MOD70 Precision Sailing

The e-magazine Zilt , see link at the bottom of my Blogs, published a couple of beatiful action pictures of the MOD70 European Tour. I think this occurred at the city race in Dublin or the Start in Dublin.

A matter of close racing,

Foncia made a sharp turn to Port to avoid Musandam-Oman Sail and just in time to prevent a push from Race for Water. But suddenly there is Spindrift Racing in front of her and no way to steer starboard to avoid?

Oeefff.......that seems to go just fine, Foncia sails just behind and Musandam-Oman Sail looks to be fine to miss Spindrift Racing as well. 


But careful ..............another Boat Edmond de Rothschild is approaching in the wake of Spindrift Racing>>>>>>>

Foncia and Musandam Oman Sail luckily sailing quick enough to clear the way for Edmong de Rothschild. 

It all happens under the watchful eye of the RC boat ,who concluded "proper close sailing".

Do not forget that Tomorrow Sunday 30 September 2012 at 1300 GMT will be the START of the Last Leg 5 from Marseille, via some islands in the Med to the Finish in Genoa.

MOD70 had to cut leg4 short again ?

MOD70 European tour Leg4 was shortened again for the 3rd successive time in 4 legs. What is wrong with these Boats? What is wrong with the Race Organisation?

Musandam wins in Marseille, but Foncia has the most spectecular photo.

Or do these Boats and Crews love the shore live better as the sailing?

For sure it devaluates the MOD70 Race Series as every race is shortened as if these crew and boats are not capable of sailing a decent route. 

Well for what it is worth, here is the result for Leg 4 from Cascais to Marseille. 

13:15 - next at 16:15 (fr)				DTL (Nm)	Speed (Kts)	DTF (Nm)
		Musandam-Oman Sail Sidney Gavignet		3d 16h 11m 34s
		Race For Water Stève Ravussin		+2h 23m 7s
		Foncia Michel Desjoyeaux		+2h 45m 32s
		Spindrift Racing Yann Guichard		+5h 34m 7s
		Edmond De Rothschild Sébastien Josse		+5h 52m 38s

The virtual LiveSkipper boats have also filled the Podium already. Also in this race some 5 boats, separated ahead of the majority of the fleet, that is now with a SW wind arriving in big numbers. 

the winds are weak , the progress slow

MOD70 fleet now sailing the Med. waters 

The MOD70 Trimarans are sailing along the Spanish coast in weak winds. 
Musandam and Race for Water sailed that close to the coast that they benefited from the thermal land-winds. This has especially helped Musandam  to build a 60Nm lead on Race for Water. 

Still a long way to  go and the Med. winds may hold  some more surprises. 

The LiveSkipper fleet , got yesterday stuck in the Strait of Gibraltar and by only midnight managed to get thru, the first boats that is. 
Now in slightly better winds, 2kts sailing double the boats speed as yesterday :) 

MOD70 Passed Strait of Gibraltar.

This morning showed the MOD70 Trimarans passed the Strait of Gibraltar already.

Musandam Oman Sail leading in MOD70 leg 4

The Real Boat have made good progress, contrary to the virtual Boats in LiveSkipper who have still to pass Gibraltar and are now caught in wind holes, one after the other. 

START for MOD70 European Tour - Leg4

My Leg4 announcement is maybe a little late, but I am still busy optimizing my sailing in LEG 3.

Foncia wins MOD70 Leg 3

You can not count on the Real MOD70 Trimarans as so far half of the legs they have not sailed the route but only shortened it.

LiveSkipper virtual boats are sailing the complete legs and give a real competition to each other.

BUT,, lets hope that the professional skippers who apparently love the shore live more as the sailing races, are sufficiently rested and able to make this Leg a real leg full stretch , I mean all Miles :-)

Today Thursday 20 September at 0900 GMT, the START of Leg 4 of MOD70 Trimaran European Tour from Cascais to Marseille.
In LiveSkipper, you can sail this route also , be it virtually, but with the same wind conditions and far more participating skippers. You can see the progress of the real boats in LiveSkipper and sail against them, maybe even to beat them.
Just register for free at www.liveskipper.com, choose your Boat name and start Sailing.

MOD70 European tour Leg 3 Shortened drastically.

Where it was expected that Leg3 would be an interesting Sailing race along the Portuguese coast, it has  now been shortened to a "day-trip" distance North and South of   Cascais  Harbour. 

Foncia is leading MOD70 fleet during Leg3 

Weak winds and the Starting time for the Next Leg 4 on Thursday 20th September have caused this degraded Leg 3. 

LiveSkipper , the virtual partner for these MOD70 Sailing Races,  are sailing the original course. Of course these Boats also suffer from the  weak and variable winds, but these hardened skippers can master it. And as miracles are possible in the virtual world, even if the Leg 3 has not finihsed, LiveSkipper allows you to register and start the Leg4 at the normal time :) 

MOD70 European Tour Leg3 to Start Monday

Musandam-Oman Sail, so far, is sailing fantastic results by clever navigating in the  Cascais City Races .

Cascais City race

The next Leg 3 on the MOD70 European Tour will Start from Cascais on Monday 17 September at 900 GMT. 
The route is North and South along the Portuguese Coast with a Finish again in Cascais. 

LiveSkipper, again is offering a virtual sailing adventure alongside your  favorite MOD70 skippers. You can still registerm, name your new Boat and start Sailing. 

SPINDRIFT Racing wins MOD70 European Tour Leg2

MOD70 European Tour Leg2 has ended with a win for Spindrift Racing with a small margin in Cascais, Portugal. 

Spindrift Racing wins Leg2 MOD70 European Tour

The Sailing time for Spindrift Racing for Leg2 is 2 days, 15 hours, 37 minutes and 36 seconds. 

The finish was a little similar to the Leg1 one in Dublin, as Spindrift Racing had a comfortable lead, till their speed dropped dramatically till 4-5 kts shortly before the Finish-line while the chasing boats Foncia and Musandam-Oman Sail were closing in with 30kts speed only to slow down as well. 

The first 4 MOD70's finished with a separation of only 4Nm, with Race for Water a little further 2Nm down. 

09:00 - next at 12:00 (fr)				DTL (Nm)	Speed (Kts)	DTF (Nm)
		Spindrift Racing Yann Guichard		2d 15h 37m 36s
		Foncia Michel Desjoyeaux		+49m 13s
		Musandam-Oman Sail Sidney Gavignet		+ 55m 46s
		Edmond De Rothschild Sébastien Josse		+1h
		Race For Water Stève Ravussin		+1h 15m 54s

The Leg2 route for the MOD70 Trimarans was shortened by deleting the sail to Lagos gate on the South coast of Portugal. But the Virtual LiveSkipper sailing is still on-going as these hardened skippers have no problems with the original course. So register and join in if you like sailing :) 

FastnetRock already passed

Spindrift was the first the round FastnetRock after a clever strategy on the Southern Irish coast in headwinds. 

Fast Sailing by the MOD70 Trimarans 

All Boats are still very close together , within some 4Nm; except
Race for Water that had a problem with a puller of the Mainsail and the repair of one hour mainsail down costed them some 10Nm. 

Boats are now on the Atlantic sailing South west till the wind shift allows them to jibe and sail South East towards the Portuguese coast. 

LiveSkipper, virtual boats are holding very well the speed compared to the Real Boats, well the leaders in LiveSkipper fleet that is. See the routes followed and daily location locked with a marker in may Route TAB and the Ranking in the Ranking TAB. Like to sail, virtually, against your favorite Skippers in the MOD70 Trimaran , than register in Liveskipper and try in next Leg with a timely start. 

MOD70 Leg2 Starts on Sunday

In the 1st day of Dublin city sailing it was Foncia that is ahead, with 2 wins out of 3   races. 

Foncia winner of 1st day of City Sailing in Dublin

Today, Saturday, there is another day of City Sailing to complete the City competition in Dublin. Will Foncia be able to defend her position and win the Overall ? 

SUNDAY, 9th SEPTEMBER at 15:00 local , Frustrating that the MOD70 organisation does not mention the gmt timing  for us the International Sailing addicts but I think that will be 14:00 gmt. 

You can also sail  along side your favorite MOD70 Trimaran, in the LiveSkipper Virtual sailing simulator and try to beat your favorite. Just register for free, name your  Boat and start Sailing. 

FONCIA wins MOD70 European tour LEG1

Hurrah, Foncia has won the 1st Leg in the MOD70 European Tour from Kiel to Dublin. 

Dun Laoghaire harbour - Dublin

As  was expected, the 1st Leg was a fast race helped by mostly strong winds and would be a close race. Except for the last miles, where the 3 leading boats moved slowly in 3-5 kts of wind. But a separation of 300-500 meter only!

The Leg1 scoreboard:

03:05 - next at 06:35 (fr)				DTL (Nm)	Speed (Kts)	DTF (Nm)
		Foncia Michel Desjoyeaux		3d 10h 49m 9s
		Spindrift Racing Yann Guichard		+ 31s
		Edmond De Rothschild Sébastien Josse		+ 1m 17s
		Race For Water Stève Ravussin		+ 35m 16s
		Musandam-Oman Sail Sidney Gavignet		+ 1h 34m 51s

LiveSkipper virtual boats are still sailing in the Irish Sea to Finish in the course of today Thursday. As in the race for the Real Boats a fierce battle is on-going for the Podium positions, be it that from the 1370+ participating boats, less and less will have a chance to climb the Podium. The ranking for the Virtual boats can be seen in the TAB RANKING above.  

Thru the straits of Dover

The MOD70 Trimarans progressing good over the North Sea. 

Spindrift Racing leading the MOD70 fleet at Dover

The early gains in between the Danish islands is still more of less paying off. The leading trio, Spindrift, Foncia and Edmond de Rothschild have kept their small advanctage with only some 15 Nm between them at Dover. 

Race for Water and Musandam Oman Sail are following at some 25 Nm and no doubt they will make a battle amongst themselves in order not to finish last. 

Liveskipper, virtual boats are a little behind; apparently their Polars are a little less. The 1370+ boats however are in a fierce battle and this afternoon expected to round Lands End. The sailing in the Irish sea is expected to be somewhat slower, as for the real boats, but ETA is also before midnight Wednesday. 

It is still not too late to register at Liveskipper for the virtual sailing races; it is all free. OK, you will not  beat the  Podium in the 1st leg anymore, but  have all equal chances in the following 4 legs. You can start already in Leg2, while still sailing in Leg 1, it is all possible in the virtual sailing world; but missing a leg will not qualify you for classification in the Overall. 

MOD70 European Tour Leg1 has started.

The MOD70 European Tour has started in Kiel to sail to the Finish in Dublin. 

Line up for the Start 

Foncia, made already good impressions in the Kiel harbour races and on top of that Won the Starters parcours before leaving the Kiel fjord for the open waters of the Baltic. This gained them some 3 additional points for the overall score. 

This morning all Boats have sailed the Northern tip of Denmark and now heading into the North Sea. Winds in the moment are strong 24 kts and westerly. 

The boats have a little spread with Foncia, Spindrift Racing and Edmond the Rothschild about 5 Nm apart with Boats speeds around 15 kts, while Musandam Oman Sail follows at 15 Nm and Race for Water at 23 Nm.

The virtual Boats in LiveSkipper sailing a little ahead, because the real Boats started 20 min late compared to the original time, that was maintained by LiveSkipper. There are some 1370 virtual boats sailing alongside the MOD70 Trimarans and each of those skipper is challenging the 5 captains for the win. 
You can still register at Liveskipper and join to Leg1 and have the excitement of sailing against your favorite skipper. 
You may also use the link on the MOD70 European Tour website  for the virtual race. 

MOD70 European Tour STARTS TODAY

Sunday 2nd September at 12:30 gmt will be the START for the fleet of MOD70 Trimarans for the European Tour in Kiel. The 1st Leg will bring them to the Finish in Dun Laoghaire,Dublin

Over last 2 days the MOD70 boats have sailed some 6 short races in the Kiel Harbour on a small 600 meter wide stretch of water. It were exciting races, with these big Boats on the small water.

The Results:

1- Michel Desjoyeaux (FONCIA, FRA) : 12+12+10+11+11+9 = 65 points
2- Yann Guichard (Spindrift racing, EUR) : 10+11+8+10+12+12 = 63 points
3- Sébastien Josse (Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, FRA) : 11+8+11+12+9+11 = 62 points
4*- Sidney Gavignet (Musandam-Oman Sail, OMA) : 8+10+9+8+10+9 = 55 points

5*- Stève Ravussin (Race for Water, SUI) : 9+9+12+9+8+8 = 55 points 

For ALL the Legs in the European Tour, You can also sail alongside your favorite MOD70 skipper, be it in the Virtual Sailing Simulator LiveSkipper. 

Log on, Register for free and start Sailing; a short tutorial is available when registering for the  race and a Wiki give more detailed information on the finesses of the virtual Sailing experiences.