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Wilson Trophy To West Kirby Hawks
Team racing's annual pinnacle, the Wilson Trophy, came to a close this afternoon with a worthy victor in West Kirby Hawks. The third and last day of racing on the Wirral seaside town's Marine Lake, overlooking the River Dee and with Wales as a backdrop, was roundly won by the local favourites, who beat Wessex Exempt 3-1 in the Final.

For the last day of the Wilson Trophy, the wind had swung into the south, blowing out of the River Dee estuary, starting in 15 knots gusting to 18, then veering and dropping to below 10, for the final rounds.

The Swiss League qualifiers ended after 22 rounds, before moving into best of three Quarter Finals and Semis and best of five Finals.

West Kirby Hawks hasn't won the Wilson Trophy since 2012, but the team is the reigning World Champion, following their victory in Schull, Ireland in 2011. In fact this year is the first time since Schull, that the World Championship winning line-up of Andrew Cornah, Ben Field, Dom Johnson, Hamish Walker, Tom Foster, Debs Steele have regrouped. The reason for 'getting the band back together' is the team's desire to defend its title this year at the ISAF Team Racing World Championship due to be held on Rutland Water in July.

The total number of races run by PRO Adam Whittle and his team at this year's Wilson Trophy was... 324.

Top five:
West Kirby Hawks
Wessex Exempt
Royal Dee YC
Yale Corinthian YC
Bristol University

Full results: www.wilsontrophy.co.uk/overall-league/

Maserati Off To Shanghai
At 18:52:50 local time yesterday (1:52:50 GMT today and 3:52:50 today Italian time), Maserati cast off from San Francisco bound for Shanghai in an attempt to establish a good reference time on the old Tea Clipper route.

A 15-knot north/north-westerly wind was blowing and a light fog hung in the cool evening air as Maserati glided beneath the Golden Gate Bridge and began her 7,315-mile passage across the Pacific Ocean separating American and China.

Giovanni Soldini, is flanked aboard Maserati by a crew of eight: Italians Guido Broggi, Andrea Fantini, Francesco Malingri and Marco Spertini; German sailor Boris Herrmann; Jianghe "Tiger" Teng of China; Spaniard Oliver Herrera Perez; and Swede Andreas Axelsson.

The goal of the team skippered by Soldini is to set a new WSSRC World Sailing Speed Record Council-ratified record on the old Tea Clipper Route between San Francisco and Shanghai which runs parallel to the more classic London-Hong Kong one. The Tea Clipper Route was plied in the mid-1800s by the most modern and adventurous clippers of the day which competed to set faster and faster times. The fastest of all proved to be Swordfish which, in 1853, covered the distance in 32 days and 9 hours at an average of 225 miles per day.

maserati.soldini.it

Improve Your Chances Of Survival - Be Seen and Get Rescued Fast!
You may think a man overboard will never happen to your crew. If it does, being found fast could be the difference between life and death.

Exposure's MOB strobe and searchlight is designed to do just that - make the difference between life and death.

As soon as the buoyant, pocket-sized MOB hits the water, its 1300 lumens strobe starts flashing automatically. What's more, it will keep flashing for up to 40 hours. 1300 lumens means it's highly visible from the air and can be seen from more than five miles away.

The MOB strobe is a really powerful search light as well, so it serves as the perfect personal crew torch for offshore racing too.

What is it like to be a man overboard in pitch dark? See the video.

One night, your MOB light might just make the difference.

Contact oceansafety.com for dealers or visit exposuremarine.co.uk/mob for more information.

Ficker Cup: Steele And Durant Advance To Congressional Cup
Long Beach, California: Chris Steele and team, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, have won the Ficker Cup trophy following a nearly flawless regatta, surrendering only two races over the course of three days; and winning a spot in next week's Congressional Cup regatta.

Steele had competed in the Congressional Cup in his teens, as crew for four-time winner Gavin Brady, and was eager to take the helm himself. Arriving from New Zealand, he sailed decisively into the victory seat, dispatching Hood in the semi-finals in two blows, and Durant in the finals.

After two cool and cloudy days, the sunshine appeared on Day Three; perhaps in recognition of Mother's Day – which the sailors remembered, taking and sending selfies to their Moms. With wind forecast from the west, at 12 to 16, the sailors were eager to get on the course and determine their fate.

Steele and Durant had already secured their spots in the semi-finals, but slots three and four were still up for grabs

Steele elected to race Hood, leaving Durant to duel with Holz. Steele defeated Hood 2-0; but Durant and Holz' pairing was more tenuous, and they each won one race, before a winner-takes-all match that put Durant on top.

Final scores for the round robins were: Steele, 12-2; Durant, 11-3; Holz, 8-6; Hood, 7-7; Killian, 6-8; Lalumiere; 6-8; Poole, 4-10; Storrs, 2-12.

Complete results (PDF)

Volvo Spring Cup
Langedrag, Sweden: It was a great weekend with the Volvo Spring Cup concluding first as a World Tour Event of the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) Championship. Ten teams put on a display of excellent match racing at the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club over the two day event during the weekend.

The Volvo Spring Cup was decided in a final between Team Anna Ostling and the Danish team skippered by Rasmus Viltoft. The Danes won the final race with a close margin but both teams won entry tickets to compete at Stena Match Cup Sweden 2015 this coming summer.

Stena Match Cup Sweden takes place June 29th - July 4th and after the event, Team Anna Pstling will travel straight to Middelfart, Denmark for the ISAF Match Racing World Championship where they aim to defend their title from 2014.

Volvo Spring Cup Results
1. Rasmus Viltoft (DEN)
2. Anna Ostling (SWE)
3. Patrik Sturesson (SWE)
4. Martin Mehus (NOR)
5. Jakob Wilson (SWE)
6. Victor Abenius (SWE)
7. Mans Holmberg (SWE)
8. Kim Kling (SWE)
9. Martin Moe (NOR)
10. Caroline Sylvan (SWE)

wmrt.com

Balaton Melges 24 Spring Regatta
Balatonfured, Hungary - Taking two more bullets on the final day Ian Ainslie and his team on Strange Brew secured themselves the victory of the Balaton Melges 24 Spring Regatta.

After two days of tricky conditions on Lake Balaton it was friendlier both with the sailors and organizers today. Race Committee left the dock as it has been planned and got the first race of the day, the 8th in total, started at 10 am.

The final race of the event saw gusts up to 30 knots during this race, but as it was beautifully sunny and warm outside, these were the excellent conditions for the Melges 24 boats.

With the victory of the final race Ian Ainslie and Strange Brew scored eight points in total having six bullets in the series and claiming the overall victory of the Balaton Melges 24 Spring Regatta.

The third event of the Melges 24 European Sailing Series will be in two weeks in Riva del Garda, Italy as the joint event with the Audi tron Sailing Series.

Full results

Seahorse June 2015
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Design - Oak trees and acorns
Tristan Vanderhaeghe and a keen group of Canadian students in Montreal intend to be on the startline of the next Little America’s Cup...

A rough guide
Miranda Merron on the trials and pitfalls of preparing a Class40 for the Route du Rhum

Big task - little time
Brandon Linton and his build team did a pretty remarkable job in delivering the 100-footer Comanche within a rather challenging timeframe

Spreading the word
The new Vismara 46 Mills

It’s twins - well, not quite
Two more glam TP52s from Persico

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Another Record For Phaedo3
Phaedo3 has smashed the Antigua to Newport record by approximately 16 hours arriving into Newport at midnight Friday. The record, previously held by Tracy Edwards' 110' maxi-catamaran Maiden II now stands at just 3 days, 5 hours, 55 minutes and 12 seconds.

Phaedo3's skipper, Brian Thompson described the trip northwards from Antigua. "We launched out of Antigua on port gybe with a full main and J1 an hour before sunset on Tuesday. Within minutes we gybed and remained on starboard for the next couple of days, blasting along at over 30 knots on flat seas. During our 1st 24 hours we achieved 654 miles which was great. Day two saw some lighter patches but we squeezed between a high pressure system and storms to our west over Florida, where we got a nice slingshot northwards. Four hours of total becalming then six hours of dense fog were followed by a lovely sail into Newport for a fantastic midnight finish".

www.teamphaedo.com

America's Cup Archive
To help celebrate 20 years since Team New Zealand's historic America's Cup win in 1995, 3Nnews has delved into its archive and selected 20 stories that encapsulate the campaign. Bob McNeil reported extensively on the America's Cup and was in San Diego as Black Magic crossed the line for the victory.

Back home, Hilary Pankhurst joined revellers at the Viaduct Basic in Auckland where the red socks were on and the champagne corks were popping.

Stories and videos: www.3news.co.nz/sport/

South Zone Victorious at RYA Eric Twiname Championships
The South Zone were triumphant at the 2015 RYA 29th Eric Twiname Championships (9-10 May). They were crowned Eric Twiname Champions as well as winning the Eric Twiname Dinghy Trophy while the South West Zone won the Eric Twiname Windsurf Trophy.

The South Zone picked up wins in all three of the dinghy classes and two of the windsurf classes in their charge to be crowned Champions. Winning both the Techno 6.8 and 7.8 the South West were a dominant force across all the windsurf classes.

The second part of the selection process for the 2015 RYA Laser 4.7 UK Junior Squad is also took place alongside the Championships. Milo Gill-Taylor was almost faultless winning all but one of the races across the weekend. Arthur Brown was the only other sailor to pick up a win, and finished in second behind Gill-Taylor.

erictwinametrust.org
rya.org.uk

Either One Would Do Fine, Thank You...
Click on image to enlarge.

In an incredibly generous legacy, a pre-eminent British V12 Ferrari collector has donated the proceeds of two multi-million pound classic Ferraris to the RNLI.

The legacy was left to the RNLI by the late Northamptonshire businessman Richard Colton, who requested that money raised from the sale of these two collectors' cars be used to build a new lifeboat called Richard and Caroline Colton.

H&H Classics, one of Britain's oldest classic car auction houses, will hold an auction for the 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB and 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 on 14 October 2015 at the Imperial War Museum in Cambridge. The 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB was one of only 167 built and the second steel, right-hand-drive car delivered. The 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 is thought to be the ultimate front-engined, Enzo-era Ferrari road car.

"We are deeply grateful and humbled by Mr Colton's generous gift and his decision to benefit the RNLI in this way," said Guy Rose, Legacy Manager at the RNLI. "Six out of every 10 lifeboat launches are only made possible because of gifts left to us in wills, so they are vital to saving lives at sea."

Colton was a Northamptonshire-based businessman was known to be somewhat nervous of the sea, hence his respect for the volunteer crews who risk their lives around Britain's coast.

www.yachtingworld.com

World Superyacht Awards
Click on image to enlarge.

Sailing Yacht Of The Year Was Presented To The 33m Winwin

After much consideration between Wisp and WinWin - the judges voted almost unanimously to select WinWin, a 33-metre yacht built by Baltic Yachts in Finland, as the winner of this prestigious award.

Built from pre-preg carbon fibre and boasting a remarkably light displacement of 77-tonnes, this lifting-keel yacht combines an attractive appearance with efficient yet extremely stylish on-deck working areas, a particularly agile performance, and a level of technology that allows the yacht to be readily manageable by a crew of four.

In addition, she features super-comfortable living spaces styled in the modern idiom and a superb build quality. With exterior design from Javier Jaudenes and interior from Design Unlimited the jury selected WinWin as the most significant sailing vessel that had been delivered to it's owner in the year 2014.

worldsuperyachtawards.com

For The Record
The WSSR Council announces the establishment of a new World Record

Record : Around Ireland. Outright World Record.
Yacht: Musandam-Oman Sail. 70 ft Trimaran.
Name: Sidney Gavignet. FRA and a crew of 5.
Dates:.4th to the 6th May 2015.
Start time: 17;03;57 on 04/05/15
Finish time: 09;55;54 0n 06/05/15
Elapsed time: 40 hours 51 minutes and 57 seconds
Distance: 698 NM
Average speed: 17. 08 kts
Comments:
Previous record "PlayStation". Steve Fossett. USA. Jan 00. 44h 42m 20s

John Reed
Secretary to the WSSR Council

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The Last Word
Science is not there for you to cherry pick... You can decide whether or not to believe in it but that doesn't change the reality of an emergent scientific truth. -- Neil deGrasse Tyson

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