Our 2005 Season
"ROLEX TRANSATLANTIC
CHALLENGE"
(May 22, 2005) This afternoon, 20 of the world's largest
yachts set sail from New York on the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge,
a 3,000-mile ride across the North Atlantic bound for England's Lizard point in
southern Cornwall and ultimately the Needles, Isle of Wight.
We had sail out to see the parade of these beautiful ships on there way to the
start of the race.
Please check back for some fun and exciting pictures of our
guests
and their sailing adventures with Sea Fever Excursions, LLC.
You were here!
Come and enjoy the excitement of New York Harbor with us!
Call 201-887-8700
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Challenge is the 100th anniversary of the New York Yacht Club's race for the
Kaiser's Cup, which was won in record breaking style by
Wilson Marshall's Atlantic and America's Cup legend Charlie Barr, who was at
the helm. Just as the 1905 race was delayed by a day due to dense fog
in the start area, 100 years later the start also was postponed by one day,
on this occasion due to a forecast of potential gale-force headwinds.
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With a gray sky and scattered showers over Manhattan, the fleet paraded in
line down the Hudson River, past the wall-to-wall skyscrapers of
Manhattan's financial district and the site of Ground Zero, to the Statue
of Liberty, and under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, marking the entrance
to
New York Harbour. By the time the yachts had motored 15 more miles towards
Ambrose Light (the top end of the north-south orientated start line),
conditions had dramatically changed, revealing a brilliant sun, but light
winds: a fluky breeze of 3-5 knots shifting between east and southeast.
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Along the race route, the only mark that must be observed is "Point
Alpha."
This exists to give the Race Committee the provision to keep the yachts
away from any potential ice threat. This year, however, the U.S. National
Ice Service and its Canadian equivalent have advised the Race Committee
that there is very little threat from ice. Point Alpha has been set at 47
degrees North, 51 degrees West, some 90 miles east-northeast of
Newfoundland's Cape Race, allowing competitors to sail a course close to
the great circle route. |
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Late in the afternoon, Mari-Cha IV led overall. "The first line-up
with
Maximus had the two boats performing very similarly with a small speed
advantage for Mari-Cha IV," recounted navigator Jef d'Etiveaud.
"This is a
good feeling for us, as this weather could have given an advantage to the
smaller boat. Everyone is concentrating on the boat--there is not a sound.
It is a horrendous weather pattern for breaking a record, though."
Conditions are expected to remain light overnight
with the wind backing to the west. |
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Curmudgeon's Comment: Drifting
conditions at the start were tough for the
race entrants, but even tougher for the photographers. We have posted the
following image from photographer Onne van der Wal which does a good job
of
telling the story:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/05/transat0522.jpg
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| We wish Rolex
Challenge ships and crews a safe passage cross the great
Atlantic. |
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Roster
of Yachts in Rolex Transatlantic Challenge |
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Yacht |
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Owner/Captain/Charterer |
Salient
Features |
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Anemos |
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Stephan A. Frank
New York Yacht Club
Darien, CT
Tactician: Peter
Kelly Larchmont,
NY
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112 foot
(34.1m) Swan sloop designed by German Frers. For
More |
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Carrera |
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Joe Dockery
New York Yacht Club
Cos
Cob, CT
Tactician:
Ken Read
Newport
, RI
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81 feet (24.7m)
sloop.
Reichel Pugh design.
First yacht to finish the 2004 Newport Bermuda Race and most recently set
a course record in the Fort Lauderdale-Key West Race. For
More |
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Drumbeat |
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The
174 foot (53m) Drumbeat
was previously known in sailing circles as Salperton.
Designed by Dubois, she is the sistership to Tiara,
also entered in this race.
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Leopard
WEB |
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Mike Slade
Royal Thames Yacht Club
London
,
UK
Tactician:
Julian Salter
Cowes
,
UK
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97-foot
(29.4m)
Reichel Pugh sloop.
Current
Records
:
Hoya Round the
Island
Race Record 2001 and
Cowes
- Dinard Race 2001. Won the Fastnet Rock Trophy in 2003 for Best Overall
Performance in IRM.
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Mari-Cha
IV
WEB |
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Robert Miller
Royal Yacht Squadron
Hong
Kong |
140 foot (42.6m) canting
keel two-masted schooner. Designed by Clay Oliver, Greg Elliot,
Philippe Briand, Mike Sanderson and Jef D'Etiveaud. Holds the
transatlantic-passage record and 24-hour-distance record for monohull
yachts. For
More |
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Mariella |
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Carlo Falcon
Antigua |
80-foot (24.4m)
Alfred Milne ketch built by Fife in 1939. For
More |
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Maximus
WEB |
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Charles St C
Brown &
Bill Buckley
Auckland
, NZ
Tactician: George
Hendy
Auckland
, NZ
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A
100 foot (30.5m) carbon fiber super-maxi. Designed
by Greg Elliott and Clay Oliver. Features include a retractable canting
keel and a rotating wing mast. For
More
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Nordwind |
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Dr. Hans Albrecht
Munich,
GER |
88-feet (26.8m)
composite ketch built in 1938 to the design of A. Gruber. Before World War
II won the Fastnet Race and in the process set the course record (88
hours and 23 minutes) that stood for two decades. For
More
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Ocean Phoenix
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Jose Aguinaga
Madrid,
Spain
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77-foot (23.6m)
Rob Humphries-designed sloop. For
More
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Palawan |
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Joe Hoopes
New York Yacht Club
New
York,
NY
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75' (22.9m) sloop.
Designed by Ted Hood for Tom Watson, the IBM chief. Under Joe Hoopes'
stewardship won
class in 2002 Bermuda
Race. For
More
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Sariyah
WEB |
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Cortright
Wetherill Jr., Charterer
Tim Laughridge, skipper
New York Yacht
Club |
130 foot
(39.6m) ketch.
Designed by S&S.
Finished second in the
Atlantic Challenge Cup, this race’s predecessor. For
More
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Seleni |
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Colin
McGill
Zermatt
Switzerland
Royal Thames Yacht Club |
80 foot (24.5m)
Swan sloop, a collaborative design of Nautor's Swan and German Frers |
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Sojana |
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Peter Harrison
Royal Thames Yacht Club
Reigate,
Surrey
,
UK
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The
115-foot (35m) ketch was designed by Farr for Peter Harrison, the
America
’s
Cup syndicate leader from the
U.K.
She is designed to be a fast offshore racer and luxurious blue-water
cruiser. For
More
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Stad Amsterdam
WEB |
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Members of the
Storm Trysail Club |
252-foot (77m).
Gerard Dijkstra & Partners design.
Launched in 2000 as the first clipper ship built in 130 years. For
More |
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Stay Calm |
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Clarke Murphy |
70-foot
(21.3m) Swan sloop designed by German Frers. For
More
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Sumurun
WEB |
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A. Robert Towbin,
New York Yacht Club
New
York,
NY
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94-foot
(28.7m)
Fife
ketch, built in 1914, won the Classic
Division in the Atlantic Challenge Cup, this race’s predecessor. Owner
is chair of Rolex Transatlantic Challenge. For
More |
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Tempest |
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Arthur Bugs Baer
New
York Yacht Club
Madison,
Conn.
William N. Hubbard III
New York Yacht Club
New York, NY
Tactician: Michael
Lawson
London
,
UK
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80-foot
(24.2m) ketch designed by Sparkman & Stephens in 1974, rebuilt in
2000. Third yacht to finish the DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge. |
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Tiara
WEB |
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Jonathan
Leitersdorf |
178-feet
(54.3m).
Second only to entrant Stad Amsterdam in size.
Designed by Dubois
and built by Alloy Yachts. For
More |
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Whirlaway |
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Randall
Pittman
New York Yacht Club
San
Diego, CA |
140' (42.7m) sloop
designed by Dubois and launched in 2002. For
More
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Whisper
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..Hap
Fauth,
New York Yacht Club
Minneapolis,
MN
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116 (35.4m)
designed by Ted Fontaine and launched in 2003. For
More |
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Windrose of
Amsterdam |
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Chris Gongriep
Wormer,
Holland
Tactician:
Gerry Dykstra
Amsterdam
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A 151-foot (46m)
schooner constructed in 2001. A Gerard Dijkstra & Partners design and
built by Holland Jachtbouw.
Holds the WSSR Performance Certificate for the fastest crossing of the
Atlantic by a two-masted schooner. For
More |
Images contained on this page cannot be used
for any purpose without the exclusive permission of Sea Fever Excursions and /
or the respective guest. See Terms of Use
Some photes are used with permission from Regatta News, New York Yacht Club and
the Rolex Challenge.
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