Team SCA in 100,000 pieces? That’s childplay

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Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

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Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race

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Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

A model boat of Team SCA, made entirely of 100,000 LEGO® pieces, will be exhibited in the Volvo Ocean Race museum from today.

– Friends construct perfect model Lego boat

– Model back in Alicante after touring the world

– Museum gives permanent home to replica

ALICANTE, March 8 – A model boat of Team SCA, made entirely of 100,000 LEGO® pieces, will be exhibited in the Volvo Ocean Race museum from today.

The launch of the Volvo Ocean 65 replica boat, which safely delivered the all-female crew of Team SCA around the world in the 2014-15 race, coincides with International Women’s Day.

The model was donated by SCA, the Swedish global hygiene company, which sponsored skipper Sam Davies’s crew in the nine-month marathon race.

It was displayed at each of the 11 ports that hosted the 12th edition before being transported to its new permanent home in the Alicante-based Volvo Ocean Race museum.

“The boat is in the best place possible. After a long journey around the world, it has returned home,” said Anders Gaasedal, one of the men who constructed it.

The Dane, who works for LEGO®, embarked in 2013 on the challenge of making the Volvo Ocean 65 replica together with his Swedish friend Johan Sahlström, an engineer for Volvo Trucks. They achieved their target after 1,200 hours of work.

“At the start of the regatta, we dreamed of bringing the boat back to Alicante. This has been an adventure for us and for Team SCA. It’s marvellous that the boat is being exhibited in the museum. The more people who can enjoy it the better,” added Sahlström.

What started as a diverting challenge for two friends, developed into a complete engineering and logistic project, replicating in miniature the dimensions of the boat (2.32 metres in length, 3.03 metres mast height, 0.56 metres width of the hull). It has a functioning, scaled-down keel (+/- 40 degrees with five degrees of tilt from its axis).

“Everything works, the pieces are not stuck together. The most difficult thing was making everything curve using pieces that are basically rectangular. This is most beautiful model that I have ever made,” said Sahlström.

“Our boat from the distance looks like a real model, you can´t see it´s made of LEGO® bricks, and then, when you come closer, it´s a great surprise. Everything has curves, it´s been built in 3D, the bricks have been put together from the top, the side and the bottom, and all is shiny. Children always build from the bottom to the top.”

The Volvo Ocean Race museum, which offers free entrance, welcomed more than 50,000 visitors in 2015 and is the only one in the world dedicated to almost 43 years of history of the round-the-world race.

Alicante, headquarters of the Volvo Ocean Race organisation since 2010, was the departure port in the last three editions of the race and will be so again in the next event starting in 2017.

SCA has a long record supporting women’s causes around the world and Team SCA’s entry in the last Volvo Ocean Race underlined their commitment to the issue of female empowerment.

via Team SCA in 100,000 pieces? That’s childplay| Volvo Ocean Race.

Stand by for Atlantic thriller to Cardiff

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Amory Ross / Team Alvimedica / Volvo Ocean Race

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Marc Bow / Volvo Ocean Race

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Cardiff City Council

Cardiff has been chosen as the destination for the first Volvo Ocean Race transatlantic leg to the United Kingdom in 12 years, when the world’s leading offshore race makes its debut visit to Wales in 2018 (full story below).

– Wales chosen as transatlantic stopover for the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18

– Debut visit to Wales for world’s leading offshore race

– Event returns to the UK for first time in over a decade

ALICANTE, Spain, March 3 – Cardiff has been chosen as the destination for the first Volvo Ocean Race transatlantic leg to the United Kingdom in 12 years, when the world’s leading offshore race makes its debut visit to Wales in 2018.

The transatlantic leg is traditionally one of the nine-month event’s biggest highlights and toughest tests for sailors in often challenging conditions.

A sailor was lost overboard and a boat sunk in separate incidents during the same stage in 2006 when Portsmouth was the destination.

At a press conference, Adolfo Rodríguez from the Volvo Ocean Race joined Welsh Government Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, Edwina Hart, and the City of Cardiff Council Leader, Cllr Phil Bale, to announce that Cardiff had been chosen as the transatlantic stopover, when the race will visit from May 25-June 10.

Sailors will leave Newport, Rhode Island, U.S., on May 20 and will cover approximately 2,900 nautical miles until they reach Cardiff.

The leg will start in Newport, which made a hugely successful debut as the race’s only North American stopover in May 2015. It was reselected to host a stopover in the next edition from May 8, with the in-port race on May 19.

Sail Newport executive director Brad Read, who played a leading role in Newport’s stopover, said: “Newport hosted the most successful North American stopover in the history of the race and Rhode Island will be ready again with an enthusiastic family-friendly public festival and celebration in May 2018.

“We are thrilled that the race will connect Newport with Cardiff and the North Atlantic leg between our cities could break the 24-hour speed record in the fierce conditions,” said Read, who is the Newport stopover director.

Other stopovers already announced for the 2017-18 edition include Alicante (Spain), Cape Town (South Africa), Auckland (New Zealand), Lisbon (Portugal) and Gothenburg (Sweden).

Antonio Bolaños López, acting CEO, Volvo Ocean Race, said: “The transatlantic race between Newport and Cardiff promises to be one of the real highlights of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18.

“The event is returning to the United Kingdom for the first time in 12 years, but this is the first time our world-class fleet will have visited Wales, despite the country’s rich seafaring tradition.

“Cardiff’s harbour will make the perfect backdrop for our boats, which will follow after what we expect to be another highly successful stopover in Newport.”

Welsh Government Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, Edwina Hart said: “It is excellent news that Wales has been chosen as the transatlantic stopover for this prestigious race. The Volvo Ocean Race is a truly global event and this stopover will be valuable in raising Wales’ profile on the world stage.

“Being a transatlantic stopover will give us added benefits of increased global media coverage and will be an excellent opportunity to look at key business opportunities in the U.S.

“The Volvo Ocean Race’s arrival in Cardiff will mark another historic milestone in Wales’ rise as an outstanding destination for world class events.”

Following a competitive bidding process in 2012, Cardiff, with the support of the Welsh Government, was awarded the right to host a stopover in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-I8. It will be the only race stopover in the UK.

via Stand by for Atlantic thriller to Cardiff| Volvo Ocean Race.

Race sailors lead celebs in BT Sport Relief challenge

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Marc Bow/Comic Relief Ltd

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Corinna Halloran/Team SCA/Volvo Ocean Race

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Matt Knighton / Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race

Six British celebrities will join race sailors as they take to a Volvo Ocean Race boat and attempt to sail around the United Kingdom in the BT Sport Relief Challenge: Hell on High Seas (full story below).

– Six celebrities will sail a Volvo Ocean Race boat around the UK

– Boat to be skippered by Ian Walker, with a crew of race sailors

– Departs Belfast on Monday, March 7 to arrive in London on Friday, March 11

LONDON, England, March 2 – Six British TV celebrities will swap the luxuries of dry land for a taste of life at the extreme as they take to a Volvo Ocean Race boat and attempt to sail around the United Kingdom in the BT Sport Relief Challenge: Hell on High Seas.

The challenge, which begins on Monday, March 7, will see BBC The One Show presenter Alex Jones, fellow BBC presenters Angellica Bell and Ore Oduba, Formula 1 host Suzi Perry, stand-up comedian Hal Cruttenden and comedy actress Doon Mackichan jump onboard the Volvo Ocean 65 boat for the ultimate offshore challenge.

The challenge departs from Belfast, Northern Ireland on Monday, March 7, and will include the crew living, eating and sleeping (if they can), as well as actually sailing the high-tech Volvo Ocean Race boat as they attempt to sail around the coast of mainland UK, to arrive in London five days later on Friday, March 11.

With mountainous seas and freezing cold temperatures, the voyage promises to be physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting for the celebrities, many of whom have never set foot on a racing boat before – but luckily for them, they have some experienced heads to call upon.

Briton Ian Walker, the last winner of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2014-15 as skipper and a double Olympic silver medallist, will lead the crew during the challenge.

He will be joined by an experienced team of Volvo Ocean Race veterans; his Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crewmate Phil Harmer, Team SCA’s Dee Caffari and Sara Hastreiter, Dongfeng Race Team’s Graham Tourell and Volvo Ocean Race meteorologist Gonzalo Infante.

Walker, the first British skipper to win the Volvo Ocean Race, said, “It will be the second week of March and the sea and air temperature for this BT Sport Relief Challenge: Hell on High Seas will be as cold as anything we faced in the Southern Ocean during the last Volvo Ocean Race.

“When the sea is rough, you haven’t slept for days and you are drenched to the core even simple tasks like brushing your teeth can seem impossible. This will be a tough challenge for the seasoned sailors let alone our celebrities. It could well be a true Hell on the High Seas.”

At just 65 feet long, life onboard the boat – a racing machine designed purely for speed, durability and performance, with absolutely no creature comforts whatsoever – will be cramped and uncomfortable.

Out on the ocean, there’s nowhere to hide – and no excuses. The six celebrities will help to run all aspects of the boat, from hoisting and trimming the sails, to helming and keeping watch.

Sailors generally operate in four-hour watch shifts – that means that they will spend four hours on deck, and then get four hours to sleep or relax. Unless there is a sail change to be performed. Then, it’s all hands on deck.

And they will be fuelled the Volvo Ocean Race way – with vacuum-packed, freeze-dried food providing them with around 6,000 calories per day.

The money raised from the BT Sport Relief Challenge: Hell on High Seas will help transform the lives of some of the most disadvantaged people both at home in the UK and across the world’s poorest communities.

Launched in 2007, The One Show has become one of the most popular television shows on British television – and during the challenge, viewers can tune in for live updates every day from 1900 GMT. For those outside the UK, highlights and updates will be published on volvooceanrace.com.

As they embark on this epic challenge, the crew needs your support. You can sponsor them at sportrelief.com/highseas.

via Race sailors lead celebs in BT Sport Relief challenge| Volvo Ocean Race.

remont on its way to Oman for America’s Cup

25 Feb 2016

The American team has been training in Bermuda on their third test boat prior to heading to Oman

AMERICA’S CUP: Bremount is traveling to Oman for the first leg of the America’s Cup World Series which begins on 27 and 28 February.

The weekend marks the first time the competition will be held in the Middle East.

Giles English, Bremont Co-Founder, said, “Bremont is excited to be kicking off the 2016 season in Oman where we will no doubt see some more thrilling racing.”

“These AC45F boats showcase incredible technology and really echo the fundamental values of Bremont. It is great to see ORACLE TEAM USA using their Oracle I watches throughout the racing and especially at the all-important start of each race.”

Bremont was announced as Official Timing Partner of the America’s Cup and ORACLE TEAM USA in May last year.

It also announced an extended retail partnership with Rivoli Group in Oman. The America’s Cup Collection, launched last summer in New York, will be on sale at Rivoli Avenues Mall in Muscat.

Mr English concluded: “From here we look forward to the rest of the season and especially events in New York, where we recently opened our Madison Avenue Boutique, and our home event in Portsmouth.”

After Oman, the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series will head to new New York in May and Chicago in June, before it’s home leg in Portsmouth on 23 and 24 July. Finally, the series will head to Toulon in September.

This weekend’s event will be broadcasted all around the world.

via Boating Business | Bremont on its way to Oman for America’s Cup.

Boating participation buoyed

01 Mar 2016

Howard Pridding: ‘tremendous opportunities’

BOATING RESEARCH: According to new research released on 1 March 2016, 3.2m UK adults participated in one or more of 12 boating activities in 2015.

This, says BM, accounts for 6.5% of the total adult population in the UK.

In light of the poor weather conditions and an overall downward trend experienced across recreational sports last year, boating outperformed many of its counterparts, observing only a minimal decline of 0.6% in UK participation (compared to 7.1% in 2014).

This is in contrast to the higher declines reported by other sports.

In particular canoeing, which remained the most popular boating activity in 2015 (2.9% of UK adults), is only bettered by two other sports when it comes to the biggest increase in participation in recent years.

The research also found participation in any watersports activity, in addition to the 12 core boating activities, including hobbies such as sea angling, leisure subaqua diving and coasteering, stood at 12.4m (25.2% of UK adults) in 2015.

This is a slight decline of 1.65% (compared to 26.8% and 13.1m in 2014), however, it still remains higher than the 2011 pre-Olympics figure.

The Watersports Participation Survey is conducted annually by a consortium of leading marine bodies including British Marine, the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), British Canoeing (BC) and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas).

Key findings

Popular activities: the most popular boating activities stayed much the same in 2015 with canoeing welcoming 1.4m UK participants and motor boating/cruising and small sail boat activities remaining the second most popular, both with 0.9% of the population (421,000 and 418,000 respectively).

Other activities which fared well in 2015 included canal boating, the use of personal watercraft and yacht racing, which all maintained steady participation figures (379,000, 171,000 and 94,000 UK adults respectively).

Surfing, bodyboarding and paddleboarding saw a combined 996,000 UK participants (2.0% of the UK population), a rise of 0.6% on the previous year (from 711,000 and 1.4% in 2014).

Frequency: 2015 saw a continued steady rise in the frequency of boating participation since 2013.

During this time, participation of the 12 boating activities in the UK has risen from just below five times, to close to six times.

In addition, UK participation in any watersport activity has also seen an increase over the last four years from roughly eight times to 10.

Boat ownership: boat ownership has stayed stable, with an average of 1.1m boats, including 530,642 canoes and kayaks and 178,433 small sailing boats, owned by households in the UK in 2013-15.

Since 2010 there has been a rise in craft being kept in the UK rather than abroad and, in 2015, this peaked with 95% of boats being kept in the UK.

In addition, although a third of participants were the owner of the craft, the most popular way to take to the water in 2015 was on a friend or family member’s boat (41.4% of participants).

Inland vs. coastal: in previous years the difference between inland and coastal participation of any boating activity has stood equal at 50% each, but 2015 saw a slight shift towards more people taking to the UK’s lakes, canals and rivers (53% inland, compared to 47% coastal participation).

Importance of the weather: historically there has been a strong correlation between the temperature and activity rate.

With 2014 recorded as the hottest year on average since 1910, whereas 2015 saw a drop in sunshine hours and average temperature, the slight decrease of participation in 2015 can be somewhat understood by this relationship.

This correlation is particularly evident when studying activities outside of the 12 boating activities which reported some of the biggest decreases in participation.

This included a decline of 1.8% in leisure time at the beach and a fall of 0.6% in participation of outdoor swimming in 2015.

Howard Pridding, chief executive of British Marine, said: “Between 2013 and 2014, boating and watersports took place in the context of some of the UK’s best weather of the last decade.

“In light of this, it is encouraging that in 2015, despite milder conditions, levels of boating participation have remained steady.

“The forthcoming months offer tremendous opportunities to encourage more people to get out on the water. By building on the exposure that the 2016 Olympics & Paralympics and the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series brings to our industry, more people will be able to take the chance to safely enjoy the rich experiences that being on the water can provide.”

To find out about the boating and watersports activities in your area visit the following sites:

www.onthewater.co.uk

www.rya.org.uk/get-afloat

www.canoe-england.org.uk/our-sport/get-started

via Boating Business | Boating participation buoyed.

Email Print America’s Cup win for Ainslie in Oman29 Feb 2016Sir Ben Ainslie and the Land Rover BAR team – victorious in OmanAINSLIE TRIUMPHS: Sir Ben Ainslie has led the Land Rover BAR team to victory at the America’s Cup World Series in Oman, beating former skipper Jimmy Spithill and ORACLE TEAM USA into second place.Despite a poor start in race four and penalties in five and six, Ainslie, the most decorated Olympic sailor in history, skippered the team to a two point win, bringing BAR to within just one point of their second place rival, ORACLE TEAM USA, in the overall placings.This is the first win for the team since securing victory on home waters in Portsmouth last summer, and Ainslie sees the result as evidence that the team is finding its form.“We kept fighting through today,” he said. “Compared to the teams with established track records, we need to prove we can compete at the top of the fleet and I think we are getting back to doing that.”“We have a big team of designers, boat builders and support staff back at home working very hard for us and they want to know that we can win this thing,” he added.The second place result was a fourth consecutive podium finish for the US team but it has yet to take the top spot.“It’s good to be on the podium. We’re one of only two teams to have been on the podium at each event. But we want to win. There’s no two ways about it,” said US team skipper Spithill.Emirates Team New Zealand secured third place, retaining its place at the top of the overall leaderboard, although ORACLE TEAM USA in second has closed the gap to just six points.The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Oman marked the first America’s Cup sailing in the middle east and was a milestone event for the host, Oman Sail.Full results can be found on the America’s Cup website.

via Boating Business | America’s Cup win for Ainslie in Oman.