Miami is an awesome place to have a regatta at this time of year and last week was the Miami Grand Prix, i was racing Farr 40 in a fleet of 10 boats and the teams all revved up for the world championships which are in a months time in the Dominican Republic.

The racing was very tight and we had our share of successes and not quite such successes, highlight of the week was leading race 2 from start to almost finish before a chinese gybe 300m from the finish. Also highlights were that we were consistently in the top 4 to the first make every race, just if only we could have been faster and held a lane downwind we would have converted many of these potentials into actual results.

It is always good to get back into the FArr 40 class and see exactly how close it is and get into some really tight and close fought tactical situations on the water. I certainly learned loads and thanks to the rest of the crew on the good ship Charisma for their efforts.

Ill be back in Sydney now for 3 weeks before getting on the plane and coming over to the UK again for the start of the UK season. I am looking forward to it but wish it could all be a lot warmer, ive got very used to shorts and tshirt every day here in Sydney, bye for now Hugh!!

The Muscat regatta was only the third regatta for the China Team who stepped up their game for this the final event of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia raced in Oman, it came down to the wire on the last day with the podium positions going in favour of Oman Masirah followed by the Wave and then China Team, the nock on effect of this was an incredibly tight finish in the overall standings with the China Team and The Wave on equal points behind Masirah for the overall Asian title.

This three-event Asian tour has seen many familiar faces from the European tour, such as, double Olympic Gold Medalist Shirley Robertson, solo round the world skipper Nick Moloney and European Champion Pete Cumming, whilst newcomers Thierry Barot skippering The China Team with Helm Hugh Styles, Mainsheet man Tan Wearn Haw and Trimmer Adam Piggott, and Roman Hagara on Red Bull Extreme Sailing have gone from a ‘standing start’ to put in an awesome performance, pushing the more seasoned racers all the way.

The Asian circuit kicked off in Hong Kong, then Singapore before ending here in Muscat at a full public event:

“It was very impressive, right in front of the public but still this sport is very intense, delivery is very high in terms of tactics and strategy. I really believe it is the future of sailing,” said China Team skipper Thierry Barot. “This is what sailing needs in term of development – the Extreme Sailing Series is a sport in itself.”

At the start of the fifth and final day of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia Muscat event there were a few worried and tense looking sailors on the dockside – the wind was blowing over 20 knots and the anticipation of some tense battles ahead only heightened the stakes. Thierry Barot’s China Team and Paul Campbell-James and the crew on The Wave, Muscat were on equal points at the start of racing with Masirah just one point behind and it was clear this was where the battle for the podium would be taking place.

Red Bull Extreme Sailing who suffered a capsize yesterday were just one point ahead of Nick Moloney’s BT, whilst Shirley Robinson on Rumbo Almeria knew she could play catch up if things went in her favour. The scene was set for an awesome display of Extreme racing.

As the local crowds gathered on Al-Hail beach for the final day of the ‘Extreme Beach Party’, racing got underway with two rounds of ‘speed runs’.
The reefed Extreme 40s relished these high-speed conditions courtesy of the 20+ knots of north-westerly wind, and flew down the windward/leeward course flying the hulls in front of the packed VIP platform.

As the wind dropped to around 10 knots, the huge mainsails were hoisted to the top of the masts, and fleet racing began. The Oman Sail boats led the way – first place for The Wave, Muscat and second for Masirah. China Team finished fourth place behind BT, putting them 6 points behind leaders. Another drama for Red Bull as their mainsail came tumbling down mid-race. They quickly hoisted a man of the mast to sort it out and were back racing in time for the penultimate race.

The pressure was at the max… The skippers jostling for position on the short start line – Paul Campbell-James misjudged the start and was over the line, forcing him to restart as their teammates sailed away to snatch the race. China Team got caught up at the start in the first two races, and allowed the Oman boats to pull ahead on the leaderboard. But the double-points final race was coming up…

Only just enough wind remained to propel the boats over the line. Hugh Styles takes up the story: “We knew it was tight on points with BT the Wave and Masirah so we had to keep out of trouble. But as the warning signal fired the wind dropped rapidly making for very unstable sailing conditions, we decided to start on port, got control over BT and all was good, until Almeria came speeding in with kite up and sailed over the top of us taking our wind and forcing us down the line towards starboard tack Masirah and the committee boat. Almeria had to avoid Masirah and in doing so sailed straight into the anchor warp of the committee boat and parked, we squeezed round the melee and were off! Masirah had the upper hand to lead off the line with us and BT neck and neck and the others parked. We pressured BT on the run and overtook them to finish 2nd from The Wave 3rd and BT 4th.

It was a superb end to a fantastic inaugural Extreme Sailing Series Asia. Only in a few months time, the Extreme Sailing Series European circuit will be starting – we can’t wait!

Extreme Sailing Series Asia : Muscat
1st Oman Sail Masirah, 103 points
2nd The Wave, Muscat, 101 points
3rd China Team, 91 points
4th BT, 84 points
5th Red Bull Extreme Sailing, 71 points
6th Rumbo Almeria, 70 points

Extreme Sailing Series Overall:
1st Masirah, 18 points
2nd The Wave, Muscat, 11 points
3rd China Team, 11 points
4th BT, 10 points
5th Red Bull Extreme Sailing, 8 points
6th Rumbo Almeria, 5 points



Associates: Sailing Networks

Its taken a little while to get back into things after the Hobart, it seemed to take a bit out of me this year, maybe it was the new years celebrations which really did it??

The Hobart was a really slow affair, but lots of variety, shame that the average speed for the race for the overall winner was only 6 knots arrrgh. At least we did get some decent wind as we came into the Tasman rock and had a good old blast reach all the way down the Derwent into Hobart. I love this part of the race as it is the sleigh ride into the finish, or has been for me both of the last 2 times which I’ve done the race.

Now back in Sydney and have had a good new years and time to catch up on some sleep and some of the festive seasons delights. The good thing is that there is plenty going on as the International 14 Worlds are in in Manly at the moment and I’ve been over watching some racing and catching up with a load of old friends who seem to be back in town for the moment.

Off to Key west in 10 days sailing a Melges 24 which should be great fun, im really looking forward to sailing a little boat again. Then a chance to go back to the UK for 6 days before getting back on a plane to the next Extreme 40 event in Oman in February.

Happy new year, thanks to my sponsors and all the best for 2010.

Hugh

Other images included with this entry..

Oman Sail Masirah win in Singapore

It was close between 5 boats all the way to the end of five days of racing in Singapore under a kaleidoscope of weather with Oman Sail’s Masirah taking their second consecutive win at the Extreme Sailing Series Asia. They now lead the overall series with China Team and BT 2nd equal.

The final day of racing in Singapore started with a light two knot wind and the six teams tactically fighting their way around the racecourse, searching for the best possible winds. The skippers and crews were tested by the Race Committee as they began two races with the more challenging downwind starts as the wind picked up to a more consistent 10 knots. But just before the start of the fifth and final race of the day, there was plenty of drama as a thunderstorm struck the reservoir soaking the sailors and the VIP guests onboard to the skin.

The heavy downpour was relentless, forcing the Race Committee to abandon the race and the day’s sailing for safety reasons as lightening powered down over Marina Reservoir. With the abandonment called, the calculators were out as the valuable last race double points were added to the previous race, but Masirah remained firm at the top of the leaderboard, continuing their domination of the Extreme 40 fleet.

With racing every afternoon, the past five days have been busy for the international fleet of Extreme 40 sailors. Every morning they have taken VIP and media guests out sailing on the reservoir, to experience first hand what it is like to race onboard an Extreme 40. Guests have included government officials, TV crews, journalists, key opinion formers from the business and sailing worlds here in Singapore, as well as youth sailors in the Singapore Olympic sailing squad.

Masirah’s win brings their score in the overall Extreme Sailing Series Asia scoreboard to a perfect 12, but the real battle is for second place with four teams in contention. BT and China Team and tied in second place with 7 points apiece and Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team and The Wave, Muscat just behind with 6.

Hugh Styles, Helm, China Team:
“It’s been a rollercoaster here, pouring rain and lightening to soaring heat, no wind to lots of wind. There are one incident when we nearly capsized because there was so much breeze.

”Six boats means that it is really intense on the racecourse, lots of entertaining guests who step on with wide eyes, but leave with enormous smiles on their faces.

“For us with our racing we have had probably more race wins than we have ever had as a team, so really exciting for us and we’ve sailed consistently. A few bits of bad luck, but we are a new team and building ourselves into a better unit, so really exciting. We have come fourth overall, so really looking forward to the next one, looking to step it up and always get in the top two, fighting for the lead and looking forward to the next opportunity.”

Thierry Barot, Skipper, China Team:
“Today, was not a perfect day. It was a little bit difficult for us. Problem for the right positioning and a real gamble with the wind which was turning everywhere, but it is part of the sport!

”We’ve had big improvements since Hong Kong, missing some luck today, but looking forward to Oman.

“Singapore was fantastic, the scenery was quite amazing with buildings all around with the amazing architecture so close to us. The chance to have the public around us next time will be great, a 360 degree amphitheatre; a fantastic venue. I really hope that we will be back next year.”

Final Leaderboard for Round 2 at Singapore:
1. Oman Sail’s Masirah 121 points
2. Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team 111
3. The Wave, Muscat 100
4. China Team 92
5. BT 87
6. Rumbo Almeira 77

Overall Leaderboard after Round 1 and 2:
1. Oman Sail’s Masirah 12 points
2. BT 7
2. China Team 7
4. The Wave, Muscat 6
4. Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team 6
6. Rumbo Almeira 4

The next venue after the Xmas and new years break for the Extreme Sailing Series Asia will be Muscat, Oman (1 – 5 February 2010) and all is poised for a great last regatta with the points really close between boats in 2 – 5th in the overall standings.

Many thanks to Hugh Styles sponsors and supporters help and assistance.

Sponsors:
Gill, Holt, Marlow Ropes, Nacra Watersports, Tacktick, Towergate Mardon insurance

Associates: Sailing Networks

This weekends regatta was the last in a series of victories this year for Team Styles, now the UK National and Inland Champion as well as winner of Carnac and Texel course racing and 3rd place finish at the F18 worlds. The Grafham event was a great medium to windy regatta, where Styles Nacra Infusion yet again proved it pedigree with 4 out of 6 race victories.

Saturdays racing was staged in a great 10 – 13 knots, double wiring mostly with shifty offshore winds from the South West. The first race was a tight affair to the first mark with 7 boats all getting there at the same time and a good tussle for the lead, after the first lap it was down to Styles and Grant Piggott in second with Luke Yates third. Styles extended for the next few laps to take the gun and the first win of the weekend.

Race 2 and Hugh and Kyle lead from the first cross up the beat and built a commanding lead over Johnathan Worthington in second also on a Nacra Infusion, with Grant Piggott Nacra Infusion third. This changed abruptly when Kyle Stoneham unfortunately hooked onto the elastic on the last downwind leg to the finish and left Styles trying to stop a capsize then recover the kite and sailor, the team dropped from 1st to 9th and Worthington capitalised on the opportunity to win the race.

Race 3 A perfect port end start for Styles and Stoneham in their Infusion, giving them a great jump on the fleet, leading at the first mark and never to be headed! Worthington had another cracking race, with really good speed, Grant Piggott sailed a great steady race to finish 3rd another counting result in tough conditions.

Saturday night the social activities flowed, with the F18, Handicap and Shearwater classes all competing at drinking games, until everyone went down to the Wheatsheaf pub. Sunday dawned with a big breeze forecast and an opportunity to blow away the cobwebs of the night before, needed by some far more than others!

Race 4 Sunday morning and a start in 15 knots with a heavily port biased line, Styles and Stoneham took full advantage of this and charged off on Starboard into the left side for the pressure, and arriving in at the top mark closely followed by Jon Wothington. The wind built steadily through the race, but Styles was never headed and it was then down to the minor placings to duke out for 2 – 3 overall.

Race 5 and another 5 knots increase which made the average wind speed 20 knots. Still a massive port bias on the line and this time Styles played the Joker card with a flying port tack start, then converging on a tight Starbord lay line just rounding ahead of Stuart Gummer and Grant Piggott in third. Styles maintained this through to the finish and Gummer maintained 2nd with Piggott 3rd.

Race 6, just before the start 24 knots was read on the start boat and by the time the gun had gone it was over 30 knots. The fleet was down to 5 boats after a lot of the boats had had gear failure, but this didn’t deter some tight and testing racing, with Chris Sproat and Lewis Crawford in their Viper leading for 2 laps with the places changing a lot behind them. They had a mishap though and just on the last downwind gybe they capsized and lost the race. Gummer sailed a really strong race to pull through and win the race from Styles in second and Piggott in third.

The overall regatta finishing positions ended as follows:
Hugh Styles and Kyle Stoneham, Nacra Infusion
Grant Piggott and Andy Sinclair, Nacra Infusion
Luke Yates and Matt Humphries, Wildcat

Thanks to Grafham water sailing club, and the rest of the regatta organisers, also for Nacra Europe making this possible with their Help, Boskalis for their great support throughout the year. Then to the UK F18 class organisation for making the years regattas come about. There is one last event which is the Weston Cat Open on 6&7 of November, which is the Nacra UK Nationals 2009, please come and join in the fun. I am now off to Sydney for some R&R with my long suffering girlfriend and then a load of Extreme 40 racing over the winter in Hong Kong, then Singapore and final event in Muscat Oman.

This week has been manic with returning from the Almeria Extreme 40 event after a 12 hour delay to the flight from Spain back to the UK.

Thursday I was in Holland to work out the plans for the winter and next year with Nacra Europe for sailing F18 next year, lots of good discussions and my proposal went down well, so waiting for a reply.

Now back on the Isle of Wight sailing an Etchells at the Uk Nationals with Graham Sunderland, we had a 1, 4, 9 today and have one race tomorrow, its good and close racing and today we had a dying breeze from the North and offshore and very shifty. it was good to be sailing some slower and really close racing rather than the extreme 40 which is all a bit bigger tacking angles and harder crosses to call as the closing distances are so big.

Tomorrow is the last day and we have plenty to play for with it all close between 3 boats for the placings 2nd to 4th.

Hugh

Yesterday was one of the best days for our team in the 2009 iShares Cup circuit. The venue was a very tricky place for racing, but the races kept coming and the races got closer and closer.

We had a great last few races, and if the radio had worked better we would not have been ocs in the 3rd race of the day. We finished the afternoon with a 2nd in the penultimate race and a 5th in the last race. BT and Holmatro our main opposition in the overall circuit had a shocking result in the last double points race. This jumped us up the circuit leader board and we finished 6th in Almeria and oh so close on the circuit standings, with iShares a 5th overall wow after a fully up and down season its been a good result all in all.

catch you soon.

Hugh

Today was a scorcher and all the suspicions of the venue being a windless rather than windy venue were confirmed today, not a breath till about 6pm!

New team for this race on the ishares x40, and were joined by my f28 sailing mate Mischa Heemskerk from Holland, hurrah, the rest of the team is me Shirley Robertson and Nick Hutton.

Looking forward to this and then looking forward to the Extreme 40 racing circuit over the winter, which will be going to Hong Kong 20 – 24 Nov, Singapore 9 – 15 Dec, Oman 28 Jan – 6 Feb, Maldives 3 – 8 March.

Anyway its late and i need all the beauty sleep i can get before the event starts and then i am broken and nackered.

ciao hugh

This weekend saw the 5th in the series of the iShares cup events, I was racing the iShares Extreme 40 as mainsheet man. We had a good event, even though the day before the regatta started we lost our bow man, Adam Piggott to a badly sprained Ankle, which meant he missed the Dutch event and will also miss the last event Almeria.

This was a big set back less than 12 hours before the start of the first race, but fortunately we were able to get a great replacement in the form of 49er Olympic sailor Paul Campbell James (Paul has steered Extreme 40 catamarans in the past, at Cowes week last year). This left us with a steep learning curve but after a bit of Saturday morning practice the team gelled nicely.

The event went fairly well for us seeing as it was a new team dynamic and we had plenty of good races. Saturday night we were 4th overall having had some great wins in some races on the Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately the last 2 races were not so good for us a collision when we were in the right which we got disqualified from and we dropped back to 6th overall on the Sunday. All in all a great event and I was unexpectedly really enjoyed the tough and close quarters racing in the ‘Dam’, usually we race there with a lot of apprehension as it a crash waiting to happen normally.

Now back in Weymouth getting the world straight, with plans for the winter and organising charter opportunities for people in the Asian Extreme Sailing Series, which is going to happen in the end of this year and early in 2010.

The next event is this coming weekend in the blackwater Essex, sailing the F18 and then off to Almeria for the next Extreme 40 event.

Cheers.

Hugh

Other images included with this entry..

The weekend of the 19 and 20 september saw a day of light and dying wind with only 2 races sailed and a third abandoned as the fleet ran out of the time limit. Sunday by contrast saw a building breeze and twin wiring for all of the 4 races.

The shifty conditions were tough to gauge and on Saturday it was `Darren Bundock and Will Howden who played the conditions the best with both races in the top three, and holding the overall led over night, with second Mischa Heemskerk and Bastian Tenteij, with one race win and a 5th place to count, then third overall, Koen De Koning and Tyse Visser, with Styles and Van West in 6th overall.

Sunday with more wind saw a new team come to the fore, in the shape of Olivie Backes and Arnot Garlegan from France, who sailed a great day and no result outside of the first 2 finishing positions, moved them onto the podium. It was then a fight for the overall title between Heemskerk and Bundock, which went the way of the Dutch man as Bundock didn’t have the best of the first 2 races and couldn’t quite match the speed of the Dutch on the downwind legs. De Koning had a mixed day with a win and then some around the top 5, and managed to clinch 4th overall, with 5th overall and finishing strongly Styles and Van West.

For several of the teams the next event is the Extreme 40 regatta in Amsterdam next weekend, and then back in the UK Styles will have the UK Inlands in 4 weekends time.

Many thanks to the sponsors, Nacra Europe, Boskalis, Marlow Ropes, Gill, Tacktick, Holt, Towergate Mardon Insurance.

Ive been back in Weymouth now for 24 hours and its been good to catch up with a lot of friends who are here in Weymouth for the Sail for Gold regatta. The winds blew too much for racing to start on schedule today, but the wind abated later and the fleets headed out in the afternoon.

Today has been a catching up and sorting out proposal for extreme 40 campaigns. Ive a few irons in fires for potential projects over the winter, all exciting stuff!!

i just need to organize for the dutch F18 nationals this weekend in Medemblik Holand. i fly out there tomorrow afternoon and will be racing with crew Ferdinand Van West on Saturday and Sunday.

Then off to the centre of Amsterdam for the next of the iShares cup events in their tiny docks. If there is any wind there this year it will be carnage as there are 10 boats and lots of agressive skippers.

all the best for now.

hugh

Boskalis Team Styles and Van West win 2009 Formula 18 nationals

Parkstone Yacht Club hosted the 2009 F18 nationals over three days this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with a great variety of sailing conditions and some excellent race management.

For the 2009 UK National Formula 18 class Champions Hugh Styles and Ferdinand Van West the event was another major championships win for them in their already successful 2009 season, which has included, winning Eurocat regatta in France, the Texel Dutch Open and 3rd at the F18 worlds.

This weekends event was sailed in Poole bay, and the fleet were treated to a whole hoast of conditions, with a very windy Friday through to a light and fickle wind in the last race today.

There was a good turn out of boats for the regatta 27 boats which included 2 entries from Ireland. Racing in Poole bay provided some good tactical sailing with a south to south south west wind for the Saturday and Sunday, but with some big pressure differences across the race track, and a lot of tide there were a great deal of shifts to take and opportunities to maek gains on the race track.

Friday’s conditons were rather extreme, but Styles and Van West had equally as good a day as Adam Piggott and Guy Filmore, and were first and second over night, with Grant Piggott crewed by Andrew Sinclair third.

Saturday dawned with much less wind and a race to catch up from Fridays missed last race. David White sailing a new NACRA Infusion sailed a great race to win race 3 of the series, and then followed that by winning race 4 as well. John Payne crewed by Matt Hunt claimed second in race 3, with Styles third and then the tables were turned in the 4th race when Styles was second and Payne 3rd. The 5th race went to the dynamic duo of Toby Orpin and Lewis Crawford, who sailed a cat and mouse race with Styles for the 3 laps of that race, third again was Payne. The 6th race went to Styles and Van West, who dominated the race leading from start to finish, with 2nd Grant Piggott and 3rd Payne.

Sunday and around 9 knots for the start of race 7 and after a shifty first beat Styles emerged as the leader at the first mark and worked away on each leg to have a commanding win by the finish, with Jon Worthington crewed by Seb Gruber sailing a really solid second and David White third. The 8th race saw another tricky first beat, with the fleet a bit split, Styles, Grant and Adam Piggott all took a bit of the right side at the bottom of the beat and Stuart Gummer and Jon Worthington the left, Styles managed to work a route out of the right but unluckily for the Piggotts this was not to be the case for them. Styles lead around every other mark and in winning the race confirmed the win of the overall UK F18 National championships with a race to spare, with 2nd Gummer and third David White again. Race 9 was a lighter wind affair and without Styles, who used the last race as discard, it was John Payne who showed the fleet home with Grant Piggott chasing hard in second and third Toby Orpin.
The overall positions:
1st Styles & Van West (NACRA Infusion)
2nd Piggott & Sinclair (NACRA Infusion)
3rd Gummer & Forshaw (Shockwave)
4th White & Jon Sweet (NACRA Infusion)
5th Payne & Hunt (Shockwave)

Many thanks to NACRA UK and NACRA EUROPE who gave Styles and Van West the support with the equipment to do the job, BOSKALIS who support the team with their campaign this year, Gill the clothing to be able to work efficiently out on the water, Holt for the help with the tiller extensions and other equipment, Marlow Ropes for the excellent hard wearing sheerts and halyards, Towergate Mardon for their comprehensive Insurances services, and Tacktick for helping us to keep on the straight and narrow

Please keep in touch and watch this space for the instalment with the next event which will be the Forts race in a couple of weeks and then the focus will be for the Inland Championships in a couple of months in the end of October.

Other images included with this entry..

Cowes week Extreme 40 bonanza!
Last week saw the iShares Cup Etreme 40 event come to the green just off Cowes, past the Royal Yacht squadron, it was another great show, but this year not for the capsizes, more for the close to the beach spectator viewing which gave all of the those at Cowes something to really take note of.
I sailed the week with Shirley Robertson, double Olympic Gold medallist skippering the iShares boat, whilst I did tactics and mainsheet, with Nick Hutton trimming and Winston Hamill grinding and bow.
The regatta was sailed in lots of tide and a very fickle wind, blowing offshore at Egypt point where out course area was centred, with a big 2 storey marquee for corporate entertainment.
Friday the 31 July saw some media racing with journalists on board all of the boats and three races to show case the boats.
Saturday racing began and we had some great conditions, very tricky fickle winds and unreal tide sweeping past the windward mark making the top mark rounding a real nightmare to judge. Team iShares had a great day all but one result in the top 3, great speed and good safe and solid tactics had us chasing at the heels of the Oman Masirah, who were event leaders after day one.
Sunday and day two were not so special and unfortunately we were in a crash in race one of the day which meant we were out of racing for the rest of the day. We did however get average points for the races held.
Monday and the last day, a lighter and fickle day with 2 wind directions affecting the course area meant a very tough and confusing downwind leg each time. The starts were also tough, we found it very hard to get off the line and in the lighter and tricky conditions this meant it was hard to come back at the fleet. In the races we had a less favourable day, and this put us in the position 5th overall. A good result and a welcome step up the overall ladder for team iShares.
Now onto F18 training for the nationals which start on Thursday of this week in Poole for a 3 day regatta, then straight off to Kiel for the next edition of the ishares cup.

Hugh’s blog from Venice iShares Cup

Venice was an amazing venue for the first event of the iShares cup 2009, we were racing with St Marks square in the background and the iShares photographers got a brilliant picture of the boat flying a hull past a Gondola with the churches behind. Ten teams raced in a 300m wide by 800m long course, the teams consisted of one Americas cup outfit (BMW Oracle), two offshore racing multihull campaigns (Groupama and Gitana), two middle east catamaran campaigns from Oman Sail, an owner driven team from France. The sailors came from a wide variety of backgrounds with teams comprised of Olympic medallists and numerous world and national champions.

This season the level of competition at the iShares cup has stepped up since last year. Most of the teams have put in plenty of training time pre-season, and even though the season is only just warming up the standard is already red hot. For the iShares boat we have a new team from last year:
Shirley Robertson is the skipper
I am doing mainsheet
Nick Hutton – trimmer
Johnno Macbeth – bow man
This regatta was the first time for the iShares team to race together in a regatta, and it was a steep learning curve in the confines of Venice’s waterways.

The size of the course starting line made it difficult to hold a position next to the other boats as only 8 of the 10 boats could get on the line at the same time. This put a massive priority on getting to the front row of the start line early and then hold position to be able to get off the line clear. The winds were also very light and unstable in direction which meant that the start became even more important and through the course of the weekend we became one of the top teams at holding a position on the starting line. As a consequence of this our results gradually improved and by Sunday we were consistently one of the better teams off the line and this lead to our best race of the weekend a 2nd on the last day.

The next iShares Cup event is in Hyeres at the beginning of July and we start training in a couple of weeks. We will be working hard to make gains on the opposition for the next regatta, which will most likely be completely different with a windy venue in prospect.

For now I am back in the UK and getting all of the organisation together for the next few events in the calendar. I will be in Cowes racing Atomic the Farr45 for the next two weekends, before going out to race the Round Texel regatta in north west Holland during the 2nd week of June.

Many thanks to all of Hugh Styles sponsors, Towergate Mardon, Gill, Holt, Marlow Ropes, Tacktick, NACRA Europe, Sailing Networks.

Hugh Styles
Extreme 40, Olympic Sailor and Coach
Tel +44 7712760524
Email: hugh@hughstyles.com
Skype: hughstyles
WWW.HUGHSTYLES.COM

Last weekend saw a selection of different classes racing in the Warsash organised spring series big boat challenge. Some 8 farr 45s competed against each other in 2 days of racing off the bramble bank in the Solent.

I was racing on the Atomic Farr 45 team, we had mixed results over the weekend, but importantly made big gains and ended with really good results on the Sunday, a 1st and 2nd.

The Saturday was a windy affair with about 15 knots and saw us using the code 3 jib all day, this was tough as our sail had been damaged in its last outing, but the repair had changed the characteristics of the sail a great deal and it was very difficult to sail to. We ended the day with one podium and two other average results.

Sunday was a much better day for the Atomic team and after some changes to the rig over night, the boat was much easier to sail and this translated into results straight away. with a 1st and 2nd from the day, we finished the weekend on a high and looking forward to the next regatta the vice admirals cup.

All the best.

Hugh

This week has been a tester with a lot of work going into the preparation of the iShares extreme 40 to get out sailing for a photo shoot for CNN and iShares. Monday we spent a lot of time putting the boat back together, thank god there was no wind so no shoot at all anyway, We had a great day yesterday down at the Needles flying about with hull in the air and helicopters and camera boats rapid fire picture snapping.

Today was a good training day and those who live in Cowes would have seen the Black cat out there just off the green in front of the Royal Yacht squadron doing lots of laps of some silly short courses.

Two more days of fast boat sailing then into the weekends with Farr 45 racing on Atomic. All looks good for the wind and we should have a good second outing for the team and the owner for the weekend.

Cheers for now.

Hugh

Top turnout at Datchet Water 21 & 22 march

The first event of the 2009 Formula 18 calendar this weekend was a resounding success, with 25 boats competing. The sun shone, but the wind didn’t really materialise untill the Sunday when the fleet were treated to up to 10 knots of a South Westerly breeze.

Racing was close in the shifty and gusty wind on the Queen Mother reservoir, which is located right under the flight path of Heathrow airport to the West. Saturday saw very light and fickle winds and it was tricky to avoid the big holes in the wind, Sunday was slightly windier but still variable.

Racing was very close in all races, with the lead changing often. Race one went to Hugh Styles and Greg Windle, from William Sunnucks and Fraz followed by Rob Wilson sailing with Ed Barney, in a close finish after four laps. Race two was more tricky with the wind decreasing just before the start to nothing and then zephyrs coming down on one side and then the other at random. Styles and Windle a new pairing for this season sailed a really solid and consistent race, keeping in touch with the fleet and making sure that once in the lead they kept between the opposition and the finish for the victory with 2nd Wilson, 3rd the Brothers Newton.

The last race of the day was even more shifty with the wind coming more from the North west. James and Gillian Power were initial leaders, who favoured the right of the second beat and lost out to Chris Field and Olly, with Styles and Windle hot on their heels. Styles took the lead for a lap and leading at the bottom of the last run got forced right upwind which was fatal. At the finish it was 1st Chris Field and Olly at their first ever F18 regatta in their new Nacra Infusion, 2nd Styles and Windle, 3rd Power and Power.

Sunday dawned with a North Westerly and more wind, up to 10 knots at times, twin wiring. Rob Wilson and Ed Barney lead the first race from start to finish after a massive right shift up the first beat which Styles was on the wrong side of. The Newton brothers were 2nd and Stuart Gummer third, with Styles 4th.

Race 5 and another race of unstable winds, it was anyone’s game at the first mark, but Wilson was leading by the bottom of the run and Styles close in pursuit. Styles overhauled Wilson and then held the lead for a couple of laps before mistakenly thinking that there was another lap and instead of finishing with a win on 4 laps went on to complete another lap. This handed the win to Wilson with James and Gillan Power 2nd. This was a costly mistake as the victory would have virtually sealed the overall result for Styles.

In the last race a massive left shift just before the start meant the race course turned into a one tack beat and one gybe run. Wilson sailed a solid race from the first mark to lead all the way, with no passing opportunities, Jonathan Worthington and Sebastian Gruber 2nd and Styles and Windle 3rd.

For the first event of the year the level was good and competitive, with several people leading races. A thoroughly good start to the season, now thoughts focus on the next event, which is in Carsington over the Easter weekend.

Overall Positions:
1st Rob Wilson and Ed Barney
2nd Hugh Styles and Greg Windle
3rd Sam Newton and Brother

A big thanks to Towergate Mardon insurance sponsor of Styles and Windle, they have been a solid and extremely encouraging sponsor for several years now, many thanks and well done to John Tuckwell of Towergate Mardon, who had some star appearances in several races this regatta. Also to all of my other sponsors, Fat Face, Marlow Ropes, Gill, Holt, Tacktick, your help is brilliant and many thanks.

Hugh Styles
Olympic Sailor and Coach
Director Nacra Watersports
Tel +44 7712760524
Email: hugh@hughstyles.com
Skype: hughstyles
WWW.HUGHSTYLES.COM

Sponsors:
Fat Face, Garmin, Gill, Holt, Marlow Ropes, Nacra Watersports, Towergate Mardon Insurance, Tacktick.

Associates:
Sailing Networks

Sailing in Sydney Harbour one of the greatest sailing venues in the world is an amazing experience and this weekend saw the culmination of one of the toughest regattas ive been involved in, and in the long history of the JJ Giltinan event.

The title was won by Euan Mc Nicol, Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas (Southern Cross Construction) on the very last run of the last race of the regatta, in an amazing race, where the whole fleet seemed to be playing a game of snakes and ladders (rather than sailboat racing) as they raced around the course over the 4 laps of the race.

I have been out in Australia over the last few months, getting away from the UK winter. It seemed silly not to have a try on an 18ft Skiff. The class is world renown for being spectacular in the traditional fresh windy conditions Sydney Harbour usually throws at you. But this week the weather gods did not play ball and the regatta was dominated by light and fickle conditions most of the week.

Just after the start of the new year I was down at the 18 Footer league skiff sailing club in Double Bay, and filled in sailing one of the weekly Sunday races. I loved it, the speed and the unstable nature of sailing these overpowered sailing machines was intoxicating.

Now some 7 weeks later I’ve just finished my first ever 18ft Skiff regatta and its been an awesome experience. I’ve learnt a massive amount about how to sail these monstrous boats, from wave jumping downwind on the Harbour in a fresh North Easterly wind at break neck speed, to tippy toeing around the boat yesterday afternoon in a fickle East North Easterly.

I raced with the Fisher and Pykel team and were very fortunate to get involved in a training group with one of the best Skiff sailing teams out there “Gotta Love it 7” sailed by Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and Tom Clout. They and their coach Andrew Palfrey were great to work with fast tracking our learning, helping us develop good boat speed in a matter of a couple of weeks. A big thanks to them and also to Michael Coxon from North Sails who helped me understand the nuances of the 18ft Skiff rig tuning. Without your help then we would not have come anywhere near as far as we did in such a short time.

For the Fisher and Pykel team the worlds was rollercoaster. Andy Cuddihy the skipper came down with a really nasty flu virus just a few days before the start of the regatta. The effects of this lasted the length of the regatta, which was hard as we had put a lot into our preparations for the worlds. Even with this we started the regatta well with our best result of the week a 4th.

The next few days saw some tough racing and we duked out a few results around 8th. Unfortunately we had some very bad luck on the 4th heat when sailing out to the start of the race we found we had a knot in the spinnaker halyard inside the mast, as this could only have been from the halyard twisting we though we could get it out on the water. How wrong we were and ended up with a massive knot which we couldn’t untie until we came ashore and took the mast out of the boat. Unfortunately this gave us our drop race and put the pressure on for the rest of the regatta. We never really recovered from this and in the end finished up the regatta in 14th overall.

Its been an amazing experience for me sailing these boats and learning many new skiff sailing skills. Many thanks to Gill for your support of my sailing the kit ive been using. Especially the gloves, without which I would have no fingers and hands left. For the rash vests, which you’ll see in the picture, are now rather sun bleached but still holding up well from the rigours of getting bashed about on a skiff. Then to Andy and Mike for having a Pom on the skiff, thanks its been a good journey.

Now looking to the future Im preparing for this years forthcoming projects. There will certainly be plenty of catamaran sailing, on F18 and others (watch this space). Ill be sailing with the Atomic team on the Farr 45 in the Solent like last year, and we have big plans ahead for this team. But im definitely not looking forward to the temperature change from here back to Europe.

All the best and thanks to my sponsors for their support, looking forward to catching up with everyone at the Dinghy show at Alexander palace in early March.

Sydney Harbour and sailing just go hand in hand, so whilst here for a while over the European winter i’ve had the chance to do plenty of different types of sailing. From 70 ft yachts racing twilight series round the harbour. To sailing Formula 18 catamarans offshore from Sydney in the Southern Ocean, then racing 18ft skiffs in and out of all the weekend pleasure craft traffic in front of the harbour brigde for the last few Sunday afternoons.

Sailing here is pretty hectic on a weekly basis this is the flow of events:
Sunday afternoon, skiff sailing with the Fisher and Pykel team in preparations for the JJ Giltnan (worlds) in 2 weeks.
Monday evening I steer a yacht called Kiribilli, a lovely 40 footer for twilight racing from the CYCA (Cruising Yacht Club Australia) with a load of the skiff sailing boys.
Tuesday is skiff training on Fisher and Pykel with the Seven skiff sailing team.
Wednesday can be more yacht racing from the CYCA this is the booze cruise round the harbour.
Thursday more skiff training and then this Friday is the Skiff leagues twilight race starting at 1745.
Saturday off and then Sunday skiff sailing again.

I am mainsheet hand on the Fisher and Pykel boat and its going well so far. We have steadily improved over the last couple of weeks and on current results i think we will be a bit of a dark horse for the worlds which start on the 14 feb in double bay. Watch this space.

All the best for now.

hugh

The X40 racing in Oman concluded yesterday and for the ishares team it was with a great last days racing. Finishing 2nd in Muscat as we did in Dubai a week ago. So 2nd overall in the

Yesterdsay the team pulled out all of the stops, winning the last race of the whole series in splendid style, to go with another win and a second after a slight fo pah with a 4th in the first race of the day.

Its been a good team effort these last 2 events in the Middle East with a different team here which worked well. Mischa Heemskerk brought a lot to the team as mainsheet hand, John Mckenna Trimmer and then the 2 local super stars on the boat from Oman Sail Gordon and Mossin. They worked tirelessley and made a vital comtribution to our success.

Bye for now tomorrow is F18 coaching for the Oman sail team and then I fly back to Sydney to see my girlfriend hurrah.

Thanks to all of the sponsors and all the best for Xmas.

Oman is a very arid place, this morning I woke to the mountainous view outside the hotel window.

We have driven the extreme 40s down from Dubai to Muscat in Oman, an 8 hour drive. Today we have to build the iShares extreme 40 for racing which starts tomorrow. We have 3 days of racing and it will be good to build on what we achieved in Dubai. We want to win this event and show what we can do as a team.

I go back down to Sydney in a weeks time and will be there racing 18 foot skiffs and Formula 18 catamaran.

I have a lot of big boat sailing to do and will be racing in Australia, maybe doing the Sydney to Hobart.

Hugh singing out.

A great days sailing here in Dubai. we have a team of 2 pro sailors myself and Mischa Heemskerk and then 2 Oman sail project guys and then John Mckenna the commercial director of OC.

iShares team had a varied but good day. counting 2,4,1,3,3,2. there were plenty of thrills and spills on the course. no collisions other than that which Oman air had with the beach.

i am very pleased as this is the first regatta when i have sailed to my potential and it makes m realise how vital a good team is around you. thanks to Mischa we are all good around the track and with the team.

I was a bit anxious before this but i am taking charge and happy as larry at the moment. all good in Dubai hugh out.

Im at the Oman sail project base in Muscat. I am waiting to drive the iShares X40 the 8 hrs from here to Dubai in the UAE. We have 4 boats which will do the journey in convoy with a police escort. We have to cross the border into UAE which at best will take 2 hrs and at worst 10 hrs.

We are going to Dubai for an X40 event with iShares, Oman sail, Oman Air, and Team Aqua. There will be corporate sailing and racing for three days. Then there will be a regatta back here in Muscat for the Sultan of Oman. It is also to commemorate the start of the Oman Sail Project.

Ill keep you posted on the event this and next week all the best Hugh.

2nd overall at the Dutch Nats was a great way to end the international 2008 F18 racing season, after a great worlds in Spain earlier this year coming 5th.

Hugh Styles and Adam Piggott reaffirmed their winning ways in the breeze as they claimed 2 of the 7 races as out right victories over the rest of a strong 50 fleet of F18’s sailing from Medemblik Holland.

Racing was this weekend Saturday and Sunday. With the wind Easterly at between 13 and 20 knots,it provided some great conditions for sailing F18’s. With brilliant blue sky, sun and windy conditions, both days were near perfect for the event.

The team won the 1st and last races and, but for some bad luck they would have been even closer to nailing the title for the overall event.

This is the last of the international events which the team will do this season and it was great to finish on a high note.

Hugh commented” its been a great season sailing with Adam, we’e shown some blistering speed in the windier conditions. We had a few mistakes this weekend because we were a little rusty. Not having sailed since the f18 worlds in July. But the high’s like winning the races were really fantastic.”

There is one event left in the UK calendar in October the inlands. Other than that Hugh will be in Aus over the winter and will be doing some F18 racing down there.

Team Styles and Piggott want to thank all of their sponsors and supporters. Without their help this success would not have been possible.
Tacktick
Nacra Europe
Fat Face
Gill
Marlow Ropes
Sailing Networks

2nd overall at the Dutch Nats was a great way to end the international 2008 F18 racing season, after a great worlds in Spain earlier this year coming 5th.

Hugh Styles and Adam Piggott reaffirmed their winning ways in the breeze as they claimed 2 of the 7 races as out right victories over the rest of a strong 50 fleet of F18’s sailing from Medemblik Holland.

Racing was this weekend Saturday and Sunday. With the wind Easterly at between 13 and 20 knots,it provided some great conditions for sailing F18’s. With brilliant blue sky, sun and windy conditions, both days were near perfect for the event.

The team won the 1st and last races and, but for some bad luck they would have been even closer to nailing the title for the overall event.

This is the last of the international events which the team will do this season and it was great to finish on a high note.

Hugh commented” its been a great season sailing with Adam, we’e shown some blistering speed in the windier conditions. We had a few mistakes this weekend because we were a little rusty. Not having sailed since the f18 worlds in July. But the high’s like winning the races were really fantastic.”

There is one event left in the UK calendar in October the inlands. Other than that Hugh will be in Aus over the winter and will be doing some F18 racing down there.

Team Styles and Piggott want to thank all of their sponsors and supporters. Without their help this success would not have been possible.
Tacktick
Nacra Europe
Fat Face
Gill
Marlow Ropes
Sailing Networks