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RORC Caribbean 600 Start
High above the Pillars of Hercules, the international fleet of yachts enjoyed a sparkling start of warm trade winds, Caribbean swell and brilliant sunshine. Ahead of the yachts lies a course around 11 islands.

Two hours into the race and the entire fleet have passed Green Island and are now cracking sheets for the sleigh ride to Barbuda with Hap Fauth's JV72, Bella Mente leading the charge, pulling the trigger, spearing through Atlantic waves at 18 knots towards the only mark of the course.

RORC CEO, Eddie Warden Owen was on the start line watching avidly: "This was amazing to watch, just incredible. The way they all have been pushing for the line. Especially Athos and Adela; with only a minute to go to the start, they were only a boat length apart. It is so impressive to see these two beautiful boats in these conditions: 18-20 knots of wind, big seas, crashing through the waves - it's spectacular.

The Class Zero start was unbelievable as well - they were really close, going all the way into the cliffs, calling water on each other. We could hear the screaming from the above the cliffs so there was a lot of adrenalin going on, a lot of aggression too. With the quality of this fleet it is exactly what we expected at the start; a top fleet and they're off, in some fabulous conditions. We wish them good sailing, and good luck."

Follow the race web site caribbean600.rorc.org

Tracking here: caribbean600.rorc.org/blog/race-information/tracking/

Gotta Love It 7 Wins Nsw 18 Ft Skiff Championship
Click on image for photo gallery.

Sydney Harbour: Gotta Love It 7 became 2013-2014 NSW 18ft Skiff champion today after finishing second today behind Rabbitohs-Kenwood in Race 5 of the championship.

In one of the closest finishes seen on the harbour for 2-3 seasons, Rabbitohs-Kenwood (Brett Van Munster, Joel Castle and Kurt Fatouris) came back in the final 100 metres to take the victory by just4s.

Sydney City Marine (David Witt, Tom Clout and Matt Wark) was 1m23s back in third place, ahead of Appliancesonline.com.au (Micah Lane), Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Michael Coxon) and Smeg (Nick Press).

Gotta Love It 7, with two replacement crew members, Dave Gilmour and Rhys Mara (for Seve Jarvin and Sam Newton), joining regular sheet hand Scott Babbage for the day, finished with a final total of five points to defeat Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Michael Coxon, Dave O'Connor and Trent Barnabas) who finished second overall with 14points.

Smeg (Nick Press, Dan Phillips and Dave Ewings) also finished with a total of 14 points and was placed third behind Thurlow Fisher Lawyers on countback.

Sydney City Marine was fourth on 15 points, followed by Coopers 62-Rag & Famish Hotel (Jack Macartney) on 21 and Mojo Wine (Chris Nicholson) on 25.

Today's last race of the NSW Championship was sailed in a 10-15 knot SE wind which produced a close race and a wonderful finish which had the crowd on the spectator ferry cheering wildly.

The race had additional interest for local spectators as two of the visiting international teams (CST Composites USA and EuroLink Germany) took the opportunity of having a hit out prior to next week's JJ Giltinan Championship.

Next week is the big one, the 2014 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship. Race dates are Friday February 28 through Sunday March 9. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League

www.18footers.com.au

Opportunities At Gill
The Gill brand is going from strength to strength and this is a great opportunity to join us.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and highly driven person with a real interest in technical sailing gear to become part of our UK sales team, reporting to our UK Senior Account Manager.

Essential qualities are a personable and understanding approach with a strong desire to succeed, completely self-motivated and happy to work on your own initiative as well as part of a team coupled with a strong ability to self-organise and plan. Backed by a sector-leading product and marketing proposition, you will be expected to deliver set sales targets.

Ideally you will be an active sailor, but an understanding of sailing or more general watersports would be highly desirable.

The candidate will ideally be based in the central south coast region as this position covers a broad geographical base. The role will involve a high level of travel on a daily basis as well as regular events and exhibitions.

We will offer a competitive salary including bonus scheme + company vehicle and after an initial period the opportunity to take advantage of our private healthcare scheme.

Please apply by sending a covering note including an idea of your current or expected income and a CV by email to George Kingsnorth, UK Senior Account Manager

Closing date: Monday 17th March 2014

Sidney Gavignet and Team EFG Bank (Monaco) Crowned EFG Sailing Arabia - The Tour 2014 Champions
A consistent performance throughout the 15 days of racing including a second place in today's Leg 7, was enough for EFG Bank (Monaco) to be crowned overall winner of the EFG Sailing Arabia - The Tour 2014 - the region's only long distance offshore sailing endurance race between Bahrain and Muscat.

The winner of Leg 7, after a really exciting close race to The Wave, Muscat, the Tour's final destination, was Kay Heemskerk and his young team of students on Team Delft Challenge - TU Delft. This final impressive result confirms third place overall.

Overall winner Sidney Gavignet and his professional team on EFG Bank (Monaco) finished the 760-nautical mile Tour with an impressive scoreline of eight wins in a mix of both offshore and inport races.

Forty-one-year-old Gavignet - Olympian and winning Volvo Ocean Race skipper - who put together a strong team for this event including leading French sailors Cedric Pouligny and Damien Iehl, plus two of Oman's best sailors - Ali Al Balushi and Mohammed Al Mujaini - sailed impressively throughout the series using their vast amount of experience to help extend their early lead. They finished with a six point clear margin over Messe Frankfurt Sailing Team skippered by Marcel Herrera.

The young crew on Messe Frankfurt Sailing Team, whose average age is just 26, gave the EFG Bank (Monaco) team plenty to think about throughout the series. Although they only won one leg of the Tour and two Inport races, their consistency, with a string of second places, was what kept them in contention.

www.sailingarabiathetour.com

Farr 30 World Championship
The spectacular city of Copenhagen, Denmark and the Royal Danish Yacht Club (KDY) will host the 2014 Farr 30 World Championship from August 24 to 30. This storied event returns to Europe after a successful 2012 World Championship sailed in Bastad, Sweden where nineteen teams from seven countries battled it out for the title of World Champion. This year organizers are expecting twenty five entries to showcase their skills in the highly competitive and beloved Farr 30 One Design.

Much to the relief of the fleet, former Class President and three time Farr 30 World Champion, Deneen Demourkas will not be sailing this event however, she will be onsite to offer words of wisdom and to present the Royal Canadian Yacht Club Trophy to the newly crowned World Champion. Demourkas, who has competed in every Mumm/Farr 30 World Championship since 2003 said "it will be very strange to sit on the sidelines for this World Championship and I'm not a very good observer of sailing, I get quite frustrated simply watching". When asked why she will sit this one out? "It's time to open the door. I love this Class, I love this boat and I find nothing more satisfying to sail than the Farr 30 however, its time to pass the torch."

You can bet Class stalwart Harald Bruening of Germany has his eyes on the prize. He too has been sailing the Farr 30 as long as Demourkas and with a string of top five finishes at World Championships, he has yet to win it. "This is our year" says Bruening. "Our boat is perfect, our crew are hungry and we are ready to fight." Class President Patrick Lindblom is very pleased with the winning bid from KDY stating "Copenhagen is an ideal location from a geographical point of view, a location that allows for good logistics, but more so, offers a fantastic sailing arena on the waters outside Copenhagen. And with a new fantastic club house, we can be sure to enjoy some great social activities off the water. Conditions on the water offer the challenges you would expect from a World Championship, strong currents and rough seas if the weather conditions allows".

The NOR will be posted after March 1, www.farr30.org Look for news and updates on www.farr30.org on FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/farr30racing

KDY- Royal Danish Yacht Club kdy.dk

Contact:

ISAF In-House Certification Recognised By IRC For Sail Data
The IRC Rating Authority has published revised rules for the Endorsement of IRC certificates recognising sail measurement by ISAF In-House Certified (IHC) sail lofts. This change will apply from 24th March 2014 and recognises the convenience and reduced cost to owners buying new sails.

Mike Urwin, RORC Technical Director, said, "We have recognised IHC for GBR Endorsed IRC certificates for the last 3 years and are very pleased with the system and the convenience for IRC owners. Now that sufficient sail lofts are ISAF recognised around the world, the IRC Technical Committee has decided to extend this internationally."

Rob Taylor, ISAF Technical Co-ordinator ,commented, "We are delighted that IRC has recognised the ISAF IHC scheme. There are already nearly 30 IHC recognised sail lofts worldwide with interest from many more."

Full IRC Endorsement Standards: www.ircrating.org

ISAF In-House Certification: www.sailing.org/classesandequipment/ihc/what_is_ihc.php

Star Class Technical Advisory Board Chair Appointed
President Lars Grael has appointed Brian Cramer (WLOC) as chairman of the Technical Advisory Board of ISCYRA. Brian follows Joe Knowles as chair of this important committee and anticipates that these are no small shoes to fill.

Joe has been chairman of the TAB since 2006. Joe has served in many capacities over the years, Fleet Captain, Measurer and Chair of the TAB. He brought a wealth of information and technical knowhow to the job. The Class would like to thank Joe for all of his work over the 50 years he has been involved with the Class. We hope we will see him sometime soon on the waterfront.

Fresh ideas and enthusiasm are what Brian is bringing with him for this important job. The Class expects that Brian will lead us into our future with great organization and a hands on approach. -- Barbara Beigel Vosbury

www.starclass.org

Sailors Invited To Map The Seas In Crowdsourcing Project
Sailors across the world are being asked to help log crucial data about large parts of the world's oceans.

Satellite navigation project, Treamsurv, is looking for thousands of boats to collect information using a small device that will be kept on board.

Using this instrument, Teamsurv will be able to build up detailed maps of sea depths as boats go about their voyages.

Teamsurv's Tim Thornton told the BBC: "At the moment we've got about 200 boats logging data and sending it into us. There's nine million potentially, if we can get a tenth of a percent that would be very good."

The team are hoping to recruit volunteers across the globe to gather data, which will then be published online and made available for people to use and share.

Boaters will be supplied with the data-capture instrument and logging software free of charge. The Teamsurv project has been granted funding from the UK Satellite Navigation competition, an initiative set up to support start-ups that use satellite data.

For more information on the project and to sign-up to take part visit Teamsurv's website. www.teamsurv.eu

www.ybw.com/news/sailing/

The Legendary 'Flyer' Arrives Safely Home In The Netherlands
Peters & May, alongside our Benelux Agents Boeckmans, are pleased to confirm the arrival of sailing yacht 'Flyer' in Zeebrugge, Belgium. This legendary boat, winner of the 1978 Whitbread Round the World Race was shipped from Long Beach, California, back to The Netherlands where she will undergo extensive refurbishments.

'Flyer', built in aluminum by Dutch boat builder Royal Huisman Shipyard was helmed to victory in the 1978 race by celebrated Dutch sailor Conny Van Rietschoten, who sadly passed in December 2013. Van Rietschoten will be remembered for his professional approach to ocean racing; he was the first of his peers to undertake extensive trialing and crew training before round the world races, and invested in research to improve crew clothing, rigs and weather forecastingtechniques.

Over the last 30 years, 'Flyer', which has been renamed 'Alaska Eagle', was based at The Orange Coast School of Sailing and Seamanship, from where she sailed more than 300,000 nautical miles. She has undergone a number of modifications and is no longer recognisable as 'Flyer'. However, that is about to change; her shipment with Peters & May was just the start of a long journey back to her former glory.

Dutch co-skippers Gerard Schootstra and Diederik Nolten have established a foundation, 'Revival of The Flyer' with the goal of restoring the yacht to her original condition so that she can partake in regatta sailing once again. This dedication to maintaining Dutch maritime and cultural heritage comes at a great time for the marine industry in Holland, following the announcement that Bouwe Bekking will race in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, with a Dutch crew, supported consultancy company Brunel.

Since her discharge in Zeebrugge by Peters & May Loadmaster Mark McGrane, 'Flyer' has taken to the water and is sailing to Rotterdam. She will be available to view in her current condition at the HISWA Boat Show between the 5th and 9th March, and once restored, at the start of the Volvo Ocean Race in Alicante in October 2014.

petersandmay.com

Audi IRC Australian Championship
Photo by Crosbie Lorimer. Click on image for photo gallery.

An impressive line-up of one design and popular production boats and the latest IRC weapon from Carkeek's cupboard are among some of the entries so far for the 2014 Audi IRC Australian Championship.

From Thursday 17 April - Sunday 20 April, the final starter's list will vie for the pinnacle of IRC handicap racing in Australia and the chance to win a brand new North Sails spinnaker emblazoned with '2014 Audi IRC Australian Champion' for divisional winners.

It's an almost all-NSW fleet with a healthy sprinkling of locally based Lake Macquarie and Newcastle boats and of course from the Sydney clubs, where boat ownership peaks for the state.

Entries have been received from Bruce McCraken's defending Audi IRC division B Champion Ikon from Hobsons Bay Yacht Club in Victoria and Tony Lyall who will cross Bass Strait with his TP52 Cougar II to compete in the Championship representing the Apple Isle.

Winner of last year's TP52 Southern Cross Cup, Karl Kwok and his mostly Kiwi crew of Team Beau Geste led by Gavin Brady and sailing for the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club have no qualms about adding another major Australian trophy to the collection.

Team Beau Geste will reunite with Cup classmates Mick Martin's Frantic and Bob Steel's Quest crewed by some of his double Rolex Sydney Hobart winning crew from 2002 and 2008.

Rather than sailing their own series the Australian and New Zealand based TP52s are linking arms with the national IRC fleet. There could be up to five TP52s among the division A starters and historically the class has taken its fair share of the championship booty.

Matt Allen's thoroughbred 60-footer Ichi Ban is the largest entry so far and has all the makings of a future Audi IRC Australian Champion, once the latest Carkeek design is broken in.

Middle Harbour Yacht Club is sending Rob Reynolds' DK46 Exile and Justin Brownbill's Botany Access Cokomo, a Sydney 36. -- Lisa Ratcliff

www.ncyc.net.au/2014-audi-irc-australian-championships/

Bermuda Race Entries Build
With 120 applications for entry received for the upcoming 49th Newport Bermuda Race, the race's organizers are noting a larger than usual proportion of first-time entries as the April 1 entry deadline approaches. More than one-fourth of the applications are from boats that have not sailed the race.

Registration for the Bermuda Race is online at http://BermudaRace.com. Race applications submitted after the April 1 deadline will be subject to a penalty applied to the boat's corrected time.

The Newport Bermuda Race will again participate in the Sailors for the Sea Clean Regatta Program. The race starts in the mouth of Narragansett Bay, crosses the Gulf Stream, and finishes in the fragile waters off Bermuda's reefs. Crews follow environmentally friendly routines according to "leave no trace" and other guidelines.

The 2012 Newport Bermuda Race was awarded Silver Level status by Sailors for the Sea, a non-profit organization committed to ocean stewardship. Details about the Clean Regatta program can be found on the Sailors for the Sea website, sailorsforthesea.org

The roster of entries so far in the 2014 Newport Bermuda Race includes Rives Potts' Carina, St. David's Lighthouse Division overall winner in 2010 and 2012. George Sakellaris' Shockwave will attempt to defend her Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division corrected time victory in 2012, when she and Hap Fauth's Bella Mente (also returning) dueled bow to bow before Bella Mente finished merely two minutes ahead after 41 hours of sailing. In the Double-Handed Division, defending winner Hewitt Gaynor will return in his Mireille to match up against his longtime friendly competitor Richard du Moulin in Lora Ann.

Also competing again are the 1938 restored classic wooden yawl Black Watch, a class winner in 2012 now under the command of John Melvin, who had high finishes in previous races in his Concordia yawl Westray. Llwyd Ecclestone, the 1998 race winner, will return with his loyal crew in Kodiak. In 2012 they were first to finish in the St. David's Lighthouse Division and won the Overall Performance Prize for the class winner with the largest victory margin. -- John Rousmaniere

BermudaRace.com

Featured Brokerage
1990 50ft Trimaran BRANEC. 200,000 Euros. Located North of France.

Great racing yacht for extremely fast sailing. She was originally named DUPON DURAN II. Orginally designed as a 53 footer she has been shortened to 50 ft.

DUPON DURAN II
1990 TWOSTAR race
1991 ROUTE DU RHUM race
1992 OSTAR race

GREAT AMERICAN II
1993 delivered from Boston to San Francisco through the Panama canal
1993 Clipper Northern Light's record from San Francisco to Boston in 69 days
2001 New record from New-York to Melbourne in 68 days
2003 New record from Hong Kong to NY in 72 days
2004 The Transat (second in class)

E-brochures

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See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/

The Last Word
The theory of quantum electrodynamics describes Nature as absurd from the point of view of common sense. And it agrees fully with experiment. So I hope you accept Nature as She is - absurd. -- Richard Feynman

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