America’s offshore race, the Atlantic Cup, starts in 100 days!
Race prep is getting busier and busier with each day and this year's event is shaping up to have one of the largest fleets in race history! We are delighted to welcome back Sea Bags as a returning sponsor. Sea Bags aligns perfectly with the Atlantic Cup's commitment to sustainability as they are in the business of repurposing old sails and giving them new life as bags! We are also excited to announce that #145 Eärendil, who placed second overall in 2016, returns alongside first time entrant #111 Power of One, an American Class40! Hugh Piggin, Race Director, had this to say, “The race is setting up to be fantastic. Following today's announcement, we now have made public 8 of our 12 current entries. So many things excite us about this upcoming edition of the Atlantic Cup. First, the caliber of entries, which will make for a very tough and hard fought race, second the amount of international boats coming to compete this year, and thirdly that the race is achieving its goal of cementing the Class40 as America’s short-handed offshore sailboat. To be able to do this while championing sustainability and providing our followers with an exciting sporting event is the icing on the cake.” Welcome #145 Eärendil & #111 Power Of One!!#145 Eärendil is a Mach40.3 designed by Sam Manuard. Many of you will remember Eärendil skippered by Catherine Pourre and Antoine Carpentier after they finished second in 2016. Catherine is back this year with a new co-skipper (Benoît Hochart) ready to fight for the podium's top spot. #111 Power of One is an American based Akilaria RC2 and while the boat is new to the race she is certainly not new to owner and skipper Donald Alexander who has completed a solo transatlantic onboard.
#145 - Eärendil: Eärendil is one of the newest boats in the fleet. She’ll be skippered by the French duo of Catherine Pourre and Benoît Hochart. Eärendil has been campaigned heavily since competing in the 2016 Atlantic Cup. The team placed third in the Transat Quebec St Malo, third in the RORC Caribbean 600 and recently finished 9th in the Transat Jacques Vabre. Expect this team to be one of the favourites, particularly in the often breezy first offshore leg. Find out more about Eärendil here
#111 - Power of One:
Power of One is another American based Class 40 showing that the class continues to grow! Skippered by South African Donald Alexander, this Akilaria RC2 has been campaigned relatively lightly. Donald has however completed a solo transatlantic onboard so knows his boat inside and out! Donald has secured British sailor and preparator Paul Peggs as co-skipper. Few people have the experience Paul does having been involved in Class40 from the very beginning. Find out more about Power of One here Sea Bags Returns as the Official Sustainability Partner of the Atlantic Cup!Headquartered in Portland, Maine, Sea Bags is the largest retailor in the world of recycled bags and accessories made from used sails. Sea Bags are born as sails and transformed into nautically inspired totes and accessories that bring their customers great happiness. They believe that sails soak up sun, salt, smiles and adventure. Of course, they clean their sails before they make them into bags, their materials retain the essence of what they once were, where they've been and what they've done. It's this previous life that makes each bag unique. At Sea Bags, “recycled” and “sustainable” are not after thoughts, they are the cornerstones of their brand and over the past 16 years they’ve saved over 600 tons of materials from going into landfills and we at the Atlantic Cup think that’s super cool and we're proud to call them our Official Sustainability Partner. Checkout Eärendil and Power of One!
THE ONLY PLATINUM REGATTA AND THE FIRST SPORTS EVENT IN THE U.S. TO BE ISO 20121 COMPLIANT!
The Atlantic Cup has long been committed to being the most environmentally responsible sailing race in the United States. Since 2012, we have been a carbon neutral event and have offset 95+ tons of CO2. In 2016, the Atlantic Cup was ISO 20121 compliant, making it the first sports event in the U.S. to achieve that status. In addition, the Atlantic Cup was the only regatta globally to be certified Platinum in 2016 by Sailors for the Sea. At the time Hugh Piggin, Race Director had this to say “We are proud to be leading the way in environmental sustainability for sailing events around the world. To achieve carbon neutrality, ISO 20121 compliance and Platinum Level certification while educating both kids and the general public about the role they can play in protecting our oceans and planet is no small feat. This is only achievable through the help of the teams, our staff and our sponsors.”
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