveys.
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SailGP, the international racing series featuring high speed F50 wingsailed catamarans, is partnering with RS Electric Boats – sister brand of sailboat manufacturer RS Sailing – to use the Pulse 63 electric RIB as chase, coach and support boats.
RS Electric Boats will supply SailGP with four Pulse 63s, which were designed to be electric boats from the outset. The unique aerodynamic hull form is designed to support the weight of the batteries while allowing rapid acceleration, functional speeds up to 23 knots and ample range.
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