FIRE INEOS! Global Sailing Highlights Feb 23.24 World on Water, Caribbean 600, SB20, Armel in Rio,

The Ineos Britannia One-design AC40 training boat, ‘Athena’, suffered damage today, after a fire onboard, there were no reported injuries, and the boat was taken back to shore for assessment. Here we have team principal, Sir Ben Ainslie, who discusses what happened in Barcelona.

This is your weekly Global Sailing Highlights show, the World on Water, February 23, 2024.

The Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Caribbean 600 is one of the great ‘600 mile’ ocean race challenges, along with epics such as the Rolex Fastnet Race.
This 600 nautical mile race circumnavigates 11 Caribbean Islands starting from English Harbour, Antigua and then heads north as far as St Martin, and south to Guadeloupe, taking in Barbuda, Nevis, St Kitts, Saba, and St Barth’s. This is not one for the fainted hearted.

After having to pitstop in Rio because of the loss of two of his rudders, third placed ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest skipper Armel Le Cléac'h was hopeful of returning to the race course
The boss of Armel's Banque Populaire team, Ronan Lucas, explained that two replacement rudders were “in transit”, confirming that he is hopeful that Armel would be able to leave on Sunday.
Two rudders are being transported by the team to the Brazilian port. “These are substantial pieces, it was not easy to get them to Brazil, ” he explained, thanking the French Embassy in Brazil and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for facilitating their task.

Jason Carroll’s, MOD70, Argo, has taken Multyhull Line Honours in the 2024 Caribbean 600, in an elapsed time of 01 Day, 08 Hours, 08 Minutes, and 40 Seconds.
Erik Maris’, MOD70, Zoulou, was the second boat to finish the RORC Caribbean 600, and was just 19 minutes behind Zoulou, after over 32 hours of intense racing. Alexia Barrier’s MOD70, Limosa-The Famous Project, co-skippered by Dee Caffari, completed the Multyhull Line Honours podium, finishing the race less than four hours behind Argo.

Cupid’s Arrow once again struck beautiful Barcelona that served up warming southerly building breezes, and flat waters that the New York Yacht Club, American Magic, took full advantage of on two long two-boat sessions where no love was lost in the search for speed and race-craft.

The Dubai Duty Free S B 20 World Championships, witnessed a thrilling day of racing with three completed races. The first race started at 2 15 P M, and unlike previous days, the wind was stable and consistent, ranging from 6 to 9 knots.
Despite the calmer conditions seen at the start of the championship, today's racing remained challenging. Sailors contended with varying wind strengths and directions, adding complexity to the races.

After a little more than 48 hours of technical stopover in Rio de Janeiro, ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest skipper Armel Le Cléac'h and his ULTIM Maxi Banque Populaire XI have returned to the race track. He docked out from Rio, at a little after 16 30 hours UTC, and resumed racing in third place at 17 38 hours UTC.

Thanks to great cooperation from the authorities in France and Brazil, the Banque Populaire XI technical team, were able to replace the two rudders damaged in the South Atlantic. On leaving the dock Le Clerch said his only ambition is to get to the finish line of the race.
“It has been an incredible logistical feat, ” explained Le Clerch, “An important chain of solidarity was put in place, and allowed us to leave as quickly as possible. ”

Everyone has been saying it's like a typical Lincoln race, with glamour conditions expected overnight.
The 22-strong fleetset off from Adelaide last friday afternoon, with the early finishers expected to arrive in the early hours of Saturday morning. This 160 nsutical mile race has the course taking yachts across the Gulf of St Vincent, to Marion Reef, at the bottom of the Yorke Peninsula, into Investigator Strait, towards Cape Spencer, before the fleet turned northwest towards Cape Donington, and into Port Lincoln.

UAE-Based teams clutch the top positions at the Dubai Duty Free, SB20, World Championships, Day 2024, with Team Kidzink, winning the overall title
The Dubai Duty Free, SB20 Triple Sailing Championships, came to an end after the grand finale of SB20 World Championships, with 5 days of thrilling races with Team Kidzink, winning the final title. Prior to this, the Dubai Duty Free Middle East Championships, (1st to 3rd of December 2023), and the Dubai Duty Free SB20 Asia Pacific Championships, (2nd to 4th February 2024), had also witnessed an impressive performance from talented sailors.

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