The Southern Ocean is getting really congested,’ reported Felipe Cubillos from the leading double-handed Class 40, Desafio Cabo de Hornos, last night.
Shortly after midnight, Cubillos and his co-skipper, José Muñoz dropped south to just three miles above the Pacific Ocean exclusion zone at 45°S. Under three miles off the Chilean yacht’s port quarter, Jeremy Salvesen and David Thomson on Team Mowgli, in second place, shadowed the fleet leader’s descent, holding the northern position. …. Details
Most people’s thoughts go to powerboats when thinking fishing. It’s possible that only an inflatable pool toy is a worse platform for catching fish than a sailboat. But for centuries, the sailboat was the only seagoing boat that could get you to where the fish were. So it must be possible…. Details
The #1 boat of the Maritimo Offshore race team, the Lamborghini-powered ‘Maritimo’, has cruised to a convincing win in the third round of the Offshore Superboat Championships off Williamstown, Victoria.
With experienced Ross Willaton on throttles instead of regular throttleman Pal Virik Nilsen, unable due to other commitments to make the trip out from Norway, driver Tom Barry-Cotter and the man they call ‘Roscoe’ proved a successful pairing.
Perhaps the major story to come out of the race was the performance of the ‘new kids on the block’, Mackay youngsters Brandon and Chris Frier. … Details and Pictures
The Douglas Skater ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’ has greeted the chequered flag to register its second 100-mile win in the 2009 Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat championships.
Competing in fine conditions at Maraetai, south-east of Auckland, ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’, with veteran driver Ted Taiatini making a comeback after a 10-year absence to join throttleman and co-owner Warren Lewis, enjoyed a relatively incident free race.
‘Cure Kids’ (Tony Coleman and Chris Handley) came in second with ‘A1 Homes’ (formerly ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’ in 2008) third with Scott Lewis and Murray Tuffin aboard.
In the hotly-contested 60-mile race… Details and pictures