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Solidaire Du Chocolat
Photo by Bruno Bouvry. Images-de-Mer. Click on image for photo gallery.

Solidaire Du Chocolat After 26 days 16 hours and 35 minutes at sea, winning your first transatlantic race in conditions which were as tough as they have been on this race, is already an event in itself for young yachtsmen Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy. When the magic of a Maya welcome is added to the cocktail of unusual images, ritual dances and offerings, emotions tend to overflow. The Yucatan is steeped in a rich cultural and historical heritage. Through the fever of a tropical night, the victorious youthful crew of Initiatives-Novedia received a royal welcome.

Tanguy de Lamotte and his co-skipper Adrien Hardy, winners of the Solidaire du Chocolat, bore the colours of the association Mecenat Chirurgie Cardiaque throughout the 5000 miles of the race course. Thanks to their efforts, to Initiatives Saveures and Novedia, their charity partners of the association, three children from developing countries who have heart malformations will be able to receive the surgery they require.

Giovanni Soldini and Pietro d'Ali on Telecom Italia crossed the finishing line of the Solidaire du Chocolat in Progreso (Yucatan) in 2nd place at 4 hours 25 minutes and 20 seconds (French time) Sunday morning. They had covered the 5 000 miles of the course at average speed of 7.59 knots. They finished 19 hours 00 minute and 20 seconds after race winners Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy on Initiatives-Novedia. Bruno Jourdren and Bernard Stamm on Cheminees Poujoulat followed shortly afterwards at 4 hours 44 minutes and 4 seconds (French time), taking third in the Solidaire du Chocolat yacht race which had started off Saint Nazaire on 18th October. Just 18 minutes and 44 seconds separate the boats after having crossed the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

* Following a 5,000 mile Atlantic marathon, a series of gruelling storms and many other highs and lows, the inaugural Class 40 event La Solidaire du Chocolat has proved to be the ultimate testing ground for the Class 40s. We are delighted and proud to say that the two Rogers designs have come out on top. Tanguy de Lamotte/Adrien Hardy (Initiatives-Novedia) claimed 1st overall and Bruno Jourdren/Bernard Stamm (Cheminees Poujoulat) claimed 3rd overall, having match raced with Giovanni Soldini/Pietro D'Ali for some 1,500 miles, narrowly missing 2nd by 18 minutes. As Bruno reiterated shortly after finishing: "It is mad, mad, mad......until the end."

On arrival Tanguy had a few words to say: "After 5,000 miles of probably the most challenging offshore racing I have ever experienced, I can say that my boat (Rogers Class 40) has proven exceptional. Adrien and I actually worked out the number of impacts she was subjected to in the waves and series of six low pressure systems we endured, and it came to something around 40 000 impacts; that says a lot! She has looked after us fantastically and given both Adrien and me the most incredible and memorable ride to Mexico........just awesome!!"

This pair of recent podium finishes now rounds off a remarkable 2009 season for the Rogers Class 40s. Our owners have been joined well known faces such as Bernard Stamm and Kito de Pavant and over the last two seasons, they have all provided the Rogers Yacht Design office with a continuous supply of 'on the water' feedback on performance and potential improvements. Add to that the Class 40 rule changes that have occurred since our first Class 40 launch in 2007 and it offers us the perfect platform to now officially launch the Rogers Class 40 MkII. -- www.rogersyachtdesign.com

At press time, in fourth place was Cargill-MTMM (Damien Seguin / Armel Tripon), 60 miles from the finish. next up are Palanad 2 (Tim Wright / Nicko Brennan), 144 miles out.

www.lasolidaireduchocolat.com

Bolting For The Caribbean
The breakaway trio, Safran, Mike Golding Yacht Racing and Groupe Bel continue to profit from the excellent conditions through Sunday, all seeing the speed readouts peaking over 20 knots for periods as the they relish wind, sun and high speeds.

Their Sunday has been a time to re-group, catch up on repairs but most of all simply making sure the pace does not drop off.

As the distance remaining of the 4730 miles course from Le Havre to Costa Rica counted down under 3000 today, Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier's Safran has continued to be a little faster than her pursuers, opening up a lead of 53.7 miles on the British-Spanish duo on Mike Golding Yacht Racing, whilst Kito de Pavant and Francois Gabart is just a little more than 12 miles behind.

The threesome are sprinting south with a cushion of 134 miles back to the British crew on Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson and Ross Daniel, and the best part of 300 miles ahead of the best of the southern group, Foncia. Michel Desjoyeaux and Jeremie Beyou lie eighth.

Golding, pointing out that Safran was still no more than three hours ahead of him, remarked that he felt the three runaways have themselves a 'glamour hand', but that there are no guarantees. The current routings today sees a more northerly course still paying off, with a much more southerly option still bringing that southerly groups in 200 miles behind the leading trio as they enter the Caribbean Sea, but the weather predictions further down the track are changing all the time.

For Sam Davies and Sidney Gavignet on 11th placed Artemis, they have been getting towards the end of their long jobs list, one which has left them exhausted and which Gavignet said this morning has cost them many miles, not least 20 hours or so trying to sort out their mainsail problems.

Monohulls:

1. Safran, Marc Guillemot - Charles Caudrelier Benac, 2780.3 nm to finish
2. Mike Golding Yacht Racing, Mike Golding - Javier Sanso, 56.7 to leader
3. Groupe Bel, Kito De Pavant - Francois Gabart, 59.3
4. Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson - Ross Daniel, 202.1
5. 1876, Yves Parlier- Pachi Rivero, 265.0
6. Veolia Environnement, Roland Jourdain - Jean Luc Nelias, 297.8
7. Foncia, Michel Desjoyeaux - Jeremie Beyou, 359.2
8. Aviva, Dee Caffari - Brian Thompson, 372.2
9. W Hotels, Alex Pella - Pepe Ribes, 427.4
10. Akena Verandas, Arnaud Boissières - Vincent Riou, 498.4
11. Artemis, Samantha Davies - Sidney Gavignet, 602.7

ABD, Brit Air, armel Le Cleac'h - Nicolas Troussel, Retired
ABD, Bt, sebastien Josse - Jean Francois Cuzon, Retired
ABD, DCNS, Marc Thiercelin - Christopher Pratt, Retired

Multihulls:

1. Crepes Whaou ! Franck Yves Escoffier - Erwan Leroux, 3288.0 nm to finish
2. Region Aquitaine-Port Medoclalou Roucayrol - Amaiur Alfaro, 582.9 to leader
3. Guyader Pour Urgence Climatiquevictorien Erussard - Loic Fecquet, 606.9
4. Prince De Bretagneherve Cleris - Christophe Dietsch, 1090.9

ABD, Actualyves Le Blevec - Jean Le Cam Retired
ABD, Fenetrea-Cardinalalain Maignan - Nicole Harel Retired

www.jacques-vabre.com

Russia's Synergy on Cusp of Semi-Finals
Photo by Christophe Favreau, www.christophefavreau.book.fr. Click on image for photo gallery.

Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice, France: Synergy skipper Karol Jablonski and tactician Rod Dawson were wearing huge smiles dockside and expressing their pleasure over a job well done when Philippe Mourniac from All4One approached.

"Great job, guys. It was awesome to watch on TV," said Mourniac, the Franco-German team's navigator.

Synergy had recently completed a wire-to-wire win over TeamOrigin, restructuring the order at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Cote d'Azur as perestroika revamped Russian politics in the 1980s.

Synergy today won two races and now occupies fourth place on the leaderboard with a 5-4 record, 1 point behind third-placed Azzurra. Synergy has two matches remaining in Round 2 and a victory in at least one would ensure advancement to the semi-finals.

The semi-finalists took shape today with Emirates Team New Zealand wrapping up the round robins. Kiwi skipper Dean Barker came out victorious over BMW Oracle Racing and TFS - PagesJaunes and leads the event with a 9-1 record.

England's TeamOrigin holds second at 7-3. Italy's Azzurra didn't race today but remains in third place at 6-3. Synergy is fourth followed by Artemis at 4-5. BMW Oracle Racing is sixth (3-6), All4One seventh (3-7) and TFS - PagesJaunes eighth (1-9).

If a few breaks had fallen differently in Round 1, Synergy might be placed even higher. The team lost a heartbreaker to Emirates Team New Zealand just five lengths from the finish line. It lost another match that it led when the mainsheet broke. Despite the setbacks, the learning curve has remained vertical.

www.LouisVuittonTrophy.com

Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show: It's Your Show
London Boat Show Providing one of the most important starts to the boating season, the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show returns to ExCeL from 8th - 17th January 2010. With exclusive product launches and unique products, all under one roof, it is sure to bring more than a splash of water to the Capital.

Come along and enjoy the thrill of being on board one of the hundreds of fascinating boats on display; from historic replica vessels to the latest in marine technology. With over 500 exhibitors* showcasing power and sail boats, dinghies, deck equipment, charter holidays and sailing courses the Show promises to offer something for enthusiasts and first time visitors alike.

Don't forget 'Kids Go Free' aged 15 and under provided they are with a paying adult.

For the more discerning visitor looking for that little bit of luxury; the new, exclusive Platinum Ticket.

Numbers are limited so make sure you secure your place!

For more information visit www.londonboatshow.com

*taken from 2009 London International Boat Show

ISAF Council Meeting Concludes in Busan
The Council of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) concluded their meeting in Busan, Korea today, with the final decisions made at this year's ISAF Annual Conference.

The final day of the ISAF Council meeting at this year's ISAF Annual Conference began with the Council, ISAF's final decision-making body, considering Submissions where the Events Committee was the Reporting Committee (see the report on yesterday's Council meeting for more on the decision-making process - www.sailing.org/meetings/30275.php )

Events Committee chairman Chris Atkins (GBR) presented the Submissions to Council. First up was Submission 081-09 to introduce middle gates in the race courses used at the Olympic Games, which was deferred in line with the Events Committee recommendation in order to encourage experimentation on the issue of course formats.

Tracking and the number of Submissions relating to tracking (namely Submissions 082-09, 088-09 and 089-09) prompted a lot of discussion around the Council table

Referring to ongoing work, Atkins explained the Events Committee position, "Our recommendation is to defer this, as we already have existing working parties working on these areas and we'd like them to bring forward their recommendations."

Council supported this position and the tracking Submissions were deferred.

There was a lengthy discussion over Submission 084-09 to make an early selection of the Laser and Laser Radial classes for the 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition. Several Committee members supported the early choice to give ISAF's Member Nations a chance to plan ahead. However, the Events Committee recommended the Submission was rejected.

The Council approved the applications of the RS Tera for International Class status and the Laser Vago, RS500, RC44 and Kona for Recognised Class status, subject to them signing the ISAF Class agreement. The Council also support the Committee's recommendation to remove the ISAF Class status of the Nacra F18 and ORMA 60 classes, as they no longer meet ISAF Class requirements.

Approved by Council was the choice of Limassol, Cyprus as host venue for the 2013 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship and Schull, Ireland as host venue for the 2011 ISAF Team Racing World Championship. (Both of these choices are subject to contractual agreements and a successful site visit.)

Full details of all the decisions made at the ISAF Annual Conference will be published in the minutes of the meetings for the ISAF Council and all ISAF Committees, which will be published on the ISAF Meetings microsite at www.sailing.org/meetings in the coming weeks.

Instant Accelleration
The calm conditions colouring the past 48 hours are definitively over: with the arrival of a Brazilian depression system the acceleration has been instant and is set to last for several days. Evidence of this comes with the 70 miles gained on Orange 2 in the space of seven hours this Sunday morning.

The wait has been long and the change of pace brutal: blocked at times making less than five knots until last night, Groupama 3 has found her wings again and is powering away at an average of thirty knots this Sunday afternoon. This is all thanks to a gust of tropical heat originating in Rio de Janeiro, which is dropping down to the Furious Fifties, passing beneath South Africa, before continuing its voyage at least as far as the Kerguelen archipelago, if not further. As this young depression gets bigger by feeding on the cold polar air as it traverses the Southern Atlantic, it is moving fairly quickly (around thirty knots). Franck Cammas and his crew intend to keep just ahead of the cold front, which is generating steady N'ly winds on fairly small seas. Added to this, the current disturbance is also set to fill out over the next few days and will push back the high pressure, which has been stagnating offshore of Cape Town for several days. Its very straight trajectory is good news for Groupama 3, however it will drop quite far South, as far as 50° S.At this time of year, there is still ice around originating in Antarctica, which is drifting quite high up. As such the crew will have to curve out their course after going around the Southern edge of this African anticyclone. -- translated by Kate Jennings

www.cammas-groupama.com

Save One Third of the Weight! You Can't Be Competitive Without It!
Click on image to enlarge.

Ocean Safety The UltraLite is the new range of ISO 9650 liferafts from Ocean Safety. What makes this raft completely different is its weight saving use of the latest composite technology. Saving up to one third in terms of weight with a carbon container and carbon fibre wrapped aluminium cylinder, the Ultralite is for racing sailors wanting to save weight or for the naval architect, designing a vessel to a specific target weight.

The Ultralite range carries the RYA Tick Mark.

Ocean Safety is exhibiting at METS from 17th - 19th November and can be found on stand number 03.304.

More information:
www.oceansafety.com

ITC Announces Improvements Made To 2010 ORC VPP
Busan, South Korea: The Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) has accepted and approved all changes made by the International Technical Committee (ITC) to next year's VPP to be used in ORC International and ORC Club rating systems. This is the first year the ITC had met to finalize their changes and ratify them through the ORC test fleet of 300 designs prior to the ORC's Annual General Meeting here in Busan.

"The main modifications came from work by the ITC during the year," said ITC Chairman Alessandro Nazareth, "and the new formulations implemented in next year's VPP have proven satisfactory after extensive testing and don't have any disruptive impact on the ORC racing fleets that now seem very happy with our rating rule. However, these formulations do accommodate some of the boats that are currently considered unfavored by the system, such as the GP classes, STP65's and some Mini Maxis."

For more details including complete 2010 VPP Test Run please visit www.orc.org

Telecom New Zealand Match Racing Championships
Laurie Jury & Crew. L to R: Laurie Jury, Logan Fraser, Matty Stuart, Rhys O'Cain & Mike Edmonds. Photo from the RNZYS site. Click on image to enlarge.

Telecom New Zealand Match Racing Championships Auckland, New Zealand: Laurie Jury has won the 2009 Telecom New Zealand Match Racing Championships, beating Reuben Corbett 3 - 1 in the first to win three races finals.

Jury won the first race convincingly by 36s but Corbett bounced back in Race Two to gain a penalty on Jury. Jury was in front of Corbett coming into the finish but had to try and slow his boat down and get overlapped with Corbett to have any chance of clearing his penalty and crossing the finish line ahead. In a fantastic display of boat handling, Corbett and crew slowed their boat down and managed to stay far enough away from Jury so Jury could not attack them. Jury simply ran out of runway and the boats crossed the finish line with Jury still having to complete his turn giving Corbett the win and Jury a DNF (Did not finish).

The next two races were won by Jury and awarded them the 2009 Telecom National Championships.

Jury and his crew have sailed consistently well through the entire series, qualifying for the semi finals in second position and having to face a daunting competitor in Chris Dickson, whom he beat 3 - 0.

Jury's crew is Mike Edmonds (main), Logan Fraser (trim), Matt Stuart (pit) & Rhys O'Cain (bow). Jury, Edmonds, Fraser & Stuart are all graduates of the RNZYS Lion Foundation Youth Training Programme.

2009 Final Placings
1. Laurie Jury, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
2. Rebuen Corbett, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
3. Chris Dickson, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
4. Graeme Sutherland, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
5. Josh Junior, Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club
6. William Tiller, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Lion Foundation Youth Training Programme
7. Mark Kroening, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
8. Wataru Sakamoto, Wakayama Sailing Club, Japan
9. Stephanie Hazard, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
10. Samantha Osborne, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
11. Jessica Smyth, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron

www.rnzys.org.nz

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

Success For Maqasas
Click on image for photo gallery.

Traditional 43ft Dhow Sailing Championships Dubai, UAE: Traditional 43ft Dhow Sailing Championships Heat 2: Khalid M. R. Al Rumaithi skippering Maqasas gained victory for the second time in as many heats in the 43 ft class Championship ahead of Seda'a and Al Embratore.

The racecourse was eighteen nautical miles long and took two hours for the winner to cross the line. The fourteen-man crew took their first place in front of a huge one hundred-boat fleet. 'The race was fun, long and fast,' said Khalid M. R. Al Rumaithi. 'We had to go in several different directions as the wind was quite tricky at the start, but we chose to go close to the coast and it was the right decision.'

Seda'a, skippered by Mohammed Rashid Bin Shaheen, moved up one place from his last round second place and a surprise third for outsider Mohammed Suhail Khalfan Al Muhairi on Al Embratore. Organizers, Dubai International Marine Club invited spectators to join them to watch the race up close from on board spectator boats to see the action and involve the local community. 'Today was a mix between traditional and modern,' Saeed Harib, Managing Director of DIMC, told the spectators, 'the race started at the Palm Deira, passed Dubai Dry Dock, Burj Dubai, Burj Al Arab, and World Islands, Palm Jumeirah and finished in front of the Fattan Towers,' and added, 'as the towers on the land increase so will the masts of the traditional boats on the sea.'

The next heat will be during the Sea Dubai Watersports Festival on Friday 4th December. The Festival starts with the Sea Dubai RC44 Gold Cup 25 - 29 November.

www.dimc.ae

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 Euan Ross: re:Splitting Hairs in the America's Cup

Following the publication in 'Sail World' of Alinghi's dodgy diagram to illustrate the "load waterline" and its impact on speed potential, it is now more apparent than ever just how disingenuous, nay frivolous, this complaint is. The diagram titled 'Any Appendages Must be Included in Load Water Line' (and embellished with a gratuitous thought-bubble: 'Longer Load Waterline FASTER BOAT') as presumably endorsed by a naval architect with some knowledge of yacht design and basic physics, is not so much debatable as plain wrong in this context.

The meaning the term 'load waterline' has always (at least in the realm of proper yacht racing) ensured that various rating rules measure the linear extent of a yacht's immersed volume - but only that volume of a vessel's displacement which actually supports its weight in measurement condition (hence use of the unequivocal qualifier 'load'). Whether the rudder actually floats (and therefore contributes to bearing the 'load' of the vessel) or not (and therefore burdens the vessel) has generally been ignored. So maybe, just maybe, the buoyancy of appendages outside the load water line of the canoe body should be checked for neutrality in this regard.

Moreover, on the mischievous 'faster boat' tag, were the rudders of the BOR-90 in fact moved forward to within the load water line, the boat would surely be marginally faster due to the foils being continuously rather than intermittently immersed, albeit that the handling would become somewhat more 'twitchy'. And with this in mind, considering the potentially disastrous consequences of pitch-polling these beasts wherever the rudders are placed, would small, computer-controlled T foils not be worth trialling? While the use of T foils on the rudders of e.g. International 14s certainly impact on the 'dynamic' as opposed to the 'static' load water line, conventional, meter-boat-style overhangs do too and both of course come free.

Finally, on the question of powered winches, maybe successive commentators can get over this? These devices have a long and respectable heritage, even prior to contemporary canting maxis: the last days of commercial sail were marked by the widespread introduction of powered winches on the 'Thomas W Lawson', 'La France' and 'George W Wells' among others; these leviathans at the cutting edge of the scale and efficiency could only be handled with steam-powered winches. So the fact that BMW Oracle would probably have built a cat rather than a tri had grinders not figured in the equation, and are now stuck with an inherently less quick platform, is just too bad.

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 1904 42' William Fife & Sons Linear Rater 30, 75,000 GBP. Located in Southampton, UK.

IOR Record Oldest boat to finish 1975 Fastnet Race - took the "Jolaire Block". Oldest boat to finish 1979 Fastnet Race - 13th overall in class II. Winner of the restricted division - took the Phillip Whitehead Cup and the "Jolaire Block". Won ISORA feeder race Holyhead - Cork 1976 Won Falmouth to Cork feeder race 1978 Raced in Classic regattasduring the nineties - 2004 Owned by present owner since June 1969 and is a reluctant sale due to ill health.

Brokerage through Dickies International: www.yachtworld.com/dickies/

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

The Last Word
Art always has something of the unconscious about it. -- D.T. Suzuki

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