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Rain and Zephyrs Cut Short Day Two Of Qualifying at Congressional Cup
Long Beach, California, USA (7th April 2016): Dismal conditions on the race course forced lengthy postponements, and ultimately curtailed racing, on the second day of Qualifying at the 52nd Congressional Cup regatta, the second stage of the 2016 World Match Racing Tour.

Despite rain and a light, shifty breeze, PRO Randy Smith was able to sneak in two flights, before winds deteriorated to nothing.

And they were eventful races. Phil Robertson (NZL) tacked on two more wins to his tally, climbing to the top of the leaderboard. Meanwhile a tenacious Chris Steele (NZL) evened the score between his 36 Below Racing team, and Nicolai Sehested (DEN) in a match that saw boat speeds, at best, top three knots; and damp spinnakers hang limp.

Following the first postponement - with the course reversed from the norm in an attempt to make the best of an uncharacteristic offshore breeze - Sam Gilmour (AUS) beat Johnie Berntsson (SWE); while Ian Williams (GBR) won his first match of the event, over Eric Monnin (SUI).

Racing will continue through Sunday April 10, in the waters off the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier, in Long Beach; beginning at roughly 1130 each day.

With unsettled weather ahead, PRO Smith announced that at the conclusion of Qualifying, a modified six-team repechage will be raced. If they are unable to complete more than three flights before the end of the day, the repechage may be eliminated.

Results after Qualifying Day 2

1. Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing 6-1
2. Chris Steele (NZL) 36 Below Racing 5-1
3. Nicolai Sehested (DEN) Trefor Match Racing 5-1
4. Taylor Canfield (ISV) US One 5-2
5. Eric Monnin (SUI) Albert Riele Swiss Team 4-3
6. Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Nautiska Racing 4-3
7. Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Team Flux 4-3
8. Sam Gilmour (AUS) Neptune Racing 3-4
9. Scott Dickson (USA) Dickson Racing 2-4
10. Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing 1-5
11. Sally Barkow (USA) Team Magenta 32 1-6
12. Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar 1-6

www.thecongressionalcup.com
wmrt.com

Shifty Opening Day At 470 Europeans
Palma, Mallorca: A short postponement ashore on the opening day of the 470 European Championships, before the sea breeze kicked in and racing got underway around 1325 hours.

The renowned Bay of Palma delivered shifty racing conditions, proving to be nirvana for some and a challenge for others. The sea conditions started flat and then got a bit choppy, with the marginal trapezing conditions making the day particularly interesting.

Two races down on day 1 in the 470 Women sees Austria's formidable pairing of Lara Vadlau/Jola Ogar control the two races with back to back wins. Three races in the 470 Men put Argentina's Lucas Calabrese/Juan De La Fuente at the front of the leaderboard.

There is a distinct air of unfinished business at the 470 Europeans, as the Championship marks the largest gathering of 470 sailors ahead of Rio 2016. Making your mark here is a key performance indicator and equally a campaign boost. For those teams on their last attempt to secure national team selection, silencing any doubters and claiming the Olympic ticket is the goal.

470 Men - Top Ten Provisional Results after 3 Races

1. Lucas Calabrese/Juan De La Fuente, ARG, 3 points
2. Anton Dahlberg/Fredrik Bergstrom, SWE, 4
2. Stu Mcnay/Dave Hughes, USA, 4
4. Jordi Xammar/Joan Herp, ESP, 4
5. David Bargehr/Lukas Mähr, AUT, 5
6. Carl-Fredrik Fock/Marcus Dackhammar, SWE, 6
7. Ferdinand Gerz/Oliver Szymanski, GER, 7
8. Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic, CRO, 9
9. Deniz Cinar/Ates Cinar, TUR, 10
10. Simon Sivitz Kosuta/Jas Farneti, ITA, 10

470 Women - Provisional Results after 2 Races

1. Lara Vadlau/Jolanta Ogar, AUT, 2
2. Fernanda Oliveira/Ana Barbachan, BRA, 6
3. Silvia Mas Depares/Paula Barcelo Martin, ESP, 7
4. Noya Bar-Am/Rimon Shoshan, ISR, 9
5. Xiaoli Wang/Lizhu Huang, CHN, 10
6. Ai Kondo Yoshida/Miho Yoshioka, JPN, 11
7. Annie Haeger/Briana Provancha, USA, 11
8. Michelle Broekhuizen/Marieke Jongens, NED, 11
9. Nadine Boehm/Ann-Christin Goliass, GER, 11
10. Gil Cohen/Nina Amir, ISR, 13

2016europeans.470.org

Special Offer For A Fleet Of Six Blu26 One Design Yachts
This is a special opportunity to buy six blu26 One Design boats packages, ready to transport and ready to sail from Bluboats GmbH. The fleet of six blu26 One Design yachts was built in the year 2012 and used for the St. Moritz Match Race and the Volvo Match Race Cup in the following years.

All boats of the fleet are fully equipped, well maintained and come with a road trailer and plenty of spares. They are now stored in Ermatingen, Switzerland.

The fleet is for sale as a 6 boat lot or as pairs of boats.

Find all information in this document

bluboats.com/blu26/special-offer-for-a-fleet-of-six-blu26-yachts/

How A Few Yacht Skippers Made Mt Gay Into An Internatioal Brand
When I first arrived in St Thomas in November 1956, the cheapest rum was the so called Bito rum, 3 year old Old St Croix rum sold out of a barrel in Riise's Liquor store. Bring your own gallon bottle and it was filled for 75 cents.

There were various types of Cruzan rum available by the bottle at a very reasonable price. But what everyone really liked was Mt Gay, eclipse rum in its distinctive bottle with the map of Babados on the bottle... that is if you could find a store or bar that had it.

I well remember the first time I arrived in St Barts with Iolaire in 1959. I discovered the Carriacou rum smugglers were loading up with Mt. Gay eclipse rum at $6 US for a case of 12!!!!

The descendants of these rum smugglers now race as a class in the Antigua Classic regatta. They are the subject of a wonderful award winning 88 minute film Vanishing Sail.

Mt Gay eclipse could be found through out the eastern Caribbean but was extremely difficult to find outside the eastern Caribbean.

I had a friend, young lawyer, who was happy to crew for me on fall deliveries from states to the Caribbean. He would tell me to pocket his wagers, give him a ticket back to the states, pack up all his gear that he would not need until spring and ship it to the states. He would then hand carry on to the plane TWO cases of Mt Gay eclipse rum. He had to pay duty on it, but he said it was still much cheaper than buying it in New York. He also pointed out, to buy it in New York he had to find someone who sold it.

In the early 70's a number of the "big uns" Ticonderoga, Escapade, Royono and others (72' was the largest size that could race in the CCA) were in Newport, the summer charter season had ended, it was too early to go south, the skippers were getting bored.

The late Ken McKenzie said lets have a race, winner gets a couple of bottles of Mt Gay... there was plenty still in the bilges of the various boats. They had the race and a really good party after the race.

The next year someone did some checking. He discovered 21 club in New York City was the agent for Mt Gay. They contacted the agent and talked him into coming to Newport to see the boats, I think took him for a sail and told him of the race.

Again they had the race after the summer charter season ended. The representative from 21 Club arrived with a couple of cases of Mt Gay eclipse rum. There was a great party. At the party they told him of Antigua Sailing Week where the sailors gathered to race and party before departing to the four corners of the world. The representative got to thinking that throwing a party at Antigua Sailing Week would spread the word of Mt Gay eclipse world wide.

He contacted Mt Gay Barbados. They liked the idea and threw a Mt Gay party during Antigua Sailing Week on Galleon beach and gave out the first of the Red Hats. For a number of years, the only way you could obtain a Mt Gay red had was to sail in Antigua Week. Having a faded Mt.Gay hat showed you were a good long term sailor. Getting the hats at the party became a bit of a rugger scrum with fistecuffs thrown in. To prevent a full scale riot from breaking out they finally said everyone had to line up, que as the Brits say, to get their red hats.

Mt. Gay started giving parties and red hats at other regattas. One couple had for many years an excellent job. They were employed by Mt Gay to sail from regatta to regatta, set up the Mt. Gay party, and give out the hats.

Mt Gay can now be purchased just about anywhere, all because a few bored charter skippers in the early 1970's organized an informal race in Newport with the prize some smuggled Mt Gay rum! -- Don Street

Two More Teams For The Atlantic Cup
Swedish Team #95 - Talanta & French Team #65 - Carac join Atlantic Cup

Nine teams with sailors representing five different countries set to start from Charleston May 28th

We're just 51 days away from the 2016 Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing start on May 28th.

Carac Advanced Energie, skippered by Frenchmen Louis Duc and Yves Sale, is one of the top teams in the Class40. Most recently Louis Duc led Carac to a 3rd place finish in the 2015 Transat Jacques Vabre which is a 5,000 nautical mile race across the Atlantic. Although their boat is an older generation Class40, you can expect this team to be well prepared and looking for a win.

Sailing in the Atlantic Cup for the first time, Mikael Ryking is looking to make a big impression. Talanta, the only Swedish boat in our fleet is a second generation Class40 and will have tough competition with some of the newer boats, but Ryking is prepared for the task ahead.

www.atlanticcup.org/teams for complete current team list.

www.atlanticcup.org

Low Front Propels Clipper Teams Towards Seattle
The big anticipated front expected yesterday failed to materialise, but the next storm is now moving over the Clipper 70 fleet in the Seattle Pacific Challenge.

Today's front should have gusting winds of around 40 knots, increasing to 50-60 knots in 24 hours' time, after which it should start to ease and also move east of the fleet, the Clipper Race's Meteorologist Simon Rowell said in his weather briefing to the Skippers this morning.

The teams' orange storm sails are ready on deck in anticipation of the front, but some yachts have been flying spinnakers in the more stable winds over the past day.

The boats on the western side of the course are being hit by the front first, and should have the ability to make good gains on the boats ahead to the east.

Derry~Londonderry~Doire is still leading the fleet. ClipperTelemed+ has moved up into second, and Unicef is up a place in third, with LMAX Exchange in fourth, down two places on yesterday. 83 nautical miles separates the four teams after 3,400 nautical miles racing in the North Pacific so far.

Current leg standings:
1. Derry~Londonderry~Doire, 1457 nm to finish
2. UNICEF, 93 nm to leader
3. LMAX Exchange, 97
4. ClipperTelemed+, 116
5. Great Britain, 118
6. Garmin, 154
7. Mission Performancne, 158
8. Qingdao, 250
9. PSP Logistics, 452
10. Visit Seattle, 456
11. Da Nang - Vietnam, 545
12. Ichorcoal, 648

clipperroundtheworld.com

Entry Open & Sponsors Announced for J/80 UK National Championships
The Royal Lymington Yacht Club is delighted to announce that Berthon, North Sails, Lymington Yacht Charters, Seahorse magazine and Nick Cox Chandlers have very kindly agreed to support the J/80 Nationals which are to be held from Saturday 27th to Monday 29th August in Lymington.

The Notice of Race has been published for the J/80 Nationals and entry is now open online

Entry before 31st May is just £165, which includes mooring and car parking. The first 5 early bird boats which need a lift-in, mast-step, lift out and trailer storage will receive this free! Any other boats which require these services who have entered early will pay a much reduced rate of £50.

Plans for the social events during the event are progressing well and details about the programme and how to order tickets will be announced shortly.

For further information please contact the club events manager, Kirsty Timmis

https://rlymyc.org.uk

Have You Got The Feva For A Mustang?
Boat people often become a lot more interesting when you learn more about their boats. But equally, when you find out about some of the other creations produced by the designer of a boat you're considering, that in turn gives the boat in question an added fascination writes W M Nixon.

In its way, the RS Feva is almost a cult boat among certain sections of the junior sailing population in Ireland. Yet how many of them know that Paul Handley, the creator of this pocket rocket in 2002, was designing keelboat racers back in 1988?

So far as I know, the Mustang 30 is the only racer-with-a-lid designed by Handley. He produced the drawings in 1988, and during the next ten years Harley Marine of Cowes built 29 of them. So for those of us who rather fancy them, they have a certain rarity value.

What's to like? Well, while the beam of 8.14' (2.48m) is not nearly as narrow as some of the more extreme Corbys of comparable size, it's certainly decidedly skinny compared to the commodious fat girls of the big production builders of that era, boats which will turn round at look at you if they're hit by sudden gust. So the Mustang 30 is sweet to steer, and while it's only the helmsman who'll directly benefit, his or her resultant good humour will spread to the rest of the crew.

WM Nixon's full article in Afloat (there's a Mustang for sale on the cheap as he notes...)
afloat.ie

Letters To The Editor -
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.

* From Eddie Warden-Owen: re GP14: It was Jackie Hoad a Barbadian (I think) that won the first GP 14 World Championships in 1967.

Editor: That is confirmed by this account:
www.stormontyachtclub.ca/GP14story.htm

Featured Brokerage

2007 King Marine IRC 52. 325,000 USD. Located in Rhode Island, USA.

ICE FIRE can now be obtained. She is a 2007 King Marine built TP 52 that was the last BRIBON, built for the King of Spain. Very successful on the Med circuit in 07/08/09, she came over to the States and as FLYING JENNY was very successful at all the NYYC annual regatta's, Block Island race week and NYYC race weeks. Since 2012, she has been ICE FIRE, and she was successful going to Montego Bay ( 2nd overall 2nd fleet in 2013) and won the 2012 IRC championship in Annapolis and that again last Fall (2014)

Details

Contact
Please contact William Jenkins at 410-267-9419

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2009 Open 40 Jumpa Lagi. 195,000 EUR. Located: North West France

The racing yacht JUMPA LAGI, POGO 2 from the famous shipyard STRUCTURE has proven track record on the coveted Open 40 circuit. Fast in all aspects, the 40 S, which was designed by the renowned architectural firm FINOT, is a more accomplished model and provides high versatility in terms of performance. She is equipped with only high quality fittings and also has a water maker and fridge onboard. Designed for solo racing or with a small crew, JUMPA LAGI is able to enter all prestigious races such as the Route de Rhum, the Transat Jacques Vabre and the inshore and offshore Open 40 circuit. JUMPA LAGI is not however solely for racing, she can also be used for amateur cruising and long voyages. Maintained by an experienced yachtsman, JUMPA LAGI is ready to go on the next start line!

Details

Contact
Tel : +33 (0)4 67 66 39 93
email :
Web : www.bernard-gallay.com

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2001 Carroll Marine Farr 52. 110,000 GBP. Located in Cowes, IOW, UK.

This 2001 race boat, offers grand prix racing at high street prices. Professionally maintained for all of its racing life, this yacht offers an excellent oppurtunity for its next owner, with both inshore and offshore capabilities. Extensive spares and sails with all sensible offers invited.

Details

Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Port Hamble

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

The Last Word
People were always saying, 'Is this the real bus? And he would say, 'Yes, there's only one bus, just like there's only one Starship Enterprise." -- Ken Babbs

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Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html