Moth Worlds concluding with nice results for first participation

Finishing the Moth Worlds with a 28th place overall, and first French!!! I have achieved my targets for this competition, and big motivation for the future of course. Very happy!
Full results are here: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/177969/Nathan-Outteridge-talks

Moth Worlds: quick update!

Very good day at the Moth Worlds! 4 races this morning.
32nd place at the general ranking, and first French!

Moth Worlds in Hayling Island, now racing in gold fleet!

Here is a video of day 3 with some nice images onboard my Moth.

We are now at day 5.

1st day of gold fleet, 12 to 7 knts, 2 races, 1 good and 1 bad after a collision in the last downwind leg. The fleet is quite dense. Need to avoid any small mistake, to keep cool and to get my head out of the boat !

Moth Worlds in Hayling Island, UK / Day 1

What a day to start with for the Worlds in Hayling Island !! I got hit by a boat at the first start of the first race ! Trampoline damaged (see below on Thierry Martinez's picture), but I still managed to get a 38th place, not really great to sail and compete in those conditions I have to say... 
I finally got a redress, since the accident was not my fault at all of course... Redress will be based on the average points of the qualifying series.
A second race was launched, was well positioned (5th at the first mark), but it was abandoned due to the lack of wind...So only one race done for my "blue" group, which means an early start tomorrow. Probably 4 races if the wind cooperates.
Just finished to replace the trampoline. Need a rest.
Tomorrow the Worlds really start for me !

©Thierry Martinez

Moth UK Nationals / Day 2

Last day of the UK Nationals was sailed in very light air... I ended up 20th, so I'm very pleased. 

The Worlds will be another story, starting on Saturday.

Rest day tomorrow, but job list is still long... I need to work on my foils in particular.

©Thierry Martinez

Also check out the nice news from Voiles et Voiliers's web site here: http://www.voilesetvoiliers.com/les-photos-et-les-diaporamas/gc32-the-foiling-week-37-9-noeuds-qui-dit-mieux/

Full article to be published in the mid-September issue of the magazine!!

Moth UK Nationals / Day 1

21 out of 93 participants after 2 races in the Moth UK Nationals. Light to medium wind, strong tide, challenging place! I broke a few things, but I'm very happy with how today went, I also have a new sail which clearly makes a difference. Good starts but need to work downwind in choppy waters. To be continued tomorrow!
All the pictures from the event ©Thierry Martinez are here:
http://www.thmartinez.com/
and
https://www.facebook.com/ThierryMartinezPhoto

©Thierry Martinez

Sebastien Col getting ready for the Moth Worlds after a very productive Foiling Week

15th July 2014, Hayling Island, UK – After having started his summer schedule with the Moth Italian National Championships in Lake Garda last week, Seb Col has taken part to the first Foiling Week event, mixing different types of foiling engines, including the Foiling Week Moth Invitational, all being part of an extensive and successful training session for Seb to prepare for the Moth Worlds in particular. The Worlds will actually be taking place right after the Moth UK National Championships starting tomorrow in Hayling Island, UK. Besides training and racing on the Moth, Seb Col sailed again on a GC32 in Lake Garda, where he actually broke the speed record of the boat reaching 37,9 knots!

Sebastien Col is now getting ready for the UK National Championships in Hayling Island, July 16-17^th, where he’s training on the competition’s race course today. The UK Nationals will be followed right after by the Moth World Championships, July 19-25^th, still in Hayling Island, UK. The International Moth World Championships at Hayling Island Sailing Club (Hampshire, UK) have attracted 130 competitors from 18 nations, with sailing stars from the Olympics and America’s Cup all converging to race for one of the most coveted titles in the dinghy sailing world.

Seb Col has had a busy and successful time in Lake Garda to prepare himself for that.

Seb Col summarizes about the two last weeks and what he has achieved during The Foiling Week in particular: “I now know that I took the best decision going to Lake Garda and taking part to the Moth Italian Nationals: this was all about sailing, testing different configurations and tuning of the boat, generating more experience by spending hours on the race course, finding out about the right speeds upwind and downwind, and above all learning from the bests. I achieved some great starts, but need to work on the speed to reach the same level as the other sailors who have been sailing those incredible flying machines for a while. I have observed them a lot, and also improved a lot obviously thanks to that during the past week. But I know I need to continue to work, it’s no secret. I also need to work on my foils and their profiling; everybody does, this is key besides spending hours on the water.

This was really a great call to go to Lake Garda in order to prepare the Worlds. I know where I stand now, which is amongst the top 20 in the Italian Nationals. I know I have a good speed downwind, but also that I need to work to improve it upwind. I clearly see the “before” and the “after” Lake Garda. I also see my improvement margin, which is really encouraging and that motivates me a lot. The World champions were also in Garda, it really is a big motivation to sail with them.

We did 9 races during the Italian Nationals, but I carried on sailing a lot after the official races in order to train. So I was a bit tired after the end of the event I must admit, but now I recovered and I’m ready to go again, starting with some training today. My ideal target would be to finish the Worlds in the first half of the general ranking and the first French.

©Martina Orsini

Also what is really important to me is that it confirmed that sailing and competing in the Moth class to develop my foiling skills was a perfect choice. I know exactly where I am going, which was not totally the case before that event. So I can only repeat that this is all very positive, also in the feedback I got from sailors like Josh McKnight, Chris Rast or Stefano Rizzi, who are amongst the best competitors sailing within the Moth class. They have been really supportive and we did a lot of sharing. We will actually train together this week and exchange boats, which will be very good since there is a lot of “feeling” with the Moths and the way you can sail them at their best. It will be good to see how the other boats work, which ones are fast and why. I know I can do better and I will, I just need to be a bit patient, and to remember that I said 2014 was a “learning year”, and obviously it could not happen in just one week!”

Seb Col also took part to the Moth Invitational with the 10 best Moth sailors on site, a privilege that came on top after the Italian Nationals were over.

With 10-20 knots of wind, he actually took it for a great training session, with some good starts in front of the fleet, and he improved his speed upwind thanks to the modifications he did on his foils and his rig by then, with Seb adding again: “it is really nice to feel so much progress after this week, even if there is still much work ahead of me, and it is great to be able to count on Gurit to support me in this project.”

Gurit is actually supporting Seb Col since he started his foiling campaign. Gurit has over 30 years’ experience working alongside the world’s leading designers and boat builders, combining a unique technical approach, integrating structural design, materials science and advanced process engineering, enabling Gurit to offer the most comprehensive composite solution in the marketplace. Indeed, the well-known composite materials specialist has a dedicated marine projects department that now supplies the full spectrum of marine projects worldwide.

©Martina Orsini

©Martina Orsini

Last but not least, the Foiling Week also brought some other nice surprises on foiling machines.

Seb Col was actually taking part to a test session of the GC32 with a French sailing magazine on July 10^th, where he was at helm for specific manoeuvres and speed tests.

Seb chose a crew of experienced Moth sailors for the GC32 test session with Josh McKnight, (2012 World Champion), Chris Rast (Swiss Champion), and Benoit Marie (winner of the Mini Transat), and besides this was really great for him to sail the GC32 with those experienced sailors especially, the highlight was definitely that with 25-30 knots of wind, Seb Col and his crew broke the speed record for the GC32 and reached 37,9 knots! A great performance looking at Seb’s projects for 2015 and to possibly enter the circuit with his own team.

©Martina Orsini

©Martina Orsini

Nice interview and video with The Foiling Week team to wrap up about the event in Lake Garda!

Great Foiling Week event and lots of training and racing on the Moth and GC32.
On my way to Hayling Island, UK for the Moth Nationals and the Worlds now!

Few more pictures from GC32's speed record day from... on board!

©P.M.Bourguinat/Voiles et Voiliers

Breaking the GC32 speed record during The Foiling Week: check!

Here is the report of another pretty busy day in the office at The Foiling Week in Malcesine yesterday.

The day started at 8:OOam with 3 hours sailing on the GC32 to complete a test session with a famous French sailing magazine, that we had started the day before (more to come on that soon).

I chose a crew of experienced Moth sailors with Josh McKnight, (2012 World Champion), Chris Rast (Swiss Champion), and Benoit Marie (winner of the Mini Transat), and I have to say this was really great to sail the GC32 with those guys.

The highlight is that with 25-30 knots of wind, we broke the speed record for the GC32 and reached 37,9 knots!!! Fantastic!!

Then I took part to the Moth Invitational with the 10 best Moth sailors on site in the afternoon.
With 10-20 knots of wind, I took it for a great training session: I took some good starts and improved my speed upwind thanks to the modifications I made on the foils and the rig. 
Really nice to feel so much progress after this week, even if there is still a lot work waiting for me.

I ended up that fabulous day with the trial of a small foiling catamaran: the S9! and some interviews on shore.

No need to say more looking at those great pictures ©Sander van der Borch

Nice video from the Moth Open Italian Nationals, enjoy...

Race day 2 in Torbole

Another hard day on the water, improving inline speed upwind but still losing too much tacking. Spent 2 hrs training after the last race, almost achieved few foiling tacks... Have made few changes on the boat thanks to Chris Rast's and Anthony Kotoun's advises. Looking forward to tomorrow, last day of racing in the Italian Championships before TFW Moth Invitational!

©Martina Orsini www.martinaorsini.blogspot.it

Pictures from Race day 1 in Torbole, Lake Garda, are in!

"Between preparation and sailing, you have to be concentrated from A to Z if you want to be amongst the best ones on the water. Every little detail counts."

©Martina Orsini

Tough first day at the Moth Italian Championships

First day was good at the Moth Italian Championships: 3 races and constant progress, step by step. 
It is tough, but really good to feel you improve one race after the other! Also really good to discuss with so many experienced sailors in the class! 
As we say in French, "it starts from there"! And there is a lot of work coming up.
I'm very motivated, and when I feel the wind is picking up like it was the case this afternoon on Lake Garda, I can feel the speed going up, with the boat flying over the water, and it is truly a fantastic engine.
I have to improve technically on the manoeuvres, especially upwind and for the tacks. But physically I'm feeling great, all the physical preparation programme I have is really important in the process, and it is critical to sail a Moth no matter what the conditions are.
Results are posted here: http://circolovelatorbole.com/uploads/regate/28_fr_01___.htm

It's just awesome to fly! #foilingweek #foilingaddict

Training yesterday on Lake Garda ©Pierrick Contin

Sebastien Col gears up for a busy summer on foiling boats with Gurit as new partner

4th July 2014, Torbole, Italy -  Sebastien Col starts his summer of sailing on foiling boats with the Moth Italian National Championships kicking off today as part of The Foiling Week in Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy.

The talented skipper who was at the helm of the French Challenger for the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia in 2007, runner-up of the World Match Racing Tour in 2008 and number 1 of the ISAF Match Racing World Ranking in 2008 and 2009, is taking a new step up in his career, with the ultimate goal to come back on the America's Cup now organised on foiling boats since the successful 34th edition that took place in San Francisco in 2013.

Gurit will support Sebastien Col from now on as official sponsor: the composite materials, engineering and solution experts have been involved in many top marine projects worldwide and have chosen Sebastien Col to be their new ambassador on land and on the race courses where he will compete in 2014.

The Moth Italian National Championships are taking place July 4-6^th in Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy, and they are the first stage on Seb Col’s summer schedule on foiling boats.

After having sailed many years at the highest level as a helmsman on the World Match Racing Tour, the America’s Cup and many prestigious top level racing circuits such as the RC44 and the TP52 circuits, “Seb Col,” who is best known as a tough worker and the most international French sailor of his level and generation, is taking a new turn in his career with the challenge to sail as much as possible on every type of foiling boats in order to develop his skills. His goal is to prepare himself the most accurate way in order to go back to the America’s Cup with a view to join a team and to offer his expertise in match racing tactics with the new foiling approach, his experience of the America’s Cup, but also his experienced support in coordinating the relationships between sailors, designers and engineers, based on high technology projects coordination he’s had the opportunity to manage in full or partly lately.

Sebastien Col explains his project and what he has done since the 32^nd America’s Cup in 2007: “After Valencia in 2007, we have carried on working with the French team ALL4ONE, sailing the Louis Vuitton Trophies and the Audi MedCup in TP52, but many changes occurred and the America’s Cup switched to a new format on multihulls, and the project stopped. I had already realized in 2010 that I wanted to complete my America’s Cup and match racing experience by some multihull sailing. So I started to sail where you could actually get the best experience you can hope for: sailing offshore on big multihulls. I joined Michel Desjoyeaux and Foncia’s MOD70 project in 2012, did two transatlantic races and one European Tour, learning a lot with all the miles we did about the manoeuvres, the driving and the trimming and tuning of such spectacular engines. Thanks to my good results, I then had the chance to join team Edmond de Rothschild’s MOD70 Gitana in 2013, we won all our races, and I found myself definitely addicted to multihull sailing.

I was doing other interesting projects on top level monohulls at the same time, and I still do, but I realized that the America’s Cup had always been what I really wanted to go back to. When I watched the 34^th America’s Cup regattas on foiling AC72, and the outcome with Oracle Team USA’s win, everything became crystal clear about what the future would be made of. Besides, having always had a strong interest in technology since I studied composite materials and worked in my father’s boatyard while I started to compete in match racing, I can easily say that the technology side of the America’s Cup has always attracted me, probably as much as the sailing side.

So I decided to go full speed into what the America’s Cup has become: match racing on foiling boats, combining all the strong and proven skills that I have, but being very realistic with the fact that I have a lot of work in front of me. My motivation is huge, and I think the Moth in particular will help me make fast progress on foilers, even if I will need to spend a huge amount of hours on the water. It is actually what I already do during all my spare time when I’m not working on the 100ft Wally I’ve been with for four years now (Magic Carpet 3), where high technology, long term project coordination and management such as on the America’s Cup are my main focuses: an other key asset that I have been able to develop on strong bases thanks to Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones.

The Moth is the perfect tool for me. It is accessible when starting from scratch, and the French Sailing Federation has helped me a lot by providing me the boat. Also the learning curve factor is very important. Last but not least, it is about getting in touch with a completely new network of specialists too. All in all, the whole project is about starting a new adventure the right way.

2014 is a quantitative and a building phase, as I call it. I don’t have results targets, which would be unrealistic at this stage, and I will need to step back especially with this first Moth regatta, since my priority is to learn as much as possible. Besides, I also need to test as many boats as I can to get a maximum of information, in order to build the second phase for 2015 from there with my own project, possibly a GC32, which should also help me to achieve the goal to join an America’s Cup team at some point. I will of course continue to sail with the Moth next year as well. The dream project would be to have a third type of boat, but we are not there yet, since we need to fund the project first. My strength stands in the fact that I like to understand projects 100% and with a 360° view, which also makes sense for sponsors who work the same way for obvious reasons: they need to keep control to achieve their goals the best possible way.

There is a lot of work to come, but I’m very excited about it and eager to give all that I have to succeed, and I hope that some other sponsors will see their interest in taking up the challenge with me and Gurit.”

Gurit: new official sponsor for Seb Col Racing

In order to support him in his new challenge, Gurit has decided to join Sebastien Col in his quest as Official Sponsor. Gurit has over 30 years’ experience working alongside the world’s leading designers and boat builders, combining a unique technical approach, integrating structural design, materials science and advanced process engineering, enabling Gurit to offer the most comprehensive composite solution in the marketplace. Indeed, the well-known composite materials specialist has a dedicated marine projects department that now supplies the full spectrum of marine projects worldwide.

Gurit has chosen to support Seb Col within the top racing world, where their composite materials are key to the high technology designed boats we can find on all the race courses around the world, including the G32’s and America’s Cup. Philip Aikenhead, Gurit’s Regional Sales Manager for the UK, comments: “High end composite material technology has an established path of filtering into mainstream marine construction. For this reason Gurit is very focused on developing materials that perform at the highest level.  Boats flying on foils is not new but flying on Carbon fibre foils is, this is where our partnership with Sebastian will help us identify real life race course loads and wear of our material. With the next generation of foilers on the drawing board we strive to make our materials the choice for serious race winning contenders. All the team at Gurit wish Seb Bonne Chance in the regattas”.

Seb Col adds: “I’m very proud to have Gurit at my side from now on. Their trust is a proof that taking up that challenge together will allow to show how much the collaboration between what’s going on on the water and technology, and especially composite materials behind the boats, are success key factors. I’ve for sure become a sailor addicted to foiling lately, but I’ve also been working on the development of new projects that involve design and composite materials, which is something that has become significant in my professional evolution after observing and analyzing the big jump forward that the sailing world has achieved since the 34^th America’s Cup. Having a partner such as Gurit will make a big difference in the close future.”

Right after the Moth Italian National Championships, Seb Col will move not too far along the shore of Lake Garda to Malcesine, since he’s been granted a wild card for a very special event: The Foiling Week Moth Invitational, taking place for the very first time of the history of The Foiling Week on July 8th. Eight of the best mothies in the world are invited to fight in an innovative short course, very fast and tactical: Ben Paton (GBR), Rob Gough (AUS), Josh Mcknight (AUS), Stefano Rizzi (ITA), Andrew McDougall (AUS), Chris Rast (SUI), Anthony Kotoun (ISV), Tom Offer (GBR), and they will be joined by two wild cards: Carlo De Paoli (ITA) and Seb Col (FRA).

Seb Col will then change boat for a special test session as skipper with a crew this time on a GC32 with a famous French sailing magazine on July 9^th, still on Lake Garda, another foiling boat that he has been able to get to know better during their successful launch event on Lake Traunsee in Austria, where Seb was one of the lucky invited skippers last month and finished 1^st of his group.

Next steps for Seb Col as regards to his Moth programme will be the UK National Championships taking place in Hayling Island July 16-17^th, followed right after by the Moth World Championships July 19-25^th, still in Hayling Island, UK.

About Sebastien Col:

Sebastien Col is one of the only French sailors who has been racing on most of all international top level sailing circuits, where the sailing experience and the mastering of match racing but also of all other sailing disciplines are compulsory to win (America’s Cup, World Match Racing Tour, Audi MedCup/TP52, RC44, IMOCA 60’, Wally, MOD70, A-class, Moth, GC32, to name a few). His ultimate goal is to go back to the America’s Cup in order to bring all his skills and professionalism to a competing team, but also to set up his own project on a foiling multihull circuit in 2015. His participation at the highest level on the Moth circuit is crucial for his foiling preparation and expertise development, as he can sail against the best mothies in the world.

Seb Col’s philosophy: “I do believe a lot more in determination than in aggressiveness. In the sailing duel, the ratio is not physical as in boxing. We see our competitors through their boats. Determination makes it possible to get the best from each sailor. The human relationship is capital in sailing.”

About Gurit:

Delivering the future of composite solutions

The companies of Gurit Holding AG, Wattwil/Switzerland, (SIX Swiss Exchange: GUR) are specialised in the development and manufacture of advanced composite materials, tooling systems, structural engineering solutions, and select finished parts. The comprehensive product range comprises epoxy and phenolic prepregs, SPRINT™, Gurit® structural cores (Corecell™, PVC, G-PET™ and Balsaflex™), epoxy Ampreg and PRIME™ laminating systems, Spabond adhesives, and other related products. Gurit is uniquely positioned to serve global growth markets, and has production sites and offices in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Hungary, the UK, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, Ecuador, Brazil, India and China. 

Mobile Site: Gurit has launched a Mobile Site, so you can use a smart phone to access and view Gurit content which has been customised for mobile and tablet devices: mobile.gurit.com

Contact Seb Col Racing Communications & Sponsorship

Stephanie Nadin

Valkyria PR

+33(0)6 11 50 65 21

stephanie@valkyriapr.com

For further information on Gurit:

Katie Homes, Marketing Communications Manager

Email: katie.homes@gurit.com; Phone: +44 (0) 1983 828 297; Mobile: +44 (0) 7793 417 355

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