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Six Nations for Gold
With all sailors at the peak of their form, for the pre-Olympic year, when most Olympic selections are disputed, the Semaine Olympique Française, fourth event on the Sailing World Cup circuit has seen a great display of skills and battles at the top.

Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) who had won the event already yesterday, took also the Medal Race.

"We had a consistent week, and it is great because the weather conditions were hard and the fleet really strong. We will race a lot this year to try and keep our best level, hopefully until the Olympics."

French team of Xavier Rohart and Pierre-Alexis Ponsot conserves the second place on the podium while 2009 World Champions Georg Szabo and Mark Strubbe (USA) take Bronze after a second in the Medal race.

"This result is very encouraging. We have worked hard these last months. We have better communication and decisions on the water." explains the French pair.

Pietro and Gianfranco Sibello (ITA) win their second title in the SOF in the 49er.

Ben Ainslie like Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada in the Star has added a victory in the Medal race to the title in the Finn competition. For the first time since Sail Melbourne, there will be just one Brit on the Finn podium. Zach Railey (USA) after a slow start in the regatta had gradually improved in the results to take today the Silver medal.

The next event in the Sailing World Cup circuit, the Delta Lloyd regatta will start in Medemblik, Holland on the 24th of May. -- Corinne Rolland-McKenzie

Final top three by class:

RS:X Men
1. Piotr Myszka, POL, 34 points
2. Julian Bontemps, FRA, 36
3. Shahar Zubari, ISR, 37

RS:X Women
1. Blanca Manchon, ESP, 22
2. Charline Picon, FRA, 33
3. Bryony Shaw, GBR, 53

Laser
1. Javier Hernandez, ESP, 54
2. Tonci Stipanovic, CRO, 77
3. Tom Slingsby, AUS, 79

Laser Radial
1. Sara Winther, NZL, 60
2. Sarah Steyaert, FRA, 61
3. Gintare Scheidt, LTU, 80

Finn
1. Ben Ainslie, GBR, 17
2. Zach Railey, USA, 57
3. Pieter-Jan Postma, NED, 58

49er
1. Pietro Sibello / Gianfranco Sibello, ITA, 80
2. Julien D'Ortoli / Noe Delpech, FRA, 100
3. Jonas Warrer / Soren Hansen, DEN, 113

470 Men
1. Pierre Leboucher / Vincent Garos, FRA, 41
2. Nicolas Charbonnier / Jeremie Mion, FRA, 62
3. .Onan Barreiros / Aaron Sarmiento, ESP, 67

470 Women
1. Tara Pacheco / Berta Betanzos, ESP, 49
2. Hannah Mills / Saskia Clark, GBR, 91.20
3. Penny Clark / Katrina Hughes, GBR, 95

Star
1. Robert Scheidt / Bruno Prada, BRA, 39
2. Xavier Rohart / Pierre Alexis Ponsot, FRA, 72
3. George Szabo / Mark Strube, USA, 73

Women's Match Racing
1. Lucy Macgregor / Annie Lush / Kate Macgregor, GBR
2. Sally Barkow / Alana O'Reilly / Elizabeth Kratzig, USA
3. Renee Groeneveld / Mandy Mulder / Merel Witteveen, NED

2.4m
1. Damien Seguiin, FRA, 16
2. Megan Pascoe, GBR, 48
3. Helena Lucas, GBR, 60

Sonar
1. Bruno Jourdren / Eric Flageul / Nicolas Vimont Vicary, FRA, 17
2. Aleksander Wang-Hansen / Per Eugen Kristiansen / Marie Solberg, NOR, 30
3. Alphonsus Doerr / Brad Kendell / Hugh Freund, USA, 34

Skud
1. Alexandra Richkam / Niki Birrell, GBR, 11
2. Alex Hovden / Kate Mannerings, GBR, 20
3. Shimon Ben Yahov / Zehavi Hagar, ISR, 36

Full results: sof.ffvoile.net

Audi Soling World Championship
Unbelievable last two racing days at the 2011 Audi Soling World Championship, today with 20 to 24 knots measured at the Chiemsee Yacht Club, three more races were held in this lake which many couldn't ever thought that such good sailing conditions could happen, it was cold, but the action in the Soling kept sailors warm and at the end really tired.

CAN 225 Peter Hall, Paul Davis and Phillip Kerrigan sailed well today, two bullets and an 8th granted them 29 points just enough to beat team Ramadabalaton HUN 77 with George Wossala, Karoly Vezer and Peter Nemeth who had a 4, 5 and a 7 finishing with 30 points.

Not only Canada retrieves back the Soling World Trophy but also in the top ten shares with other Canadian and the south Americans: team edding ARG 32 with Warburg, Bisbal and Roldan and BRA 73 Roth, Ribeiro and Ribeiro and BRA 31 the fifty % of the of the list that is completed with three Germans, one Hungarian and one Dutch.

The next World Championship will be held in Milwaukee, USA. Preparations are undergoing with a test event during the North Americans in 2011 ( www.soling.com/na/2011/ ) and then almost same dates but in 2012 the worlds. USA sent two representatives and USSA secretary Ashely Henderson which sailed with the third Canadian boat CAN 227 with Tom Mitchell and Francisco Perez.

AUT 127 with Alex Hasch, Christian Holler and Gnan Markus locals from SCK, Attersee were the representatives from the next European Championship to be held late August in Austria ( www.solingeuropeans.com ). The finish quite well at 15th place.

The Italians already looking forward for their Masters World Championship to be held in AVAS, Lago di Iseo next June 16. www.soling.com/masters/2011

Final top ten:

1. Peter Hall / Paul Davis / Phillip Kerrigan, CAN, 9 points
2. George Wossala / Karoly Vezer / Pepe Nemeth, HUN, 30
3. Nelson Ilha / Paulo Lemos Ribeiro / Felipe Ilha, BRA, 47
4. Roman Koch / Maxl Koch / Gregor Bornemann, GER, 52
5. Gustavo Warburg / Alejandro Bisbal / Tomas Roldan, ARG, 53
6. Rudy den Outer / Gavin Lidlow / Ramzi Souli, NED, 60
7. Hans Fogh / John Finch / Gord Devries, CAN, 70
8. Guilherme Roth / Marcos Ribeiro / Lucio Ribeiro, BRA 71
9. Karl Haist / Max Haist / Johann Lindner, GER, 74
10. Thomas Maschkiwitz / Stefan Wenzel / Christoph Wossala, GER 77

Complete Results:
www.soling.com/results/ShowResults.asp?ID=629

Final Countdown in Antigua
Photo by Tim Wright, www.photoaction.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Antigua Sailing Week Friday's 18-knot easterly seemed almost benign compared to the rush of trade winds that have been blasting through Antigua Sailing Week. There was some intense action amongst Start Boat A boats. The Race Committee set a series of tight coastal courses that had the competitors vying for clear air in the tightly compressed fleet for the last race of Antigua Sailing Week. Start Boat B boats raced back from their over night stay in Jolly Harbour to the finish off Rendezvous Bay.

Hugo Stenbeck's Dubois 90, Genuine Risk, left it until the last race to snatch overall victory in Class 1 from Richard Matthews' Humphries 54, Oystercatcher XXVIII by a single point.

Hugo Stenbeck shared the driving role this week with Olympic medalist and America's Cup helmsman, Andy Beadsworth who has sailed at prestigious regattas throughout the world and he was very complimentary about the 44th Antigua Sailing Week.

Antigua Saiing Week has witnessed some awesome multi-hull madness all week. Puerto Rican, Eduardo Perez-Bengochea has been spotted having barbeques on board as his Gunboat 62, CucuBelle, was fizzing around the race course. The well-fed crew has pulled out an impressive string of races to win the class.

In Class 2, Peter Harrison's Farr 115, Sojana had a tremendous week, taking a sixth win today to seal overall victory.

Class 3 produced an intense battle between two yachts, Phillip Lotz's Arethusa won the class by a fair margin, but Dig Van Der Slikke's Grand Soleil 43, D-Trip was a worthy adversary that scored just as many race wins as Arethusa. A rudder problem in Race 4 forced D-trip to retire and in the end that was a deciding factor, with virtually every other race going to the wire.

Class 4 was won in style by Tampa Florida based First 40.7, Elandra. Calvin Reed and his team sailed smartly and had very impressive boat speed all week.

Jonty Layfield's immaculate Swan 44, Sleeper, scored its fifth win at Antigua Sailing Week to take the Class 5 title.

Division B headed back from Jolly Harbour and Peter Bainbridge's Sky Hunter II enjoyed the beat in big seas far more than Geoffrey Pidduck's diminutive Six Metre Biwi Magic to hang onto the lead in Class 6.

Stephen Carson's Dehler 34, Hightide won today's race in Class 7. -- Louay Habib

Full report and results from all classes at www.sailingweek.com

Dubarry Storm - Sailing Style In On The Street
Dubarry Storm There's something cool about sailing, taking on the elements from the Solent to St Tropez, but how do you carry that cool onto the streets? Try wearing offshore oilies to your favourite restaurant and you're likely to end up hungry and sectioned. Dubarry Storm gives you all the cache of the crew in a way that doesn't mark you out as a madman. With polarfleece for warmth, a durable waterproof shell, inner storm flap and chin guard, Storm keeps you warm and dry in six snazzy colourways.

Dubarry Storm - the calm within the Storm.

www.dubarry.com

Team Foncia in Multi Mode
Before taking off for switzerland, Michel desjoyeaux and his teammates were in Paris for a press conference to present team foncia's 2011 season:

Prior to delivery of the 3rd one-design trimaran, measuring 21.20 Metres (MOD 70) and scheduled for the end of the summer, the man who has bagged the largest medal hoard in solo sailing will take back the helm of Foncia (D35). At that point he will join the Lake Geneva circuit, where the top specialists will be racing on 10.81 Metre catamarans carrying a huge sail area.

The date of 5 May has been set for the start of the first event of the Vulcain Trophy (ex Challenge Julius Baer). The clear aim is to be in the running for the top spots in what is a particularly high level championship*. For this 6th season, Franck Citeau, Xavier Revil and Alban Rossollin will be there to flesh out the team, which last year already boasted (alongside the skipper Alain Gautier ) Jean-Christophe Mourniac and Antoine Gautier replaced by Antoine Carraz on the circuit's two French stages.

A very good preparation aboard a one-design multihull then, before they switch across to the cockpit of the MOD 70 where they will pit themselves against other international teams in an oceanic programme.

List of teams competing in the vulcain trophy : www.vulcaintrophy.com

Early Indications Positive From Auckland Tests
Regatta Director Iain Murray and PRO John Craig sat down with the media to give an update on the testing to date.

"The purpose of what we've doing has been to test the equipment - prototype equipment - as a forerunner to what we'll use in Cascais in August," Murray said.

"Having the luxury of having six boats here in Auckland has been a great benefit to us... We've assembled our race management team and prototypes of our equipment and we're putting it to real use out on the race course..."

Murray said that to date, the equipment has performed to spec with only minor failures. The system tracks the race boats to within two centimetres of their position on the race course and is the basis for what the Race Committee uses to set the courses. The Umpires work with the same information to assign penalties and it will also be used to generate next-generation television graphics.

The biggest challenge, Murray said, has been in getting the people comfortable with the machines and systems, which feed information back to the boats via a display the skpper can read for information and interact with to appeal for a penalty, for example.

"I think the largest difficulty we've had is everyone getting used to it," he said. "It getting very much like Formula 1, where you have a steering wheel with hundreds of functions on it. This is all part of the technology that's required (now) to sail these boats."

americascup.com

* A great day for Artemis Racing on the water here in New Zealand. Match racing in 15 knots from the East was on the menu and the team won three out of the four races to 'win' the day. The racing a very demanding physically for the five crew onboard. The average heart rate for wing trimmer Sean Clarkson is 150 with peaks at 180 during the 30 minute heat. No capsizes or collisions today, but it was very close racing.

There is just one maneuver in the three minute prestart but the lead/push game for the final minute and a half is very similar to what we are used to from monohulls.

Our team of 25 people from Artemis Racing have been working very hard for eight weeks on this AC45. AC45 Project Manager Phil Jameson has done an excellent job in preparing the boat not just for these trials but for the World Series which starts in August in Portugal. I have been in Auckland for three days with the team and I am very pleased with how the entire team is working together.

Tonight I am heading back to California and onto Valencia Sunday where another 40 people are doing great work on designing and building our AC72 which will launch early next year. This America's Cup is a very busy one indeed! No one is lacking something to do. -- Paul Cayard, www.cayardsailing.com

European Course Racing Championships
The 2011 European Course Racing Championships will be held during Ergo Hestia Cup in Sopot, Poland from 26.07. - 30.07.2011. 7000 Euros (still counting) are up for grabs as well as 407 points for the Course Racing World Ranking.

Ergo Hestia Cup will bring to Sopot top class kiteboarders and windsurfers from around the world. The event will take place between the 26th and the 30th of July 2011 and will consist of Kite Race Course European Championship and Formula Windsurfing Polish Open. The regatta will be a collaboration between windsurfing and kiteboarding, two candidates for a spot in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

The host of the event is Sopot Sailing Club Ergo Hestia, one of the biggest windsurfing clubs in Europe. The club was established in 1983 and now counts as many as 300 members, both amateurs and professional sailors. The club's competitors are the winners of European and World Junior, Youth, Senior and Master Championships. Przemysław Miarczyński has for many years been on top of Olympic Windsurfing, being both European and World Champion. He competed three times in the Olympic Games and has been top ranked in ISAF Sailor ranking for a large part of his career.

During the regatta itself we can expect a lot of excitement. The competitors will not only compete for world ranking points and European and Polish Championship titles but also for prize money which in total will sum up to 14 000 Euro. One of the competitors who is eager to take part in the event is 3 time Formula Windsurfing World Champion - Marta Hlavaty.

"This season I'm coming back to windsurfing after a year break. Now I have two beautiful sons and a great husband. I can't really judge what my chances are. The Polish Open which will be joined with the Kiteboarding European Championships will be a great and exciting event. I think the crowd will have a good time with attractive sailing on the water. I would like to invite everybody to the event and hope to be in good form and finish in the top 3."

www.ergohestiacup.pl

Risk To Gain - the eBook
Click on image to enlarge.

Risk To Gain - the eBook Mark Chisnell's classic account of Paul Cayard and Team EF's 1997-98 Whitbread Race victory is now available for the first time as a text-only, eBook edition. It's a unique insight into Team EF's two boats during their extraordinary journey around the world. Stomach-churning storms, frustrating calms, broken gear and a remarkable level of detail of life onboard.

'It's the best book yet on this race. Great writing...'
Yachts and Yachting

www.amazon.com/Risk-to-Gain-ebook/

Reuben Corbett Wins Korea Match Cup Qualifier
Gyeonggi Province, Korea: The Korea Match Cup Qualifier for the ISAF World Match Racing Tour Korea Match Cup held in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea has produced 4-days of outstanding competition yet again. Reuben Corbett (NZL) and his AON Racing team won the qualifier and an entry to compete in the Korea Match Cup to be held from 7-12 June 2011.

23 year old Corbett, who started sailing at the age of 13 in his native New Zealand and developed his skills through Optimist, Sunbursts and 420s class events, has participated previously in Tour events, and is certain future star in the international match racing circuit.

Corbett topped the leader board for the Korea Match Cup Qualifier with his AON Racing team after seeing of strong charges from fellow New Zealanders William Tiller (in the final) and Laurie Jury (in the semi-final) and puts his success at the 2011 qualifiers down to 'excellent preparation and great team work'.

Korea Match Cup Qualifiers 2011 - Final Standings
1. Reuben Corbett (NZ) AON Racing
2. William Tiller (NZ) Full Metal Jacket Racing
3. Evan Walker (AUS) KA Match
4. Laurie Joy (NZ) ZOKE Kiwi Match
5. David Chapman (AUS) 33 South Racing
6. Natsuki Motoyoshi (JPN) Albatros Racing
7. Koralev Nikolay (RUS) Koralev Team
8. Sungwook Kim (KOR) Busan Team
9. ByeongKi Park (KOR) Geoige City Hall
10. Bongjin Chae (KOR) Buan Gun Team
11. Taejung Kim (KOR) Pyeong-Taeck City Hall
12. Cheul Yoon (KOR) Gyeonggi-Do Sailing Federation

www.koreamatchcup.com

Groupama 4 Arrives Home
Photo by Pilpre A./Studio Zedda. Click on image to enlarge.

Groupama Groupama Sailing Team's new Volvo Open 70 left the boatyard in Vannes, France, to reach the team's base in Lorient this morning.

The boat left Vannes at 6:45 am and reached the base at 9:30 after a careful trip supervised by Team Manager Stéphane Guilbaud. The first Volvo Open 70 built in France, Groupama 4 required 40,000 hours of work at the Multiplast boatyard.

Skipper Franck Cammas said: "Having the boat with us at the base saves time and will guarantee a quick launch. She has good lines and we are looking forward to sailing her. Mulitplast did a great job."

The launch will take place in ten days and until then, the team will be busy working on the electrical systems, keel, mast and deck hardware.

Groupama's 4 technical specifications:

Length: 21.50 m
Beam: 5.70 m
Draft: 4.50 m
Displacement: 14 tonnes
Canting keel
Material: carbon skin / honeycomb sandwich
Upwind sail area: 315m2
Downwind sail area: 675 m2
Architect: Juan Kouyoumdjian

volvooceanrace.com

Rodenas & Martinez New Spanish 29er Champions
Luis Rodenas and Juan Miguel Martínez from Alicante were the overall winners of the Spanish Championship of the 29er class held at the Club Nautic Garraf close to Barcelona from April 20th to 23rd.

Laura and Marta Capdevila (Canary Islands) won the overall women's title with a 9th overall position, while Carlos Robles/Florian Trittel (Team Movistar from Cataluña) showed to be the best youth team finishing third overall.

24 boats from 6 autonomic regions took part at the two days races, because on the first day all races had to be cancelled due to a storm with winds up to 31 knots. On day two wind speeds still showed 17-25 knots. The third day showed calm conditions with 5-7 knots only. Because of that, only 6 races could be held out of a total of 12 planned.

Luis Rodenas/ Juan Miguel Martínez took title honours with a total of 11 points leading Victor Paya/alvaro del Arco from Santander second with 13 and Carlos Robles/Florian Trittel from CN El Balís third with 15 points.

Complete results: www.29er.org/images/stories/pdf/2011espresults.pdf

OK Dinghy World Rankings
Karl Purdie. Click on image to enlarge.

Karl Purdie Despite failing to win the recent Interdominion title in Melbourne last month, reigning world champion Karl Purdie (NZL) has retaken the lead at the top of the OK Dinghy World Ranking list and in doing so becomes only the third person in the history of the class ever to each the magic 1,000 points. The others are Nick Craig (GBR) and Jorgen Lindhardtsen (DEN).

Purdie finished second in the Interdominions to the up and coming young Kiwi sailor Brad Douglas (NZL), who moves up to eighth. The Kiwis figured well at that event and as such, the latest release includes no less than six Kiwis in the top 10. This release also includes the 2011 New Zealand Nationals, won by Purdie and the 2011 Australian Nationals, won by Mike Williams (AUS).

Coming off the back of a New Zealand worlds last year in Wellington, New Zealand and Australian feature highly in the top 20 and this means their regattas this year were also high scoring for the purposes of the ranking list.

The focus now moves to Europe with the Spring Cup being sailed at Medemblik this weekend, before events in Kiel, Warnemunde and the round of national championships this summer. -- Robert Deaves

OK Dinghy World Ranking List - May 2011
Top Ten:

Pos - Name - Nation - Points - Events
1. Karl Purdie, NZL, 1001.91, 7 2. Greg Wilcox, NZL, 914.04, 12 3. Nick Craig, GBR, 877.92, 7 4. Terry Curtis, GBR, 869.29, 10 5. Paul Rhodes, NZL, 826.52, 5 6. Ben Morrison, NZL, 812.59, 5 7. Andre Blasse, AUS, 810.51, 7 8. Brad Douglas, NZL, 809.33, 5 9. Thomas Hanson-Mild, SWE, 799.30, 7 10. Luke O'Connell, NZL, 789.76, 5

okdia.org

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 2009 Archambault A31. EUR 111,900. Located In Port la foret, France.

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Brokerage through Royal Nautisme - Port La Foret: www.yachtworld.com/royalnautismeportlaforet/

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

The Last Word
What, no virgins? Wow it's REALLY HOT HERE!!! -- Osama Bin Laden, late Sunday evening.

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