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Sunny Skies and Strong Breezes for Quantum Key West 2012
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Key West Race Week Key West, Florida: Quantum Key West 2012 got off to a roaring start as strong breeze and sunny skies greeted the fleet of 112 boats in 12 classes. Northeast winds that started off at 15 knots and built to 20-plus challenged crews on the opening day of the 25th anniversary regatta, organized by Premiere Racing.

"It was a classic Key West day - beautiful weather with breeze on," said John Kilroy, skipper of the Melges 32 Samba Pa Ti. Samba Pa Ti was among eight boats that posted a pair of bullets on Monday. Quantum Racing began the regatta in impressive fashion by topping the eight-boat IRC class, comprised entirely of state-of-the-art 52-foot racing machines. Skipper Doug DeVos did a superb job of driving the Botin Partners design while veteran professional Terry Hutchinson called tactics.

Quantum beat Vesper in Race 1 and PowerPlay in Race 2. Vesper, which won the 2009 Audi Med Cup while owned by Quantum Racing, has been optimized to the IRC rule by owner Jim Swartz and tactician Gavin Brady and showed great downwind speed. However, Vesper was unable to hoist a genoa in Race 2 and finished sixth.

Ran, a Judel-Vrolijk 72 owned by Niklas Zenstrom of England, set the pace in the Mini Maxi class.

Members of the Ran shore crew who were on the water in a support boat were the true heroes of the day as there was a scary incident during Race 2. Keith Glynn, bowman aboard the Farr 40 Barking Mad, was thrown overboard when the boat got rocking in lumpy seas. Glynn knocked his head on a stanchion on the way over the side and was woozy in the water.

Troy Kennedy was piloting the Ran support boat and was in the vicinity near the downwind mark when word came over the radio about a man overboard. Teammate Barney Depledge spotted Glynn in the water just in time as the Irishman had been struggling and started going under. Depledge did not hesitate and dove into rescue the young man, who was taken to a medical center in Key West for observation.

"(Glynn) was exhausted and had swallowed a lot of water. If Barney hadn't jumped in he may not have made it," Kennedy said. "It was a pretty close call, but (Glynn) recovered on the way back to port and was in pretty good spirits."

Forecasts call for strong winds again on Tuesday and organizers are hoping to complete three races, which would get the five-day regatta halfway to the stated goal of 10 races.

www.premiere-racing.com

IFDS Worlds
Charlotte Harbor, Florida, USA: On the final day of racing at the IFDS Worlds the wind cooperated with seven to ten knots of wind with a few shifts for sailors on all three courses. With only one race for each class it was a short day. Boat haulouts commenced shortly before noon.

Damien Seguin of France, ranked number one overall, reigned victorious on the 2.4mR course with a first place. Thierry Schmitter of the Netherlands, ranked second overall, crossed the line in ninth place and Paul Tingley, ranking third overall, came in seventh today. Coming from behind, fourth overall Helena Lucas of Great Britain placed second in today's race and tenth place overall Matt Bugg of Australia placed third.

The Sonar race course saw first place overall Aleksander Wang-Hanse, Marie Solberg Per Eugen Kristiansen team of Great Britain place sixth today. The French team of Bruno Jourdren, Eric Flageul / Nicolas Vimont-Vicary , second place overall, crossed the line in fourth place and the third overall British team of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel / Steve Thomas came in tenth (tossed out). The first three boats to cross the finish line were from the lower ranks. The U.S.A. team of Rick Doerr, Brad Kendell / Hugh Freund, ranked ninth overall, came in first. The German team of Jens Kroker, Robert Prem / Mainka Siegmund, ranked tenth overall, placed a second and the fourth ranked Australian team of Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris / Stephen Churm followed in third place.

On the SKUD course Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell of Great Britain, first overall, placed fourth. The Americans, Jennifer French and Jean-Paul Creignou, ranked second overall, were first to cross the finish line. The Australian team of Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch, ranked third overall, placed a second today and the fourth overall ranked Israeli team of Hagar Zehavi and Shimon Ben Yakov was third to cross the finish line.

Depending on the outcome of results at Miami's OCR, several of this week's winners will be headed to the Paralympic Games in England in July. The qualifying countries in the different boats are:

2.4mR : Australia, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Spain, Puerto Rico and U.S.A.

SKUD 18: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Spain, France, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and U.S.A.

Sonar: Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, U.S.A. and Brazil.  -- Nancy E. Spraker

www.ifdsworlds2012.com

Luna Rossa Launches in Auckland
Photo by Daniel Forster, www.danielforster.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Luna Rossa Launches in Auckland The Italian team Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 launched and sailed its AC45 for the first time in Auckland on Monday.

Luna Rossa has a long, proud history in the modern era of the America's Cup, winning the Louis Vuitton Cup in its first challenge in 2000, and reaching the semi finals in 2003 and the finals in 2007.

In both New Zealand editions of the Cup, the Italian team was very popular with locals, bringing its particular brand of style and flair to the Louis Vuitton Cup, with great success.

"We are very happy to be back here in New Zealand," said Max Sirena, the skipper of the team, acknowledging its Kiwi history. "Many of us spent five years of our lives here and have been looking forward to coming back since."

The team started planning for the Cup several months ago, announcing its challenge late last year. Its first racing will come in the next America's Cup World Series event in Naples, Italy, Apr. 7-15. Time, says skipper Sirena, is of the essence as the team prepares to race. An agreement with Emirates Team New Zealand will allow the team to fast track its preparation.

"Our plan is to sail the AC45 alone for about the first 10 days and then we'll join Emirates Team New Zealand for some racing to have some real competition," Sirena said. "We have to use this time as well as possible. We're starting from zero in the AC45 so we have to close the gap."

www.americascup.com

Online Auction Of Sailing and Navigation Equipment
Online Auction Of Sailing and Navigation Equipment By order of Alinghi Team

Due to ceasing its operations at Valencia, over 150 lots comprising of Meteorological equipment, Boat electronic equipment, Sailing equipment, A/V equipment and more!

Assets include:

- Meteorological equipment: Weather station, wind anemometers and solar panels
- Boat electronic equipment: GPS's, iridium satellite phone, tablets, PDA's, B&G displays, VHF radio, speedometers, cameras, batteries, battery chargers
- Sailing equipment: Sail sewings machines, sea anchors, buoys, cords, defenses
- A/V equipment: (Qty 4) Projectors Barco G5i, surround audio system, screens, satellite radio modem, GPS inline amplifier, ethernet servers, Wifi access points, repeater units
- And much more!!

Location of assets: Valencia, Spain

Sale Closing: 3 February 2012

For more details visit
www.go-dove.com/Auctions/

All-Woman Crew For Sailing Arabia - The Tour
Photo by Mark Lloyd, www.lloydimages.com. Click on image to enlarge.

Sailing Arabia The Tour World record-breaking British sailor Dee Caffari is set to skipper an all-woman crew which makes its debut in an international regatta organised by Oman Sail next month.

The second edition of Sailing Arabia - The Tour (SATT) joins together the nations of the Gulf and international crews in two weeks of racing around the Arabian Coast, and amongst the line up is the Oman Sail all-woman entry, Al Thuraya Bank Muscat, led by Dee. Providing a regional, and winter, alternative to Le Tour de France à la Voile, racing will take place across two classes - the FARR 30 and the M34, and will include five offshore legs, each finished with inshore racing.

The Al Thuraya Bank Muscat crew includes the first recruits of Oman Sail's Women's Programme, an initiative launched in October 2011, which boasts Dee Caffari and double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson as ambassadors. The four Omani women selected to join the crew are Intisar Al Tobi, Raya Al Habsi, Tahira Al Yahyai and Khulood Al Kindi. These exceptional women have been selected from 30 participants of Oman Sail's Women Sailing Program, a unique program that aims to create a safe, informative and culturally appropriate environment for the women and contribute to their development in the sport of sailing.

These four Omani women will joining a host of talent from the international yachting arena.

Crew List:
The international crew consists of:
1. Dee Caffari as the Skipper from UK
2. Christine Briand from France
3. Katie Pettibone from USA
4. Mary Elizabeth Rook from UK
5. Hannah Rose Morris New Zealand
6. Claire Pruvot from France
7. Emma Westmacott from UK (will replace Hannah for the final leg)

Omani women selected are:
1. Intisar Al Toobi
2. Raaya Al Habsi
3. Khulood Al Kindi
4. Tahira Al Yahyai

www.omansail.com
www.facebook.com/OmanSail
www.deecaffari.com

Felipe Cubillos Cape Horn Gate for Gor Leg 3
During Leg 3 of the double-handed, Class40 Global Ocean Race 2011-12 (GOR), the fleet will round Cape Horn, Chile, as they exit the Southern Ocean and enter the South Atlantic en route to the finish line in Punta del Este, Uruguay. At the longitude of Cape Horn, the boats will pass through the Felipe Cubillos Cape Horn Gate. Named after the late Chilean yachtsman and competitor in the inaugural 2008-09 GOR, the first GOR Class40 to round Cape Horn will receive a trophy presented by Felipe's family and the Chilean skipper's yacht club, the Cofradia Nautica del Pacifico.

Following the GOR 2008-09, 49 year-old Felipe Cubillos became a driving force behind Desafio Levantemos Chile (Rise up Chile) - a charity involved with the reconstruction of Chile following the tsunami and earthquake in February 2010. On Friday 2 September last year, the sailor, entrepreneur and philanthropist was part of group of 21 passengers and crew on a CASA C-212 Chilean Air Force (FACH) plane heading from Santiago to Robinson Crusoe island, 365 miles off the Chilean coast, for an official ceremony to celebrate the completion of reconstruction following the national disaster.

On its final approach, the plane disappeared off the radar. Strong winds were reported in the area and may have been the cause for the plane's disappearance. The Chilean President, Sebastian Pinera, described the tragedy as 'a very hard blow for our country' and subsequently declared two days of national mourning in Chile.

The non-points scoring gate at Cape Horn will be a perpetual memorial to Felipe Cubillos in future GORs and was an initiative by the GOR Race Organisation and Felipe's yacht club, the Cofradia Nautica del Pacifico in Algarrobo, Chile

globaloceanrace.com

New Racing Programme at the 43 Trofeo Princesa Sofia NAPFRE
Palma de Mallorca, Spain: The 43rd edition of the Trofeo Princesa Sofia MAPFRE, first ISAF SWC European stop will be held in the bay of Palma from 31 March to 7 April with a new racing programme including two official training days.

In accordance with the interviews carried out during the bid process for the 2013 and onwards ISAF Sailing World Cup, the regatta was considered by many as the best ISAF Sailing World Cup event. From 2013 and onwards the new SWC will include only two European events which are the Semaine Olympique Francaise and the Mallorca regatta (all interviews are published at the regatta official webpage trofeoprincesasofia-mapfre.org ].

Based on the comments received, the organisers of the Trofeo Princesa Sofia MAPFRE have scheduled two official training days before the start of the competition. Training races for Women's Match Racing will be on 31 March and 1 April and classes sailing in fleets will have their training race on 1 April. Equipment stamping and measurement as well as team registration are also scheduled during these two days with racing taking place from 2 to 7 April, during the Easter week.

Online registration is open for Olympic and Paralympic classes participating in this 43rd edition, an edition marked by the final preparations for the 2012 London Games. The fact of being an Olympic year is already shown in the number of Olympic teams that have chosen Mallorca as their winter training venue. In fact, from 2 January, some of the Dutch and German Olympic teams are already training in the bay of Palma, based at Club Nàutic S'Arenal.

All teams can benefit of the special rates offered by Acciona-Trasmediterránea and Hoteles Pabisa in ferry transport and accommodation respectively following the agreements signed by the organisation with the two companies.

During the regatta, classes 470 M & W, Finn and 49er will be based at Club Nàutic S'Arenal. Club Maritimo San Antonio de la Playa will be the venue of the RS:X M & W, Laser Standard and Laser Radial. Star and Women's Match Racing will be located at Real Club Náutico de Palma, while the three Paralympic classes (2.4mR, Skud and Sonar) will be based at Escuela Nacional de Vela Calanova.

trofeoprincesasofia.org

ISAF Sailing World Cup Resumes
The ISAF Sailing World Cup resumes on 22 January 2012 when US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR returns to the waters of Biscayne Bay.

Twenty five Women's Match Racing Crews will start their Sailing World Cup campaign in Miami, after the competition was not featured in Melbourne. Nine of the World's top ten Women's Match Racers will compete.

Tunnicliffe's rivals for the American Match Racing Olympic spot Sally Barkow, Stephanie Roble and Genevieve Tulloch will all sail in Miami ahead of their qualification event at Weymouth and Portland, Great Britain from 4-9 May 2012.

Australia's Olivia Price and Nicky Souter will continue their battle for Australian Olympic selection after very little separated them at Perth 2011.

In the Laser Radial Lijia Xu (CHN) will look to continue her good start to her Sailing World Cup campaign after victory at Sail Melbourne. The World #42 won Sail Melbourne after a dominating display following seven top three finishes during the regatta in the competitive 25-boat fleet.

Among the fleet is World #1 Evi Van Acker (BEL), Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships Laser Radial gold medallist Marit Bouwmeester and Perth 2011 bronze medallist and winner of the 2011 Rolex Miami OCR Paige Railey (USA).

Bouwmeester is going for a third consecutive ISAF Sailing World Cup title after a six point victory over Veronika Fenclova (CZE) in 2009-2010 and a one point win over Van Acker in 2010-2011. But after one regatta Bouwmeester sits in 15th position with Xu leading the way followed by Tuula Tenkanen (FIN) and Krystal Weir (AUS).

With 81 entries the Laser fleet is the largest at the Rolex Miami OCR. World #4 Bruno Fontes (BRA) is the highest ranked sailor competing World #5 Julio Alsogaray (ARG) and Beijing Olympic gold medallist Paul Goodison (GBR) set to join him on the starting line.

In the Men's RS:X 14 sailors will compete for ISAF Sailing World Cup points with last year's World Cup runner up Nick Dempsey (GBR) set to line up. And in the Women's fleet, 13 windsurfers will compete.

sailing.org

Nick Rogers Winds Up a Winning Week with Martin Graney Memorial
Hobart yachtsman Nick Rogers yesterday wound up a winning week in the International Dragon class by taking out the Martin Graney Memorial match racing trophy on the Derwent, following his decisive victory in the Prince Philip Cup.

Four crews contested the match racing, a traditional finish to the Prince Philip Cup regatta, with Rogers helming Karabos IX to top place in the round-robin and then beating the runner-up Ridgeway, skippered by Nick Jones, in the final, with three straight wins.

The sail-off for third place in the Martin Graney Memorial went to Andrew Merrett, the outgoing Australian president of the International Dragon Association, sailing Amazing Grace, after West Australian boat Linnea, skippered by Sandy Anderson, was forced to withdrew with gear damage.

Rogers has now won 11 Prince Philip Cups, 10 as a helmsman and one as a crew. Outgoing International Dragon class world president Robert Campbell, helming Indulgence, won the lead-up Ted Albert Memorial Series.

Newly elected Australian president of the International Dragon Association, Wolf Breit, announced that the next Prince Philip Cup in 2013 would be held in New South Wales, adding that the venue had not yet been finalised. -- Peter Campbell

Overall Results for the Martin Graney Memorial Match Racing Trophy
Winner: Karabos IX (RYCT), Nick Rogers, Leigh Behrens and Simon Burrows
Second: Ridgeway (RYCT), Nick Jones, Elliot Noye and Chris Jones
Third: Amazing Grace (RBYC), Andrew Merret, Chris Keil and Charles Stanton
Fourth: Linnea (RBYC), Sandy Anderson, John Moncrieff, John Lowe and Ethan Prieto-Low

Olympic Mixed Multihull Evaluation Santander
Sailors from all classes are welcome to test the catamarans in Santander (ESP) from 17th to 25th March 2012.

Starclass sailors and Matchrace women, who lost their boats for 2016 Olympics, have a new chance to start a Olympic Campaign for 2016 with ultrafast catamarans.

We cannot believe that the keelboats went out of the Olympics. As a very big part in our sport worldwide and they should have continued in the Olympics. A man over 80kg can sail only Finn-Dinghy, or stop his Olympic dreams in Sailing. Mixed Multihull offers new options for keel boat sailors with Olympic ambitions. Also for the the Matchrace women it can be a new experience.

You can download the application/entry form at the ISAF website or at www.mixedsailing.org
It's easy to fill out the form and send to the national federation and ISAF.

Mixed your team up the style you like. From the ultralight 40kg to 60kg persons up to the heavy weights between 90kg and 110kg. All can sail in a mixed team on a multihull.

A 110kg man can sail with a 55kg woman. Or an average 67.5kg woman can sail with an average 81,8kg man (the actual weight statistics are from Wikepedia and Halls).

We welcome you in Santander. It's on the way to Palma World Cup and you can reach Santander very easy and cheap with Ryan Air and other Airlines. ISAF offers some free accommodation at the venue. Once in your lifetime you should try to sail a multihull. NOW it's the chance for you to have a ride on the best catamarans of the World. -- Nahid and Roland Gaebler, www.teamgaebler.de

www.mixedsailing.org

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 2004 137' Danish Yacht. US$ 17,500,000. Located In Antigua & Barbuda.

Ranger, a replica of the "J-Class" yacht which won the Americas Cup in 1937, was a labor of love by the current owner. A stellar team contributed to the successful build of Ranger, finally launched by Danish Yacht in 2004. Naval architects Studio Scanu, Reichel-Pugh, and Fred Elliott worked with the original lines of Starling Burgess and Sparkman and Stephens to create a yacht that not only wins honors in regattas, but cruises in style as a proper luxury yacht. A departure from the original, she carries a central cockpit and doghouse as well as a splendid mahogany interior boasting 4 staterooms aft for owner and guests with 3 ensuite baths - all created by Glade Johnson Design. In addition, the interior is extremely quiet, as acoustical engineer Joe Smullin was in charge of isolating it from the hull, greatly reducing vibration and noise .

Whereas the hull is steel, true to the original, the new teak doghouse is carbon fiber underneath and the classic raised panel interior is actually Nida-cored to keep weight down. Countless hours were spent on fitting modern technologies and living concepts into the matrix of a vintage yacht that conformed to the J-Class Association?s rules and regulations.

Brokerage through Northrop and Johnson: www.yachtworld.com/northropandjohnsonfl/

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

The Last Word
When you ain't got no money, you gotta get an attitude. -- Richard Pryor

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