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Survival Sailing... And A Successful Rescue
A harrowing day for sailors in the Transat Jacques Vabre came to a safe conclusion as Seb Josse and JF Curzon were brought to safety by helicopter in the Azores. Their technical team were due in the Azores this evening ready to attempt a salvage mission.

The pair set off their EIPRB beacon at around 10:20hrs Friday morning while 200 miles north of the Azores after the coachroof was badly damaged by the pounding waves. They said that the boat was taking water and required immediate assistance. At one point to a depth of nearly two thirds of hull was filled with water.

Safe and sound Sebastien Josse and Jean Francois Curzon have landed at the Lajes Field airforce base on the island of Terceira in the Azores where they were taken for a shower and food before completing the necessary formalities to do with their rescue.

The operation went as close to plan as possible. Coordinated by the MRCC Gris Nez, the skippers were in regular contact with the Race Direction in Paris, with their technical team and had prepared themselves and their safety equipment, wearing survival suits with the liferaft ready and all grab bags and equipment to hand, ready to evacuate if the situation worsened. .

* Sam Davies and co -skipper Sidney Gavignet continue on best direct route to finish as winds continue to batter them...

With storm-force conditions in excess of 55 knots overnight, Sam Davies onboard Artemis Ocean Racing this morning reported further damage to the boat. Sam called the shore team at 1030 GMT this morning to report: "We have lost a mainsail batten (third down from the top) which flew out of the sail, the third reef pin on the boom has gone and our main Iridium handset is broken - either water-logged or from the shock of the boat pounding through the waves."

None of the damage is terminal but the loss of the mainsail batten will compromise their race performance, however in a call at 1700 GMT today, Sam confirmed that after much consideration there is no plan to stop for repairs, but instead to press on in the best direct route to the finish.

It has also been confirmed that Veolia Environnement (Roland Jourdain and Jean-Luc Nelias) is heading to the Azores to try and repair damage to their mast track - the same damage incurred by Brit Air in the opening stages of the race that resulted in their retirement.

* Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson, onboard Aviva, have safely replaced the wind instruments lost in the previous day's storm.

With the testing conditions forecast to last for another 24 hours, the British duo took advantage of a brief becalmed period to send co-skipper Brian Thompson up the mast to replace the wind wand. As a result of the repair, Aviva has lost miles within the northerly pack of the IMOCA Open 60 fleet, but with the instruments now fully functioning, Caffari and Thompson will be looking to battle through the elements in an attempt to claw back some miles.

The 10h00 race ranking positioned Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson, onboard Aviva, in seventh place, 131.7 miles behind race leader Safran. Groupe Bel, positioned fourth at 07h00, did not register a position in the latest polling.

www.transatjacquesvabre.com

Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Cote D'Azur
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.hotcapers.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Cote D'Azur One match remains to complete the round and it has significant implications for the standings Emirates Team New Zealand won the first round robin at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Cote d'Azur despite losing the anticipated showdown match against England's TEAMORIGIN.

TeamOrigin, with founder and CEO Sir Keith Mills riding as 18th man, won the race by 32 seconds. That gave the British team an opportunity to win the round robin outright, but it dropped to third when it lost to Italy's Azzurra in its second match of the day.

Azzurra's 1-minute triumph put it tied with Team New Zealand for the lead at 6-1, but the Kiwis won by beating Azzurra in Flight 5. TeamOrigin placed third with a 5-2 record.

There's one match outstanding to complete the round, between BMW ORACLE Racing and Synergy, and it is tomorrow's scheduled first match. It was abandoned today when the 20-minute leg time limit ran out on the first run.

The match has significant implications for the standings. If BMW Oracle wins it places fourth and Synergy finishes sixth behind Sweden's Artemis. But if Synergy wins the three teams become tied at 3-4. The tiebreaker would place Artemis fourth, Synergy fifth and BMW Oracle sixth. The French/German team ALL4ONE is seventh with a 2-5 record and TFS - Pages Jaunes is eighth at 0-7.

The standings are important because the second half of the regatta has been changed. Due to time constraints a half round robin will be conducted with the top four teams racing the bottom four teams. Each team has four matches scheduled before the semifinals and knock-out rounds begin next Thursday.

Today's few matches showcased aggressive match racing with afterguards frequently seeking penalties on their opponent.

www.LouisVuittonTrohy.com

Best Sailor's Bar in the World
Best Sailor's Bar in the World Let's be blunt, shall we? Sailors have been enjoying a few drinks after sailing since the Phoenicians first dipped a toe in the water. And sometimes during sailing... the US Navy ended its Rum Ration in 1862, but the Brits had the good sense to carry on until 1970. Black Tot day is still remembered with some very mixed emotions.

So what makes a great sailor's bar? Well... free drinks would help a lot, but that's not conducive to that sense of history that really makes a great bar. A relaxed dress code, to put it politely, is a big plus, as is the ability to get to the bar by sail. But the real kicker is what is called ambiance in less rugged circumstances. A place where sailors are welcome, and feel at home. That means a lot of different things to different sailors... and we'd like to hear your thoughts.

The folks at Wight Vodka and Seahorse magazine have teamed up with us to set up an online form where you can send your comments and suggestions. We'll post them, and excerpt here. And in a few weeks, we'll pick the top ten and have an online vote.

Everyone who sends a suggestion will be entered to win some prizes, including a bottle of Wight Vodka and a set of special Wight Vodka glassware, a subscription to Seahorse, and some great books.

What's your favourite bar? Tell us at:

scuttlebutteurope.com/sailors-bars.html

* And while you're thinking about it, this will help, this week's feature drink, and a festive one:

The Wight Snowfall

1/2 Shot Chilled Wight Vodka
2 Shots Chilled Cranberry/Pomegranate Juice
Splash of Chambord
Top up with your favourite Champagne

Mix Wight Vodka, Cranberry, Pomegranate and Chambord in a shaker with ice. Shake like crazy to deep chill it.

Pour into a champagne flute and top up with your favourite chilled champagne. Enjoy in the company of friends, fellow yachtsmen and any potential lover(s). --
www.wightvodka.com

Luderitz Speed Challenge
Luderitz, Namibia: In the build up to this weekend's forecast of heavy wind, many people are optimistic that this year's Speed Challenge will again produce new national and international speed sailing records. What many people overlook though, is the fact that these results will only become official records after the governing body, the World Sailing Speed Records Council of the International Sailing Federation, ratifies the results. This is why Michael Ellison, the WSSRC commissioner overseeing the 2009 Lüderitz Speed Challenge, is a very important man.

Michael, himself a master mariner, began sailing when he was a child, and went on to work as a merchant marine for most of his life. Michael first became an official observer in 1973, a year after the WSSRC was formed, when he wrote a letter suggesting some changes they needed to make in order to improve the competition. The council liked his suggestions and invited him to join. This is a man who has now observed countless world record breaking speed sailing runs in the thirty six years he has been officiating. This is a man who knows what it takes to break records, with a powerful sense of what is a fast setup, and what is record-breaking.

I asked Michael today whether he thought it was likely that this year's Speed Challenge would again produce another world outright speed sailing record.

"Definitely," he said with the calm certainty that comes with his incredible amounts of experience. "Look, last year, we had three different guys break fifty knots, all on different boards, all using different kites, all of them with different body weights."

"What this means," he went on to explain, "is that no-one has found the optimum formula yet." This year has seen a lot of development on the speed boards - last year the boards were wider with a distinct cut-out at the tail, this year the boards are narrower, with more flex and some concave. There's also been a lot more training, so the riders have a lot more experience under their belts. "Any one of the these guys, or girls, could have the right wind, blowing in the right direction, with the right water at the right time, and then we could have another two knots. Then we'll have a new world record," says Michael.

www.luderitz-speed.com

From The "Wait... It's Not April Fool's Day, This Must Be For Real" Files...
The Canaries Tourism office has started a world wide campaign to support and sponsor the Islas Canarias RC 44 sailing team on their Sea Dubai RC44 Gold Cup regatta, that will take place November 25, 2009.

Under the motto "Wind To Win", the Islas Canarias RC44 sailing team invites the enthusiasts to support their favorite team and prove that they who have the best fans, have the best wind. It's a Virtual Regatta between fans that support their teams by blowing air directly from their lungs to the computer. The website were the regatta is (www.windto win.com) will translate this air into wind knots and make the boats move.

By playing on www.windtowin.com people will be able to win a trip with the Islas Canarias Sailing team to one of their international races.

While the Sea Dubai RC 44 Gold Cup is happening, the wind generated will activate some huge fans which are located in the port of Dubai, where a huge screen will show the support messages that fans will leave on the website. This way, the teams will be able to literally feel and see the support that their fans have sent directly from their homes. And fans will be able to feel that they are not only on the virtual world but also on the real regatta.

* Editor: Someone with a lot of time on their hands and some serious Flash programming experience created this.... www.windtowin.com

Bainbridge International Sailcloth - A History Of Innovation
Bainbridge International Sailcloth - A History Of Innovation With a full range of sailcloth, sailmakers' hardware and a global sales and support network, Bainbridge International is uniquely qualified and committed to supplying the world with the finest quality materials. Founded in 1917, Bainbridge is one of the longest established sailcloth manufacturers in the world, with almost a century's experience in developing and supplying the highest quality, highest performance materials to the sailing industry.

Bainbridge has always been at the forefront of technical developments within the world of sailcloth. Through the skills of our technical team and with the support of our international network of Bainbridge offices and European distributors, we have developed a number of class leading products, including our award winning AIRX Spinnaker Fabrics, DIAX laminated sailcloth, Ocean and Ocean Premium Plus woven fabrics and our Sailman Full Battten Systems. These have been used by many high profile campaigns over the years including, America's Cup, Vendee Globe, Volvo 60, BT Challenge and more recently, the Ellen MacArthur Trust.

At METS this year we will be launching some exciting new products so why not come along to our new look stand located at 11.117.

For more information and to request samples of our products, please email

www.bainbridgeint.com

Extreme Sailing Series Asia Heads to Hong Kong
Twenty four of the World's top professional sailors will converge on Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong next week for the first round of the new Extreme Sailing Series Asia. The six top teams include the host nation's, China Team, as well as the Skipper of the Green Dragon entry in the last Volvo Ocean Race, Ian Walker. The sailors have a myriad of sailing accolades amongst them including three double Olympic Gold Medals, 23 World and 28 European Championship titles, 8 Round the World navigations, 19 Olympic Games attended, and from 7 different nations. Also announced today is that Austrian double Olympic champions Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher join as a new challenger with the Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team on the Asian Circuit.

The first round of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia will run from 20 - 24 November, based out of the prestigious Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club right at the heart of this iconic city.

The China Team entry will be helmed by Wearn Haw Tan from Singapore, joined by Mark Stopforth, a former Olympian from South Africa now based in Hong Kong, Wang Jue from China and skippered by Thierry Barot, a Hong Kong based Frenchman with immense expertise and experience from America's Cup, Round the World Races and other world class big boat campaigns. These sailors all raced together in the 2007 China America's Cup team but new to Extreme 40 racing so will be joined by experienced Extreme 40 sailors and British Olympian Hugh Styles and Adam Piggott.

Double Olympic Gold Medallist Shirley Robertson will be the only woman competing in the fleet on Rumbo Almería, with Ian Walker, and joined by another double Olympic Gold Medallist, Austrian Roman Hagara who will be joined by his Tornado crewman from Athens and Sydney Hans Peter Steinacher onboard new entry to the Extreme 40 scene, Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team. Round the World sailor, Nick Moloney will complete the Skippers' line-up onboard BT.

Entry List:
BT - Nick Moloney (AUS)
China Team - Thierry Barot (FRA)
Oman Sail Masirah - Pete Cumming (GBR)
Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team - Roman Hagara (AUT)
Rumbo Almeria - Shirley Robertson (GBR)
The Wave, Muscat - Paul Campbell-James (GBR)

www.extremesailingseriesasia.com

Nerone Wins Farr 40 12th Anniversary Match Racing
Miami, Florida, US: After two days of Match Racing off Key Biscayne in Miami Florida, Italian team Nerone helmed by Massimo Mezzaroma won the event for the second year in a row. Nerone has been successful in a number of Farr 40 Match Racing events in Miami and finished second to Jim Richardson's Barking Mad in the 2009 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship.

Alex Roepers' Plenty from the USA finished second in the event with a 5-4 scorecard. Canadian and new owner to the Farr 40 class Grant Hood and his team on Defiant finished in third with 2-7 after a tie breaker with the Australian team of Lisa & Martin Hill's Estate Master taking forth.

These teams will join four other teams - reigning Farr 40 World Champion Jim Richardson and his team on Barking Mad (USA), reigning Farr 40 North American Champion Helmut Jahn and his Flash Gordon VI (USA) crew, 2008 Farr 40 North American Champion William Douglass and his Goombay Smash (USA) team and John Demarkous's Groovederci (USA), at the 12th Anniversary Farr 40 Regatta.

All eight teams will be fleet racing over the next three days in Miami as they utilize the time on the water in preparation for the 2010 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship in the Dominican Republic in April. -- Sam Crichton

www.farr40.org

Industry News... METS!
* The organiser of the METS marine trade event, Amsterdam RAI, and the show's official magazine, IBI, will again send out advance digital copies of the METS catalogue.

The digital catalogue will be sent to all IBI daily email newsletter subscribers worldwide and all pre-registered METS visitors. Hard copies of the catalogue and floor plan will be available on site during METS.

The catalogue will also be available on www.ibinews.com and www.metstrade.com. Free paper copies of a catalogue will also be available at the show.

Please click here for the digital catalogue: publishing.yudu.com

* The new Holmatro Winch will be launched at the METS in Amsterdam.Click on the link below to watch the short video of our this new winch:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMv0V9ltbuc

* Hall Spars & Rigging introduces the first-ever carbon rigging product with an ultra-low-drag airfoil shape. The new SCR/S - Seamless Carbon Rigging/Streamlined - is the next generation of the highly successful SCR product and is designed specifically for projects looking for the maximum edge in speed.

A year ago Hall introduced SCR, the first reliable solid round carbon rigging product to hit the market. It is the smallest, lowest-windage composite rigging available. Thanks to a proprietary terminal attachment process for which there are international patents pending, SCR also boasts the most compact composite rigging end fittings available.

Hall SCR round rod has 15% less frontal area/windage than its nearest carbon rigging market competitor. Airfoil-shaped SCR/S just reduced that to 50% less windage. Since standing rigging is the main source of rig windage, this reduction will give any boat a quantifiable speed improvement.

* Henri Lloyd will be exhibiting their full 2010 Marine Technical Range at METS from the 17 - 19 November, including the Henri Lloyd Blue Eco Jacket which represents the first wave of environmentally friendly marine apparel.

For 2010, Henri Lloyd has launched a revolutionary innovation aimed at advancing more eco-friendly marine technical apparel, taking the marine industry's first steps to link product development and eco-friendly problem-solving.

For more information on the Blue Eco Jacket and the other new products for 2010 visit stand 03.137. -- www.henrilloyd.com

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 Tom Ehman: re: SNG/Alinghi will race in RAK if they win on appeal...

...or so they say in their court papers filed today...

If this Court, as it should, vindicates SNG's legal right under the April 7 Order, and reverses the October 30 Order, then SNG will contest the Cup in RAK - a more temperate venue for a sailing race in February

Disappointing, but no surprise.

Incredibly, they argue our yacht is the longest in Cup history? What are they smoking??

"......GGYC's massive 113' trimaran, the longest boat in Cup history......"

In fact, as you all know, it was Reliance at something like 144' LOA, and around 200' including the bowsprit and boom....

To say nothing of the J Boats:

Shamrock V (1930) - 119' 1"
Enterprise (1930) - 120' 9"
Endeavor (1934) - 129' 6"
Rainbow (1934) - 120' 9"
Endeavor II (1937) - 135' 6"
Ranger (1937) - 135'

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 1999 Open 60 IMOCA JMV, EUR 320,000. Located in Gosport, UK.

Ready for someone to take on in to the Vendee this IMOCA 60 has a good standing and comes with a container workshop.Having returned from a very successful campaign in the Velux 5 Oceans race, finishing 2nd only to Bernard Stam, she proved her strength and reliability as well as her skippers preparation of her.She is a solid racing machine with the skipper quoting her to be 'strong as a horse' Price is EX-VAT please contact for further details.These boat details are subject to contract.Note: Offers on the asking price may be considered.

Brokerage through Boatshed Performance: www.yachtworld.com/boatshedperformance/

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

The Last Word
We are bits of stellar matter that got cold by accident, bits of a star gone wrong. -- Arthur Eddington

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