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Surprise Tie at RORC IRC Nationals
This year's IRC National Championship, the 14th since the Royal Ocean Racing Club launched its handicap rule in 2000, had the unusual distinction of joint winners in Adam Gosling's brand new JPK 10.80 Yes! (winner of IRC Two) and the French consortium-owned A35, Dunkerque - Les Dunes de Flandre, (which topped IRC Three).

Unlike stormy Saturday, on a slightly more serene Sunday the race management team was able to hold one windward-leeward in 8-15 knots winds. This was followed by two round the cans races in the central/eastern Solent, during which the wind built to 20+ knots, creating a short sharp chop from the building flood tide.

Stand-out performer of the day was the RORC's Admiral, Andrew McIrvine and his First 40, La Reponse, in IRC Two, which scored three bullets. However even this was not enough to topple Yes!

New to the RORC IRC Nationals this year were the two box rule classes, the FAST40+ and the HP30. The most impressive display of the week came in the former, where the stand-out team was Peter Morton's Girls on Film. Aside from one fifth place finish, this Carkeek Mk3 was otherwise never off the podium, putting in a 2-1-3 today with American William Coates's Ker 43, Otra Vez and Irishman Anthony O'Leary's Ker 40, Antix, claiming the other two wins.

Another stand-out performance of the week was that of former RORC Commodore Mike Greville and his Ker 39, Erivale III. Following his recent victory in the Morgan Cup to Dieppe, Greville and his crew have dominated IRC One at the IRC Nationals. Their 9.5 point lead over Rod Stuart and Bill Ram's Corby 37, Aurora, was the biggest margin across any of the five classes.

Full results:
www.rorc.org/race-results/2016-season-cumulative-results.html

Oman Air Extreme Sailing Series Cardiff
Oman Air were today crowned kings of Act 3 of the Extreme Sailing Series following a tense finale that saw them only just manage to hold off a late charge from rivals Red Bull Sailing Team.

Morgan Larson's men went into the fourth and final day of racing in Cardiff Bay with a commanding 17-point lead following a string of top results executed with trademark consistency throughout the Act. When they finished second in the first four races it looked like they would breeze to glory, but just as it looked like victory was sewn up Red Bull Sailing Team mounted a spirited comeback.

With the bit firmly between their teeth, Roman Hagara's men turned on the afterburners winning one of the final four races and finishing second in the other three. Clearly rattled, Oman Air recorded their worst result of the regatta in the final race of the day when they finished last in the seven-boat fleet. However they had done just enough earlier on in the day to guarantee victory, sneaking the overall win by just six points after 29 races.

The Extreme Sailing Series will now head to Hamburg, Germany, for Act 4 from 28 - 31 July.

Extreme Sailing Series Act 3, Cardiff standings after Day 4, 29 races
Position / Team / Points

1. Oman Air (OMA) Morgan Larson, Pete Greenhalgh, James Wierzbowski, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari 300 points
2. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Stewart Dodson, Adam Piggott, Brad Farrand 294 points
3. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Mads Emil Stephensen, Pierluigi De Felice, Renato Conde 286 points
4. Alinghi (SUI) Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothe Lapauw, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 282 points
5. CHINA One (CHN) Taylor Canfield, Shane Diviney, Hayden Goodrick, Garth Ellingham, Luke Payne 274 points
6. Sail Portugal (POR) Diogo Cayolla, Javier de la Plaza, Luís Brito, João Matos Rosa, Sam Bell 239 points
7. Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR) Paul Campbell-James ('CJ'), Neil Hunter, Will Alloway, Rob Bunce, Adam Kay 161 points

Extreme Sailing Series 2016 overall standings
Position / Team / Points
1. Oman Air (OMA) 35 points
2. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 32
3. Alinghi (SUI) 30
4. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 25
5. Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR) 25
6. CHINA One (CHN) 21
7. Sail Portugal (POR) 20
8. Team Turx (TUR) 11

www.extremesailingseries.com

Right Word Right Use
Airfoil carbon fibre spinnaker poles are this year's must-have J-Class accessory, but the best airfoil rigging actually does something useful

Airfoil SCR
Listening around, the word airfoil comes up from time to time. We hear of airfoil-shaped stanchions. And did someone say recently, airfoil-shaped spinnaker poles... Seriously?

Airfoil components on yachts are nice and may give everyone the feeling that no stone is left unturned, but where you gain the most difference with an airfoil shape is in the rigging, which has real numbers to back it up. The word 'airfoil' in Hall Airfoil SCR solid carbon rigging is anything but a buzzword. It represents a quantifiable performance increase.

This month's Seahorse for the full article:
www.seahorsemagazine.com

Kiel Week
* J/70 Top Of The Fleet At Kiel

The J/70 European Championship as part of the Kiel Week was finished with a packed program of three races. And the weather on the race course at Buelk made it a perfect day, after difficult wind conditions and a huge number of disqualifications had caused lots of turbulences in the young class.

The number of participating crews for the second European Championship of the J/70 was impressive with 91 boats at the start line. And Claudia Rossi was the class star. The sailor from Italy wonn the continental title on the same waters where her father hat become ORC World Champion two years ago. The perfect final series of Stefano Roberti (Monaco) with three victories came to an end with a second place overall, followed by Gonzalo Araujo (Spain). Two German crews made their way into the top ten, Carsten Kemmling (Hamburg/Germany) and Magnus Simon (Hamburg/Germany) did finish on rank nine and ten.

* Pozzi, Racchelli and Quinton - Crowned Melges 24 Winners of the Kiel Week

Two races at the final day of the third event of the 2016 Melges 24 European Sailing Series in the Olympic Port of Kiel, Germany did not change the podium of Melges 24 fleet. Twenty two teams from seven nations experienced wonderful Kiel Week entertainment together with competitive racing during four days.

The event ended with the same top three as coming into the final day. Double victory went to Italy - Andrea Pozzi's Bombarda was victorious followed by Andrea Racchelli's Altea as second, and the podium was completed by Miles Quinton's Gill Race Team from Great Britain.

Final top five (9 races sailed/1 discard):

1. Andrea Pozzi / Stefano Ciampalini, Giulio Desiderato, Carlo Zermini, Nicolas Dal Ferro, ITA, 15
2. Andrea Racchelli / Gaudenzio Bonini, Michele Gregoratto, Anne-soizik Bertin, Fabian Gielen, ITA, 23
3. Miles Quinton / Catherine Alton, Adam Brushett, Roger Gilbert, Craig Burlton, GBR, 35
4. David Rowen / Jamie Lea, Alva Madermott, Nigel Yourh, Sebastian Raphael, GBR, 40
5. Luis Tarabochia / Marco Tarabochia, Michael Tarabochia, Felix Roder, Sebastian Bohler, GER, 42

* 470 Junior World Championship

This is how Spanish girls celebrate: Silvia Mas und Paula Barcelo received the gold medal and the junior world champion titel. Photo: Marina Konitzer

It was a big jump for joy: When Silvia Mas and Paula Barcelo from Spain crossed the finish line as the second boat at the Medal Race on the last Sunday of Kiel Week, they were the new World Champions - and they jumped into the Baltic straight away.

Junior Worlds men: The title of World Champion goes to Keiju Okada and Naoya Kimura from Japan, who secured it from an exciting finish: That they would bring home the gold medal was not decided before the last downwind of the final race. Okada/Kimura were eighth much of the way round and so would have dropped to second step on the podium. But they crossed the line in sixth, winning the final downwind thriller to secure the title.

A protest on Saturday evening from Okada/Kimura dropped Vice World Champions from the previous year Malte Winkel and Matti Cipra (Kiel/Germany) back second to seventh because they had to count their BFD. And after the medal race the Germans stayed fifth.

Junior women: Before the start of the Medal Race of the women, the podium places were not decided yet. But at the the placings stayed the same: The gold medal goes to the super fast duo Mas/Barcelo from Spain, the silver medal to the French team Marina Lefort and Lara Garnier, and the bronze medal goes to the Vice World Champions from the previous year Maria Bozi and Rafailina Klonaridou from Greece.

But the disqualification of the Italians Paternoster/Karuso, for starting early meant the cards were redistributed and the Germans Loewe/Markfort missed out of third. And even the Greek crew, that had moved up the ranking, are not really happy: "We have made so many mistakes in the last days, normally rank one should have been possible. Now we are looking at the Olympics 2020. "

The title defenders Benedetta die Salle and Alessandra Dubbini finished the Junior World Championship 2016 in fifth.

* Unbeatable? 49er World Champs Burling and Tuke clinch Kieler Woche title with day to spare

World champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke won the 49er Class at Kieler Woche without needing to sail Super Sunday's medal race. So the Kiwi pair, winners of the 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 world championships, will go to the Rio Olympic regatta in 40 days time, with their amazing record intact, unbeaten since they took the silver medal at the 2012 Olympic regatta at Weymouth & Portland behind Australia's Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen.

Burling and Tuke stepped up a gear today in difficult gusty, puffy conditions and were visibly better around the courses, taking three race wins in a row to give themselves a margin of 26pts going into Sunday's Medal race. They extend their tally of major regatta wins to 27.

The duo came to Kieler Woche looking to get their mindset back into '49er racing mode' after time out racing in the America's Cup World Series.

Final top five, 49er:
1. Peter Burling / Blair Tuke, NZL, 32.0
2. Justus Schmidt / Max Boehme, GER, 54.0
3. Jonas Warrer / Christian Peter Lubeck, DEN, 60.0
4. Benjamin Bildstein / David Hussl, AUT, 68.0
5. Pavle Kostov / Petar Cupac, CRO, 70.0

www.kieler-woche.de/english/

Magic Start!
A start that will be long remembered for the second leg of the La Solitair Bompard. In 20 knots of wind, the green sea of the Solent, the 39 Figaro solo sailors crossed the line off the Royal Yacht Squadron to the sound of its legendary guns. The same that sounded the start of the first America's Cup in 1851. Alan Roberts (Roberts Alan Racing) were called back for crossing the line too early.

Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert), Vincent Biarnes (Guyot Environment), Charlie Dalin (Skipper Macif) and Erwan Tabarly (Armor Lux) took the lead in a very tight pack. Heading east towards Land's End, the southwest tip of England.

Winds to 20 knots, and according to Meteo Consult, should gradually strengthen around 25 knots in rough seas.

First ten at buoy Radio France
1. Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert)
2. Charlie Dalin (Skipper Macif 2015)
3. Xavier Macaire (Chemins d'Oceans)
4. Thierry Chabagny (Gedimat)
5. Vincent Biarnes (Guyot Environnement)
6. Corentin Douguet (Sofinther - Un Maillot pour la Vie)
7. Pierre Quiroga (Skipper Espoir CEM)
8. Nicolas Lunven (Generali)
9. Justine Mettraux (TeamWork)
10. Erwan Tabarly (Armor Lux)

www.lasolitairebompard.com

Superyacht Cup: Carbon Flyer Win Win Fastest Of The Fleet
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Racing was expected to face light winds today, between 8-12 knots at the start line and an even lighter 6-10, from approximately 14.00 onwards. The race committee decided on two highly tactical courses, a 20.6 nm course for Class A and a 17.8 nm course for Classes B, C and D. Both had the fleet fighting for lanes and the safety officers extra watchful as all yachts sailed hard to edge out the, equally as ambitious, competition.

Racing got underway at 13.00

After corrections were applied the final calls were made and in Class A it was the 45m Unfurled who kept their focus under the weight of final day pressure. However it was the fiery Win Win who claimed the Class win.

In Class B the 38m powerful P2 repeated her stellar performance from Thursday and yesterday and consequently took both the race, as well as Class victory. Slick crew maneuverings and solid sailing in Class C saw the 27m Tempus Fugit scream home to champion during the race and in her Class overall, while the 41m Mariette again, was top dog in Class D.

A big, loud cheer goes out to the Baltic Yachts built 33m Win Win, who, devoured the race course during the first two days and, is officially the overall winner of The Superyacht Cup 2016!

www.thesuperyachtcup.com

Clipper Race Crew Member Successfully Medevaced From North Atlantic Ocean
A Clipper Round the World Yacht Race crew member has been successfully medevaced off a yacht in the North Atlantic Ocean with the help of ClipperTelemed+, the race's Emergency Medical Support Partner, and the Canadian Defense Department, which carried out a challenging helicopter rescue.

Chris Drummond, 62, from High Wycombe, UK a crew member on board IchorCoal, had complained of severe chest pains yesterday but was stabilised after receiving care from one of the team's two on board medics, a Consultant Anesthetist.

The decision to carry out a medical evacuation of the crew member from the racing yacht to Canada was made as precaution based on advice from specialist remote telemedicine doctors at ClipperTelemed+.

Due to the strong prevailing conditions around 220 miles from the Nova Scotian coast, Canada, the primary rescue plan had to be abandoned, and the secondary plan implemented with two helicopter crew lowered on to help winch Chris off into the Rescue 913 helicopter at 0914 UTC today, Friday.

Chris was then transferred to Queen Elizabeth II hospital in Halifax where he is undergoing tests and receiving the necessary care that he requires.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

M32 Series Mediterranean
Porto Venere, Italy: The Grand Opening event of the M32 Series Mediterranean in Porto Venere has concluded today with a total of 14 races sailed during 2 days on the waters between the Ligurian town and the Palmaria island, under a constant 10-12 knots breeze allowing the Swedish super light carbon catamarans to fly on the water and reach top speed.

First podium place for Swiss team Section 16 of Richard Davies with Manuel Modena at the main. Second place for Italia Sailing Team of Riccardo Simoneschi with tactician Enrico Zennaro that also during today's practice race has showed its skills with light breeze. Third place for the Italian crew on Guido Miani's Neverland from Monaco with Gabriele Benussi, Massimo Gherarducci and Gaetano Figlia di Granara.

Swedish team with Mans Holmberg, Italian trimmer Lorenzo De Felice ranking fourth followed at fifth closing up the ranking Malizia Team, second team from Monaco.

www.sailingseries.eu/m32/default.aspx?lingua=1

Featured Brokerage

2008 Mills 37 - CRAZY HORSE. 95000 GBP. Located in Howth, Ireland.

S Glass/Foam Core/Epoxy. Built by Davie Norris.

Details

Contact
Ben Cooper
+44 (0) 1590 679222

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2008 Melges 32. 83000 USD. Located in Torquay, England, UK.

Hull number 175 (2008). In immaculate condition with no defects and a high polished finish.

3M black non skid on cockpit floor. Cockpit bags replaced with velcro pads for winch handles / radio / bottles etc.

Traveler, mainsheet and backstay controls all run as per class rules.

Engine is the original Tohatsu 9.9. Has received constant servicing throughout its life, still running fine but needs to be regularly serviced.

Details

Contact
Joe Hall
Farr Yacht Sales Europe
+44 1983 200901

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Tan 66 - NEW BOAT

The latest entrant into the large performance cat market comes from an all-French design and build team working under the management of Dubai-based Tan Yachts - which was founded by entrepreneur Xavier Bouin. Looks very roomy

Details

Contact
Xavier Bouin
+971(0)55 602 53 86

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

The Last Word
Memory is the medium of the must-have-been. -- Julian Jaynes

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