Offshore Rules is the global website magazine for racing sailors. Our readers are passionate about sailboat racing and we strive to match their passion with vibrant and entertaining online content from around the globe. We bring you on-the-spot regatta reports, exclusive sailor interviews, equipment reviews, boat tests and much more besides.http://www.offshorerules.comCopyright Offshore Rules. All rights reserved.http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=976 Image credit Paul Todd Volvo Ocean Race    The early part of Leg 2 promises to be one of the most challenging of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 with the teams facing an immediate quandary over which route to choose when they exit Cape Town on their way to Abu Dhabi.  Race meteorologist Gonzalo Infante is expecting 15 to 20 knot west to south west winds for the start and says the first 35 miles between the Cape...Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:29:02 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=976http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=974 Image Credit Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race Yesterday followers of the Volvo Ocean Race got another stark reminder of the brutal nature of this race and the toll it can take on people and equipment.  First came the news of the dismasting of second placed PUMA Ocean Racing in relatively moderate breezes. Then during a sail change on board CAMPER whilst the boat was hurtling along at over 20 knots, bowman Mike Parmenter was s...Tue, 22 Nov 2011 10:10:53 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=974http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=973   Image credit: Hamish Hooper/CAMPER ETNZ/Volvo Ocean Race Some onboard footage from the third and fourth placed boats in Leg 1 as they trail Telefonica and PUMA on the second half of the leg to Cape Town. The fleet now has to negotiate the St Helena High and are pushing hard south while avoiding the south atlantic convergence zone to the west, before try to hook into the easterly running low pressure systems which could fast forward them to Cape Town.&nbs...Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:32:34 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=973http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=972 Image Credit: Sander van der Borch   It seems that Artemis racing are none too pleased about the recently announced tie up between Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa which will see these two well funded teams sharing information and collaborating on design in the lead up to the building of the 90 foot AC boats. With ETNZ and Luna Rossa now all loved up and Oracle Racing already running a two team campaign, Artemis are beginning to feel like the poor...Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:02:06 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=972http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=971   It's bear-faced PR nonsense we know, but it's for a good cause so we will allow it just this once. He goes: If Paddington Bear was the first bear to arrive from Peru, then perhaps Pudsey Bear will be the first Pudsey to cross the Atlantic on an IMOCA Open 60 state of the art racing yacht with one of the world’s most successful solo sailors, Mike Golding OBE. Golding, onboard his 60 foot yacht, Gamesa, is in the final stages o...Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:40:19 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=971http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=970   Image Credit Nick Dana/Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race We all know your friends are the ones you can count on in a crisis. DHL are the official logisitics partner of the Volvo Ocean Race and as well as shipping the more than 200 containers that it takes to put a round the world yacht race on. they also proved their worth when Abu Dhabi had their disastrous first night. When they lost their rig on the first night, the biggest challenge facing the...Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:40:08 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=970http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=969   Image Credit: Jean-Pierre Dick & Jeremie Beyou/Virbac-Paprec 3   For Jean Pierre Dick and Jérémie Beyou the final miles in to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica may still be stressful, but with a margin over second placed Hugo Boss which this afternoon was equivalent to half of the distance they still had to sail, it would take a major upset to rob the Virbac-Paprec 3 pair of a well deserved Transat Jacques Vabre victory.  They are e...Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:40:25 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=969http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=968 Image Credit: Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race Like most of you we are loving the images coming from PUMA media crew member Amory Ross during the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.  Case in point is this shot capturing the determination of the face of skipper Ken Read as the American team fight off the advances of Iker Martinez's Spanish crew on Team Telefonica. These two have been dueling it out for 11 days and more than 2000 miles, a...Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:09:14 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=968http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=967 Image Credit: Diego Fructuoso/Team Telefonica/Volvo Ocean Race Nice roundup of the neck and neck battle between Ken Read's PUMA and Iker Martinez's Telfonica as they approached the Doldrums on Leg 1.  ...Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:55:21 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=967http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=966 Image Credit: Diego Fructuoso/Team Telefonica/Volvo Ocean Race   Ken Read’s PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG and Iker Martínez’s Team Telefónica have been engaged in a day-long drag race for the lead, as the Volvo Ocean Race fleet rapidly approach the tactical nightmare of the Doldrums. Remarkably, after nine days and approaching 2,000 nautical miles of racing, there was virtually nothing to choose between the two leading b...Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:42:56 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=966http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=965 Over the weekend Franck Cammas' Groupama 4 crew went from here to zero when their high tariff gamble on a direct southerly route backfired badly when the trade winds in the west re-established and hoovered the other three teams past in a matter of hours. The French crew's 300 + mile  lead has now turned into a 300 + mile defecit to new leader PUMA. Despite finally picking up the trade winds and at least matching the speeds of the others, their chances of g...Mon, 14 Nov 2011 08:01:18 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=965http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=964 Despite the serious faces it looks like lot's of fun is being had at the US Melges 20 National Championship at the Coconut Grove Sailing Club in Miami, Florida. Michael Kiss on Bacio led after the first two days.  Thanks to Joy Dunigan for the images.  Full details here.        ...Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:13:23 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=964http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=963 Image Credit: Gilles Martin-Raget  In the latest edition of the Sailing Talk Podcast, Andy quizzes Justin on the drama filled first start to leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race when a a third of the fleet were wiped out by heinous weather conditions. The pair also discuss Andy’s forthcoming trip to San Diego for the latest AC act and the return of Luna Rossa to the America’s Cup fold. You can download the latest Sailing Talk...Sun, 13 Nov 2011 11:03:57 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=963http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=962 Image credit Yann Riou - Gropupama sailing team   Franck Cammas’ Groupama crew have been having a torrid time on the eighth day of Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race. The French team have been relegated to mere spectators as their rivals, PUMA, Telefonica and CAMPER all devour their once extensive lead with every hour sailed. Struggling in half the wind strength of the rest, Groupama have been unable to break out of their easterly position quickly enou...Sat, 12 Nov 2011 16:38:11 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=962http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=961 Image Credit: Nick Dana/Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Hear directly from Abu Dhabi skipper ian walker on his tough choice to pull out for a second time and ship Azzam to Cape Town for vital rig modifications:  ...Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:32:45 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=961http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=960 Image Credit: Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race Funnily enough this guy's analysis of the dramatic first week of the Volvo Ocean Race matches ours perfectly!   ...Sat, 12 Nov 2011 08:36:22 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=960http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=958   Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing leaving Alicante under a moonlit sky last night.   The mood on the Abu Dahbi team dock in Alicante yesterday was a curious combination of fatigue, determination and nervousness as the combined sailing and shore crew eased their re-rigged Volvo Open 70 back into the water and readied themselves to put to sea again. The painstaking process of stepping their spare mast and boom had begun just after first light and the...Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:12:34 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=958http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=957 This was the scene in Alicante, Spain just after first light as the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing shore crew began to gingerly lift their replacement mast into the boat. The team have been working flat out over the last two days to rig the new mast so that the sailing team can hopefully leave Alicante to re-join the Volvo Ocean Race tonight. The team plan a test sail this afternoon before leaving for Cape Town tonight. The most recent weather data suggests that some heinous condi...Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:57:13 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=957http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=956 Image credit Amory Ross/PUMA/Volvo Ocean Race  Light conditions prevailed on the third night at sea for the temporarily four-boat Volvo Ocean Race fleet. A series of low pressure systems pushing unusually far south, had broken up the high pressure system off Africa and prevented the development of the trade winds the boats were hoping would whisk them on their way.   Iker Martinez on Telefonica and Kenny Read on PUMA benefited from maintaini...Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:42:47 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=956http://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=955 Looking careworn after the last two days of disappointment and stress and sitting beside the Volvo Ocean Race trophy that he lifted in 2005-06, Mike Sanderson this morning explained the logistical challenge now facing Team Sanya as they battle to get back in the Volvo Ocean Race in time for the Cape Town re-start. Main interview by Tim Kelly (Volvo Ocean Race)    ...Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:20:54 GMThttp://www.offshorerules.com/articles/showArticle.aspx?id=955