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Decision Time
A decision on the location of the next America's Cup Match is expected before March 1, 2014. As for the timing of the next Defense, the 35th in history, 2017 has emerged as most likely though an official announcement has not been made. The most typical pattern in recent years, when not interrupted by outside events, has been for three years between defenses. There was a five-year gap between San Diego and New Zealand, partially to accommodate the change of seasons moving when moving from northern to southern hemispheres, and another year's delay was added to permit improvements at the Viaduct Basin to be completed.

2016 is a potential conflict for sailors with Olympic ambitions.

The America's Cup has been held in Olympic years such as 1964, 1980, 1992, and 2000, though timing of the last two of those was not a direct conflict with the Olympic regattas in the way that the timing of a summer 2016 regatta would be. -- CupInfo

www.cupinfo.com

Clipper Race 7 Start: Henri Lloyd To Miss The Start
Race 7 from Hobart to Brisbane will start at 1700 local (0600 UTC) on Thursday 2 January 2014

However, a complication in the repair of Henri Lloyd's starboard rudder means this will not be complete in time for the race start, so the yacht will leave approximately 20-24 hours later and will be awarded average points for Race 7, based on the previous races.

Race Director Justin Taylor explained the situation: "This morning we encountered a problem with Henri Lloyd's starboard rudder when it was discovered that the top and bottom rudder bearings were misaligned, which meant we could not replace the rudder.

"A solution has been found and work is being carried out now and overnight. However, it means that Henri Lloyd will not be ready to race until Friday 3 January, when the work on the rudder is completed.

"We will award Henri Lloyd points for Race 7 (Hobart to Sydney) based on their average points for races 1 to 6 including all gate and ocean sprint points. This means they will score 9.9 points for Race 7.

"It is necessary to do this as Henri Lloyd will be starting in different weather to the rest of the fleet which means using an alternative method of scoring such as elapsed time is unfair."

The rest of the fleet will slip lines at 1530 2 Jan local time (0400 UTC) and will take approximately an hour to depart and position themselves ready for the start line off Constitution Dock at 1700 local.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

Relive The Excitement And Spirit Of This Year's America's Cup
Here is the chance to get up close to Sir Ben Ainslie and his iconic catamaran at the London Boat Show in January. The 60th edition of the event will welcome the four times Olympic gold medallist and America's Cup winner as well as his iconic J.P.Morgan BAR AC45 catamaran which will join the best of British and International manufacturers and world renowned brands at the Show which runs from 4 - 12 January 2014.

Come to the Show on Wednesday 8 January for a unique opportunity to see Sir Ben Ainslie. The legendary sailor - who has recently been shortlisted for Sports Personality of the Year, for the second year running. Sir Ben will be visiting the Show and taking part in a question and answer session on the J.P. Morgan BAR AC45 stand at 11.30am (stand number G28O).

The London Boat Show offers you the chance to see the latest and the best innovations in the sport of sailing. Sir Ben is a great inspiration to many and what better way than to take the lead from the world's greatest Olympic sailor.

See the AC45, meet Sir Ben and get the chance to win some fantastic J.P. Morgan BAR signed clothing. To enter, simply tweet a picture of yourself in front of the AC45 display using #raceforall in the tweet. The winning tweet will be picked at random and announced on Friday 17 January.

For more information and to buy tickets visit:
www.londonboatshow.com

Dunkerbeck To Return For 2014 PWA Tour
Bjorn Dunkerbeck, the most decorated sailor in windsurfing history, confirms he'll be back fighting for the title again in 2014.

As the most decorated sailor in windsurfing history, Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Chris Benz / Dunkerbeck Eyewear), is accustomed to fighting it out at the very top of the rankings. Over the years Dunkerbeck has dominated every discipline going, but 2013 proved to be a frustrating and disappointing year for him.

Speculation had began to build about whether he would return for 2014 and after our recent interview with him, we are pleased to confirm that Dunkerbeck will be back with a vengeance next year as he continues to compete on the full PWA Slalom World Tour. Having lifted the title back in 2011, Dunkerbeck will be eager to regain his world champion status, whilst displacing his arch rival Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) from the top of the world. -- Chris Yates in Sail-World.com

www.sail-world.com

2014 ISAF Women's Match Racing Worlds Notice Of Race
The Notice of Race for the 2014 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship set to be held in Cork, Ireland from 3-8 June 2014 has been released.

Organized by the Royal Cork Yacht Club in conjunction with the International Sailing Federation, the regatta will welcome the world's top female match racers as they battle it out to claim the title.

Using J/80 Match Racing Yachts with a crew of four or five, invitations to skippers will be sent based on the 5 February 2014 ISAF Match Race Rankings release.

The ISAF Women's Match Racing Worlds is an annual event which was first held in Genoa, Italy in 1999 after a successful event was held as part of the 1998 ISAF Sailing World Championship in Dubai, UAE.

Skippers are invited to attend the Championship based on their ISAF World Match Racing Ranking position.

Denmark's Dorte Jensen is the most successful sailor having amassed four World Championship titles.

www.royalcork.com
sailing.org

Traditional Boats Of Peel, Isle Of Man Do The Business
The Peel Traditional Boat Weekend at the hospitable port on the west coast of the Isle of Man has been developing steadily since its inception in 1991. Located in the middle of the Irish Sea, the Peel gathering has become a magnet for boat enthusiasts of all kinds from Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland. W M Nixon sampled it for the first time in August 2013, and found that it deserves its hospitable reputation.

Though I haven't seen it stated in any relevant cruising directions (perhaps because it's so bleeding obvious), the sensible time for a three or four day cruise around the Isle of Man is when high water is morning and evening.

But the format of the Peel Traditional Boat Weekend scuppered this fine plan of a leisurely island circuit. The Weekend is staged when high water is pushing towards lunchtime, as the waterborne highlights of what is really a five day boatfest are Parades of Sail on the Friday and the Sunday. On those days, everyone is expected to head seawards just as soon as the automatic gate flap goes down, then they tear around on the Irish Sea for a couple of hours with all sail set, showing off big time, and then they scuttle back into port before the gate comes up again.

It works very well, but it means that you're totally Peel-focused for the berthing of your boat while the festival is in full swing. So we reckoned the only solution was to give in gracefully. Ainmara secured a marina berth handily off the Creek Inn, and there we were every night from Wednesday August 7th until Sunday August 11th, absorbing Manx culture by the bucket-load, and taking on board nautical ideas, rig designs, and boat layouts of every imaginable type, plus a few totally unimaginable as well.

WM Nixon in Afloat magazine: afloat.ie/blogs/sailing-saturday-with-wm-nixon/

2013 Yachtworld Heroes Finalists
Dominion Marine Media, the division of Dominion Enterprises that operates YachtWorld, Boat Trader and boats.com, has announced the five finalists for its 2013 YachtWorld Heroes award.

Now in its third year, the YachtWorld Heroes initiative from Dominion Marine Media recognizes individuals and their organizations that have leveraged their love and respect for boating in our oceans, rivers, lakes and streams into a higher consciousness.

The five 2013 YachtWorld Heroes finalists are:

Joel Aberbach, volunteer, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary District Seven Assistant Staff Officer, Sea Partners and America's Waterway Watch, cgaux.org, of Miami, Fla., has volunteered 25,000 hours over 40 years to educate the public about protecting and preserving our marine environment.

Betsy Alison, Paralympic coach for the U.S. Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider, adaptive.ussailing.org, of Newport, R.I., was a 2011 U.S. Sailing Hall of Fame inductee and has been the recipient of numerous honors. She has dedicated her life to disabled sailing to build more understanding, inspiration and tolerance of the disabled in general. Her current focus is the development of national team athletes in three Paralympic sailing events in preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Dieter Paulmann, founder of Okeanos Foundation of the Sea and Pacific Voyagers, pacificvoyagers.com, of Germany, and his crew sailed 20,000 miles across the Pacific with their fleet of seven vaka moanas (oceangoing sailing canoes) to raise awareness of contemporary threats to the sea.

David Rockefeller, Jr., founder, sailorsforthesea.org, of Newport, R.I., educates and encourages the boating community in the worldwide protection of the oceans. With offices in Newport, R.I., San Francisco, Calif., Japan and Portugal, their programs directly motivate boaters to fulfill their visions and offer steps boaters can take to reduce their environmental impact.

Jeanne Socrates, sailor, svnereida.com, of the U.K., completed a singlehanded, nonstop circumnavigation mid-2013 at the age of 70, following two other near solo circumnavigations that involved beaching, loss of a boat, a knockdown off Cape Horn, and major repairs that interrupted her first two attempts.

The winner will be announced at the Miami Boat Show on February 13, 2014. -- James Nolan

dominionmarinemedia.com

Ballot Results For Star Class Officers
Congratulations are in order:

To Lars Grael (BRA) and Mark Reynolds (USA) on being elected Int'l President and Secretary

To the new Commodores:

Commodore Dierk Thomsen (GER)
Vice Commodores Harry Adler (BRA) and Alessandro Pascolato (BRA)
Rear Commodores John MacCausland (USA), Enrico Chieffi (ITA) and Peter Erzberger (SUI)

To the new Continental Vice Presidents:

North America, Tom Londrigan (USA) and Rick Peters (USA)
South America, Admar Gonzaga Neto (BRA) and Alberto Zanetti (ARG)
Europe, Hubert Merkelbach (GER) and Tom Lofstedt (SWE)

Robert T. Flower, MES
Chairman, Balloting Committee

Nigel Dowden
Those who knew him will be sad to hear of the death of yachting journalist and photographer Nigel Dowden who, together with his photographer wife Christel, ran the Christel clear marine photography business, with a library of worldwide sailing events, which they started in the 1980s.

Nigel was a freelance yachting journalist and photographer who reported many of the events that Christel covered with her camera that appeared in a wide range of yachting magazines. His other interest was fishing and in 1995 he wrote a classic book entitled Old Fishing Tackle. In addition to sailing subjects the Christel clear photo library includes images of angling, travel and other marine and shipping related subjects.

For some years Christel clear operated from the Dowden home near Romsey in Hampshire, UK which gave easy access to events on The Solent many of which they covered from their classic Fairey Huntress power boat which Nigel drove while Christel took the photographs. About ten years ago they moved to Bieuzy Lanvaux in southern Brittany, 32 k from that French yachting Mecca La Trinite-sur-Mer, where they bought a typical small chateau that had been in the same family for many years and was in need of restoration. This Nigel tackled doing much of the work on the property and clearing the grounds himself - he told me that he had personally painted the frames of 540 small window panes!

Nigel, who was born in Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1945, had experienced a number of health problems in recent years and died on 28 December 2013. -- Peter Cook

Letters To The Editor -
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* From Andrew McIrvine, Admiral, RORC: I think some of the facts have become a bit muddled in your piece in No.2988 30 Dec.

Taken from other sources (mainly 'The Royal Ocean Racing Club - the First 75 Years' by Ian Dear' and 'British Ocean Racing' by Douglas Phillips-Birt. I think it goes more like this.

1923 Herbert Stone (then Editor of Yachting in the USA) resurrected and ran the first post-war Bermuda Race (under the flag of the Cruising Club of America but not organised by them -which had only been founded in 1922) - The start then was from New London CT, not Newport RI. There was stimulus from the Royal Bermuda YC end as well

An Englishman in New York - (Joseph)Weston Martyr competed in the 1924 race on 'Northern Light' and was so enthused that when he came back to England later that year he wrote articles for Yachting Monthly and Yachting World exhorting the British to take up the sport. There is another report by him saying he had competed in 3 Bermuda races before returning to Britain in 1924 which seems a slight exaggeration - but some of his articles for yachting magazines were said to be 'faction'!

Quote from his letter back to Herbert Stone 'I am stirring up a great fuss about the lack of interest there is over here amongst yachting men concerning 'the King of Sports - Ocean Racing'! (Stone became a founder member of the ORC despite not sailing in the first race.)

He met with Evelyn George Martin - then Cruising Editor of Yachting World (and owner of Jolie Brise) and Malden Heckstall-Smith - Editor of Yachting Monthly in order to plan an ocean race in British waters.

Later EGM met with Algernon Maudsley - owner of YW and acting secretary of the Yacht Racing Association (predecessor of the RYA). He pulled a 10 shilling note from his pocket and asked if Maudsley also had one. 'I think so' Maudsley replied rather bewildered. 'Right' said Martin. 'Put yours with mine . You be Treasurer and now we are the first two members of the Ocean Racing Club.'

There was much discussion re the course for the first race but it had been Martyr's suggestion to go round the Fastnet Rock which was finally adopted. Martyr sailed with EGM on Jolie Brise and won first Fastnet race. He was said to be the only man who had previously sailed an ocean race, ie to Bermuda - but that was not Jolie Brise but Northern Light which was not British and not owned by Martyr, (she was a schooner built in Nova Scotia)

Jolie Brise was sold to Robert Somerset and he sailed her to the USA and was owner and skipper in the 1932 Bermuda Race which they did not complete having been involved in the rescue of Adriana.

Hope this helps.

* From Digby Fox: A couple of unusual requests for the sailing community... A great friend of mine Matt Graham writes fantastic dramas for the BBC - Dr Who, Life on Mars etc etc - and he's currently writing a six part series on William Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. Matt is looking for an expert on procedures and particularly the type of language they'd use on a Royal Naval ship in 1789...

Recommendations of experts would be most welcome. There would be a film credit and production fee.

And if anyone could offer Matt a couple of days on a Tall Ship to absorb the feeling of being onboard, then that too would be much appreciated. You could lash him to the mast, in poetic tradition...

Please contact me:

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The Last Word
The great nations have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes. -- Stanley Kubrick

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