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Olympics
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

49er Gold Having already sealed 49er gold ahead of the final day Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) sailed conservatively allowing a light wind battle for bronze to ensue on the Nothe Course.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) had also clinched silver ahead of the Medal Race meaning the chase was on for bronze with any one of six teams in the running.

Denmark's Allan Norregaard and Peter Lang held onto third place in the 49er by finished third in the Medal Race to take the bronze medal.

Austria's Nico Delle-Karth and Nikolaus Resch led the Medal Race from start to finish and it looked like they would take bronze at one point. However on the second to last run the Danes took the left side of the course whilst everyone went right and it paid off as they climbed from seventh to third and back into the final podium spot.

Top three
1. Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) - 56pts
2. Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) - 80pts
3. Allan Norregaard and Peter Lang (DEN) - 114pts

470 Women
Photo by Daniel Forster/PPL. Click on image for photo gallery.

Women's 470

All eyes were on Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie (NZL) and Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR) today as the Kiwis and Brits assured themselves of an Olympic medal as the Women's 470 fleet racing came to an end.

The Kiwis would have been happy with the second place they collected from Race 9, but a disappointing discarded 18th place in Race 10 removed the chance of them going into the Medal Race with a lead.

Xiaoli Wang and Xufeng Huang (CHN) secured their first race win today having made the most of the light breeze out on Portland Harbour. Unfortunately for them, it was too little too late, as they finished the day in 11th place overall missing out on the Medal Race.

Elise Rechichi and Belinda Stowell (AUS) were first over the line in race 10 after leading the fleet right from the beginning. They currently have 88 points, and will go into the medal race in sixth place.

It will be all to fight for on Friday when the Women's 470's will take to the Nothe course to sail for the prized top spot on the medal podium.

Top Five
1. Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie (NZL) - 33pts
2. Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR) - 33pts
3. Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout (NED) - 52pts

Women's Match Racing

Eight became four today as the Australian, Finnish, Russian and Spanish Women's Match Racing teams moved forward to the Semi Finals.

Whilst they celebrate, it's heartache and commiserations for the other four teams who bow out.

Two time ISAF Women's Match Racing World Champion Claire Leroy was the first to be sent packing as Tamara Echegoyen made light work of the former World #1. Coming into the day with a 2-0 lead the Spaniard beat Leroy by 14 seconds to round off a comfortable 3-0 victory.

The shock results didn't end there as World #1 and ISAF World Sailor of the Year Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) was knocked out of the competition by current ISAF Women's Match Racing World Champion Silja Lehtinen (FIN). The flying Fin came into the day with a 2-0 advantage but Tunnicliffe reduced the deficit to one. However in the fourth flight Lehtinen pipped her to the post by two seconds.

Renee Groeneveld (NED) proved yesterday that Australia's Olivia Price (AUS) can be beaten. But it was business as usual for the Australians as they took two comfortable race wins today to advance.

Ekaterina Skudina (RUS) and Lucy Macgregor (GBR) delivered a nail biting finish with it all on the line in the final flight. In the end the Brits said goodbye to their dream of winning a medal on home waters as Skudina sailed her way to the finish line first and securing her third point.

Price will take on Lehtinen in the first of the Semi Finals whilst Echegoyen goes against Skudina.

The Semi-Finals take place on Friday 10 August with a sail off for places 5-8 on the Nothe Course tomorrow.

470 Men

Will sail their Medal Race on Thursday.

www.sailing.org/olympics/london2012/home.php
www.london2012.com/sailing/

Perfect Conditions on Day Three or Audi ORCi Worlds
Photo by Max Ranchi, www.maxranchi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Audi ORCi Worlds Helsinki, Finland: Moderate breeze and seas yielded perfect conditions today for the resumption of inshore racing in Day Three of the Audi ORCi Offshore World Championship. Class A caught up on their schedule with three races completed, while Class B finished the day with two final races in their qualifying series to determine the teams advancing to the Gold and Silver fleets for the remainder of the event.

Reigning World Champion Alberto Rossi and his Italian team led by America's Cup tactician Thomasso Chieffi on their Farr 40 Enfant Terrible continue to lead the pack in Class A, but just four points ahead of the 2011 European Champion Silva Hispaniola, Peter Schmidt's Evento 42 from Germany.

In Class B1, the leading team simply continued their winning ways, adding two more bullets to their scorecard. Mihkel Kosk's Estonian NM38S Sugar 2 sailed flawlessly to lead the pack, and enjoys a 7-point lead over runner-up Lenco, Nico Brabers's Salona 37 from Holland. But Juergen Klinghardt's 2010 World Champion team from Germany on his X-332 patent3 are tied on points with Lenco, and will no doubt keep the bigger boats worried by continuing to challenge them in corrected time into the next round.

The Gold Fleet cut was made at 19th place in Class B1, so Leif Englund's Swedish Dehler 34 SV Dehlta made it through, as did Kristen Pugi's Estonian First 34.7 Evelyin III at 19th place in Class B2. There are, however, numerous protests being heard this evening by the International Jury led by Lars Nyqvist, so these mid-fleet results may be re-shuffled.

Inshore racing continues tomorrow in Day Four of the championship, with light northerly winds in the forecast.

www.orciworlds2012.com

We Are Recruiting
Oyster Yachts The Oyster fleet of award winning yachts from 46' to 125' is renowned throughout the sailing world for performance, quality and customer service.

We are expanding our sales team in response to increasing demand from international markets for Oyster yachts, which are valued from around £750,000 to £15,000,000.

We seek two senior sales professionals, one to be UK based and one to be based in our new offices in Palma, Mallorca. The successful candidates will probably be experienced yachtsmen, and will certainly be familiar with building discreet relationships with high net worth individuals and confident in selling a luxury, lifestyle product. Although experience of selling yachts is preferable, applicants who can demonstrate sales success in luxury property, private aircraft or similar sectors are welcome to apply.

Whilst a good standard of written and spoken English is required, fluency in European languages is a priority. Technical awareness and exposure to the Central European, Mediterranean and Russian markets would also be an advantage.

Applications, which will be treated in the strictest confidence, should be sent in writing with full details of relevant experience, for the attention of David Tydeman, Oyster Group CEO, to:

No agencies thank you.

www.oysteryachts.com

A Missed Opportunity
The first medal ceremony for the sailing events at Weymouth and Portland took place behind locked doors, with only competitors, officials and a restricted number of media allowed to enter the ceremony zone within the locked-down secure venue area on Portland.

With sailing trying desperately to show the IOC that sailing can attract a paying audience, the organisers missed a perfect opportunity to present the medal winners to those fans on the Nothe.

4,500 paying spectators on the Nothe, plus thousands more on the public beaches at Weymouth, had cheered and applauded the medal races held on special short courses just off the beach. Something all the competitors had remarked on as making the racing on the Nothe course special.

But the instead of grasping the moment and presenting the medal winners to that audience, and boasting the less than expected Weymouth holiday trade, the presentations were held in the distant sailing venue on Portland, behind closed doors. -- Gerald New in Sail-Web

www.sailweb.co.uk

Trustmarque Quokka Takes the Prize in RORC Channel Race
Trustmarque Quokka RORC. Photo by Paul Wyeth. Click on image to enlarge.

RORC Channel Race Philippe Falle sailing Peter Rutter's Grand Soleil 46, Trustmarque Quokka 8, won the 2012 Channel Race overall finishing the 145-mile in course in just over 26 hours. However a number of boats have requested redress as the mark, (CH1) off the coast near Cherbourg was not in place and some boats spent time looking for the mark before rounding its GPS co-ordinates and proceeding back to Cowes.

One of those who looked for the mark was Piet Vroon with his Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens, who still has a fighting chance of retaining the title of RORC Season's Points Championship winner. He will have a fight on his hands and with one more race to go, the Cherbourg Race at the end of August looks set to be an absolute cracker. Laurent Gouy's French Ker 39, Inis Mor, has the upper hand but Nick Martin's British J/105, Diablo-J, racing Two-Handed is right in the mix.

Trustmarque Quokka's win in the 2012 Channel Race was the first outing for Philippe Falle's newly formed Deep Blue Racing Team and as such Quokka is not a contender for the championship but Falle has been RORC racing for ten years and knows just how tough it is to win the RORC Season's Points Championship.

Line Honours in the Channel Race went to Harm Prins' Volvo 60, Pleomax, sealing the Dutch team's class win in IRC Zero for the season. Inis Mor was the winner in IRC One and came 3rd overall to extend their lead for the series. Nick Martin's 5th overall for the Channel Race has moved the Two-Handed team up to second overall, whilst Piet Vroon's Tonnerre de Breskens could only manage a 13th overall.

In IRC Three and the Two-Handed class, Nick Martin's Diablo-J came out on top but it was far from easy. An excellent performance by another two-handed sailor pushed Diablo-J all the way. Flic Gabbay's Elan 380, Elixir, took line honours for both classes by just nine minutes but Diablo-J won after time correction. Nick Martin's win secured the Two-Handed Class for the season and also puts Diablo-J up to second place overall in the Season's Points Championship. Mike Moxley's HOD 35, Malice, was third in both classes moving the Hampshire sailor up to third overall for the season.

In IRC Four Harry Heijst's S&S 41, Winsome, took a second class win of the season. The Dutch team now have an unassailable lead in IRC Four. Pierre Viard and Nicolas Siloret's Prism 28, Adrenaline, was the smallest yacht in the Channel Race. However, the French crew scored a second place moving the team up from 16th in class to 5th. Adrenaline is now very much in contention for the remaining two podium places in IRC Four, along with Kirsteen Donaldson's Pyxis, Jean Yves Chateau's Iromiguy and Paul Jackson's Wild Spirit.

The last race of the RORC Season's Points Championship will take place on Friday the 31st August with a sprint across The English Channel for the Cherbourg Race. -- Louay Habib

www.rorc.org

EUROSAF Youth Sailing Europeans Championship
Aarhus, Denmark: Tuesday proved to be a challenging day for the sailors, as strong gusts passed across the race area under dark and threatening clouds. Wind speeds in excess of 16 knots were usual with gusts reaching well over 24 knots in some areas of the course. The sailboards regularly exceed 20 knots in speed during racing, which was fast and exhilarating.

After racing, Joe Bennett, current leader of the boys RS:X class, said "it was a hard days sailing, due to the fact that we only completed two races on Monday, out of a scheduled three, so today we were playing catch-up and sailed four". Winds were gusting up to an estimated 24/25 knots and, as Joe said, "board speeds were well above 20 knots, which made sailing really exciting - the faster the better". The board sailors will be sailing twelve races to complete their series, without a lay-day, so fitness and strength is very important to them. After six races (including one discard) Martin Olmeta (FRA) is second, with Mattia Camboni (ITA) third. In the girls RS:X there is also a British leader after their first six races, Saskia Sills, who is closely followed by her fellow countryman Noelle Finch and Veronica Fanciulli (ITA) third.

Elsewhere within the fleets many nationalities are beginning to show their sailing skills with Joyee Forida (ITA), Celine Carlsen (DEN) and Ines Sobral (POR) leading in the Laser Radial Girls, after five races, and Tobias Herndorff (DEN), Robie Gilmore (IRL) and Finn Lynch (IRL) leading in the Boys Laser Radial. The 420 class is led by Clara Addari and Arianna Perini (ITA) after their first five races and the boys fleet is led by Davide Marrella and Francesco Rossi (ITA), also after five races. German teams are placed first and second in the 29er class with Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger placed first and Ole Knuk and Niclas Kath second, with Simon Betheau and Emile Amoros (FRA) placed third.

Racing on Wednesday will see the Sailboards and 29er sailing three races, while the 420 and Laser Radials sail two. Racing continues daily until Friday 10th August.

www.sailing-aarhus.dk/eurosafyouthsailing/

Les Voiles De Saint-Tropez - 29 September, 7 October
On the water, 2012 promises to be a remarkable year. Though the races will be run according to a very similar pattern to that of last year, the participation is a high point of this edition. The mixture of traditional yachts with boats from the third millennium is the main characteristic of Les Voiles and has become a veritable 'trademark'. Mini-maxis, 15 M JIs, Wally 100s, the Pen Duicks as well as an exceptional fleet of over twenty 'centenarians' will cross tacks on the Var region's race zone for an extraordinary week of festivity.

A new feature for 2012 is that Les Voiles has decided to honour the 15 M JIs. As such, from 2 to 6 October, a special race reserved for four yachts from the 15-Metre class will be organised for the first time within the context of the 14th edition of Les Voiles de Saint Tropez for Mariska (Fife 1908), which is a member of the Saint Tropez Societe Nautique, Tuiga (Fife 1909), Hispania (Fife 1909) and The Lady Anne (Fife 1912 - one hundred years old this year).

Racing during the day, partying during the evening. Once again the spectacle of Les Voiles will be guaranteed both on the water and on land to enable the inhabitants of Saint Tropez and the public to participate in the event around the port and along the town's streets. The highlights of the onshore entertainment will this year be the scheduled procession of the crews on Thursday evening. The jury, set up on a platform in front of the port's bars, will be composed of a mixture of Saint Tropez' inhabitants - including some members of the town's staff and shopkeepers - and a number of captains. The jury itself will be disguised no less. To enable the crews to have more time to prepare, this grand procession, which sets out on a complete tour of the port from Les Voiles' village, is scheduled for 1900 hours. There's also a festival in the Place des Lices, with different activities boasting an 'Olympic' theme and most notably a celebrated rugby match, a mechanical bull, wrestling and a tug-of-war, not to mention the famous bowling competition on Wednesday evening, and the giant Savoyard fry-up.

www.snst.org

Lysekil Women's Match
The wind conditions on Wednesday afternoon made the race committee chose a shorter course with three laps instead of the normal two. With three matches going on at the same time, it sometimes was a little bit crowded on the racecourse. A shorter course sometimes also makes it more difficult for the not leading boat to slip out of a difficult situation, something local sailor Marie Bjorling Duell experienced. She started her Wednesday in a great way, with three won matches, but then finished with two straight losses. Young Caroline Sylvan concluded a bad day with her only victory against fellow Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club member Marie in the last match of the day.

Alexa Bezel is used to shifty conditions on her home waters Lake Zürich, exactly as on the Lysekil waters during Wednesday. With three won matches and just one loss during Wednesday, she is now on the same points as Bjorling Duell, but stays on fourth place in the total list due to her loss against Marie in their match.

Event standings in Lysekil Women's Match after day 2, first round-robin completed.

1. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 7 - 1
2. Mandy Mulder, NED, 6 - 2
3. Marie Bjorling Duell, SWE, 5 - 3
4. Alexa Bezel, SUI, 5 - 3
5. Sally Barkow, USA, 4 - 4
6. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 3 - 5
7. Petra Kliba, CRO, 2 - 6
8. Silvia Roca Mata, ESP, 2 - 6
9. Anna Kjellgren, SWE, 2 - 6

Lysekil Women's Match continues Thursday with another round-robin.

www.lysekilwomensmatch.se
www.facebook.com/lysekilwomensmatch

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 Stuart Thomas: I was a little surprised about the correspondence regarding the unsuitability of a race course with shifty winds and tidal swirls... sounds not unlike racing in the Solent and we all know how terribly unpopular that is.

* From John Horn Matchracing coach, Palma de Mallorca: Attacking and defending downwind is a basic fundamental of matchracing, the GBR team seemed to have no answer to the Russian attack, time on the water and good coaching should have better prepared the Mac lush team. Disappointing for those of us supporting them.

* From Mike Greenland: So, does anyone know which countries broadcaster is doing the sailing coverage at Weymouth (masquerading as the Olympic Broadcasting Authority)? I don't think it is the BBC. While the quality of the images is excellent the person doing the control room functions is clearly not a sailor and it is doubtful they know anything about sports. There have been many editing errors over the week but two over the weekend are unforgivable.

1. Percy/Simpson get a close shot as they approach the line with no overall view of the line????? Nobody knew what the result was! That doesn't happen in athletics.

2. On the final leg of the Finn race Postma hit the New Zealander resulting in a penalty turn taking him from 2nd to 5th. Gold medal position to nothing. Like missing a penalty in a world cup final - if I know anything about football. Yet nothing shown or spoken of this.

It was like the person in the control room was following a script and not watching the action as they must have at least 6 screens in front of them. The commentators and worldwide audience was left wanting big time!

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 1902 Custom Gaff Schooner. EUR 1,100,000. Located in Germany

Passenger capacity:
- 125 passengers for day and evening sail
- 200 passengers reception moored in a port
- 36 passengers for overnight cruises
- Different big "trainee" cabins, low comfort

The original building year is indeed 1902. Unfortunately engine hours are unknown, but it is very well maintained.

There is a second engine stored by the owner, as a spare part engine or exchange engine in case. This second engine is included in the asking price.

The sails are about 15 years old, new sails are recommended.

Brokerage through eGlobal Yachts: www.yachtworld.com/eglobal/

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

The Last Word
If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. -- Albert Einstein

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