Posts tagged Mediterranean Sea

24
May 14

Sarah Steyaert and Julie Bossard 49er FX Olympic Class

Marseille, France 43º16’08″N 5º21'25″E

49erFX pair Sarah Steyaert and Julie Bossard training during a sunny and windy day in Marseille, France.

Sarah Steyaert and Julie Bossard campaigning to represent France in the 49er FX class, the new Olympic Women’s double-handed skiff class.
This is a modified version of the male high performance skiff that has been sailed in the olympics since the Sydney games in 2000.
This type of boat really encompasses the spirit of the olympics with athleticism, balance, skill and daring!Support them and join their journey to bring home an Olympic Medal from Rio in 2016.

“It is as hard to describe the fascination of the sea as to explain the beauty of a woman.
For, to each man, either it is self-evident, or no argument can help him see it.”

Claud Worth, 1926

28
Sep 13

THE 2013 SEIKO 49ER AND 49ERFX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Marseille, France 43º15’54″N 5º21’39″E

The 2013 Seiko 49er and 49erFX World Championships, 150 skiffs - 28 nations  Two World Championship Titles, Marseille, France.The 2013 Seiko 49er and 49erFX World Championships, 150 skiffs – 28 nations Two World Championship Titles.

http://49er.org/2013-world-championships/

18
Jul 13

Summer Storm

Marseille, France 43º17’09″N 5º20’54″E

Marseille. France.

08
Dec 12

Karver

Gobal

Karver

28
Sep 12

Onboard the MOD 70 Race for Water during the European Tour.

Marseille, France 43º15’16″N 5º19’17″E


Onboard the MOD70 Race for Water, during a training session before the Marseille City Race, part of the MOD 70 European Tour, skipper Steve Ravussin.

11
Sep 12

Thomas Coville & SODEBO

Marseille, France 43º15’16″N 5º17’46″W

“Ground Control To Major Tom …”
With barely enough time for the average astronaut to recover from the impressive round-the-world victory onboard Groupama70 in the Volvo Ocean Race, capitaine Thomas Coville is recharged and at it again onboard his faithful red Sodeb’o maxi-trimaran. The weeks ahead will see the Sodeb’o seacraft slicing through the ocean at full kip chasing new reference times to add to her impressive stable. First on the agenda, Thomas and his machine are attempting the singlehanded multihull TransMed record which is currently held by Pascal Bidegorry at the helm of Banque Populaire V. This attempt will be followed directly by the solo multihull Cadiz-San Salvador passage, a speed record quite familiar in the Sodeb’o universe seeing as Thomas has held the best time from 2005-2008. He would like nothing more than to reclaim this record from Francis Joyon before the close of 2012. We wish Thomas and the team only the best wind and waves for this ambitious program.
As is evident in this latest gallery of training and stress-tests, Thomas and the Sodeb’o spacecraft are well dialed in and up for the challenge… no matter what the atmosphere.
Blast Off sequence commencing in 10…9….8……
Words: Fred Eagle

Transmed Records:
Multihull Record fully-crewed : 14 hours 20 minutes and 34 seconds (May 2010)
Multihull Record holder: Pascal Bidégorry (France) sailing Banque Populaire V
Monohull Record singlehanded: 1 day 21 hours 20 minutes and 29 seconds (June 2009)
Monohull Record Holder: Kito de Pavant (France) sailing Groupe Bel

09
Aug 12

NACIRA 67

Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, 41º05’07″N 9º34’50″E

The NACIRA 67 is a unique concept directly inspired from the latest evolutions in naval architecture and luxury design from the ocean-racing scene.
To make this happen highly experienced personalities such as Michel Desjoyeaux (twice Vendée Globe winner), young and talented French designers Axel de Beaufort and Michel Kermarec (one of the best aero-hydro dynamists worldwide) have worked hand in hand since 2010 to end up with this amazing sloop.
​NACIRA 67, looking at the ratio, is the most powerful leisure yacht worldwide able to reach speeds in excess of 30 knots with a sea view from the dinner table on the cruising version… a new sailing life style!
http://www.nacira67.com

06
Jun 12

Aglaia

Monaco, 43º44’13″N 7º26’32″E

66 Metre Superyacht AGLAIA by Vitters & Dubois.

Sailing yacht AGLAIA at 66 metre (216.5 ft) was launched earlier in March by Dutch Shipyard Vitters a well known high quality super sailing yacht Shipyard. The Superyacht AGLAIA sloop (hull number 3063) is a huge modern luxury yacht as designed by Dubois Naval Architects with interior design by Redman Whitely Dixon.
One interesting point about this sailing yacht is her massive mast. As she is a sloop she needs one very tall and technologically advanced mast, the second longest mast in the world at 83 metres.
She has racing yacht performance due to her powerful rig, long waterline length, light weight and lifting keel, which when full extended provides enviable upwind pointing and speed. a futuristic Vitters superyacht she makes a very impressive sight.

charterworld.com

In the Greek mythology AGLAIA (or Aglaea) was the goddess of beauty, splendour, glory, magnificence and adornment.

26
Mar 12

Marseille Marathon 2012

Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France 43º17’04″N 5º20’59″E

“Pain is temporary, pride is forever!”
Anonymous

The fourth Marseille Marathon under the sign of festivity and popularity since its first edition, with a new event this year the Marseille Marathon Ladies.

18
Mar 12

Treasures of Napoleon Beach

Napoleon Beach, Bouches-du-Rhône, France 43º20’37″N 4º52’10″E

The Earth Should Not Yield Plastic Alone

The earth yields treasures. As examples: the fruits we eat and, arguably, diamonds. On my daily ocean walks I have never seen either. I do see a lot of plastic though. So, too, does Christophe Launay, whose photographs from Napoleon Beach document similar findings. It is at this beach that the Rhone (Rhine) River meets the Mediterranean Sea.

Close to the ocean, where I live, I cultivate an annual vegetable garden, and am hopeful that last year’s raspberry plants will yield fruit again this year.

But back to France. French senators last July voted to outlaw hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process that uses a mixture of chemicals, sand and water injected under high pressure to release oil and gas trapped in rock. As we know, the earth also yields natural gas and oil.

Earth Day approaches, and so I googled the phrase, “The earth yields.” Lo, the first few entries were Biblical quotes from Psalm 67 in the New American Standard Bible.

psalm 67:6 The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us.

67:7 God blesses us, That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.

And in French: 67:6 La terre produira son fruit; Dieu, notre Dieu, nous bénira.

Fruits of the earth.

Hmm.

Ditto in Spanish, La tierra ha dado su fruto; Dios, nuestro Dios, nos bendice.

And in Hebrew, the word rendered “increase” can be interpreted to mean “properly produce,” or “that which the earth produces when properly cultivated.”

Who is ‘properly cultivating’ the earth, and what does this mean? I think we know, and best-selling authors like Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver have spelled it out pretty clearly for North America, where fracking is widely practiced.

As you’d expect, the usual green groups (those protecting the fruits of the earth) and some politicians who led protests quite effectively in France, saying fracking could cause environmental damage, like earthquakes and water pollution. Government ministers and industry representatives say it is the only method currently available to extract hydrocarbons from the rock. At what cost should we be extracting those hydrocarbons?

And because Google put God at the top of the search let’s drag Him into this one last time. Remember that bit about “fearing Him?”

We’ve heard He works in mysterious ways, but it’s not overly mysterious that if you inject chemicals underground to remove materials that are part of supporting materials on top of them, and deep wells are used to dispose of liquid wastes, then tremors will be on the rise. And about water pollution from the chemicals, like arsenic? Well, that hardly seems like we are properly cultivating the earth to yield anything other than a big mess. We should be afraid.

While protests are underway in North America, if you’re not the protesting type, but you are a bit afraid of what you see above the ground, and can’t yet take on what’s going on underground, or in Heaven for that matter, here’s a place to start. Easy, point-form facts and courses for action.

Look for the handy link to Take Back the Tap

We must keep our water clean and cut down on the plastic bottle waste so prevalent in these photos and the pollution at all levels on this fine earth, which when cultivated properly we know, yields the most wonderful fruits.

Oh, and here’s one more link to check out.

Words: Trixie B. Wadson is a freelance writer, independent publisher, graphic designer and photographer. The rest of the time she is busy collecting eggs from the family chickens while they cultivate the garden.
www.trixiewadson.com