Hat Trick for Cessna Citation in GOR Leg 4

Date Posted: 02/05/2012

The Kiwi-Australian duo of of Gill Race Team member Conrad Colman and co-skipper Scott Cavanough took first place in Global Ocean Race (GOR) Leg 4 from Punta del Este, Uruguay, to South Carolina with Akilaria RC2 Class40 Cessna Citation, crossing the finish line off Charleston at 05:45:00 GMT (01:54:00 local) on Tuesday morning. Colman and Cavanough took 28 days 11 hours and 45 minutes to complete the 5,700 miles from Uruguay to Charleston.

Colman and Cavanough led the GOR fleet from the start on 2 April in Punta del Este, building a lead of 230 miles by the time Cessna Citation reached the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate at the easternmost point of Brazil after 12 days of racing and increasing further to almost 400 miles as the duo closed in on the Caribbean. For Kiwi skipper Conrad Colman, this isolation at the head of the fleet was satisfying, but the lack of close combat left an empty feeling: "We actually felt a little bit envious of the others as we made a quick break at the beginning and then the wind favoured us, so we very quickly extended out," he explains. "Then it was just us and the flying fish, whereas the other guys were bouncing off each other and having a good time," says Colman. "I'll never get sick of winning, but it was a fairly relaxed way of winning the leg."

* Financial Crisis finishes second:

Finally here we are, Sergio and I literally just crossed the finish line in front of Charleston Harbour, it's the middle of the night, just after midnight local time, the race officials are about to board the boat to check the engine seals and then we'll be able to drop the sails and motor towards the marina. Hopefully we're still in time to get our first beer in the United States but we may have to wait for immigration officials before we're allowed to get off the boat, they are pretty strict over here with this stuff...

It took us just under 30 days to sail from Punta del Este to take second place in Charleston, three days faster than we had anticipated, finishing within 24 hours of race leader Cessna Citation. We are very pleased with our performance on this leg, we are again first of the vintage boats, it may have been the mildest of all legs from a weather perspective but it was quite tactical and required relentless attention to boat speed and sail trim.

In many respects it was a rather boring leg, I will remember the heat and the endless amount of time spent under big spinnaker on the same tack with little more to do than regularly check for sail trim and weed in the rudders.

The easier weather conditions luckily meant that we have no damage to report. We stupidly lost a spinnaker sheet during a manouvre and the only thing that needs attending is the main alternator that has stopped working a few weeks ago, let's hope it does not require and expensive replacement. We are looking forward to the time off in Charleston before the final sprint back to Europe, I can't believe I really made it this far, the start in Palma seems a world away and now Europe is just a transatlantic crossing away...

Cessna Citation First Through the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate

Date Posted: 17/04/2012

After 13 days at sea and a very demanding 2,000 miles of racing in Leg 4 of the double-handed Global Ocean Race (GOR), the leading Class40, Cessna Citation, has crossed the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate off the coast of Brazil netting the maximum six points and coming close to crossing the boat's outbound track made on GOR Leg 1 from Palma, Mallorca, to Cape Town seven months ago.

Although Conrad Colman and Scott Cavanough took Cessna Citation across the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate shortly before midnight on Saturday and freed-off around Ponta do Calcanhar hitting ten-knot averages, it hasn't been so comfortable for the trio of Class40s further south. The chasing pack were separated by 150 miles at 15:00 GMT on Sunday, led by Marco Nannini and Sergio Frattaruolo with Financial Crisis but as speed averages hovered around eight knots in approximately 14 knots of easterly breeze throughout Saturday, Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire fell into a private weather system on Phesheya-Racing with the South Africans fighting to keep the boat moving as miles were lost to Financial Crisis and the Dutch duo of Nico Budel and Erik van Vuuren on Sec. Hayai.

While Colman and Cavanough added 29 miles to their lead in the past 24 hours and led the fleet by 241 miles on Sunday afternoon, the South Africans have dropped 25 miles to the Italian-Slovak team on Financial Crisis with Budel and Van Vuuren winning 26 miles from Phesheya-Racing as Leggatt and Hutton-Squire recover from their seven-hour ordeal in unreadable conditions.

* Marco Nannini and Sergio Frattaruolo took Class40 Financial Crisis through the Global Ocean Race (GOR) Celox Sailing Scoring Gate in second place early on Monday morning and at 15:00 GMT the same afternoon, the South African team on Phesheya-Racing are just a handful of miles from crossing the virtual line off the coast of Brazil.

As the GOR fleet begin their 14th day at sea in Leg 4 from Punta del Este, Uruguay, to Charleston, USA, the race leaders, Conrad Colman and Scott Cavanough have continued to pick up speed averaging just over 11 knots on Monday afternoon as they take their Akilaria RC2 Cessna Citation towards the latitude of the mouth of the River Amazon and approach the Equator for the second time in the 30,000-mile circumnavigation.

GOR leaderboard 15:00 GMT 16/4/12:

1. Cessna Citation DTF 3046 11.2kts

2. Financial Crisis DTL 269 10.2kts

3. Phesheya-Racing DTL 376 9.6kts

4. Sec. Hayai DTL 424 8.5kts

Global Ocean Race

Leg 4 of the Global Ocean Race is under way

Date Posted: 04/04/2012

After the busy build-up to the start of Global Ocean Race (GOR)Leg 4 from Punta del Este to Charleston, the four double-handed Class40 teams have made steady but slow progress over the first 24 hours along the coast of Uruguay led by Cessna Citation with the fleet spread over 15 miles.

Averaging under five knots just 13 miles from the coast at 16:00 GMT on Tuesday, Gill Race Team sponsored sailor, Conrad Colman and co-skipper Scott Cavanough are enjoying the comparatively relaxed sailing on Cessna Citation: "After the slightly manic 36 hours before the start it has actually been an idyllic start to the race as Scotty and I are still learning to sail with each other and slow speeds and light winds have made our first miles pass easily," reported Colman on Tuesday afternoon.

The New Zealand-Australian duo took the lead as the start line spectator fleet turned back towards Punta del Este on Monday afternoon, but the wind and speeds began to drop at 06:00 GMT on Tuesday.

Currently tied in second place, the South African duo of Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire on Phesheya-Racing and the Italian-Slovak team of Marco Nannini and Sergio Frattaruolo on Financial Crisis are within hailing distance with the Dutch team of Nico Budel and Erik van Vuuren around nine miles further south with Sec. Hayai: "Now, almost 24 hours into the leg the four boats are still within sight of each other and we have occasionally even been able to shout across the water to Marco and Sergio," explained Nick Leggatt on Tuesday afternoon. Closest to the coast, Leggatt and Hutton-Squire are indulging in some sightseeing: "A few small hills are still visible to port, between Cabo Polonio and Punta Palmar, and as I write there is a hint of an easterly starting to blow," continues Leggatt.

Global Ocean Race

Cessna Citation Takes the Gun in Punta Del Este

Date Posted: 01/03/2012

After a slow final 24 hours crossing the 120-mile wide mouth of the Rio de la Plata, Conrad Colman and Adrian Kuttel crossed the Global Ocean Race (GOR) Leg 3 finish line in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in first place with their Akilaria RC2 Cessna Citation at 18:37:30 local time on Wednesday 29 February (20:37:30 GMT). The 28 year-old Kiwi, Conrad Colman, and his 41 year-old South African co-skipper, Adrian Kuttel, took 31 days 18 hours 37 minutes and 30 seconds to complete the 6,300 mile course from Wellington, New Zealand, to Uruguay.

In south-easterly breeze, Colman and Kuttel sailed the final miles off the wind, crossing the finish line between the Puerto de Punta del Este harbour break water and an inflatable buoy laid just east of Isla Gorriti. Escorted into the marina by two RIBs from the Yacht Club Punta del Este (YCPE), Cessna Citation was welcomed by a crowd of well-wishers including the Commodore of the YCPE, Horacio Garcia Pastori and the club's Secretary, Pablo Elola, who had both been in Palma at the start of GOR Leg 1.

Mooring stern-to, Colman and Kuttel were quick to step ashore onto solid land after a month at sea. "Sign me up for the next one!" said Colman when questioned if he'd repeat Leg 3. "It was fantastic sailing, just full-on," added Kuttel as the champagne celebrations began.

Meanwhile, 515 miles south of the finish line in second place, Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon are 100 miles off the coast of Patagonia with Financial Crisis, while Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire are 50 miles north-west of the Falkland Islands trailing Financial Crisis by 470 miles with Phesheya-Racing.

GOR leaderboard at 23:00 GMT 29/2/12:

1. Cessna Citation Finished 20:37:30 GMT 29/2/12

2. Financial Crisis, 515 nm to leg finish, 6.6kts

3. Phesheya-Racing, 469 to leader, 3.8kts

Global Ocean Race

Conrad Colman on a winning streak

Date Posted: 27/02/2012

Here's a few words from a selection of those who voted for him.

‘Mad as a bag of ferrets but a great guy and a top sailor’ - Hamish Macdonald

‘He’s seaworthy enough to win this thing!’ - Kathryn Walker

‘Saving a life AND winning the race’ - Pascaline Hirsch

‘Good deeds deserve grand recognition’ - Helen Littlewood

‘The quickness of mind plus courage to make vital decisions’ - Kristin Arthur

‘Extraordinary seamanship’ - Jaime Darder

‘Clear and calm under maximum stress... a magnificent example’ - Clare Smillie.