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The Jury Reopen The Case Of Bernard Stamm
Bernard Bonneau, President of the International Jury, states the following:

"After receiving the written testimony of Professor Marine Khoromov, the jury decided to reopen the investigation of Case No. 4 under the sailing rule 66. This sets out that the Board may reopen a hearing when there has been a significant error, or when a new significant fact becomes available. The jury do not consider they made a mistake, but believe that this testimony offers a significant new fact. "

Vendee Globe Skippers Rally Around Bernard Stamm
Without passing comment on the jury's decision, the majority of the skippers competing in the Vendee Globe have expressed their support for Bernard Stamm in the context of his request to reopen the case.

Nobody is calling into question the international jury's neutrality and impartiality and the skippers have chosen to share their opinion on the matter as they believe that this should be taken into account in the final decision.

Full text of the letter on the IMOCA site:
www.imoca.org

Bernard Stamm Hits Unidentified Floating Object
Click on image to enlarge.

Bernard Stamm On Sunday morning, around 3.30AM (French time), Bernard Stamm (Cheminees Poujoulat) informed his shore crew he had hit an unidentified floating object, which ripped off his port side hydrogenerator. His second hydrogenerator is also broken and is not charging.

Due to previous energy-related issues, he no longer has sufficient fuel onboard. Stamm informed his team he was shutting down all energy-consuming devices to conserve what little energy he had remaining for the autopilot. Stamm was 1060 miles away from Cape Horn at 7.30AM (French time).

Cheminees Poujoulat Sailing Team are currently examining all available solutions, such as, finding a sheltered area where Stamm could consider re-fuelling as the current situation jeopardises the yacht's safety.

* A little before 2PM on Sunday, the Cheminees Poujoulat skipper switched his communication devices back on to contact his team and tell them more about his situation.

Bernard Stamm is currently sailing in a 35-to-40-knot wind and he will have to keep his central navigation unit turned off most of the time since only 5% of the the monuhull's main battery potential can be used. Stamm will switch it back on occasionally to send and receive news. He also said he was getting ready to start drawing on his safety water reserve and that he was still heading towards Cape Horn.

Even though it is difficult for the Swiss sailor to have a precise idea of how fast he can expect to progress, the latest routing shows he could round Cape Horn on January 9 as the wind will slow him down on Sunday and Monday.

At this point, stopping in a port for fuel has not been ruled out yet, but Bernard's team is also considering the possibility of getting fuel from one of the boats present in the area.

Top Ten Rankings as of Monday 07 January 2013, 05h00 (FR)

1. MACIF, Francois Gabart, 5621.0 nm to finish
2. Banque Populaire, Armel Le Cleac´h, 64.2 nm
3. Virbac Paprec 3, Jean-Pierre Dick, 257.1 nm
4. HUGO BOSS, Alex Thomson, 599.3 nm
5. SynerCiel, Jean Le Cam, 1764.3 nm
6. Gamesa, Mike Golding, 2053.5 nm
7. Mirabaud, Dominique Wavre, 2097.5 nm
8. Cheminees Poujoulat, Bernard Stamm, 2115.6 nm *
9. AKENA Verandas, Arnaud Boissieres, 2299.5 nm
10. ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered, Javier Sanso, 2301.6 nm

* Editor: The event site has resumed placing and tracking of Stamm. One wonders if universal outrage and countless angry comments had anything to do with that change of heart...

www.vendeeglobe.org

First Entry 2013 J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round The Island Race
Cowes, Isle of Wight: The Island Sailing Club opened its entries for the 82nd J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race at 12.01 a.m. this morning and can confirm that the first entry to be approved and processed was Redshank, a Devon-based 30 year-old Evolution 26, owned and raced by Stuart Palmer , 47, from Teignmouth in Devon.

Stuart, who is self-employed, married and with two young children, is entering the Race for the first time but has two crew members who have competed before. Julian Weyer Brown won the family class with his yacht Coral of Teignmouth in 2006 and Mathew Owen competed and finished last year helming Moon-Stream

Early bird entries remain open until midnight on Feb 2nd when standard entry fees then apply through to midnight on May 11th. Final entry numbers for this year's Race, taking place on Saturday 1st June, are expected to be in the region of 1,700 with around 16,000 sailors competing across this massive fleet.

The existing course records are:

- 3hrs 53mins and 05secs for a monohull, set by Mike Slade on ICAP Leopard in 2008
- 3hrs 08mins 29secs for a multihull, set by Francis Joyon in 2001 aboard Dexia Eure et Loire

www.roundtheisland.org.uk

Back To Back Australian Championships in I14s
Photo by Andrew Gough, www.andrewgoughphotography.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Australian Championships in I14s Past Australian Champions Brad Devine and Ian Furlong have taken out this years Australian International 14 Championships with a impressive score card of 1,1,1,1,1,2,(2).

The final day racing for the Australian Championships here on Waterloo Bay has challenged the 26 strong International 14ft skiff fleet. Fickle conditions caused unusual pressure changes throughout the day.

The ability to change rig setup efficiently on the water, from rake to tension, is what gives the i14 class a huge advantage in conditions like those on the bay today.

The Australian i14 fleet will now look towards sending a team to the 2013 i14 World Championships in Toronto, Canada, later this year. -- Neil Patchett

Top Five Overall Places 2012/2013 i14 Australian Titles:

1. Del Boca Vista, B. Devine and I. Furlong, AUS
2. Too Late To Stop Now, M. Krstic and A. Wilson, AUS
3. El Diablo, D. Hayter and T. Neighbour, AUS
4. CST Composites, S. Sloss and B. Lawrie, AUS
5. Stealth, D. Lugg and D. Bramley, AUS

Seahorse February 2013
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Rod Davis - Passion
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ORC column
A chance to play together at last? Jason Ker

Design - Strictly practical
Tim Houghton reports on a pragmatic effort to deliver a foiler for mass consumption

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Ukrainian Upset But Still The Winners In Cadet Worlds
Photo by Pete Harmsen, www.peteharmsen.com. Click on image to enlarge.

Cadet Worlds Two young crews from the Ukraine today finished first and second overall in the International Cadet World Championship on Hobart's River Derwent, but in a different order from to that going into the last day of racing.

The Cadets, along with other dinghy classes running their championships on the river, started early, knowing that conditions would be unsailable later in the day.

Fortunately, the managed to complete all races before the forecast gale force northeries swept down the river, bringing heatwave conditions to Tasmania's capital city. In fact, the winds against reached 38 knots, the temperature a record 41.3 degrees Celius.

Race 11 saw a late but valiant effort by the Australians crews, although it seemed unlikely the Ukrainians could not lose first or second oval.

As it turned out, the overnight leaders by two points from their fellow countrymen, UKR9855 (Danyil Martynov and Pavlo Merezhko) had an disappointing race and finished in 35th place.

This left the door open and a 5th by UKR9855 took UKR9905 - Tasmania Devil, saw Oleksandr Izarov and Andriy Kalinchuk sail into the overall lead by 6 pts.

Oleksandr and Andriy did not win won a race but their worst result was a seventh, consistency winning them the Championship

The final top five standings for the 2012 International Cadet World Championships are:

1. Tasmania Devil - Oleksandr Izarov and Andriy Kalinchuk, UKR, 32 points
2. Danyil Martynov and Pavlo Merezhko, UKR, 34
3. White Stuff - Alex Corby and Robert Keen, GBR, 56
4. Piotr Szlachcic and Eryk Martynko, POL, 69
5. Agustin Pesallaccia and Mariano Pesallaccia, ARG, 79

The next World Championships will be held in Nieuwpoort, Belgium at the end of July 2013. -- Mariji Sasson/Peter Campbell

Fast Pace For World ARC
Round the world sailors have covered 20,000 miles and at times the strains are showing.

Since January last year the sailors in the World ARC fleet have sailed around 20,000 miles. But today they left Cape Town, turning the last corner of their circumnavigation to make their way back to the finish in Saint Lucia.

A fleet of 18 yachts of the 22 in the World ARC circumnavigation set off in light winds on their leg to Salvador in Brazil (the remaining four boats are waiting for work to be complete before following). On the way will make a pitstop at the remote island of St Helena, some 1,700 miles away.

The rally route is dictated by the different seasons along the way, but it makes the pace fairly brisk. At this point in the circumnavigation, gear, boats and people can feel a little tired and crews have spent almost two months in South Africa cruising and getting maintenance done.

It has also allowed some time for reflection, and what I'm hearing from the rally sailors - as in all the world rallies I've covered before - is about the hard work from all involved that keeps it moving. Make no mistake, the round the world cruising dream is no easy ride. That can come as a surprise to anyone expecting the much talked of 'milk run'. -- Elaine Bunting in her Yachting World blog:

www.yachtingworld.com/blogs/elaine-bunting/

Sailing Towards The Trade Winds
After five days and more than 1600 miles sailed, Giovanni Soldini and Maserati's team are finally out of the light wind zone and sailing towards the trade winds.

"Today we were stuck in light breeze - explains Giovanni - We knew from the start that we would find this high pressure area before entering the trade winds.

Luckily, over the last hours the wind has been getting stronger: from tomorrow morning we expect steady winds of 20-25 knots for the next three days.

Once we enter the trade winds we will be able to sail downwind towards the equator: it will be a complex part of the route.

Aboard Maserati we are very happy also because today Guido Broggi caught two small tuna: we ate them in a lemon marinade, they were delicious!"

The challenge to the New York-San Francisco record started December 31. They must break the record of 57 days, 3 hours and 2 minutes set in 1998 by Yves Parlier aboard Aquitaine Innovations.

maserati.soldini.it

Running The Rhumblines
Whitsunday Sailing Clubs teenage 420 dinghy racing team of Klaus Lorenz and James Scott gained important big fleet racing experience when they contested the Musto Australian championship in Hobart last week.

The championship regarded as a stepping stone towards Olympic sailing in the 470 class was dominated by the tactically strong West Australian team with the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club crew of Lachlan Gilmour and Thomas Blaauw expressing their class to win the major medal with Novo Rapid.

Lachlan son of Americas Cup and World match racing champion Peter Gilmour has the sailing pedigree but he still had to apply his personal skill with crew mate Thomas Blaauw to head off a strong challenge from their West Australian team mates who filled five of the top ten places. Strong fleet racing at the club level ultimately proved to be a decisive advantage for the talented West Australian duo in this tactically competitive one-design class.

They made all of the small things count to finish the series with the deserved honour of winning the 12 race championship in a testing tactical racing environment on the River Derwent. This intense level of competition was another important learning curve for skipper Klaus Lorenz and James Scott besides being a relatively new team are a new team and forced to race and train alone on the warm waters of Pioneer Bay finished eighth overall in their dinghy Rockstar which was an impressive result.

However near enough is never good enough with both sailors set to gain more valuable experience when they battle for honours in the important OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth championships over the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania courses this week.

As expected skipper Lachlan Gilmour and crew mate Thomas Blaauw remain as the nominated favourites to win the series and selection to represent Australia at the World Youth championships later in the year while the Rockstar racing team will continue with their development program which promises to achieve recognition as a future star performer in the highly competitive class of 420 dinghy racing. -- Ian Grant

For The Record
The WSSR Council announces the ratification of the following new National Sailing Speed Records achieved at Luderitz, Namibia during November/December 2012.

Lested chronologically.

FRA - Antoine ALBEAU - 54. 05 kts
SWE - Anders BRINGDAL - 51.45 kts
TUR - Lena ALYIN ERDIL - 45.74 kts
GBR Women - Zara DAVIS - 45.83 kts
NED - Jurgen VAN DER NOORD - 51.26 kts
GBR - Farrel O'SHEA - 48.82 kts
GRE - Nick VERDALACHOS - 50.56 kts
CRO - Boris VUJASINOVIC - 44.47 kts
UKR - Alexender GONCHAROV - 40.95 kts
GER - Jochen BOCK - 49.36 kts

John Reed
Secretary to the WSSR Council

Not Sailing... But Too Good Not To Share...
There isn't a much better cure for a breakup than treating yourself to some exquisite jewellery, and that is exactly what a Waikato teacher did after selling her ex-boyfriend's most prized possession.

The ex-boyfriend was a keen fisherman and had entrusted her with his secret fishing spots, but after he fled to Australia with little notice, Angela Potter got revenge.

Miss Potter was clearing out her garage when she found the GPS markings for fishing spots in the Bay of Plenty and many other areas of the North Island, so she auctioned them off on Trade Me last January and scored herself a whopping $3000.

Miss Potter said she would never have sold the co-ordinates had it been an amicable breakup, however, the man packed his belongings into her suitcase, which had sentimental value, and fled the country.

'When he refused to return my suitcase that's when I sold his co-ordinates,' she said. 'I didn't list them to be vindictive. I listed them as a bit of a laugh.' -- Jenna Lynch in Sail-World.com

www.sail-world.com

Full story in Stuff.co.nz:
www.stuff.co.nz

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 Mike Greville: The unstinted expressions of opposition to Bernard Stamm's disqualification may weigh heavily on the Jury but they are faced with a task of applying a set of rules which appear to require zero tolerance in cases of outside assistance.

In these particular circumstances this is on any view harsh, and seemingly regrettable not only for Stamm and his backers but also for the event and even more widely for the sport.

With universal agreement from the other competitors, who would or could object to SAEM Vendee amending the NoR to afford the Jury some discretion to apply a lesser penalty in exceptional circumstances?

* From Butch Dalrymple-Smith: Why did Grant Dalton go to the trouble of "announcing" his very logical and sensible decision not to send his "A Team" of sailors to the America's Cup World Series in AC45s? It could have been done discretely. While his decision is 100% correct, announcing it in a way to cause maximum discomfort to Sir Russell Coutts was perhaps less so.

* From Malcolm van Rooyen: What can one say about the Bernard Stamm decision ?

The decision once again highlights the how sailing is governed and run by those who no longer know what the front of the boat looks like or what ti takes to get to this level of competition. It is little wonder that so many keen sailors get frustrated with these beaurocrats and walk away from what is a fantastic sport and past-time. Maybe we should send each jury member and race organisors to the Southern Ocean on a boat single handed (should they recognise one) with a similar problem and say get out of this one without endangering anyone else.

Its about time these organisations take off the blinkers and start acting in the interest of the sport before they destroy it.

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The Last Word
The saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury. -- Charlie Chaplin

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