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Final Four Medal Races
Women's 470 Winners Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark. Photo by Richard Langdon/Ocean Images, www.oceanimages.co.uk. Click on image for photo gallery.

Rio 49er FX
The crowd on Flamengo Beach went wild as Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA) won gold by just two seconds from Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL) in a nailbiting final run to the finish. New Zealand took silver and bronze went to Denmark's Jena Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen (DEN). The team to miss out on a medal from the four-way battle was the Spanish crew of Tamara Echegoyen and Berta Betanzos (ESP).

Grael's victory continues a great family tradition, her father Torben having won five Olympic medals for Brazil. Torben was watching from a coach boat and was one of the first to congratulate his daughter.

Maloney and Meech so nearly made it a Kiwi double in the Skiff classes after Pete Burling and Blair Tuke had won gold in the Men's 49er. But any disappointment at missing 49erFX gold was swiftly case aside as the Kiwi girls celebrated taking the silver. Hansen and Salskov-Iversen beat the Spanish in the battle for bronze. The 49erFX was expected to deliver some of the most exciting and unpredictable racing at Rio 2016, but no one could have imagined that the gold would come down to the last two seconds. -- Andy Rice - World Sailing

Medal winners, 49er FX Women
1. Martine Grael / Kahena Kunze, BRA, 48
2. Alex Maloney / Molly Meech, NZL, 51
3. Jena Hansen / Katja Steen Salskov-Iversen, DEN, 54

49er Men

For Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL), the Medal Race was a victory lap, the Kiwis having won the 49er Men's gold medal with two races to spare after dominating the 20-boat fleet at Rio 2016 over the past week.

The unstoppable Kiwis dominated today's Medal Race just as they have dominated the 49er fleet for the past four years, the four-time World Champions undefeated since taking the Olympic silver medal in London 2012.

Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel (GER) began the day in silver medal position, but started the race very badly after a near capsize just 20 seconds before the start. This put the Germans on the back foot and opened the door for Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) to seize the advantage. The 2012 Olympic Champions did enough to stay ahead of their rivals and won silver for Australia, Germany taking bronze.

Medal winners, 49er Men
1. Peter Burling / Blair Tuke, NZL, 35
2. Nathan Outteridge / Iain Jensen, AUS, 78
3. Erik Heil / Thomas Ploessel, GER, 83

470 Men

Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic (CRO) have won Croatia's first ever gold medal in Olympic sailing.

The Croatians sailed a controlled race, making sure they stayed ahead of their rivals Australia and Greece. However Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) were much concerned about protecting the silver medal and engaged Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis (GRE) in a match race before the start.

With the race underway, the Swiss team streaked off into the lead, but the three medal contenders were much more interested in covering each other's moves at the back of the fleet. With the Aussies and Greeks caught up in their own duel, Croatia's job of defending gold became straightforward.

Meanwhile, Belcher mostly had the best of Mantis until the top of the final windward leg when Ryan lost his footing and briefly fell overboard. The Greeks seized the moment and moved into the lead, but the Australians attacked again on the final run to the finish. They pressured the Greek boat into making a small mistake on a gybe, and the 2012 Olympic Champion steered the Aussie boat for the finish, crossing the line just six seconds before their rivals to secure silver for Australia. Despite missing out to the Australians, the Greek crew was still very happy with bronze after a tough series at Rio 2016.

Medal winners, 470 Men
1. Sime Fantela / Igor Marenic, CRO, 43
2. Mathew Belcher / Ryan Will, AUS, 58
3. Panagiotis Mantis / Pavlos Kagialis, GRE, 58

470 Women

With Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR) having already won the Women's 470 gold medal, the battle for silver and bronze came down to a six-way fight between New Zealand, USA, France, Japan, the Netherlands and Slovenia.

Annie Haeger and Briana Provancha (USA) took up the early running and led for the first lap, putting them in silver medal position ahead of the 2012 Olympic Champions Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (NZL).

The shifting wind produced some new race leaders on the final lap, with Tina Mrak and Veronika Macarol (SLO) streaking away to win the Medal Race. Meanwhile the battleground for the medals was changing by the moment. The Americans were given a penalty turn for fouling the Japanese crew which put them to the back and out of the medals. This left the way clear for New Zealand to take a jubilant silver medal with reigning World Champions Camille Lecointre and Helene de France (FRA) making a late charge from the back of the fleet to finish sixth, sufficient to give France the bronze by a single point from the Netherlands crew, Afrodite Zegers and Anneloes van Veen (NED). It was tears of joy for the three Medal winning crews but the Americans were distraught after having controlled the race early on, only to come away with nothing.

Medal winners, 470 Women
1. Hannah Mills / Saskia Clark, GBR, 44
2. Jo Aleh / Polly Powrie, NZL, 54
3. Camille Lecointre / Helene Defrance, FRA, 62

Full results for all classes:
www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/

Henri Lloyd Half Ton Classics Cup
Falmouth, UK: The penultimate day of the Henri Lloyd Half Ton Classics Cup, sponsored by Savills and Mylor Rigging and Chandlery, could not have been more different to it's predecessors. Dawn broke with not a breath of wind, glassy seas and a heavy mist that persisted throughout the morning, causing Race Officer Jack Penty to hold the boats ashore for a couple of hours. Fortunately the mist cleared and a light west south westerly filled in so that by 12.30 the start for the first of the day's three races was in progress.

With nine races now completed a second discard came into play. Greg Peck's team of old friends aboard Swuzzlebubble consolidated their lead with a five and a half point delta over second placed Miss Whiplash. Harmony holds onto third with the gap between her and Miss Whiplash now at nine points. The Big Picture jumped up the leader board from sixth to fourth, just three points behind Harmony, while Sibelius added a pair of disastrous seventeenths to her race seven win, dropping her down the score board into fifth overall, half a point ahead of Checkmate.

In theory Friday's final day will feature up to three further races however, the weather forecast is anticipating some very strong south south westerly winds which are expected to build from around twenty knots in the morning to almost 30 knots with gusts of up to forty knots in the afternoon. Every effort will be made to complete the remaining races and the Race Committee has called a formal meeting with the skippers to review conditions first thing in the morning and agree on a racing plan for the day.

www.halftonclass.co.uk

Dubarry Ultima - Loved by Sailors
Dubarry Ultima It's hard to love a pair of boots. They either do a job or they don't. Some will have great grip and others will send you crashing down to the deck like some slapstick comedian. Some will keep the water out, others will leak like a pair of bespoke footbaths. Some will breathe to keep you comfortable, others will slowly baste your feet in their own sweat. Some will look great, others like you've just escaped from a circus.

Even if you do find a pair that ticks every box, that looks good, grips well and keeps you warm, dry and comfortable, you'd still struggle to love a boot. Unless, of course, it's a Dubarry boot. Take the Ultima, with its blend of rich, supple leather and durable man-made fibres, the hi tech GORE-TEX liner that acts like an air conditioner, the award-winning grip of the sole - yes, those are all there, recognised benchmarks of quality, but what you can't see or touch or smell is the soul. Ultima boots have it in abundance because, like you, they change. They gain experience at sea and improve with age just as surely as you do. That's why sailors love them.

Dubarry Ultima - Where will you go in yours?

dubarry.com

The Battle Of Aarhus - A Perfect Start
Aarhus, Denmark: The third event of the Scandinavian Series got off to a near perfect start today, graced with consistent northeasterly winds in the inner city of Aarhus.

With three days of fleet racing ahead the competition was fierce throughout all seven races with British Ian Williams (GAC Pindar) and Swedish Nicklas Dackhammar (Essiq Racing Team) showing impressive strength ahead of the rest. The two teams ended the day in a tie with 16 points each but Williams topped the podium as a result of his three wins as oppose to Dachhammar's two.

The two local teams, Team TRIFORK and TREFOR Racing, ended at the bottom of the chart today despite audiences doing their best to cheer the local heroes on. With 26 points, Nicolai Sehested is just one point in front of Jes Gram-Hansen, who had a series of bad starts on the water today.

Battle of Aarhus runs until Saturday 20th of August, with racing from 2PM - 5PM daily.

Results - Aarhus Day 1
1. GAC Pindar (GBR) - Ian Williams - 16 points
2. Essiq Racing Team (SWE) - Nicklas Dackhammar - 16
3. TyphoonX Racing (SWE) - Måns Holmberg - 25
4. TREFOR Racing (DEN) - Nicolai Sehested - 26
5. Trifork (DEN) - Jes Gram-Hansen - 27

m32series.com

Time And Tide
The inaugural edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Ile d'Ouessant Race produced a fascinating strategic battle for the new four hundred nautical mile ocean race.

Lloyd Thornburg's MOD 70 Phaedo3, skippered by Brian Thompson, won the duel with Tony Lawson's MOD 70 Concise 10, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield. Taking multihull line honours in an elapsed time of 27 hours 58 minutes 13 seconds, Phaedo3 has set the multihull record for the Ile d'Ouessant Race.

In IRC Canting Keel, IMOCA 60 Artemis Ocean Racing, skippered by Mikey Ferguson, crossed the finish line taking monohull line honours and setting the monohull race record of 49h 06m 18s. Artemis Ocean Racing had to work hard for their line honours victory, only passing Piet Vroon's Dutch Ker 51 Tonnerre 4 sixty miles from the finish.

Avenarius & Gondesen's Ker 46 Shakti was second overall and the winner of IRC Zero.

In IRC Two, three British yachts made the podium; Ross Applebey's Oyster 48 Scarlet Oyster was the winner, lifting the team to second in class for the season. David Richards' J/122 Jumping Jellyfish was second and First 40 Southern Child, skippered by Susan Glenny was third.

In IRC Three Louis-Marie Dussere's French JPK 10.10, racing Two Handed, was the winner. A close battle for second in IRC Three was won by another Two-Handed team, Richard Palmer's British JPK 10.10 Jangada. RORC Commodore Michael Boyd, racing Irish JPK 10.80 Audrey, was third by less than fifty seconds on corrected time.

In IRC Four, Night and Day was the winner, with Noel Racine's French JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew in second place. Robert Nelson's British J/105 Bigfoot was third, retaining second in class and third overall for the season.

Thirteen yachts competed in the IRC Two-Handed Divsion of the RORC Ile d'Ouessant Race. The class was dominated by two French JPK 10.10s; 2013 Rolex Fastnet victors Pascal and Alexis Loison's Night and Day, and the leading yacht in this year's Two-Handed RORC Season's Points Championship, Raging Bee skippered by Louis-Marie Dussere. Night and Day won the duel by just over an hour on corrected time.

In IRC One, Alan Hannon's British RP45 Katsu was runner up to Teasing Machine for the Ile d'Ouessant Race. Nick Jones' British First 44.7 Lisa was third. With just two races remaining for the RORC Season's Points Championship Lisa remains the top boat for the season and Katsu second.

www.rorc.org

International 12 Foot Championship Of Ireland
International 12s race in Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Photo by Vincent Delany. Click on image to enlarge.

International 12s Since 1913 the 12 Footers have been an important dinghy class in Ireland and abroad. They were such a successful class that they quickly were awarded international status. The 12–footers were the equipment selected for the Olympic Games in 1920 and 1928. The class grew quickly in Cork, Baltimore, Sutton and Howth (North Co. Dublin) and in Seapoint (South County Dublin).

In the 1960's, National Yacht Club's J.J. O'Leary, revised the rig of the 12 footers, by replacing the single sail balanced lug rig with a gunter rig, with a Water Wag jib. Most of the Dublin Bay boats were changed to the new rig.

In recent years the class has been revived on the east coast of Ireland, and an Irish National Championships were held in Dun Laoghaire in 2010. The second championship of recent years took place last year in Dun Laoghaire, with entries from Ireland, Britain and Australia.

The third championship will be hosted again by the Royal St. George Yacht Club on 28th August, at which dinghies with each rig will sail against each other. This will present a unique challenge. The jibs do assist the DBSC rigged boats to point higher on upwind legs, but the larger mainsail of the International boats provides greater speed on the downwind legs.

www.afloat.ie/sail/sailing-clubs/

Welcome Onboard The New Trimaran Maserati...
The former Gitana XV has just changed to an Italian ensign... She becomes 'Maserati Multi 70'. The MOD 70 will be skippered by Giovanni Soldini.

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* From Don Street: The foiling multihulls are spectacular but very dangerous.

On the run up to the America's Cup in San Francisco, Andrew Simpson was tragically lost when the Artemis challenger capsized and broke up.

Sailing the new 45 ' foiling catamarans on the run up for the 2017 AC, Franck Cammas, one of the most experienced multi hull sailors alive, fell off a GC32 and was hit by the rudder and almost lost his foot.

Then Spindrift 2, at the start of the Volvo Lorient leg start, ran over a marshall RIB. One foil cut off a woman's leg. The French court fined the skipper E20,000 and let him off on a suspended jail sentence. There is obviously a big liability claim against Spindrift by the poor woman that lost her leg. The lawyers will have a field day.

Then in the latest YW are photos of a GC 32 running down a RIB. At press time the organizing Yacht Club and GC class association could not agree which organization was liable. Another field day for lawyers.

Then in the Daily Telegraph august 13, Luke Brown reports on one of the scariest potential disasters that luckily did not happen.

The giant foiling trimaran Phaedo3 on Thursday the sixth day of Cowes week, when finishing her lap around the isle of Wight, came in to cowes doing 40 kts She came up against a fleet of dozens of X boats.

Phaedo3 managed to thread her way through the fleet without hitting a boat. Had she hit an x boat it would have been the end of the X boat The crew would have been seriously injured or killed.

Liability suits would have been flying keeping lawyer busy and happy for years

Obviously something must be done to prevent flying foilers from getting mixed up with either official or spectator RIBs and sailboats going about their usual routine, like racing in Cowes or other yachting centers.

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