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Happy new year
posted by Anton Vandersteen » January 1, 2009
Hello sailors,
Happy new year and all the best wishes for 2009.
May the trade winds be prosperous for you this year.
Greetings,
Dutch Albatros -
A new onshore hobby
posted by Anton Vandersteen » December 25, 2008
Hello sailors,
I have found a new onshore hobby.
Boomerangs.
There is even a boomerang design called Albatros. -
New Banner
posted by Anton Vandersteen » December 25, 2008
A new banner for my society
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Dutch Albatros Banner
posted by Anton Vandersteen » December 25, 2008
My new banner with all the flags of the countries in which waters I have sailed these past years.
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Telefonica Blue 1st to Finish
posted by Manos Roudas » December 23, 2008
Fighting for every inch, Telefónica Blue, skippered by Dutchman Bouwe Bekking, crossed the finish line at the end of leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race to score an emphatic victory in Singapore today at 1451 GMT (2251 local time).
It was among the closest finishes in the race history, with the top four boats finishing within 20 minutes following nearly 10 days of racing.
The Spanish team takes a valuable eight points towards their overall score, which now stands at 30.5 points, putting them into second place overall (subject to protest). Puma finished second on this leg.
The final podium spot went to Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE), who beat their teammates on Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) to take third, and a total of 23.5 points overall. (Finish time 1509 GMT, elapsed time 09:05:09:48s) -
Scoring Gate
posted by Manos Roudas » December 22, 2008
Ericsson 4 are tacking to the waypoint that is the scoring gate for leg 3. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) led the Volvo Ocean Race fleet through the scoring gate at Palau We yesterday, followed by Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) and Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE). Although they were disappointed not to be first through the gate, Bekking and his crew were pleased with the second place points, but today, they are not happy at all.
Leg three, at 1950 nautical miles was estimated to take around eight days to complete, but today, day nine, the leaders still have 220 miles to run. -
Home for winter festiveness!
posted by Tom Court » December 19, 2008
After two nice months in the Caribean, I have returned home to the UK for Xmas with my friends. I am also going to start the new year off well with some professional training in a gym in London, working on a new regime for next year…
Maybe a short trip to Fuerteventura to test a new wave board and gather some nice video for the winter season! I will keep you posted
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
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Delta Lloyd Damaged
posted by Manos Roudas » December 19, 2008
The Dutch/Irish entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, Team Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) has suffered damage to the port side carbon structure around the keel ram. The boat was half way across the Bay of Bengal when the damage occurred, at 1930 local time, midday GMT. Skipper Roberto Bermudez de Castro and his crew are safe and boat is not taking on water.
It is too early to know the exact cause of the damage, but it is likely to be a failure of the hydraulic system. The crew have not retired from the race but are considering the possibility of going to the nearest harbour or continuing towards Singapore, which is the preferred option. -
BBC Yorkshire Sports Personality
posted by Paul Goodison » December 18, 2008
It has been a busy few weeks. I took the top prize at the BBC Yorkshire Sports Personality of the Year dinner held this year in Bradford. It was a great evening at it was a real privilege to sit on the same table as James Toesland last years winner and, Kevin Blakwell Sheffield United manager. The night was made even more special as my parents were also there to see me receive the prize.
I left Bradford and headed straight to Swansea for a week of mountain biking with a few friends. It wasn’t the warmest week but we had some fantastic riding around south wales, it did get a little icy in some valleys and it was pretty exciting riding in the dark with lights. It was all going really well until Saskia came off and after a trip to the hospital the diagnosis was a pretty serious broken collar bone. After another day of slightly more reserved riding it was time for an afternoon at the football to rest the legs.
After watching the mighty Sheffield United grab a point at Swansea it was off to Liverpool for the national BBC Sports Personality of the Year. It was another fantastic evening and a bit of a reunion with other medalists from Team GB. After the show there was a great party which was pretty surreal being surrounded by lots of TV stars and legendary athletes. It was pretty funny to be signing autographs and having your picture taken as you enter and leave the hotel.
I am back home in Weymouth now, and its back into fitness training in preparation for a cross country skiing trip to Austria post christmas where I will be joined by several other members of the Olympic team.
Have a good Christmas -
Start of VOR Leg 3
posted by Manos Roudas » December 15, 2008
The third leg started 1530 local time from Cochin (1000 GMT) Saturday 13 December, after a Parade of Sail as well as a ‘Ceremonial Start’ (at 1400 local) which took place in the channel alongside the Race Village. Hundreds of thousands of spectators gathered along the river banks and in the Race Village itself to send the fleet off to Singapore.
Following the first ever stopover for the race in Asia, the eight teams were preparing to tackle what is expected to be a light, fluky, upwind leg, with plenty of potential pitfalls along the way.
Leg three is the shortest so far in the race – at 1,950 nautical miles – and takes the fleet around the southern tip of India and west into the Straits of Malacca, which ranks amongst the busiest shipping channels in the world. As much of the route straddles the equator, light, changeable conditions are expected for much of the leg.
PUMA leads as Volvo Ocean Race leg three got underway. Right after the start, E4 was sailing in 4kts of wind right now and in sight of most of the fleet. Puma was just in front; Telefonica Blue and E3 were just offshore of E4. Behind were the Russians, Green Dragon and Telefonica black inshore.
