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Another Light But Productive Day
Copenhagen, Denmark: A day that started with light almost drifting conditions ended by finishing with a nice southerly breeze of about 10-knots to bring three more races to the scoreboards in the ORC World Championship 2016.

Class A completed a 39-mile offshore race to thus fulfill the minimum requirements to qualify the event as a World Championship, and Classes B and C were able to complete two inshore races and thus qualify them for one discard of their worse inshore race.

These two classes were also racing for the first time in their new Gold and Silver fleets, where those in the Gold group will be competing for the final podium positions.

Principal Race Officer Christian Lerche from the Royal Danish YC has announced tonight that inshore racing will resume for Class A with a Warning signal at 1000 local time, and that Classes B and C will have an offshore race Warning signal also at 1000 local time. If the offshore race is completed, then Classes A and B will also have the option of discarding their worse race, including an offshore race. Boats in Class A needs two more inshore races to earn an inshore race discard according to ORC rules.

Top three:

Class A
1. Yakimenko Vadim, Freccia Rossa, ITA, TP52, 10.0
2. Fredrik Alexandersson, Stell, SWE, Swan 45, 16.0
3. Erik Berth, Tarok VII, DEN, Swan 45 SD, 17.0

Class B
1. Claus Landmark, Santa, NOR, Landmark 43, 9.0
2. Aaro Cantell, Normet, FIN, X-41, 16
3. Mati Sepp, Premium, EST, X-41 mod, 24

Class C
1. Jascha Bach, Bachyachting Racing Team, NED, Italia 9.98, 13.0
2. Michael Mollmann, Hansen, DEN, X-37, 13.5
3. Patrik Forsgren, Pro4u/Malin, SWE, First 36.7 Mod, 28

www.orcworlds2016.com

Bring It On Portsmouth!
The Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series returns to Portsmouth this weekend - the place where it all began a year ago with a resounding home town victory for Land Rover BAR. Ben Ainslie and his team will be aiming to repeat last year's performance and go into the final two events of the season (France in September and Japan in November) as Portsmouth winners and overall leaders.

The action kicks off on the 22nd July with practice racing, and runs through to Super Sunday on the 24th July. Land Rover BAR head into the event lying in second overall after a win at the 2016 season opener in Oman, and a strong second in Chicago a month ago. The team are just 10 points behind Emirates Team New Zealand, and level with Team Oracle USA, the defender of the 35th America's Cup.

The team will be supported on the water on Friday by HRH Prince Philip, in his role as Admiral of the Royal Yacht Squadron, the team's challenging yacht club. On Sunday, the Land Rover BAR crew will once again be cheered on by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; the Duchess continuing her long-term support for the team as Royal Patron of their official charity, the 1851 Trust.

This year the event will include a brand new Race Village, home of a special Kids Zone, Tech Zone and Team Zone with lots of interactive activities for all ages. The Land Rover BAR 'Tech Tent' will include features drawn from the team's Tech Deck and Education Centre to showcase some of the incredible technology from the team and partners.

The Tech Tent features will include Stable Flight - an interactive game using Oculus Goggles to create a virtual reality experience where users steer the boat and adjust the hydrofoils to get the fastest speed around two different courses. There's also Step On Board - a chance to experience the adrenaline rush of being a guest racer board 'T2' with an immersive 360 video experience.

Fans can also get their photo taken in the line-up with Ben and the Land Rover BAR sailing team, get a look at the brand new Land Rover BAR app, sign up for a Tech Deck and Education Centre visit, and personalise your very own team kit.

landroverbar.com
americascup.com

Rio 100 Sets New Pacific Cup Fastest Passage Record
Photo by Lauren Easley. Click on image for photo gallery.

RIO Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii: Strong winds propelled Manouch Moshayedi's super maxi Rio 100 across the Pacific to set a new Pacific Cup Fastest Passage record. Crossing the finish at 13:51:13 local Hawaii time (16:51:13 PDT). With an elapsed time of 5 days, 2 hours, 41 mins and 13 seconds, Rio 100 knocked two hours off the record set in 2004 by Robert Miller, whose 139-foot Mari Cha IV finished with an elapsed time of 5 days, 5 hours, 38 minutes and 10 seconds.

Rio 100 sailed a course slightly above the rhumb line for the entire race, taking advantage of breezes fed by the well-behaved Pacific High as well as remnants of Hurricane Celia. Many of this year's crew of 16, including navigator Christopher Branning, were also onboard for the 2015 Transpac when Rio won the prestigious Barn Door Trophy with an elapsed time of 7 days, 5 hours, 34 minutes, and 07 seconds.

pacificcup.org

M32s At The Yacht Club De Monaco - Let The Show Begin!
Yacht Club de Monaco Monaco: Another weekend, another event at the Yacht Club de Monaco adding spice to life in the harbour. Just days after the Monaco Solar Boat Challenge which put the spotlight on solar energy, the Club is hosting a first for the Principality: the second Act of the M32 Mediterranean Series starting Friday until Sunday 24th.

These 9.68m one-design all-carbon catamarans are designed to race in spectacular style, with an intense race format easy for the public to understand. Five races of 17 minutes each per day are on the programme in a "stadium-racing" formula just off the terraces of Monaco's main harbour breakwater (depending on weather conditions).

Five boats are competing, two of them flying the YCM's flag, led by Guido Miani at the helm of Neverland who distinguished himself in Porto Venere (Italy) end of June with a third place in the overall ranking and five race wins. Alongside them is the Monegasque M32 Team Malizia crew of young dinghy racers, supervised by the highly experienced Sebastien Col who is competing on the current GC32 circuit with Pierre Casiraghi.

Riccardo Simoneschi (Italia Sailing Team), Richard Davies (Section 16) and Mans Holmberg (Typhoon X Racing) complete this high level field.

Kick-off is set for 1.30pm on Friday 21st July with the start of the first race.

Programme for M32 Mediterranean Series

Friday 22nd July 2016
11.00am: Skippers' briefing (Quai Louis II)
1.30pm: First warning signal - 5 races of 17 minutes

Saturday 23rd July 2016
11.00am: Skippers' briefing (Quai Louis II)
1.30pm: First warning signal - 5 races of 17 minutes 8.00pm: Gala Dinner

Sunday 24th July 2016
11.00am: Skippers' briefing (Quai Louis II)
1.00pm: First warning signal - 5 races of 17 minutes
After racing: Prize-giving

Information and results: Yacht Club de Monaco website: www.ycm.org

Transpac 2017 Now Open For Entries
The Transpacific YC is pleased to announce the entry process is open and the Notice of Race published for the 49th edition of next year's Los Angeles-Honolulu Race, known as the Transpac. This iconic ocean racing classic will have its first race start for the fleet's Aloha class of heavy traditional cruising-type yachts on Monday, July 3, 2017, with subsequent starts held in reverse order of size and speed over the next several days. The final awards ceremony will be held in Honolulu on Friday, July 21st.

The Transpac is the oldest and most prestigious of yachting's open ocean races to Hawaii, being first held in 1906 from a concept developed by Hawaii's King Kalakaua in 1896 to promote greater fellowship between the new territory of Hawaii and the mainland. For nearly every two years since, dozens of boats and hundreds of sailors and adventurers from all over the world have come to participate in this great race which runs 2225 miles from the cool California coast to the warm waters and tropical tradewinds of Hawaii.

Applications for entry are open to qualified crews who meet prescribed pre-race requirements in safety training, seamanship and ocean passage making experience. Minimum length of monohulls is 30 feet with no maximum length allowed beyond 100 feet (30.48 meters) given certain speed restrictions. Participating monohulls will scored using TPYC ratings derived from Full Measured or Measurer Verified ORR rating certificates, in addition to meeting safety equipment requirements confirmed by pre-race and post-race inspections.

Multihulls of any length over 45 feet (13.72 meters) are also welcome to apply for entry, and a minimum of two entries are required to offer a multihull class.

The first standard entry deadline is on March 1st, 2017, although early entry is encouraged for purposes of planning and meeting all requirements for entry to the race.

www.transpacyc.com

Olympic Dreams Run In The Family
For Deniss Karpak (EST), his Olympic Finn ambitions are more than a singlehanded drive for the gold. For him it is very much a family affair. While his mother, Marina, is the team manager, his father Igor is the head coach. They travel with him everywhere, working together as a very tight unit, but also making sure it is fun along the way.

Karpak's eleventh place at the London 2012 Olympics was not the position that he had hoped he would finish. Though he had briefly risen to the World No. 1 a few months beforehand, he only managed three top 10 race finishes in 2012, including one of the biggest race wins of the week. He has much higher hopes for Rio.

He comes from a very sport orientated family, with both his parents at some time also trying for the Olympics. His father campaigned a Flying Dutchman for 1984, but missed out because of the USSR boycott, while his mother, a top swimmer, also missed out. Both his parents will be with him in Rio as usual. "With them I feel always like I am at home, because home is the place where my family is."

Karpak is perhaps the most famous sailor in Estonia, winning the Estonian Sailor of the Year award eight times. -- Robert Deaves

finnclass.org

Clipper 2015-16 Round The World Yacht Race Returns To London
After an epic 40,000 nautical mile, eleven month journey, the twelve amateur teams competing in the world's longest ocean race, including 170 Brits (54 from London) will return to St Katharine Docks on Saturday 30 July, to a spectacular welcome ceremony.

This is no ordinary yacht race. 40 per cent of Clipper Race crew have no previous sailing experience when they sign up to take on the challenge. This is where teachers, firemen, nurses, students, landscape gardeners, engineers, CEOs and many, many more, join together to take on one of the toughest endurance challenges on the planet.

Since leaving London last August, the fleet has visited Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Albany (Western Australia), Sydney, Airlie Beach (the Whitsundays), Da Nang (Vietnam), Qingdao (China), Seattle, Panama, New York, Derry-Londonderry, and Den Helder (the Netherlands).

Saturday 30 July, 11am - 6pm - London, St Katharine Docks
50 St Katharine's Way, London E1W 1LA

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

The Brazil Job
The RYA has brilliant athletes, coaches... and PR.

Well worth a few minutes of your time, this very well produced, amusing video:

Diversity Of The IRC Fleet In A Nutshell
With the IRC European Championship only just completed in Cork, Ireland, the Northern Hemisphere sailing season quickly moves onto the next chapter. In this case it could not be more diverse with the Panerai British Classic Week taking over the Solent, being organised by Royal Yacht Squadron Racing between the 16th and 23rd July.

As per the previous BCYC events, the majority of the fleet races under the IRC (International Rating Certificate) system. Of the 61 entries 48 are competing in IRC classes, with the remainder being one-design or cruising. Whilst the yachts all seem to slip through the water with a great deal of style and elegance, there the similarities seem to end. The list of designers is long and distinguished, including Sparkman & Stephens, Laurent Giles and William Fife III amongst many others. The size, type and age is also as wide spread with gaff yawls, Bermudan sloops and gaff cutters all out competing in the long awaited British summer weather.

Many of the competing yachts will have been seen racing in the Solent well over 100 years ago, whilst some are a more modern takes on the theme, with current knowledge in yacht design influencing where it was more of a gut feel when Olin Stephens drew some of the competition. Along with the variety in rig design it is however very interesting to see that many features of the modern IRC fleet are not new at all, with plumb bows and bowsprits being seen again, and gaff riggers not that dissimilar from the square top mainsails seen in IRC fleets around the world today.

We do however hope that the Panerai British Classic Week doesn't keep all of the British summer to themselves and that they leave us with some sunshine for the start of the Brewin Dolphin Commodore's Cup, where the RORC Rating Office will be busy carrying out equipment inspections as these beautiful classics make way for the newest breed of IRC racer cruisers in the Solent. A busy time for all.

Panerai Classic Yacht Challenge www.paneraiclassicyachtschallenge.com
British Classic Yacht Club www.britishclassicyachtclub/regatta/
RORC Rating Office www.rorcrating.com

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