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49er and 49erFX Worlds
Buenos Aires, Argentina. The final day of the 2015 49er and 49er FX World Championship. The beautiful venue of Club Nautico in San Isidro hosted the 6 day event without a hitch resulting in 16 fairly sailed races, one newly crowned FX champion, and one long time favorite 49er boat coming in for the win.

The 49er regatta was decided before the medal race even began with Burling and Tuke of New Zealand having already wrapped up their third straight 49er World Championship by a 30 point margin.

No single 49erFX team managed to seize the moment and put a string of top results together resulting in the log jam at the top between 3 Danes, Brazilians, Italians, and British. Yesterday's leading Danes, Ida Marie Baad Nielson and Marie Thusgaard Olsen, fell from the lead to sixth after struggling mightily in their starts and being forced to claw back through each race today. With 6 teams within 13 points of the victory, racing came down to the wire.

It looked for a while like the Brazilians might have enough speed to take the group, but they fell back and the Italians surged into the lead.

Final top five:

49er
1. Peter Burling / Blair Tuke, NZL, 70 points
2. Nathan Outteridge / Iain Jensen, AUS, 104
3. Federico Alonso / Arturo Alonso Tellechea, ESP, 107
4. Lukasz Przybytek / Pawel Kolodzinski, POL, 114
5. Erik Heil / Thomas Ploessel, GER, 114

49erFX
1. Giulia Conti / Francesca Clapcich, ITA, 67 points
2. Martine Grael / Kahena Kunze, BRA, 69
3. Ida Marie Baad Nielsen / Marie Thusgaard Olsen, DEN, 84
4. Jena Mai Hansen / Katja Salskov-Iversen, DEN, 85
5. Charlotte Dobson / Sophie Ainsworth, GBR, 88

* There was agony for Dun Laoghaire's Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey in Buenos Aires this afternoon when, having apparently secured their berth at next year's Rio Olympics after a sensational comeback, lost qualification after a protest at the 49erfx World Championships was lodged by rivals Canada.

The result of the protest handed the final Olympic place to Canada.

The cruel twist means the Irish pair must now look to secure qualification in Europe next Spring where one last Olympic place is available at the Princesa Sofia Trophy. At least five other nations will be seeking the spot, including two strong Norwegian teams who also missed out today.

afloat.ie/sail/

Spindrift and IDEC Away
Francis Joyon with his crew of five on the big red trimaran crossed the start line off Ushant at 02:02:22 on Sunday 22nd November 2015. It is here they will have to return in less than 45 days in order to see their name written on the prestigious Jules Verne Trophy.

IDEC SPORT gybed towards the south off Gibraltar on Monday. A few minutes later, the trimaran picked up speed under big gennaker and Francis Joyon was able to answer some of our questions for the first time since the start off Ushant. Remaining incredibly calm as ever, he told us about the "spectacular" conditions during the first 24 hours of racing, the aim of the gybe and how united the six crewmen have been aboard the big, red trimaran.

"We have moved to the port tack and hoisted the gennaker. The aim is to follow a route that will take us down to the Equator. The northerly air flow associated with the area of low pressure meant that we were heading further and further west, so the time came when we needed to follow a more direct route. At the moment we have a bearing of 180°, due south, heading straight for the Equator."

www.idecsport-sailing.com

On Sunday, November 22nd, 2015 at 4:01:58 GMT, the trimaran Spindrift 2, led by Yann Guichard, crossed the start line that runs from Creac'h lighthouse (Ushant island, France) to Lizard Point (England) for the start of her crewed non-stop circumnavigation. The boat crossed the line in a north wind of around 10 knots, under a full mainsail and a solent.

The record attempt by Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard and their crew began four years to the day since the current record-holder, Loïck Peyron, began his attempt (see previous news item). Banque Populaire V set that record at an average speed of 19.75 knots (36.58 km/h) for the theoretical shortest route of 21,600 nautical miles, but they actually travelled 28,965 miles, averaging 26.5 knots (49.08 km/h) over the six weeks. The time set in that impressive performance was 45d 13h 42m 53s, a tough time to beat.

To beat the record, Spindrift 2 must return to Ushant before 17:43:51 GMT on January 6th, 2016, i.e. 1 minute quicker than the previous time, as per the WSSRC rules. Between now and then, the 14 sailors must sail around the world via the three capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn) on the world's largest racing trimaran. They will be supported by their onshore router Jean-Yves Bernot, who will operate from his headquarters near La Rochelle.

www.spindrift-racing.com

Antigua Sailing Week
It's blowing twenty gusting twenty-five, blue water's hissing at the rail. The helm loads up, the boat takes off, down another Caribbean roller. The wild ride continues, stem-deep pristine ocean cascades over the bow. The deck is hot, the sun is brilliant, and so is the competition. Sun, Sea and Surf, the pace is on. Palm trees dance on Pigeon Beach, the 'Trades' are in, and you don't want them to stop.

Cracking jokes on the dock, salt encrusted, a cold one soothes the thirst. The beat goes on and the rhythm hits you. You nod, shake your hips, and move your hands and feet. You're tuned-in and the DJ's playing your favourite song with a hundred or more dancing with you. The sun sighs farewell, setting the skies ablaze, but the party goes on. You don't want to stop but it will be blowing twenty when the sun says - Good Morning.

The 49th Edition of Antigua Sailing Week - April 23-29 2016

www.sailingweek.com/v4/

To enter: www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=1477

A Finale For Four For Class 40
Proving the racing is as intense among the tail of the fleet as it was among the pacemakers, four Class 40s finished into Itajaí, Brazil between 2307hrs last night (Sunday) and 0818hrs this Monday morning. There was just 1hr and 40 minutes between seventh placed Groupe Setin (Manuel Cousin and Gerald Queouron) and the all-girl duo Philippa Hutton and Pip Hare who finished ninth this morning on Concise 2.

Last night local heroes were the Brazilian duo Eduardo Penido and Renato Araujo who became the first Brazilian duo ever to finish the Transat Jacques Vabre. The Olympic gold medallist Penido and entrepreneur Araujo sailed a superb race, their first major ocean passage together, to take sixth place on the former GDF Suez which won Class 40 into Itajaí in 2013. Eduardo Penido, skipper Zetra The girls on Concise 2, having held seventh and eighth positions during the last ten days, were unlucky to come away with ninth. Their race was made all the harder when they were stuck in the Azores high for more than three days in very light winds.

Class40 Transat Jacques Vabre 2015

1. Le Conservateur (Yannick Bestaven & Pierre Brasseur)
2. VandB (Maxime Sorel & Samuel Manuard)
3. Carac-Advanced Energies (Louis Duc & Christophe Lebas)
4. Solidaires en peloton-ARSEP (Thibaut Vauchel-Camus & Victorien Erussard)
5. TeamWork40 (Bertrand Delesne & Nils Palmieri)
6. Zetra (Eduardo Penido & Renato Araujo)
7. Groupe Setin (Manuel Cousin & Gerald Queouron)
8. SNBSM Espoir Competition (Valentin Lemarchand & Athur Hubert)
9. Concise 2 (Phillippa Hutton-Squire & Pip Hare)

www.transat-jacques-vabre.com

Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
Last month's winner:

Larry Huntingdon (USA)
'No better shipmate exists' - Robert More II; 'The complete sailor, always upbeat and tough as nails' - Tom Mclaughlin; 'Gentleman, friend and role model' - Morgan Bennett; 'What a fantastic Corinthian sailor' - Tish Walcott; 'As great a seaman as they come' - Lewis Simons; 'I can't think of a kinder, more joyful or more deserving candidate' - Patrick Gavin-Brynes; 'So many races, so many miles... you deserve this one' - Ed Rzeszowski; 'It's hard to overestimate Larry's contribution to this sport' - Ed Cesare.

This month's nominees:

Laurent Lenne (FRA)
Persistence and more persistence. Lenne first launched the GC32 at the end of 2012, then he worked away at developing the boat while building an international circuit on which to use it. All the hard work paid off, the GC32's transition to foiling was a stunning success (current top recorded speed is 39.2kt) while in 2016-17 the boat will be the craft of choice in the Extreme Sailing Series as well as the GC32 World Tour

Hakan Svensson (SWE)
An extraordinary supporter of sailing, both behind the scenes and occasionally front of house. This childhood buddy of gold medallist Freddy Loof has also backed other campaigns including Ken Read's Puma and Ian Walker's original Green Dragon. More recently he took over production of the M32 catamaran and acquired the World Match Racing Tour. And so the M32 match racer was born - outstanding!

Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Musto, Harken McLube & Dubarry. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable!

Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month/vote-for-sailor-of-the-month

To subscribe to Seahorse Digital £30 for one year with discount promo code SB2 click www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/digital

LMAX Exchange Victorious Into Albany, Western Australia
LMAX Exchange has claimed victory in the third stage of the tenth edition Clipper 2015-16 Round the World Yacht Race after it crossed the finish line first in Albany, Western Australia at 2143 UTC November 22, (0543 local time, November 23).

The win on the 4,845 nautical mile Southern Ocean Race 3 from Cape Town is the team's second victory of the global series, and it is currently third in the overall leaderboard. The team led the race since day two, and also secured the extra maximum three Scoring Gate points available by crossing the virtual gate first on day 10 of its 22 day, 8 hour, 8 minute long race.

LMAX Exchange's French Skipper Olivier Cardin will be awarded the Wardan Whip trophy by Host Port, the City of Albany at a prizegiving event on 26 November.

The team finished strongly, approximately 130 miles ahead of its nearest competitors, Qingdao and Derry-Londonderry-Doire, in second and third place still at sea. The race saw a mixture of conditions, with a storm giving the fleet a battering in the first 36 hours, and then regular fronts bringing gusts of up to 80 knots and big, confused seas, as well as periods of lighter winds.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

45th BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival: Register Now, Drink Free Later
The 45th BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival has officially opened its online registration, which will be held March 28- April 3, 2016.

To celebrate the regatta's milestone anniversary, organizers will reward one crew (registered by Dec. 31), with free drink tickets in the amount of the regatta registration fee.

Warm Water, Hot Racing And Cool Parties capture the essence of the event. On the water, sailors compete in idyllic conditions with windward/ leeward courses and use the stunning islands to race around as well. On land, they are treated to nightly entertainment with dancing on the beach and delicious food vendors all in one location: Nanny Cay Resort and Marina. As part of the anniversary celebrations, fireworks will bring the 2016 regatta to a close after the award ceremony.

The VX One Class has already confirmed 12 boats will be here for their inaugural VX One Caribbean Cup Racing on the One Design Course area. Bare boats and competitive spinnaker race boats have their own course area on the water.

For more information about the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival or to register, visit: www.bvispringregatta.org

Inaugural IRC European Championship
The first ever IRC European Championship will take place during Volvo Cork Week, 10-15th July 2016. The new event in the RORC Calender will be hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, in the sailing grounds of Cork Harbour and the Atlantic Approaches. Volvo Cork Week is renowned for a variety of sailing conditions to test the competitors, and as an open event, entries for the championship are expected from all over the world.

The first edition of the RORC IRC National Championship took place in 2000, and has done so every year since. There are now seven IRC National Championships throughout the world, but up until now, there has been no continental event.

For details of the programme for Volvo Cork Week, including entry and the Notice of Race visit: www.corkweek.ie

www.rorc.org

Crowd-Sourced Wind Maps - Where Sailboat Navigation Is Going In 2016
Until now, the state-of-the art for wind data is a masthead anemometer for the wind around you, and a marine weather forecast or GRIB chart. But the weather forecasts are made hours earlier, and miles away. You could never set your sails based on that. But we are about to take another step forward in the evolution of sailboat navigation, with crowd-sourced real time wind maps.

The SailTimer Wind Instrument is a connected device, similar to the emerging class of home sensors you may have heard referred to as "The Internet of Things". It uses Bluetooth 4 LE to send wind speed and direction to your tablet or smartphone, which can then send your wind and GPS data to our cloud server. Then when you are at home or office, wondering what the wind is like out on the water, you can check SailTimerMaps.com to see real-time wind maps. Or when you are out sailing, you can set the optimal tacking route knowing the wind zones up ahead.

www.mysailing.com.au

Harken International Youth Match Racing Championships
Harry Price has skippered his team, Ben Robinson, Murray Jones, Alex Chittendento victory in the 2015 HARKEN International Youth Match Racing Championship and takes home the Rockin Robin Trophy to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA)

It's not since 2005 that a team from the CYCA have won the HARKEN International, they got close last year with Harry being narrowly beaten by The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club's, Milly Bennett in the final the race.

The win didn't come easy for Harry with his opponent, George Anyon from The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) and his team who gave it their all during the finals making it a classic ANZAC battle.

The event tested all competitors with scorching heat, cold southerlies and windless summer afternoons. With racing being delayed during Friday's heatwave, Race Officials managed to roll out 60 plus races on Saturday and to accommodate a record number of 16 teams in a youth match racing championship over 130 races were conducted over 4 days of competition.

1. Harry Price - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Ben Robinson, Murray Jones, Alex Chittenden
2. George Anyon - New Zealand Yacht Squadron Leonard Fry, Josh Wijohn, Cameron Moss
3. Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club - Will Dargaville, Harry Hall, James Farquharson, Sarah Parker, Rachel Bower
4. Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club - Lachy Gilmour, Ryan Donaldson, Alex Negri, Cameron Seagreen
5. Sunshine Coast Sailing Team - James Hodgson, Hayden Johnson, Leroy McAvoy, Fergus Gillanders
6. Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club - William Eastman, Angus Adamson, Stuart Williams, Callum Pritchard
7. Cercle Nautique Caledonien - Lucas Chatonnier, Kim Goetz, Mathew Hughes, Thomas Andrews
8. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron - Matthew Kempkers, Logan Andresen, Jacob Willis, Matt Kelly
9. Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club - Milly Bennett, Alice Talnawski, Chelsea Connor, Jessica Russell, Seldon Coventry
10. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia - Lauren Gallaway, Caitlin Tames, Rosie Lee, Nicola Bradley, Tara Blanc-Ramos
11. Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club - Clare Costanzo, Tom Vincent, Evelyn Foster, Nick Connor, Meghan Bouman
12. Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania - Zac Pullen, Alec Bailey, Sam Tiedemann, James Brewer
13. Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club - Will Boulden, Douglas Campbell, Sam Monkhous, Damian Garbowski
14. Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club - Zoe Bennett, Polly Wright, Amy Anderson, James Ayr, Jaymin Southee
15. Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron - Nick Rozenauers, Fergus Abbot, Zac Quinlan, Claudia Thackray, Charlotte Alexander
16. Canberra Yacht Club - Eliot Bassili, Jules Kirk, Kelsey Hanrahan, Jaidan Stevens

www.intyouthmatchracingchampionship.com.au

Featured Brokerage: Extreme 40 Racing Catamaran Marstrom Composites 2009
Length: 40'
Hull Material: Composite
Current Price: On application

With the Extreme Sailing Series™ adopting a new boat for 2016, there is a unique opportunity to purchase a fleet of up to 10 Extreme 40 catamarans as a set, or individually, that are priced to sell.

Superfast, exciting to sail and to watch, the Extreme 40 catamaran was developed by TornadoSport in 2005 to bring sailing to the public on short courses in stadium settings.

Built in carbon-fibre, these "flying machines" are 40ft long and have a beam of 23ft. They have a top speed of around 40 knots. Complete with sails, shipping container, with spares and road container negotiable, these well-maintained boats could offer excellent corporate entertainment or activation around another race campaign.

Available from mid-December to ship from Europe/Australia/GCC.

Please contact

www.ocsport.com

The Last Word
If I had my life to live over, I'd live over a saloon. -- W.C. Fields

Editorial and letter submissions to

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