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RC44 Cup - San Diego
Photo by Nico Martinez, www.nicomartinez.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

RC44 A very good day for both Artemis Racing and Katusha with four wins each out of five races.

On Katusha we were happy with our results but I would not characterize our sailing as smooth. Yet, we got the job done.

For our first three races of the day, we had the "Curmudgeons" onboard as guests. First Craig for two races, including the all important Russian National Championship, then Tom for the third. As soon as the Lewecks left us, we lost. We pulled ourselves back together to win our last race of the day.

We ended up tied with four other teams, some of whom raced six races. There is no final scoring for match racing at each event this year, it just rolls on and the final score is tallied at the end of the year.

Tomorrow, starts the fleet racing which will see Bob "Peaches" Little on the helm and I will move to tactician.

The forecast for tomorrow is more of the same, Westerly winds at about 10 knots. -- Paul Cayard

www.rc44.com
Full results at www.rc44.com/news/view/

Richard Heads Worldly Field for Congressional Cup
Long Beach, a.k.a. The International City, will need more flag poles than ever next month to properly present Long Beach Yacht Club's 47th Congressional Cup March 22-26. Several of the world's top-ranked sailors from eight countries and one U.S. territory will compete for the iconic prize in the United States' only Grade 1 match racing event.

The list is headed by 2007 winner Mathieu Richard of France, ranked No. 3 in the world, and also includes Ian Williams of Great Britain, No. 5; 2010 winner Francesco Bruni of Italy, No. 8; Evgeny Neugodnikov of Russia, No. 9; Phil Robertson of New Zealand, No. 10; 2009 winner Johnie Berntsson of Sweden, No. 17; Staffan Lindberg of Finland, No. 19; Taylor Canfield of the U.S. Virgin Islands, No. 29, and Dave Perry of the U.S., No. 36.

Canfield qualified automatically by winning last summer's Grade 2 Trifecta Events series at Chicago, Detroit and Manhasset Bay, N.Y., one of the first qualifying events leading to the Congressional Cup.

The 10th competitor will be determined by the Grade 2 Ficker Cup March 17-19. Then the winner will have two days to recharge for his (or her) jump to the big leagues. Sally Barkow won the Ficker last year, but that competition has since been upgraded from Grade 3 to 2.

This year, with the rapid growth of match racing in the world for both men and women, there's a new door to the Ficker Cup: the California Dreamin' Series of events at San Francisco this weekend, at Long Beach (the Butler Cup) March 5-6 and at San Diego March 12-13.

Theoretically, an ambitious skipper and crew could be racing five consecutive weeks for a chance to win the Congressional Cup's coveted Crimson Blazer.

The venerable Catalina 37s, built and donated by Frank Butler of Catalina Yachts and donated to the Long Beach Sailing Foundation in 1991, will be used in all of the Long Beach events to be run before spectators on Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier in east Long Beach. .

2010 results

1. Gavin Brady, New Zealand, 15-2
2. Francesco Bruni, Italy, 14-3
3. Johnie Berntsson, Sweden, 14-3
4. Bill Hardesty, USA, 11-7
5. Dave Perry, USA, 10-8
6. Evgeniy Neugodnikov, Russia, 9-9
7. Eric Monnin, Switzerland, 7-11
8. Damien Iehl, France, 7-11
9. Sally Barkow, USA, 2-16
10. Simone Ferrarese, Italy, 1-17

www.lbyc.org/html/content.cfm?CID=1170

29 Days and Half Way
Having sailed for 29 days Thomas is now half way through his record attempt. He has passed through the unpredictable Southern Indian Ocean, and currently South of New Zealand, he is now entering the Pacific. Thomas is pushing the boat as hard as he can, trying to avoid hitting icebergs, and still 1150 nautical miles behind Francis Joyon's record, but catching up day by day. The maxi trimaran "Sodebo" is faster than "IDEC", the record holder, but had to sail a longer route so far due to unfavorable weather systems. Sodebo He expects to be at Cape Horn, South America, in about ten days.

Helly Hansen has a complete English language site covering Coville's attempt:
www.hellyhansen.com/campaigns/thomascoville/

Coville's Sodebo site (French and English): www.sodebo-voile.com

Only 2 Days Left To Register For Dyneema&Reg; Competition, Free Rigging And Sailing Master Class Up For Grabs
Dyneema Experience Team Win a Complete Re-Rig For Your Boat and Sailing Masterclass

DSM Dyneema, producer of Dyneema®, the world's strongest fiber™, and its partners are recruiting the globe for 40 'skippers' to test running-rigging made with Dyneema® fiber and share their experiences through social media.

If you are selected as part of the 2011 Dyneema® Experience Team, we will re-rig your boat completely free of charge with ropes made with Dyneema®. All we ask of you is that you test and experience rigging with Dyneema® and share this with us, your friends, family and other sailors worldwide, through social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

The most active social media 'skipper' of the 2011 'Dyneema® Experience Team' will also enjoy a masterclass with a friend on one of the Volvo Ocean Race Yachts in Alicante.

Dyneema® has proven to be highly versatile for a wide range of products in the yachting industry. The combination of high performance and durability makes it the ideal material, for running rigging for performance cruisers and professional sailors.

The closing date for applications is March 4, 2011. The 2011 Dyneema® Experience Team ends on September 23rd 2011.

Register now at www.dyneemaexperience.com

Join the team www.dyneemaexperience.com

Laser SB3 World Championship Entry Tops 120 -- Glenn's Coming Too...
Photo by CarloniGrass - Volvo Laser SB3 World Campionships 2010. Click on image to enlarge.

Laser SB3 World Championship The 2011 World Championship for the Laser SB3 class will be hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club, UK from 16 - 20 May 2011. The entry list has now topped 120 boats and it appears that the event will be the largest keelboat World Championships in 2011.

Representatives from fourteen nations will compete in the World Championships. The host nation field an entry of over seventy boats. Entries come from as far afield as Australia and South Africa. Ireland, France, The Netherlands, Portugal, Greece, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Ukraine and Russia will all be represented in Torquay in May.

The three Laser SB3 World Champions, Geoff Carveth (2008 Champion, Dun Laoghaire), Craig Burlton (2009 Champion, Cascais) and Jerry Hill (2010 Champion, Torbole) will all compete for the 2011 Championship title. Carveth, Burlton and Hill are all British and so far the Laser SB3 World Championship has not been won by another nation. Will 2011 see the trophy slip from the Brits grip?

Australian sailing man of the moment, Nathan Outteridge, will compete with Laser SB3 Class President, Dave Cheyne in Torquay in May. Outteridge is twice 49er World Champion, current Moth World Champion and recent winner of the Audi King of Docklands and Audi Victoria Week in the Laser SB3. Fellow Australian Glenn Bourke returns to the class for the Championship.

South Africa's Roger Hudson will compete in his fourth Laser SB3 World Championship and will no doubt be determined to better his current hatric of second places. Hudson has sailed each of the previous World Championships with a different helm; 2008 David Hudson (father), 2009 Taariq Jacobs and 2010 Iain Ainslie. It is yet to be announced which members of the Race Ahead Foundation will sail with Hudson in 2011.

In preparation for the World Championships, the Royal Torbay Yacht Club will host the Torbay Open, 30 April - 2 May and the Pre World Championship 12 - 13 May. These two events will provide a great opportunity for a number of keen teams from across Europe to travel to the UK and sail on the waters of Tor Bay prior to the World Championships.

www.lasersb3.com

"Pick The Podium" Tipping Competition
A unique and fun way to follow your favourite boat(s) in the Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship to be sailed on Sydney Harbour from 5-13 March (see exact race dates below) is to enter the Australian 18 Footers League's "Pick the Podium" tipping competition.

As the promoters of the competition say: "It's fun and it's free to enter".

All you have to do is go to www.18footers.com.au and click on 'video'. Register, click on "pick the podium", read the tipping information and enter your picks.

The race dates are:
Saturday 5 March - Race 1
Sunday 6 March - Race 2
Tuesday 8 March - Race 3
Wednesday 9 March - Race 4
Thursday 10 March - Race 5
Saturday 12 March - Race 6
Sunday 13 March - Race 7

Amongst the prizes are bar fridge from www.appliancesonline.com.au , SLAM hats and t-shirts, Red Claw wines, Pure Blonde beer and Barz Optics sunglasses.

Don't forget: "It's fun and it's free to enter".

Frank Quealey
Australian 18 Footers League
www.18footers.com.au

Eileen Ramsay Photo Archive Saved for the Nation
Circa 1970. Bourne End Week, Upper Thames Sailing Club. Thames A Rater open keel boats. Photo by Eileen Ramsay / PPL. Click on image to enlarge.

Eileen Ramsay The work of Eileen Ramsay, the Queen of yachting photography from the early 1950s to 1970s, has been saved for posterity. The sailing archive, which records the explosion in dinghy and small boat sailing in Britain after the War years, also includes iconic pictures of offshore racing in the Solent, and historic pictures of sailing pioneers from the first Observer single-handed transatlantic races (OSTAR) and the solo voyages of Francis Chichester, Alec Rose and Eric Tabarly.

An exhibition of Eileen's pictures will be on display at the RYA/Volvo Dinghy Show in the West Corridor at Alexander Palace, London on the 5th and 6th March.

The famous archive includes long forgotten images of Olympic sailors Keith Musto and Tony Morgan, Silver medalists at the 1964 Games in Tokyo, and Rodney Pattisson and Ian MacDonald-Smith who won Gold for Britain in the same Flying Dutchman class at the Mexico Games in 1968. She also recorded the career of Charles Currey, who won Silver at the Helsinki Games in 1952, and Robin Aisher, who represented Britain in the 5.5m keelboat class at the 1960 and '64 Games before finally winning Bronze at the Acapulco regatta in '68.

Other noted sailors to have fallen within Eileen Ramsay's focus have been Stewart Morris, Gold Medal winner at the 1948 Games in Torquay, fellow International 14 champion and Olympic representative Bruce Banks, and Sir John Oakeley, the son of wrestling champion Sir Atholl Oakeley, who became one of Britain's most successful dinghy champions in the 60s and 70s, winning the Merlin Rocket crown three times in succession before going on to win the Flying Dutchman world championship.

Eileen, now aged 95, has kept her photo archive intact and called in PPL Photo Agency to digitise the pictures and manage the Library.

www.pplmedia.com

LaserPerformance at 2011 RYA Volvo Dinghy Show - Stand B10
Laserperformance LaserPerformance will be attending the 2011 RYA Volvo Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace, London on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th March. We will be displaying a range of products, including the newest member of the range, the Vapor Optimist which is available in standard and XD specs. Skandia Team GBR's Paul Goodison will be dropping by the stand.

A special '60 Minute Sale' will take place from 12 noon until 1pm on Saturday and Sunday to commemorate the RYA Dinghy Show's 60th Birthday, a great opportunity to grab a "diamond deal". We'll be offering attractive, customer tailored deals across our products, including a sail deal to all of our classes.

"We are looking forward to welcoming visitors to our stand, meeting up with old friends and launching the 2011 sailing season," said Mark Henry, Managing Director, LaserPerformance Europe.

A Laser Pico is up for grabs in the RYA's competition and Laser sailors from the SailJuice Global Warm Up will receive their prizes on the Volvo Main Stage.

Representatives from the Laser, Laser 2000, Laser Vago, Laser Pico, Laser SB3 and Bug Class Associations will all be on hand to provide information about the events planned for the 2011 season, so make sure you pop by to have a chat.

Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/LaserPerformanceSailboats

CSM Jumps Into Second As Velux 5 Oceans Sprint Three Reaches Climax
British skipper Stanmore-Major has dramatically stolen second place in a thrilling finale to the third ocean sprint of the Velux 5 Oceans. Just a week ago the 33-year-old was around 200 nautical miles behind race rivals Derek Hatfield and Zbigniew 'Gutek' Gutkowski who were engaged in a fight for second and third positions.

But after slowly reeling in his opposition, CSM took advantage of better breeze on his more offshore route up the coast of South America and passed the pair overnight to claim second position. The 1200 UTC position report gave him a lead over third placed Gutek of 36 miles, with Derek a further ten miles behind.

American ocean racer Brad Van Liew won ocean sprint three yesterday crossing the finish line at around 5.16pm local time. After 24 days at sea and more than 6,500 nautical miles sailed, the remaining three skippers are separated by just 50 nautical miles with less than 250 miles left to sail to the leg three finish.

Positions at 1200 UTC

Skipper / distance to finish (nm) / distance to leader/ distance covered in last 24 hours (nm) / average speed in last 24 hours (kts)

Brad Van Liew, Le Pingouin: Finished Tuesday March 1, 2011
Chris Stanmore-Major, Spartan: 214/ 0 / 169.8 / 7.1
Zbigniew Gutkowski, Operon Racing: 250.1 / 36.1 / 116.4 / 4.8
Derek Hatfield, Active House: 261.7 / 47.8 / 101.5/ 4.2

www.velux5oceans.com

Just Two Sleeps Until The RYA Volvo Dinghy Show - Don't Forget To Get Your Tickets
RYA Volvo Dinghy Show There are just four more days until the start of the RYA Volvo Dinghy Show, when Alexandra Palace, London becomes the centre of all things dinghy sailing.

The show, in association with Yachts & Yachting and Suzuki, takes place over the weekend of 5-6 March when more than 200 exhibitors, in some 12,000 sq. metres of halls will be showcasing all the very latest boats, books, kit and more.

There are some fantastic talks and presentations lined up from some of the dinghy sailing world's best sailors and coaches. From simply putting your new boat together, to honing your skills to get advantage at the start line and improving body condition there is something for everyone from getting started to how to sail harder and faster.

The halls will be packed to the rafters with some spectacular boats from the old time classics of the Cherub Class, who will be showcasing 60 years of the history with a selection of boats from across the decades, to the breath taking 'Invictus', the only C- Class wing sail Catamaran in Europe and some of the latest dinghy designs on the market.

"The RYA Volvo Dinghy Show is always a highlight in any dinghy enthusiast's calendar, with a great range of workshops and resources to really bring the show to life. I look forward to attending on the 5th March for a great day out!" commented double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Gosling (nee Webb).

To find out more about what's on at the show or to book your tickets visit www.dinghyshow.org.uk or call the ticket hotline on 0844 081 0409.

YNZ Announces Team for 2011 Olympic Test Event
Yachting New Zealand's appointed selectors have met to decide the New Zealand Team of sailors to compete at the Olympic Test Event Regatta in Weymouth from 1st - 14th August 2011.

Representatives have been announced in seven of the ten Olympic classes with announcements in the remaining three classes to be made following June's Sail for Gold Regatta, also on in Weymouth.

They have selected the following sailors in their respective classes...

Laser: Andrew Murdoch
Laser Radial: Sara Winther
Women's 470: Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie
Men's 470: Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders
Star: Hamish Pepper and Craig Monk
Finn: Dan Slater
49er: Peter Burling and Blair Tuke

Announcements regarding selection in the Women's Match Racing, Men's RS:X and Women's RS:X events will be made after the 2011 Sail for Gold Regatta which runs from 6th - 11th June 2011. -- Jodie Bakewell-White

www.yachtingnz.org.nz

DN European Championship 2011
Photo by Oskar Kihlborg, www.kihlborg.se. Click on image for photo gallery.

DN European Championship 2011 Light winds prevailed at the DN European Championship up to now. The first day of the Championship was dominated by the past-champion Karol Jablonski POL, who - before his America's Cup and bigboat activities - was a talented and very successful a ice-boat helmsman in the 80ies, apparently giving now his comeback on the ice. Read a report from Germany. After two race days and 7 heats, Robert Gracyk POL leads followed by Lukasz Zakrzewski POL. No Swiss participate in the A-fleet. In the B-fleet however, another prominent comeback can be noticed. With 5 bullets in 6 heats, Jean-Claude Vuithier SUI is the dominant leader. Fredy Rudolf SUI follows on rank 12. The results. 155 sleds participate. The conditions with black ice and sun were excellent so far, as we already reported.

No wind on the Saaremaa island yesterday for the DN European Championship 2011 and therefore no changes in the rankings after 7 (group A) respectively 6 (B and C fleet) races. Robert Graczyk POL holds a clear 8 points' lead on Lukasz Zakrzewski POL and Peter Hamrak HUN. In the B-fleet, Jean-Claude Vuithier SUI (photo) dominates with 5 wins in 6 heats.

From Sailing-News.ch:
www.sailing-news.ch/index.php?vl=1&vref=sim&vs=19733

Other resources:
www.eissegeln.de
www.icesailing.org

Alistair Campbell
Click on image to enlarge.

Alistair Campbell There is nothing more precious and confidence-building when the weather is foul and the wind screaming than the sound of a familiar calm voice on the HF radio doing a 'sched'.

So when one of those voices goes silent we feel we have lost a real friend. Alistair Campbell, one of South Africa's greatest radio amateurs, has gone 'silent key'.

His coverage was vast, crossing most of two oceans in the southern hemisphere, the Atlantic and the Indian, and many a cruising sailor remembers his forecasts and scheds with gratitude.

The South African Maritime Mobile Net was started by Campbell (ZS5MU) some 30 years ago and always ably assisted by his wife Davina ZS5GC and several other coastal Radio Ham Operators.

The net operates each day of the week, and provides weather reports from around the SA coast and High Seas, and maintains Ham radio contact with boats off the coast of South Africa 'For Met area VII', ie. Brazil's east coast to Australia's west coast and up into the Mozambique channel.

Although his key went silent, he has left behind a legacy that must and will continue. Condolences to Davina, family and his many friends. -- Nancy Knudsen

www.sail-world.com

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 2004 Nautor Swan 45. EUR 360,000. Located in France.

Hull # 36 is one of the lightest, if not the lightest Swan 45. She carries 38 kg corrector weights while most other boats are overweighted. She is perfectly prepared for Round-the-Cans Racing as well as for serious Offshore Racing to ORC Cat 1. The Boat has won class IRC 2b in the 2006 HSH Nordbank Blue Race from Newport (RI) to Hamburg (GER), even though otherwise only very lightly used. The total Mileage of the boat is approx 6000 nm. After the transatlantic race, the boat has been thouroghly inspected by Nautor and professionally maintained.

Brokerage through Fine Yachts: www.yachtworld.com/fine-yachts/

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

The Last Word
As one grows older one becomes more critical of oneself and less of other people. -- Basil Rathbone

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