News

Organised by the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria, the Queenscliff to Flanders Race was the final event of the winter series and unlike most other races where crew experienced sheet ice on deck and icicles hanging from booms, it proved a glamour spring day for racing.

The race started with a short reach out of the Port Philip heads in the company of the two DK46’s then a gybe onto port TWA 145-150 A2 set to Cape Shank. Then Jib top to Western port bay, the breeze varied between 15 to 20 knots peaking at 25 just off the wind to the finish.

Shogun, which had established a good lead over the two DK’s and the following fleet, went on to complete the 40 mile Division 1 course in the very fast time of 3 hours 48 minutes and 45 seconds a new course record, beating the 2007 time of the TP 52 Cougar of 5hours 42minutes 07 seconds, in ideal Rogers conditions. The two DK’s finishing almost 22 minutes behind giving Shogun a comfortable 13 minute win on IRC as well as line honours. Well done to all the team!

Shogun is for sale. For full spec. log on to the ‘Rogers Yacht Sales Brokerage’ section on this site.

With bad weather sweeping most of mainland Britain and more gales and flash floods forecast, 19 of the original 52 yachts entered were present on the Royal Yacht Squadron Line for the start of the Cowes – Cherbourg RORC. All 19 yachts completed this Volvo conditions 75 mile sprint, with no outside assistance called for.

Congratulations to David and his crew on board his Rogers 46-Yeoman XXXII, particularly as it was his last race as RORC Commodore, who won the IRC Class Zero trophy.

Bruno Jourdren has just completed the ‘1000 Miles Double Handed Brittany Ferries’ race, with a line honours for each port and an overall win.

With a start and finish line in Saint Malo,17 Class 40s competed in this offshore extravaganza which lasted 6 days and included pit stops in Plymouth, Santander and Roscoff.

Our congratulations go to Bruno Jourdren and Kito De Pavant – Lord Jiminy-Lepal.com who were delighted with the performance of the boat. ‚ÄúI was very happy with the boat. It was good to race so close to many other Class 40s and it has helped me to understand exactly how powerful this boat is.”

Very bad luck for Tanguy de Lamotte who also competed and lead the pack with Bruno -never out of the top 3 but had to retire due to battery problems. This seasons the Rogers Class 40s have had podium positions in all the races they have taken part in, namely: 2nd in Douarnenez, 1st Halifax, 3rd Quebec-Saint Malo and 1st in the 1000 miles.

News is just in to confirm that Tanguy de Lamotte and his crew on board their Rogers Class 40 РNovedia S.E.T, has just achieved the unbelievable in the Quebec to Saint Malo race, with a 3rd overall in the Class 40 fleet. Unbelievable given that 24 hrs into the race, whilst leading the fleet by 10 miles, they hit a sand bank in the thick fog and were high and dry for 10hrs (see previous news item). Over the course of the following two weeks, they not only managed to refloat, recover, join the leaders, but also beat Soldini in the final stages, after an epic match race across the Atlantic……to finish on the podium. A truly outstanding result and our congratulations go to every member of the crew. We very much look forward to hearing their stories tomorrow, following good food, beer and sleep!

It was smiles and excitement all round this weekend on the Danish island of B??rnholm when three Rogers 46s completed the final leg of the Baltic Sprint Cup with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd overall. Simon and Reb both flew out to meet the teams and personally congratulate them on an outstanding set of results.

Danebury, skippered by Mike Castania was placed 1st overall but went home clutching not only a number of leg trophies but also the overall team winners trophy. David Aisher with Yeoman XXIII was equally happy with his 2nd overall. He is already looking forward to the 2009 event and particularly enjoyed visiting so many different countries in such a short space of time. Lithuania was a favourite for many competitors, with few people ever having visited before.

Christopher Wuttke and his team, with his recently launched Guts’n Glory, was ecstatic with his 3rd overall; to date he has participated in 3 events and never been off the podium! He particularly relished being ‘tracked’ with the highest speed of 22.6 knots in the fleet on leg 1.

Well done to all the teams for a great set of results.

Following a great start Tanguy (Novedia S.E.T) and his ‘dream team’ crew soon, amassed a 10 mile lead on the fleet then tragically hit a sandbank in thick fog. Whilst the fleet sailed passed them (aground for 10hrs 30mins), the leaders were some 60 miles ahead.

Once re-floated, the crew wasted little time in recovering and unbelievably have sailed back to the front of the fleet in less than 48hrs. Right now Tanguy is match racing with Soldini for the lead and only 0.3nm from him….and closing. This is getting exciting and will undoubtedly be a headline story if he either wins or achieves a podium finish in Saint Malo following his grounding. Go boys!

Following the completion of the second leg from Karlskrona (Sweden) to Klaipeda (Lithuania), where the Rogers 46’s continue to dominate the fleet, Danebury holds on to her overall lead with 3 points, whilst Yeoman XXXII sailed by David Aisher, is lying 2nd overall with 9 points. Guts‚Äôn‚Äô Glory the 3rd Rogers 46 competing, made a tactical error on this leg and struggled to sail out of a light airs zone.

Leg 3 to Gdynia (Poland) starts on Sunday.

The first leg of the Baltic Sprint Cup – Travem?ºnde in Germany to Kariskrona in Sweden (216miles) has just been won by Danebury, one of the three Rogers 46s competing. She won overall on corrected by 1hr 10min 2sec against well known boats such as Outsider -an Elliott 52. The finger tip control of the boat was once again highlighted by all drivers.

Christopher Wuttke on board his new Rogers 46 – Guts’n Glory is also a very happy owner with his 3rd in class and lying 4th overall and was particularly ecstatic to have had the fastest recorded tracked speed in the fleet, during a thunderstorm, of 22.5 knots. David Aisher on board his Yeoman XXXII also had a great race and is currently 5th in class and 6th overall, having had a fantastic downwind sleigh ride.

With three legs to go, this will prove an extremely exciting event to follow. The next leg to Klaipeda in Lithuania (190 miles) starts this Wednesday. http://www.balticsprintcup.com

After a very frustrating weather bound stop over in Lymington – some two weeks, Hilary is now making excellent progress along the south coast of Britain, having ticked off Portland and Brixham stop overs and today arrived in Salcombe.

She has experienced some very exciting sailing on her Artemis 20, fondly known as ‚ÄòArty‚Äô, as her personal blogs recount. We continue to wish her the very best of luck and as many people as possible should follow this exceptional story. Go to previous news item on Hilary for her web link. Photo on left: A few of the RYD team with Hilary’s team in Lymington.

After years of planning, Hilary Lister finally left port yesterday on her epic 3 month voyage, solo around Britain in her Artemis 20 which will take in around 40 stop overs. Steering using only the Sip and Puff system (blowing and sucking on straws), Hilary will sail between 6 and 18 hours a day coming ashore each night.

We can report that last night she successfully completed her first leg from Dover to Eastbourne in around 9 hours and though tired, she was delighted. At 12.30pm today she departed on her second leg, heading for Brighton.

Paralysed from the neck down and only able to move her head, this is a remarkable challenge and epic journey Hilary is embarking on and one that should be supported. To follow her journey log on to: www.hilarylister.com where you can also choose to make a donation to her charity ‚ÄòHilary‚Äôs Dream Trust Charity’, which aims to facilitate the sailing dreams of those with disabilities or significant disadvantages.

Good luck Hilary from all at RYD!