40 Degrees, dockside in Le Havre ready for the TJV
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Rune Aasberg and his Class 40 'Solo', Owen Clarke designed Express 40, winner of the 2010 Two Handed Round Britain and Ireland Race
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Cutlass working up sea trials
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This Autumns’ French transatlantic yacht race kicks off on Sunday the 30th October from Le Havre to Costa Rica. The tenth running of the event promises to provide no less excitement than previous editions. For the second time the venerable Class 40’s have been invited to enter and sixteen teams have taken up the gauntlet representing 10 different nations amongst their crews. For the OCD office three of their boats will be present on the start line for this classic two handed transatlantic event. From Norway. Rune Aasberg with his OCD generation one design Express 40 ‘Solo’ represents the more corinthian element within this race. Rune is a seasoned sailor and managed to win the 2010 Shetland Round Britain and Ireland Two handed race. Having previously competed in the classic Sydney Hobart as well holding several Scandinavian race records his experience offshore will count for a lot as the fleet power their way towards Costa Rica. Hailing from the USA. Cutlass (Ex Forty Degrees) has a successful track record on both sides of the Atlantic having success in the Pineapple Cup, Marblehead- Halifax and numerous European Class 40 events. Being sailed here by the US/Kiwi team of Nick Halmos and Hugh Piggin. Though an earlier generation 2 design, Cutlass has been maintained and updated and will prove to be fast in the light airs expected in the second half of this race through the Caribbean. Finally and by no means least, ‘40 Degrees’ being sailed for their first time together in this event by the Anglo-American pairing of Hannah Jenner and Jesse Naimark Rowse. This generation 3 design Class 40 is the fastest OCD Class 40 on paper and should be a real weapon upwind and reaching, though the pair have had the least time on the water of any of the competing Class 40 skippers. Hannah’s’ background has been as skipper with the fully crewed Clipper Ventures PlC round the world event and though having an entry in the current edition of the Global Ocean Race had to pull out at the last minute due to a lack of sponsorship. Jesse has competed in the 2009 Min Transat, various Class 40 events in both the USA and Europe and has also competed onboard the OCD Open 50 (Ex Artforms) in the famed California to Hawaii Trans-Pac race. In a fleet of professional sailors it will be challenging for all the OCD Class 40s but with fair winds, reliability and making those critical choices on sail set and routeing with a dash of good luck we look forward to following the race progress. Here are Hannah’s own words about her recent path to the TJV start ‘Well they do say that half the battle is just getting to the start line of a race. No truer word had ever been spoken with regard to this race. To the outside world one minute we were on the entry list for the Transat Jacques Vabre - one of the premier double handed ocean racing events in the calendar and the next we disappeared. Behind the scenes there were numerous complex negotiations going on. With the original GOR campaign collapsing the tidy up after was never going to be simple. I am very pleased to report that we have reached a point where everyone wins and 40 Degrees will not only race the TJV 2011 but has an exciting program of events lined up for 2012. More about next year soon but for now I am delighted to announce that my co skipper for the TJV will be Jesse Naimark-Rowse. At 26 years old and with many thousand miles of racing aboard mini's, Class 50's and Open 50's my new American co skipper will be a great addition to the team and we can't wait to cross that start line. You can find out more about Jesse at his new look website www.realitysailing.com
We have just set up a new Facebook page - 40 Degrees Sailing Team so please like us and we will be posting regular updates as we race the 5000 miles to Costa Rica.
It is great to be back in the game, the boat is looking smart and we are ready to race!'
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