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Shipman Cup 2010 impressions
Interview with Peter Harken
Shipman Cup 2010 preparations

Interview with Peter Harken

Peter Harken, special guest at Shipman Cup 2010
“I am in Portoroz 2 to 3 times per year. The Piran Bay is what I would call a perfect sailing venue for regattas and the Slovenian coastline and marina availability is great for cruising that can be easily extended to both the Croatian and Italian coast lines.”
Peter Harken is with his brother Olaf one of the most influential persons in marine industry in last few decades. Harken gear can be found on all boats, from smallest Optimists to the largest mega yachts, from sport dinghies to production boats and as well outside marine world, for example in the acrobatic shows of Cirque du Soleil.
Q: What would you say, what makes Shipman special?
“Shipman is especially very special in that you are getting a beautifully built high end cruiser/racer all constructed in Carbon fibre for basically no more price than a standard well built high end cruiser/racer built of fibreglass. The design is also very modern and pleasing to the eye, plus the interior layouts in general are open and easy to live in. One of the other major differences is the deck gear Shipman puts on is our very best, i.e. the winches and much of the hardware is what we would put on expensive custom yachts and yet Shipman offers it as standard on their boats. No other yard in the World does this. You would have to pay a significant up-charge with any other yard to get this kind of equipment. To say it simply, a Shipman yacht gives you the highest value of any other semi-production high end yacht builder, period, no question!”
Q: How do you find the cooperation with Seaway Group?
“The people of the Shipman yard are super great to work with because they simply want the best from us and don’t constantly squeeze us to make our stuff cheaper and cheaper like we experience in many yards. That doesn’t mean the don’t pay attention to costs which they do, but they are very technical and know what it takes to make a good product with top quality materials and know what that costs, i.e. the don’t ask you to supply a Ferrari at a Fiat’s price! They are probably my favorite yard to visit because the are so innovative and always doing something new and ahead of the rest of the world, like their new Solar powered highly efficient hybrid power cruiser that is very successful. Stuff like that, always something new every time I visit them.”
Q: How did you find Shipman Cup?
“Shipman Cup is a really good event, it gets all owners together, they are like a family to each other; during the race it is a battle, but they encourage each other, no matter guys are first or last. I have talked a lot to other guests and they are all so excited. This is definitely one of the best events I have ever been. Congratulations to Seaway for organising this unique weekend.”

Shipman Cup 2010 preparations

Anja Bukovec, music guest
“Although growing on the continent, I just love the sea. I love the sense of freedom that it gives and and its unpredictability.”
Anja Bukovec is a young, energetic and sensuous violinist. She gave memorable performances on elite locations all over the globe, among others also for her majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She recently released her new album recorded with 80 members RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra in which she has been accompanied by world famous conductor En Shao and many times BAFTA winner, composer Christopher Gunning.
Q: What kind of programme are you preparing?
“The program is all about very interesting stories to be discovered and I hope to be the so called candy on the cake. Actually I can’t tell you more, it is a surprise ...”

Bojan Gale, Chairman of the Race Committee
“Last year we had the coastal race in direction Miramare Castle, with lack of wind. This year the coastal race on Saturday will go toward Muggia, where guests will have a welcome drink in marina Porto San Rocco. After a short break we will race back to Portorož. On Sunday, the bay of Piran will see two triangle races.”
Bojan Gale is a recognised international sailing judge and race officer with many experiences. Same as last year, he has the role of Principal Race Officer of Shipman Cup.
Q: What do you think that is most important for the racers?.”
As I heard, this year even more boats are expected and maybe even a Shipman 80. It seems that we will have a very interesting race. Most important? Honestly, I think the best thing for the racers to do is to enjoy the company and hopefully a nice sailing weather.

Carlo Giordano, coordination
“The organisation of the second Shipman Cup is a special challenge for us. Our wish is to make it a tradition with an own charm. The Shipmans boats, Shipman friends and the scenic bay of Portorož are definitely the right elements that help us on this way.”
Carlo Giordano is a passionate sailor from his early age and an experienced manager in the boating industry. Last year as guest at the event, this year part of the team. He has joined Seaway Group in September 2009 as manager of Italian company Seaway Technologies and responsible of sales in Seaway Group.
Q: What is the main goal of the event?
“We have set different goals, but the main is certainly our wish to give our guests a nice experience with these special yachts to remember.”

Urška Starc Peceny, communication
“Unique boats and unique persons deserve a unique experience. After the successful premiere last year, we are trying now to prepare the basis that will help us on long-term by the organisation of a traditional event at which Shipman friends will come with pleasure over and over again.”
Urška is a communication specialist involved in different projects within the Seaway Group, one of them is the role of editor of Myseaway magazine. Don’t you know it yet? Then definitely have a look: Myseaway.
Q: What are you planning with the web site?
The adventure can start long before the official date of the event. We see the web site as a kind of hub from and through which the information, impressions and ... hmm ... surprises can be shared with Shipman friends. Follow us, and you’ll see!

Michel Desjoyeaux, special guest at Shipman Cup 2009, during the regatta
“It’s a nice sailing here in Slovenia and Italy. The Shipman boats have certainly a better performance with a stronger wind than we have today, but it’s fine. For cruising and have a pleasure on the sea it’s just perfect!”
Michel is known for competing successfully in several long-distance single-handed races. He won the Vendée Globe race in 2000-01 and 2008-09, making him the only person to win that race more than once.

Shipman Cup 2010 impressions

Peter Nuzhnyy, Dharma
It’s a very interesting competition, especially for me. It was first time that I took part in this kind of competition. I’m a beginner in yachting and racing, my boat is the smallest one and it was difficult to compete with other big boats.

Vladimir Prosikhin, Nadejda
This is a great event, very international and in an excellent place. I love Portorož and Shipman boats are so beautiful, it is really fiesta. We won two races out of tree and we enjoyed the regattas a lot. Our was a very international team, with very good sailors and also our boat is very good. It is big, but it is very easy to handle. I would say that from this point of view there is no big difference between a dingy and Shipman. Big and comfortable, but easy to sail like a dingy. I like this event, because people come here to have fun, speak to each other, meet friends and on the other hand it is real racing. Everyone gets exited and competes seriously.

Vladimir Zinchenko, Yanosha
I think this is a great event in Mediterranean sea and I’m very happy to participate. I like the Seaway shipyard, because they create beautiful, nice, very fast, performance cruising yachts. I think this is one of the best yachts on the market, because of its high performance and very comfortable interior. The shipyard has nice engineers and designers, who are able to follow the process from the first ideas all the way to the final product.

Vicki Numan, Jinthe
It was very nice. It was the first time for us as a team, because we sailed last year as guests on one boat and we enjoyed our first regatta very much. We wanted to find out if our boat is fast and check, if we can do anything to improve it. The crew didn’t know each other, there were so many different languages on board what gave us sometimes little problems of understanding. But we enjoyed it a lot, we had a wonderful time, especially today with the wind. Competition is always very nice, but we wanted to enjoy the atmosphere around Shipman Cup us well.

Aleš Božnik, Nadejda
Shipman Cup is very interesting. I am used to match racing, but this is a new experience for me. On Saturday there were two really interesting regattas. Although the wind was weak, it was thrilling on the racing field. We chose with Mitja Margon, who was also on our boat, the right tactic. Unfortunately, when we almost got the victory, the problems with genaker started, so we finished on the second place. Sunday was windy and I think the racing committee did a great job with the placement of the racing field which enabled a thrilling race. We had a very good team composed of experienced sailors. I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. Shipman is not only a cruiser, but also a good sailing boat for competition.

Aegyd Pengg, Sarah Key
I think Shipman Cup is a good idea. All the Shipman boats racing with each other, but on a very friendly way. I like very much this idea of meeting friends, having good time, but during the race we try to give our best. This cruising boat is very fast and it is very nice for racing. You did a perfect event, my compliments for this arrangement. Do it again next year and we will be here.

Glik Lev, Geometry
I’m really happy to have been on board, because it was really fun. First day with the weak wind the crew had the possibility to talk, on the second day we were all concentrated. We didn’t win, but we had a lot of fun. It is a good idea and good tradition to have every year an event like this; we can talk to other owners and experienced sailors and we can share problems, ideas. I think it is a perfect start in the season.

Philippe Gigon, Geometry
It was fun. It was a chance to compare our boat and see how fast it is and the owner came to meet other owners, potential customers, friends and, of course, to have fun. These two days were very nice, we had a lot of fun.

Susanne Borufka, Mahi Mahi
Shipman Cup is a very interesting event where fun and socialising merge with racing. Everyhting was top organised and we really enjoyed it. On the racing field we did well, we even won the first regatta! I think Shipman is not good only for cruising, but also for sport sailing.

Tomaž Čopi, Jinthe
An event like this is very important for Shipman. Maybe it should take place even twice per year. It is very important to keep the Shipman family together. Guests enjoy to be here, but also learn better to sail.

Richard Rowe, Sea Blues
I’m happy to have been part of this even in Portorož. It’s nice to meet old friends, have the possibility to talk and have fun, but also to race. As we could see in last two days, in weak and in strong wind, Shipmans are appropriate for top sailing, also racing. I hope to have the possibility to meet the Shipman family also in the future.

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