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'Noonmark VI' Wins Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Silverware
Photo by Daniel Forster / PPL. Click on image to enlarge.

Newport Bermuda Race Hamilton, Bermuda: Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy's Noonmark VI crossed the St David's Lighthouse finish line at 1:40:18 EDT on Tuesday morning to take first place in the 'professional' Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division in the 2010 Newport Bermuda Race. The Frers designed Swan 56, which is on a world cruise, taking in all the world's top races sailed under the English flag with an all-European professional crew consisting of one Spaniard and the skipper and twelve crew from England.

Sir Geoffrey will take home the silver Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, a replica of one of two lighthouses that warn mariners away from Bermuda's reefs. Noonmark V is the second lowest rated boat in the Gibbs Hill Division, and defeated a bevy of top names including Rán, Bella Mente, and Beau Geste, to take the prize. She had a corrected time of 52:48:32 but like all results, this one is provisional until Friday.

Larry Huntington's Snow Lion came second in the Gibbs Hill Division with a corrected time of 55:21:49, even though the bottom part of her mainsail blew out seven minutes after the start. Her crew reefed the sail, spent many hours repairing the rip, and was able to set the full sail during the last part of the race.

In the 26-boat Double-Handed Division, the four Class 40 boats finished 1-2-3-4 on Tuesday morning, with Dragon, owned by Michael S. Hennessey of New York, first at 9:50:51 EDT. The corrected time leader as of 5 PM Tuesday, when 19 boats in the division were yet to finish, was Nathan C. Owen's J-46 Seabiscuit, from Norwell, MA.

The Cruiser Division's first boat on elapsed time was Neal Finnegan's Swan 56 Clover III, Dedham, MA, finishing at 1:17:11. She was the corrected time leader as of 5 PM, with 23 boats yet to finish.

The St. David's Lighthouse Division had its first strong candidate as winner when Carina finished at 5:55:06 EDT Tuesday morning with a huge 60-mile lead on Class 3. The 48-foot McCurdy & Rhodes design has sailed more Bermuda Races than any other boat, 19, and won the 1970 St. David's Lighthouse. To win a second one, she has to save her time on the lead boats in Class 1, Sinn Fein, Belle Aurore, and Lindy, which are expected to finish Tuesday night. -- Talbot Wilson

bermudarace.com

A Light Breeze Returns To Kieler Woche
It was a bit of a nail biting day again in the morning of the fourth day of Kieler Woche, penultimate stage of the ISAF Sailing World Cup. By noon a light breeze filled in and all classes could finish enough races before the medal races begin on Wednesday. "The forecast was really the opposite of what we saw later on the water. But to make sure enough races were completed for the Finn and Star classes, who had only raced two before, we relocated their course close to the shore. And it worked, they could sail three races," explained Jobst Richter, Chairman of the Kieler Woche

Finn
Rafael Trujillo started the day where he left off yesterday, chalking up another bullet, his third consecutive, but dropped off the pace in the second race of the day, discarding a 19th to go into the medal race with a four point lead over his rival Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic of Croatia.

Star
He has never won Kieler Woche in the Star before, only in the Laser, but he is well on the way to achieving that goal this year. Robert Scheidt (BRA) with crew Bruno Prada leads the Star fleet into the medal race with a comfortable gap of seven points to Diego Negri and Enrico Voltini (ITA) with Mark Mendelblatt and Magnus Liljedahl (USA) in third.

Mens 470
It was only possible to race one more race again today and it was a predicable sight as Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page chalked up a fourth bullet in a row.

Womens 470
On top of the Womens 470 fleet the British team of Sarah Ayton and Saskia Clark go into the medal race as leaders. Sarah Ayton, double Olympic gold medallist and two-time world champion, part of the 'three blondes' who sailed to victory in the Yngling class at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Games, has teamed up with experienced 470 crew Saskia Clark, a former world championship medallist in 2005 and 2007.

49er
Only three points separate the top six competitors in the 49er fleet going into the medal race. Of three British boats in the top five the young team of Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign have enjoyed the light conditions to lead the consistent Danes, Emil and Simon Toft Nielsen, the first of three other Danish teams in the medal race. Yann Rochierieux and Morgan Lagraviere of France sailed very consistently, winning the last race of the day and finishing in the bronze position but only one point ahead of the chasing pack of three boats including former leaders Draper and Greenhalgh (GBR).

Laser
In the only race of the day Michael Leigh (CAN) closed the gap to four points on run away leader, Tom Slingsby (AUS) by winning the last race. Leigh heads into the medal race with a further three point lead over two young German sailors lead by Philipp Buhl.

Complete results for all classes at www.kieler-woche.de

* The day started with the final races of the gold fleet round. We were again unsuccessful with our races and finished the round 0-6. However, all that meant was that we were paired up with the #3 seed going into the quarter finals and that was Katie.

The first race against Katie was close up the first beat, but we sailed very well around the course and took our first win in two days, which felt quite good. After a big wind shift, our next race started in shifty and puffy conditions. We managed to force her over the line early in the pre-start, and sailed the shifts well to extend our lead to win the race and lead the series 2-0. Our final race of the day started very similar for us. We had a couple of boat length lead by the top mark, but then the wind died, and got very, very patchy. Katie passed us downwind by separating from us. Upwind, we managed to catch back up to round about a boat length behind her, and then at the finish line we lost the race by half a boat length. It was a close, and at times, frustrating race, but we used it to work on our patience and light air tactics.

Tomorrow, the plan is to finish the quarters, and then finish the semi's and finals. The forecast is very similar to today's, which was great until the end, and we are looking forward to a lot of good racing tomorrow. -- Anna Tunnicliffe, teamtunnicliffe.com (sailing in women's match racing at Kiel)

Another Whitewash For Southern Spars - 2010 Newport Bermuda Race
Photo by Daniel Forster / PPL. Click on image to enlarge.

Southern Spars 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th ... the proof is in the results. Southern Spars once again acknowledges the outstanding performances of the crews aboard Speedboat, Il Mostro, Rambler, Genuine Risk, Beau Geste, Ran, Bella Mente, Vanquish; and congratulate them all on their successes in this year's Newport Bermuda Race.

The formula that all these yachts used? A Southern Spars mast and EC6 Continuous rigging. Tested and proven time and time again; this winning combination provides the ultimate in performance offering an ultra-light, stronger, longer lasting rig solution. To find out more about what goes into designing world-class performance rigs, visit: www.southernspars.com

The Man Behind The Decision Boat Yard
Alinghi.com catches up with Bertrand Cardis...

Alinghi: Can you describe the Decision boat yard evolution over the last 10 years?

When Alinghi challenged 10 years ago our yard was still based in Fenil sur Corsier above Vevey and we had just bought our first large oven. On meeting the Alinghi design team we of course had to demonstrate that we had the capacity and the savoir faire to build a boat capable of winning the America's Cup. At that stage we had built racing yachts, notably for the Whitbread (now the Volvo Ocean Race), but never an America's Cup Class boat.

Alinghi: The D35 racing season started a month ago. As creator of the boat, can you talk us through the origins of the class?

At the time interest in regattas on Lake Geneva was waning, the boats were becoming more and more complex and expensive. We decided to get a group of enthusiasts together, Gerard Gautier, Nicolas Grange, Philippe Cardis (my brother) and Ernesto, with the aim of finding a solution that would re-kindle interest and put tactics back at the heart of the regattas. The D35, a One Design concept, came naturally to the group, the idea being to limit the 'arms race' and to make it all about the sailing. The gamble paid off when we sold eight boats and our pleasure in close racing was restored. The success of the class is underlined by the participation of some of the great names in yacht racing. The D35 is on to its seventh season this year and the same well built and reliable boats are still racing. Of course we could make them faster still but it would be to the detriment of manoeuvrability and therefore the tactics.

This fact hasn't prevented us from working on developing an easily transportable new boat adapted for sea-going regattas, something that would allow us to grow the championship and the platform for ever greater competition.

Alinghi: What are the current projects at Decision boat yard?

At the moment we are working on Bernard Stamm's IMOCA Open 60 for the 2012 Vendee Globe. The launch is planned for March 2011. L'hydroptere.ch, which is due to sail on the Lake this summer, is also underway. We are building the beams for the first five MOD70 trimarans. These 70ft multihulls, initiated by Steve Ravussin, are destined for a One Design round the world event in 2012.

The Decision boat yard is also involved in aviation, we are developing and building pieces of carbon for the Solar Impulse project. This plane, powered by solar energy, completed a series of flights this Spring and its performance was very impressive.

www.alinghi.com

Team Baltic Win J80 Class at 2010 J Cup
Hamble, UK: Team Baltic, a young J80 team from Dartmouth, sponsored by Baltic Wharf boatyard, Totnes, had a great start to their season winning the J80 Class at the 2010 J-Cup hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club in the Solent from 3-5 June. The Team were using the regatta as training for the J80 Europeans on Lake Garda where they will compete this week.

The team consists of 4 crew members all under the age of 24. Henry Bomby (19) helm, Henry Bagnall (23) tactician, Ryan Gerrish (22) trimmer, and Ellie Mittler (17) on bow. And for the J Cup was helped by stand in crew Robbie Southwell (16) and LizzieShawcroft (22), filling in due to exam commitments.

The J Cup saw 18 J80's racing in perfect conditions over three days in the Solent. After the first two days Team Baltic found themselves going into the final day trailing local boat Oi! by a single point. The first race saw Oi come into the top mark on port and tack too close to Team Baltic, Oi very honestly took their penalty leaving them down in 9th with Team Baltic going on to win the race.

This regatta was Team Baltic's first regatta this year, and the crew's first regatta as a team so to win was very promising for events in the future.

* The much anticipated J80 European Championship is about to begin. Around 50 boats from Italy, Spain, France, Great Britain, Holland, Estonia and Poland have arrived at Lake Garda all raring to go. Hosted by Fraglia Vela Malcesine, the championship is now underway. At the Opening Ceremony this evening, the competitors were welcomed by the President of the Malecesine Yacht Club (Fraglia Vela Malcesine), the international racing jury, the measurer, the commmidore of the Yacht Club, the Italian and International J80 Presidents - all there to ensure the competitors a warm welcome, a well organised event, and a memorable championship. See www.fragliavela.org

Traditional Boats Gather In Portsoy For Festival
Scottish Tradtional Boats Over 50 classic boats, some more than 100 years old, will congregate on the Scottish village of Portsoy this weekend for the 17th annual Traditional Boat Festival.

The festival will run from Saturday 26 to Sunday 27 June and will feature vintage boats from Scotland and beyond with workshops and demonstrations of boat-building, seamanship and sailing skills.

The Peatbog Faeries and Alastair McDonald will open the festival with an evening showcase concert on Friday 25 June, kicking off two days of live music, arts and crafts, a food fayre and fun run.

Other musical highlights include a blessing of the fleet with the Hytettu Men's Choir and a Saturday night ceilidh featuring Cabrach.

Bodruhn, fiddle and song-writing workshops are on offer alongside demonstrations of traditional skills such as cooperage and the St Ayles skiff rowing races.

Tickets for the showcase concert cost £20 each, weekend tickets are £12 and adult day tickets cost £8. For more information see the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival website. www.scottishtraditionalboatfestival.org.uk

Seahorse July 2010
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Paul Cayard
- A day in the life
And very often it is not always quite what it seems...

Olympic and small boat news - Sailing the office
Volvo Race winner Rob Greenhalgh is a convinced fan of 49er helm Marcus Baur’s new campaign management tool as he explains to Andy Rice.

Design
- A bold (and promising) step
Based upon what his office has been learning during their America’s Cup research, designer Jason Ker believes that some of those popular assumptions about IRC are about to be rewritten

Seahorse build table
- Fresh thinking
Guy Whitehouse certainly subscribes to Seahorse’s well-known concerns about the escalating costs of smaller raceboats... and now he has done something (very clever) about it

If you haven't subscribed to Seahorse already we're keen to help you attend to that! - Please use the following promotional link and enjoy the hefty Scuttlebutt Europe discount... and it gets even better for 2 and 3 year subscriptions...

www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs

Industry News
* Vietnam is readily acknowledged as holding considerable potential for yacht cruising but, as elsewhere in Asia, the necessary infrastructure is lacking. The developer of the Saigon Pearls high-rise development in Ho Chi Minh City is planning to address this lack by including a $210m marina and yacht club as part of its project. The 130-berth marina is due to open next year.

Other developments also include yachting facilities. The $300m Diamond Island scheme, also in Ho Chi Minh City, will also include a marina to service residents. Being developed by the Binh Thien An Company, the site of the development is just 10 minutes by motorboat from the centre of Ho Chi Minh City. The company, as part of its promotion, has bought a Princess 58 for $2m to help promote the project and emphasise the marine side of it.

In the southern part of the city a further scheme is planning a wharf that will be able to berth up to 30 yachts depending on size. This is the Kenton Center, which is being developed by Tai Nguyen Manufacturing &Trading Co. -- David Robinson in IBI News, www.ibinews.com

* A government minister in the Bahamas said that he expects the country's yacht registry to increase by 10 per cent this year. Minister for the Environment Earl Deveaux also said that yachting could eventually become the laeading contributor to the Bahamian economy.

Deveaux told the paper that its recent passage of a yacht code should help grow the Bahamas Maritime Authority. "Right now, yachts represent less than one per cent of the register of the Bahamas Maritime Authority," he said. "We seek to grow the BMA in every respect, but probably the most significant area where we can grow it in the short run is the yacht registry." He envisions 10 per cent growth by the end of this year.

Deveaux also wants to target boaters in Florida as potential visitors. "The smaller boats and the larger boats represent just under a hundred thousand pleasure craft registered in Florida," he said. "We are told that when Cuba opens up fully, 25,000 of them will leave Florida to go to Cuba in the first year." -- IBI, www.ibinews.com

* There are still places available on the Association of Brokers and Yacht Agents (ABYA) summer conference being held at the Wokefield Park Hotel in Reading. This one day event replaces the ABYA Senior Brokers Course and will provide further training for brokers and agents. A host of experienced speakers will cover key topics including vital questions brokers should ask surveyors, an overview of the UKBA and Olympic activities, VAT, corporate structure, flag state and classification. The day will culminate in an open forum led by Christian Moore, Chairman of ABYA.

Members and non members are welcome to attend. For a full programme and booking form please contact Kay Greenwood on or call 01730 266430. To find out more about ABYA log onto www.abya.co.uk

* Morocco has created its first marine industry federation - the Moroccan Association of Marine and Marina Professionals (Association Marocaine des Professionels du Nautisme et des Marinas).

The creation of the association was finalised during the weeks leading up to the ongoing Boat Expo 2010 in the Moroccan capital, Rabat. The Moroccan marine federation is an official supporter of the show, which began on Saturday May 29 and ends on Sunday June 6.

Boat Expo 2010 is Rabat's first exhibition dedicated entirely to leisure boating. The show is being held at Marina Bouregreg, a two-year-old marina in Rabat-Sale. Some 15 mostly local companies are exhibiting at the exhibition, representing a total of 60 brands and a dozen boats up to 15m (50ft) on the water. -- IBI,

www.ibinews.com

* 'Ley de Costas' is usually associated with groups of ex-pat property owners desperately trying to fight their way through miles of Spanish red tape to hang on to their seaside villas. During the last few months Genus Marine has noticed a brand new minefield developing in the Spanish legal system. It now appears that the long-ignored law is reaching out to blight marina developments too, slashing the lease periods and values of marina properties and berths at a stroke.

For marina operators the law was introduced in 1988 with the intention of limiting the concession (or lease) period for all new marinas to 30 years. But, as is the case with so many Spanish property laws, there are a lot of ambiguities and the law has, until now, never been enforced. However, in the last month, the experts at Genus Marine have seen the Andalucian authorities starting to apply the original 2018 end date to all marina concessions, even those signed prior to 1988.

Previously, during the purchase of a marina berth in Spain, a local notary would generally re-draft the existing property deeds with the necessary changes of ownership and submit them to legal record. However, this paperwork is now being re-routed to central government in Seville. On their return, the deeds have had their concession end dates changed to 2018, the original termination date of the long-ignored 'Ley de Costas'.

UK berth owners who are currently caught-up in the Spanish system are also being urged to contact their local MP to ensure that an official government response can be co-ordinated effectively. A full list of all the UK MPs is available at www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/ it gives telephone numbers, postal and e-mail addresses.

* New maritime safety regulations, including outright bans on all boats with engines, by local authorities in Ireland could pose a threat to boating in that country. The Irish Sailing Association (ISA) said the laws could also threaten yacht racing in much of the country.

The Irish Times reported that boat users are already breaking laws in Dun Laoghaire, which is one of the largest boating centres in Ireland. Rules intended to promote beach safety ban boats 300 metres from the shore, including popular boating destinations like Dalkey Island that have no beaches.

The ISA said that 12 local authorities have banned or restricted motorboats, but others are including any type of craft with engine power, including most sailboats. "We're struggling, to be honest," Harry Hermon, ISA chief executive, told the paper. "It's a significant threat to the future of boating activity. We're trying to work with 33 local authorities, some of whom are willing but many are not and seem intent on banning as the easiest solution."

www.ibinews.com

* The Brest-based company HDS, created by Herve Devaux in 1994 and specialised in design, calculation and structural engineering for sailing boats, is expanding its activities to Lorient. Denis Glehen, former No.2 at HDS Brest is taking charge of GSea Design, a new structure that aims to develop within Lorient's offshore racing hub in partnership with HDS.

HDS assists sailors, their teams, as well as architects and shipyards in the design of increasingly high performance boats. Michel Desjoyeaux, Franck Cammas, Pascal Bidegorry, Vincent Riou, Bernard Stamm, Roland Jourdain and Alain Thebault, the list of sailors who put their trust in this design office is a reflection of its skills.

Initiated by the town of Lorient, the conversion of the submarine base into what is effectively the French version of "Sailing Valley", as been a great success. An impressive number of companies that are not only specialised in competitive sailing but in yachting in general, have set themselves up here over the past few years making Lorient the place to be for professionals in this sector.

Gsea Design's Current Projects

VOR 70' Groupama 4, new boat of Franck Cammas' Team for the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race
60' IMOCA Foncia, the new VPLP-Verdier design for Michel Desjoyeaux
60' IMOCA Rivages, the news Juan Kouyoumdjian design for Bernard Stamm
60' IMOCA Movistar (ex-Foncia), Farr-Mer Agitee design of the 2007 generation

Very Important Not Sailing Stuff
- If Slovenia win or draw against England, they are guaranteed a first-ever last-16 berth.

- If Slovenia win they will finish first. If they draw they will finish first if USA fail to beat Algeria.

- If Slovenia draw and USA win, first place will go down to goal difference.

- If USA beat Algeria they will progress. If they draw they can progress so long as England fail to beat Slovenia, although this will go down to goal difference if England also draw.

- If England beat Slovenia, they will progress. If they draw they can progress only if the USA-Algeria match ends in a draw and goals scored will be the deciding factor.

- If Algeria beat USA, they are guaranteed qualification if England fail to win. If Algeria win and England beat Slovenia, Algeria and Slovenia will be tied on four points with goal difference deciding.

fifa.com

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 1995 Dencho Turbo Sled, US$425,000. Located in Chicago, USA.

Runaway was once known as Pegasus on the West Coast where she won many regattas. The vessel has a newer Yanmar engine with about 120 hours. She has only been in 4 races in the last three years and shows very well. Stored inside she is ready for your inspection. Two boat owner is motivated to sell.

Brokerage through World Yachts, Inc.: www.yachtworld.com/worldyachtsinc/

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

The Last Word
When Ignorance lurks, so too do the frontiers of discovery and imagination. -- Neil deGrasse Tyson

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