catamaran

London, UK - The maxi-catamaran Gitana 13 sailed past the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge on the River Thames Thursday, setting a new sailing reference record on the Tea Route with a time of 41 days 21 hours 26 minutes 34 seconds from Hong Kong to London.  Lionel Lemonchois and his nine crew sailed over 15,312 miles at an average speed of 15.23 knots on their trusted boat, and the joy on their faces as they arrived in the early hours of the morning clearly showed they were proud of their stellar performance.

Yvan Zedda has taken some incredible photos of the huge catamaran Gitana 13, but this is the YachtPals favorite.   No wonder the world class crew of this amazing sailboat has smashed every record they have set their sights on in the last several months - just watch that yacht fly!

Amsterdam, Netherlands - Two days down, and one to go in the final series for the 2008 iShares Cup.  Team Alinghi has continued its strong, steady sailing to broaden its lead for the Cup, but even after all of the races in all of the series, there's no sure thing.  The competitors are going into the final day's sailing with 70 points waiting on the water - plenty to shake things up both for the Amsterdam series, and the iShares Cup itself.

Not exactly a dry boat, the crew from the Extreme 40 iShares are trying to keep her bows up, and hanging on tight!  This shot was taken at Cowes Week this year at the iShares Cup races.  The iShares Cup Series concludes in Amsterdam starting tomorrow, the last racing in what has been an action-packed series this year.

Kiel, Germany - The fourth sailing venue of the 2008 iShares Cup tour has hosted some fine racing these last three days, and the spectators turned out in droves to see it.  Fifty-thousand people for a football game would be expected, but 50,000 people coming out to watch sailing is nothing short of phenomenal.  This tour's formula of top sailors, short races, and accessible shore-side venues combined with the hull-flying action of the Extreme 40 catamarans has truly proved the skeptics wrong:  Sailing can be a spectator sport, and a popular one at that.