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Local Hero Gunwoo Beats Gilmour As Richard, Minoprio And Williams Lead
Park GunWoo. Photo courtesy WMRT.

WMRT Gyeonggi, South Korea: The world was welcomed today to South Korea's Province of Gyeonggi, host to the ISAF World Match Racing Tour's 3rd Stage of 2010. The global sailing series is bringing the world to Gyeonggi and Gyeonggi to the world by profiling this ambitious venue as an elite match race destination.

Patrick Lim, Executive Chairman, ISAF World Match Racing Tour, accepted thanks from the Governor of Gyeonggi and highlighted Korea Match Cup as the biggest event on the 2010 Tour programme, "Stage 3 is a high profile event in the Tour annually attracting 300,000 spectators to watch some of the world's top America's Cup teams in action. Global fans will also be able to experience the action via live television coverage reaching 600 million households and live internet newsfeeds going to over 183 countries".

Racing started after the formalities with a light breeze which saw slow tactical boat manoeuvres by the top helms. It was definitely a day for demonstrating the power of the local hero after Park GunWoo (KOR) Busan Match Team, noted as an 'unknown quantity' previous to Korea Match Cup, stole the limelight from esteemed match racer Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing. GunWoo, wildcard entry to Korea Match Cup, has racing experience in dinghy fleets but only started the match racing discipline in November 2009.

The big names that have dominated the first two Stages of the 2010 Tour; Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team, Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/Black Match Racing and Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar have continued their consistency into Korea Match Cup all winning 3 out of 3 races on the first day's racing.

Day 1: Current Round Robin Standings

Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team, 3-0
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing, 3-0
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar, 3-0
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra, 2-1
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team, 2-1
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team, 1-2
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing, 1-2
Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team, 1-2
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team, 1-2
Park GunWoo (KOR) Busan Match, 1-2
Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia, 0-3
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team, 0-3

www.wmrt.com

* With great flourish and pageantry, the third Korea International Boat Show opened today, and organizers said they are well on their way toward the goal of making Gyeonggi Province and South Korea an emerging leader in the global marine leisure market.

The two-hour opening ceremony featured martial artists, singers, the navy band and the navy presidential honor guard drill team, which demonstrated its skills to the Village People song "In the Navy" as part of its performance.

With a theme of "New Horizons on the Yellow Sea," the show opened with speeches by several government officials and served as the start of the Korea Match Cup, Stage 3 of the 2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour. Fireworks were shot into blue skies at the end of the festivities.

Marine infrastructure and the boating industry are a relatively new push for the provincial and central governments of South Korea. However, ambitious plans are already in place, as more than 40 marinas have been developed around the country, including four large-scale facilities in the Gyeonggi Province. A first-of-its kind marine industrial park is set to open in 2012 and efforts are being made to introduce Gyeonggi's more than 11 million residents to the boating lifestyle. -- Beth Rosenberg, TradeOnlyToday.com, tradeonlytoday.com

Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
Last month's winner:

Larry Ellison (USA)
Well, he did win didn’t he? While Larry Ellison eventually realised his dream of securing the America’s Cup he also personally kept at arm’s length from much of the preceding unpleasantness and so remains well-placed to fulfil his mission of reshaping the event for a new century. Having watched BMW Oracle get the Cup, he celebrated by going to the latest RC44 event and winning again, this time on the handlebars. A much better feeling we’d suggest...

This month's nominees:


Jessica Watson (AUS)
The hell with all the controversy about whether or not this is a record, we are just glad she got home safely and in the spirit of the best modern sailors celebrate how she kept countless people, youngsters especially, amused and engaged along the way. We do not encourage this stuff, if it goes on the eventual outcome is dreadful and inevitable, but Watson did an amazing job... and surprised a lot of people on the way.


Paul Brotherton & Mark Asquith (GBR)
With a combined age of more than 75 years... we reckon that even in a class that is already renowned for rewarding maturity over beauty the victory of 49er-returnee (and former gold medal ’winning’ Olympic coach to the GBR ladies) Paul Brotherton, sailing with the ‘younger’ Mark Asquith at this year’s Hyères regatta is well worthy of this nomination. Go eat out your hearts, young GBR pups.


Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Harken McLube, Dubarry & Musto. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable!

Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at
sailor.seahorsemagazine.com/seahorse-sailor-of-the-month.html

* Seahorse has a special six issue subscription offer for those who vote and/or comment on the Sailor of the Month... vote and see!

Performance Packs From Tacktick
TackTick Electronics experts Tacktick, have launched a series of Spring offers for racing yacht owners in the form of 'Performance Packs' which specify the ideal wireless electronics package for a range of different boat sizes at very competitive prices

The Performance Packs spec out the ideal electronics set up for racing yachts of 30ft, 40ft and 50ft. The comprehensive information sheets are available online at www.tacktick.com and include all the key features of the products, the individual units included in the packages as well as a number of free products being given away as part of the offer.

The Performance Pack kits are ideal for either replacing existing electronics or installation on new yachts and offer owners a complete high performance wireless racing system at a great price.

The Performance Packs are available in British £, Euro € and US$ configurations.

www.tacktick.com

The Fleet's In Kinsale
Photo by Tom Guitt. Click on image for photo gallery.

Round Britain and Ireland Race Competitors in this year's Shetland Round Britain and Ireland Race (SRBI) have completed the first leg of the 2000 mile adventure.

Phesheya Racing was the first Class 40 to arrive, first Class 1 was Yogo Racing Izara, Class 2 Elixir, Class 3 The Shed and Class 4 Santana. The first multihull into Kinsale was Freebird. The 12th running of the race started from Plymouth Sound on 6th June. The clockwise course around the UK coastline has compulsory stops at Kinsale, Barra, Lerwick and Lowestoft. 57 boats are taking part in this year's race of which 8 are multihulls and 10 are cutting edge Class 40 races including Alex Bennett's Fujifilm.

"The rest of the field are boats and crews without big sponsorship, entered in the true Corinthian spirit of taking part and enjoying one of ocean racing's biggest challenges and greatest adventures," said race director Peter Taylor.

The Race started from Plymouth Sound at noon on Sunday, also in sunshine with a light breeze. Since then the competitors have experienced a mixed bag of wind and weather. The easy beam reach out to the Eddystone Lighthouse allowed them all to settle in well, with the eight multihulls and nine Class 40 monohulls quickly drawing ahead to establish the pecking order of the 56 boat fleet.

The remainder of Sunday was spent hard on the freshening westerly wind, forging south-westward along the coast of Cornwall.

What followed turned out to be a glorious sleigh-ride to the north-west, complete with Demolition Derby as one by one the spinnakers rolled into the water. Fortunately, as the wind and rain swept over the Celtic Sea all our intrepid sailors stayed onboard, and only bits and pieces of equipment were lost to the sea. The Sailmakers and Chandelers of Kinsale have enjoyed something of a field day!

www.rbandi.com

* Editor: My rant last night about the dreadful event website has certainly brought some comments, see the letter below from the Commodore. And I'm very pleased to see a beautiful new website at www.rbandi.com , one that some very fast, very skilled webmaster did in very short order using WordPress. Your humble narrator's other life is building sites (WMRT.com is one of my latest efforts) and appreciates how hard it is to knock something that good together that quickly. Bravo!

I shall now turn my powers of persuasion and ranting towards the Gulf Spill, global climate change and the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. Be right back.

Ganesha & Highland Fling Enjoy Big Breeze In Bomb Alley
Photo by Carlo Borlenghi, www.carloborlenghi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta Porto Cervo, Italy: Strong winds and Sardinian sunshine made for an exhilarating start to the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta, organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and Boat International Media, in Porto Cervo.

The race committee set a 30 nautical mile course in the south-easterly breeze, which was blowing 18-20 knots at the start. The wind gusted up to 35 knots later in the race as it funneled through the straits which divide the rugged islands of Caprera and La Maddalena from the Sardinian mainland. Today, no one needed to ask why sailors call these straits 'Bomb Alley'. While some boats were operating at their limits, others were lapping up the challenging conditions. In the Cruising Division, Ganesha, a 39-metre Dubois-designed Fitzroy Yacht, powered home to victory by 18 minutes on corrected time. In the Racing Division, Irvine Laidlaw's 25-metre Wally racer/cruiser, Highland Fling, was similarly dominant as she surfed home almost 14 minutes ahead on corrected time.

For the Cruising Division, which started a few minutes later, the breeze picked up considerably and made the upwind beat back to Porto Cervo very challenging. The 45-metre Dubois-design Salperton IV was forced to retire after a gear breakage led to one of the crew being injured.

Among the fleet of 28 yachts, ranging in length from 25 to 45 metres, there are nine Southern Wind yachts, blue-water cruisers designed for crossing oceans. One of those is the 30.2-metre Farr-designed Nauta, Zefiro.

Tomorrow's forecast of up to 28 knots from the south-east will make for another challenging and exciting race around the islands of the Costa Smeralda.

www.yccs.it
www.loropianasuperyachtregatta.com

J-Cup 2010
Photo by Tim Wright, Photoaction.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

J-CUP Having already had two days of awesome 'shorts and shades' racing at the J-Cup 2010, the 74 boat fleet were postponed ashore for a short time on Saturday until ten to twelve knots of breeze filled in from the south east. The J-Cup 2010 was hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club and the Principal Sponsors of the regatta were B&G, Dubarry of Ireland, North Sails and Universal Marina. The J-Cup series comprised eight races in total and on Saturday the J/109s, racing for their UK National Championship had just one race left to complete whilst all other classes had two.

Neil Kipling's brand new J/122 Joopster had her best day on the water in IRC 1 on Saturday with a third place in Race Seven and a fourth in Race Eight, consolidating their fourth position overall. Once again it was Ian Matthews team on Jinja who took the top slots in both of the final races, resulting in a perfect first place scoreline and a convincing class win. David Hunt's team on the J/122 Jacob's Ladder finished second overall with Herman Bergshaven's J/133 Solnes III in third overall at the close of the event. Solnes III was presented with the North Sails Boat of the Day prize on Saturday.

The J-Cup trophy itself is the silverware from which this regatta takes it's name. Over the years it has been presented for many different reasons; sometimes racing related, sometimes not, but nobody has ever won it twice. Ian Matthews and his family have raced at the J-Cup for many years, formerly in a J/120, winning their class on so many occasions that their boat name was eventually stencilled on to the transom of the half-model trophy! This year Ian and his red-headed clan won IRC 1 on their J/122 Jinja with eight straight bullets and the J-Cup is deservedly theirs.

Top three, J109 UK National Championship:
1. Martin Miller/Chairman Wright, 8.0
2. Matt Boyle, 34.0
3. David McLeman, 36.0

Top three, other classes:

IRC1 Class
1. Ian Matthews, 7.0
2. D Hunt, 16.0
3. Herman Bergshaven, 19.0

J80 Class
1. Steve Mittler, 10.0
2. John Cooper, 12.0
3. Patrick Liardet, 34.0

IRC2 Class
1. Mike &Jamie Holmes, 10.0
2. Grant & Brigitte Gordon,15.0
3. Bill Blain & Nicola Carney, 21.0

J105 Class
1. Rob Dornton-Duff, 13.0
2. William Newton, 14.0
3. Richard Watney, 17.0

J92 Class
1. Andrew Roberts, 9.0
2. Richard Sparrow, 19.0
3. Pete and Pip Tyler, 22.0

Wight Vodka

J-Cup Winners Celebrate with Wight Vodka
Great weather and generous breezes (combined with the highly sought after bottles of Wight Vodka and the coveted Wight Vodka regatta caps to the class winners) resulted in a fantastic competitive spirit throughout the three day J-Cup 2010 series.

Ritu Manocha, owner of 50 North, the company behind the Wight Vodka brand, said "Congratulations to the winning teams of each J-Cup class and to those who enjoyed the weekend's social scene in Hamble. There is a tremendous amount of energy in the J-Cup and we look forward to continuing our relationship with Key Yachting and the Royal Southern YC!"

50 North are the creators of Wight Vodka. The company's spirit and enthusiasm for the ocean, coupled with the centuries-old regatta traditions of the Isle of Wight (and of course a full appreciation of superior vodka!) culminated in the creation of the world's smoothest, 42% ABV potato-based vodka. One sip of Wight Vodka will make a believer out of the most discerning connoisseur, and the company welcomes your joining a unique and elite class.

www.wightvodka.com

Tack & Gybe Responsibly.

Classic Fyn Rundt
Guts´n Glory hunts Varuna in front of Avernako. Click on image to enlarge.

Classic Fyn Rundt Last weekend 16 IRC yachts sailed the 150-mile track around the Danish Island of Funen, together with 151 other, mostly Danish yachts. The regatta "Classic Fyn Rundt" of the "Kerteminde Sejlklub" is one of the major regattas that take place in the Danish Islands. It is characterized by it's challenging navigation and it's nerve-jangling wind and current conditions. Over recent years the IRC participation was rather small. But due to the new, comprehensive Baltic IRC judging this year, the participation numbers grew. The "Classic Fyn Rundt" is one of 14 races that counts into the overall evaluation of northern europe championships. A total of 20 IRC yachts were reported, including the "Krackemut" from Sweden.

The conditions were challenging. In some parts calm winds obstructed the sailors while in other parts the wind was veering about 180-degrees. Still the modified yacht Varuna by Jens Kellinghusen could rack up the victory. By this, the Varuna takes the lead in the Baltic-IRC standings. Guts 'n Glory by Christopher Wuttke took second place. Last year's winner, the yacht Visione 3 finished third. Despite the light winds Varuna needed less then 24 hours for the 150 mile long race track. As the boats had to tack upwind and downwind most of the time, the sailed distance was rather 200 miles than 150 miles. The resulting average speed of about 8 knots shows the enormous potential of a modern 46-foot carbon racer such as the Varuna - even with such light winds.

This sailing district has its pitfalls: At least three yachts run aground during the race. But all three were able to free themselves without the help of others. Among other things, the so called "deep" harbor entrance of the Svendborg yacht harbor was a vicious trap. Jens Kellinghusen, skipper of the Varuna said: "Tim, our navigator had the toughest job. He did not even sleep for more than half an hour. I myself found the regatta rather scenic." A few minutes after the Varuna crossed the finishing line the wind turned 90-degrees and faded.

www.fynrundt.dk
www.baltic-irc.org

Star European Championship
The Star European Championship Sailing continues in the sea in front of Viareggio, which will see its conclusion Sunday, June 6.

Wind conditions in Viareggio are similar to those of the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, where many crew members of the European were present : weak wind and short wave, with a beautiful blue sky that makes a paerfect frame for the races.

Today, Wednesday 9 June, was held the third of six races planned to start around 13:00. Crews fought with determination and tenacity, trying in every way a good placement. In fact, it has to be remember that the European Championships in Viareggio is a very important stop for the preparation and selection for the upcoming Olympic Games in London 2012 and for this reason are the best yachtsmen in the world.

Some curiosities on crews. The youngest skipper in the Championship it's Italian, his name is Michele Benamati and in August will be 16 years old. The "oldest" is Dierk Thomsen, 75 years old, from Germany. Among the athletes there are few women, including a skipper from USA and a yachtswoman from Austria.

1. Johannes Polgar / Markus Koy, 9.0
2. Torben Grael / Marcelo Ferreira, 18.0
3. Richard Clarke / Tyler Bjorn, 23.0
4. George Szabo / Mark Strube, 30.0
5. Andrew Campbell / Brad Nichol, 41.0
6. Mark Mendelblatt / John Von Schwarz , 43.0
7. Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Dominik Zycli, 45.0
8. Negri Diego / Enrico Voltolini, 45.0
9. Rick Merriman / Austin Sperry, 56.0
10. Xavier Rohart / Alexis Ponsot Pierre, 56.0

www.stareuropean2010.it

Letters To The Editor -
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.

* From Chris Arscott, Commodore Royal Western Yacht Club: Further to your comments about this race in your recent edition I thought I should give you an update on the current situation. Just after the start we experienced significant IT problems with the race web site. As a result of this we commissioned a totally new site which was constructed overnight on Tuesday . I am delighted to be able to tell you that as from 1600 hrs. today the new site is fully functional and can be accessed from a link on the Home Page of the Royal Western Yacht Club web site.

Featured Brokerage
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Brokerage through Baltic-Yachtpoint: www.yachtworld.com/balticyachtpoint/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
The secret to good self-esteem is to lower your expectations to the point where they're already met. -- Calvin & Hobbes

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