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British Hopes Rise Ahead Of Slowdown
Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss was playing down his hopes yesterday at the same time as he was roaring back into the race. With less than 600 miles to go to the finish of the New York - Vendee (Les Sables d'Olonne) Race presented by Currency House and SpaceCode, Hugo Boss was already edging back on the two French boats ahead of him, but the latest routing from the weather files suggests even more. One model suggests he could arrive as the winner on Wednesday, June 8. The margins are so tight and wind in the Bay of Biscay so light in the coming days that nothing is certain, except that this has not become a race between two French horses.

"I don't know whether I'm in hunt anymore or not," Thomson told New York - Vendee race radio yesterday at 0800 UTC. "There's going to be a [drop in wind] Before Les Sables d'Olonne so that certainly creates opportunity. I haven't got too many problems on board, so, I'm pretty much operating at full speed and the conditions are going to moderate from here; currently I've got 20-25 knots of wind and I won't see more than this on the rest of the trip, so I guess I'm in the hunt, but I think there would have to be some luck involved. [Something would have to happen to the others] to have a chance of winning and I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

Overnight Jeremie Beyou (Maitre CoQ) had extended his slender 5-mile lead over Sebastien Josse (Edmond de Rothschild) to almost 18 miles and over Thomson by 20 to 65.5. But by Josse had cut that to 12.1 miles and Thomson had taken 11.5 miles back by 1530 UTC and in still solid southwesterlies all three were averaging around 18-19 knots. -- Marion Cardon

RANKINGS - 5 JUNE 2016 AT 16.30 BST:
1. Jeremie Beyou (Maitre CoQ) : 568 nm to the finish
2. Sebastien Josse (Edmond De Rothschild) : +12.1 nm behind leader
3. Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) : +54 nm
4. Paul Meilhat (SMA) : +382.5 nm
5. Tanguy De Lamotte (Initiatives Coeur) : +508.3 nm
6. Kojiro Shiraishi (Spirit of Yukoh): +517.8 nm
7. Vincent Riou (PRB): +593.6 nm
8. Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest-Matmut) : +649.3 nm
9. Jean-Pierre Dick (StMichel-Virbac) : +1 369.7 nm
10. Yann Elies (Queguiner-Leucemie Espoir) : +1 422.1 nm
11. Morgan Lagraviere (Safran) : +1 424.7 nm
12. Conrad Colman (100% Natural Energy) : +1 602.4 nm
13. Pieter Heerema (No Way Back) : +1 657.8 nm
Ab Armel Le Cleac'h (Banque Populaire VIII)

Track the positions of the boats on : www.ny-vendee.com/en/race-tracker
Positions updated every 15 minutes between 05.00 and 22.00 BST

www.ny-vendee.com

Hobie 16 Worlds
The final day of racing in the Hobie Great Grand Masters, Grand Masters, Women and Youth Classes in the 2016 Hobie 16 World Championship regatta in Dapeng, China was completed today. With teams waking to loud claps of thunder, flashes of lightning and rain very early this morning the sky looked more promising when buses arrived at the event site to prepare for the day.

While the sky was no longer threatening the wind just wasn't there either. Nevertheless teams went about their business in anticipation of a start. The wind picked up and rain fell with gusts blowing across the water at 14kts. But there was absolutely no consistency across the course in either wind strength or direction.

After the squall settled so did the breeze and the fleet headed off the beach with around 7kts to play with. Unfortunately, as the Hobie Cats® sat waiting for all of the fleet to arrive around the signals boat, the breeze slowly drifted away and with not enough left to hold a race the Race Officer called a postponement and sent the boats to shore.

To everyone's dismay the breeze never returned and the day was abandoned late in the afternoon with the scores from days one and two determining the places in the championships.

Top three

Great Grand Masters
1. Grahame Southwick / Sharon Rayner, FIJ, 6
2. Blair Wallace / Alexandra Spiegel, USA, 8
3. Bruce Tardrew / Nicholas King, AUS, 9

Grand Masters
1. Rod Waterhouse / Kerry Waterhouse, AUS, 7
2. John Duchatel / Evelyn Curtis, AUS, 10
3. Michael Montague / Kathleen Ward, USA, 15

Women
1. Krystal Weir, / Georgia Warren-Myers, AUS, 7
2 Nina Curtis / Haylee Outteridge, AUS, 8
3 Meagan Bursa / Bonnie Butler, AUS, 12

Youth
1. Auxence Thomas / Noa Ancian, NC, 7
2. Benjamin Brown / Emily Rathburn, USA, 8
3. Leo Belouard / THeo Bore, NC, 8

Full results: www.hobieworlds.com/results

Dubarry Crosshaven - Comfortably The Best Performer
Round the world racing teams have chosen Dubarry's Crosshaven in every edition of the race since the boot was developed with Green Dragon in 2008. There are several reasons for that. First, the innovation that impressed the Green Dragon guys most: the integral gaiter. Made of lightweight, hard-wearing, water-resistant fabric and cinched up with a drawstring, this gaiter means you can kneel down and work on the foredeck without suffering the dreaded 'bootful of green' that kills comfort for the rest of the passage.

And when you're dodging icebergs in the Southern Ocean as freezing winds snap at your vitals, you'll appreciate the 350g GORE-TEX Duratherm membrane and thermally insulated footbed that will keep your feet, at least, toasty.

Then there's the award-winning grip of Crosshaven's non-slip and non-marking sole. If you're trying to stay vertical on deck, and several tonnes of water traveling at 30 knots is trying to persuade you that you might be more comfortable lying down, you need your feet to stay planted.

We can all benefit from experience, but it comes at a price. Lucky for you that Green Dragon footed the bill, and the benefit is all yours.

Dubarry Crosshaven - Born at sea

dubarry.com

Taylor Canfield And His Us One Team Win At Newport
After an all but washed out penultimate day of the World Match Racing Tour Newport, Newport laid it on today with Taylor Canfield and his US One team claiming the Championship. 

The organisers were able to run the complete schedule of semi-finals and finals. In today's final Robertson claimed the first match, but Canfield then won the next three to clinch first prize.

Earlier both semi-finals matches had been decided 2-1 with Canfield overcoming Ian Williams' GAC Pindar team and Robertson beating France's Yann Guichard and his Spindrift racing crew. Williams subsequently came out on top in the best of one Petit Final, to secure third place overall. 

The first, second and third placed finishers today walked away for the World Match Racing Tour Newport with prize money of US$ 33,000, US$ 23,000 and US$ 18,000 respectively. 

All eyes are now on the final event of the season, the World Match Racing Tour Finals in Marstrand, the picturesque island on Sweden's west coast over July 4th-9th. This event features the distinct incentive of a winner-takes-all first prize of a cool US$ 1 million as well as the Match Racing World Championship title.  

Final results:

1. Taylor Canfield, US One
2. Phil Robertson, WAKA Racing
3. Ian Williams, GAC Pindar
4. Yann Guichard, Spindrift Racing
5. Chris Steele, 36 Below Racing
6. Nicolai Sehested, TRE_FOR Match Racing
7. Nicklas Dackhammar, ESSIQ Racing Team
8. Mattias Rahm, Rahm Racing
9. Steve Thomas, RPM Racing
10. David Gilmour, Team Gilmour
11. Sally Barkow, Team Magenta 32
12. Hans Wallen, Wallen Racing
13. Johnie Berntsson, Flux Team
14. Matt Jerwood, Redline Racing
15. Eric Monnin, Albert Riele Swiss Team
16. Michael Menninger, 13FIFTY Racing
17. Evan Walker, KA Match / CYCA
18. Chris Poole, Riptide Racing
19. Iker Martinez, Team Espana
20. Keith Swinton, Team Accure

wmrt.com

Atlantic Cup Leg Two
Leg two of the The Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing departed at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge in a 5-7 knot southeasterly for the 360 nautical mile race to Portland, Maine, Saturday, June 4 at 12:05 p.m. ET. Oyster Bay, N.Y.'s Oakcliff, was the first across the line, followed by Portland based Amhas, France's Earendil and Sweden's Talanta. After short-tacking out of New York Harbor, it was Spain's Tales who exited first, followed closely by Amhas and Boston's Toothface.

The wind was stronger than expected after the start of leg two of the The Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing. The teams were able to make their way down the coast of Long Island "faster than traffic moves on the Long Island Expressway!" said Mike Hennessy of Dragon. "This first leg to point alpha has turned into something of a drag race. We kept with it over the night and it got pretty light air for a while. Then the wind moved way forward this morning and started to build a bit. Around 9am we had about 4 other boats in sight and now we're all sort of tacking our way up to point alpha to make the turn and head up to Portland."

The tricky light air conditions kept the teams up at night, working hard to get any extra fraction of a knot of speed to gain over their competitors. 

Earlier this evening, Tales II, the winner of Leg 1, was the first to round the first mark, point alpha, which is the course mark set to take the boats around the Nantucket Shoals. With the wind behind them and increasing steadily their boat speed has shot up to 14 knots and they've been able to extend their lead.

atlanticcup.org

ACO 7th Musto Skiff Worlds
Quiberon Bay, France: Day 2 of the Pre-worlds started well before the race time with a training briefing for the worlds first timers with coach Rus Clark who's presecse at the regatta has been sponsored by ACO.

Russ opened the briefing with his class and pretty soon about half the fleet had joined in sharing tips and hints with former World Champions Richard Stenhouse and Dan Henderson sharing their expertise with the fleet.

The training group then headed out with the fleet to participate in the 2 races scheduled for today.

The top 20 was packed with talent; GBR held the best representation but there were 5 nations represented.

The race office, Jerome Nutte, did a good job at getting the race target times very close to 45 minute and achieving a quick turn around.

Racing starts Tuesday for the Worlds.

Pre-World results:
www.yccarnac.com

Clipper Race: Garmin Victorious At Scoring Gate
Garmin has taken the lead over former race leader ClipperTelemed+, as the intense fight to be first into New York continues on day 5 of the LMAX Exchange - RACE of THE AMERICAS.

Garmin has also been victorious at the Scoring Gate, taking the maximum three points on offer, with Visit Seattle close behind, taking two points, and Mission Performance - in twelfth place overall - securing one point for crossing it third.

On the overall leaderboard, ClipperTelemed+ is 17 NM behind in second place, and after its surprise emergence from Stealth Mode in second place, Visit Seattle is now in third, 17.74 NM behind the leader.

The three frontrunners are now some 50 nautical miles in front of the rest of the fleet, with Derry~Londonderry~Doire in fourth position.

Based on current speeds and estimates, the leading boats could arrive into Liberty Landing Marina on 10 June, and ETAs will be published tomorrow.

Race tracker:
clipperroundtheworld.com/race/standings

Giraglia Rolex Cup
The 2016 Giraglia Rolex Cup looks set to be yet another special year. The 64th edition of the Mediterranean's oldest offshore race, first held in 1953, has a record level of entry registrations across all the events that make up this festival of sailing. Some 302 yachts had signed up to take part at close of entries on 25 May.

The 2016 programme starts on 10 June with overnight races from Sanremo and, for the first time, Marseille to Saint-Tropez. Between 12 and 14 June, there is an Inshore Series raced in and around the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. Then, on Wednesday, 15 June, some 266 yachts are expected to participate in the 241nm race to Genoa, via the Giraglia rock located off the northern tip of Corsica.

Sir Lindsay Owen Jones's 2015 overall winner, Magic Carpet Cubed is back to defend her crown. As the largest yacht in the fleet, at 30.5m, she will also have a tilt at line honours title which she previously won in 2013. Of the yachts entered, most eyes will be drawn to three elegant classics participating for the first time: Carsten Gerlach's Moonbeam of Fife III (1903), Christian Niels' 15-Metre Mariska (1908) and the schooner Lelantina (1937).

The Giraglia Rolex Cup is organized by the Yacht Club Italiano, in collaboration with the Yacht Club de France, the Societe Nautique de Saint Tropez, the Yacht Club Sanremo and Cercle Nautique et Touristique du Lacydon. Rolex has been the title sponsor since 1997.

www.yci.it

Long-Lost Ship Found In Namibian Desert - With Gold Aboard
The remains of a Portuguese ship that disappeared on its way to India laden with gold and other treasure about 500 years ago have been found in Namibia's desert coastline.

Workers at Namdeb Diamond Corporation, a joint operation between DeBeers and the government of Namibia, were the ones to find the vessel in 2008.

Since the miners did not know what they had hit when they discovered pieces of metal, wood and pipes, they called in archaeologist Dieter Noli. But not even he knew at the time how big that find would be.

Fast-forward eight years and the team led by Noli is now able to say that the thousands of mint condition, pure gold coins from Spain and Portugal found on the site, indicate the ship found was the one that disappeared in 1533.

Amid the wreckage the team also found about 44,000 pounds of copper ingots, which archaeologists believe allowed the ship remain relatively intact all these years.

www.mining.com

Letters To The Editor -
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* From Daniel Charles: The first Sailing Olympics in Paris in 1900 were strangely discrete: the weekly Le Yacht-Journal de la Marine barely mentioned them. Amazingly, two entrants in these historic races are still sailing today: the 1899 Sibbick-designed Bona Fide (who won a gold medal for Britain) and the 1896 Fife-designed Nan, both pretty serious competitors on today's classic circuit.

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The Last Word
One must never forget that life is unfair. But sometimes, with a bit of luck, this works in your favour. -- Peter Mayle

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