ICAP Leopard Brief

ICAP Leopard Luxury Yacht Charter & Superyacht News

Rolex Middle Sea Race: Competitive international sailing yacht fleet registered.

September 23, 2010

With just a month to go until the start of the 2010 Rolex Middle Sea Race, over 60 yachts have registered for this ever-challenging 606-nautical mile offshore race, which starts from Grand Harbour in Malta on 23 October 2010.

View of the start in Grand Harbour - Photo credit Rolex Kurt Arrigo

View of the start in Grand Harbour - Photo credit Rolex Kurt Arrigo

While some distance races effectively run straight along a rhumbline, the Rolex Middle Sea Race is unique as its course is almost square in shape. Starting from Grand Harbour the fleet heads north to Sicily and a passage up its eastern coast to the Strait of Messina. Once through the Strait, the course leads north to the Aeolian Islands, including Strombolicchio and the active volcano of Stromboli, where the yachts turn west to the Egadi Islands. At the western corner of Sicily, competitors head south towards the island of Lampedusa, leaving Pantelleria to port. Once past Lampedusa, the fleet turns northeast on the final leg to the Comino Channel and the finish in Marsamxett Harbour.

This year, the 31st edition, has a United Nations quality to it, with 64 yachts from 18 countries, including, notably, more entries from Eastern Europe than any prior year, including Marton Jozsa’s R/P Custom 60, Wild Joe from Hungary; Moryanka, Yaroslav Isakov’s Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36i from the Ukraine; Three Sisters, Milan Hajek’s Beneteau First 40.7 from the Czech Republic; and from Russia, Sergey Popelyshev’s Dufour 45 Comrade, Valentin Zubkov’s Shipman 63, Coral, and Oleg Smirnov’s Business System Telehaus.

One of the most recent entries, and one of the biggest, is Mike Slade’s maxi sailing yacht ICAP Leopard (GBR). The 100-foot Farr-designed canting-keeled maxi was launched in 2007 and has been actively campaigned, racing in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race in 2007 & 2009, the Rolex Fastnet Race in 2007 and 2009 (Line Honours winner both years), and the 2009 Rolex Middle Sea Race, where Leopard was Line Honours winner and missed breaking the course record by less than 25 minutes.

Sailing yacht ICAP LEOPARD, taking line honours 2009 Rolex Middle Sea Race - Photo Credit Rolex Alan Carville

Sailing yacht ICAP LEOPARD, taking line honours 2009 Rolex Middle Sea Race - Photo Credit Rolex Alan Carville

The irrepressible Slade will be back to take another shot at the record, and he said, “We love the challenge of the Rolex Middle Sea Race as you’re pretty much guaranteed to use every sail in the inventory, which gives the crew a good workout.  The scenery is spectacular – combined with the wonderful hospitality of the Royal Malta Yacht Club, ensures that this is an event on our racing calendar that we look forward to immensely.”

ICAP Leopard should provide fellow 100-footer, the Reichel/Pugh-designed Esmit Europa suitable competition, as they have raced against each other in EsImit’s former life as ex-Alfa Romeo 2.

Andres Soriano is back with his mini maxi Alegre (GBR), to defend their overall win in the 2009 Rolex Middle Sea Race. Soriano and his Mills-designed 68-footer have enjoyed an impressive racing career to date, with recent class wins at both the Rolex Capri Sailing Week and the Rolex IMA Championship. Alegre also claimed Line Honours in the 2008 Rolex Middle Sea Race.

Another in the maxi fleet is the Baltic 77, Black Pearl launched in 2008 and entering its’ first offshore race. The yacht was custom-built as a family cruising boat –a ‘café racer’ – with a lifting keel and a full cruising interior. The boat sports such details as a birch veneer interior in the main salon, and an emphasis was made on using lightweight materials, such as carbon/Nomex panels for the interior furniture, and composite rigging.

While the boat has not raced offshore yet, it has accumulated a fair number of sea miles – since her launch in Finland, she has been to the Caribbean, through the Suez Canal to Egypt and cruised extensively in the Mediterranean.

As well, Black Pearl’s crew is highly seasoned with Rolex Fastnet’s, Rolex Sydney Hobart’s, Newport Bermuda Races and trans-atlantic races under their belts. Navigator Marc Lagesse sailed with the South African team in the 32nd America’s Cup, and the boat’s designer Bill Tripp will sail onboard as well.

Skipper Matthew Sweetman said, “The owner has been looking at sailing in an offshore race for some time and the Rolex Middle Sea Race fit in very well with this year’s program, and is sailed in some of the more interesting part of the Mediterranean, with differing weather patterns and scenery. Her performance has been impressive and it will be great to push her around a long race course to see what she can really do.”

With three weeks until the close of entries (15 October), more boats are still trickling in. The record year for entries was 2008 – the 40th anniversary of the race – with 78.

The Rolex Middle Sea Race commences on Saturday, 23 October 2010. The final prize giving is on Saturday, 30 October. George David’s Rambler (USA) established the current Course Record of 47 hours, 55 minutes, and 3 seconds in 2007. 



Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race – Update on Sailing yacht ICAP Leopard

August 24, 2010

Yesterday, we bought you news regarding the Super maxi sailing yacht ICAP Leopard who contacted the RORC Race Office to announce that they were retiring from the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race. News in from ICAP Leopard is that the goose-neck fitting, attaching the boom to the mast, was the reason for their retirement.

“After a great fast start and only two hours into the race, we were obviously bitterly disappointed in not being able to continue in this fantastic race. The boom failure left us with no option but to retire, everything is now in order and we are making our way back to Southampton.” Message from ICAP Leopard received: 17:30 Monday 23.08.10

ICAP Leopard were forced to retire from the race but they sent the RORC this video which shows the amazing conditions prior to their exit from the race.

Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race – Sailing yacht ICAP Leopard retires

August 24, 2010

 Super maxi sailing yacht ICAP Leopard has contacted the RORC Race Office to announce that they are retiring from the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race.

Sailing yacht ICAP Leopard at the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race start Photo by Rick Tomlinson.

Sailing yacht ICAP Leopard at the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race start Photo by Rick Tomlinson.

The crew of te 100ft maxi sailing yacht ICAP Leopard are safe and well and are making a course for Southampton. At the present moment in time, the reason for their retirement is unknown.

“Sadly we have had to retire off Beachy Head! So heading back to Southampton eta tomorrow early. Regards Mike/Leopard”

More details to follow.

Super Maxi sailing yacht ICAP Leopard was planning to challenge record in Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race Photo by Andrea Francolini - ICAP LEOPARD..

Super Maxi sailing yacht ICAP Leopard was planning to challenge record in Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race Photo by Andrea Francolini - ICAP LEOPARD..

Maxi Sailing yacht ICAP Leopard favourite for Cowes-Dinard-St Malo Race.

June 30, 2010

The 164 mile race to St. Malo from Cowes has always been popular and with 123 boats already in, it is the biggest entry for a RORC offshore race so far this season.

Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with UNCL, Yacht Club de Dinard, Société Nautique de la Baie de St. Malo and the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Start: Friday 2nd July from the RYS, to the West.
First warning signal: 1450
Course: Cowes – Casquets – Les Hanois – St Malo. Approx. 164 miles.

Mike Slade’s Farr 100 Maxi, ICAP Leopard, will be hot favourite for line honours for this weekend’s race to St. Malo and make no mistake; the world record breaking yacht will be attempting to break their own course record, set in 2008.

Mike Slade's ICAP Leopard. Photo RORC - Tim Wright photoaction.com

“We have held the record in four different boats, Ocean Leopard took about 19 hours, in Longabarda we took about 16 hours, Leopard of London about 15 hours and racing ICAP Leopard we got it down to about 11 hours. We will be hoping to get a good westerly wind so that we can lay the Casquets and then charge off towards St.Malo under spinnaker.

I have been doing this race for about 20 years and we are running out of restaurants that will have us! Hopefully we will be in by Saturday morning and have an enormous celebration!” commented Mike Slade.

There are sixteen RORC trophies up for grabs and there will be some intense battles right through the fleet. Four Class 40s will also be racing including World Champion, Concise, skippered by young aspiring yachtsman Tom Gall.

No less than nine A 35s will undoubtedly be swapping tacks throughout the race, including French Rolex Commodores’ Cup representative, Marc Alperovitch and Jerome Huillard’s, Prime Time. However, last year’s IRC Two winners Franck-Yves Esco-Voiles’ A 35, Ame-Hasle, will certainly be looking to retain the Yacht Club de Dinard Trophy.

Twenty six Beneteau yachts will be racing, many from France but also making the trip to St. Malo is RORC Commodore Andrew McIrvine, who will be racing his First 40, La Réponse, against three other sister ships.

Andrew McIrvine commented: “La Réponse is a new boat and a new design, so we are getting used to it and the new sails, there are a lot of tweaks to be done but we are learning more every race. It is the first boat that I have had with a fridge which is a bit of a novelty for me! So far we are pretty happy with the boat speed but there is more to come, I am sure.”

Hugues Riché’s Grand Soleil 44R, Spineck, was the overall winner of the prestigious King Edward VII Cup for best yacht overall in IRC. Riché has strong associations with the Yacht Club de France and after winning last year, he let the Club put the Cup on display. Spineck is back again this year and will be highly motivated to retain it.

ICAP Leopard Supermaxi Race Yacht to Sail in Round the Island Race

June 18, 2010

The supermaxi racing yacht ICAP Leopard, the 100ft sailing yacht owned by Helical Bar PLC chief executive Mike Slade, is currently preparing for the annual JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race. Fresh from her latest transatlantic record attempt, her crew are working hard to ensure that ICAP Leopard is in the best possible shape to take on Saturday’s classic 55 mile sprint around the Isle of Wight.

The annual JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island race is a jewel in the crown of the UK yacht racing calendar and has this year attracted a near record fleet of some 1,754 boats of all shapes and sizes. At the head of this diverse fleet, as per usual, will be a star-studded cast onboard ICAP Leopard. Slade and crew will once again be trying to beat the monohull course record of 3 hours and 53 minutes that they set in 2008.

ICAP Leopard owner Mike Slade has held the Round the Island monohull record since 1991 when he took the honours on his first Maxi yacht Ocean Leopard. He then broke his own record on the Farr designed maxi Longobarda in 1996 and again in 2001 on his own Reichel Pugh designed Leopard of London. Finally in 2008, just a year after the launch of his current canting keeled super-maxi ICAP Leopard, Slade and crew set the monohull benchmark that still stands today.

Mike Slade commented: “The JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race is, to my mind, an absolute must do event – so much so that I think I have only missed two or three races in the last twenty years! The racing is extremely tactical, the atmosphere is brilliant and the spectacle is amazing. Unfortunately the wind is forecast to be north of east and so it will be tricky to challenge for the record but we’ll give it our best shot. I can’t wait to get started!”

Supermaxi ICAP Leopard Race Yacht Runs Out of Wind in her Transatlantic Sailing Record Attempt

June 06, 2010

ICAP Leopard, the 100ft super-maxi racing yacht owned by Helical Bar PLC chief executive Mike Slade, has ended her transatlantic record attempt. After a fantastic start, the ICAP Leopard racing yacht found herself in a windless high pressure at 02:00 UTC on Saturday 420 nm from the finish. With the record looking less and less achievable, Skipper and Boat Captain Chris Sherlock took the decision to abandon the attempt.

The ICAP Leopard Supermaxi Yacht On Her Transatlantic Attempt

Having started on Saturday 29th May in New York, sailing yacht ICAP Leopard has had to contend with variable conditions from the start. The crew worked hard in the first few hours to position themselves correctly to pick up a weather front with enough breeze to get them up to record speed. Having achieved this, the crew were then able to keep the boat going fast through a cold and wet few days mid-Atlantic. With a record attempt of this nature the weather has to be consistently good for the entire voyage, which is hard to predict 9 or 10 days in advance. On this occasion a high pressure system on the approach to the UK blocked ICAP Leopard’s path and ended any hope of breaking the record.

ICAP Leopard Yacht Owner, Mike Slade, commented: ”We have a great yacht which has now proven itself over the last three years to be physically fast enough and powerful enough to easily churn out 500+ miles day after day and could have broken this record. However, on this occasion it materialised that the weather was not on our side and after a fantastic run at the start, the crew were forced to gybe all the way home during the latter part of the race. It just goes to prove how difficult this record is to beat and what a great boat Mari Cha IV is.”

Chris Sherlock also commented: “The crew did a phenomenal job to put us in such a great position during the first 5 days of the attempt, it is just a real shame that the forecast didn’t work out for us on this occasion. When we started we always knew that there may be a ridge of high pressure blocking our route to the finish, but we hoped that we would be able to navigate our way through without slowing too much. It is really disappointing that our record attempt was thwarted by the wind gods but no doubt we’ll be back to take on the mighty Atlantic again next year.”

Supermaxi ICAP Leopard Race Yacht Crew

Sailing yacht ICAP Leopard will now spend the summer in UK waters competing in the JP Morgan Round the Island Race on 19th June followed by a large number of corporate charters and sponsor commitments.  Her next record breaking adventure will see Slade and his crew attempt to take on the Sevenstar Round Great Britain & Ireland Race starting on August 23rd this year.

And:

Saturday 05 June: Shut down, shut off, shut out!!!!

I am afraid whichever way we look at our situation we have next to zero wind and are going nowhere, let alone fast. Despite a great days sail yesterday at around 02.00hrs this morning the mighty wind gods switched the fan off for us and left us wallowing around with 420 odd Nm to the finish at lands end.

Supermaxi ICAP Leopard

No matter how many times we look at different weather models (forecasts) or speak to Roger Badham our weather router we cannot find a way through this ridge of high pressure. When we departed NY we always knew that there was the chance of this ridge blocking the entry to the UK and we were prepared to take the risk. There are three parts in my view to a Trans Atlantic record attempt: 1) the departure 2) the middle and 3) the finish. If you can get all three in one window, bearing in mind by the time you go green (‘let’s go’) in NY and get the crew from all over the world, you are relying on weather data looking forward 9-10 days. The further you look forward the less accurate the forecast becomes – hence the element of risk! Sometimes the cookie crumbles your way and sometimes it doesn’t! We felt we had two out of the three we needed, otherwise you wait forever.

Supermaxi ICAP Leopard Race Yacht Transatlantic Record Attempt 2010

Obviously as a team we are disappointed not to have achieved our goals but have no excuses or blame on anything or anyone – we were lucky enough to have a terrific bunch of guys on the yacht who pushed the yacht to limits it has never seen and yet again this fantastic machine has come through pretty much unscathed. We had a blast with some unbelievable sailing.

What now? As I sit looking at the computers with Hugh Agnew (navigator) we have 390 NM to Lands End and we are motor sailing in order to get there as quick as possible to get six of the guys off the yacht in Falmouth into waiting taxis to Heathrow in order to get them to their next regatta in Sardinia starting on Tuesday. We will take on some fuel before heading to Southampton and hopefully arrive around Monday night or early Tuesday morning for the remainder of the guys to fly home.

upermaxi ICAP Leopard Race Yacht Runs Out of Wind in her Transatlantic Record Attempt

What next? Leopard will be competing in the JP Morgan Round The Island Race on June 19th followed by the Cowes – Dinard/St Malo on July 2nd , 6 weeks of corporate sailing and then our UK season closure will be the Round Great Britain and Ireland yacht race starting on August 23 (with a tracker installed) before heading off to the Med and then the Caribbean before being back in New York for the same time next year where we may just try and do it all over again?

Supermaxi ICAP Leopard Yacht

Signing off… a huge thank you to our great Boss Mike Slade for letting the “Renegades” take his 100 foot toy for a gentle spin around the North Atlantic!! Unfortunately Mike couldn’t be with us this trip as he had business commitments during the final week of our weather window for departure from NY. Another big thank you to our long time friends and sponsor, ICAP, who have been a fantastic support and have been with us since the beginning when we launched ICAP leopard in June 2007 and last but not least a huge thanks to Louise who looks after all of the logistics, website, sales and marketing for the yacht. She works tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that the whole operation runs smoothly & so it has been a really manic month for her!

Yacht ICAP Leopard

This has been a great adventure and half of the fun is knowing so many people enjoyed following our progress. (25,000 hits and counting!!)

Thank you,

Over and out!

Chris and the crew of ICAP Leopard

Supermaxi ICAP Leopard

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