October 31st : last but not least

Last day, last post (or maybe not after all as I do like blogging !). One race is expected today, the opportunity to change the ranking. Stay connected and you will know everything about this last day of the SYWoC 2008.

Update 2.02pm : I am sorry not to have published news before but I was on the comittee boat for the first time in the week. But now I am going to tell you everything about the race of this morning !

Very nice start for the 11 teams under a sunny and pleasant weather, with a wind of ~18 knots.  The Irish team reaches the first place in the ranking very soon, after a fight with the Italian team in front of the start line. The Irish sailors manage to keep their leadingship troughout the race and they win the last round of this Student Yachting World Cup.

Here are the results of the race 15, last race of the Competition.

1. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
2. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
3. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
4. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
5. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
6. England – Great Britain Solent University
7. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
8. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
9. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
10. Japan – Kobe University
11. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique

After the debatings of the Jury, all the SYWoC team is glad to publish the final results of the 28th edition of the Student Yachting World Cup (I don’t know how to increase the suspense… If I was shooting a movie, I would have added a drum roll !) :

1. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology — 37.10 pts
2. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano — 38 pts
3. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne — 50 pts
4. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa — 52.50 pts
5. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team — 56 pts
6. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic — 67 pts
7. England – Great Britain Solent University — 74 pts
8. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet  — 95 pts
9. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club — 96 pts
10. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique — 99 pts
11. Japan – Kobe University — 113 pts

The Irish team after the last race

Congratulations to all teams !

Closing ceremony this evening at 7.30pm in La Trinité-sur-Mer. You are of course invited to attend it !

Here are the final detail results.

Final detailed results

Update 5.44pm : soon the closing ceremony. Staff members are currently preparing everything for it ! I will post some photos of the ceremony and maybe some interviews of the teams.

October 30th : “let us fly away through the fog and filthy air”

A bad surprise to wake up : fog everywhere and no visibility ! But be sure all competitors are ready to start as soon as fog will fall ! Stay connected for news.

Update 10.28am : competitors are waiting for better weather conditions to go for the penultimate day of competition. That is why we are currently displaying a StarboardTV show !

Competitors waiting for the race...

Update 11.05am : the fog has vanished, but the wind is still too weak to race. We do not expect to leave before 12.

Update 12.01pm : the weather is lovely, the sun is shining, but there is still no wind. No departure before 1pm. The crews are enjoying pancakes on the harbour. Agnès, the respo log, is always nasty with her teammates. I would be happy if she could take a boat and sink.

Update 1.06pm : still no departure for our crews. No wind ! But our girls do find something to do : they are working on their tan !

Sunbathing !

Update 1.45pm : crews are leaving ! I repeat, crews are leaving ! It is going to be hard with this weather.

Update 3.49pm : weather still cloudy and it is often raining on the race zone. Here are the provisional results of the first round of the day :

1. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
2. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
3. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
4. Japan – Kobe University
5. England – Great Britain Solent University
6. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
7. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
8. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
9. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
10. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
11. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique

Update 5pm : still raining. The Respo Com’ is sad and alone in the SNT. Everybody of the SYWoC team left him. Somebody to hug him ? More seriously, Agnès has just been to the toilets. I’m kidding of course ! Now, very seriously, we are expecting to see our crews coming back in only half an hour. I will soon have results of the second and last round of the day. The weather is quite bad and we can assume the crews are having a bad time on water.

Update 5.20pm : the crews are on their way to the harbour. Here are the provisionnal results of the second race of the day :

1. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
2. England – Great Britain Solent University
3. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
4. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
5. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
6. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
7. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
8. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
9. Japan – Kobe University

DSQ :

• Scotland
• Portugal

Here are the official results after the 2 races of today :

Results after the 14 first races (2 worst discarded)

October 29th

As the night race took place last night, please note that today’s rounds will be delayed by an hour.

Further information to come soon on the blog, check again later or have a look at the gallery where we still upload pictures.

Thanks again to "groupe contraste" for their pictures

Update 10.42am : the boats have just left the harbour. One English teammate injured lightly his hand but he is planning to join his crew back on the sea in spite of his pain ! The start signal is expected for 11.30am. The crews are going to run three ‘Banana’-style races in the Bay of Quiberon. The weather forecast is good : we are expecting more wind for the next days.

Update 1pm : here are the provisional results for the first round :

1. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
2. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
3. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
4. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
5. England – Great Britain Solent University
6. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
7. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
8. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
9. Japan – Kobe University
10. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
11. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway

The start of the second round is clean : no OCS ! Stay connected to have further updates.

Update 3.23pm : as the start signal of the third round has just been given, here are the results (provisional of course !) of the second round :

1. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
2. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
3. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
4. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
5. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
6. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
7. England – Great Britain Solent University
8. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
9. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
10. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
11. Japan – Kobe University

For the first time, the defender reaches the first place !

Update 5.52pm: the third round is now over. Five teams have taken a false start, and have not turned back to cross the line again, and have therefore been disqualified -but the jury is still debating, so nothing is definitive.

Here are the provisional results of the third round:

1. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
2. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
3. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
4. Japan – Kobe University
5. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
6. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic

Are given 12 points due to the OCS:

• Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
• Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
• England – Great Britain Solent University
• Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
• Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway

Update 8.56pm : the jury has just finished debating ! Here are the results taking into account the last results ! Tonight crews are going to attend a party in fancy dress (Disney theme !). See you tomorrow for further news and further races !

Taking into account 10 races (the two worst scores are discarded)

October 28th : facing new challenges !

Yesterday : debatings of the jury came to an end very late yesterday evening, not before 10.25pm. I will publish corrected results as soon as possible. Whereas jury members were debating about several protests, all the teams were invited to attend an oyster tasting and then a ‘Frenchie’ party. Cheese, pork meat products and French wine, all the necessary to make our international guest discover a part of French gastronomy.

Rankings after the first 6 races (worst race discarded) :

1. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa — 10 pts
2. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano — 15 pts
3. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology — 16 pts
4. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic — 18 pts
5. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team — 20 pts
6. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne — 29 pts
7. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club — 33 pts
8. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway — 34 pts
9. England – Great Britain Solent University — 38 pts
10. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique — 39 pts
11. Japan – Kobe University — 47 pts
    

Today : crews are waking up under a sunny weather. I cannot see a single cloud from the SNT at 8am. Hopefully this nice weather is going to persist, it would be great to improve the tan of our crews ! Busy timetable for the competitors today : two rounds in the morning (start signal expected at 10:30am) and the start for a night race in the afternoon (probably around 4pm, will be confirmed later).

Update 1.39pm: the weather is still very good, but the wind is very light (NNW 7 knots). Here are the provisional results of the two first rounds:

Round 1:

1. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
2. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
3. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
4. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
5. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
6. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
7. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
8. England – Great Britain Solent University
9. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
10. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
11. Japan – Kobe UniversityRound 2:

Round 2:

1. England – Great Britain Solent University
2. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
3. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
4. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
5. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
6. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
7. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
8. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
9. Japan – Kobe University
10. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
11. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique

Detailed results (provisional !!) atfter eight races (the worst one is discarded) :

Detailed provisional results

Update 6.25pm : the boats are currently near Taillefer. The Italian team is said to be far ahead. Small surprise as the Portuguese team would be quite late. The team of the Ecole Polytechnique is doing good : 5th at the moment. Right now, wind of around 18 knots with an agitated sea.

Sunset for the SYWoCers ! (Photo shot by Gilles)

Update 6.47pm : the Italian team reached the buoy of Basse Mer at 6.39pm still far ahead. They are followed by England, Switzerland and USA (they have just reached the buoy), the three of them very close.

Update 6.49pm : other teams have just reached the buoy : France (Vannes – Groupe Atlantic), Ireland and then France (XCL – Ecole Polytechnique).

Update 6.57pm : the last four teams are reaching the buoy, in order Norway, Portugal, Scotland and Japan. It is now completely dark. Hopefully we will not lose anyone !

Update 9.18pm : at last the (provisional as the jury has not received the protests yet) results of the last round of the day (the night race) :

1. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
2. England – Great Britain Solent University
3. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
4. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
5. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
6. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
7. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
8. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
9. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
10. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
11. Japan – Kobe University

The jury will debate tomorrow. Here are the provisional rankings after the 9 first rounds (the two worst scores are discarded) :

Provisional results (october 28th)

October 27th: sailing with the sun to begin the week

We are lucky to have a lovely weather this morning. The weather forecast is good, with wind NW 8 knots this morning, rising up to 15 knots this afternoon. We might expect a few scattered showers this afternoon. Visibility: more than 8 miles, less under showers.

The boats have just left the harbour, and the first round is going to begin at 10.40am.

Update 10.46am : the start signal has just been emitted. An helicopter is flying over the race. We will provide you with amazing air images.

Wake-up a bit difficult for the French and Scottish (Ecole Polytechnique) teams that cross the start line 1 minute and 3 minutes late.

Update 12.07pm : here are the provisional results of the first round:

1. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
2. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
3. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
4. England – Great Britain Solent University
5. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
6. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
7. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
8. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
9. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
10. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
11. Japan – Kobe University

Update 1.33pm : here are the provisional results of the second round:

First round this morning

1. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
2. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
3. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
4. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
5. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
6. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
7. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
8. Japan – Kobe University

OCS :

• France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic (OCS)
• Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (OCS)
• England – Great Britain Solent University (OCS)

Update 3.34pm : air photos are now available on http://gallery.sywoc.org. I will post videos from the helicopter as soon as possible ! The boats are currently one mile away from ‘Les Rochers de la Vieille’.

Update 3.52pm : because of strong winds (35 knots), spinnakers have been forbidden but some teams did not respect the interdiction.

Update 4.17pm : crossing of arrival line is expected for 5.30pm.

Update 5.24pm: here are the provisional results of the third round:

1. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
2. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
3. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
4. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
5. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
6. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
7. England – Great Britain Solent University
8. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
9. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
10. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
11. Japan – Kobe University

Please note that these results are only provisional and will probably change since several claims are expected tonight, mainly due to the forbidden use of spinnakers during a strong wind episode.

Update 11pm : debatings of the jury came to an end at 10.25pm. See next post for the up to date results (or click below).

Detailed results

October 26th: First Race !

Yesterday. The crews prepared the dinner, so that we could discover numerous types of food, from Irish Stew to Norwegian Whale to Japanese Rice Alcohol.

Today. First racing day! The weather is cloudy with drizzle. Wind SSW ~14 knots this morning, rising up to 18 knots this afternoon. Check out the gallery for new pictures.

Update 1.44pm: the two first rounds are over. Small clash without contact between the Swiss, the Japanese and the Norwegian team. The Swiss team, very fair play, makes amends.

Update 3.10 pm: the third round is over, boats are now coming back to the harbour ; due to the wind, several spinnakers have been damaged during the race. Several winch handles lost too. Provisional results to come in a further update.

The X-Course au Large (France, Ecole Polytechnique) hits a buoy but makes it up skilfully. Nice fight among the first boats between the US, the French (IUT-IST-UBS de Vannes) and the Irish team.

Update 3.52pm : boats inspection currently in progress. Some sailors are enjoying an afternoon snack offered by the organisation team.

Update 7.13pm: here are the final results of the day:

1st round :

1. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
2. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
3. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
4. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
5. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
6. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
7. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
8. Japan – Kobe University
9. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
10. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team (OCS: false start)
11. England – Great Britain Solent University (DSQ)

2nd round:

1. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
2. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
3. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
4. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
5. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team
6. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
7. England – Great Britain Solent University
8. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
9. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
10. Japan – Kobe University
11. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

3rd round:

1. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
2. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
3. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
4. England – Great Britain Solent University
5. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
6. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
7. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
8. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
9. Japan – Kobe University
10. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
11. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team (DSQ)

Rankings after the 1st racing day :

1. France – IUT/IST/UBS de Vannes – Groupe Atlantic
2. Portugal – UTL- Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
3. Ireland – Cork Institute of Technology
4. Italy – Centro Universitario Sportivo Milano
5. Scotland – Aberdeen University Sailing Club
6. Norway – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet Norway
7. France – X-Course Au Large, Ecole Polytechnique
8. England – Great Britain Solent University
9. Switzerland – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
10. Japan – Kobe University
11. USA – U.S. Naval Academy Sailing Team

October 25th : training day !

Yesterday. The opening ceremony was very pleasant yesterday evening. After 3 short StarboardTV movies,  the president of the SYWoC, Balthazar Lechêne, the president of the SNT (Société Nautique de la Trinité-sur-Mer), an official from the city council and Amiral Alquier from the Ecole Polytechnique made a speech for the invited officials, the members of the jury and of course the crew members. After the coktail dinner everybody went to the Maeva residence in Carnac to sleep.

Today. All teams are training off La Trinité-sur-Mer coast. A training start is expected at 3pm.

Weather : a bit cloudy but fine. Wind SSE 8-10 knots. The sun appears around 3pm which is a great surprise and quite pleasant !

Training round : the atmosphere is quite electric before the training start. So electric that we have counted 6 false starts ! The circuit is 0,5 mile long. Two laps are achieved in approximately 40 minutes. It appears that several crews misunderstood the circuit and/or prefered not to finish and did not cross the arrival line correctly.

Photos : we uploaded some on the SYWoC gallery. Special thanks to Groupe Contraste, a photographers group from Vannes who kindly provided most of our pictures.

All the boats...

D Day ! Opening ceremony in only a few hours !

I have just met the first crews. The Italian, the Swiss and the American teams already are in La Trinité-sur-Mer. Sylvain has been working on StarboardTV since 7am !

Just a few notifications :

• The opening ceremony begins at 7:30pm in La Trinité-sur-Mer.
• Training races tomorrow (Saturday).
• Real beginning of the competition on the water, Sunday in the morning.

In a few minuts, I will publish the press release of the day on the SYWoC Website (http://www.sywoc.org).