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Strong Winds at Sail Sydney
Photo by Jeff Crow. Click on image to enlarge.

Sail Sydney Moths and 49ers were clocked sailing at more than 20 knots on Sydney Harbour today as a fresh north-easterly filled in early, leading to capsizes in most classes and some early retirements with broken gear.

The 49er contest heated up more today. It has developed into an excellent contest between Peter Burling and Blair Tuke of New Zealand and the Australians, Nathan Outteridge/Iain Jensen.

Today, the Australians won the first and third races, while the Kiwis won the second, where there was a bottom mark 'incident'. "It got a bit heated in the second race, but it's all part of racing," Tuke said.

Following another close encounter, the Australians did a self-imposed one turn penalty when things got a bit close on the start line. "We didn't want to go to the (protest) room, and we weren't sure who was at fault, so we did a turn," Outteridge told.

"We didn't pull it off too well and were seventh at the first gate, but we worked our way back to the front."

The second Kiwi pair, Marcus Hansen/Aaron Hume-Merry, were also involved in an incident when West Australians Torvar Mirsky/Jasper Warren parked and capsized their boat just short of the top mark.

Unable to avoid the overturned skiff, the Kiwis ploughed straight over the Australians' sail, tearing it from leech to luff at the second batten. "We Kiwis sail as a team," joked Tuke, implying that match racing guru Mirsky was mastering the 49er too quickly and remedial action needed to be taken.

Burling and Tuke now lead the series by five points with three races left to sail.

Full results for all classes can be found at www.sailsydney.com.au, where you can also connect to the tracking page and review today's races in the Women's Laser Radial, Moth and 49er classes.

Check in tomorrow to watch some classes live. -- Di Pearson

www.sailsydney.org.au

ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami Hits Wind Block
Miami, Florida, USA: After yesterday's wet and wild start to the ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami, the regatta ground to a virtual halt today with a lack of wind.

After waiting all day for the wind to build, Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio was forced to abandon the day's schedule at 1520 hours with insufficient breeze on the racecourse.

The loss of the semifinal round today sees the event advance to the match racing final tomorrow morning where Chris Bake's Team Aqua, led by Cameron Appleton, will square off against Torbjorn Tornqvist's Artemis Racing, with Terry Hutchinson as skipper. The two crews won Group A and B, respectively, with 5-1 records.

Additional racing will take place as follows:

3rd and 4th place: Synergy Russian Sailing Team vs. Mascalzone Latino
5th and 6th place: BMW ORACLE Racing vs. Team Sea Dubai
7th and 8th place: 17 vs. No Way Back
9th and 10th place: Katusha vs. Ceeref
11th and 12th place: Ironbound vs. Peninsula Petroleum
13th and 14th place: Puerto Calero Islas Canarias vs. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team

Each match is a one race sudden death, winner take all. Event organizers have moved the start time forward by an hour to 1100 with the hopes of completing each match.

No racing will be conducted after 1300 as the afternoon is set aside for practice for the fleet racing portion of the regatta, Friday through Sunday.

rc44.com

Exit Engineering

Exit Engineering Product of the Year
Exit Engineering's best selling product of the year proved to be the folding boat gangway 285 cm!

Designed for medium and big yachts, the exclusive carbon fibre gangway can hold a maximum load of 350 kg! And the weight is a mere 6.9 kg! Sailors particularly like its lightness and manageability.

The very latest innovation in the ultra high end gangways range is both elegant and well proportioned.

It's gifts time: check promotions.

www.exitengineering.com -- The Smart Solution


Notice of Race for 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition
The Notice of Race for the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta, the test event for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition, is now available to download.

The Regatta will take place from 31 July to 13 August 2011 from the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy and Portland Marina, Weymouth, Dorset, United Kingdom.

The Notice of Race states the key conditions for the 10 sailing events at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta. Included in the Notice of Race are details on the rules, regulations, entry and qualification guidelines, format, scoring, schedule, venue and courses.

Alongside the Notice of Race are the Equipment Inspection Regulations which contain details on boat identification and measurement. The EIR's will include details of the specifications for national flags on mainsails which are a requirement also indicated in the Notice of Race.

The men's windsurfer, men's skiff and women's match racing events all have entry quotas which are indicated in NoR 3.6. These restrictions are included in order to enable proper testing of the course areas which will be used for those classes during the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition. All other events have a quota of one entry per Member National Authority (MNA) with the provision to invite a second representative should the 2012 quotas not be met.

www.sailing.org/34804.php

Sailjuice Global Warm-Up 2011
Another brutal winter won't be enough to stop Britain's keenest dinghy racers...

The second edition of the SailJuice Global Warm-up brings together four of the biggest winter handicap racing events into a unified series, to find out just who is tough enough to race their way through the brutal cold of a British winter. Earlier this year competitors battled their way through the first ever Global Warm-up, and this winter's early snow hints at another tough challenge ahead.

Starting a month from now, the four events of the Series are:

Grafham Grand Prix, Grafham Water Sailing Club
Sunday 2nd January 2011

Bloody Mary, Queen Mary Sailing Club
Saturday 8th January 2011

Steve Nicholson Trophy, Northampton Sailing Club
Saturday 29 January 2011

John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club
Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th February 2011

You can enter the Series here: www.sailracer.org/globalwarmup

This is a one-discard series, so it's your three best scores to count. With each event run on a different format, SailRacer has devised a scoring system to balance up the relative value of each event, whether you're competing in one massed fleet such as at the Bloody Mary or Tiger Trophy, or in smaller divisions such as at the Grafham Grand Prix and Steve Nicholson Trophy.

There are some big incentives on offer, to be distributed to the winner, the runners-up and other competitors picked further down the fleet. In addition to SailJuice.com, prizes are being provided by:

Rooster Sailing: www.roostersailing.com
Holt: www.holt.eu
Hyde Sails: www.hydesails.com
RS Sailing: www.rssailing.com

Full details of all prizes will be announced before the first event, the Grafham Grand Prix on 2 January. The prizegiving for the series will take place at the RYA Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace on the weekend of 6/7 March 2011.

Flying18s Video "Building A High-Tech 18ft Skiff"
A new video, showing how Brett Van Munster and his team at Van Munster Boats build the high-tech 18ft Skiffs, can now be seen on:

www.flying18s.com/index.php?p=1_24

The 7 mins. video shows how Van Munster Boats turn a few pieces of paper thin carbon fibre and a 1cm sheet of honeycomb core into the Flying18s which generate so much power and high speeds under race conditions.

The video is also on 'you tube' at:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPaZqKohH6A

And is freely available for use.

Van Munster Boats have been official builders of 18ft Skiffs for the Australian 18 Footers League for the past five years.

The reason for the League's choice is due to the skill and professionalism of this team as they work with the same materials as used in Formula One Motor Racing and the aircraft industry. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League, www.flying18s.com

Maine-Made Tall Ship, Raw Faith, Sinks. Crew Safe
Photo by Coast Guard Cutter Reliance crew. Click on image to enlarge.

Tall Ship Raw Faith Sinks Raw Faith, built to be an escape for children with disabilities, took on water off Nantucket, officials say.

The Maine-built sailing vessel Raw Faith, abandoned by its owner Tuesday after it began taking on water in heavy seas, sank this morning off Nantucket, Mass.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Connie Terrell said the 118-foot, three-masted ship went down at about 7:30 a.m. in approximately 6,000 feet of water.

"It's not considered a hazard to navigation and there are no plans for salvage since it's so far down," Terrell said.

"The seas were pretty rough," Coast Guard spokesman Luke Clayton said. "I believe the ship was taking on water and became unstable. Bigger boats like this one tend to tip over or roll over when they've taken on a lot of water."

Raw Faith was built and designed by McKay to look like a 16th-century English galleon. He planned one day to provide free sailing adventures for children who use wheelchairs and their families.

He was inspired by his daughter, who has Marfan syndrome, a rare hereditary disorder that requires her to use a wheelchair. In August 2003, Raw Faith was launched from the Down East fishing village of Addison.

In 2004, it spent several months in Rockland after being damaged by stormy seas. And in May 2006, Raw Faith lost all three masts in strong winds off Mount Desert Rock. The vessel was rescued by the Coast Guard. -- Dennis Hoey

www.pressherald.com

Route De Rhum to the Barcelona World Race
Click on image to enlarge.

Peters & May Two legends of the IMOCA 60 circuit, Virbac Paprec and FONCIA, caught the fast boat back to the Mediterranean on completing the Route de Rhum.

Peters & May, the yacht shipping specialists, loaded the two yachts in the Caribbean port of Fort de France, to a CMA CGM vessel bound for Barcelona. Time was especially tight as the yachts completed the race over the weekend and by the Thursday had arrived in Martinique, had their masts removed and were packed and lifted onboard the ship, crossing picket lines in the port to do so.

Peters & May's expertise ensured a seamless logistical exercise, with the yachts discharged to water nine days later in Barcelona, on time and ready to start their preparations for the Barcelona World Race.

Further information can be found at: www.petersandmay.com/BarcelonaWorldRace

Velux 5 Oceans Skippers Go Sailing with Local Youngsters
Gutek goes for a sail with some Izivunguvungu kids. Photo by Ainhoa Sanchez, w-w-i.co. Click on image to enlarge.

Velux 5 Oceans The Velux 5 Oceans skippers took a break from working on their yachts yesterday to spend an afternoon messing about in boats with underprivileged children at a Cape Town sailing school. Chris Stanmore-Major, Zbigniew 'Gutek' Gutkowski, Derek Hatfield and Brad Van Liew paid a visit to the Izivunguvungu Sailing School in Simon's Town on the Cape Peninsula.

Izivunguvungu was set up as a social development initiative to teach sailing and maritime skills to local children from poor backgrounds. Children from as young as 11 are first taught to swim before getting basic lessons in sailing. Since it was started in 2001 the sailing school has become a huge success, producing national champions in the Optimist and 420 dinghy classes as well as top results in the Mirror and Laser classes.

Despite 35 knots of wind blowing, it didn't take long for the youngsters to rig up some Bosun dinghies and drag the skippers out for a blast around the bay. While Gutek, a former Polish dinghy champion, enjoyed some close racing with some of the more experienced children, CSM ended up in the water after his young helmsman fell out of their dinghy, which promptly capsized.

"It was great fun," CSM said. "These guys are absolutely fearless. I am just happy to have been able to go sailing with these guys. I used to work for Outward Bound and this kind of initiative is what I am really into. These kids are having so much fun in an environment they wouldn't normally get to experience and it's great to see."

Jonathan Cole, the coach at Izivunguvungu, added: "It's great that such a prestigious race could honour us by coming to visit us. The Velux 5 Oceans skippers are a real inspiration to the kids and it is great that they are not just heroes on television, internet or in magazines or newspapers. I'm so glad they could come to sail with the kids here and get a taste of what we do at the local sailing project here in Cape Town."

www.velux5oceans.com

For The Record... Fourteen Minutes Later
The WSSR Council announces the ratification the latest World Sailing Speed Record. There are no claims at present to exceed this record:

Record: World Sailing Speed Record
Venue: Luderitz. Namibia
Name: Rob Douglas USA
Equipment: Kitesurf. Mike Zajicek custom. Kite Cabrinha Switchblade 9 sqm
Dates: 28th October 2010
Course length: 501M
Current: Nil
Start time: 14; 10; 25.12
Finish time: 14; 10; 42.62
Elapsed time: 17.50 seconds
Speed: 55.65 knots
Corrected for current: N/A

Comments: Current record: Sebastien Cattalan FRA 55.49 kts, 28th October - 14 minutes earlier.

John Reed
Secretary to the WSSR Council

ISAF World Match Race Rankings
The new ISAF Match Racing World Champion and 2010 world Match Race Tour winner Ben Ainslie (GBR) has today also claimed the top position in the open rankings for the first time in his career. Nicky Souter (AUS) maintains her position at the top of the women's rankings.

Ben Ainslie's progress up the open rankings has been sure and steady. In December 2009 he was at #8 and since July 2010 has been poised at #2, ready to pounce on long term leader Adam Minoprio (NZL).

Third overall in Malaysia was Jesper Radich (DEN) who has stood on the podium at all four World Tour events he has sailed at this year. Radich moves up eleven places to #20. The Berlin Match Race was the only Grade 1 open event since the last ranking and this was won by Bjorn Hansen who went to finish fourth in Malaysia. Hansen moves two places up the rankings to #6.

Three ISAF Grade 2 open events took place in this period; the Mumbai International Match Race, the Sunseeker Australia Cup and the Carlos Aguilar Match Racing Championship in the US Virgin Islands. Laurie Jury (NZL) won in Mumbai and also finished sixth at the Carlos Aguilar and he subsequently climbs twelve places to a lifetime best of #27.

Nicky Souter (AUS) maintains her position at #1 but with the smallest of margins. Claire Leroy (FRA) swaps places again with Lucy MacGregor (GBR) to return to #2 just three points behind Souter. Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) and Renee Groeneveld (NED) remain at #4 and #5 respectively

The women's match racing events counting to this ranking release includes just one ISAF Grade 1 event, the Busan International Match Race. The Busan title went to Claire Leroy who defeated Katie Spithill (AUS) in the final

Results from two ISAF Grade 2 events, the Ladies Only Match Race in Hamburg, Germany and the Women's Carlos Aguilar Match Racing Regatta, are also counting points.

The next release of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings will be in February 2011. ISAF World Match Race Rankings

Top ten open rankings:

1. Ben Ainslie, GBR
2. Adam Minoprio, NZL
3. Mathieu Richard, FRA
4. Torvar Mirsky, AUS
5. Ian Williams, GBR
6. Bjorn Hansen, SWE
7. Pierre-Antoine Morvan, FRA
8. Francesco Bruni, ITA
9. Philip Robertson, NZL
10. Peter Gilmour, AUS

Top ten women's rankings:

1. Nicky Souter, AUS
2. Claire Leroy, FRA
3. Lucy Macgregor, GBR
4. Anna Tunnicliffe, USA
5. Renee Groeneveld, NED
6. Ekaterina Skudina, RUS
7. Katie Spithill, AUS
8. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA
9. Genevieve Tulloch, USA
10. Sally Barkow, USA

www.sailing.org

Heineken Cape To Rio 2011
International brewing giant, Heineken, has announced that they will once again be the Title Sponsor of the Royal Cape Yacht Club's premier South Atlantic race, the Heineken Cape-to-Rio, which will take place in January 2011.

The Heineken Cape to Rio is a jewel in the crown of Heineken's global partnership with the premium sport of sailing.

The total length of the race is around 3 400 nautical mi- les across the Atlantic Ocean. After leaving Cape Town, participants route direct for Rio. With the South Atlantic high pressure in mid atlantic the yachts have to deviate in order to miss the calm conditions. Skippers therefo- re need to decide whether to take the longer route with stronger winds, or a more direct route with the risk for lighter winds.

XTRA-LINK, one of the largest Mobile Satellite providers in the Africa and the Middle East with offices in the UAE, The Netherlands and South Africa is sponsoring an eponymous Leisure 42

She is not an all out racer, but rather a racer/cruiser weighing in at some 8.5 tons and boasting a fully kitted out interior. In preparation for the race she has had her IRC certificate updated, minimum sails will be carried. Simplicity being the main objective. On board there will be top of the range com- munication systems, ranging from SSB, Sat Phones and a Sailor FBB250 broadband system. Yacht Xtra Link's is ideal for the Rio Race, she performs well in the sub 18 knot winds on a slight reach which is what is expected for a huge part of the Cape to Rio Race.

Follow the team on their Cape to Rio race blog:
www.xtra-linkcapetoriorace.blogspot.com

Event site: www.rcyc.co.za/cape2rio2011.html

Dick Kempe
Dick Kempe Richard W. (Dick) Kempe - Past Commodore Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, International Judge, International Umpire. Richard Kempe passed away on Monday, December 6th after battling cancer for the past 4 months.

Dick will be remembered as a dedicated contributor to the sport of sailing. He became an International Judge in 1989 and one of the first International Umpires in 1991.

Sailing was his passion from the moment he joined the Youth Sailing programme at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club in the 1950's to his final sailing days on board his beloved "Katimavic' - a classic C&C 40. No doubt many a sailor will have faced Dick in a protest hearing and remember his stern but fair personality and his keen sense of humour.

Past Commodore Kempe will be sadly missed by his family, many friends at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and from the sailing fraternity around the world. -- Talbot Wilson

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 2008 Green Marine Volvo Open 70. EUR 1,100,000. Located in Lymington, United Kingdom.

Strong and well built Volvo 70. Would make a perfect offshore racing yacht, or promotional line honours vessel.

Brokerage through Berthon International: www.yachtworld.com/berthon/

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

The Last Word
I'm a simple man, Hobbes.
You?? Yesterday you wanted a nuclear powered car that could turn into a jet with laser-guided heat-seeking missiles!
I'm a simple man with complex tastes. -- Calvin & Hobbes

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