When you’re exploring far-off places, it helps to be ready for just about everything. On a recent sailing trip through a remote part of the Pacific, a crew from Patagonia made the most of the ever-changing conditions, scoring all-time kiting, fishing, surfing and diving—along with a few perfect barrels in some of the clearest water in the world. Featuring Kohl Christensen, Hank Gaskell, Jason Slezak, Reo Stevens and more.
Archive for the ‘Sailing’ Category
Kai Lenny’s $1,500 Kite Board vs ORACLE TEAM USA’s $15 million catamaran…”It’s like bringing a knife to a gun fight,” said ORACLE TEAM USA grinder Matt Mitchell. Those were the comments of Jimmy Spithill, the skipper of ORACLE TEAM USA and the defenders of the America’s Cup.
The question was whether kite board champion Kai Lenny can outrace the new 72-foot catamaran of ORACLE TEAM USA.
Pink slips were on the line when Lenny put his $1,500 board up against the $15 million boat recently on San Francisco Bay. On the same course that will host the 34th America’s Cup in September, the two sides engaged in a bridge-to-bridge battle between the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge.
Kai Lenny got a significant jump out of the starting gate, launching his kite and harnessing the power of the winds to propel himself at 20 knots across the water (23 mph). This caught ORACLE TEAM USA off guard at first, before they found their rhythm and cranked it up to 30 knots (34 mph) to blow by the kite board.
“He got a really good start, so we just put the hammer down,” added Spithill.
Lenny, who was born and raised in Hawaii, achieved recognition in 2012 with a first place finish at the Hawaii Island Finals SUP pro, and first place at the Sunset Beach SUP pro. Kiteboarding combines aspects of wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics into one action sport.
In late 2013, the members of Gitana Team embark on an adventure that is as thrilling as it is complex: overhauling the Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild, a 70-footer initially built to race in crewed configuration on a one-design circuit, in a bid to become the first flying offshore trimaran.
It is an ambitious project. Like Rome, which wasn’t built in a day, the transformations to Gitana XV call for over two years’ research and innovation to satisfy the objectives of the five-arrow team. However, everyone agrees that the interplay is very worthwhile.
Just a few days ago, equipped with her new appendages, the Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild definitively took flight, racking up some 43 knots on the speedo in 20 knots of breeze and thus validating the efforts of a whole team, supported by the passion and commitment of the boat’s owners, Ariane and Benjamin de Rothschild.
The full wrap of interviews for the final day of racing at the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series event in Oman, the fourth leading towards Bermuda 2017.
Interviews with Glenn Ashby of Emirates Team New Zealand on their third in Oman and still being on top of the leader board overall, Dean Barker on SoftBank Japan’s continual improvements, Adam Minoprio on Groupama Team France’s first race win, Jimmy Spithill chats about Oracle Team USA’s near win and continual light air improvements, and winning skipper Ben Ainslie and I talk about the win here in Oman, the team coming together after a bad start to the day, and being the first to win two events in the series. All skippers spoke to me about what their teams will be up to in the coming months leading towards the next event in New York, and of course their development boats.