Winning the Barn Door Trophy – Thank you from Manouch

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Transpac is one of the best and most important yacht races in the world and the Barn Door trophy is one of the most coveted. The organization did a great job of organizing the race from the kickoff party to assigning us a great host here in Hawaii. This race was unusual in that at the time of our start there were three different weather anomalies that affected our routing and the amount of wind on the race course. We ended up finishing ten hours after the record time which forces us to come back again next time to see if we can break the record. A year and half ago we decided to build a boat that was able to win the Barn Door Trophy, this mission was well executed and achieved. I have to thank Brett Bakewell-White and the Cookson’s yard for designing and building such a great boat for us. My special thanks go to our most important team member, Keith Kilpatrick who supervised building the boat as it progressed inch by inch and then taking care of her and customizing her for our races. The boat is always prepared and in top shape. Keith is also […]

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SoCal 300

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SoCal300 was a great success, it’s by far the best offshore race in California. SDYC and SBYC did a great job in coordinating this race. 4:30 PM the day before, cocktails and appetizers with a great view of the beach and the bay with the great looking Jost von Kursell trophy on display. 9:00 AM the day of, skippers meeting with Dave Servais explaining the course and rules. 12:00 warning gun and our  12:05 start in a 12 knot Northerly breeze. Wizard was first around the first mark that was set a mile north of the start closely followed by Rio100 and Bad Pack. Rio100 caught up and passed Wizard after about an hour of upwind sailing in 15 to 20 knots of breeze with the first reef in. Turned the corner at Santa Cruise Island into a reach at 2:15 PM in 20 knots of wind with our R2 and J5 up blasting down at 20-24 knots with nice rollers helping us along (this was fantastic sailing). Passed below San Nicholas at around 5:30 PM with the same conditions and came up a few degrees. Arrived at the NOAA buoy at 8:30 PM while there was some light. Under […]

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Rio 100 Line Honors in West Coast debut!

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After her 7,500 mile journey from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles, California, the mighty Rio 100 made her West Coast sailing debut in the 17th edition of the Newport Harbor Yacht Clubs 800 nautical mile Newport Beach to Cabo Race. Aiming at breaking the current record of 2 days, 13 hours, 25 minutes, and 58 seconds set by Doug Baker on Magnitude 80 in 2005, Rio 100 met fickle winds when leaving Newport, but by the next morning was seeing consistent boat speeds around 15 knots, building to 18-20 knots of speed by that afternoon. By the end of her 800 mile run down the Baja coast, Rio and her crew were able to hold off the ORMA 60, Mighty Merloe, and earned Line Honors! Her final elapsed time was 2 days, 14 hours, 3 minutes, and 56 seconds, just 38 minutes shy of a new course record. After being delivered back, Rio will be getting prepped for her next regatta, the SoCal 300 on May 22nd. Until then, enjoy this video that crew member Tyler Wolk made of their trip South!  

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Weather could ruin fortunes of many

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If talk around the dock in the last 24-hours is anything to go by, the big boats are genuinely concerned about keeping their craft in one piece. The skipper of multi-million dollar, newly launched Comanche will have a rough sleep tonight, “It is crazy to do this as the first race and it could end in tears, you can get some weather that breaks an unproven boat.” The race record looks off the table according to the five skippers of the supermaxis in this years race, and Wild Oats XI don’t want to even think about setting a new race record for eight line honours wins. “To get any sort of record you’ve got to win. You got to finish the race. If we do a good job this week we will be in contention, who knows mate it’s the kiss of death we have to stay away from it,” says her skipper Mark Richards. The mind games are nearly over, it’s almost time for racing to take the spotlight.

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