Sailing Logic Success in this Year's Rolex Fastnet Race

The crew of Jaguar Logic returned home on Sunday as the winners of the Roger Justice Trophy for the 1st school boat home in the controversial 2007 Rolex Fastnet Race.

Jaguar Logic, skippered by Andy Greenwood, gave a fantastic performance throughout the race, rounding the rock 1st in class and finishing second in IRC 1 overall.

This year’s Race is certainly one that will go down in the history books as one to have been a part of. With a start delayed by 25 hours in testing conditions that forced 211 yachts to retire during the first few days, we here at Sailing Logic are incredibly proud of the way our Skippers, crew and yachts coped with the situations they found themselves in during the race.

Sailing Logic had its fair share of drama right from the start; Exabyte 3 broke her kicker/vang minutes before the preparatory signal, Jaguar Logic was over the start line early, and Puma Logic were forced into a racing mark by another competitor. The opening hours were raced in a brisk 25 knots which built steadily into the night and then blew up into a 40 knot gale as the yachts headed south of Portland Bill and down towards the Eddystone Rock area. It was at this point that many of the smaller yachts in the fleet chose to retire and headed for shelter all the along the south coast from Weymouth to Falmouth.

Unfortunately, a broken leg on Puma forced her to retire into Salcombe. This was a bitter blow for all concerned but nothing but admiration can be felt towards the crew who stuck together in a difficult and emotional situation. Those that could, brought the boat to Plymouth and stayed to welcome in all the boats that did achieve their goal to round the Fastnet Rock. A big thank you must be given to them all.

A rig failure affected Lions performance and they subsequently retired. Pink Panther made a shrewd decision to come in after experiencing more wind than most. Only 51 yachts went on to complete the course and no other Sailing School yacht made it past Lands End. Many of the yachts crewed solely by professionals did not complete the course either.

The remaining yachts in the fleet continued round the Scillies and into the Irish Sea with the gale not diminishing and the seas getting bigger. Good tactical decisions by all our remaining 4 Skippers saw the yachts making steady progress towards the Fastnet Rock and minimising yacht and sail damage by sailing conservatively at times. After rounding The Rock, a downwind sleigh ride with a more stable platform made sure all crews had some respite from the upwind bouncy conditions, and the sun even came out, what a bonus!


Four out of our seven yachts that entered went on to finish in Plymouth and many with podium positions. Sidney, our Match 42, may have been the last of our four boats home but she actually finished 1st in IRC 1 Division A. A fantastic achievement and the whole crew are eagerly awaiting the RORC prize giving in London on September 11th where they will be able to receive their well-earned medallion. Bongani finished 2nd in their division and 4th in IRC 2 overall and Exabyte 3 finished 9th in their division and 10th in IRC Zero overall.


On their arrival into Plymouth’s QAB Marina, all our yachts were given a hero’s welcome from the rest of the Sailing Logic crews. Our second yacht home, Jaguar Logic, was the first yacht under 40 feet to have completed the race and the owner of Scarlet Oyster singled Skipper Andy Greenwood out for special praise, commenting that he felt Andy had done an amazing job in a yacht so small!

The Rolex Fastnet Race 2007 has been eventful and an experience some will never forget. Our thoughts go out to Tom Frame, the injured crewmember on Puma, who is currently still in hospital having undone an operation yesterday to pin his broken leg. On reply to our latest enquiries as to how he is today Tom said “I’ve got to get home and back to work, this place is full of nutters and really isn’t good for your mental health.” All the best Tom. We wish you a speedy recovery.


Sailing Logic Results

Jaguar Logic Class 1 Division B 2nd
Class 1 overall 2nd
Winners of Roger Justice Trophy; First Sailing school yacht
Fastnet Race 18th overall

Sidney Class 1 Division A Winners
Class 1 overall 8th overall
Fastnet Race 44th overall

Bongani Class 2 Division A 2nd
Class 2 overall 4th
Fastnet Race 29th overall

Exabyte 3 Class 0 Division B 9th
Class 0 Overall 10th
Fastnet Race 21st overall

Puma Wins St Malo Race in Class 1

Puma wins class 1 and places 4th overall in the St Malo race. Jaguar finished 5th in class 1 and Bongani 5th in class 2 making the St Malo race a huge success for Sailing Logic this year.

With almost 200 boats racing, the St Malo race is one of the most popular channel races of the RORC calendar, and certainly the start area beside the Squadron was very busy. The first starters began in a SW F3, just as the mist was clearing. Puma, Jaguar and Lion all had great starts, with Puma and Jags, once again neck and neck on the long fetch out of the Solent. Puma edged ahead towards the Needles, but lost a bit back to Jags after their first headsail peel... They did manage to stay just in front though!!

The southerly wind was due to build a bit and swing round to the left later in the day... so, tactically, the trick was to head out on port tack and time the tack south hopefully with the wind shift!! As always, though, sailing is never that easy and the crews were worn out with headsail peels as the wind went up and down.

Eventually though, the wind did build a little and swing round as forecasted, and one by one the fleet tacked off towards Les Hanois. After turning the corner here, it was a cracking reach all the way to the finish line. It was a nerve-wracking night for all the yachts, as all that could be seen was a sea of glowing green and red lights in the pitch black night, all converging on Les Hanois. It wasn't until dawn that it was possible to identify any of the boats nearby!

Puma's crew's hard work paid off and they were the first sailing logic boat to finish at one minute to seven on Saturday morning, followed closely by Jaguar, Sidney, Bongani, Lion and Pink Panther and headed into St Malo for Bastille day celebrations.

It wasn't until later in the day that Puma Logic discovered the fantastic news that they had come first in class and 4th overall. Jag's took 5th place, with only 8 minutes between the first and fifth place!! Bongani also came fifth, in class 2, and there was celebrations all round in St Malo for all the crews!!

Puma Wins Round the Island Race in Class 1b

Puma Logic had a fantastic race in this years Round the Island Race. After a superb start at the Northern end of the line the team worked very hard and were rewarded by being the 1st boat in class around the Needles.

With a big lead at the Needles Puma maintained good pace which combined with excellent nav and tactics saw the team clinch victory in class by four minutes.

The team were ecstatic on hearing the news that their win had been confirmed. Champagne, plenty of beer and lots of well deserved celebrating took lace till late in the evening. The only negative point was team Puma missed their training day on Sunday due to a mixture of hangovers, rain and the prizegiving!

The highlight of the weekend for Philippe was receiving the prize and a kiss from double Olympic gold medallist, Shirley Robertson!

Fastnet Training Weekend a Huge Success

As the first of the Fastnet Crews trickled in to Ocean Village on Friday evening, the Sailing Logic team were hard still hard at work- indeed Brian pointed out, from his vantage point in the RSYC bar, that we were scurrying around like, ‘demented ants’ on the pontoon!! It was definitely worth it though as the seven boats looked very impressive lined up in front of the yacht club with their Sailing Logic flags flying proudly.

Saturday morning began with an introduction to all the Sailing Logic Fastnet Teams by Philippe and Allie and a briefing of what to expect over the coming few months. The skippers and mates met their crews over a fantastic breakfast of bacon rolls and coffee, supplied by the yacht club, before heading down to their boats, for group photos in our new jackets.

It was a pretty breezy morning, even in the marina, but the sunshine was doing its best to break through, and after a full safety brief and run through of the sails and lines a lot of confused looking crews headed out for an afternoon’s training on the water!! It turned out to be a brilliant day on the water and all those confused looking faces were replaced with big grins by the end of the day, despite a baptism of fire into the training weekend, with 30knots of wind blowing through the Solent! One of the Reflex’s even managed to put a kite up and could be seen storming back from the Western Solent towards Southampton water. It also proved to be a great opportunity for most of the boats to get out their bright orange storm sails, which are used when it gets very windy!

Unfortunately for Puma Logic, their throttle cable broke, just as they were leaving the marina and with nothing they could do about it, ended up driving into a pontoon. Fortunately, they managed to miss all surrounding boats but this meant their weekend’s training was cut short as they headed back to Shamrock Quay to survey the damage.

This did nothing to stop the other crews renaming Puma, ‘Crash Logic’ for the evening and Allie even bought Philippe a copy of the RYA Day Skipper notes, so he could read up on his boat handling!!

By seven in the evening, all the crews had gathered in the Royal Southampton Yacht Club for dinner, awaiting the guest speaker: Allie then introduced Mike Golding, who certainly impressed us all (except Craig, who didn’t know who he was!!) It was great to be inspired by such a world class sailor, and reminded us all that the success of our campaigns will depend on putting in 100%, but that the sense of achievement at the end will be worth it!!

The Southampton Yacht Club did an amazing job of looking after us over the weekend and the meal on Saturday was delicious- a huge thank you to them.

Inevitably, with 73 people together, the evening spiralled towards the Frog and Frigate and about forty Sailing Logic crew (and one Sailing Logic Race Director) were allegedly dancing on tables until the early hours.

Needless to say there were a few sore heads on Sunday morning, but nothing that 25knots of wind and heavy rain out on the water wouldn’t sort out and the teams headed out early to make the most of our second day!!

We hope that everyone had a great weekend that met or exceeded your expectations. (Most of) the Sailing Logic skippers and mates had a fantastic weekend and are now thoroughly looking forward to the first race, to Eddystone Lighthouse and back, in three weeks time. We hope there will be some close racing between the Sailing Logic fleet and good results all round.

Lastly, we would also like to say thank you very much to Mike Golding for taking time out of his busy schedule and coming to say a few words for us.

Open 60 available for corporate charter

Sailing Logic is delighted to announce that they have an Open 60 available for individual and corporate charter for the 2007 season. Spirit of Weymouth (formerly Josh Hall’s Gartmore) is now owned by Steve White, who is putting a campaign together for the 2008 Vendee Globe.

Spirit of Weymouth is the only Open 60 available for private charter. This guarantees a unique day out aboard one of the greatest ocean racing yachts afloat. Sailing aboard such an exciting yacht is an absolute must for any enthusiastic sailor and is a rare opportunity that should not be missed.

Blasting around the Solent or across the English Channel at over eighteen knots is an adrenaline rush. Experiencing the thrill of it will provide a long lasting memory and will definitely impress clients or work colleagues.

Having worked as a skipper for the Challenged Business for five years, Steve White turned to solo sailing in 2005. Very impressively he won the OSTAR (Single handed Trans Atlantic Race) aboard his Open 50, completing his single handed debut in style.

Now White aims to compete in the 2007 Vendee Globe, single handed round the world race. Having acquired Josh Hall’s Open 60 he is working tirelessly to find the funding to compete in what is undoubtedly the toughest yacht race in the world. Sailing Logic is now supporting Steve, who has not yet got a fully funded campaign.

During the summer of 2007 Spirit of Weymouth is available for charter. Steve White will be the skippering the boat for all the charters, providing a superb way to entertain clients and gain an insight into the enigmatic world of single handed ocean racing.

The cost of a corporate day aboard the Open 60 starts at just £3,200.00. This is for between eight and ten guests and includes a light lunch, skipper and crew.

For more information contact Sailing Logic on +44 (0) 2380 330999.

Tour de France a la Voile and Figaro Campaign

Sailing Logic has developed a three year racing campaign which includes the Tour de France à la Voile in 2008 and ultimately a Figaro campaign with Philippe Falle as skipper, in 2009.

We are expanding our portfolio of campaigns over the next three years to include high profile international events. Three major events have been selected which will fulfil our strategic objectives until 2010.

Philippe Falle will be defending his Fastnet class title this year with a new team of trainees aboard Puma Logic. Over the past two years Philippe and his teams aboard Puma Logic have won the Fastnet Race 2005 in class, the RORC Offshore Championships in IRC 1 as well as being 2nd in the non-stop Round Britain and Ireland Race, and the 2006 British Trials for the Commodores Cup.

During the 2007 season we will select a team of enthusiastic individuals from our various teams to join the 2008 Tour de France à la Voile campaign. Carrying on with our unique approach to race training, all the team will be amateur sailors that have joined us to learn to race and improve their overall racing skills.

The Tour de France à la Voile is an exciting race which attracts many of the best sailors in Europe. It is a race aboard Mumm 30 one-design yachts and provides a challenging mix of offshore racing around the coast line of France and action packed inshore regattas. The race will take one month and starts in Dunkerque at the beginning of July 2008.

Allie Smith says ‘we are dedicated to providing our trainee race crews with new challenges and exciting campaigns at the highest level. It has been fantastic to watch the development of our teams over the past couple of years and we now need to push the boundaries further.’

Philippe Falle, comments ‘the Tour de France is a fabulous opportunity for us to push our teams harder. It is a huge challenge and we have much to do to ensure that we run a competitive campaign. We are not just entering to compete; we are in the hunt for top results.’

Sailing Logic will also be supporting Philippe Falle’s Figaro 2009 campaign. Philippe has long since help a strong desire to compete in La Solitaire Afflelou le Figaro. This event is one of the toughest and most competitive single-handed offshore events in Europe. It attracts some of the best offshore sailors from around the world including former Vendée Globe and Route du Rhum race winners. The event is run annually during August using the one design Bénéteau Figaro, a thirty five foot fast and exciting pedigree race yacht. The event is split into various legs, visiting France, Britain, Ireland and Spain totalling over 1,800 Nm.

Sailing Logic will provide the platform to run a competitive British campaign. Philippe Falle says ‘I am hugely excited by the next three seasons of racing. This programme is a fantastic opportunity for our teams, Sailing Logic and myself to compete against some of the best sailors in the world. My time will be dedicated to the overall goal of eventually winning La Solitaire Afflelou le Figaro.’

Richard Donkin (An FT Columnist) Reflects on The RB&I Race

Our race ended quietly in the early ours of the Monday morning after experiencing high winds in the channel that forced a hoisting of our storm trisail in place of the mainsail.

The crew and skipper had given so much to the point of exhaustion that everyone was drained by the time we reached the pontoon in Cowes. The champagne was uncorked, naturally, but there was little feeling of triumph, particularly since a race official had informed us of a protest (later withdrawn) that could have cost us our position.

It had been noted that the class leader, Magnum and ourselves (with quite a few other boats) had mistakenly sailed inside the Eddytsone Rock when it should have been left to starboard. There had been little or no advantage in doing so but some argued that it was a technical infringement of the rules. Had the protest been maintained it may have come down to a ruling on whether the Eddystone is an outlying rock or not since its surface would be covered at high tide. You could say, at the time, that we felt we had been caught between a rock and a hard place.
Make no mistake, the seas around Britain and Ireland proved the hardest place for the competing crews, particularly those on the smaller yachts where the pounding of the waves is amplified when beating perpetually into the wind. Nothing would tempt me to repeat the experience.

For me, at least, any future sailing is for sunny days and light winds ideally with a pub rather than some race finish line as a goal. I’m proud of what we achieved. As Philippe said afterwards, this crew, which was far less experienced than many of those it bettered, should not have been capable of a podium position. Much of the credit for that should go to Philippe and his will to succeed. But those who sailed with him signed up to the same challenge and sustained their commitment to the end.

Could we have won? It would have been interesting to see how we would have faired had Magnum not stolen a march on us around Skellig Michael which enabled them to build a big lead. In practice I believe they would still have beaten us. Magnum are a class act with a fine skipper and a crew drilled from years of sailing and competing. They were worthy winners. But I think we could have run them a close second and with that kind of pressure, who knows what could have happened?

It is a testament to the character of the Puma Logic crew that down to the last day we had Magnum on our minds. Not until they crossed the line were we willing to settle for second place. In short I believe Philippe instilled in to all of us a winning mentality and a belief in ourselves that outstripped any realistic appraisal that might have been made by an outsider. He did it before with his Commodore’s Cup team that outperformed the expectations of the RYA selectors.

The choice of the selectors to overlook the team in favour of a less successful crew looked misguided at the time. Puma Logic’s continued success only emphasises that impression. In fact it would be true to say that proving the RYA selectors wrong was no small factor in our determination to excel. A much bigger factor, however, was working for each other.

Not everyone – I include myself here – performed selflessly all of the time. But some did to an exceptional degree. Brian Phillips, the granddaddy of our crew, never missed a watch; Matt Humphreys, a talented sail racer in his own right, was always there for helming, sail changes, cooking, cleaning or any other of the thankless tasks on a boat.
But if anyone, of all the crew deserves a halo, it is Mark Taylor, one of the watch leaders. There were many watches when Mark worked on long after the rest of us had scuttled to our bunks. I never heard him complain, not once, nor did he say a bad word about anyone. Mark’s contribution was an example of team-working at its best.

In a bout of soul-searching, once the dust had settled, Philippe said he felt his leadership had been wanting at times. If so, there is much he could say in mitigation. The loss of Sara, our experienced mate, had been a big blow, most keenly felt by the skipper.

He confessed that when our steering went he had been ready to “throw in the towel”. I don’t believe that for a minute. If a towel was all we had left he would have hoisted it as a spinnaker. None of us, least of all Philippe, would have given in lightly.

I’ve known him many years and recognise his imperfections as much as he recognises mine. If a friend is someone you would trust to have with you in a crisis I can’t think of anyone better.

It’s hard to appreciate such things at the time, but sharing adversity is a powerful experience for any group of individuals. There’s no hiding place on a small boat, neither physically, nor emotionally. Sometimes the only outlet is the work itself. Better to scream at the sea than each other. You can do that on the foredeck. It brought out levels of aggression, levels of satisfaction too, that I would not have known existed.

“It must have been brilliant,” said a work friend afterwards. No it wasn’t. Words such as “enjoyment” cannot convey such experiences that make a far deeper impression on the character.

So why do we do these things? Motivation is a complex issue. I think for some of us there may have been a point to prove, if only to ourselves. That man Apsley Cherry-Garrard described exploration – and endurance events like one are close bedfellows – as “the physical expression of an intellectual passion”.

A lot of it, I believe, comes down to extending self-knowledge. Cherry-Garrard said this: “Some will tell you that you are mad, and nearly all will say, “What’s the use? For we are a nation of shopkeepers……and so you will sledge nearly alone, but those with whom you sledge will not be shopkeepers: that is worth a good deal.” The same goes for those with whom you sail. It’s worth a good deal.

Seven Star Round Britain and Ireland Race

Sailing Logic Racing has enjoyed more offshore success in the Round Britain & Ireland race. Following the turmoil of the second day of the race when Sara Stanton, the first mate, had to be taken off the boat for medical reasons, the team of Puma Logic fought back hard to regain their position at the front of the fleet.

After 13 days and 10 hours of hard racing the team aboard Puma Logic crossed the Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes to take a fantastic 2nd place in class and a very respectable 10th place overall.

Thirteen hours later Peter Summers team aboard Jaguar Logic crossed the line just minutes ahead of the Bavaria 42 Match, Sydney to take a hard earned and well deserved 4th place in class and 14th overall.

Just to finish this arduous race is an achievement in itself. All the boats battled against severe conditions for days on end, pushing the boats and teams to their limits. Upon finishing, Philippe Falle, skipper of Puma Logic said ‘this is the toughest yacht race I have ever done. To me it was harder than the Southern Ocean legs of the BT Global Challenge. The boat behaved perfectly, the team was brilliant and I am very proud to have been a part of such a great race.’

In addition to the great results in their own class, the Sailing Logic boats were also the 1st and 3rd sailing school boats. This firmly endorses the reputation of Sailing Logic Racing as the leading Offshore Racing School in the country.

Team Logic Finish 3rd at Skandia Cowes Week

After a fantastic week of very competitive and tight racing at this years Skandia Cowes Week ‘Team Logic’ sailing aboard Cougar, a Reflex 38 finished third in class IRC3.

Cougar skippered by Ras Turner made a strong start to he week with a 2nd place on day one of the regatta. On day three the team were getting better and better and were rewarded with line honours and a win on corrected time.

Day four provided an excellent start for the team and soon found both Sailing Logic Racings yachts jostling for the lead. In the end Jaguar Logic, skippered by David Mellville had the edge and took line honours. Icognito, a Beneteau 40.7 squeezed ahead on corrected time by just seconds with Cougar snatching 3rd place just a few boat lengths behind.

With the disqualification of pre race favourite, Love Shack, Cougar was now leading the regatta. The next day did not go according to plan and Cougar had to settle for a 6th place. Good results on the final two days were enough to secure a superb 3rd place in class IRC3 and a perfect score line of 6points in the Reflex 38 Class.

At the end of the regatta, Ras Turner commented, ‘for a sailing school boat to be on the podium at such a competitive regatta is a remarkable achievement. Full credit must go to Team Logic who have worked so hard all season and also to the structure of the course that Sailing Logic racing have produced.’

Jaguar Logic and Puma Logic Success in the Morgan Cup

Sailing Logic Racing boats enjoyed a double success in the RORC Morgan Cup race over the weekend. Puma finished in 2nd place closely followed by Jaguar who claimed an excellent 4th place.

The forecast was for variable and very light winds between three and seven knots, therefore it came as a surprise that RORC sent all the competing yachts on the longer 110Nm race. Not deterred both boats had an excellent start at the pin end of the start line both hoping to gain a tidal advantage. They were on the line on the gun at max speed, well four knots!

Puma worked the shifty wind very well and soon had a small lead over Jaguar and were tussling with Magnum at the front of the fleet. Puma and Magnum were neck and neck out of the Solent closely pursued by Jaguar who had exceptionally good boat speed. After a long and slow fight, a triumphant team on Jaguar came out on top, rounding Ocean Safety a couple of hundred metres ahead of Puma.

After this rounding, Puma headed slightly further offshore hoping to find a stronger gradient wind. This tactic seemed to pay and by the RORC Offshore buoy Puma had a healthy lead and were level pegging with Magnum and Meta Baron at the front of the fleet. During the night Jaguar had to anchor to avoid being swept back East on the strong flooding tide. Unfortunately the anchor snagged on the bottom and it took the team over two hours to get it free costing them vital time.

Undeterred Jaguar chased Puma hard all the way to the finish securing an excellent 4th place, whilst Magnum and Puma were enjoying their fight at the front of the pack. Sadly Magnum just had the edge this time and sailed an excellent last fourteen miles taking one and a half hours out of Puma in the process to clinch first in IRC 1 and 2nd overall! Full credit goes to both teams for persevering with the extremely light and variable wind to secure two great positions.

Gill Sponsors RORC 2005 Champions, Puma Logic

Gill Sponsors RORC 2005 Champions, Puma Logic and signs up as Technical Clothing Partner to Sailing Logic Racing

Sailing Logic Racing, the leading race training company in the Solent, has today announced Gill as a sponsor of Puma Logic for the 2006 racing season. Puma Logic, a Reflex 38, has established herself as one of Great Britain’s leading offshore race yachts, having secured class victories in both the Rolex Fastnet Race 2005 and the RORC Offshore Championships in 2005. In addition Puma Logic finished the trials for the British Commodores’ Cup team in 2nd place.

Gill has also been appointed as technical clothing partners for Sailing Logic Racing for the next two years. Sailing Logic Racing’s Director, Allie Smith comments, ‘We are delighted to be working with Gill over the next couple of years. Gill has a fantastic range of technical clothing which our racing teams are extremely proud to be wearing. This partnership will provide Gill clothing with some excellent testing opportunities over the coming months with the forthcoming Round Britain and Ireland race. The team will be pushed to their mental and physical limits in this demanding race in their bid to defend their RORC title. High quality clothing is a key part of the team’s performance and comfort which is why we chose Gill as our technical clothing partner.’

Gill Chairman, Nick Gill is delighted to have teamed up with Sailing Logic Racing commenting, “This partnership presents us with a terrific opportunity to trial products with a very professional and high profile team and we’re looking forward to watching their success out on the race track at a number of high profile racing events this season.”


For more information on Gill clothing please click here www.gillmarine.com

Success in the Myth of Malham race.

Both Sailing Logic boats had a very successful weekend in the Myth of Malham RORC race. Puma Logic clinched a 2nd place beating Software Mistress (the Ker 36 that won the British Commodores’ Cup trials) by just 32 seconds.

Jaguar Logic also sailed an excellent race to secure an 8th place in IRC 1 just thirty minutes behind sister ship, Puma. This was a very impressive result for the team’s first race together, especially given the tough conditions of the race. It is a very good start to their Round Britain & Ireland campaign and demonstrates their potential for a great result in the 2006 RORC series.

The strong Westerly winds provided the Sailing Logic teams with some extremely exhilarating racing. Both teams were reporting boats speeds of up to sixteen knots in the Channel and were holding over twelve knots at times. The 115 Nm course took just over twelve hours at an average speed of 10 knots!

Puma Skipper, Philippe comments ‘It was a tough race both mentally and physically. I was very impressed with both team’s performances. I am full of respect for the guys on Jaguar who were out there for their first race together, what a great result for them. I think Puma are certainly going to be given a run for their money this season!’

There is still one place left on both Puma and Jaguar for the remainder of the season. So if you know of anyone who is up for doing the Round Britain & Ireland then tell them to get in touch with either Philippe or Allie.

Puma Logic Finish 2nd in British Commodores Cup Trials

The 2006 British Commodores’ Cup trials culminated at the weekend with a 140 mile offshore race to Cherbourg. Puma Logic, skippered by Philippe Falle, went into the race needing to beat either Maverick 2 or Mankie, both IMX 40’s, to gain a 3rd place in the trials, to put them in contention for one of the three British teams.

After a gruelling and tough thirty one hour race, Puma arrived in Cherbourg just before 0200 on Sunday morning. The team were delighted to hear that they had finished the race in second place, just behind the Ker 36 but ahead of Maverick 2 and Mankie. This has secured the team second place in the trials and hopefully a place in the British team for the Commodores’ Cup in June.

Shortly after arriving in Cherbourg Philippe commented ‘what an amazing race; we experienced a variety of conditions ranging from one knot of wind in the Eastern Solent to less than one hundred metres of visibility in thick fog South of the Isle of Wight and a twenty knot exhilarating downwind kite run in the Channel. I am immensely proud of this team, they trimmed relentlessly for over thirty hours and hiked hard through two nights and one day, just as if it was another short inshore race. An awesome team effort and a thoroughly well earned and deserved result. This is the perfect end to a tough few months of hard work for all of us.’

The team of Puma Logic now eagerly await the decision of the British selectors to see if they have secured a place on the British team. The announcement of the British team is expected on Tuesday. Skipper, Philippe says ‘I cannot think of any good reason why they should not select us. We have trained exceptionally hard over the past four months and put a huge amount of effort into preparing the boat. We battled against light conditions all through the trials which are far from ideal for Puma, a Reflex 38, but we did enough to finish the trials in an amazing 2nd place.’

Commodores Cup Campaign

Sailing Logic Racing are campaigning for a place on the British team at this years Commodores’ Cup to be held in the Solent between 25 June and 2 July.

The Rolex Commodores’ Cup, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, is one of the most important international yachting events of the sailing calendar and pits the world’s best yacht racing talent against each other. There will be teams from all around the globe representing their Countries in this prestigious event.

Following on from the success of 2005 our award winning offshore and inshore teams have combined to make up the core team for the 2006 Commodores Cup campaign. Headed by our Director of Racing, Philippe Falle, the team started their intensive training programme in January. Philippe comments ‘this campaign is the perfect opportunity for last years crew to continue with the development of their racing skills at the highest level. It is a hugely exciting project that is fuelled by large amounts of enthusiasm and dedication from many people. It proves the success of the unique ethos of our company and backs up our claim that we provide opportunities for all levels of ability from beginners to experienced seasoned racers.’

The commitment shown by the team is outstanding. All of them are ordinary people working normal jobs and have come through our structured racing and training programme. For this campaign they will be out on the water every weekend from to the selections in mid May. In addition to this there is a four and seven day training camp involving top level international coaches. All the team are heavily involved in the preparation of the boat which includes getting the smoothest possible finish on the underneath.

Philippe concludes ‘this is the most exciting and ambitious project I have worked on to date. Representing your country is something many people dream of and there is a realistic chance we can achieve that goal. It will be tough but worth every bit of effort. I know we can do it and the dedication is definitely there from every member of the team’

Puma Logic Wins RORC Championship

After a season of very hard training and some extremely challenging but enjoyable racing, our offshore racing team onboard Puma Logic led by our Director of Racing Philippe Falle were honoured with their just rewards in London, at the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Annual Dinner at the Drapers Hall, Throgmorton Street.

The victorious team gathered together for the first time since their brilliant 2nd place in the Cherbourg Race in September which was an awesome downwind kite run in gale force conditions, to collect not one, but two magnificent trophies. The team won the overall IRC 1 Class championships, beating many yachts crewed by professionals and very experienced offshore sailors. The IRC 1 trophy, the beautiful Emily Verger Plate, boasts some very famous winners from the past, but Puma Logic make an historic first – the only time that a Sailing School yacht has being victorious in this class, an amazing achievement! The team were also presented with the David Fayle Memorial Cup for the best Sailing School yacht in the RORC offshore series too, not bad for the first year of competition!

On finishing the Cherbourg Race in second place and securing the Championship, Philippe commented, ‘That was the most spectacular race I have ever sailed. Hitting boat speeds of nearly 20 knots in 38 knots of wind with the kite up pushed us to our physical and mental limits whilst sailing on the edge. This team fully deserves the Championship win, they proved they can now perform against and beat the best teams around, I am really proud to have sailed with them. Full credit must go to Quantum Sailmakers who built our kite, it did not falter. For me, I shall never forget this race or the superb achievements of 2005.’

Puma Logic Storms to Victory in Rolex Fastnet Race

Puma Logic, skippered by Sailing Logic’s Director of Racing, Philippe Falle completed the Rolex Fastnet 2005 at 01:34 on Friday 12 August. Having sailed a superb race Puma Logic clinched victory in class by just 14 minutes.

This excellent result is good enough to push Puma Logic into first place in the RORC series with a two point lead over the IMX 40, Maverick. In addition the team have won the Roger Justice Trophy for the Best Sailing School yacht.

Puma Logic is crewed by a team of individuals of varying experience who all signed up to be a part of Sailing Logic’s school boat team. The objective of the campaign was to provide a unique opportunity to develop and build the skills required to compete at a high level in the demanding sport of offshore sailing.

Philippe comments ‘This result is like a dream come true. We have a fantastic team who have worked extremely hard and they really deserved this result. To have beaten all those IMX 40’s, Prima 38’s and Beneteau 40.7s on both the water and corrected time is truly amazing.’

Puma Logics Fastnet Results

1st IRC 1B
1st Reflex 38 Class
3rd IRC 1
Winner of Roger Justice Trophy for 1st School Boat.

Puma Logic Clinch Victory in the Channel Race

Sailing Logic’s offshore race team have clinched victory in the RORC Channel Race with a solid six minute lead over the Prima 38, White Knuckles. This excellent performance puts Puma Logic into third place in the RORC series and in sight of 1st placed Maverick.

Puma Logic had an excellent start in very light winds. The crew focus in the tricky conditions was exceptional and Puma Logic was in the lead pack leaving the Solent. Unfortunately, the team found themselves in a wind hole and watched the chase pack sail around them in a very light Southerly breeze. By the time Puma Logic got going again she was over two miles behind Aon the class leaders.

The team excelled through the night gradually chipping away at the leaders. Concentration levels remained high and with the excellent helming and trimming the yachts ahead were pulled in one by one. As the breeze filled in Puma were in 3rd place around the penultimate mark. Wind speeds of over thirty knots provided an exciting sleigh ride to Poole followed by a gruelling upwind slog to the finish by Hurst Castle.

Upon getting the news of the seasons first victory, skipper Philippe Falle comments ‘We knew it was going to be close at the front, but getting the phone call from Brian’s wife was an amazing moment. It took a few minutes for it to sink in and what a feeling it was, definitely one to savour for a long time’.

Team Volvo wins King of Spain Cup

Team Volvo, skippered by Sailing Logics Director of Sailing, Philippe Falle, attended the prize-giving at Royal Thames Yacht Club to be awarded the King of Spain Cup. This was for their race win at Cowes Week in IRC Class 3 and is the climax to a hugely successful year for the team.

At the prize-giving Philippe commented ‘Winning the King of Spain Cup is like a dream come true. It shows that a sailing school is more than capable of training amateur crew to a level where they can compete at a high level and beat some of the best teams.’ To win the Cup Team Volvo had to beat two of Britain’s Commodore Cup teams. Philippe continued ‘It is an honour to be here today to collect this prestigious prize on behalf of a fantastic crew who worked really hard all season. It is a proud moment for me and gives me great confidence to develop and continue the scheme in 2005.’

The team also attended the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s annual prize-giving dinner where they were presented with the David Fayle Memorial Cup for the best school boat in the offshore series. The teams other results during the season included winning the Reflex 38 class at Cowes week with eight consecutive wins, finishing 2nd in IRC2 of the Round the Island Race and a 3rd place in the Cervantes Cup, RORC race.