Tag: BoaTEC

Top Finish

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Giacomo
Giacomo racing to their top finish in the Rolex Sydney Hobart 2016 – Image by Andrea Francolini

Great to see some of our hard work help a team to first place in IRC Division 1 and overall, as well as being second across the line!!!!

BoaTEC was assigned to strip, repair and refinish the dagger boards for the Giacomo Volvo 70 team in the lead up to the great race (a few shots below).

Images of the team with the Tattersall’s Cup, and sailing above are by Andrea Francolini.

GIACOMO IS CROWNED OVERALL WINNER OF THE ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART YACHT RACE 2016

There was very much a sense of history unfolding as GIACOMO, the first overseas yacht in almost a decade won one of the most coveted trophies in offshore yachting, the Tattersalls Cup

– 1st IRC Overall winner: Tattersalls Cup,

– 2nd Line Honours

– 2 nd Race Record – 1 day: 15 hours: 27 minutes.

Breaking the previous race record set by Wild Oats in 2012 by 2 hours and 56 minutes, second across the line less than two hours behind supermaxi Perpetual Loyal and only the first time since 1980 a New Zealand yacht has won – Giacomo is only the fourth New Zealand yacht in the 72 year history to win this famous race.

Regarded as one of the world’s toughest yacht races, this year was a pure sprint; the first 20 hours was the making of our race. Hard reaching and running with virtually no upwind sailing we went wide of the rhumb line and only needed a couple of gybes to make Tasman Light. We got into the Derwent River and its fickle nature shut the gate on the rest of the fleet. Full credit must go to the crew – they knew every decision had to be right. It came down to timeliness and keeping the boat moving. We used every sail on the boat.

Skipper: Jim Delegat
Tactician: Steve Cotton
Navigator: Francesco Mongelli
Crew:
– Tony Rae
– Brad Jackson
– Chris McAsey
– Scott Beavis
– Richard Bicknell
– Rob Greenhalgh
– Nikolas Delegat
– David Miller
– Craig Smith
– Mitch White
– James Delegat

From San Fran to Hawaii

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The 2016 Pacific Cup will be remembered for the big wind and seas that challenged some racers with broken boats and bodies, but pushed many in the fleet to record breaking passages. I personally loved the experience of sailing an offshore with the sights of San Francisco at the start, and approaching the island of Hawaii at the finish, 2070nm later.

Manouch Moshayedi’s super maxi Rio100 sped across the Pacific to set a new Pacific Cup Fastest Passage record. With an elapsed time of 5 days, 2 hours, 41 mins and 13 seconds, Rio100 knocked two hours off the record set in 2004 by Robert Miller, whose 139-foot Mari Cha IV finished with an elapsed time of 5 days, 5 hours, 38 minutes and 10 seconds. Congratulations to the Rio team!

We did the race on board Varuna VI in 5 days, 20 hours, 42 minutes, 19 seconds. In my mind we left about 12 hours on the race track, but it was an awesome experience with a fantastic team. We did get a little scrape on the way, but nothing that halted our speeds across the Pacific. Check out the video here.

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The boat is now packed up and ready to head to Sydney for the Rolex Sydney Hobart this year. I am in England, and will head to Cowes Week in the next few days, before flying back to Australia for Hamilton Island Race Week.

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Looking forward to a few good weeks of racing ahead.

Cheers,

Lindsay

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Back in Black

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12512677_1090669670984699_735870286080357290_nAfter competing with Varuna VI in the Rolex Middle Sea Race last year, and then the RORC Caribbean 600 in February, I was also invited to join the team for Les Voiles De Saint-Barth in April.

For me it was great to see the old Varuna IV (now Tonnerre) next to the Varuna VI on the dock… A few times from up the rig as you can see.

This trip again involved a bit of work in the lead up to the regatta, back in Antigua, for me playing with carbon. We extended the boom by 1.2 metres to fit a mainsail that was on delivery with an extra 22 square metres.

13000307_1099646316753701_627220066887447559_nI then delivered the boat to Saint-Barth and prepped her for racing.

The regatta for our team was purely to test the new main, and to look at how we can improve the boat leading into the Pacific Cup, where I will also race with the team.

Looking like a busy year, but as always BoaTEC Australia will get the job done.

Lindsay

 

Caribbean 600 2016

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The RORC Caribbean 600 is now one of my favourite ocean races. Picture a 600 miler, in 18 knots plus, in shorts and a t-shirt around some pretty good looking islands. And that is not including the rum punch at the finish…

I got the late call up to head to Antigua in February to help get Varuna VI (Kerr 54) ready for racing, and jump on for the race as a helmsman and a handy all-rounder after doing the Rolex Middle Sea Race with the team last year. Great experience, and this race is now on my “must repeat” list.

There are plenty more pics and videos from on board with Varuna on the BoaTEC Australia Facebook Page, or you might like to check out the official video below.

Cheers,
Lindsay

The Great Race 2015

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The Great Race is always the best way to end, and start another year. And what a year it has been. All three Rolex races; the Fastnet, the Middle Sea and the Hobart.

Here is me, hooking up the martin breaker on the TP52 Celestial as we left Sydney Heads for this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart. I owe the photographer a few beers for capturing me in my element outside of the factory.

But at the end of the day, this is why at BoaTEC Australia we know how to help you with your boats… Because we are also out there doing it ourselves. We know how critical it is that your systems and structures work the way you want them to, when you want them to. We don’t offer the cheapest services, but we do offer the highest quality, because we know that is what matters in sailing.

Hope you all have a fantastic 2016, and if there is anything I can help you with – from building and repairs through to boat and program management, I am just a phone call away.