Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image 2015 officially launched!

Professional sailing photographers from all over the world are invited to join the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image award 2015.

Credit : A Farre

Public is invited to vote online for Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image 2013

Seventy of the world’s best yacht racing photographers, representing seventeen nations, have submitted a picture for the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image Award 2013. The public is now invited to vote online. The best yacht racing picture of the year will be celebrated during the World Yacht Racing Forum, in Gothenburg (SWE), on December 10-11.

Credit : K.Arrigo/Rolex

Barcelona World Race / Serious Pursuit

After their detour and four hours halt to try and sort out a halyards issue MAPFRE have clearly channelled their frustration and disappointment into simply pressing the accelerator pedal back to the floor as they immediately try to make up the 200 miles that they lost to Barcelona World Race leaders Virbac-Paprec 3 yesterday night and this morning.

© Chris Cameron / DPPI / Barcelona World Race

Since getting back on course and up to race speed Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez have already clawed back nearly 20 miles on the race leaders Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron.

Barcelona World Race / Pointing North, Pacific Done

At 1020hrs this Thursday morning Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron on Virbac-Paprec 3 lead the Barcelona World Race fleet past Cape Horn only four hours and 20 minutes ahead of Spain’s double Olympic medallists Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez. With just under 7000 miles to sail to the finish in Barcelona, the lead of Virbac-Paprec 3 was only 72 miles.

© Virbac-Paprec 3

Since their enforced 48 hours pit-stop in Wellington to replace essential mainsail batten-cars, Virbac-Papred 3 crossed the remainder of the Pacific to Cape Horn in 15 days 1 hour and 35 minutes, their aggregate time since leaving the start line on 31st December of 61 days 22 hours 20 minutes.

Barcelona World Race / Difficult choices and times?

It is certainly not the 50th birthday present that Groupe Bel skipper Kito De Pavant was looking for, especially not ‘second time around'.  Such is the ironic timing of the Laughing Cow’s crossing of the international date-line later today and tomorrow that De Pavant was passing his first 50th Birthday concerned about the weather situation but tomorrow he will facing up to the formidable tropical cyclone Atu when the ‘second edition’ of his 50th birthday comes around.

© Chris Cameron / DPPI / Barcelona World Race

Barcelona World Race / Stability brings some Sunday Satisfaction in the South?

From first to twelfth, the Barcelona World Race fleet may now find itself spread almost from Australia’s Cape Leeuwin back to South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, but for the first time with all the fleet in the Indian Ocean, this Sunday finds the race fleet in favourable downwind or reaching conditions.

©  Mirabaud

At last conditions are stamped with some of the south’s usual hallmarks: some desirable, some not so desirable. Of course such a stable Sunday is entirely transient and in different sections of the fleet already the prospects for change are looming.

Barcelona World Race / All right for some

It was all eyes right in the Barcelona World RACE today, as Virbac Paprec 3 was unveiled from ‘ghost’ mode, having concealed themselves from six consecutive position rankings.

Perhaps unsurprising, Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA) and Loick Peyron (FRA) on the new Verdier-VPLP design have reappeared on the western side of the course, approximately 75 miles north-north-east of their long-term rivals Foncia.

Anna Corbella and Dee Caffari © GAES Centros Auditivos

Barcelona World Race / One track minds

The muscular trade winds are still providing constant high speeds for the leaders of the Barcelona World Race fleet with all of duos forced to think about nothing else but speed, spending hours on the helm to maximise gains and minimise losses in the thrilling sleigh ride towards the Doldrums.

© Neutrogena

And the pacemakers today acknowledged that they are looking forward to the respite that the narrow zone of lighter winds will provide, a respite break to recharge themselves and restore some measure of order to their IMOCA Open 60’s.

Barcelona World Race / Foncia takes the lead again, the fourth lead change of the race so far

Now firmly into quick downwind tradewinds sailing after the Canary Islands, the lead of the Barcelona World RACE swapped again this afternoon not long after Michel Desjoyeaux and François Gabart gybed on to a more southerly course on Foncia.

Credit : Y Zedda / Foncia

While Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron carried on, the leaders for the last five days, investing a more westerly track on Virbac-Paprec 3, the more direct route south towards the equator computes as an immediate gain for Foncia, the other half of the leading duopoly.