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Star Class European Championship
Matteo Littardi, www.matteolittardiphoto.eu. Click on image to enlarge.

Star European Championship San Remo, Italy: Diego Negri and Enrico Voltolini, European champions in 2011, took victory in Race Four of the Star Class European Championship - Casino Cup, run today at Sanremo.

Day Four put the crew of the Star European Championship under heavy pressure. The day started under a bright sunshine but more than once the lack of wind made the participants fear a possible cancellation of the race.

Already at 11 am, however, weather conditions had improved and the starting procedure began, thanks to a South/West wind of about six knots, that strengthened progressively up to twenty knots.

After the end of the first race of today, all the crews returned ashore, waiting for the decisions of the Committee upon the possibility of starting another race.

The Race Authorities have been very careful in taking their decision, for a worsening of the sea conditions and an excessive strengthening of the wind were expected. Due to the worsened weather conditions no other race was run.

After Race Four, Poland's Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki (Gdanski Klub Zeglarski) are still at the top, with thirteen points; second place are Swedes Fredrik Loof and Max Salminen (KSSS), who reduced their gap from the first place, while the third rank is occupied by Norwegians Sigurd Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen (KNS Yacht Club).

Italians Diego Negri and Enrico Voltolini (Guardia di Finanza) moved up to fourth place, at only two points from the podium, while fifth place are Danes Michael Hestbek and Claus Olesen (KDY).

Tomorrow the Star Class European Championship will come to an end. The prize awarding ceremony will take place after the end of races.

yachtclubsanremo.it

Big Wednesday In Qingdao
Photo by Mark Lloyd, www.lloydimages.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Extreme Sailing Series The Extreme Sailing Series fleet went into stadium sailing mode today and the intensity on the water ramped up a notch, with plenty of close calls, contact between the boats, penalties and an incredible 11 false starts from the 8 races. To the satisfaction of Austrian skipper, Roman Hagara, Red Bull Sailing Team managed to hold onto their lead, but the remainder of the fleet reshuffled the leaderboard at the end of play on day 2.

Racing started in 12 knots of breeze, within the confines of the natural stadium of Fushan Bay, the fleet had to contend with big gusts up to 17 knots funneling through the city skyline making the bear-away turn at the final mark a tense moment.

Record breaking round the world sailor Loick Peyron and his French flagged-team ZouLou had their best day since making their Extreme 40 debut in Muscat, consistently sailing at the top end of the fleet with their first race win in race two and three further top three finishes.

The newest team on the circuit and the Series' first ever Danish representatives SAP Extreme Sailing Team began to find their feet in the stronger winds, winning their first race in the colours of their newly announced sponsor SAP.

As the Extreme 40s go into the penultimate day tomorrow, the teams can expect plenty of more close racing on the short stadium courses as they fight to secure their positions on the leaderboard before the final day.

Standings after Day 2, 14 races (18.4.12)
Position / Team / Points
1. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Matthew Adams / Graeme Spence, Pierre Le Clainche, 90 points
2. The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan / Ed Smyth / Pete Greenhalgh / Hashim Al Rashdi / Rachel Williamson, 83
3. Oman Air (OMA) Morgan Larson / Will Howden / Charlie Ogletree / Nasser Al Mashari / Max Bulger, 79
4. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA) Pierre Pennec / Jean-Christophe Mourniac / Hervé Cunningham / Bernard Labro / Romain Petit, 78
5. GAC Pindar (GBR) Ian Williams / Mark Ivey / Mark Bulkeley / Adam Piggot / Andrew Walsh, 75
6. ZouLou (FRA) Loick Peyron / Philippe Mourniac / Jean-Sébastien Ponce / Bruno Jeanjean / Patrick Aucour, 72
7. Alinghi (SUI), Pierre-Yves Jorand / Tanguy Cariou / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey / Charles Favre, 68
8. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen / Rasmus Kostner / Pete Cumming / Christian Kamp / Jonas Hviid, 50
9. China Team (CHN) Phil Robertson / Garth Ellingham / Kit Cheng / Nick Catley / Xiaqun Song, 34

extremesailingseries.com

Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez Make London 2012 Olympics
The two Telefonica sailors are scheduled to finish racing on July 7 in Galway, Ireland but are determined to give themselves the best posible chance of another medal in the 49er class, following gold in 2004 and silver in 2008.

"Until the Volvo Ocean Race finishes, of course, we've got to keep fighting as hard as we can and that's what we're going to do," said Martinez, who finished second in the Olympic practice event in Weymouth last year.

"On the upcoming stopovers, if we can we'll try to do some training."

The pair were denied a second gold in 2008 after their Danish rivals borrowed a replacement from already eliminated Croatia - after breaking their own boat - for the deciding race in Beijing.

A furious protest ensued from silver-medallists Spain and the Italian team, which was subsequently rejected. -- Rod Gilmour in The Telegraph

Full article at
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/

MAPFRE Palmavela Regatta
Photo by Nico Martinez, www.nicomartinez.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Palmavela Regatta Palma de Mallorca, Spain: 116 boats, 1000 sailors, 16 represented countries and 15 divisions make up the impressive line up of the 2012 Mapfre PalmaVela regatta, the season's opening event which has one more year managed to gather the big names of the international sailing fleet.

During the four next days 15 divisions will be competing on four race areas distributed throughout the bay of Palma. The fleet's largest vessels, the Maxis and the TP52's, will run six and eight races respectively as from tomorrow Thursday. The Maxi fleet has a total of ten boats after RioKhan was not able to reach Palma due a problem with her keel, distributed in two divisions: Maxi and Mini Maxi. British Open Season of Thomas Bscher, J-One of Jean Charles Decaux and Magic Carpet 2 of Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones are some the names among the Wallies, whereas Brian Benjamin's Aegir, Alpina of Peter Stas, and JH1 of Toby Brand are part of the Maxi's line up. Sir Peter Ogden's Jethou, German Emma of Dr. Johann Killinger, Portuguese Armeigin III of Antonio Mesa, and Russian Bronenosec of Vladimir Liubomirov will race in the Mini Maxi division.

Guillermo Parada skippered Alberto Roemmers' Audi Azzurra is the big news in the TP52 class. Once more the Italo-Argentinian team choose Palma for the debut of their new 52 footer, which will face heavyweights like American Quantum Racing with 32nd America's Cup winner Ed Baird at the helm, Swedish Niklas Zennstrom's RAN, and English Gladiator of Tony Langley.

Big news is also the debut of the Soto 40 class with six boats in the Mapfre PalmaVela regatta, the class's first race in Europe after taking part in the 2011 Audi MedCup Circuit. Agustín Zulueta's Iberdrola Team or Ngoni of Tony Buckingham will race along new campaigns like Solete of Jesus Turro, Stefan Jentzsch's Black Pearl and Olly Cameron 's Alegre.

www.prensarcnp.es/palm2010/principal/index_uk.php

Falcone Joins Puma Ocean Racing Powered by Berg Crew
Itajai, Brazil: PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG announced today that Shannon Falcone will sail on board PUMA's Mar Mostro for Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 from Itajaí, Brazil, to Miami, Florida, USA. Falcone takes the place of bowman Casey Smith who injured his back during the last leg of the race from Auckland, New Zealand, to Itajaí. Helmsman Kelvin Harrap also rejoins the team, returning from injury after missing Leg 5.

Falcone, 30 from Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, will sail in his second Volvo Ocean Race with PUMA Ocean Racing beginning with Saturday's In-Port Race in Itajaí. He was part of the PUMA team for the 2008-09 edition of the race, serving as trimmer and pitman for eight legs. Falcone is currently a member of the ORACLE Racing team training for the 34th America's Cup. In 2010, he was on BMW ORACLE Racing's extended crew, winner of the 33rd America's Cup, and he has been a part of the Mascalzone Latino (2000) and Luna Rossa (2007) America's Cup campaigns.

Harrap, who missed Leg 5 due to carpal tunnel syndrome in both arms as well as bursitis in his elbow, resumes his role with the PUMA crew this week.

Racing gets underway in Itajaí with the Pro Am Race on Friday, April 20, followed by the In-Port Race on Saturday, April 21, and the start of Leg 6 to the lone U.S. stop of Miami, Florida, on Sunday, April 22.

www.puma.com/sailing
volvooceanrace.com

Green Comm Officially Withdraws From AC34
Things can change quickly in the world of the America's Cup. Just a few months ago, Green Comm challenge was confident that the, albeit complicated, funding arrangements that they had negotiated would be enough to see them build a 72 catamaran to challenge for the America's Cup.

The challenge of putting together funding for the Green Comm syndicate, representing the Real Club Nautico de Valencia, in a region where the economy is bumping along the bottom with little sign of improvement, has proven too much and Green Comm have officially announced their withdrawal from the 34th America's Cup.

The withdrawal of Green Comm from the America's Cup doesn't really surprise anyone. There was great ambition and there were some nice values and concepts that could have worked, but the combination of an economically stagnant southern Europe and the Cup concept being new and somewhat misunderstood has hurt smaller teams without the safety net of a private backer. There have also been internal complications and personnel changes that have disrupted the continuity of the campaign.

The emergence of Luna Rossa as an (the) 'Italian' team could have either helped or hindered the Green Comm cause. While the Green Comm team had a Spanish flag, the money was partly Italian. It is hard enough for a country to support one America's Cup challenge, let alone two as shown by the withdrawal of Aleph earlier in the month. -- David Fuller in YachtRacing.biz

www.yachtracing.biz

ISAF Match Race Rankings
Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) and Ian Williams (GBR) continue to remain in pole position in the Women's and Open ISAF Match Race Rankings although there has been significant movement in the trailing packs.

Open Rankings
Ian Williams (GBR) kick started his 2012 match race campaign following his second consecutive Congressional Cup victory. Held at Long Beach Yacht Club in California, USA, the World #1 proved his worth to take the ISAF Grade 1 event beating Gavin Brady (NZL) in the final.

Brady, who has finished on the Congressional Cup podium seven times, has been inactive for the past 12 months and is the current World #250. But Williams' victory further strengthens his hold on the World #1 spot, a position he has held since the turn of the year.

Women's Rankings
2011 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year, Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) stormed to a regatta victory at the Trofeo S.A.R. Princess Sofia MAPFRE defeating Olivia Price (AUS) in the final. The Americans win further solidifies her position as the world's best women's match racer at the moment.

Ekaterina Skudina (RUS) won the other ISAF Grade 1 event in March, the St Quay Women Match Racing in France. The Russian overcame home favourite Claire Leroy (FRA) to take the honours and moves up to World #4, a personal best.

Top ten, Open
1. Ian Williams, GBR
2. Torvar Mirsky, AUS
3. Francesco Bruni, ITA
4. Pierre-Antoine Morvan, FRA
5. Bjorn Hansen, SWE
6. Jesper Radich, DEN
7. Keith Swinton, AUS
8. Johnie Berntsson, SWE
9. Philip Robertson, NZL
10. Peter Gilmour, AUS

Top ten, Women
1. Anna Tunnicliffe, USA
2. Lucy Macgregor, GBR
3. Claire Leroy, FRA
4. Ekaterina Skudina, RUS
5. Tamara Echegoyen, ESP
6. Sally Barkow, USA
7. Silja Lehtinen, FIN
8. Nicky Souter, AUS
9. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA
10. Genevieve Tulloch, USA

Full rankings: www.sailing.org/mrwrankings

Swedish Sailor Found After 80 Days
The 66 year old Swede Stig Lundvall was rescued Tuesday 40 nautical miles off the coast og South Africa. He left Falmouth in July last year and hasn't been seen since. He lost the mast on his Marieholm 26 in a violent storm and had been drifting for 11 weeks before he was found.

Interpol listed Stig Lundvall (66) as a missing person until Tuesday. No one had heard from him after he left Falmouth, UK July 20th 2011 in his 26 feet long Marieholm. He was heading for Perth, Australia or Wellington, New Zealand. The only communication option he had on board was VHF.

The solo sailor seems to have had a good journey south through the Atlantic Ocean, but when he was sailing far off the South African coast 80 days ago a storm snapped his mast. Since then he has been drifting around in the Indian Ocean.

Lundvall managed to alert a passing Greek ship, the Proteus, catching the attention of the crew with the last of his flares.

"Stig Lundvall has explained to the captain of the Proteus of how he shot his very last flare when Proteus was roughly one nautical mile's distance (1,852 metres) from him," said Danny Jenni of the South African Sea Rescue to media.

"As luck would have it, it was the perfect time of the day, but it was the very last of the flare's light that they saw on aboard the Proteus, and then it became dark again," he said. -- Jon Amtrup in TheSailNews:

thesailnews.com/?p=1420

Ladycat's New Look
Photo by Chris Schmid, www.eyemage.ch. Click on image for photo gallery.

LadyCat Dona Bertarelli's Decision 35 catamaran, Ladycat (SUI10) is changing her look and her crew for the 2012 Lake Leman Vulcain Trophy multihull competition season. The catamaran has moved from hot pink to other original colours: black, bronze and green, with a strong graphic design that reflects the new mixed gender crew.

This season, Ladycat will have on board Dona Bertarelli as skipper/helmswoman, Emmanuelle Rol as trimmer, as well as multihull specialists; Yann Guichard, tactician; Billy Besson and Arnaud Jarlegan, trimmers; and Devan Le Bihan, N1. Nicolas Debordes, preparer, will ensure all technical support.

Ron Holland's Kestrel 106 at Antibes
Click on image for photo gallery.

Kestrel 106 Irish owned and designed Superyacht the Ron Holland designed Kestrel 106 was the star of the show at last weekend's Antibes Yacht Show. The culmination of a 6 year project for Irish couple Peter and Jenny Cooke and their Irish / Scottish consortium of 24 partners, the all-new Kestrel 106 sailing yacht was designed by the world renowned Ron Holland from Cork.

Its unveiling to the industry and public at the Antibes Yacht Show last weekend yielded a significant number of serious enquiries to purchase the first Kestrel 106 for €7.5m with additional orders for both a larger and smaller version.

According to the Cooke's by creating a 'best of both worlds' superyacht - one that combines exceptional levels of recreational amenity and accommodation space with excellent sailing performance, high stability and an easy motion at sea the Kestrel 106 demonstrates the potential for a new Superyacht business.

Holland stated that "The Kestrel brief gave us a stimulating project, because here was an initiative to create a yacht that could be equally at home undertaking a luxury charter in the Eastern Mediterranean or long distance passage making in the open ocean."

The 32.4m ketch recently completed sea trials at the long established world class Aganlar yard in Bodrum, Turkey and sailed from there to Malta in just 72 hours, and from there to Antibes in a further 76 hours.

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 2011 MJM 29z Downeast. 279,000 GBP. Located in Hamble, United Kingdom.

The stunning 29z is the first "Downeast" boat under 30 feet with living-room-style comfort for 10 people in the cockpit, protected from the sun or rain under a hardtop. This boat is ideal for day touring the harbor or cruising the coast. Sea trials will demonstrate the dry and quiet ride you'll offer guests with the 29z's sterndrive. Also unique to the 29z are front windshields that fully open. Strata-glass sides roll up and store in place. The 29z is the only 29 footer in the world that can deliver such a fuel efficient but dry and comfortable ride. This is due to its high-tech epoxy wet pre-preg Kevlar/E-glass/Corecell composite laminate, vacuum-bagged and oven-post-cured construction. This method has been perfected by Boston BoatWorks over 25 years of building custom racing yachts, including America's Cup contenders. The 29z is stronger and lighter than conventional fiberglass or SCRIMP construction. The 29z is certified by the International Standards Bureau in Brussels, Belgium as a CE Mark Category B, Offshore Power Yacht.

Brokerage through Key Yachting Ltd.: www.yachtworld.com/keyyachting/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at
uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they regard such departure as a criticism of themselves. -- Bertrand Russell

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