2008-09 Skipper and Yacht of the Year - Neil Pryde & Hi Fi

By winning the Sawadee.com Regatta, Neil Pryde and Hi Fi have scored a record 20 points in the 2008-09 AsianYachting Grand Prix Championships. They have dominated the racing class this season and scored podium places in all eight regattas that they have contested this season. Five wins, two second places and one third place is worthy of being crowned the 2008-09 Skipper and Yacht of the Year. This is also the third time Neil has won the prestigious award over the seven years it has been contested. He has shown a remarkable ability to successfully run a racing campaign in Asian waters over the last 20 years and long may it continue. Final pointscore and see how the championships unfolded at: http://asianyachting.com/news/AYGP08-09.htm

Capt Marty wins Ericsson 4 VOR jacket

Good news for AsianYachting subscribers on the day after Ericsson 4's arrived in Rio, Torben Grael drew Capt Marty's name first out of the hat to win an Ericsson Racing Team - Helly Hansen wet weather jacket. This was an on line competition to vote for crew members date and time predictions for when they expected to round Cape Horn on Leg 5 of the VOR. As Ryan Godfrey's date (March 17 @ 1200GMT) was the latest of all and as the going was very slow we selected him for our Cape Horn bet, and wallah first of three winners to come out of the hat. We have already received the autographed photo (See Photo) of this memorable occasion and will post photos when we receive the jacket. Thanks to Torben and all the crew for allowing us to share the experience, be it from behind a computer desk but we will always treasure the memories. Browse the May 09 News & Views web edition with photos at: http://asianyachting.com/Archive/newsletter/111May09.htm

Volvo Ocean Race Singapore Restart Photo Gallery

To get proceedings underway the Volvo Ocean Race returned to the race track in spectacular style when the horn sounded at 1300 local time (0500 GMT) signifying the start of the 2,500 nautical mile leg to Qingdao, China, the leg most crews consider will be one of the most difficult and brutal legs of the race. Ken Read's Puma nailed the start from the middle of the line, closely followed by Torben Grael's Ericsson 4 taking the windward berth next to the start boat. Right from the onset the battle commenced in earnest and both had their bows ahead of the rest. Delta Lloyd, with new navigator Frits Koek in the chair, chose the pin end. Both Telefónica boats and Ian Walker's Green Dragon were in the second row as the gun fired and the fleet pounded up the first two-mile beat. AY was lucky enough to be onboard the startboat Lady O courtesy of SSR PRO Richard Cai and recorded some of the action which have been posted in the VOR 09 Singapore Photo Gallery at: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?VOR09Singapore

2008-09 AsianYachting Grand Prix Championships gets underway in October

After a couple months break the racing action resumes with the China Coast Raceweek (10 - 12 October) and closely followed by the HK to Vietnam Race starting on 15th October. Both events score points towards the annual 2008-09 AsianYachting Grand Prix Championships and competitors will be looking to get an early points advantage before they make their way across the South China Sea for the SE Asian regattas. The beginning of the season always sees the boat owners full of confidence that the changes made during the break will produce the extra knot of boatspeed they have been looking for. Allot of time and effort has gone into planning individual racing campaigns that will run over the next nine months. The Top of the Gulf Regatta (April 30 to 4th May) is a new inclusion this year and organisers are offering all sorts of incentives to attract the racers to the shores of Pattaya before the season ending and now renamed Sawadee.com Regatta Samui on 1st - 6th June. Follow the progress throughout the season at: http://asianyachting.com/news/AYGP08-09.htm

2008-09 VOR sets sail for the blue yonder

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009 starts on the 4-5th October, when eight Volvo Open 70s begin adding points to the leaderboard at the start line off Alicante for the first in-port and pro-am races, prior to the race start of the first leg to Cape Town on October 11. Volvo Ocean Race TV launched earlier this year, will show video content including news, features, on-board footage and interviews when the boats are at sea. Also live coverage of all in-port races. Frostad adds, "And now, with the Media Crew Member on board, our 'embedded reporters', we now have the ability to play to our strengths in capturing every ounce of the action, the sheer speed of the Volvo Open 70s, as well as the emotional highs and lows endured by the guys on board." More info at: http://www.volvooceanrace.org
Asian Stopover Dates
Leg 2 Capetown to Cochin Start: 15 Nov 2008, 4,450 Nm ETA: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 Leg 3 Cochin to Singapore Start: 13 Dec 2008, 1,950 Nm ETA: Tue 23 Dec 2008 In-port race 10-11th January 2009 Leg 4 Singapore to Qingdao Start: 18 January 2009, 2,500 Nm ETA: Fri 30 January 2009 Leg 5 Qingdao to Rio De Janeiro Start: 14 Feb 2009, 12,300 Nm ETA: Fri 20 March 2009

Eight entries & Media Crew Members
Delta Lloyd (Ger O’Rourke) Sander Pluijm NED
Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael) Guy Salter GBR
Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander) Gustav Morin SWE
Green Dragon (Ian Walker) Guo Chuan CHN
Puma Ocean Racing (Ken Read) Rick Deppe GBR
Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp) Mark Covell GBR
Telefonica Black (Fernando Echavarri) Mikel Pasabant ESP
Telefonica Blue (Bouwe Bekking) Gabriele Olivo ITA

Olympic Sailing Competition Qingdao, China

Thirteen action packed daily Olympic Race Reports and three extensive Photo Galleries have been posted direct from the Media Center in Qingdao, China on the AsianYachting.com website. Starting from http://asianyachting.com/news/08olympics/0.htm follow Capt Marty's blow by blow account as the action takes place with accompanying photos, trials and tribulations of the competitors, results and medal ceremonies all captured on camera. Check out the Photo Galleries from: http://asianyachting.com/photos/default.htm Hope you enjoy as much as I had putting them together.
Cheers for now
Capt Marty

Advanced Crewing Techniques course added to AY Syllabus

After opening the first commercial AsianYachting Center in Malaysia last year, we are constantly looking at improving the Learn to Sail with Asian Yachtmasters keelboat training scheme with courses that suite the local sailing scene. Demand for team building exercises and as pressure is on to form racing teams, a 2-day Advanced Crewing Techniques course is being introduced next month to compliment the existing Introduction to Sailing course. This Advanced Crewing Techniques Course concentrates on crew roles, spinnaker handling and teamwork. Participants should have completed or be familiar with the basic sailing techniques covered in the Introduction to Sailing syllabus before proceeding onto the advanced course.

Two new pages have been added to the already comprehensive AY Syllabus that will interest crews coming to grips with racing skills. The Advanced Crewing page explains the syllabus and has links to the new Boat Handling page which covers Skipper & Crew Responsibilities, Boat Handling Under Power or Sail, Crew Roles, Organization, Co-Ordination and the Fine Art of Crewing. The Spinnaker handling page has a new section added - Set-up and Gybing Asymmetrical Spinnakers Further info on AY sailing courses, directions to PD World Marina, links to the entire AY Syllabus and Online Registration can be found at: http://asianyachting.com/AYmasters/classes.htm Overseas participants planning a trip to SE Asia, that would like to receive a brief taste of what sailing is all about or looking for a more hands on approach to racing should incorporate a course into their travel plans