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Hansen and Robertson Respond
Hansen racks up the wins as Monsoon Cup Qualifying Round comes to a close. Photo by Subzeroimages / Monsoon Cup. Click on image to enlarge.

Monsoon Cup Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia: Bjorn Hansen and Phil Robertson endured tough starts to their bids for Monsoon Cup glory this week but fought back strongly today in the third Qualifying Session. Hansen has kept his World Championship quest alive by Qualifying for the knock-out stages while Robertson posted three wins from three today to leave himself on the cusp of a Quarter Final berth at the finale of the 2012 Alpari World Match Racing Tour.

Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team came through what could be a crucial test to his Championship credentials in his match against Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar.

The win took Hansen's total to seven.

Robertson also responded well following a poor start to his Monsoon Cup. Unbeaten today and currently in sixth on the Qualifying table, he said: "We've turned it around today, we went three and zero, a perfect day for us. We're sailing a lot better, we're patient and waiting for opportunities to pass.

One of those victories was against Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Bertnsson Sailing Team, who, despite taking two victories from his first three races in the first Qualifying Session, becomes the first Tour Card Holder casualty here. The 2011 Monsoon Cup runner-up was unable to recreate his impressive showing of last year and he will not take any Tour points from the event, finishing 2-9.

One of the session's other notable matches saw Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing taking on his son, David Gilmour (AUS) Team Gilmour, who skippers for the first time at an Alpari World Tour event.

The race was all but decided in the pre-start when Gilmour Jnr. came off second best having tried to force his father over the start line early, only to see him escape and lose momentum himself.

Racing is available to watch online from 4th to 8th December throughout the day. Follow it live at www.wmrt.com/live.html

Monsoon Cup - Qualifying Table, Round 3:
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 7-3
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team 7-4
Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar 6-3
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing 6-3
Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team 6-4
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing 5-3
Taylor Canfield (ISV) USone 5-4
Adam Minoprio (NZL) Alpari Racing Team 5-4
David Gilmour (AUS) Team Gilmour 4-5
Laurie Jury (NZL) Kiwi Match Sailing Team 3-6
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team 2-9
Jeremy Koo (MYS) KFC Malaysia/KRT 0-8

wmrt.com

Sail Melbourne
William Phillips & Nicholas Brownie (AUS) 49er class. Photo by Sport the library, www.sportlibrary.com.au. Click on image to enlarge.

Sail Melbourne Melbourne, Australia: The invited classes at Sail Melbourne had more racing yesterday amongst their Olympic brethren. Joining them all for the first time were the OK Dinghies, Optimist and International Cadets. The latter are having one of their final hit outs before their National Championship from December 22 and then their Worlds from 28th, both of which are being staged from the Sandy Bay Sailing Club in Hobart.

Kiteboarding continues to attract significant spectator and media attention alike. They have certainly enjoyed the strong winds experienced in the middle of the week, so now it will be a chance for the sailors amongst them to show how it is done in the lighter conditions. The technology of the sport continues to evolve at a furious pace, so it will be great to see the improvements that are made to board technology and how they can get faster in the light conditions. They are presently about four times faster in the strong winds than in today's 5-10 knots.

Germany's Florian Gruber collected one more win from yesterday's race to lead the Gold Medal fleet on four points.

The Silver fleet is headed by Marvin Baumeister-Schoenian of Germany on five points. France's Ariane Imbert is also making a very clear statement at the front of the Women's Kiteboarding fleet, having won everything to date.

The ISAF World Cup is part of Sail Melbourne from December 2 to 8. -- John Curnow

Leaders by class:

Laser Full rig (Men): Tom Burton, AUS
Laser Radial (Women): Krystal Weir, AUS
Finn (Men): Brendan Casey, AUS
470 Men: Mathew Belcher / William Ryan, AUS
470 Women: Sasha Ryan / Jaime Ryan, AUS
49er (Men): Steven Thomas / Rhys Mara, AUS
49er FX (Women/Mixed): No results available
RSX Men: Luke Baillie, AUS
SKUD 18: David Staley / Michael Lewenhaben, AUS
Kite Men - Gold: Florian Gruber, GER
Kite Men - Silver: Marvin Baumeister-Schoenia, GER
Kite Women: Ariane Imbert, FRA
Laser Radial Men: Mark Spearman, AUS
Access Dinghy: Gregory Hyde, AUS
29er: James McLennan / Thomas Trotman, AUS
420: Xavier Winston-Smith / Joshua Dawson, AUS
International Cadet: Patrick Chipp / Jack Furey, AUS
Optimist: Annabelle Davies, AUS
Laser 4.7: Jack Felsenthal, AUS
OK Dinghy: Roger Blasse, AUS
Viper: Carolijn Brouwer / Darren Bundock, BEL

sailmelbourne.com.au/website/home.html

Eileen Ramsay - The Queen Of Yachting Photography
Eileen Ramsay - The Queen Of Yachting Photography Eileen Ramsay was at the centre of a unique period in yachting history, and this wonderful book, featuring her classic photography, celebrates an extraordinary woman and her extraordinary subjects. Eileen's heyday was between 1950 and 1970 - a time when eccentrics ruled, records were there for the setting, and women weren't often to be found behind the lens.

But Eileen established herself as one of the greatest yachting photographers of her time, taking famous portraits of sailing icons like Francis Chichester and Eric Tabarly, Olympians, including Rodney Pattisson and Keith Musto, and historic pictures from the first Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic (OSTAR) Races.

Her unique archive records the explosive growth in dinghy and offshore sailing during post-war years, and includes pictures of the first Enterprises, Mirrors, Ospreys, Optimists and the first America's Cup 12 metres Sceptre and Evaine.

Eileen, now into her 90s can remember just about every photograph she has taken and relate an anecdote or story about each one. Many of these memories are also recorded in the book.

Eileen Ramsay - the Queen of Yachting Photography, is a spectacular celebration of a pioneering photographer and a fascinating time in yachting history.

160 pages, 123 classic pictures. £25 + postage & packing

southatlanticpublishing.com/er_intro.htm

Final Showdown Begins In Rio De Janeiro
Photo by Mark Lloyd, www.lloydimages.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Extreme Sailing Rio The final showdown of the 2012 Extreme Sailing Series has begun in Rio de Janeiro under the gaze of the world famous statue of Christ the Redeemer on a race course that is quickly earning itself a reputation as one of the most beautiful the Extreme 40s have ever sailed on. Alinghi were the undisputed stars of the show today and two race wins for the Swiss America's Cup winners sees them top of the leaderboard at the end of day one and in a podium position for the first time this year.

Six races were sailed in glamour sailing conditions - 12 knots of breeze with gusts of 15, and a brilliant Brazilian sunshine. A reaching start saw the teams power off the line for a short sprint to the first mark provid

It wasn't all plain sailing today and there was a damage delay after almost every race - the worst of which came after a collision in race five at the first mark between Oman Air and Red Bull Sailing Team with the Austrians careering into the back of the Omani team as they fought for space. Down but not out, both teams made quick fixes on the water to complete the final race of the day (Oman Air to their stern, Red Bull Sailing Team to their bow), but it was not the start either team were hoping for with the Series podium beckoning.

Tonight will be a long night of crucial repairs for the shore teams as a despondent Larson explain: "It's the third transom repair for Oman Air this year (Alinghi clipped it in training one time, The Wave, Muscat's in Nice), but this is probably the worst. These guys (shore crew) are experienced at this and by 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning they will have it done. Tomorrow is another day - chin up, keep going. We are still in the hunt." Both teams will be given a time penalty at the start of tomorrow's first race for failing to avoid the collision.

Tomorrow will see racing start at 1700 CET (1400 local time) with live video streaming including real-time 3-D visualisations and leaderboards from SAP for the first time and expert commentary from Olympic commentator Richard Simmonds from 1800 CET. Catch all the action on the official event website http://www.extremesailingseries.com

Standings after Day 1, 6 races (06.12.12)

1. Alinghi (SUI), Pierre-Yves Jorand, Jean-Christophe Mourniac, Bruno Barbarin, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey, 38 points
2. The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Leigh McMillan, Ed Smyth, Pete Greenhalgh, Hannah Mills, Hashim Al Rashdi, 38
3. ZouLou (FRA), Erik Maris, Philip Mourniac, Jean-Sebastien Ponce, Patrick Aucour, Bruno Jeanjean, 35
4. Oman Air (OMA), Morgan Larson, Will Howden, Charlie Ogletree, Andy Maloney, Nasser Al Mashari, 31
5. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT), Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Matthew Adams, Pierre Le Clainche, Graeme Spence, 31
6. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN), Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Kostner, Pete Cumming, Mikkel Rossberg, Jonas Hviid, 30
7. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Herve Cunningham, Romain Petit, Bernard Labro, 29
8. Team Brasil (BRA), Torben Grael, Alex Welter, Diogo Cayolla, Andre Mirsky, Marco Grael, 19
9. GAC Pindar (GBR), Andrew Walsh, Anna Tunnicliffe, Mark Bulkeley, Adam Piggot, Richard Peacock, 19

extremesailingseries.com

First Route Announcement for 2013 Solitare Du Figaro
The route for next year's 44th Solitaire du Figaro-Eric Bompard Cashemire has been part-announced at Paris Boat Show.

The organisers, Pen Duick, unveiled a course including in three French cities, two of whch have never previously been associated with the Figaro class' premier event.

Once again divided into four leg, La Solitaire in 2013 will start on 2 June from Bordeaux, the first time the city has hosted the race.

Two legs will follow visiting Spain and Portugal before the race returns to France with the final leg running along the Channel from Roscoff on the northeast coast of Finistere.

Full report in TheDailySail.com:
www.thedailysail.com/offshore/

Final Day for Wight Vodka Best Yachting Bar Submissions
Wight Vodka's 2012 Favourite Yachting Bar Competition The deadline for submissions for the 2012 Best Yachting Bar competition is this Friday at midnight UTC. On Tuesday December 11 the list of our Top Ten will be posted at http://scuttlebutteurope.com and in the Tuesday edition of Eurobutt...

Voting then begins, to end on Thursday 27 December, the winner announced on 31 December, with the crew from Wight Vodka calling the winner to congratulate them.

Some of our favourite recent submissions:

Favourite Bar: PIER VIEW at Cowes Isle of Wight

Why: What your correspondent failed to add to the comment about the Cowes MONDAY CLUB who meet in the Pier View. Is that it is more difficult to join than the Royal Yacht Scuadron

Favourite Bar: Sint Maarten Yacht Club

Why: Fine Bloody Marys, beautiful view across the Lagoon and out to sea, and the place to watch as £$£$£$£ worth of mega yacht squeezes through the Bridge opening as the sun goes down.

Favourite Bar: Bitter End Yacht Club, Crawl Pub

Why: Setting, fun charter cruising crowd, great drinks...best brick oven pizza south of Chicago. Awesome Happy Hour. And the best sports viewing in the Caribbean. 18'x18' big screen, plus multiple HD smaller screens, for American Football, soccer, rugby, Formula 1, Basketball, the America's Cup, and other sporting events.

Favourite Bar: Willey T's, Normand Isl., BVI's
Why: It's in Paridise, The BVI's
Norman Island, BVI's.

I've been there several times, all with fun though WILD memories. The first time there, Oct. 30th 2006, was to celebrate my 50th Birthday with about 30 friends from the Winthrop (Mass.) YC who were all on 4 bare-boat charter sailboats. It's just an ideal Yachting Bar! It's a bucket list place for ALL Sailors!

Submit your entry here:
www.scuttlebutteurope.com/sailors-bars.html

Guillemot's Case Settled with the British Authorities
Today, Thursday 6th December 2012, the British justice system issued its judgement following Marc Guillemot's infringement of navigation rules during his Round Britain and Ireland record attempt in June 2012. The skipper will have to pay a fine of 9 000 £.

On 7th June 2012, Marc Guillemot was charged with breaking navigation rules twice in the Straits of Dover during his attempt to beat his own record. Marc Guillemot and his crew did in fact enter the traffic separation system without respecting the lanes and rules regarding crossing this zone.

On 12th July, Marc Guillemot willingly attended a meeting following a summons from the British coastguards (MCA) to find out exactly what he was being accused of and immediately accepted their version of events.

Following his retiral from the Vendee Globe, Marc Guillemot made himself immediately available to the British authorities and was summoned to a hearing on 6th December at the Magistrates Court in Southampton, which he willingly attended accompanied by his legal advisors.

During the hearing, the judge issued Marc Guillemot with a fine of 9 000 £.

ARC: 40ft About To Beat 80-Footer?
A 40-footer could be about to beat an 80ft Swan across the Atlantic, becoming the first boat to finish the ARC rally in what may be the tightest and most noteworthy race in the event's history.

The Class 40 Vaquita, skippered by Austrian sailor Andreas Hanakamp, has been alone in racing on an extreme northerly route from Las Palmas to Saint Lucia. Today, the crew had 522 miles to run and were lying 90 miles ahead on distance to run from their closest rivals, Swan 80 Berenice.

If Vaquita's crew can maintain their average speeds as they gybe to come down to the latitude of Saint Lucia, they could finish the 2,700-mile race in 12 days, the fastest ever ARC time for a yacht of this size.

This route is colder, often rougher and wetter, with more reaching angles and varied conditions. For obvious reasons, it tends to be shunned by cruising crews. The routeing can be a gamble compared with going south and picking up the Trades. -- Elaine Bunting, her full blog post at www.yachtingworld.com

Event site: www.worldcruising.com/arc/

Industry News
Clipper Ventures Plc has renewed its partnership with The Marine Travel Company who have been named Official Travel Partner for the Clipper 13-14 Round the World Yacht Race. It will be the third time that the Canterbury-based marine travel specialists have sponsored the world's longest ocean race, building on the successful partnership established in 2009.

One of the UK's leading independent marine travel services, The Marine Travel Company will provide specialist marine fares to the Clipper Race team and crew through a dedicated 24/7 booking service, allowing everyone involved with the race the greatest degree of flexibility in their event travel.

Booking through The Marine Travel Company allows access to specially negotiated fares with airlines. Fares are fully flexible in case of delays and an increased baggage allowance of 40kgs enables Clipper Race crew members to travel with all the kit they need to face the challenges ahead.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

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RS Sailing have announced changes to their management structure due to expansion into new international markets.

Jon Partridge, previously Operations Director, has been appointed as the new UK and European Sales Director for RS Sailing. This move should ensure that the already successful UK market will benefit from more focused attention whilst providing their European Dealers with increased support as these markets continue to flourish. Jon's involvement with the RS Feva and RS 500 classes has been pivotal to their success internationally.

Riki Hooker will become International Sales Director focusing on expanding emerging markets in the rest of the world. Having helped build our international dealer network and more recently, spear-heading RS Sailing's entry into North America, Riki will continue to build our presence on that continent whilst also concentrating on developing RS success in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australasia.

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Baltic Yachts has announced that over the summer it signed a contract for a 35m (116ft) sail boat. The owner wants a high-performance cruiser for taking his family sailing in the Mediterranean. With naval architecture by judel/vrolijk, the Baltic 116 will have a deckhouse with a carbon-fibre bimini hard top for plenty of protection from the sun.

The hull will be constructed from carbon composite, and will be fitted with a lifting keel.

The interior design for Baltic 116 Custom will come from Nauta Design.

Production is due to start in January 2013 with a delivery scheduled for October 2014.

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SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced a three-year partnership with the Extreme Sailing Series. As the "Official Technical Partner" of the series, SAP plans to deliver cutting-edge business software and analytics solutions to provide sailors, spectators and the media with an unprecedented sailing experience.

For the first time in the six-year history of Extreme Sailing Series, analytics solutions from SAP can offer fans and broadcasters insights to enable them to decipher exactly what is happening on the water through the use of live leaderboards and 3-D visualizations taking place in real time. Post-race data will also provide teams with tools to analyze their performance and optimize their strategy helping them sail better.

SAP also plans to enhance the management and operational side of the Extreme Sailing Series through the development of a "Race Committee" app. This live application can enable the Extreme Sailing Series Race Management Team to co-ordinate race starts, communicate penalties and record accurate race results

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Malaysia-based sports marketing agency, Total Sports Asia (TSA), have been appointed as Monsoon Cup media rights distributor in the Asia-Pacific region to complement AWMRT rights holder, Boulder Creek International.

TSA will lead the Asia-Pacific regional distribution of content from the world's premier sailing series, adding 16 broadcasters to the list of outlets taking a combination of live, as-live and highlights packages. These include Starhub in Singapore, Solar in Philippines, Truevision in Thailand, Neo Sports in India and Eurosport Asia.

With a total stable of more than 50 broadcasting stations, the extensive distribution is available in six continents.

A full list of international broadcasters is available at: www.wmrt.com/live.html

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 Arnold: If one accepts that a vessel is navigating while it is underway, then the current International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea, Paragraph 3(i) gives the following definition:

'The word 'underway' means not at anchor, made fast to the shore or aground.'

Therefore a vessel that is stopped is underway, and I would argue is being navigated by someone with his hand on the wheel and throttle.

Featured Brokerage
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The SWAN 41 is probably one of the most desirable S&S designs EVER....2 cabins + a head and shower, new North sails, VERY NICE condition.....ready to go sailing IMMEDIATELY....lowest priced SWAN 41 on the market.

Brokerage through Southern Trades Yacht Sales, Charters & Management: www.yachtworld.com/southerntrades/

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

The Last Word
Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen. -- Mark Twain

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