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Today Was 'Brutal'
Photo by Richard Langdon/Ocean Images, www.oceanimages.co.uk. Click on image for photo gallery.

Rio Yet again Rio 2016 is offering up a test of the best all-round sailor as on Day 4 it was all about the winds and waves.

In the RS:X and the 470 fleets the current Olympic champions are starting to edge closer and closer to the top of their respective leaderboards, but there are a lot of sailors fighting hard to keep them close.

In the Finn, the favourite, Giles Scott (GBR), is extending his lead while in the new Olympic class, the Nacra 17, the pre-event favourites France are struggling but Billy Besson is battling a long term injury rather than his rivals.

But that wasn't the whole story on day 4. Brutal. About survival. Waves as big as houses. Just some of the comments from the sailors who had to brave what Rio de Janeiro threw at them.

The Olympic sailing competition again produced the extremes of flat water and shifty conditions on the inshore courses with the giant wind and size-of-a-house waves out on the seaward courses. This regatta is testing every extreme of a sailor's ability, which some argue is exactly what the Olympic competition should be.

Women's Two Person Dinghy - 470

The defending Olympic Champions Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (NZL) sailed an excellent day and met their simple goal for some of the toughest conditions they have ever experienced.

The Kiwis have replaced the Japanese at the top of the scoreboard, with Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka just two points behind New Zealand. Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR) could have dominated the day with two wins, except that in the second race they capsized whilst in the lead and did well to hold on to a sixth place.

Men's Two Person Dinghy - 470

Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic (CRO) had the best day in the survival conditions, the Croatians' 4,1 scores lifting them to three points clear of their Aussie rivals and reigning Olympic Champions Mat Belcher and Will Ryan.

Heavyweight Men's One Person Dinghy - Finn

Giles Scott (GBR) didn't manage to capitalise on the survival conditions quite like the previous day of big wind and waves, finishing 11th in the first race but making amends by winning the next. He now holds a 12-point lead over second placed Vasilij Zbogar (SLO).

Men's Windsurfer - RS:X

Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED) turned the tables on Nick Dempsey (GBR) by finding a level of consistency in tricky, variable conditions that no one else could match. The defending Olympic Champion's scores, 4,1,1, have lifted him eight points clear of the London 2012 silver medallist who still had a good day to hold second overall, now five points in front of the reigning World Champion Piotr Myszka (POL).

Women's Windsurfer - RS:X

The reigning Olympic Champion Marina Alabau (ESP) had the best day from the Women's Windsurfer fleet's three races, and she moves to within striking distance of the podium.

Mixed Multihull - Nacra 17

After four brutal three-lap races for the Nacra 17 fleet, two teams sit tied at the top on equal points. The Australian crew's two race wins put Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AUS) in first place ahead of Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves (GBR), while in third place and nine points behind the leaders is the Italian crew of Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri.

Podium positions after Wednesday's Racing

RS: X Men
1. Dorian Van Russelberghe, NED, 16
2. Nick Dempsey, GBR, 24
3. Piotr Myszka, POL, 29
Full results

RS:X Women
1. Flavia Tartaglini, ITA, 35
2. Charline Picon, FRA, 36
3. Stefaniya Elfutina, RUS, 36
Full results

Laser Men
1. Tonci Stipanovic, CRO, 26
2. Nick Thompson, GBR, 35
3. Rutger Van Schaardenburg, NED, 37
Full results

Laser Radial Women
1. Annalise Murphy, IRL, 19
2. Anne-Marie Rindom, DEN, 20
4. Marit Bouwmeester, NED, 21
Full results

Finn
1. Giles Scott, GBR, 18
2. Vasilij Zbogar, SLO, 29
3. Zsombor Berecz, HUN, 33
Full results

470 Men
1. Sime Fantela / Igor Marenic, CRO, 4
2. Mathew Belcher / Will Ryan, AUS, 7
3. Panagiotis Mantis / Pavlos Kagialis, GRE, 9
Full results

470 Women
1. Jo Aleh / Polly Powrie, NZL, 6
2. Ai Kondo Yoshida / Miho Yoshioka, JPN, 8
3. Hannah Mills / Saskia Clark, GBR, 11
Full results

NACRA 17
1. Jason Waterhouse / Lisa Darmanin, AUS, 17
2. Ben Saxton / Nicola Groves, GBR, 17
3. Vittorio Bissaro / Silvia Sicouri, ITA, 26
Full results

Racing Friday continues in 470 Men, 470 Women, RS:X Men, RS:X Women, Laser Men, Laser Women.

Racing starts on Friday for the 49er Men and 49er FX Women. The Finn and NACRA have a lay day.

Scuttlebutt's Craig Leweck will be following the racing LIVE on World Sailing's Olympic Blog throughout Rio 2016. Follow LIVE here

World Sailing Olympic Website - www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/home.php

Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week Day Six
Today's racing started in an unstable westerly breeze of 10-14 knots that gradually swung towards the north-west through the morning. It increased to give gusts in the upper teens as the thin cloud over the Solent broke up, giving way to long sunny periods.

By the time of the XOD start on the Royal Yacht Sqaudaron line at 1325 the wind was mostly over 15 knots, with some stronger gusts and big shifts. The outer end of the line was strongly favoured, with many boats gathered there and already on course side a minute before the start.

IRC Class 6 was subjected to a short postponement while the race committee relaid the Bramble line to take account of the wind shifting towards the north west. Nevertheless, there was still plenty of noisy action at the committee boat end of the line.

The start of IRC Class 7 was a more dignified affair, with Jo Richards' H-Boat Woof getting the best start at the committee boat end of the line, ahead of John Mulcahy's Stella 26 Estrella, Ed and Bella Donald's Folkboat Madelaine and another H-Boat, Dave Wright's Hubble Bubble. Richards finished with a 15 minute advantage on the water to take his fifth win of the regatta. Estrella took second on corrected time, 45 seconds ahead of Madelaine.

There's still time to bid in the online auction being held this week by Aberdeen Asset Management's official charity, Cowes based UKSA. There are 21 lots on offer, including a track day in a Ferrari 458, a week for eight guests in a luxury chalet in Verbier, and hot air balloon ride with champagne. Find out more

Full results of all classes: www.aamcowesweek.co.uk

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

Seahorse Magazine

World news
The unbelievable Francois Gabart, thank you Wicklow, Figaro brilliance, technical Kiwis, taking on the Poms, serious (offshore) questions. Ivor Wilkins, Blue Robinson, Patrice Carpentier, Dobbs Davis

Nowhere to hide
Why Rio presents a particular challenge for the obvious favourites. Andy Rice

Just keeps getting better
Peter Holmberg's Caribbean winter invite

Never average
Kiel Week 2016

Design - New direction
Juan Kouyoumdjian gets under the skin of that mysterious Nautor DNA

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Phaedo3 Takes Line Honours In The Tenth Artemis Challenge
The incredible offshore sailing machine Phaedo3 takes line honours in the tenth edition of the Artemis Challenge at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week.

Screaming around the Isle of Wight at top speeds of over 30 knots, Lloyd Thornburg's MOD70 covered the 50 nautical mile course in three hours and 56 seconds, 50 minutes ahead of M32 Tranwall.

Powering over the Royal Yacht Squadron start line in a flash of gold and white, Phaedo3 flew past the Needles at 27 knots. Executing just three tacks the along the north west coast past Yarmouth, the boat was on pace with the world record holder Foncia.

Despite their rapid speed and sheer determination, light conditions on the south east side of the Island put paid to any record breaking runs, with the current world record set by Michel Desjoyeaux and Foncia in the 2012 edition of the race out of reach at two hours, 21 minutes and 25 seconds.

Despite the sheer size of Phaedo3, M32 Tranwall was hot on the stern of the MOD70. On the approach to Saint Catherine's lighthouse, the 32-foot match-racing catamaran achieved speeds of 21 knots and was just five miles behind the ocean racing giant - not bad for a catamaran measuring in at less than half the size of the giant trimaran's hulls.

In what was the first time an M32 has competed in the Artemis Challenge, the Tranwall crew set their own benchmark today, completing the charity sprint in three hours, 58 minutes and one second.

To commemorate a decade of the Artemis Challenge at Cowes Week, Artemis Investment Management LLP will split the £10,000 prize money 50/50. Both teams take home £5000 for their chosen charities. Phaedo3 will donate their winnings to Great Ormond Street Hospital and Tranwall will split their prize money between Swedish children's charity Childhood and the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation - all three are great causes.

www.artemischallenge.com

International Women's Keelboat Championship
Rye, New York: The American Yacht Club in Rye, N.Y. will host the new International Women's Keelboat Championship in provided J/70 class sailboats from August 14th to 20th.

The championship will offer women keelboat and offshore sailors high quality racing on the international stage without the need to provide their own boats or sails. To ensure a fast and competitive racing format, additional changes have been made to speed up the action. The format consists of fleet racing with a twist. The championship features sixteen teams from the USA, New Zealand, Germany and Canada, with each team rotating boats after every two races. Each team will race an equal number of races against the others. Races will be approximately 15 minutes in duration. The AYC, in cooperation with US Sailing, will provide on-the-water judging. The event will be hosted immediately offshore of the AYC peninsula that thrusts into Long Island Sound, it should provide a great viewing experience for spectators.

On Monday, August 15th, the "Magenta Project" will host a training clinic led by three-time International Women's Keelboat Champion, Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, and Olympian Sally Barkow.

The two Canadian teams are Isabella Bertold from Vancouver, British Columbia and the other is Elizabeth Hjorth, currently living in Marina del Rey, CA. The German team, lead by Mareike Weber from Munich, has an experienced crew of J/24 sailors. The Kiwi team from Auckland, New Zealand is led by skipper Melinda Henshaw.

www.ussailing.org/racing/championships/adult/iwkc/

Moscow Museum Team Wins Russia League IV
Moscow, Russia: The fourth act of the Russian J/70 sailing league took place on the Konakovo River northwest of Moscow's famous Red Square and was hosted by the beautiful facilities at the Konakovo River Club. The regatta was attended by twenty-two teams from across Russia; 34 races in total were completed so that each team had a total of twelve races to count.

It was nearly a landslide victory at Stage IV for the Moscow Museum YC; in 12 races they had 9 wins! This is the second consecutive victory in the League for the crew of Alexander Ezhkova, Daniel Odintsov, Valentine Uvarkina, and Alexander Ekimov. At the earlier regattas in Sochi and Moscow, the Museum team was not so successful; however, they have now vaulted into the fifth position in the overall series after winning this past weekend.

Second overall for the weekend was the "Navigator Sailing Team" from Moscow Yacht Club. Igor Rytova, Valeria Zatsarinskogo, Anton Sergeev, and Konstantin Besputin had four race wins in the regatta; the result further secured their lead in the overall sailing league series.

Third for the weekend regatta was the team from Yekaterinburg- "Lord of the Sail- Europe" with skipper Vyacheslav Ermolenko. The team from Espona, Russia had solid results in previous regattas and now lay fourth overall in the series.

rusyf.ru/news/2335

Dubarry Crosshaven - Preferred By Professionals
Dubarry Crosshaven If you had to invent the most punishing ordeal for offshore sailing footwear - an extreme boot camp perhaps? - then it would be a professional, fully-crewed round the world race: thousands of ocean-bashing, boat-trashing miles around the planet. If there's even the slightest imperfection in boat, man or gear, this race will find it, break it, then tell everyone about it.

For most of us, it's the ultimate contest of man and machine against nature. For Dubarry, it's R&D. After supplying its ever-green Shamrock boot to the professional crew of Ireland's Green Dragon entry in a 2008-09 round the world race, Dubarry's most fanatical designers listened, developed, tested, listened some more, tweaked, analysed and tested again. The result was the Crosshaven boot.

When Green Dragon arrived in Galway at the end of leg 7 for the best party the race has ever seen, elbowing their way through the "craic addicts" was Dubarry's research team, wanting yet more feedback. Their finishing touches sealed the Crosshaven's reputation as the offshore professional's boot of choice. Where's the proof of that? Professional teams chose Crosshaven in the 2011-12 and 2014-15 round the world races.

Dubarry Crosshaven - Born at sea

dubarry.com

Industry News
2016 is the 40th year of Ovington Boats so we're having a party to celebrate at Derwent Reservoir SC 27th/28th August.

We have live bands lined up for Friday and Saturday evening, marquee, giant inflatable games, extra outdoor bar and a gourmet spit roast. Plenty of space on site for camping/ motorhomes and few neighbours to disturb! There is even some racing, organised by Howard Steavenson - 3 races on the Saturday split between asymmetric and conventional fleets/ course, followed by an all in pursuit race on the Sunday.

This celebration regatta is open to all boats with PY1200 or faster. We expect to see everything sailing from Enterprises, through to 49ers and VX Ones.

Online entry available here - the price goes up the week before so we can book a large enough pig to roast!

Any questions please get in touch; or call 0191 2576011.

www.yachtsandyachting.com

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Dimension Polyant, producer of sailcloth for sailors and sailmakers worldwide, is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Founded in 1991 in Germany, the company now has major locations in France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.

In 1966, the company made a decision to weave artificial fibres into an extremely stable cloth that was said to be designed exactly to meet the requirements of modern sailing.

This formed the basis for Dimension Polyant as it is known today.

www.boatingbusiness.com

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UK-based marine lighting specialist OceanLED has added two new staff to its global leadership team. Charlie Stuart joins the company as global managing director, while Lindsay Shapiro takes the role of marketing manager of OceanLED Americas.

Stuart will be responsible for implementing new business and operational processes at OceanLED, while also overseeing the product development lifecycle and new product launches, driving new global marketing, sales and new business initiatives, and managing OceanLED employees and all related Human Resources programs.

Stuart was formerly general manager of the Light Corporation, where he oversaw operations, business planning/strategy and new ventures.

Shapiro's career in marketing, market research, social media and brand development has launched major luxury lifestyle brands over the last decade on a worldwide scale. She grew up on the water and has always had a passion for fishing and yachting.

In her new role, Shapiro will be primarily responsible for marketing, public relations, media relations, social media and events in the US, while also working closely with global marketing initiatives.

plus.ibinews.com

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The Royal Ocean Racing Club is pleased to announce Sevenstar Yacht Transport as the Official Logistics Partner to the RORC Caribbean 600 starting in Antigua on 20th February 2017.

"The RORC have had a long and fruitful relationship with Sevenstar through their title sponsorship of the quadrennial Round Britain and Ireland race. We are delighted that they have extended this partnership by becoming the logistics provider for the incredibly successful RORC Caribbean 600, with the ability to provide cost-effective shipping solutions for boats travelling from Europe and America," says Michael Boyd, RORC Commodore.

Sevenstar is the world leader in the transport of yachts and equipment all around the world, and has recently added the Racing Yacht Logistics division to specifically cater for the yacht racing community.

Although Sevenstar operate worldwide, much of its business involves shipping to and from the Caribbean and Sevenstar Racing Yacht Logistics will offer competitors a team of experts to advise on race yacht transport. The new division will also ship other essential racing equipment, including spares, masts and RIBs, making sure that teams are fully race-ready by the time the start gun goes off.

Race minisite: caribbean600.rorc.org
www.sevenstar-yacht-transport.com

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After being awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in recognition of its export sales, Cowes based company Spinlock are continuing to enjoy the benefits of this prestigious award, with a recent visit to Buckingham Palace for directors Chris Hill and Caroline Senior and a Royal visit today during Cowes Week by the Duke of Edinburgh.

On Wednesday 10th August Spinlock received a visit from HRH Prince Philip at their production facility in Cowes. His Royal Highness met with Spinlock staff that assembles the products ready for export around the world, as well as formally awarding Spinlock with the Queen's Award for Enterprise. Also in attendance was HM Lord-Lieutenant, Major General Martin White CB CBE JP, Mrs Gillian Phenix, Deputy Clerk to the Lieutenancy, Mr John Owen CMG MBE DL and Mr Adrian Medley DL.

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