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11th May 2016

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Unfinished business for Crusader35

On the 4th June at 1100 hours, Anthony Leighs and his Crusader35 crew will be on the start line for the 22nd Royal Akarana Yacht Club offshore race to Fiji.

Leighs, with crew members Josh Tucker, Chris Maddock, Brett Elliott, Nick Bastow and James Glidden have some unfinished business to attend to.

In the 2014 Crusader35 was just 200 nautical miles into ANZ Sail Fiji when they were forced to make an emergency u-turn and head to Opua. Crusader35 sustained damage to the keel hydraulics and were not able to continue the race.

"We made it safety to Opua and as you can imagine, were devastated with what had happened," said Leighs. "ANZ Sail Fiji was out first serious offshore race for the boat. We had some great success in the 2012 Coastal Classic setting a new record for monohulls under 40ft and at 2013 Bay of Islands Sailing Week we won our division. So for us to experience the issue with the keel 200nm offshore was a major blow," continued Leighs.

When the crew were sitting on the boat in Opua, Josh Tucker made the suggestion "let's go to New Caledonia for the Groupama Race." Since then, Crusader 35 hasn't looked back.

"We got the boat fixed and headed to Noumea for the Groupama Race in September 2014," said Leighs.

"This was the start of the next chapter for us as a team. We set a new race record of 3 days 18 hours 54 minutes and 6 seconds, the race was epic," continued Leighs.

Since then Crusader35 has raced in numerous events including the 2015 Transpac. Drama hit again just before their start when the crew had to deal with a broken carbon forestay and damaged bowsprit to replace.

"We had a bit on before the Transpac! Unfortunately the bowsprit wasn't able to retract and affected our upwind performance. A huge power cut to most of Long Beach made life even harder with limited shops and services open for the pre-race preparation and no internet or charging for our navigation and weather updates. We also had zero power coming to our hotel which resulted in us packing our bags under torchlight," said Leighs.

Crusader35 finished 6th in their division and received the trophy for the fastest boat under 36ft leaving the crew hungry for more. Other successes include the 2014 Auckland Tauranga, 2014 Cook Straight Classic and 2015 Central Triangle all won on both line and corrected time.

The crew on board are rock solid. Having done thousands of miles together, their bond is one that won't be broken.

"We have a great bunch of guys on board and are able to seamlessly work together. We have "Booboo" aka Josh Tucker on main, Nick Bastow on bow, Chris Maddock navigating us, James Glidden trimming, Brett Elliott who looks after us as an all rounder and myself on the helm. Being able to do these races with your mates makes it so much better," said Leighs.

As Crusader35 lines up for the start of ANZ Sail Fiji, they will be hoping to add this race to their bucket list. Rivals on the water are Anarchy (YD37), Blink (Shaw 12) and the Class 40 Evolution Sails Hupane.

"We are only 35 foot, but have plenty of grunt. We are hoping for a close race, but there are 1,100 nautical miles to cover. Anything can happen," said Leighs.

ANZ Sail Fiji starts on Saturday 4th June at 1100 hours. To date there are 16 entrants in the race including two multihulls and two cruising boats. The best vantage points to watch the start will be North Head, Bastian Point, Orakei Wharf and be actually being on the water.

Follow the race:

Web: www.sailfiji.co.nz
Tracker: www.sailfiji.co.nz/tracker (coming soon)
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sailfiji
Twitter: www.twitter.com/anzsailfiji
Hashtag: #anzsailfiji 

Header Image: Crusader35 in New Caledonia. Photo by Patrice Morin.

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Crusader35 are winning the 2013 Groupama Race. Photo supplied.

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Crusader35 Crew.

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Crusader35 Flying! Photo supplied.

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Suellen Hurling
Yachting & Communications Manager
Royal Akarana Yacht Club

+64 21 89 2004
suellen@rayc.co.nz

 

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and.... Sailonline has the Virtual Race open for pre-race practice already - we are racing VO70s this time with a view to (trying to) beating Giacomo.

 

If it has been a while since you raced on Sailonline OR you never have but fancy honing your nav skills (including learning how to use routers) then why not hop over and join in!

 

:thumbup:

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No went past the Duke, hope they head for ninepins not Brett

 

The Class 40 should shine in these conditions if it's ever going to.

The glory will go to the Orma and the Volvo but the race for me will be between 35'-40'

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YB I think is missing the PHRF handicaps, so for any silly enough to be interested, my quick calcs using VMG since start would have (name, DTF, est corrected, place):

 

Giacomo 832.7 04 22:42:52 1
Anarchy 946.8 05 12:16:04 2
Hupane 952.0 05 12:42:14 3
Ran Tan II 923.7 05 12:51:20 4
Cotton Blossom 2 967.3 05 18:26:43 5
Miss Scarlett 929.1 05 19:15:37 6
Shaman 928.8 05 22:45:58 7
Allegro 964.8 05 22:56:56 8
Blink 956.0 06 03:47:42 9
Notorious 986.5 06 04:31:26 10
Crusader 35 970.8 06 14:12:18 11
Itchy Feet 995.6 06 17:19:54 12
 

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Agreed. I would have expected her to be right up Blink's date..

They may have had an issue earlier but at the end of the day she's only 35' agains 40'

We expect their two handed performance to play out but it's looking like they are probably getting more of Blinks potential on a long board and fully crewed

imho

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They may have had an issue earlier but at the end of the day she's only 35' agains 40'

We expect their two handed performance to play out but it's looking like they are probably getting more of Blinks potential on a long board and fully crewed

imho

This morning looks like Blink is really flying. Maybe the first time she has really lived up to the full potential? Awesome run. Crusader also coming back into it..

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New record by Vodaboat, looks like a mono record for Giacomo as well.

 Miss Scarlet must have issues been down to 5 knots for a while now. Itchy feet heading for Norfolk at the moment? Maybe setting up for the bad weather but gave away a lot of miles.

Huapane and Blink having a good battle but Blink slowly clearing out by the looks. Must be nice and warm up there by now.

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Daily News Wrap 6th June 2016
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Team Vodafone Sailing tracker at 2%

Team Vodafone Sailing may not have another tracking update. Their unit has been drained of power and is currently at 2% battery life. All other units are between 77-89%. We will do our best to keep you updated regarding their imminent finish time. The finish boat is on station and the Royal Akarana Yacht Club team is due to depart …

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Itchy Feet causes head scratching

ANZ Sail Fiji is set to receive the first finisher tonight, but one boat has the attention of the Race Committee more than others at the moment. Itchy Feet have made a radical move heading west through throughout day two of the race. While it may seem a little different to the rest of the boats, they are setting themselves …

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State of the Trades

ANZ Sail Fiji Race Director Sally Garrett has not moved far from her computer since the start of the race at 1100 hours on Saturday 4th June. Constantly monitoring the fleet, and studying the conditions as they change, Garrett has provided the following update: "Team Vodafone Sailing could finish as early as 2230 hours �tonight. But what are the winds doing …

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Injury on board Anarchy

Anything can happen during an offshore race, so when Royal Akarana Yacht Club race management team member Suellen Hurling received a call from AJ Reid, owner and skipper of Anarchy, she prepared for whatever update was thrown her way. "Suellen it's AJ. Wow it's crazy out here! We all have goggles on whenever we are on deck. A simple task …

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Time to head east?

At 0900 hours on Monday 6th June at Raoul Island (200 nm due east of the fleet) the wind direction was 90 degreed with at a speed of 13 knots. Both the of most used models on the boats GFS and GEM show a similar wind direction (102 deg and 105 deg), but higher wind speeds. More importantly both models …

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Sail World: Hull puts the hammer down on Team Vodafone Sailing

TeamVodafoneSailing has picked up speed and is now racing towards the finish of the ANZ Sail Fiji race at a speed of close to 25kts. At 1115hrs on June 6, 2016, the 60ft trimaran had 250nm to sail to the finish line at Port Denerau. No doubt keen to make the finish line in daylight if possible, the Simon Hull …

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Auckland to Fiji in 1:47

The Royal Akarana Yacht Club Race Management Team headed to Fiji on the big steel tube in the sky. Thanks to Fiji Airways for getting them there!

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Notorious makes it to Opua

The crew of the Beneteau First 44.7 Notorious have made it safely to Opua, welcomed by Manuela Hornell, wife of Ave Gitana crew meter Chris Hornell. Christiaan Arns and his crew were in good spirits, but were obviously devastated by the outcome and the decision they needed to make. Arns, who is also a member of the Royal Akarana Yacht …

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Sail-World: Records set to be slashed as leaders fly to finish

New records are expected to be set in the ANZ Fiji Race as the leaders hurtle towards the finish line in Port Denerau, sailing a direct course in 20-25kts winds. TeamVodafoneSailing, the 60ft trimaran which won two TransAtlantic races as Geant, sailed by Michel Desjoyeaux, is expected to cross the finish line at around 11.00pm on Monday night. That will …

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Suellen Hurling

Yachting & Communicaitons Manager
Royal Akarana Yacht Club
+64 21 89 2004
suellen@rayc.co.nz

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