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Robertson Wins Season Opener
Photo by Andrew Carter / AWMRT. Click on image to enlarge.

Alpari World Match Racing Tour Langenargen, Germany: Phil Robertson's WAKA Racing team has won Match Race Germany, the opening event on the 2012 Alpari World Match Racing Tour after taking victory against Laurie Jury in an all-Kiwi final in Langenargen.

In the end, a count-back decided both the final and petit final on Lake Constance. The event has had both the best and worst of sailing conditions throughout the week and unfortunately the wind failed to build for the final, forcing the Race Committee to end racing with no races completed in either the final or petit final.

Robertson (NZ) WAKA Racing came into Match Race Germany looking for match practice ahead of a busy season in which he hopes to make a significant impact on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. This win will give him plenty of confidence after last year when he struggled to find consistent form in his first season as a Tour Card Holder.

The race for the 2012 ISAF Match Racing World Championship continues at the Korea Match Cup in Gyeonggi, South Korea from 29 May to 3 June, which will feature eight of the nine Tour Card Holders.

Result from the Final: Phil Robertson (NZ) WAKA Racing beat Laurie Jury (NZ) Kiwi Match

Result from the Petit Final: Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team beat Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing

Overall Championship Standings - after 1 stage:
Laurie Jury (NZ) Kiwi Match - 22 points
Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team - 19
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing - 16
Eric Monnin (SUI) Team Okalys Corum - 14
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing - 12
Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN) Team Trifork - 10
Karol Jablonski (POL/GER) Jablonski Sailing Team - 8
Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team - 4
Simone Ferrarese (ITA) Ferrarese Racing Team - 2

wmrt.com

Leader Forced Out, Banque Populaire Profits Rise
Jean-Pierre Dick has been forced to give up the challenge due to an issue with the hydraulics which drive the keel rams on Virbac-Paprec 3. After battling to find a solution since Monday morning, Dick had to concede defeat today, electing to get to the dock in Cascais as quickly as prudent to start working on a repair. The solo skipper reported that pressure in the ram had dropped suddenly whilst sailing upwind.

Bitterly disappointed, Dick has still pledged that he will be in La Rochelle to greet his friends and rivals at the finish, but he must devote his team's efforts to finding the root cause of the problem and a lasting solution.

He paid warm tributes today to the competing skippers. Armel Le Cleac'h on Banque Populaire leads Vincent Riou on PRB by a matter of six miles. After tacking today the leaders are making more directly towards Santa Maria island, with less than 90 miles to sail.

Meantime with the Azores now beckoning on the horizon, to be passed by the leaders early tomorrow morning, they must consider how best to transit the archipelago, missing out on the wind-shadows, using any acceleration zones, and sailing the shortest distance.

Ranking at 18h

1. Banque Populaire, 1663.1 nm to finish
2. MACIF, 6 nm to leader
3. PRB, 6.8
4. Cheminees Poujoulat, 19.2
5. Groupe Bel, 55.1
6. ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered, 63.3
7. Virbac-Paprec 3, 348.2

www.europa-warmup.com

Sperry Top-Sider Sponsors the US Sailing Team

Sperry Top-Sider Sponsors the US Sailing Team
Click on image for the video

Learn more about Sperry Top-Siders' new sponsorship of the US Sailing Team now named 'US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider'

Go to: vimeo.com/40879041

RC44 Fleet Heads To Austria
Photo by Hans Osterauer. Click on image to enlarge.

RC44 Austria It was the 2011 RC44 Austria Cup that saw the Russian Team Nika owned by Vladimir Prosikhin and Aleph Sailing Team (FRA) ), make their RC44 Tour debuts.

Meanwhile, for Chris Bake's Team Aqua (GBR) last season's Lake Traunsee event saw them compete for the first time in their brand new boat, the boat in which they went on to claim the 2011 Championship Tour title.

It has been a memorable year for Team Nika, with Croatian Olympic sailor Tomislav Basic as tactician. The team quickly established themselves as serious competitors within the fleet when they won a fleet race and two match races at their debut event.

For Team Aqua, Austria presents the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the 2012 fleet racing leaderboard and to try to cut into the three point gap which currently separates themselves in fourth and leaders Synergy (RUS) in the match racing.

Having opened their 2012 account with fleet racing victory at the RC44 Puerto Calero Cup in Lanzarote, Team Aqua settled for second behind Katusha (RUS) at event two in Cascais, Portugal. Aqua holds a healthy six-point lead over nearest challengers, Artemis Racing (SWE) with three events (Austria, Sweden and Croatia) to contest.

Meanwhile, Synergy - with 2007 America's Cup winning helm and ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year Ed Baird (USA) as the boat's new pro for the 2012 Tour - holds a two point advantage over fellow countrymen Katusha in the match racing. But Katusha, who will have Brad Butterworth aboard in Austria, replacing Russell Coutts, are breathing down their necks.

Follow the racing on the live blog throughout the event 30 May-3 June at www.rc44.com , the live blog will be updated in English and German for the event.

Maier Dominates Finn Masters In Sunny Pwllheli
Photo by Robert Deaves. Click on image for photo gallery.

Finn Masters Michael Maier (CZE) continued his good form by winning both races on the second day at the Finn World Masters in Pwllheli, North Wales, but he didn't have it all his own way. Maier leads after three races while Laurent Hay (FRA) is second and Allen Burrell (GBR) is third.

The day started grey, but there was a light breeze in place as sailors arrived at the club so the 131 boats were sent out for a start on schedule. As the sun warmed the land the breeze temporarily died, but it didn't take long for a light sea breeze to form and racing to begin. The breeze built during the day, peaking at around 8-10 knots, and with the cloud clearing, leaving very sunny and bright conditions, it was a great day for being on the water.

Both starts got way under black flag again, with the first race of the day picking out ten early starters. In the first race Rob Coutts (NZL) led the fleet round the top mark from Alexandr Kasatov (RUS) and Peter Kilchenmenn (SUI), while regatta leader Michael Maier (CZE) was some way back in eighth. The very light winds made it a painful race for some, but Coutts held onto the lead down the first run and even up the second beat. Maier wiggled his way through on the second downwind, to lead round the shortened final lap to win the race. Coutts crossed in second with Pascal Tetard (FRA) in third.

The wind increased slightly for race three, allowing the sailors to stretch their legs a little.

Racing continues Wednesday at 13.00. The Masters Annual Meeting will take place Wednesday morning, where among other decisions, the assembled crowd has to decide the venue for 2014 between Hungary, Poland and the USA.

The 2012 Finn World Masters continues until Friday, when the final race and the medal race for the top 10 will be sailed.

Top 10 after day two (provisional)

1. Michael Maier, CZE, 3 points
2. Laurent Hay, FRA, 11
3. Allen Burrell, GBR, 29
4. Uli Breuer, GER, 32
5. Andre Budzien, GER, 35
6. Panagiotis Davourlis, GRE, 39
7. Bernd Moser, AUT, 39
8. Francesco Faggiani, ITA, 43
9. Pascal Tetard, FRA, 45
10. Neil Robinson, GBR, 47

www.pwllhelisailingclub.co.uk/finn2012/en/home/

Entries Building for ORC Mediterranean Championship
Rijeka, Croatia: Thus far 23 teams from 8 countries have entered the 2012 ORC Mediterranean Championship to be held over 10-16 June, with more expected in the remaining two weeks before the start of competition in Cres, Croatia. Featuring inshore-only racing at the same venue as last year's record-breaking ORC World Championship, organizers from the Sailing Club of Rijeka (SCOR) say this year's event will have several improvements over last year.

"We have a new Race Committee team for this year led by Denis Marinov, IRO," said Zoran Grubisa, organizer from SCOR, "and daily video highlights produced by Icarus Sailing Media. We will also have an online tracking system we are testing for use during SCOR's Thousand Islands Race in September."

Another innovation being used for the first time in ORC regattas is a web-based online scoring system developed by Yacht Scoring in the US that will give corrected time results calculated using Performance Curve Scoring (PCS). These results will be uploaded to the internet for the public as well as competitors to see as the RC scoring team inputs the elapsed times as boats finish each race.

Among the favored teams coming to the event is Richard Vojta's GS42R Bohemia Express from the Czech Republic. Over the past several years Vojta and his international team have been both active and successful in several ORC championship events in the region, the last being a Silver medal performance at the 2011 ORCi World Championship. Vojta and his team will have another busy summer this year: besides racing the Mediterranean Championship here in Cres, he will transport his boat to the Baltic for August's 2012 Audi ORCi World Championship regatta in Helsinki.

The shoreside venue will once again be at the spacious ACI Marina, and nine races are planned for the event.

2012 ORC Mediterranean Championship: www.scor.hr/regate/2012e/orcmc.htm

Thousand Islands Race: www.scor.hr/regate/2012e/tir.htm

Audi ORCi World Championship: www.orciworlds2012.com

Three Cork Winners at BMW Irish Cruiser Championships
Photo by David Branigan / Oceansport, www.oceansport.ie. Click on image for photo gallery.

BMW Irish Cruiser Championships Three Cork IRC victories, two titles retained and local success in the BMW Corinthian Cup were the outstanding features of the overall results of the BMW Cruiser Nationals run by Howth Yacht Club for the Irish Cruiser Racing Association, with the 7-race series finishing last Sunday in glorious sunshine but in tricky northerly breezes.

Royal Cork boats Antix and Tiger retained their Division 0 and 3 Irish titles respectively but in totally different ways. Anthony O'Leary's Antix was pushed so hard all the way by Richard Fildes' Impetuous that the Welsh Corby 37's double win on the last day set up the intriguing scenario of a tie after discards. With four wins to Fildes' three, O'Leary made it by the tightest of margins.

The opposite was the case in Division 3 where the Keneficks' dominance on Tiger was underlined by two more wins on the third day to seal an emphatic victory by the biggest margin (9 points) of any fleet.

Only two points separating the top three showed how competitive Division 1 was on IRC with another Royal Cork entry Jelly Baby (Nagle & O'Malley) emerging on top, with a final race win the difference in edging out Xtravagance (Colin Byrne) from RIYC.

The only perfect scoreline in the Championships came in Division 4 where Team Toy Yot from Howth had a clean sweep on IRC while consistency earned Malahide visitor Goyave (Camier/Fitzpatrick) second overall.

Howth boats were very much to the fore in the non-spinnaker classes competing for the BMW Corinthian Cup, winning the A and B fleets. On the Rox (C&J Boyle) wrapped up the A division with two wins to finish six points ahead of Bite the Bullet (Colm Bermingham) while in the B fleet, Harry Byrne's Alphida stayed in the top four throughout and also recorded three wins to beat off the challenge of Joe Carton's Voyager. -- Graham Smith

Volvo Cup D-One Act 2 in Bracciano
Photo by Volvo Cup D-One. Click on image for photo gallery.

Volvo Cup D-1 Bracciano- 27 D-Oners from 4 countries enjoyed the second event of the 2012 Volvo Cup D-One, organized in Bracciano Lake by Sailing Team Bracciano and Media-Vip. Four races were sailed: race 1 and race 2 on Saturday in a dying northerly from 10 to 5 knots, race 3 and 4 on Sunday in a oscillating 5 to 7 NE breeze. Lot of fun for everybody, with some surprise in a fleet that showed a great range of age and weights.

Argentinian Agustin Zabalua (Real Club Nautico de Valencia), former D-One Gold Cup winner, took the event with a 1-3-1-2 score. Alessandro Novi, from Genoa (Yacht Club Italiano), won the double point no-dischargeable final race for a surprising third overall (11-9-21-1). Second was Andrea Gancia from Rome, with a 8-5-2-6 score. Francesco Rebaudi was race 2 winner. Andrea Magni won the Master Category, with Dario Levi in second and Guido Falciola in third.

The third event of the Volvo Cup D-One will be held in Cattolica, Adriatic Sea, on June 16-17. The Italian Open Championship will be host by Yacht Club Santo Stefano in the magnificent scenario of Argentario Peninsula on July, 20 to 22. The Volvo D-One Gold Cup will be sailed in Alassio, from October 18th to 21st. -- Michele Tognozzi

A video from Bracciano event at this link: youtu.be/C-egQ-W3pWE

Dee Smith Yacht Racing and Team Premiere: 20th Anniversary Leukemia Cup
I am very pleased to announce that Dee Smith Yacht Racing and Team Premiere will be racing on the Farr 400, for this year's 20th Anniversary Leukemia Cup, in my home town of Annapolis, to be held over June 1-2, 2012. Dee Smith Yacht Racing and Team Premier are committed to raising more money and set higher goals for the 2012 Leukemia Cup.

As some of you already know, that in the past I have dedicated our sailing and fundraising efforts to an old friend Mark Rudiger, who lost his courageous battle to Lymphoma a few years back now.

This year I would like to dedicate the regatta and fundraising efforts to two, very dear sailing friends, Rob Moore and John Cook who lost their battles with cancer earlier this year. Both guys were avid sailors.

Rob was a good mate, on and off the water and we had the pleasure of racing in many classes over the last decades in and around San Francisco, down the coast of Mexico, Hawaii, just to mention a few of our ocean going escapades. His camera was never far from his side, and we all looked forward to reading his sailing expose's in Latitude 38 every month. On a personal level, loosing Rob to lung cancer, the same form as mine has been a hard pill to swallow this year.

My other sea faring buddy John Cook, an English gentleman of the highest caliber, owner of the TP52, Christabella, lost his brave battle with stomach cancer only a few weeks ago in the UK. I am honored to say that I raced many seasons aboard the Christabella, and John was one of the first people to bring me back on board to race again after my recovery.

They both had a real passion for our sport of sailing and will be truly missed on and off the water.

The Leukemia Cup continues to raise huge amounts of money, which is used to keep funding cancer research in the hope of a cure, and development of medicines and technology that will keep Stage 4 Cancer patients, such as myself alive. The success of this year's cup is dependent on strong community support and corporate leaders. Dee Smith Yacht Racing and Team Premier are making significant contributions of time and resources as well, but we need your help in making the 20th anniversary Leukemia Cup the best ever.

Please help me help keep this science working...

Go to this site to make a donation www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/deesmithFarr400/lcr

Spinnaker Tales
An interesting fleet of high performance sports boats have nominated to contest the 2012 Queensland championship as a feature event in the multi class Sail Mooloolaba regatta on the 23-24 of June.

Heading the challenge will be the impressive New Zealand Dan Leech designed Stay Tuned skippered by the talented Gold Coast Evolution Sails sail maker Graham Sherring.

The Sherring family are well known Southport Yacht Club members with teenage Foil Moth skipper Jack winning the 2011 World Junior championship while Cousin Steve set a new record with his wave skipping moth in the Great Race over the inshore Southport to Brisbane course in February.

Naturally sailing has formed a strong bond with the Sheering Family who has the distinction of proudly racing under the Southport Yacht Club burgee to claim a podium finish in all classes from World championships to long distance coastal passage races and Race Week events.

During the 2008 season Graham Sheering bought a budget priced Brendan Egan designed sports boat and handed over the helming role to his cousin Neil who steered the low handicap rated Quantum Sails to a runaway win in the Airlie Beach Race Week championship.

Following that success Graham Sheering continued to save his spare cash with the vision to build a state of the art sports boat to represent the Southport Yacht Club in major championship events including the 2012 Queensland championship at Sail Mooloolaba.

"As to be expected the project became a 'family Affair' with the building jig set up at Uncle Bert's place with the family and crew spending their spare time over 14 weeks to build the hull".

"Sure we had good advice and technical support from ATL Composites who cut and supplied the lightweight building panels while CTech supplied the Carbon-Fibre tubing with S&H spars fitting out the rig".

"Designer Dan Leech who was only a phone call away in New Zealand was most helpful in guiding our amateur team of boat builders". Graham Sherring said.

After the traditional christening Stay Tuned made her maiden race debut in the Hervey Bay Sailing club Bay to Bay race over the May Holiday weekend.

Unfortunately the predicted south east trade wind forecast failed to eventuate presenting the fleet with a light and rather fluky test of sailing over The Great Sandy Straits course.

However there was a deserved smile on the face of Graham Sheering at the end of the 2 day event when he was presented with the top Sports boat trophy.

Stay Tuned is naturally nominated as the pre- Queensland title favourite but her proud owner skipper is not prepared to accept that role.

"Sure we were happy with the Bay to Bay result but it is a well known fact in the sport that you are only as good as your next result". He said.

Seven of the State championship fleet including the Noosa Yacht and Rowing club skipper Bob Mc Camley in the almost identical Dan Leech designed Slingshot will also contest the Airlie Beach Race Week championship which suggests the duel for the State title Gold Medal could turn into a tactical 'dog fight'. -- Ian Grant

Oracle Team USA Salutes the Golden Gate Bridge's 75th Anniversary
Click on image to enlarge.

Golden Gate Bridge's 75th Anniversary The Bay Area's John Kostecki skippered ORACLE TEAM USA's wingsailed AC45 catamaran to salute the 75th anniversary of the 2013 America's Cup host city's most famous landmark- the Golden Gate Bridge.

In a weekend of celebrations, hundreds of boats took to the Bay, with thousands more enjoying entertainment all the way from Fort Point, Crissy Field and Marina Green.

The team's AC45 carried a special message on its 20m high wingsail: "Happy 75th Anniversary from ORACLE TEAM USA."

"It was a really cool day," said Kostecki, who as tactician, does not normally steer when the team competes. Rather, he calls the tactical play for skipper Jimmy Spiithill.

"I grew up sailing and racing on San Francisco Bay. It was great to be out there in our AC45 showing people what we do. When the Bay becomes the Bay Arena with the America's Cup teams racing, the bridge will be a defining image."

Kostecki is one of San Francisco's most successful racing sailors. He is the only person to have won an Olympic medal (Silver, 1988) as a helmsman, skippered a round-the-world winning boat (2001/2) and won the America's Cup (2010).

Brought up in San Rafael, he won his first of many world titles in 1982 at San Bruno in the Sunfish class.

"Every once in a while I pinch myself," added Kostecki. "To be representing ORACLE TEAM USA in the America's Cup is a pretty cool thing to have happening."

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 2007 Dehler 39 SQ. 169,000 GBP. Located In Hampshire, United Kingdom.

This must be the highest specification Dehler 39 SQ ever built. She is here with us in tip top condition. She cost in excess of Euros 360,000. She can be be purchased for £ 169,000 Excluding VAT which is extremely good value.

Brokerage through Key Yachting Ltd.: www.yachtworld.com/keyyachting/

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

The Last Word
In the long run I certainly hope information is the cure for fanaticism, but I am afraid information is more the cause than the cure. -- Daniel C. Dennett

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