Category Archives: High Seas

The Dutch Royal Navy will be playing host to two professional teams aboard a battleship as they duke it out in Breakaway. During the Twitch live stream, viewers can win alpha keys or gaming hardware. The event is sponsored by Red Bull Esports and AMD with professional esports teams Echo Fox and Rogue taking part.

The event will be held in the Red Bull Esports Twitch channel on Monday, June 26th at 12:00 pm Pacific / 3:00 pm Eastern.

Breakaway is a Team Battle Sport where two squads of four collide in intense competition, passing, juking and dunking the Relic to score and win. It plays like a highlight reel of your favorite action games, with lethal combat, tightly designed arenas and rounds that last just four minutes.

You can learn more in the video below or by visiting theBreakaway site.

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Taking the Fight to the High Seas with the Dutch Royal Navy ... - MMORPG.com (press release) (registration) (blog)

Melanie Reffes, Special for USA TODAY 7:58 a.m. ET June 20, 2017

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First held in 1936 when five trading schooners competed for bragging rights and small prizes, Mount Gay Round Barbados Race is one of the most anticipated of the racing season.(Photo: Peter Marshall)

Welcome to boat racing in the Caribbean, where top-notch crews vie for top honors as they race their super-fast yachts and large sailboats in some of the most prestigious regattas in the world. As thrilling for spectators as it is for the competitive crews, cool parties after hot races are hosted by bars on the beach and seaside resorts. Check out our boat racing calendar and get ready to feel the wind in your sails.

Anguilla

Its biggest party of the year on the small island across the sea from St. Martin, and the busiest time of the year for boat racing. For 12 days (Aug. 2 - 13) Anguillas Summer Festival is the hot ticket for soca raves, calypso concerts, parades, pageants, the wildly popular August Monday J'ouvert blowout beach party that starts at 5 a.m. and continues through the next morning, and schooner races that honor the islands national sport. Dating back to the early 1900s when the first organized race marked the end of World War I,boat racing is a time-honored tradition and a sight to behold for fans of the sport. The Super Bowl of races, Champion of Champions on Aug. 13 is the most important on the calendar. Thousands of die-hard fans line the sun-baked shores as the boats with giant white sails take to the high sea.

Grenada

One of the prettiest races in the Caribbean, Carriacou Regatta on Grenadas little sister isleis a watery wonderland Aug. 4 -7, when crews from around the world show off their work boats, sailboats and yachts. Also a good bet for landlubbers, the three-day summer party invites with a roster of fun stuff like donkey racing and beauty pageants. For sailing fans who like to plan ahead, Grenada Sailing Week from Jan. 29 to Feb. 3 is all about spiffy boats, spirited skippers and fans snapping photos from the beach.

Aruba

Three days of parties and two days of racing markthe Aruba International Regatta, Aug. 18 - 20. At Surfside Beach close to the airport in the capital city of Oranjestad, the summer sailing fetefeaturesraces on yachts, beach cats and sunfishes and plenty of beach barbecues, concerts on the sand, windsurfing competitions and all-day happy hours.

British Virgin Islands

One of the longest-running races on the Royal BVI Yacht Club calendar, Willy T Virgins Cup, or the Virgin's Race as many call it, is also one of the more unique in the Caribbean.Slated for Oct. 21, rules stipulate that all boats entered must have a female skipper. Racing around Tortola the largest island in the British Virgin chain and finishing at Nanny Cay on the south side between Road Town and West End,BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festivalfrom March 26 to April 1 is the most-anticipated event of the season. Now in its 46th year, the seven-day regatta is a challenging 31-nautical-mile competition with more than 150 international crews trying to break existing race records.Prizes up for grabs include dinner for a crew of 15, pricey bottles of bubbly and the all-important boating bragging rights.Hosted by the Nanny Cay Resort and Marina, Regatta Village is family-friendly for sailors and spectators who come to cheer on their favorite crew.

Barbados

First held in 1936 when five trading schooners competed for bragging rights and small prizes, Mount Gay Round Barbados Race is one of the most anticipated of the racing season. Organised by the Barbados Cruising Club in association with Mount Gay Rum and Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., the 70-mile race around the island gets underway on Jan. 16 and continues through Jan. 24. While most boats sail for the honor of the fastest time, the consolation prize of a barrel of Mount Gay Rum for the slowest time was discontinued after two boats remained out at sea for days stalling to take the prize. Today, there are no prizes for coming in last, although trophies for the fastest boats are highly coveted.

St. Maarten

Named for the island and the sponsor,St. Maarten Heineken Regattastarted in 1980 with a modest 12 entries but today can boast that itis one of the largest sailing races in the Caribbean. Hosting 300 competitors from 36 countries, its all hands on deck for the worlds top sailors racing on the world's fastest boats.From March 1 to 4, thousands of fans party hard at beach concerts and at aprs-racing parties, fueled by an endless supply of icy green bottles courtesy of the long-time beer sponsor.

St. Barths

Now in its third decade,St. Barths Bucket Regatta(March 15-18) is a three-day contest on the water with a crowd of top-speed yachts all looking to take home the Bucket Trophy.The race attractsthe worlds most luxuriousyachts many approaching 200 feet in length to the Port of Gustavia.The invitational race started in 1995 with a fleet of four and today it is a hot ticket on the Caribbean regatta circuit, featuring the worlds finest(and largest) super yachts charging for the finish line.

Antigua

Amongthe worlds premier racing events,Antigua Sailing Weekis the granddaddy of Caribbean regattas.From April 28 to May 5, races on the south coast attract 5,000 spectators and 1,500 participants from the Caribbean, Europe, North and South America, Australia and Japan competing in smaller contests. For half a century, English Harbour, Jolly Harbour, Dickenson Bay and Nelsons Dockyard are the places to be to see 100 racing yachts measuring up to 100 feet in length.For non-racers, shore-side partying and after-racing drinking is non-stop, with special events that include beer parties at the Antigua Yacht Club and breakfast at Shirley Heights Lookout.For families who like racing, charter a spectator yacht for up-close views of the action.

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Spectacle on the high seas: The best boat races in the Caribbean - USA TODAY

Published Jun 16, 2017 at 8:00 am (Updated Jun 15, 2017 at 10:52 pm)

Lindsay Amerault jumped from coast to coast following her fathers naval career.

More than 15 years later shes doing the same, this time to promote The Admirals Daughters, a line of graphic T-shirts.

The former Bermuda residents designs are now on sale at Tabs; models wore them at the Ladies Day fashion show in the Americas Cup Village last month.

Ms Ameraults father, retired vice-admiral Jim Amerault, encouraged her to start the company after flipping through her sketchbook.

[He] was doing a lot of speaking gigs with military spouses because it can be difficult to have your spouse away for six [to] nine months at a time, she said. [He was] talking about how important the support role is for families.

I had a sketch that said, My heart is out at sea. The heart was made of waves.

He held it up and said, This would be cool on a shirt.

The 32-year-old assumed her father wanted to use the design to inspire the women hed been speaking with. Instead, he suggested a different way to put her artistry to use.

We started discussing the idea of being able to use my skills to create something that would provide for me and my family in the future and a way to support those coastal communities that raised [us] when we were moving around so often, said Ms Amerault, who moved nine times before she graduated from high school.

It was a really nice coming together of ideas. We seemed to be, for the first time in my adult life, on the same page at the same time.

They decided $1 from every shirt sold would be split between Navy Safe Harbour Foundation, a charity her father founded which gives back to military veterans and their families, and Plastic Tides, an ocean conservation group Ms Amerault met during her time in Bermuda.

The designs are ocean-centric, but not specifically navy. All carry positive messages.

We made sure that the material we sourced was the softest, most comfortable you could find, so the second you touch the shirts you want to put them on your body, said Ms Amerault, who now lives in Jacksonville, Florida.

The bigger and more well known we are, the bigger the reach to raise awareness and financial contributions for those charities. The hope is that people buy into the story of, not so much who we are but what we are doing and what we are trying to provide and promote.

The graphic designer moved here in 2010 and stayed for six years, initially working at Aardvark.

Prior to that, shed been in New York.

I was working at Madison Square Garden and had burnt out with the 12-hour days. One of my bucket list items was to live on an island not Manhattan, a real island, she laughed,

Her honest and impassioned cover letter landed her the job here.

She left last year to focus on the T-shirts and be close to her family.

I stayed for much longer than I anticipated, said Ms Amerault, the youngest of five children. The response to her designs so far has been fantastic.

The tees have taken off in the Florida area. Ms Amerault created two designs specifically for the Bermuda market: a triangle with local motifs including longtails, moongates and a roof-like line pattern; another that reads Ace Girl depicts a gombey mask [with] fierce eyelashes.

In Bermuda, specifically, we sold two thirds of the inventory we brought over in a week, she said.

The Admirals Daughters tees cost $30-$60 at Tabs on Reid Street.

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High seas inspire collection - Royal Gazette

On lookout duty on the deck of the Coast Guard cutter Waesche, Seaman Danielle Sanchez remembers spotting what looked like a silver barracuda gliding low through waves off the Central American coast.

It was after 2 a.m. on June 8, and Sanchez was nearing the end of her first sea patrol. It was a journey across 12,200 miles of the Eastern Pacific and it led her to a rendezvous with what counter-smuggling agencies call an LPV a low-profile vessel designed by drug cartels to ride low to the water, aiming to hide from Coast Guard helicopters and cutters.

The Waesche stalked this LPV for nearly 100 miles.

When we came up on them, we put the floodlights on them. It looked like a submarine. It was dark out, but it was super cool. Our boat crew was out there, both the small boat thats hanging out on the side and the one on the fantail, Sanchez said, pointing to the sleek interceptor vessel at the rear of the cutter.

The Coasties boarded the submerged boat 54 feet long and only six feet wide and detained four suspected smugglers and 2.79 tons of cocaine, the second-highest seizure at sea by the Coast Guard since October.

On Thursday at San Diegos 10th Avenue Marine Terminal, the Alameda-based Waesche unloaded that seizure and 15 more tons of cocaine seized in 17 other raids at sea since March by it and the cutters Valiant, Hamilton, Confidence, Active, Mohawk, Campbell and Dependable.

Called the Western Hemisphere Transit Zone, the area that the cutters patrolled is vast 6 million square miles, double the size of the continental United States. It runs from California down the western coast of Central and South America and then into the Caribbean Sea in an arc from Cuba to the Lesser Antilles, the string of islands south and east from Puerto Rico to Venezuela.

Counter-narcotics officials estimate that they seize about one out of every four tons of cocaine bound for the United States. About 69 percent of the haul is intercepted in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Federal drug-enforcement officials believe about 90 percent of cocaine shipments to the United States go across the sea at some point in their journey north, but usually are offloaded and then smuggled across the land border with Mexico.

The Coast Guards strategy is to forward deploy cutters to the waters off Central and South America to nab smugglers soon after they take to sea.

The Waesche alone interdicted seven narco-boats during its latest mission, capturing about $266 million worth of drugs, according to the cutters commander, Capt. James Passarelli.

In one 60-hour span, the cutter captured four smuggling boats, reflecting an operational tempo thats doubled for the Coast Guard since 2008.

This is about taking down the networks, Passarelli said. These transnational criminal organizations pose a significant threat to us here at home and to our partners in Central and South America.

In the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, the Coast Guard set a record for annual cocaine seizures more than 221 tons worth more than $5.9 billion to the underworld.

cprine@sduniontribune.com

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Coast Guard unloads 18 tons of cocaine seized on the high seas - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Inside the Magic

Disney PhotoPass coming to capture your high-seas adventure on Pirates of the Caribbean at Magic Kingdom Inside the Magic Soon, though, you'll be able to hoist your colors and take home a piece of treasure from your high-seas adventure on Pirates of the Caribbean at the Magic Kingdom. Disney PhotoPass service is being added to the classic ride, giving you the opportunity ...

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Disney PhotoPass coming to capture your high-seas adventure on Pirates of the Caribbean at Magic Kingdom - Inside the Magic

Theres something magical about the ocean. Blue seas, rolling waves and a ship to sail the high seas on. Now imagine that ship being pursued through hell and back amidst a sea of salty water and cannonballs as dozens of ships chase you down in pursuit of your sweet booty. Thats the world of Skull and Bones, Ubisofts nautical title which takes that one idea that made Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag so memorable and builds an entire game around it.

A game of five freebooters sailing around as one armada in pursuit of silver by any explosive means possible. Its novel idea, that borrows heavily from its inspiration to create a product that plays almost identically to its source material. Theres a lot of that going on in Skull and Bones, but can it stand on its own two peg-legs and establish an identity for itself outside of Assassins Creed?

Yes and no.

One of the big takeaways with Skull and Bones is now on how your ship handles and just how well you the captain plot her course in treacherous waters to plunder some booty. That requires skill and patience, as the ancient ships of another century dont exactly handle like sportscars. Theyre massive collections of lumber and gunpowder, floating fortresses armed to the teeth that are highly dependent on you angling her into the wind to achieve the most knots possible.

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That layers on a more strategic use of maintaining your course and getting within range of your target, as youll have to make good use of your vessel which hails from one of three distinct types of attack-craft. A sniper ship may sacrifice armour for speed and distance, but the Sloop of War makes up for that with a level of marksmanship unmatched by any other ship around. Likewise with a heavier ship such as the Frigate that comes equipped with a battering ram as it may not be fast but it can hit hard right where it counts.

The Brigantine rounds out the lot, sacrificing its turning radius for an entire American towns worth of guns as it hits not only where it hurts but also hard. That selection of seaworthiness makes for a team dynamic where organising your team is just as strategic as knowing how to plot your course lest your teammate accidentally murders your ship and leave it to sink to the murky depths beneath you. Knowing which complement of cannons to use in an encounter makes all the difference here.

As does having enough friends to play with. Much like most of Ubisofts games, the online social space is the real decider here. My demo at E3 had the perfect setup for this, throwing me and fourth other random players into a gang of scurvy misfits who quickly learnt how to work the controls and become a team.

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When we did manage to co-exist, the end result was magical. We were sinking ships, stealing silver and outrunning dozens of pirate-hunter vessels as we communicated and held our own. It was fantastic stuff, made even better by an engine that was built on small details as your salty crew raised the sails and shouted all manner of sailor curses at your foes in ye olde parlance.

Finding your own crew of regulars to join you for these matches will be hard enough, lest you manage to press-gang a few randoms into service. Its still utterly worth it, however, as Skull and Bones takes a solid idea and layers gorgeous visuals on top of it to create something which makes multiplayer exciting. If Ubisoft plans to supplement what I played today with a proper single-player and a world worth sailing, then sign me up for more as a pirates life sounds quite seaworthy to me.

Last Updated: June 15, 2017

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Skull and Bones is pure high seas sailing fun from Ubisoft - Critical Hit

Last updated17:22, June 14 2017

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Ferry crossings for both Interislander ferries (pictured) and Bluebridge have been cancelled until Thursday.

Sailings across Cook Strait will resume on Thursday morning after wild weather forced theInterislander ferry to cancel its services.

Southwesterly winds were forecasted to bring six-metre-high "roller coaster" waves onWednesday, alsosuspending Wellington's Bluebridge services for the day.

The first sailing leaving Wellington on Thursday is a freight serviceat 6.45am, and the first passenger service out of the capital is at 9am. The first ferry to leavePicton will be at 10:45am.

"Customers whose travel or freight was delayed have been accommodated on sailings throughout the day and we thank them for their patience," Interislander General Manager Mark Thompson said.

READ MORE: *Snow to 300m in the south, southwest gales in many areas *Interislander ferries halted due to 'wild' Cook Strait swells

Wellingtonians had their sleep interrupted early Wednesday morning when winds picked up for a few hours,gusting up to 100 kilometres an hour in some places.

MetService meteorologist Tom Adams explained that at about 1.30am the wind turned southerly, bringing with it strong winds that gusted at around 90kmh between 2 and 3am.

The largest gust was recorded at the summit of the Rimutaka Hill road, at 109kmh. Winds atop Mt Kaukau reached 100kmh.

"There will be some more wind around today [in Wellington], but nothing like we had overnight. The southwesterlies are going to gradually ease throughout the day," Adams said.

The overnight wind and cancelled ferries come as snow was forecast to fall to 300 metres in Otago, Southland and Fiordland. Meanwhile southwesterlies could become gale strength in parts of Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, about Banks Peninsula, and in exposed areas of Otago, Southland and Fiordland.

-Stuff

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Wind wakes Wellingtonians, and ferries remain cancelled due to high seas - Stuff.co.nz

News from KiwiRail Sailings of the Interislander ferries will resume from Thursday morning. Wednesday sailings were cancelled due to severe weather but forecasts show that swells will reduce overnight making early morning sailings possible.

The first sailing is a scheduled freight service leaving Wellington at 06.45am, with the first passenger service leaving Wellington at 9am. Accordingly our first scheduled service ex Picton is 10.45am for Passengers and Freight.

Customers whose travel or freight was delayed have been accommodated on sailings throughout the day and we thank them for their patience. We are always striving to deliver the best possible service, but safety is paramount, Interislander General Manager Operations Mark Thompson says.

For more information about sailings please contact the Interisland Service Desk on 0800 802 802 or info@interislander.co.nz

News from KiwiRail June 13 All Wednesday sailings of the Interislander ferries have been cancelled because of predicted severe weather in Cook Strait, with 7.5 metre high waves expected.

The last ferry to sail from Wellington will leave at 8.30pm today, with the return sailing departing from Picton at 2.30am Wednesday morning.

At this stage sailings are expected to resume at 6.30am on Thursday.

We regret the inconvenience to our customers. We are always striving to deliver the best possible service, but safety is paramount, Interislander General Manager Operations Mark Thompson says.

News from MetService There is a possibility of severe northwest gales in coastal Wairarapa and the Wellington South Coast from late Wednesday morning until Wednesday evening.

Very large, potentially damaging seas are possible about some eastern and southern coasts, including the Wellington south coast.

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Interislander sailings resuming after severe weather causes cancellations - Scoop.co.nz (press release)

Ubisoft Singapore just announced its next game here at E3 2017, called Skull & Bones. It challenges players to rise to the rank of ultimate pirate kingpin while playing with their friends and against their enemies in an online open world. During the conference, the developers showed off 5-on-5 multiplayer, as ships jostled about in combat and, eventually, escaped with their ill-gotten loot. If this sounds a bit familiar, it shouldn't be a surprise, as the team previously worked on the ocean gameplay in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

According to the game's description, you will set sail on the Indian Ocean, amass a fleet, and ally with other pirate captains to form gangs. Your character refused a king's a pardon and sailed from the Caribbean to hijack trading ships and take down your rivals. Since a lot of people thought ACIV's ocean-going sections were the best part, there's a lot to be excited about here -- interested gamers can sign up for more information on the upcoming beta test right here, although, with a fall 2018 release window, you're probably in for a wait.

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'Skull & Bones' takes open world online gaming to the high seas - Engadget

Its not just in Google laboratories that the revolution in electric, driverless transportation is gathering pace: a Norwegian shipping company is aiming to be able to deliver cargoes by sea on unmanned vesselsfrom 2020.

The fully electric, zero emissions YARA Birkeland will set sail next year in Europe, Oslo-based Yara International ASA said a statement Saturday. By 2019 it will be able to work by remote control and at the start of the next decade it will be able to deliver on a fully automated basis. The container ship, being built by Kongsberg Gruppen ASA, will transport fertilizer.

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A breakthrough by Yara could have far-reaching implications for the maritime industry, which has historically consumed the dirtiest fuels available from refineries. On land, automakers are boosting their efforts to develop driverless vehicles alongside electrification. Ford Motor Co., Bayerische Motoren Werke and Volkswagen AG have said they aim to develop driverless cars by the early 2020s, while Googles sister company Alphabet Inc. is testing technology already.

Yara uses more than 100 diesel truck journeys a day to haul products from its Porsgrunn plant, in Norway, to the domestic ports of Brevik and Larvik from where it ships to customers around the world, said Svein Tore Holsether, the chief executive officer of Yara.

Yara estimates that the new vessel will reduce truck-powered haulage by 40,000 journeys a year, although the journeys in question -- between Norwegian ports -- are a fraction of those taken by conventional international shipping. The companys shares rose 7.7 Norwegian kroner to 322.8 kroner, on Monday.

While shipping lanes contain less traffic than on-land roads, maritime trade still comes with its own complications that will provide challenges for automation. Those include strong ocean currents, bad weather and -- in some parts of the world -- piracy.

The new vessel will allow Kongsburg to test out new technology that could ultimately curb pollution from the shipping industry, which accounts for about 2.3 percent of global emissions. The International Maritime Organization plans to release an initial plan next year to cut greenhouse gases as the industry isnt included in the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change.

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The Electric, Driverless Revolution Is About to Hit the High Seas - Bloomberg