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Yoann Richomme Winner Of Le Figaro Solitaire Bompard
Crossing the this final sprint finish line in La Rochelle-La Rochelle via the island of Yeu, in 9th position, less than 9 minutes behind Charlie Dalin (Skipper Macif 2015), Yoann Richomme strengthened its first place overall and wins this 47th Bompard Solitaire Le Figaro.

Released yesterday the seventh coastal course, Yoann first carefully controlled his direct opponent. The gap between the two Macif skippers who was only 14 minutes before departure on the final leg.

After his first stage victory in Paimpol - the first for a Skipper Macif in nine years on the circuit - Yoann Richomme also offers first victory to his sponsor in the legendary event.

British solo sailor Will Harris takes the Rookie title

After an intense battle over almost 1,500 nautical miles of tough solo coastal racing, 22-year-old Will Harris today became the third Artemis Offshore Academy skipper in four years to win the coveted Solitaire Bompard Le Figaro Rookie title.

This is a prize that spotlights young and talented solo sailors as the ones to watch for the future.

Completing the final 130-mile stage, from La Rochelle to the Ile de Yeu and back, in an impressive eighth place, the Artemis 77 skipper crossed the finish line in a time of 20 hours, 52 minutes and 17 seconds.

Harris' closest rival, Pierre Quiroga on Skipper Espoir CEM, pushed the young Englishman all the way and, during the final leg, was never more than a mile behind him for almost 24 hours.

Final top ten overall:

1. Skipper Macif 2014, Yoann Richomme
2. Skipper Macif 2015, Charlie Dalin
3. Generali, Nicolas Lunven
4. Armor Lux, Erwan Tabarly
5. Gedimat, Thierry Chabagny
6. Fiva Groups, Alexis Loison
7. Sofinther - A Jersey For Life, Corentin Douguet
8. Environment Guyot, Vincent Biarnes
9. Roads Oceans, Xavier Macaire
10. Smile To Life, Christopher Pratt

www.lasolitairebompard.com

Wet And Wild On Day Three Of The Dragon Edinburgh Cup
Abersoch, UK - Conditions were wet and wild on the third day of the 2016 Dragon Edinburgh Cup, supported by Gwynedd Council and the 'Wales 2016 Year of Adventure - Snowdonia Mountains & Coast', at the South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club in Abersoch. The forecast predicted rain, poor visibility and plenty of wind and that's exactly what the fleet got.

The 18-20 knot south-westerly kicked up quite a swell against the ebbing tide, creating an upwind dilemma for the tacticians who had to decide between sailing in the relatively flat water on the right hand side of the course or heading left out into the faster current but much bigger seas. Another dilemma for everyone was finding the marks as the visibility was so poor that at times you couldn't even see the rest of the fleet, never mind either end of the course.

Revelling in the conditions was Neil Hegarty sailing IRL176 Phantom with Peter Bowring and David Williams. After a rather slow start to their regatta this very experienced trio found their form today and despite constant pressure from the chasing fleet sailed a superb race.

Racing concludes Friday.

Top five after five races:
1. Alfie, Lawrie Smith, GBR, 7 points
2. Louise, Grant Gordon, GBR, 10
3. Harry, Mike Budd, GBR, 15
4. Jaguar, Martin Byrne, IRL, 19
5. Quicksilver VI, Rob Campbell, 27

edinburghcup.org

Italian Teams Tied At The Top
Porto Carras, Greece: After two hard-fought windward-leeward races today, there are two teams from the Italian Adriatic coast tied at the top of the leaderboard in Class AB at the 2016 ORC European Championship, organized by the Nautical Club of Thessaloniki. In close racing held in winds ranging from as low as 7 to as much as 17 knots, these two leaders have achieved their results by only the thinnest of margins in corrected time in both races.

And not only is their cumulative score only two points ahead of two other teams capable of grabbing the lead away at any time, there is one team whose unfortunate BFD in today's first race marred an otherwise impressive scoreline that will shed 38 points off her score once the series gets to five races, probably tomorrow.

Standings after three races:

Class AB
1. Duvetica Grey Goose (ITA) Arya 415 mod Giampiero Vagliano
2. Blue Sky (ITA) GS43 BC Claudio Terrieri
3. My Way (GRE) Rodman 42 Faedon Kydoniatis
4. Meliti IV-Musto (GRE) GS42R George Andreadis
5. Canevel Spumanti (ITA) First 40 Manuel Constantin

Class C
1. Scugnizza-Total Lubmarine (ITA) NM38S Vincenzo de Blasio
2. Katarina II (EST) Arcona 340 Aivar Tuulberg
3. Sugar (EST) Italia 9.98 Ott Kikkas
4. Baximus (GRE) X-35 OD Thanasis Baxevanis
5. Blue Line-Free Motion Bavaria 35 Match Giorgos Drakopoulos

orci.ncth.gr

Seahorse August 2016
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Seahorse Magazine

It had to happen
Reichel/Pugh make their long-awaited move into large offshore performance multihulls. Tony Beale

Changing guard, changing philosophy?
As Mark Turner settles in as Volvo Ocean Race CEO, race-winner Ian Walker puts forward some thoughts about future editions

This game has changed
As the World Match Racing Tour follows the Cup onto two hulls, Andy Rice finds that some of the old-school moves can still come in very handy

Growing story - Part 2
Britt Ward, Charles Bertrand and Brett Bakewell-White offer some designer opinion on the Dynamic Stability Syst

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Farr 40 European Championship
Click on image to enlarge.

Farr 40 Europeans Ancona and the Adriatic Sea delivered in a big way on Thursday, providing Chamber of Commerce conditions for the Farr 40 European Championship. Sunny skies, warm temperatures and a building easterly wind greeted the 10-boat fleet competing on the second stop of the International Circuit.

Principal Race Officer Fabio Barrasso postponed the fleet onshore in order to give the wind time to fill in and stabilize. Racing began at 12:30 local time and was nothing short of spectacular.

"It was a very good day. We had strong wind and flat sea. The race committee did an excellent job and the competition was outstanding," said Enfant Terrible skipper Alberto Rossi, who is hosting the regatta in his home port.

Barrasso and his top-notch race committee from Ancona Yacht Club completed three races in breeze that began at about 10 knots and built to 15 by late afternoon. Skipper Alex Roepers and the Plenty team earned Boat of the Day honors by sandwiching a pair of bullets around a third place.

Terry Hutchinson is calling tactics aboard Plenty, which engaged Enfant Terrible in a terrific battle in Race 3 and Race 5. The New York (USA) entry emerged from the second day of action with a three-point lead over Enfant Terrible, which has placed second in three of five races thus far.

Rossi said a couple of minor errors here and there cost Enfant Terrible, which posted a 2-4-2 score line on Thursday. Gabriele Benussi is calling tactics for Rossi, who felt Enfant Terrible had better downwind speed than Plenty.

Top five after five races:
1. Plenty, Alex Roepers, USA, 10 points
2. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, ITA, 13
3. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut and Evan Jahn, USA, 15
4. Asterisk BSC, Hasip Gencer, TUR, 23
5. Rush Diletta (Corinthian), Mauro Mocchegiani, GBR, 24

Full results

farr40.org

Ready For Another Tour!
The 39th Tour de France a la Voile will kick off tomorrow in Dunkirk (Northern France), with 24 teams competing on a coastal race (on Friday) and a series of stadium races (on Sunday) onboard their Diam24 trimarans.

Here is the program
- First coastal race in Dunkirk on Friday 8th July, starting at 12.45 local time
- Stadium races on Sunday 10th July, with a first start at 11.30

Each Act will start with a Coastal Race, that will not exceed three hours of racing. The route will be set according to the weather conditions, with a start and a finish line on the same spot, as close as possible from the spectator area.

Details of global television coverage on the event site:
www.tourvoile.fr

Norauto Starts Where She Left Off
Photo by Max Ranchi, www.maxranchi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

GC32 Lake Garda laid on the conditions for which it is world-famous on the opening day of the GC32 Malcesine Cup, the second event on the 2016 GC32 Racing Tour.

The famous 'Ora' southerlyovercame the overnight 'Pelèr' northerly mid-morning and after a short delay racing commenced off Malcesine at 1330 CET.

From the outset Franck Cammas and his crew on NORAUTO continued where they left off at the opening event of the 2016 GC32 Racing Tour in nearby Riva del Garda in May when they beat the Sébastien Schneiter-steered Team Tilt, finishing on 37 points to Team Tilt's 50 after 19 races.

Due to a few breakdowns in the fleet and at one point the race committee boat having to up anchor (while moored in 300 metres of glacial lake) only five of the six scheduled races were sailed today. Nonetheless the ten crews came ashore elated after a day of perfect flat water foiling.

Racing is expected to continue tomorrow at 1300 CET when the GC32s will once again be joined by other classes competing in Foiling Week such as Flying Phantoms and Moths.

gc32racing.com

Industry News
Premier Premier's Endeavour Quay is a hive of activity right now as the eleven international teams that make up the RC44 racing fleet arrive and prepare their yachts ready to participate in the RC44 Portsmouth Cup, from 13th - 17th July.

Selected by Teamorigin Events, the host organiser of the RC44 UK event, for its ideal location and extensive facilities and experience, Endeavour Quay is the official Technical Area for the international teams over the next 3 weeks; including five-time RC44 Championship Tour winner British Team Aqua, who are hoping for a home victory.

The third stop on the global RC44 Championship Tour, Tim Newell, Boatyard Manager at Premier Endeavour Quay commented: "A lot of work has been done to clear and prepare the yard for this event and I am confident that we can deliver a first rate service and environment for the teams to carry out their regatta preparation."

Racing will take place from Wednesday 13th until Sunday 17th July with eleven teams in attendance representing the countries of UK, France, Sweden, Russia, Holland, Poland and Slovenia.

Premier Marinas owns and operates nine South Coast marinas. In addition to Gosport Marina, which includes Endeavour Quay, Premier's other marina locations are at Eastbourne, Brighton, Chichester, Southsea in Langstone Harbour, Port Solent, Swanwick, Noss on Dart and Falmouth.

www.premiermarinas.com

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Hall, Inc. (Hall Spars & Rigging and Hall Composites) announced today that Tom Rossi has been named President & CEO of the company effective 27 June 2016. He will be responsible for all Hall operations in the US, Holland and New Zealand. He succeeds Eric Hall, founder of the company, who will remain as Company Chairman.

A US Naval Academy graduate, Mr. Rossi is a veteran of 20 years Naval service reaching the rank of Commander before retirement in 2000. Included in his Naval duties was Commanding Officer of the Guided Missile Destroyer USS John Hancock (DD981).

After his Naval career, Mr. Rossi embarked on a distinguished career in the private sector which has included Vice President of Anteon Corporation in Middletown, RI, Executive VP and GM of Caton Connector Corporation in Kingston, MA, and Senior Director of Operations of SRI International Corporation in Princeton, NJ.

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OC Sport, the global sports marketing and events company that specialises in professional sailing and outdoor events, has opened its second UK office, with a new premises in London to complement the "original" base in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

Outside of the UK, OC Sport continues to maintain offices in France and Switzerland, with plans to extend operations to China and the US in the coming months.

The London office is on the south bank of the Thames between Blackfriars and Waterloo bridges and within walking distance of Waterloo station.

ocsport.com

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The decision to expand the capacity of the 2016 edition of the METSTRADE show has been fully justified, says event organiser Amsterdam RAI. A full six months before the event opens for business from November 15-17, an impressive 97% of the original exhibition floor has already been booked, and sales are also well on course for the additional hall.

There has also been a notable rise in the number of companies opting to have a stand in the pavilions at METSTRADE 2016 compared to the 2015 exhibition. Many more square metres have already been booked at the SuperYacht Pavilion (SYP) compared to June 2015, including first-time exhibitors such as Mapei, Nobiskrug and Pin-Craft.

Both the Marina & Yard Pavilion (MYP) and Construction Material Pavilion (CMP) already have as many exhibitors registered for 2016 now as there were in total at the 2015 show. Notable newcomers in these pavilions include Marina Projects and Dockmarine in the MYP and Scott Bader and BNS Industrial in the CMP.

The extra hall that has been added to the new layout for METSTRADE 2016 will increase the show floor by over 3,000sq m. Hall 7 is proving attractive to leading companies like Yamaha and Dometic and a range of other exhibitors.

plus.ibinews.com

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Hallberg-Rassy has appointed a new dealer for the Japanese market. Mr Aki Yabuki with Kaiwo Company is located in Yokohama and has a long experience from the marine industry and from selling sailing yachts.

www.hallberg-rassy.com

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Quaynote Communications has announced that its conference The Future for Yacht Chartering will take place on Tuesday October 11 this year at OneOcean Port Vell in Barcelona, Spain. The Barcelona Nautical Cluster and Superyacht Business are officially backing the event as official sponsors.

With Spain reporting an impressive upswing in the local chartering business, and new destinations becoming more accessible, the charter business is gearing up for more expansion.

As opportunities emerge, so do new challenges, with port state control, the customs code and taxation issues raising causing concern amongst many industry players.

As charter brokers, managers, corporate service providers and others seek clarification of regulatory changes, the new one-day conference will put the chartering, marinas and destinations under the spotlight.

The event is chaired by Pat Bullock of Network Marine Consultants and exhibitors include One Ocean Port Vell and local tax experts TaxMarine.

The Future of Yacht Chartering welcomes marinas operators, charter brokers, superyacht managers, lawyers, regulatory authorities, yacht registries, captains, industry associations and anyone with a vested interest in the growth of yacht chartering.

www.superyachtbusiness.net

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Henri Lloyd has announced the appointment of Richard Renda as Henri Lloyd Marketing Manager.

Richard joins the team with over a decade of in-house and industry brand marketing with the likes of the MMP Global, The Mansion Group, Reeds Rains and sports retailers JJB and JD Sports.

Richard's role will include the management of the Henri Lloyd marine and lifestyle brand across the various channels both in the UK and to our international markets. He will be managing the marketing, creative and comms team at Henri Lloyd to deliver commercially effective and successful brand communication and campaigns and offer marketing support to our distribution network which includes online, retail, wholesale and international.

Richard will be based at Henri Lloyd's head office in Worsley, Manchester.

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