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Ironbound The Early Leaders In Lanzarote
Photo by Nico Martinez, MartinezStudio.es. Click on image for photo gallery.

RC44 As the RC44's cruised out of Puerto Calero Marina, past the SCA team base and some of the Mini Transat fleet limping in for repairs, Race Officer Peter 'Luigi' Reggio was not hopeful the wind gods were going to play ball on the opening day of the Calero Marina's RC44 World Championships. The wind fluctuated between 4-10 knots throughout the day, but the race team did a great job slotting in two good races. David Murphy's Ironbound proved to be the most consistent player and there were race wins for Russia's Bronenosec and Team CEEREF.

Racing continues at the Calero Marina World Championships through to Sunday 24th November. The wind is due to pick up for the next three days, with Sunday forecast to be fresh to frightening.

Calero Marinas RC44 World Championship Ranking (after two races)

1. Ironbound, 4 points
2. Team CEEREF, 8
3. Artemis Racing, 8
4. Gazprom Youth Challenge, 9
5. Team Aqua, 11
6. Bronenosec Sailing Team, 14
7. Team Nika, 15
8. Aleph Sailing Team, 15
9. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 16
10. Puerto Calero Residence Club Black, 17
11. Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team, 21
12. Team Italia, 21
13. Mag Racing, 24
14. Katusha, 28
15. Puerto Calero Residence Club Gre, 30

www.rc44.com

Tactics Change For Sharp End Of Racing
Nick Thompson threw caution to the wind in the first of the Gold fleet races in Oman today and landed his second outright win of 2013 Laser Standard World Championships as sailors start to refine tactics for the sharp end of the competition.

Light winds and big shifts once again kept both race officials and sailors on their toes with the forecast of a major storm during the afternoon putting time pressures on the course setters. But after one Gold fleet race and a shortened Silver fleet circuit, the fleet was sent back to shore as lightning started to strike at Musannah beach.

Thompson's win lifted him seven places in the leaderboard to 15th but served to highlight the price he paid for his errors earlier in the week.

"It was really pleasing to get another win but I'm just a bit frustrated that I've been silly in those other races and had those big scores with the DSQ and OCS," he said.

After a series of recalls and 13 disqualifications, Giovanni Coccoluto of Italy won the Silver fleet race, which was shortened when lightning started to strike the perimeters of the course while American Chris Barnard came second. Australian Jeremy O'Connell tops the Silver fleet leaderboard.

Top ten after 8 races
1. Robert Scheidt, BRA, 27.0 points
2. Pavlos Kontides, CYP, 36.0
3. Jesper Stalheim, SWE, 42.0
4. Philipp Buhl, GER, 43.0
5. Rutger Schaardenburg, NED, 61.0
6. Jean-baptiste Bernaz, FRA,63.0
7. Tonci Stipanovic, CRO, 69.0
8. Juan Maegli, GUA, 70.0
9. Matthew Wearn, AUS, 73.0
10. Sam Meech, NZL, 76.0

omanlaserworlds2013.com

South If You Can!
The anticyclone currently located immediately north-west of the Canaries it taking its toll. At the same time, the high pressure is causing the trade windes to move south. To find good breeze you have to go almost to the latitude of the Cape Verde Islands.

After the Dantesque scenes of the early days, where it was almost impossible to slow the boats in agressive seas, the sailors were finally able to enjoy some beautiful surfing conditions, accelerating effortlessly over a delightful background swell as they left Lanzarote in their wake/

Perhaps that the prospect of nearly two weeks in solitude explains why some of the survivors in Puerto Calero are struggling to cast off. For them, the race is now enclosed in parenthesis. The goal is to complete a story that, for some, began more than two years earlier. So naturally, you want to minimise all the risks: go over the rig just one more time, check all the little details we could underestimate at sea and, if possible, leave in unison. The remaining five should finally leave Lanzarote tonight, Nolwen de Carlan (Reality), François Guiffant (Scidiam), Eric Jezegou (Dephemerides - AM2I), Marc Dubos (CEPAT) and Louis Mauffret (Solidaires). On the south coast of Gran Canaria, Andrea Iacopini (Umpalumpa) intends to repair his spreader and put to sea as soon as possible . Tonight Giancarlo Pedote expects to pass the halfway point. It would be a pity not to be at the party in Guadeloupe.

Top five, series:

1. Aymeric Belloir, Tout le Monde Chante Contre le Cancer, 1994.5 nm to finish
2. Jean-Baptiste Lemaire, Oeuvre du Marin Breton, 82.6 nm to leader
3. Justine Mettraux, Teamwork, 85.2 nm
4. Simon Koster, Go4it, 87.6 nm
5. Tanguy Le Turquais, Rêve d'Enfance / Terreal, 178.4 nm

Top five, protos

1. Giancarlo Pedote, Prysmian. 1861.6 nm to finish
2. Benoit Marie, benoitmarie.com, 24.8 nm to leader
3. Remi Fermin, Boreal, 105.0 nm
4. Bruno Garcia, Sampaquita, 144.2 nm
5. Bertrand Delesne, Teamwork proto, 183.7 nm

www.minitransat.fr

Continuous Flexc&Trade; Lateral Rigging
Future Fibres Future Fibres is proud to launch a Continuous FlexC™ lateral rigging product at METS 2013. Building on our unique flexible carbon core technology, Future Fibres offers the most flexible continuous carbon lateral system on the market today. Continuous FlexC™ completes our lateral rigging portfolio and provides a high performance, aero carbon package with the impact resistance, coilability, and handling benefits of a dry fibre system.

Continuous solid carbon will always offer the ultimate in terms of performance (minimum weight and windage) versus other composite technologies. However this does come at a price in terms of practical handling of the product both on and off the water.

Following issues in the early stages of the last Volvo Ocean Race, Future Fibres temporarily discontinued the supply of continuous solid carbon due to concerns about the robustness of the bonded vertical/diagonal junction. Still believing it to be the ultimate composite performance solution and a viable product, we undertook a full product redesign and revalidation. The result was the launch of an all-new continuous solid carbon system on the mini-maxi Caol Ila R in May 2013. This boat has been heavily campaigned throughout the summer Med season. The product was put through its paces by a professional crew and has been performing extremely well.

Continuous FlexC™ now offers a performance carbon package which, due to its excellent ease of handling, is ideally suited to race boats racing a busy regatta circuit

www.futurefibres.com

Powered By Wind, Driven By Safety
Fewer sails and easier manoeuvres make the Volvo Ocean 65 safer for the sailors. Hoisting sails, taking them down, folding them - a lot of the boat handling happens at the bow. But the pointy end of the boat is not a place you want to spend too much time at in the Volvo Ocean Race.

"When we discussed what the Volvo Ocean 65 was going to be designed for, a big factor was how dangerous it was becoming for the guys to be on the foredeck," said Jack Lloyd, who with the design team and consultants including sailors, focused on improving conditions onboard.

"First, all sails are now furling except the J1, which is locked on a permanent forestay, and the mainsail. This allows us to avoid some of the sail handling issues we've had before when folding and packing sails on the foredeck.

"We also kept the same freeboard forward than on the Volvo Open 70s, which is about 1.5 metre out of the water."

Being able to furl the sails from the cockpit instead of hoisting them on the foredeck itself is a crucial safety factor, and a high freeboard, the distance between the waterline and the deck, is a well-tested protective feature.

Eight sails will be allowed onboard at race time and a total of 12 can be purchased for the entire duration of the race. All sails are one-design and built by North Sails, starting in Nevada, USA before being finished in sail lofts in France and Spain.

www.volvooceanrace.com

Singha Sponsors Phuket King's Cup Regatta
The Phuket King's Cup Regatta, Asia's most famous international sailing competition, is to be sponsored by Singha Corporation in honour of the birthday of His Majesty the King of Thailand.

As a principal fixture on the Asian Yachting Circuit, the Phuket King's Cup Regatta under Royal Patronage annually features upwards of 100 boats, ranging from high tech to live-aboard ocean cruisers, multihulls and classics. International-standard race management is combined with lively beach parties to create this world-renowned yacht racing exhibition.

Inaugurated in 1987 to celebrate the 60th birthday of His Majesty the King of Thailand, the event has been held every year since, during the first week of December.

Under Royal Patronage, the Phuket King's Cup Regatta is organized by the Phuket King's Cup Regatta Organizing Committee under the auspices of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, in conjunction with the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, the Royal Thai Navy and the Province of Phuket.

The Phuket King's Cup Regatta will be held from November 29 to 6 December, 2013.

www.kingscup.com

IKA Kiteboard Course Race World Championship
Photo by Xaume Olleros, thepowerofsportimages.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Kiteboard Worlds Boao, Hainan: In tight, fiercely competitive racing that characterised day two of the kiteboard racing world championships in China, the top riders fought hard to establish their position in the 160-strong fleet.

But once again the current world champions Erika Heineken (USA) and brother, Johnny, were too strong and dominated their respective fleets with flawless performances that saw them win each of their four races by wide margins.

Only Florian Gruber (GER), competing in another of the three 40-strong men's qualifying fleets from Johnny Heineken, could match the American's record. He scored four bullets to add to his perfect tally from day one, putting him in a tie with Heineken in top spot.

Riders from more than 40 countries have gathered to battle for the men's and women's titles in five days of competition at the International Kiteboard Association course racing world championships being staged in China for the first time.

Highlights video: https://vimeo.com/80034434

www.kiteboardtour.asia

Mind Games
Oracle strategist Tom Slingsby has maintained the party line that there was no magic formula to beating Team New Zealand for the America's Cup other than some clever psychology from skipper Jimmy Spithill combined with small but constant gains in performance.

Oracle's comeback from 8-1 down to retain the cup with a 9-8 victory over the Kiwis in San Francisco has raised all sorts of theories since the September match.

But Slingsby, the Australian Olympic gold medallist who has just signed on for another campaign with Oracle, has backed up post-racing claims by Spithill and tactician Sir Ben Ainslie that sheer hard work was the basis of their successful fightback, certainly no computer-generated foiling help or major design changes.

Slingsby told Sailworld.com that Spithill was successful in getting into the minds of the New Zealanders with his persistent chipping as Oracle tried to dig themselves out of the deepest hole a defender had found themselves on the scoreboard.

"Jimmy was psyching the New Zealanders into believing we were making a lot of changes," Slingsby said.

"We were making very small changes but obviously if you have got an opportunity there to get the other team thinking you are doing something special to the boat that no one knows about, as you say with Australia II in 83, it's obviously a good thing. You can play with their minds. -- Fairfax NZ News

www.stuff.co.nz

An Absorbing Interest. The America's Cup - A History
The America's Cup - A History By Bob Fisher (£250 + p&p)
Revised edition back in print. 150 copies left.

This 2-volume limited edition proved to be the publishing success of 2007. The coveted slip-case edition has become a collector's item as important to the history of the Cup, as Lawson's original 'History of the America's Cup' published in1901. All copies of 'An Absorbing interest' were quickly snapped up and now, due to constant demand, the decision has been taken to reprint a further 500 copies.

'An Absorbing Interest' charts the history of sailing's most enigmatic and greatest prize. In two volumes it covers the drama, boat design, personalities and sheer fascination of the  America's Cup, from 1851 in Cowes to 2003 in Auckland. It is illustrated with photographs, cartoons, paintings and figures and can rightly claim to be the definitive history.

This beautifully designed book charts the history of sailing's most enigmatic and greatest prize. In two volumes it covers the drama, boat design, personalities and sheer fascination of the America's Cup, from 1851 in Cowes to 2003 in Auckland. It is illustrated with photographs, cartoons, paintings and figures and can rightly claim to be the definitive history.

The beautiful illustrations for this book are drawn from a wide variety of sources. There will be charts of the courses for the early races, re-drawn from a variety of sources, line drawings, cartoons and caricatures, etchings, lithographs, paintings and a considerable number of photographs, both monochrome and coloured; all chosen to complement the text.

"This is the Bible of the America's Cup." Bruno Troublé - Louis Vuitton

View sample pages: www.southatlanticpublishing.com/aai_sample.htm

Purchase online at southatlanticpublishing.com

Two 18ft Skiffs, One Idea = Collision
Click on image for photo gallery.

18ft Skiffs When two 18ft Skiff skippers, with reputations for being good starters in a quality fleet, each decide to do the same thing in a 15-18knot Southerly on Sydney Harbour then something has to give.

Last Sunday at the start of the Australian 18 Footers League's Race 5 of the 3-Buoys Challenge Series, Dave Witt (Sydney City Marine) elected to start alongside the Starter's Boat and thought it was all clear as he tacked onto port almost immediately.

What he hadn't noticed in those few secs. was young Alexandra South (Viagogo) had the same intention to start on starboard alongside the Starter's Boat.

The dramatic result is captured on the accompanying photos but the respect each skipper has for the other's talent and the goodwill between the two crews after the incident was a major reason that damage was kept to a minimum.

As Alex said: "It was an unlucky incident that fortunately wasn't as bad as it could have been".

"Nobody was hurt, which is the best outcome we could have asked for".

The Australian 18 Footers League fleet will be back on Sydney Harbour for Race 6 of the 3-Buoys Challenge Series, with the usual spectator ferry leaving Double Bay Wharf at 2.15pm.

With the possibility of more strong winds, the racing should provide plenty of spills and thrills. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League

www.18footers.com.au

Iain Percy To Speak At 2013 World Yacht Racing Forum
One of the world's most accomplished and celebrated sailors, Iain Percy OBE, will speak at the World Yacht Racing Forum, in Gothenburg, Sweden on December 10-11. Team manager of the America's Cup team Artemis Racing, representing Sweden, Percy will attend the America's Cup session and share his vision about the future of the event.

Percy is a double Olympic champion and silver medallist for Great Britain (2000 Finn class Gold, 2008 Star class Gold and 2012 Silver, alongside the late Andrew Simpson).

Now in its 6th year, the World Yacht Racing Forum is the leading yacht racing industry conference, and is the only occasion in the year where key players from yacht racing event organisers, teams, sponsors, agencies and sailors gather together and help shape the future of the yacht racing industry discussing topical debates.

This year's event includes the following speaker line-up:
Knut Frostad, CEO, Volvo Ocean Race
Carlo Croce, President, ISAF
Jerome Pels, CEO, ISAF
Luc Talbourdet, President, IMOCA
Ken Read, President, North Sails Group
François Gabart, Winner of the Vendee Globe
Anne-Cecile Turner, Director, Race for Water Foundation
Dobbs Davis, Editor, Seahorse Magazine
Juan Kouyoumdjian, Designer
James Pleasance, Executive Director, Alpari World Match Racing Tour
Alain Gautier, former winner of the Vendee Globe
Mark Turner, Executive Chairman, OC Sport - Extreme Sailing Series
Orhan Gorbon, CEO, The Bosphorus Cup
Peter Bayer, CEO, Open Sports Management & Former CEO Innsbruck Youth Olympic Games

www.worldyachtracingforum.com

Goran Petersson Awarded ISAF Beppe Croce Trophy
Goran Petersson (SWE) has received the 2013 ISAF Beppe Croce Trophy which honours an individual for their outstanding voluntary contribution to the sport of sailing.

First presented in 1988 in memory of Beppe Croce, the ISAF President from 1969 to 1986, Petersson was honoured during the 2013 ISAF Annual Conference in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.

Presenting the trophy, ISAF President Carlo Croce said, "This is a very special moment for me personally. To be able to present this prestigious award with a trophy named after my Father is a great honour for me.

Born on 2 July 1942, Petersson has been involved in sailing all of his life, devoting time to on water efforts through to administering the sport at various levels in his native Sweden, at ISAF and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Previous Beppe Croce honorees:

1988 His Majesty King Olav V of Norway
1989 F. Gregg Bemis (USA) / Gerald Sambrooke-Sturgess OBE (GBR)
1990 Paul Elvstrom (DEN)
1991 His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain
1992 Olin Stephens II (USA)
1993 Paul J. Phelan (CAN)
1994 Jonathan Janson (GBR)
1995 Otto Schlenzka (GER)
1996 Henry H. Anderson, JR (USA)
1997 Carlo Rolandi (ITA)
1998 Peter Tallberg (FIN)
1999 Mary Pera (GBR)
2000 Livius Sherwood (CAN)
2001 Peter Siemsen (BRA)
2002 Jan Linge (NOR)
2003 John Tinker (CAN)
2005 Paul Henderson (CAN)
2006 Ken Ryan (IRL)
2007 Jacques Rogge (BEL)
2008 Nucci Novi Ceppellini (ITA)
2009 Bill Bentsen (USA)
2010 His Majesty King Constantine
2011 James "Ding" Schoonmaker (USA)
2013 Goran Petersson (SWE)

www.sailing.org/news/36350.php

RNLI Annual Lecture: Harnessing Technology To Save Lives At Sea
Former RNLI Operations Director Michael Vlasto will describe some of the technological challenges faced by the lifesaving service - and how they were overcome - at a lecture to be delivered at the University of Southampton on Wednesday 4 December.

'Closing the Gap - Operational need v Technical reality', is the topic for this year's annual RNLI lecture at the university's engineering department. Michael will talk about the RNLI's specific demands on the technology it uses to save lives at sea and protect its lifesavers in the difficult tasks they carry out.

Michael said: 'The RNLI asks its volunteer crew and lifeguards to be ready to go to sea in any conditions, so it's important that they're given the technology they need to keep them safe while they carry out their lifesaving work. With developments in technology, the RNLI has been able to build faster, safer, more advanced lifeboats and lifesaving equipment to tackle the ever increasing numbers of people requiring assistance on the water.'

Michael will talk about some of the incidents and developments over the last 40 years that have influenced lifeboat design and the changes that have occurred in working relationships to achieve this.

Michael retired from his position as RNLI Operations Director in July 2013 having worked for the RNLI for over 38 years. Michael was awarded an Honorary Silver Medal for his extraordinary contribution to the charity and to saving lives at sea.

The lecture is free and will be in the Turner Sims concert hall situated on University of Southampton's Highfield Campus. Tea and coffee will be served in the foyer at 5.30pm with the lecture commencing at 6.00pm.

www.rnli.org.uk

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 2006 RC 44. EUR 250,000. Located in Austria.

Hull, deck and stern scoop are built in sandwich construction of epoxy resin and exclusively carbon unidirectional and biaxial fabrics, while the twill carbon woven rowing is used to give a smooth, clear, carbon look finish on all external surfaces. The core material is 5-20mm and 75 to 200 kg/m3.

The internal structure is a double cross frame designed to take all the keel, mast and shroud loads minimizing the hull and deck stress and deformation. It is built of epoxy resin and exclusively carbon unidirectional and biaxial fabrics, while the twill carbon woven rowing is again used to provide a smooth finish on all visible surfaces.

Brokerage through Bach Yachting International: www.yachtworld.com/bachyachting/

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

The Last Word
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