The World Sailing Show – March 2019

From non-stop around the world racers, to Olympic campaigns; from seasoned professionals, to grass roots sailors, The World Sailing Show provides a monthly view of the racing world. Here’s the March 2019 show synopsis:

The Golden Globe – The first two home
In July last year 17 skippers had set out on a 30,000mile single-handed race around the world. Designed to pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of the original Golden Globe and raced in similar sized boats without modern navigational aids, the race proved to be just as tough as in 1968.

In 2018 the slow start was followed by tough conditions and during the course of the race, bad weather and serious damage forced twelve retirements. Three of those were forced to abandon their boats.

After 211 days at sea and a nail biting last minute battle to maintain a lead that he had held for 24 weeks, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede was greeted by thousands of spectators as he crossed the finishing line in Les Sables d’Olonne, France.

Arriving victorious on home soil the 73 year old French sailing legend describes his trip and shares his experiences with the original non-stop solo circumnavigator Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and second placed Mark Slats.

Spindrift – Down and out…..again
From the first to the fastest, Yann Guichard and his crew aboard the 40m super tri Maxi Spindrift 2 were ready to take on the world once again.

Of their previous two attempts at setting a new outright, fully crewed record for a non-stop lap of the planet, the first had seen hopes dashed in the closing stages of the trip as their pace slowed in light winds while their second attempt saw the boat dismasted at the start a year ago.

But one year later they were back, re-built and re-worked. The start to their third attempt at winning the Jules Verne trophy began on January 16 and saw them charge through the Doldrums to set a new record to the equator. But their trip was to run in to serious trouble.

Cool kit – Innovations for 2019
It might be winter up here in the colder, darker latitudes of the northern hemisphere, but the World Sailing Show has been busy. We’ve been on the road visiting some of Europe’s biggest shows and alongside the glitz and glamour among the sparkling topsides in the boat show halls, there’s been a wealth of clever and intriguing new products released for 2019.

From a smart device to record the life in your sails, to a new view of the horizon and more, we take a look at some of the cool kit for the coming season.

Another Challenger for the America’s Cup
As the flurry of last minute applications before the recent entry deadline passed, the list of accepted Challengers for the 36th America’s Cup has grown. DutchSail, led by former Cup sailor and Volvo Ocean Race skipper Simeon Tienpont is the latest and includes some impressive names in the team.

Hempel World Cup Series Miami
Round 2 of the 2019 Hempel World Cup Series saw the competition head to sunny Miami. Light winds challenged both race organisers and competitors, but the racing was still as intense as ever with some closely fought battles on the water.