Glenn has won the 2009 Victorian State Titles on the new A Class Catamaran Prototype!
Below are a couple of snaps of the prototype taken from the recent titles at Blairgowrie Yacht Club on the 7th-9th of March.

New Ashby Sailcraft/Gel-tek A class coming soon!

Stay tuned for more information regarding the launch of the new prototype Ashby Sailcraft/Gel-tek A class.
This boat will be launched at McCrae Yacht Club on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula on Saturday the 28th Feb at 11am.
A full press release and details of the boat will be available online on the 5th of March.

The boat incorporates new innovative design further pushing the boundaries of an already thriving developmental class.
Whilst being a leader in A class sail and rig design, Glenn Ashby has taken his thoughts and ideas on hull shape, platforms, foils and rig to the next level with this exiting new product produced by Ashby Sailcraft in conjunction with Gel-tek Quality Composites.

“After winning the recent world championships in Belmont on the already proven Flyer Mk2, I have made the decision to see how far we can go with a new design both in sail plan/ rig configuration and platform design. I am very excited about this new boat and am sure I have taken some steps in the right direction to increase the performance of the current A class designs. I am really looking for ward to launching this boat on the 28th Feb”

World champions Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby have finished second to the Spanish crew of Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz in the Tornadoes.

In the Medal race the pair admitted they erred at the race start, costing them all hope of grabbing the gold medal that had eluded Bundock in two previous Games appearances.

“It’s my first Olympics so to come away with a silver medal I’m happy,” Ashby said.

“We’re a little bit disappointed . . . with the start we had, we just got too far back.”

In the windy conditions off Qingdao Bundock and Ashby were 9th at the first marker and a shattered rotation arm on their mast only aggravated their desperate attempt to make up the required points difference.

They finished fifth, with Spain - holding off the challenge in fourth - winning gold and Argentina taking bronze.

“We came here to win gold, but sometimes things don’t always go the way you like,” Ashby said.

“Spain were very strong all week long, they hardly made any mistakes.”

Bundock says he and Ashby were not able to get to the front, but they are pleased with securing silver.

The medal is Australia’s third for sailing in the Beijing Games, after gold in the men’s and women’s 470 class.

Olympic Sailing Information

For results and live feeds on all the Olympic racing, head over to www.isaf.org or www.sailing.org

With the countdown well and truly underway for the 2008 Olympic Games, to keep you up to date please click here to download the racing schedule (excel file). The Tornado fleet will commence racing from the 15th of August.

I have been told live internet footage of the racing will be available from the following site.

http://www.sailing2008.org/en/

More news from Ashby Sails:

2008 is certainly a big year for Mel and I. With the Olympics this year in August, this is certainly going to be a big challenge both on and off the water. I would like to take the opportunity to thank friends, customers and family for your ongoing support during the past year.

With spending hundreds of hours designing, testing and working on our Tornado sail, I have been able to implement many of the design aspects and developments into a range of classes.

I am excited to release my new 2008 designs for the 2008/09 Australian World Class Championships.

Click on the headings below for more information on Ashby Sails special offers.

2008/09 A Class Big Head Main Sail

Ashby Sailcraft Gel-Tek Flyer MkII

Ashby Sailcraft in conjunction with Gel-tek are gearing up for an exciting time with the
2008/09 A Class World Championships in Belmont Australia later this year.

A Class Promotional Video

Click to launch flash video, or go to the video page for more formats.

Coaching

Glenn is offering customers of Ashby Sails (main sail) / Ashby Sailcraft (platform) the opportunity to be involved in a half day coaching clinic to be held prior to the World Championships at Belmont (location for the Worlds). An excellent opportunity to prepare yourself for the World Championships and in the conditions you will compete in. More

Continue to read more sailing blog posts….

The Greeks have won the European Championships - Again!

Local heroes Iordanis Pachalidis and Kostas Trigonis have triumphed on home waters. The Greeks were treated to horns and sirens from the spectators as the crossed the finish for the last time ahead of the French teams to seal victory.

It was a tough day on the water with the top 4 all having their worst race on the final day.

Racing got underway after a postponement of 1 hour 40 minutes on the water as the seabreeze was late to fill in and settle down. The first race of the day started in 6 knots of breeze and it proved to be more pressure on the right hand side of the course. Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher lead from the right corner with the Italians Marcolini/Bianchi in second place throughout the race.

The real interest was between the Pashalidis (GRE), Guichard (FRA) and Besson (FRA) who finished 6,8,9 respectively to bring the 3 within one point for the overall lead.
The second race of the day once again got away in 6 knots of breeze, minutes within the 1600hr final cut off.

The trend for the day seemed to be the right hand side of the course paying despite the left being better all week.

The top 4 on the score sheet found themselves on the left hand side of the course for the first upwind which was to play into the Greeks hands as they had the best drop race. The young German Mittelmeier brothers won the race followed by Santiago Lange & Carlos Espinola (ARG). The Italians Marcolini/Bianchi came in 3rd.

In the fight for the European Championship the Greeks were defending off the French for the final lap to clinch victory.

Event Website: www.tornado2008.gr

The top ten sailors at the Delta Lloyd Regatta met windy and wet conditions in the final Medal Race. The strong breeze and choppy short waves proved a challenge for the fleet, with final positions up for grabs.

The competitors showed spectacular battles with lots of capsizes around the course. The leaders Ashby and Bundock tried to stay out of troubles whilst others had to take extra risks. Some gained and some lost. Ashby commented “ we went into yesterday’s race with a 17 point lead. With double points at stake in the medal race we just wanted to get round the course and keep our nose clean”

On finishing the regatta Ashby found himself assisting in a rescue of the British Tornado team. The British capsized in the strong winds of 25knts and were heading for the rocks. On going through the finish line Ashby jumped off their catamaran and assisted the British team to safety. Ashby commented “ The British are our training partners and would do the same for us. I had no hesitation jumping off to assist. I had to swim across to their boat that was upside down and moving quickly towards the rocks. We were able to get the boat up and out of danger”
See the action  - Day 5 Video at hollandregatta.org

Unfortunately for the British Tornado Team the result of DNF (did not finish) resulted in the team dropping from a comfortable second to fourth.

This year’s Delta Lloyd Regatta has been good training for the upcoming Olympic Beijing Games, with similar weather conditions. Ashby commented “ this regatta was excellent for us as it was similar to china. We had short wave chop and was tactically extremely challenging”.

There is no rest for Ashby and the team as they head directly to China this week for intensive training at the Olympic venue. He will then return back to Europe for the Tornado Europeans in Greece.
Ashby commented “ I will certainly be looking forward to returning home for a quick trip in July”
For more details you can contact Glenn on mb: 0409827152. Please keep in mind Europe is 8 hours behind Australian time. The regatta web site is http://www.hollandregatta.org

Sailing 9 races the pair finished on 37 points with 1 race discarded. Second place went to the Italians on 43 points, while the Netherlands team took out third place on 48 points.
The race results are below, click on the picture for a closer look.

Regatta website for more information, photos and videos.

Conditions were deemed to windy and rough for sailing to take place on the last day of the competition, leaving Darren and Glenn on top with 34 points.
Second is tied with Oskar Johansson and Kevin Stittle from Canada and Yann Guichard and Alexandre Guyader from France, both on 39 points.

Final Results: (click image)

Photo by Will Calver
http://www.oceanphotography.co.nz/

http://www.takapunaworlds.org/

2008 Tornado World Championship
Top Ten standings after six races (Provisional)

1st FRA Yann Guichard & Alexandre Guyader 21 points
(4, 9, 1, 3, (13), 4)
2nd AUS Darren Bundock & Glen Ashby 27 points
(14, (23), 2, 2, 8, 1)
3rd CAN Oskar Johansson & Kevin Stittle 28 points
((21),1, 3, 1, 4, 19)
4th ITA Francesco Marcolini & Edoardi Bianchi 34 points
(11, 7, 10, 5, 1, (52 OCS))
5th GER Roland Gaebler Gunnar & Struckman 37 points
(3, 3, 4, 9, (30), 18)
6th FRA Billy Besson & Arnaud Jarlegan 41 points
(19, (20), 7, 4, 5, 6)
7th NZL Aaron McIntosh & Mark Kennedy 43 points
((17), 8, 5, 7, 10, 13)
8th NED Mitch Booth & Pim Nieuwenhuis 45 points
(7, 2, 6, 8, (26), 22)
9th AUT Roman Hagara & Hans Peter Steinacher 48 points
(10, (25), 12, 15, 2, 9)
10th USA John Lovell & Charlie Ogletree 55 points
(2, 5, 29, (52 DNF), 3, 16)

For More info and photos visit http://www.takapunaworlds.org

The Tornado Catamaran worlds 2008 are currently being sailed at Takapuna New Zealand

Stay up to date with the racing:

http://www.takapunaworlds.org/