With first (#145 Eärendil) and second (#127 Amhas) place of Leg One of the 2018 Atlantic Cup decided yesterday (May 29, 2018) afternoon it was the turn of the remaining competitors to cross the Angola Cables Finish Line. The Swedish flagged Class40 #95 skippered by Mikael Ryking and Karl Jungstedt secured a provisional third place in the early hours of Wednesday, May 30th. Their Pogo40s2 crossed the finish line at 02h49h12 with an elapsed time of 86h49m12s to complete the 648 nautical mile first offshore leg. #95 Talanta was closely followed by #37 First Light sailed by former Olympic campaigner Fred Strammer and Sam Fitzgerald. The duo, competing in their first Class40 race, are also the youngest team in the fleet. With their fourth place finish they have set themselves up nicely for both the second leg to Portland, Maine and the subsequent inshore series. Quotes From 3rd, 4th and 9th!
With first (#145 Eärendil) and second (#127 Amhas) place of Leg One of the 2018 Atlantic Cup decided yesterday (May 29, 2018) afternoon it was the turn of the remaining competitors to cross the Angola Cables Finish Line. The Swedish flagged Class40 #95 skippered by Mikael Ryking and Karl Jungstedt secured a provisional third place in the early hours of Wednesday, May 30th. Their Pogo40s2 crossed the finish line at 02h49h12 with an elapsed time of 86h49m12s to complete the 648 nautical mile first offshore leg. #95 Talanta was closely followed by #37 First Light sailed by former Olympic campaigner Fred Strammer and Sam Fitzgerald. The duo, competing in their first Class40 race, are also the youngest team in the fleet. With their fourth place finish they have set themselves up nicely for both the second leg to Portland, Maine and the subsequent inshore series. Quotes From 3rd, 4th and 9th!
With first (#145 Eärendil) and second (#127 Amhas) place of Leg One of the 2018 Atlantic Cup decided yesterday (May 29, 2018) afternoon it was the turn of the remaining competitors to cross the Angola Cables Finish Line. The Swedish flagged Class40 #95 skippered by Mikael Ryking and Karl Jungstedt secured a provisional third place in the early hours of Wednesday, May 30th. Their Pogo40s2 crossed the finish line at 02h49h12 with an elapsed time of 86h49m12s to complete the 648 nautical mile first offshore leg. #95 Talanta was closely followed by #37 First Light sailed by former Olympic campaigner Fred Strammer and Sam Fitzgerald. The duo, competing in their first Class40 race, are also the youngest team in the fleet. With their fourth place finish they have set themselves up nicely for both the second leg to Portland, Maine and the subsequent inshore series. Quotes From 3rd, 4th and 9th!
Mikael Ryking, #95 Talanta - 3rd place finisher:“It was a test of patience, especially the light winds, especially in no winds at all. It was really light throughout the race...Everyone was changing places in the ranking, but we were just climbing, climbing, climbing. We start off with mixing up the two red buoys, #4. So that was our mistake so we had to go back after the start. After that into the Gulf Stream, you can cut the corner or go out. So you can either be behind at first and then start going up, so this time Cathrine Pourre (Eärendil) was a little bit faster because once we came up here we had a few boats slightly ahead of us but some of them just sailed across the current and some of them didn’t reach it so we managed to climb.”Watch the full interview here:
Sam Fitzgerald, #37 First Light - 4th place finisher:"She’s an older design, being number 37, there is no point trying to out reach the boats that have hard chines and are able to get up on the step a lot quicker than we can. She’s built for VMG runs so we VMG ran her the entire time and it paid off for us. We had no autopilot since 12pm on Saturday and have been hand-steering the whole way. As Fred said midway through, ‘Autopilot can’t surf waves,’ so that worked out pretty well for us, but it was definitely took a toll from a tiring stand point.”Watch the full interview here!
Sam Fitzgerald, #37 First Light - 4th place finisher:"She’s an older design, being number 37, there is no point trying to out reach the boats that have hard chines and are able to get up on the step a lot quicker than we can. She’s built for VMG runs so we VMG ran her the entire time and it paid off for us. We had no autopilot since 12pm on Saturday and have been hand-steering the whole way. As Fred said midway through, ‘Autopilot can’t surf waves,’ so that worked out pretty well for us, but it was definitely took a toll from a tiring stand point.”Watch the full interview here!
Liz Shaw O'Toole, #81 Esprit Scout - 9th place finisher: "We had three days of crawling around down below and getting the boat prepared for the race, so we acquainted ourselves with the systems as much as we possible could ahead of time. Kyle (Hubley) has heaps and heaps of miles on Class40s, as do I. We've never actually raced together, but we had a blast, laughed every single mile of the way, even when we were becalmed like six times for hours at a time. We were working hard to to find the boat speed. There were some dark moments. I think it was truly a game of snakes and ladders. We had one really good ladder surfing through the Gulf Stream but then it was all snakes after that, unfortunately for us!"Watch the full interview here! North Sails President Ken Read Provides His Outlook On The First Leg Of The Atlantic Cup
Liz Shaw O'Toole, #81 Esprit Scout - 9th place finisher: "We had three days of crawling around down below and getting the boat prepared for the race, so we acquainted ourselves with the systems as much as we possible could ahead of time. Kyle (Hubley) has heaps and heaps of miles on Class40s, as do I. We've never actually raced together, but we had a blast, laughed every single mile of the way, even when we were becalmed like six times for hours at a time. We were working hard to to find the boat speed. There were some dark moments. I think it was truly a game of snakes and ladders. We had one really good ladder surfing through the Gulf Stream but then it was all snakes after that, unfortunately for us!"Watch the full interview here! North Sails President Ken Read Provides His Outlook On The First Leg Of The Atlantic Cup
Liz Shaw O'Toole, #81 Esprit Scout - 9th place finisher: "We had three days of crawling around down below and getting the boat prepared for the race, so we acquainted ourselves with the systems as much as we possible could ahead of time. Kyle (Hubley) has heaps and heaps of miles on Class40s, as do I. We've never actually raced together, but we had a blast, laughed every single mile of the way, even when we were becalmed like six times for hours at a time. We were working hard to to find the boat speed. There were some dark moments. I think it was truly a game of snakes and ladders. We had one really good ladder surfing through the Gulf Stream but then it was all snakes after that, unfortunately for us!"Watch the full interview here! North Sails President Ken Read Provides His Outlook On The First Leg Of The Atlantic Cup
Leg 1 of the Atlantic Cup did not disappoint with regards to lead changes, tough tactics, a bit of luck and of course a tad of boat speed. Sounds like a sailboat race doesn't it? For the most part the word on the streets in NYC is "becalmed". Predominantly a light air run to the Northeast from Charleston to NYC, the boats had to deal with plenty of potholes along the way. First big decision? Easting towards the stream or straight line sailing towards Hatteras. I think when it was all said and done the more direct route gave the first jump on the fleet. Next Decision? How do deal with a fickle and "skinny" Gulf Stream with plenty of eddies and meanders to throw a loop into the tactics. Squalls always help determine races around the Stream as well and there are plenty of stories of positioning around clouds turning into huge gains and loses in a short period of time. Then came the big blocker in which the top two boats Eärendil and Amhas both got round the center of the high, much better than the rest which resulted in big leads in the end of what was for the most part a close race. The Hudson River added a big of angst but no big last minute passes and the fleet is all in safe and sound. When it was all said and done, the leg was won by the boat that most deemed the quickest. Eärendil sailed by skipper Catherine Pourre and Pietro Luciani pulled out to a comfortable leg win in the end, but not without being pushed hard by Amhas. Where I think they shined was getting around the high pressure center after exiting the stream. The Gulf Stream is always a blessing and a curse, known by all who sail the Bermuda Race every two years. It sucks you in, makes you want more, and if you get too greedy it can spit you out backwards if your not careful. You would think with todays modern weather technology there would be better modeling of the stream and the eddies, but at the end of the day it’s always a bit hit or miss. This time, exiting early in order to position around the high center proved to be the big move. Weather over current. Well done Eärendil! Now a quick rest and a trip to Maine. Getting colder, cold weather, likely fog, and for sure game-on for the overall title. Can't wait to be glued to my Yellowbrick Tracker to watch the next leg in the East Coast classic. Check Out The Photos Of The Finish!
Leg 1 of the Atlantic Cup did not disappoint with regards to lead changes, tough tactics, a bit of luck and of course a tad of boat speed. Sounds like a sailboat race doesn't it? For the most part the word on the streets in NYC is "becalmed". Predominantly a light air run to the Northeast from Charleston to NYC, the boats had to deal with plenty of potholes along the way. First big decision? Easting towards the stream or straight line sailing towards Hatteras. I think when it was all said and done the more direct route gave the first jump on the fleet. Next Decision? How do deal with a fickle and "skinny" Gulf Stream with plenty of eddies and meanders to throw a loop into the tactics. Squalls always help determine races around the Stream as well and there are plenty of stories of positioning around clouds turning into huge gains and loses in a short period of time. Then came the big blocker in which the top two boats Eärendil and Amhas both got round the center of the high, much better than the rest which resulted in big leads in the end of what was for the most part a close race. The Hudson River added a big of angst but no big last minute passes and the fleet is all in safe and sound. When it was all said and done, the leg was won by the boat that most deemed the quickest. Eärendil sailed by skipper Catherine Pourre and Pietro Luciani pulled out to a comfortable leg win in the end, but not without being pushed hard by Amhas. Where I think they shined was getting around the high pressure center after exiting the stream. The Gulf Stream is always a blessing and a curse, known by all who sail the Bermuda Race every two years. It sucks you in, makes you want more, and if you get too greedy it can spit you out backwards if your not careful. You would think with todays modern weather technology there would be better modeling of the stream and the eddies, but at the end of the day it’s always a bit hit or miss. This time, exiting early in order to position around the high center proved to be the big move. Weather over current. Well done Eärendil! Now a quick rest and a trip to Maine. Getting colder, cold weather, likely fog, and for sure game-on for the overall title. Can't wait to be glued to my Yellowbrick Tracker to watch the next leg in the East Coast classic. Check Out The Photos Of The Finish!
Our thanks go to Billy Black, the Atlantic Cup's Official Photographer for these amazing images! Head over to our Facebook page to see more images from today's finish.
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