For Immediate Release
Tales II on pace to smash Leg 1 Course Record in the Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing
Photo Credit: Billy Black/Atlantic Cup
ETA for first finishers is 7am, Tuesday, May 31
May 30, 2016 – Brooklyn, NY – Current leader in the Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing Tales II is just 100nm to the finish in Brooklyn, NY and models are showing a 7am ET, Tuesday, May 31 arrival time. Tales is on pace to break the course record of 78 hours 55 minutes 13 seconds set in 2012 by Mare. Tales' next closest competitor is Amhas, just over 19nm away and only 15 nm separate 2nd through 5th place, setting up the finish to be extremely close. The finish line is just off Pier 5 in Brooklyn, which will make navigating into New York City at rush hour tomorrow morning extremely challenging. Rob Windsor, Amhas, Currently in 2nd place 19nm behind Tales"Last night was windy, we had the A2 up for a little while and it got a little dicey. We were right on the edge of the Gulf Stream and were doing about 20 knots. There were a bunch of squalls and because it’s such a long race we knew we would need it so we took it down and put the A3 up. We both got a couple of hours of sleep last night, I don’t think we’re eating enough food, but we’re all right, we’ve been super busy." Libby Greenhalgh, Oakcliff Racing, Currently in 5th place 36.5nm behind Tales“I think generally our big losses are coming from our sail changes. We changed to the zero last night and it was all quite full on but then once we got that up we were whipping around probably 20, 24 knots at the max speed. We had a good fast few hours then we had our first change to our proper A-sail and again that wasn't as straight forward as we were expecting. Everything takes us a bit longer because this is the first time we've done it. Same with the jibe we really struggled to sock and un-sock the sail so it kind of pushed us a bit past where we ideally wanted to be on lay line. Overall we've been relatively pleased, we reckon we've got good boat speed when we do get going in a straight line.
We've been thinking about our plan for coming into New York a lot, but obviously we're very lacking in any information because the boat computers died, so we're still going off the forecast that I wrote down before we set off the dock in Charleston."On board updates from can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/manukasem/sets/2016-leg-1-on-board-updates North Sails Atlantic Cup Expert, Charlie Enright, recaps what he is seeing on the race course and discusses the tricky nature of sailing into New York: “Well it appears that for the teams who took a more inshore route, it was high risk, but it yielded a high-reward especially for Tales. That said, the teams (Amhas, Dragon, Oakcliff) that used the gulf stream to make gains have clawed back a lot of miles on Tales, but they now have to get the bow towards New York City and get there as fast as they can. New York City is a pretty tricky place when it comes to the geography and the current and to some extent depending on what time you get in, all of the maritime traffic. Obviously the tide counts, but something some of the teams will likely have studied is the currents and back eddies around the islands approaching New York. They'll be looking not just when the tide is switching, but where are the protected areas, the accelerated areas and those areas are not always the traditional deltas you see in other parts of the world. Water can squeeze through some pretty narrow spaces and the islands do a good job of creating protection from adverse tides and it’s pretty complicated terrain. Having to come all the way into Brooklyn, presents a different geographic challenge, when I was there recently it was amazing to see the difference between the middle of the Hudson and the tip of Manhattan, it could be as much as 10 knots in wind strength. Ultimately, I think this is Tales’ race to lose, but I am very excited to see Liz and Libby in third place and hope they can stay up on the podium.”
Meet the Atlantic Cup Teams: Video Intros HERE
Atlantic Cup Event Schedule
For more information, please visit the Atlantic Cup Events page at https://www.atlanticcup.org/in-race-events
May 31-June 3 Teams docked at Pier 6/One 15 Marina, Brooklyn
June 1 - 6pm Living on the Edge, The Ocean Economy NY Times Investigative Journalist Ian Urbina to Keynote Ocean Conservancy's Dr. Sandra Whitehouse to provide Opening Remarks Thomson Reuters, Times Square
June 2 - 2pm Pro-Am Race *Benefitting Warrior Sailing ProgramJune 4 - 12pm Leg 2 Race Start Just off the seawall at the edge of Pier 5 PORTLAND
June 6 - Approximate Arrival Finish Line is off Fort Allen Park
June 6 - 11 Teams Docked at Maine Wharf
June 10 & 11 Race Village - Live Music, Commentary Kids Zone, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Garden Open 10:30a-5:00p Inshore Racing 12p-4pJune 11 - 5:30pm Awards Presentation Maine Wharf
Sea Bags & The Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing Sail Donation DriveIn conjunction with Sea Bags Maine, The Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing is holding sail donation drives in each city. Sailors are encouraged to donate their old and used sails, which will be given new life by Sea Bags. Proceeds from the sails donated during the Atlantic Cup sail drive will be benefit Charleston Community Sailing, Warrior Sailing Program and Sail Maine. Dates and Times in which to drop off used or old sails: June 1-3 9a-5p 12 Joralemon Street Brooklyn, NY *Benefitting Warrior Sailing Program June 10-11 10:30a-5p Atlantic Cup Race Village Fort Allen Park Portland, ME 2016 Atlantic Cup TeamsThe 2016 Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing marks the second largest fleet in event history. Sailors represent 6 different countries including the USA, France, Spain, Sweden, Canada and England.
Pleiad Racing
#39 - Pleiad Racing returns for the 3rd time and will be skippered by Connecticut native Ed Cesare. His leg 1 co-skipper is extremely experienced former VOR sailor, Jeff Brock. His Leg 2 co-skipper is long-time pro-sailor and Westchester, NY native Chad Corning who Ed has sailed with in the prior two editions of the Atlantic Cup.
Dragon Ocean Racing#54 - Dragon Ocean Racing is the only boat to have competed in every edition of the Atlantic Cup. She'll be skippered by owner Mike Hennessy and Owen-Clarke designer Merf Owen.
Talanta
Sailing in the Atlantic Cup for the first time are Swede Mikael Ryking and Brit Nathan Fulcher. #95- Talanta, the first and only Swedish boat in the fleet is a second generation Class40.
Privateer
#102- Privateer is looking to make a good first impression in their first race. This is a race of firsts for co-skippers Richard Fleischman and David G. Hommel. Fleishman and Hommel have teamed up many times before, however this will be the first time they’ll be racing in a Class40. The boat is the sister ship to Oakcliff and was brought over from South Africa this past winter.
Oakcliff Racing#118 - Oakcliff Sailing is dedicated to putting American sailors back on top of the international leaderboard. In Leg 1, Oakcliff's own Liz Shaw is teaming up with Volvo Ocean Race Veteran Libby Greenhlagh. In Leg 2, it's the guys turn and Hobie Ponting will team up with Andrew O'Donnell.
Tales II#123 - Tales II - Skippered by Spaniards Gonzalo Botín and Pablo Santurde, Tales II is one of the teams to watch in the 2016 Atlantic Cup. The duo has 11 Trans-Atlantic crossings and what is considered to be one of the fastest boats in the Class40. Gonzalo and Alex have already said they sail to win, but they've never sailed in U.S. waters.
Amhas II
Portland, Maine based #127 - Amhas will be a top team to watch in 2016. Amhas will be sailed by Rob Windsor, one of only two sailors to have competed in every edition of the Atlantic Cup and Brown University alum and Maine native, Micha Davis. As for the name, Amhas, it comes from an old Galeic word for Gannet, the sea bird that can be found around the North Atlantic.
Toothface 2#128 - Toothface II - Atlantic Cup veterans Mike Dreese and Tristan Mouligné are teaming up for the first time for the 2016 race. This will be the first time Mike has raced his new boat in the Atlantic Cup. Tristan is a veteran of two previous Atlantic Cups and multiple Bermuda 1-2s.
Eärendil
#145 - Eärendil is one of the newest boats in the fleet. She’ll be skippered by the French duo of Catherine Pourre and Antoine Carpentier who have steadily been moving up the Class40 ranks.*Longbow and Campagne de France have withdrawn from the 2016 Atlantic Cup. Longbow's skipper has had unexpected committments that will prevent the team from being able to compte. Campagne de France is currently building a new boat and have run into technical difficulties in France and they will be unable to make the start in Charleston.
The 5th edition of the Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing will start May 28, 2016 in Charleston, South Carolina. Teams of two will race 648nm from Charleston to Brooklyn. After a brief stop-over in Brooklyn, teams will race a second leg of 350nm to Portland, Maine where the race will culminate the weekend of June 11th in Portland with the third and final leg, an inshore series.
The Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing is committed to being the most environmentally responsible sailing race in the United States. Teams, participants and race management work together to create a fully carbon neutral event. As the race grows, we will continue to seek innovative ideas and products that align with our mission and produce a truly sustainable event.
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