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Figaro Leg Three Shortened: Wolf Rock Instead Of Fastnet Rock
Due to light winds, the Solitaire du Figaro race has shortened the third leg into Torbay to ensure the skippers arrive this week. From the original 600 miles scheduled, to include a rounding of Fastnet Rock, the fleet is now going to round Wolf Rock and head to Torbay. The leg is now approximately 400 miles.

Ahead of the forecasts, the 39 competitors have entered the Channel thanks to the rising tide. Charlie Dalin (Skipper Macif 2015) who was the more skillful in the Iroise Sea. He skirted Ouessant this afternoon, followed closely by Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert).

A Solitaire du Figaro - Eric Bompard Cachemire race village will be open to the public on Beacon Quay, from Wednesday June 17 until Sunday.

Two abandonments:

Benjamin Dutreux (Team Vendee) informed the race director that he starboard rudder is bent and partially broken. He will sail to the port of Bloscon-Roscoff in Finistere, Brittany, to have a full inspection of his hull and keel.

At 0015 BST, Redshift skippered by Nick Cherry, ran into a rock off the NE end of the Isle of Batz (2nm offshore of Roscoff, France). Nick sustained no injuries to himself, but believes some of the structural frames inside his boat may have been damaged, though the boat is not in any immediate danger. Nick will proceed to the marina in Roscoff (FR) under his own engine. His technical team will arrive at approximately 0300hrs to assist with the evaluation of the damage, and decide how and where any repair should be made. Nick will retire from Leg 3 of the Solitaire du Figaro - Eric Bompard Cachemire, and hopes to rejoin the race for the final leg to Dieppe (FR) which starts from Torbay on Sunday 21st June.

Top ten at 1900 June 15

1. Skipper Macif 2015, Charlie Dalin, 229.76 nm To Leg Finish
2. Groupe Queguiner - Leucemie Espoir, Yann Elies, 0.35
3. Skipper Herault, Xavier Macaire, 0.88
4. Safran - Guy Cotten, Gwenole Gahinet, 1.13
5. Skipper Macif 2014, Yoann Richomme, 1.26
6. Gedimat, Thierry Chabagny, 1.30
7. Gac Concise, Jackson Bouttell, 1.46
8. Maitre Coq, Jeremie Beyou, 1.59
9. Magma Structures, Alan Roberts, 1.62
10. Sofinther - Un Maillot Pour La Vie, Corentin Douguet, 1.71

www.lasolitaire.com

Sprint And Think
The final stage of the Volvo Ocean Race starts Tuesday at 1500 UTC (1700 local time) from Lorient to Gothenburg, via a pit stop in The Hague.

It's a key stage - yes, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing has already secured the overall trophy, but four boats are still competing for the second and third places.

In fact, just six points separate Team Brunel (27 points) from Dongfeng Race Team (29 points), MAPFRE (31 points) and Team Alvimedica (33).

And it's a tricky stage, too.

"Everything is an obstacle," sighs Team Brunel's navigator Andrew Cape. "Rocks everywhere, mud banks, wind farms, ships and shipping lanes... I know I say I don't like Malacca a lot but of all places, I hate this bit more."

Live coverage:
www.volvooceanrace.com/en/live.html

Royal Southern Match Cup
Ian Williams emerged as a worthy winner of the first ever World Match Racing Tour event to be held in the UK, the Royal Southern Match Cup 2015. But this ISAF Grade 2 event posed a real scare for Ian from the Club's own Academy member Mark Lees in the semi-finals.

Five-time World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) champion and the current world number one, Williams had kept a 100 per cent win record until he ran into Lees in the first of the knock-out series.

Lees took the first race and an early lead in the best-of-five, before Williams hit back taking the next two.

However, Williams then showed why he is ISAF's top-ranked match racer by taking the decider by the scruff of the neck and dominating the race to reach the final.

In the increasingly fickle wind, he beat Australian match racing champion Matt Jerwood 2-0 in a shortened series to take the title.

Final Results:
1. Ian Williams
2. Mathew Jerwood
3. Connor Miller
4. Mark Lees
5. Joachim Aschenbrenner
6. Christian Tang
7. Annabel Vose
8. Lukasz Wosinski
9. Philip Bendon
10. Mathew Reid

www.royal-southern.co.uk

XS-R
The worklight you should never be without

Exposure's XS-R (red beam) torch is the smallest, brightest, toughest and lightest for its micro size. The 21 lumens red light has an impressive 17m beam distance, is 33g and measures 50x22mm with high and low definition outputs and 6 to 60 hours burn time plus optional rechargeable batteries.

Designed to wear around the neck, XS-R is great for on deck jobs, night trimming and working in dark spaces whether you are searching in lockers or fixing the engine! Maintaining night sight is critical especially when navigating through channels and traffic at night. The XS-R reduces risk of losing that essential nocturnal vision.

Ian Walker, Skipper of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Team, says "This little light is my favourite piece of equipment. It's so useful, it lives around my neck day and night for the entire race. The red light allows you to work without disturbing your crew, or anyone else's night vision. Even in daylight it's useful down below decks. You never know when you are going to need it. With the little XS around your neck it is always ready for you but never gets in the way."

More XS-R information and contact Ocean Safety for dealers.

Tornado European Open And Mixed Championships
28 teams from 9 different countries battled for the 2015 European title in Y.C. Jestrabi in Cerna v Posumavi, Czech Republic.

The weather varied from day to day from hot and sunny to cold and cloudy but the sailing conditions remained difficult and demanding either way. There were a lot of shifts both in direction and in speed of the wind so great tactics were required to win each race. Finally 8 amazing races and a lot of social events were completed.

On the first day, the Redbull team (Dany Paschalidis - Kostas Trigonis) made a dynamic start scoring 2 bullets in 2 races while teams J.J. Darboven (Roland and Nahid Gaebler) and Hellenic Police (Nikolaos Mavros - Alexandros Tagaropoulos) stayed on second and third place respectively having equal points.

The second day was ideal for Roland and Nahid who managed to score two bullets and a second.

So we went on for the last racing day with the two top boats having equal points and the third one being close behind.

After 2 exciting races Roland and Nahid Gaebler are now the 2015 Tornado Open as well as the Mixed European champions after scoring a bullet and a third place overall.

Final top five:
1. Roland Gaebler / Nahid Gaebler, GER, 7 points
2. Iordanis Paschalidis / Konstantine Trigkonis, GRE, 7
3. Nikolas Mavros / Alexandros Tagaropoulos, GRE, 13
4. David Knzek / Adam Zdenek, CZE, 13
5. Manfred Schonleitener / Georg Hirsch-Stronstorff, AUS, 28

www.2015-tornado-europeans.eu

Record Fleet Preparing For 2015 J/111 World Championship
In just four short years, the J/111 class has grown at a remarkable pace. It achieved International Class status from ISAF in less than two years and hosted its first World Championship in Cowes, England in 2014 with eighteen boats in attendance.

Today, over 115 boats have been launched since the fall of 2010 and nearly 25% of that fleet are showing up for the J/111 Worlds in Newport for the week of June 15th to 19th. The twenty-five boats entered come from the British Virgin Islands, Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the USA. Of the American boats, teams have traveled from as far west as San Diego, California, representing a total of twelve states (including Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, Rhode Island, Ohio, Massachusetts and Arizona).

Looking forward to that opportunity of racing off Newport is the current J/111 World Champion, Duncan McDonald and Phil Thomas from Great Britain. This sharp duo shipped their boat- Shmokin Joe- over from the U.K. to participate; she has been seen for some weeks up at NEB Boatworks in Portsmouth, RI. Other top five J/111 teams from the U.K. include Chris Jones and Louise Makin of Journeymaker V fame sailing a chartered boat- Wild Child; Tony Mack's notoriously fast crew aboard Team McFLY from Royal Southern YC; and Martin Dent's JELVIS team of young, fast and smart dinghy sailors from Queen Mary Sailing Club.

j111worlds.com

2018 Golden Globe Race
Today marks the 46th anniversary of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's departure from Falmouth UK back in 1968 to become the first person to sail singlehanded non-stop around the world. Of the 9 starters in that Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, Robin and his 32ft ketch rigged yacht Suhaili were the sole finishers.

6 weeks after announcing a second Golden Globe race to mark the 50th anniversary of that remarkable feat, the race organisers have received 50 serious expressions of interest from sailors in17 countries - Australia, Austria, Bermuda, Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, USA and Russia.

"The response has been remarkable" says Don McIntyre, adding. "The concept for a retro race in long-keeled monohulls like Suhaili and sailing round the world with nothing more than the equipment that was available to Robin 5 decades ago, has obviously hit a chord with many people."

McIntyre has received a further 150 letters from people asking for more information. The Race is limited to 30 competitors and the first names will be published on August 1st. Entries close on 31st December 2015.

The 2018 Golden Globe Race is very simple. Depart Falmouth, England on 14th June 2018, sail solo, non-stop around the world via the five Great Capes and return to Falmouth. Entrants are restricted to using the same type of yachts and equipment that were available to Sir Robin in that first race. That means sailing without modern technology or benefit of satellite based navigation aids. Competitors must sail in production boats between 32ft and 36ft overall (9.75 - 10.97m) designed prior to 1988 with a traditional full-length keel with rudder attached to their trailing edge, similar in concept to Knox-Johnston's Suhaili.

www.goldengloberace.com

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

World news
Gitana work towards full (offshore) flight, Franck Cammas welcomes the 'budget' AC, mixed signals as New Zealand 'backs' Oracle, Nicho prepares to go afloat (again) and the USA (at last) wakes up to round-the-world racing. Blue Robinson, Ivor Wilkins, Patrice Carpentier, Carlos Pich, Dobbs Davis

Paul Cayard
And a very different sailboat race

IRC column
So why all the fuss about transparency? James Dadd

Special rates for Scuttlebutt Europe subscribers:
Seahorse Print or Digital Subscription Use Discount Promo Code SB2

1yr Print Sub: €77 - £48 - $71 / Rest of the World: £65 www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/

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Discounts shown are valid on a one year subscription to Seahorse magazine

Supreme Satisfaction
The 161st New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and when the three-day event concluded after a day of around-the-island racing (Friday, June 12) and a weekend of around-the-marks competition (June 13-14), there was plenty of satisfaction to be had.

The New York Yacht Club hosted over 1,000 sailors for cocktails and dinner on the expansive grounds of its waterfront Harbour Court clubhouse. It was also evident during Sunday's two-hour postponement ashore when the Newport Shipyard, where many of the boats were docked, felt less like a paddock area for preparation and more like a venue for a class reunion, with long-time friends as well as newly-established acquaintances swapping war stories and discussing what lies next on the sailing horizon.

Sunday's sailing, when it got going by mid-afternoon in an easterly of 10-knots, delivered even more color than Friday's and Saturday's held in relatively lighter air, and when all was said and done, winners in classes were the most satisfied of all that they had shined on the stages of Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound for a rotating mix of stadium-style, drop-mark and navigators-course competition.

Class winners:

IRC 1 (IRC - Boats)
Interlodge, Botin HPR 44, Austin and Gwen Fragomen, Newport, RI, USA

IRC 2 (IRC - 8 Boats)
Christopher Dragon, Sydney 43 43, Andrew & Linda Weiss, Mamaroneck, NY, USA

IRC 3 (IRC - Boats)
DownTime, Summit 40, Ed Freitag / Molly Haley, Annapolis, MD, USA

IRC 4 (IRC - Boats)
Rush, J/109, Bill Sweetser, Annapolis, MD, USA

Swan 42 OD (One Design - 9 Boats)
Impetuous, Swan 42, Paul Zabetakis, Stuart, FL, USA

J/1OD (One Design - Boats)
My Sharona, J/11George Gamble, Pensacola, FL, USA

C&C 30 OD (One Design - 9 Boats)
Extreme2, C&C 30, Dan Cheresh, Saugatuck, MI, USA

Etchells OD (One Design - Boats)
America Jane 1Etchells 30, Scott Kaufman, New York, NY, USA

M32 (One Design - 4 Boats)
Escape Velocity, Marstrom 32 32, Ron O'Hanley , Boston, MA, USA

S Class (One Design - 8 Boats)
Squaw, Herreshoff S, Matt Hayes, Bristol, RI, USA

Metre - Grand Prix (One Design - 2 Boats)
KZ5 Laura, Metre, Kip Curren, Warwick, RI, USA

Metre - Modern (One Design - 3 Boats)
Victory 83, Metre, Dennis Williams, Hobe Sound, FL, USA

Metre - Traditional (One Design - 4 Boats)
Weatherly, Metre, Jay Schachne, Barrington, RI, USA

PHRF 1 Spinnaker (PHRF - 8 Boats)
Wild Child, J/11Kenn Fischburg, Norwich, CT, USA

PHRF 2 Spinnaker (PHRF - Boats)
Tonto, J/105, Fred Darlington, Cumberland, RI, USA

PHRF 3 Non-Spinnaker (PHRF - 7 Boats)
Flying Cloud 1Swan 44, Gordon McNabb, Middletown, RI, USA

CRF Non-Spinnaker (CRF - 9 Boats)
Spartan (WHITE), NY50, Charlie Ryan, Providence, RI, USA

CRF spinnaker (CRF - 7 Boats)
Sonny (ORANGE), S&S 53, Joseph Dockery, Newport, RI, USA

CRF Spirit of Tradition (CRF - 2 Boats)
Quest (ORANGE), 8 Metre, Diane Palm, Toronto, Ontario, CAN

www.nyyc.org

Landsail Tyres J-Cup In Partnership With B&G
The final day of the Landsail Tyres J-Cup in partnership with B&G was nothing short of spectacular. With 20 knots, gusting 25 out of the southwest, the race course was festooned with J-Boats surfing downwind in a full on foam up. There were thrills and spills right across the 67 J-Boat Fleet in the big conditions. Boat handling was at a premium and today's high performers harnessed the breeze, staying under control downwind and upwind hiking the boat flat and keeping good sail trim.

In IRC B Robin Stevenson from Brighton, racing J/92, Upstart had a perfect score for the regatta, winning all four races. Robin Stevenson's Upstart was the only team to score a perfect result.

Full results at www.jcup.co.uk

Not Sailing But Notable
Walter De Gregorio has left his post as Fifa's head of communications days after making a joke on television about the world governing body, despite having defended it and been its most prominent public face throughout the recent crisis which led the president, Sepp Blatter, to announce his resignation although he currently remains at the helm.

Appearing on Swiss TV on Monday De Gregorio said: "The Fifa president, secretary general and communications director are in a car. Who's driving? The police."

A statement from Fifa said De Gregorio had decided to step down with immediate effect.

www.theguardian.com

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The Last Word
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