2015

The team behind Bart’s Bash, led by Iain Percy, aimed to raise around £20,000 with their new event in honour of a wonderful friend... as we went to press the running total stood at £276,610 with 26,879 the latest tally of sailors having taken part in the event in the many nations all around the globe. To reach out so far demanded extraordinary work and co-ordination – and the Artemis Racing CEO was not found wanting

The performance of the Chinese Volvo entry Dongfeng in harrying Leg 1 winner Abu Dhabi Racing all the way into Cape Town was impressive on any number of levels. However what we are tipping our hats to is the brilliantly positive way in which Caudrelier took on the task of moulding a multinational team of patchy experience, shaping them into such a formidable squad. And are the best times yet to come?

Pella’s dominance of the Class40 division in the Route du Rhum was a performance that has been threatening for some time… Pella is the outstanding Spanish shorthander of the current generation and for the 2014 Rhum he was paired up with designer Marcelo Botín’s clearly exceptional latest Class40 Tales 2. After a faltering start with rudder, sail and electronic issues, Pella soon romped to the front – and thereafter was never really challenged

Yes, we’re certainly a little biased when it comes to giving one of our regular writers a bit of a puff but... as the record books show, some 67 International 14s lined up for the 2015 worlds in Geelong of which the stunning total of one boat (sic) was drawn by our multiple model yachting and gliding champion. And that one boat, in the hands of Glenn Truswell and Sam Pascoe, wrapped up a tough series with a day to spare

What more does the UK’s (and world’s) best match racer have to do to attract the attention of the elite sailing teams? By winning a 5th world title Williams becomes the most successful match racer of all time. Like Russell Coutts (engineer), Williams is also a qualified professional man (lawyer). Brains and discipline definitely help. Hopefully a further US$186,000 in prize money will ease any feelings of injustice...

The former Star sailor, successful match racing helmsman and one-time helmsman in ACC boats for the Spanish America’s Cup challenger Iberdrola, most recently won his ninth DN iceboating world title. Jablonski has been racing iceboats almost as long as he has been on the water and with his ninth world championship victory becomes the most successful DN one design skipper of all time. Adaptable

Without wishing to be crude, commissioning a pretty comfortable 40ft cruiser-racer that is designed to foil took some cojones. But that self-belief was not misplaced and the first Gunboat G4 is out there and flying high. Anyone who had become too used to the pace of the non-foiling Gunboat range will have been rudely reminded of what a step forward those original designs also represented. More bravery needed.

Another success in this Volvo race was the event’s first visit to Newport RI. Just as the AC45s demonstrated a couple of years ago, chase electronic media all you want but for impact nothing comes close to thousands of bums on seats; and with a deep sailing history Newport’s knowledgeable crowd was always the one to deliver. Brad Read was the key driver of this brilliant visit by the race, from initial bid to final delivery. Very nice job, sir

All that this two-time Olympic medallist ever asked for to burnish his round-the-world credentials was a boat that was ‘no slower’ than his rivals. That was certainly not the case the last time around and his previous – race debut – experience was even worse. This time however Walker got the level playing field he wanted and promptly delivered on his own expectations. At times Dongfeng threatened, but Walker the tactician kept control

In the end Enright’s young and relatively inexperienced Volvo team won two In Port races and then took the prestigious final offshore leg into Gothenburg. Before the race few expected much of this enthusiastic but largely unknown campaign and yet in the final analysis Alvimedica finished tied with the hugely experienced Spanish Mapfre entry and only one point adrift of mid-race superstars Dongfeng

Ergin and his family have been supporting big boat racing for as long as we remember. Always preferring to crew their boats with a mix of amateur and professional sailors, the family’s tireless efforts were at last properly rewarded with a bronze medal at the 2015 TP52 worlds onboard the latest Provezza. The emotionally charged result was vigorously welcomed by their rivals – unanimous in applauding a determined and enthusiastic crew

A sterling reminder of just how good the French have always been at offshore racing and of what strong supporters they have always been of RORC’s offshore programme in particular; examples of French crews crossing the Channel for race starts and sailing home after the finish are legion. Trentesaux has dominated the RORC programme this year and a well-earned Fastnet race win was appropriate icing for the cake

Supporters of sailing don’t come much more enthusiastic than this great American Corinthian. Now aged 80, the 2015 Transatlantic marked the former New York YC Commodore’s seventh such race, finishing this year as winner of Class 3 on his trusty Ker-designed 50-footer Snow Lion. As usual, having raced to Europe Huntington made the most of his ‘trip’ by competing in the Rolex Fastnet and other major events