YachtPals.com News

Vincent Riou Rescues Jean Le Cam

YachtPals — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:53:52 +0000

YachtPals.com 06 Jan
Vincent Riou Rescues Jean Le Cam

Cape Horn - At 1810 GMT, with a helicopter and navy tug en route and a tanker standing by, it would have been a matter of hours before additional help arrived on scene of Jean Le Cam's capsized Vendee Globe boat, but that was too long to wait. As Vincent Riou circled the capsized VM Matériaux, Jean Le Cam climbed out of the boat and into the water, wearing a survival suit for protection from the icy seas. After the fourth pass, Le Cam was able to board PRB safely. Unfortunately, Vincent's boat was damaged in the rescue.

PRB - Vincent Riou

Jean Le Cam Sailing VM Matériaux in Distress - Rescue Underway

YachtPals — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:46:50 +0000

YachtPals.com 06 Jan
Jean Le Cam Sailing VM Matériaux in Distress - Rescue Underway

Cape Horn - At 0026 GMT, while Vendee Globe sailor Jean Le Cam was calling his team back in France to tell them that VM Matériaux was at serious risk of capsizing, the sat phone went dead. The distress beacon on Le Cam's IMOCA 60 was then triggered at 0140 GMT. Hoping for the best, the race committee has begun rescue operations and has routed Armel Le Cléac’h of Brit Air and Vincent Riou on PRB to the scene. The first should reach the area at around 1300 GMT.

PRB - Vincent Riou

Vendee Globe Week 9 - Sailing Around the Horn

YachtPals — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:59:20 +0000

YachtPals.com 05 Jan
Vendee Globe Week 9 - Sailing Around the Horn

At the start of both Vendee Globe week nine and the new year, we find the leaders of the fleet sailing around the most feared and famous navigational landmark in the world: Cape Horn. Michel Desjoyeaux, currently in the lead, was the first around that wicked dagger of land at 0310 GMT this morning, with Roland Jourdain close behind and keeping up the pressure.

Aviva

Sailing Photo of the Week - Chinese Junk

YachtPals — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 19:45:31 +0000

YachtPals.com 03 Jan
Sailing Photo of the Week - Chinese Junk

Honolulu, Hawaii - The Chinese junk sailboat Princess TaiPing was built to replicate traditional Chinese ocean-going vessels, as well as their sailing voyages. It is a project developed, in part, to quiet any skepticism that Chinese boats could actually travel across vast oceans as early as the Ming Dynasty. Since launching just one year ago, the Princess TaiPing's small crew have proven that indeed it can be done, as they have followed in the wake of (and proven to be as tough as) the sailors of centuries ago.

Happy Birthday YachtPals!

YachtPals — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 22:07:47 +0000

YachtPals.com 02 Jan
Happy Birthday YachtPals!

Though it seems hard to believe, YachtPals is now one year old, and we wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of you. There's been a lot about YachtPals in the news lately, including the Wall Street Journal, MSN, USA Today, and others. We won an award as one of the top start-up sites of 2008, and have been nominated for others. This is all great, and we're certainly happy about it, but what we enjoy the most are the comments, messages and emails of support we've received from you, telling us how much you enjoy the site, and YachtPals' friendly "vibe," because so do we!

Sailing Records - The Year in Review

YachtPals — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:23:49 +0000

YachtPals.com 01 Jan
Sailing Records - The Year in Review

As we ring in a new year here at YachtPals, we thought it would be a great time to reflect on some of the incredible sailing achievements made around the world in 2008. For high speed sailing records, it was hard to beat '08, and it will forever be the year that the 50 knot barrier was broken. Of course, the raw dragster speed of sailboards, kiteboards, and amazing boats like SailRocket and l'Hydroptere are only part of the record-breaking story of the last year, out on the open ocean, speed records were being shattered from pole to pole.

Jean-Pierre Dick Out of the Vendée Globe

YachtPals — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:59:58 +0000

YachtPals.com 31 Dec
Jean-Pierre Dick Out of the Vendée Globe

South Pacific - At around 1300 GMT today, Paprec-Virbac 2 sailed into another UFO (likely ice this time), and broke its port-side rudder. As luck would have it, this was the "good" rudder, as the other was severely damaged in an earlier incident on December 15. Sleeping down below, solo skipper Jean-Pierre Dick heard a noise, and by the time he made it to the stern of the boat, he saw the shattered remnants of the carbon-fiber blade slip into the sea. With his doubly crippled boat, JP

Paprec-Virbac - JP Dick

Vendee Globe Week 8 - Down, Out, and Sailing Through Storms

YachtPals — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 23:15:11 +0000

YachtPals.com 29 Dec
Vendee Globe Week 8 - Down, Out, and Sailing Through Storms

The brutality of sailing the Southern Oceans, though often the subject of stories, is easy to underestimate. The same is true of the difficulty of solo racing, with its associated sleep deprivation and physical and emotional stress. Combine these two issues, and throw in the added problems associated with running new and cutting edge technologies, and you have the formula of the Vendee Globe, as well as an explanation as to why almost half the fleet has now retired. This is simply as tough as it gets, in any sport.

Aviva

Sydney-Hobart Race

YachtPals — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:10:16 +0000

YachtPals.com 28 Dec
Sydney-Hobart Race

Hobart, Tasmania - Falling the day after Christmas (aka: Boxing Day), the Sydney-Hobart race is one of the most famous yacht competitions in the world, and certainly in the middle of winter. A beeline sprint from Sydney Harbour to Hobart Tasmania (around 630 miles), this race started as a cruise. But as we know, if two boats are sailing in the same direction, it's going to be a race, and since 1945, the Sydney-Hobart has been just that.

Massive Knock-Down Sailing Spirit of Canada - Derek Hatfield Out of the Vendee Globe

YachtPals — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:04:53 +0000

YachtPals.com 28 Dec
Massive Knock-Down Sailing Spirit of Canada - Derek Hatfield Out of the Vendee Globe

The Spirit of Canada suffered major damage last night when Derek Hatfield's sailboat was knocked-down violently while sailing in the Vendee Globe around the world yacht race. Derek Hatfield, the only Canadian competing in this solo non-stop race around the world, tells us his boat has been struck a major blow - two spreaders on his mast were broken in half, leaving the mast unsupported on the leeward side.

Spirit of Canada - Derek Hatfield