Gathering of the clans

Top sailors descend on Miami for inaugural Rolex TP52 Global Championship

Top sailors from around the world have gathered this week for the Rolex TP52 Global Championship which gets underway today as part of Acura Miami Race Week. The event is 'global' rather than 'world' obviously because the TP52 has yet to be recognised as an international class by ISAF.

International recognition is still some way off in fact as only nine boats are taking part here in Miami, mostly from the USA but including Karl Kwok's Beau Geste from Hong Kong and from the opposite side of the Atlantic, Irishman Eamon Conneely's Patches and Stuart Robinson's British team on Stay Calm. It is unfortunate that none of the Spanish or Italian TP52s are competing as while nine boats are racing here, more than 20 boats are expected for the first event on the Breitling MedCup circuit in May. This situation is certain to be turned around next year when the next championship is held, almost certainly in Spain.

Unlike the TP52 racing in the Mediterranean the Rolex TP52 Global Championship adheres to class rules in being owner driver (or technical ISAF Cat 1). Thus all but three of the boats are being owner driven - the exceptions are Patches, where former Etchells World Champion and 'top' amateur Stuart Childerley is behind the wheel, Beau Geste where similarly talented Harry Dodson (of New Zealand's famous Dodson family) is steering and Charles Burnett's Braveheart where Herb Cole will behind the wheel.

Aside from the owner's there are no limitations to the degree of professionality of the crews and some boats read like the Who's Who of international yacht racing. The prize in this respect goes to Philippe Kahn and his Pegasus 52 team. Kahn, we are told, was considering selling his boat, but then changed his mind and perhaps to make up for this indecision his team includes top US keel boat sailors Ken Read, Morgan Larson and Chris Larson, Soling medallist Jeff Madrigali, Rolex Sydney Hobart winning navigatrice Adrienne Cahalan AND Alinghi's former Team New Zealand trimmers and supreme team Simon Daubney and Warwick Fleury.

Also from Alinghi is helmsman and Florida resident Ed Baird sailing on Tom Stark's Rush. Other top America's Cup sailors taking part are Gavin Brady, back once again with Karl Kwok on Beau Geste,

From the Olympic arena, Ben Ainslie has sidled into the afterguard of Stuart Robinson's Stay Calm, no doubt following a conversation with Ado Stead when the two raced together on board Alfa Romeo in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race last year. Meanwhile double Olympic silver medallist Ian Walker is running Patches. Both Stay Calm and Patches are bristling with ex-GBR Challenge crewman (Hamble must be a quiet place this week).

So what's the form?

From the boat point of view, the newest are the Farr designs Stay Calm (built by Goetz) and Rush (built by Cookson). Not surprisingly these boats were first and second respectively in the class at Key West earlier this year. However while that was exclusively windward-leeward racing, the race format will be very different here, the program including a 5-7 hour long 'coastal race' (on 11 March) and a 18-24 hour long 'distance race' on 9-10 March. After the Rolex TP52 Global Championship Rush is heading for the Brietling MedCup circuit. Perhaps for this reason she appears to have been optimised for lighter conditions.

From 2005 are Philippe Kahn's Pegasus, another Farr design from Goetz and a sistership of the three Farr boats Cookson built last year, one of which is here in the form of Beau Geste (ex-Atalanti). Patches is also expected to be a strong contender, following costly breakdowns due to weakness in the keel stucture during her last two regattas - after the first day of the Rolex Midlde Sea Race and after day three at Key West.

Michael Brennan's Sjambok and Bambakou (ex Esmerelda) are both Goetz-built 2004 Farr designs, while Braveheart is a design by Brett Bakewell-White dating back to 2003. And interesting story her is John Buchan's Glory, a Nelson Marek design from the west coast, that was in fact the first ever boat built specifically to the TP52 rule. Originally known as Yassou she has been severely refitted in an attempt to make her competitive on the circuit.