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Copa Del Rey: Ran and Audi Azzurra at the Lead
Photo by Jesus Renedo / Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre. Click on image for photo gallery.

Copa Del Rey Palma de Mallorca, Spain: The Bay of Palma delivered yet another day of fantastic conditions in spite of a not so optimistic wind forecast. The latter announced light Southerly winds of around 10 knots for most part of the day, but the locally known as Garbi picked up progressively reaching 18 to 20 knots. This allowed the fleet to display a fantastic show on the water, which saw several spinnakers blow under such unexpected wind pressure.

Boosted by the nice conditions, the largest boats of the fleet, those running in the IRC 0 division, managed to finish the day's two races in less than an hour each. Niklas Zennstrom's majestic RÁN's two wins allows her to open a gap of seven points in the general classification over second qualified Hap Fauth's Bella Mente, which was second and third today.

George Sakellaris USA flagged Shockwave did the other way around and was third and second. As far as Irvine Laidlaw's Highland Fling XI is concerned, the 82 footer, the largest vessel of the fleet, is not performing as expected and could only manage a fifth and a fourth places today.

Racing in the IRC 1 division turned into a match race between Alberto Roemmers' Audi Azzurra Sailing Team and Jochen Schumann's German All4One today. First in the overall classification after four races is Audi Azzurra Sailing Team, followed by Tony Langley's Gladiator and Peter Cunningham's Powerplay.

The Soto 40's made their debut in the 31st Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre running in their own division, and delivered some surprises. Andy Soriano's Allegre controlled the day's two races from beginning to end, whereas the Soto 40 European Championship's current leader Ngoni started on the wrong foot, as did Spanish Iberdrola. Jose María Torcida skippered 40 footer tried to hit the line at the pin end but was left with no space. Nevertheless the Spanish boat managed to recover and finished third. Portuguese Bigamist's issues with her spi caused her to loose positions along the race thus finishing eighth. Skipper Afonso Domingos took revenge by winning race two, what leaves them third in the overall scoring board, tied in points with Inaki Castaner's Noticia. Alegre was second and clinches the first Soto 40 lead, whereas Iberdrola is second.

Tomorrow Wednesday the IRC and RI divisions will have their coastal race which is expected to cover approximately 30 miles. The committee will continue to launch two windward-leeward races for the rest of the divisions.

www.prensarcnp.es/copa10/principal/index_uk.php

Ben Ainslie Racing Confirm Team for 2012-2013 America's Cup World Series
The team are no strangers to racing on the wingsailed multihull. Ainslie will be switching from his 15ft singlehanded dinghy to a 45ft catamaran, and with only four days training between the Olympics and the first America's Cup World Series (ACWS) race in San Francisco, this experience will be vital.

- Ben Ainslie (helm)
- Simon Daubney (headsail trimmer)
- Kyle Langford (wing trimmer)
- Matt Mitchell (runner)
- Simeon Tienpont (bow)

There will be just 11 days between the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and Ainslie's America's Cup World Series debut. "I can't wait to get racing in the America's Cup World Series for the first time and with a new team. Personally, it will be a real challenge to get to grips with the powerful AC45s in a limited time frame but the guys in the team are all great sailors and have the experience to get us on the pace as quickly as possible".

Daubney is a four time America's Cup winner and raced with Ainslie in the 1851 Cup in Cowes back in 2010. Langford, like Ainslie is a former Youth World Champion and is relishing competing with his new skipper.

Tienpont and Mitchell are both America's Cup winners who have previously raced in the America's Cup World Series with skippers Russell Coutts, the four times America's Cup winner, and double Olympic medallist Darren Bundock. They will ensure BAR a fast track into the second season of the America's Cup World Series competition.

www.americascup.com/en/Teams/BAR
www.facebook.com/BenAinslie1977

29er European Championship Day 3
Photo by Robert Hajduk, roberthajduk.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

29er European Championship Patience was the word of the day. Rain and no wind dominated the majority of the day as the club and beach were filled with sailors and supporters biding their time with conversation and card games while the southern hemisphere sailors caught up on their school work.

Around 3pm the RC saw glimmers of hope as the rain lifted and the breeze filled offshore. The fleets were sent out in shifts for 2 races each as the wind filled from the northwest on the Baltic to 10-12 knots. Danes Katja Salskov-Iversen and Christian Christfort Gormsen moved into the lead sailing a 2-2. Tess Lloyd and Eliza Solly, Aussie top youth & female team sailed their throw-out, a 12th in the first race and came back with a 2nd in the last race, but that was good enough to move them into 2nd overall. Early leaders Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen (DEN) fell to 5th in the qualifying with a 9-8 today. Rounding out the top 5 are Johanna Sommarlund and Marcus Anjemark of Sweden and Chris Williford and Kai Friesecke of the US in 4th.

As the breeze began to fill, it shifted to the west and increased at times to 14-16 knots. While a few teams were caught OCS, the majority of the fleet sailed clean and were back on the beach by 8pm, with still enough daylight to de-rig and enjoy the soup prepared for all the sailors.

Tomorrow's forecast looks much better with scattered clouds and consistent wind. The 99 boat fleet is now split into 3 fleets for the finals with 25 in Gold and the remaining into Silver and Bronze.

Racing continues tomorrow through Friday for the finals with the prizegiving to be held on Friday, July 20.

Photos by Robert Hajduk, www.facebook.com/shuttersail
Live reports and daily results: www.29ereuropeans.org
Facebook: Int 29er Class
Twitter: #Int29er

Ready To Go Again
Photo by Daniel Forster, danielforster.com. Click on image to enlarge.

New York Yacht Club Race Week Newport Rhode Island, USA: After putting to bed a lively weekend of racing for classic yachts, the New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex continues tomorrow (Wednesday, July 18) with an Around the (Conanicut) Island Race, followed by buoy racing on Thursday through Sunday (July 19-22) for IRC, Swan 42, J/109, Melges 32, Beneteau 36.7, J/105, J/111 and PHRF classes. Though the Around the Island Race is optional and separately scored, it has been targeted by 33 boats as a "shakedown" for the rest of the week when no less than 98 boats will be on the race courses planned for either Narragansett Bay or Rhode Island Sound, depending on the wind.

Included in the IRC division for both events will be Stephen Murray's (New Orleans, La.) Carkeek 40 Decision, which recently won the Onion Patch Series and was first in class and fifth overall in IRC for the Newport to Bermuda Race.

Race Week's "second half" also features a National Championship for the Swan 42 class and a Northeast Championship for Beneteau First 36.7s. Sailors with PHRF-rated boats will sail Navigator Races on Saturday and Sunday only, using government marks and courses that emphasize navigational skills over around-the-buoys boat handling skills.

nyyc.org

Spinnaker Tales
The 2012 summer of sailing promises to be the most important for the highly successful Sunshine Coast sailors Rod Jones and Greg Macallansmith.

They already have two Audi Australian IRC class Ocean racing championships recorded in their impressive log books.

But later this year they have plans in place to add the Uon SB 20 World championship to their list of major titles when the international regatta is decided in the tropical sailing paradise off Hamilton Island in late December.

Meanwhile Rod Jones and his sailing mate Greg Macallansmith and their talented Hamilton Island skipper Glenn Bourke have an enviable reputation to protect after scraping in the win the 2012 Australian championship by a narrow margin in Hobart.

They remain as the star performers winning all the major class championships on the Australian circuit including the 2011 Queensland championship and Wild Oats trophy at Hamilton Island last August followed by the New South Wales, Victorian, Queensland and the prestigious National title trophies.

However this dominating record plus a deserved fourth in the 2011 World championship on unfamiliar English waters is now history which places a demanding new challenge on the Club Marine Blue crew when the sails are tensioned for the defence of the Wild Oats trophy at Hamilton Island next Month.

This regatta signals the start to an intensive program of one design fleet racing for the Australian fleet as they prepare to end the English crew's stranglehold on the World crown.

Skipper Glenn Bourke certainly has the career credentials and his results from racing the tactically demanding SB 20 suggests he and the talented Rod Jones and Greg Macallansmith have the proven potential for the English crews to meet 'their Waterloo' on the windy Whitsunday Island waters in late December.

The valued career experience from winning three World Laser dinghy championships, representing Australia at the Barcelona Olympics and sailing in the Americas Cup has provided Glenn Bourke with the required tactical knowledge to steer a successful campaign.

But the relatively modest helmsman has a personal understanding that success in sailing only comes from doing the hard yards both onshore and on the race course.

However the Club Marine Blue crew remain as the combination to beat as the important countdown for the Uon SB 20 World championship begins.

As expected the successful sailing team of Glenn Bourke, Rod Jones and Greg Macallansmith in Club Marine Blue head the entry list for the classes feature event at the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week next month.

They with then prepare to contest the four pre-world regattas at Hamilton Island on September 29-30, October 27-28, November 24-25 and December 8-9 while the race dates to decide the 2012 Uon World SB 20 champion have been set for December 12-20.

Hopefully after the final the proud Australian Flag will be flown over the victory dais to end England's team celebrations winning the four World championships since the exciting one-design sports boat was accepted as an international class. -- Ian Grant

Making Her-Story On The Way To Bermuda
Amanda Mochrie finishing the Newport Bermuda Race Monday 18th June. Photo by Charles Anderson. Click on image to enlarge.

Amanda Mochrie Hamilton, Bermuda: A less determined woman than Amanda Mochrie might have given up before reaching the starting line in the Newport Bermuda Race 2012.

That's because challenge after challenge was presented to her in lead up to the event. The original boat she chartered broke its mast, one of the proposed crew members snapped their Achilles tendon and the qualified medical person had to pull out due to a loved one falling ill.

But Ms Mochrie, a lawyer with Trott and Duncan, pressed on and recently became the first woman to skipper a Bermuda yacht in the race's 106-year history.

"I didn't feel overwhelmed although when we left the dock to start the race I was very relieved that we had actually got the boat to the starting line. Often that's the hardest part of the race."

Ms Mochrie, 42, started crewing in dinghy's when she was in her mid-teens, but said she didn't really start seriously sailing until the age of 30.

Preparations included finding and registering the boat, having the vessel rated, measured and inspected and ensuring all people involved had the appropriate qualifications; it took months to complete.

Ms Mochrie said: "The final hurdle happened just 24 hours before the race when we were making final preparations in Newport.

"Our long time member Julie, who was the qualified medical person on board, her mother was taken into intensive care and sadly passed on the morning of the race, so we had less than 24 hours to find a qualified nurse, who was also a sailor and who was free to take time off work at such short notice."

Ms Mochrie's team on board Icarus, a Class 40 yacht, sailed over the line in 28th place. They just missed out on being awarded third place in the Open Division.

"Our real achievement was to finish the race in under three days," she said. "My goal from the start was to beat Steve Sherwin's boat Nasty Medicine from Bermuda.

Ms Mochrie told The Royal Gazette she was surprised it has taken so long for a woman to skipper a yacht from Bermuda.

"I certainly hope it's going to encourage a wide range of people to see this sport as something that is accessible to all.

"I would say if you are tenacious and persistent in regard to a particular goal or obstacle then whatever the short term difficulties you might have in achieving it you will eventually succeed." -- Nadia Arandjelovic, The Royal Gazette

www.royalgazette.com

Dates Set for 2012-2013 Australian 18ft Skiff Season
Click on image for photo gallery.

Skiffs The Australian 18 Footers League has announced the dates for its major 18ft Skiff events for the coming 2012-2013 Season on Sydney Harbour.

Opening the season is the 8-race $10,000 3-Buoys Challenge series from October 14 to December 9.

Following the traditional Christmas-New Year break, the season resumes with the five-race Australian Championship from January 13 to February 3.

Highlight of the season (as usual) is the world's premier 18ft Skiff event, the 64th JJ Giltinan Championship since 1938, which will be sailed on Sydney Harbour from February 15-24.

The Giltinan 2013 is expected to attract a fleet of more than 30 of the world's best teams from USA, New Zealand and UK, as well as the leading Australians from NSW, Queensland and West Australia.

Defending champion, and five times winner of the Giltinan, Seve Jarvin will defend his title in Gotta Love It 7 but will be without his long-time sheet hand Sam Newton, who is presently competing in The America's Cup. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League

www.18footers.com.au
www.flying18s.com

Industry News
With the most talked about sporting event of the year fast approaching, Sperry Top-Sider has announced its plans for the Festival Village at Weymouth, UK. The Sperry Top-Sider 2-storey structure will be open from 10:00am to 7:00pm daily from July 27 through August 11 and will showcase a wide range of shoes and apparel for customers to try and buy.

Visitors to the booth can also learn more about the brand and its Passion for the Sea™ with interactive consumer games set to keep sailing enthusiasts entertained. On the second floor, the Sperry Top-Sider Studio by the Sea will offer private hospitality.

Consumers not able to make it to the Festival Village Weymouth can shop online at www.sperrytopsider.eu, Sperry Top-Sider's new online store available to residents in several European countries including the UK.

For further information on the Festival Village in Weymouth, go to www.weymouthbaysidefestival.co.uk/the-event

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Informa Yacht Group, organisers of the annual World Yacht Racing Forum, today announced the city of Gothenburg as host city of the 2012 edition of the Forum. The two-day conference will take place at the Clarion Post Hotel from 11-12 December in the center of Sweden's second largest city. The Forum will also include the Yacht Racing Design & Technology Symposium, which will run as a parallel event on the same dates.

Now in its 5th year, the popular World Yacht Racing Forum is the leading annual conference for the global yachting industry. The two-day event gathers the sport's key personalities and industry experts to discuss the business of yacht racing and key issues such as sponsorship, television, media, Olympics, new markets, host cities and much more.

The move to Gothenburg has been coordinated with Host Partner and Gothenburg based events agency Brandspot with additional support from the City of Gothenburg and the Clarion Post Hotel.

The full conference schedule will be available by the end of July. For updates, visit www.worldyachtracingforum.com

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Henri Lloyd is proud to be the Official Technical Clothing partner of the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup. Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup is one of the World's leading international amateur regattas, which has a reputation for competitive offshore and inshore racing in the Solent.

To celebrate the regatta and Henri Lloyd's official partnership, a commemorative clothing range featuring the official regatta logo will be on sale exclusively in the Henri Lloyd Cowes Store on Cowes High Street over the duration of the event.

The range will include the Henri Lloyd Breaker Jacket, Fast-Dri Polo and Fast-Dri cap. If you would like to discuss any crew clothing requirements featuring the official race logo, please contact and we shall be happy to discuss your requirements.

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Sailboat builder X-Yachts has announced that Consolidated Holdings A/S, a major Danish holding company, has acquired 51 per cent stake of the company. Consolidated Holdings recently reported a turnover in excess of DKK22bn (US$3.7bn) and holds a share capital of more than DKK2bn (US$338m).

The acquisition was made as Birger Hansen, Lars Jeppesen, and Niels Jeppesen, three founding shareholders, sold their shares. They now own a 49 per cent stake of the company.

In addition, X-Yachts has announced that Birger Hansen will gradually retire from his position in the company, whereas Lars Jeppesen and Niels Jeppesen will continue in the management team. Ib Kunøe, owner and chairman of Consolidated Holdings A/S, will become the new chairman of the Supervisory Board of X-Yachts.

Hans Viggaard will be joining the company as its CEO replacing Lars Jeppesen, effective September 1, 2012. Jeppesen will assume other managerial roles in the company.

Prior to his appointment, Hans Viggaard was vice president of Danfoss, China and has been a board member of X-Yachts for some years.

https://plus.ibinews.com

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Dominion Marine Media, the division of Dominion Enterprises that operates YachtWorld.com, BoatTrader.com and Boats.com, announced today that it is the joint host of the Marine Retail University (MRU), that kicks off the 2012 Marine Dealer Conference and Expo (MDCE).

Jointly hosted by The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas and Dominion Marine Media, and sponsored by Norman-Spencer Marine Insurance Services, the event will be held November 10-11, 2012, at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, FL. Dominion Marine Media will present best practices focused on marketing and social media for dealers and to provide further education to the Marine Industry Association of Central Florida (MIACF).

This Norman-Spencer Marine Retail University event will feature four targeted educational sessions, an expo hall, and a series of networking sessions, including a welcome reception on November 10. Educational sessions will offer market-specific sales and dealer performance data to help attendees make better business decisions. Specifically, GE Commercial Distribution Finance will lead a session on economic trends and dealer performance; Statistical Surveys will provide detailed insights into sales trends and market performance; and Dominion Marine Media will present best practices and expert advice on how to develop your market in today's economy. A fourth educational session will be built specifically around the interests of MIACF dealer members.

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Taiwan is to host its first international boat show in 2014 at the new Kaohsiung Exhibition Center in southern Taiwan.

Organised by Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Kaohsiung City government and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the 1st Taiwan International Boat Show is expected to attract around 250 local and international exhibitors.

Construction of the new Kaohsiung Exhibition Center is currently underway and is due for completion by the end of 2013. When finished, the centre will boast a column-free 27m (89ft)-high ceiling for the display of large boats and yachts.

Display areas will also be dedicated to equipment and accessories, repair and maintenance services, watersports/recreation and water tourism. Around 3,600m2 of on-water space will be available for boats in Kaohsiung marina.

The 1st Taiwan International Boat Show will be held over five days in April 2014. Exact dates have yet to be confirmed.

ibinews.com

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 David Pelly: If Ben Ainslie wins a gold medal in the forthcoming Olympic Regatta - and I most sincerely hope that he does - a lot of people will rush to crown him 'Greatest Olympic sailor ever' as he would have one more medal than Paul Elvstrom but I think there is a bit more to it than that. Let's not forget that Elvstrom won his first Gold Medal in 1948 and three more in successive games. He then went on to compete in a further four Olympic Regattas, on the last occasion crewing for his daughter Trine in the Tornado catamaran.

By that time he held the unique distinction of being World Champion in five different classes, sailing a mixture of dinghies and keelboats. He was also, of course, a successful designer, boat-builder, equipment-maker and sailmaker, while his book on the Racing Rules, with its little model boats, is the one that most sailors take with them into the protest room.

Let's also bear in mind that it was he who changed the whole nature of racing from a pleasant pass-time to a dynamic and athletic sport. Yes, his medal total can be beaten but I believe that his overall contribution to the sport will remain unchallenged.

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The Last Word
It's no use! Everybody gets good enemies except me. -- Calvin & Hobbes

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