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Vendee Globe
Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) today on the English version of Vendee Globe LIVE was delighted to report that he had a 100% charge on his batteries for the first time in weeks. He was able to speak for the first time at length to his family and shorecrew. "I'm good. I'm in good shape. My batteries are 100%, which is a miracle, really. I had a few phone calls last night but it was very difficult to talk to my son Oscar as he is only three years old so he is not a great conversationalist."

Today, Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec 3) was stealing back the miles at each ranking. Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) was pragmatic on the English version of Vendee Globe LIVE and explained that once the fleet reached the Doldrums there would be a slow down which would create a compression. The fleet will reach the Azores High and then into the Westerlies. He saw the Westerlies as the opportunity but was tentative to commit. He said, "hopefully the Doldrums won't be tough but we'll just have to wait and see."

Mike Golding (Gamesa) is continuing to make good progress and still gaining miles on Jean Le Cam (SynerCiel), his main adversary, who this morning was 86 miles ahead.

Bertrand De Broc (Votre Nom Autour du Monde avec EDM) is expected to round Cape Horn tomorrow.

* Following the examination of the evidence presented to the re-opened hearing of Case No 4 the final decision is confirmed that Cheminees Poujoulat is to be disqualified from the event.

The full report can be found here (PDF)

Rankings as of Sunday 13 January 2013, 20h00 (FR)

1. MACIF, Francois Gabart, 3803.8 nmto finish
2. Banque Populaire, Armel Le Cleac'h, 263.6 nm
3. Virbac Paprec 3, Jean-Pierre Dick, 674.6 nm
4. HUGO BOSS, Alex Thomson, 784.8 nm
5. SynerCiel, Jean Le Cam, 1759.2 nm
6. Gamesa, Mike Golding, 1838.6 nm
7. Mirabaud, Dominique Wavre, 2076.3 nm
8. AKENA Verandas, Arnaud Boissieres, 2117.7 nm
9. ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered, Javier Sanso, 2167.1 nm
10. Votre Nom Autour du Monde avec EDM Projets, Bertrand de Broc, 3521.9 nm
11. Initiatives-coeur, Tanguy De Lamotte, 3699.4 nm
12. Team Plastique, Alessandro Di Benedetto, 4473.3 nm

vendeeglobe.com

18ft Skiffs Australian Championship, Race 1
Click on image for photo gallery.

18 Skiff Sydney Harbour: Defending champion Thurlow Fisher Lawyers, skippered by Michael Coxon, led all the way in a variable South East breeze to take out Race 1 of the 2012-2013 Australian 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour today.

Coxon with his team of Dave O'Connor and Trent Barnabas took the lead soon after the start and were never headed over the long SE course to defeat arch rival Gotta Love It 7 (Seve Jarvin, Scott Babbage, Peter Harris) by 19s.

Coopers-Rag & Famish Hotel (Jack Macartney, David Witt, Mark Kennedy), challenged the leaders throughout the entire course before finishing a further 50s back in third place.

Former Australian champion Micah Lane was fourth on Appliancesonline.com.au, followed by Lumix (Jonathan Whitty) with the revolutionary wing mast and Yandoo, skippered by John Winning.

On a day which provided all teams with plenty of headaches, the Thurlow Fisher Lawyers crew were in control from the outset and led by 50s at the first windward mark.

Despite variations in wind direction and strength, the Thurlow Fisher Lawyers lead was never less than 30s and the final margin was more a reflection of Coxon's conservative covering tactics.

Don't forget 'Pick the Podium' again this season with prizes to be won by just making some selections on which teams you think will fill the placings in Sunday's race. For full details go to www.18footerstv.com/18-promo -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League

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

Rob Greenhalgh Takes The 40th Bloody Mary
Photo by Alex Irwin Photography. Click on image for photo gallery.

40th Bloody Mary Jason Belben crossed the line first but a missed mark hands victory to Greenhalgh

Following a record advance entry the gusting winds and chilly conditions excited more to venture out and a monster 340 boats took to the water. Officially the Virtual Rigger 40th Bloody Mary Pursuit was the largest race since 2000.

The crowds were entertained by great close up sailing action with the start line to the west and a gybe mark set close in shore on the east. The action was accompanied by BBC commentator Malcolm McKeag and included various interviews through out the day including a chat with Andy Rice, organiser of the GJW SailJuice Winter Series, of which this event was the fourth leg.

Sixty different dinghy classes entered and the largest fleet with 31 boats were the Merlin Rockets, followed closely by 30 Toppers and 28 Laser Radials. There were 12 classes with 8 or more entries all qualifying for a class prize.

The Winner of the Bloody Mary was Rob Greenhalgh from Stokes Bay Sailing Club in an International Moth. He walked away with a £250 voucher from event sponsor Virtual Rigger and Vodka and tomato juice for a well deserved 'Bloody Mary' from Thymelords catering team. He was followed home by Andrew Friend of Queen Mary and Peter Barton of Royal Lymington also in Moths. In 4th were Rick Peacock and Nick Murray in a 49er, in 5th was Stuart Jones in a Contender and in 6th was Rob Watson and John Clifton in an RS800.

The first lady helm was Vickki Payne who came 34th overall with Stephanie Orton in a 29er. The Grand Master prize went to John Cooper sailing with Becky Wiggly in an RS400. The first Junior prize went to Rob and Emma Loveridge in a 29er.

The final two events of the GJW Direct Sailjuice Winter Series:

- Steve Nicholson Trophy, Northampton Sailing Club - Saturday 26th January 2013
- John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club - Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd February 2013

www.sailjuiceseries.com

Ocean Safety's Integrated Lifejacket "Premier Kru" At London Boat Show
Ocean Safety At the Tullett Prebon London Boat Show which opens on Saturday Ocean Safety will be highlighting the fact that getting several safety products into one system is the key to having more options when in distress at sea.

The Kru Sport Pro lifejacket, the racer's choice when it comes to a comfortable and barely noticeable low profile design, is fitted with the Kannad R10 AIS Survivor Recovery System and the powerful AQ98 lifejacket light. Together the chances of surviving in the sea plus being located and being recovered all immensely increase the chances of a successful rescue.

The Jonbuoy recovery Module with R10 fitted is another magic combo, where the Jonbuoy Mk5 Recovery Module itself is innovatively equipped with the same Kannad R10 that can accurately locate the person in the water. So that's flotation, recovery, survival, and location, all put into one small approved life saving canister. The combo is highly visible and quick and easy to deploy towards the person in the water.

Visit Ocean Safety on Stand No. C122 at the Tullett Prebon London Boat Show from 12-20 January to view these two winning lifesaving combinations, along with our extensive range of other safety products.

oceansafety.com

Onboard Reporters Wanted For The Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15
Alicante, Spain: The Volvo Ocean Race has launched the search for a team of Onboard Reporters capable of taking the event's unique media programme to the next level.

For the third consecutive edition, each team taking part in sailing's premier offshore race will have on board an embedded multimedia reporter, formerly known as an MCM.

For the 2014-15 edition, each Onboard Reporter must be approved by the Volvo Ocean Race, in a step introduced to make sure all teams make best use of the enhanced media capabilities of the One Design Volvo Ocean 65.

Selected candidates will be required to spend five weeks at the Volvo Ocean Race headquarters in Alicante, Spain for training. Those approved will then be matched up with one of the teams for the pre-Race period plus the event itself.

Interested candidates should send a CV and covering letter to More details can be found at www.volvooceanrace.com

Gold Medallist On Board For MAPFRE Record Bid
Spanish Olympic gold medallist Fernando Echávarri will join the MAPFRE team on board the rebranded Volvo Open 70 sailed by Team Telefonica in the last edition of the Volvo Ocean Race as they attempt to establish a new record for the Christopher Columbus 'Discovery of the Americas' Route.

The MAPRE challenge, which is being spearheaded by Pedro Campos, will start the record attempt from Palos de la Frontera in Huelva, Spain and the route will take them past the Canary Islands and on to San Salvador in the Bahamas.

On the way to the start line, the crew will sail a preliminary 567 nm from Sanxenxo to Palos de la Frontera, making stops in Bayona, Lisbon and Cadiz along the way. At Cadiz, they will wait for optimum weather conditions to attempt the record.

The voyage will take the team 3,150 nm across the Tropic of Cancer, to the island of Guanahaní, founded as San Salvador by Columbus, where the clock will be stopped.

Echávarri won gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 in Tornado class and has plenty of offshore experience too. The 40-year-old was a trimmer on board movistar in the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race and skippered Telefonica Black in 2008-09, meaning he is no stranger to a Volvo Open 70.

Also joining the crew will be Spanish sailors Marcos Iglesias, Gabri de Llano and Juan Pinacho. The rest of the sailing team will be announced shortly.

Running The Rhumblines
Whitsunday school girl Eva Lorenz sailed her way into the Australian record books with a career best result in the 2012-13 Australian Optimist dinghy championship contested on Tasmania's cold and windy River Derwent.

Eva coached by her older brother and former Australian championship Bronze medallist Klaus expressed her talent to finish 9th overall and second female behind West Australian skipper Annabelle Davies.

This was a personal triumph for Eva who always has a smile on her face when she grips the tiller of her dinghy Ce La Faro be it with racing over the Whitsunday Sailing Club course on the warm tropical waters off tropical Airlie Beach or expressing her skill and determination to protect her sailing space in major regattas on unfamiliar courses.

She has produced her best results in boisterous wind and sea conditions and generally the harder the wind blows the better she likes it.

There has never been any evidence of a fear factor even when she was learning the ropes and subjected to recovering from spectacular broach induced wipe outs.

Quitting has never been an option for the ultra skipper even when light physique is subjected to a test of torture.

Her unique never say die style attitude was rewarded in the colder sailing environment on Hobart's Sandy Bay when consistent sailing in what proved to be a supreme test of combined stamina and individual tactical racing skill enabled the happy Whitsunday sailor to be among the star performers in the championship which attracted 130 entries from New Zealand and all Australian States.

The mentally relaxed Eva who has a strong belief that sailing should always be fun spent some long energy testing times in the hiking straps to show she was ready to achieve a personal best in the five day 14 race championship.

As expected her championship score card progressively improved after finishing 20th in the first race.

She then had the snub-nose bow of Ce La Faro pointing in the right direction to achieve the required results to be now recognised as the second best female skipper in the Nation.

The deserved honour now allows Eva to proudly return to school later this month to share the experience with her class mates. -- Ian Grant

Burling Wins 2013 Australian Moth Champs
New Zealand's Peter Burling has won the 2013 Australian Moth Championships Regatta held over the last week at the Wangi RSL Sailing Club, north of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.

Racing in the 15 race series staged over six days, Burling dominated the fleet winning no less than ten of those races. He only finished outside the top six in just one race and concluded the regatta 14 points clear of second place-getter Scott Babbage. Reigning world champion in the Moth Joshua McKnight finished third.

While not a World Championship Regatta the fleet in Wangi, which totalled nearly 70 boats, was entirely world class and included; Joshua McKnight (2012 Moth World Champion, AUS), Tom Slingsby (2012 Olympic Laser Champion, AUS), Nathan Outteridge (2012 Olympic 49er Champion helm, AUS) and Iain Jensen (2012 Olympic 49er Champion crew, AUS) to name a few.

Top ten final results:
1. Pete Burling, 21 points
2. Scott Babbage, 35
3. Josh McKnight, 60
4. Joe Turner, 66
5. Tom Slingsby, 69

Daily reports: www.wangirslasc.yachting.org.au/

Full results:
www.yachting.org.au

www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=105529

Harsco Infrastructure 12ft Skiff Interdominion Championship
The 12ft Skiff Interdominion Championship 2013 came to a dramatic finish with the first three boats crossing the finish line in a span of eight seconds. At the end, Gemmell captured the overall championship to make it four titles in a row for Nick Press.

A fitting lumpy third rig for the last race and whilst the competition was strong, the arms were getting weak. Another general recall started the day and Variety suffered under the black flag, despite their strong performance and a capsize around the last windward mark. The gate course was causing havoc for a few with Giddy Up blocking the way for a long while, but it was great for spectating as the boats could get in nice and close to the action.

From Sail-World.com
www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=105551

brisbane18footers.com/53rd-12ft-skiff-interdominions-2013/

Tomes Cup 2013 - Presented By Leica
Click on image for photo gallery.

Tomes Cup Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club: Tradition dictates that the first major event of the year for RHKYC is the Tomes Cup pursuit race, which forms a constituent part of the Club's annual Top Dog Trophy Series and promises to blow out any post-festivity cobwebs at the same time as getting the sailors back out on the water.

Presented by Leica, the race is held in the eastern area of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour, taking in Tai Koo Shing, Kowloon Bay and Hung Hom in the course of the race. A chilly, grey Hong Kong afternoon was not enough to dampen the enthusiasm of the 64 competitors signed on which included 14 Flying Fifteens, 12 Etchells and 11 Big Boats.

In a breeze which morphed from a 6kt easterly to a 12kt westerly during the race, Race Officer Gareth Williams selected course six, allowing plenty of alternatives for course shortening to meet the target finish time of 1630hrs.

With the slowest boats starting first, the fleet spent the afternoon playing 'catch up', with the higher rated boats gradually working their way up through the fleet. Approaching the target time, Etchells Swedish Blue was holding off Easy Tiger and J/80 Footloose, with big boats Ambush and Peninsula Signal 8 making ground all the time. The RO sounded the finish gun at 1626hrs, with Swedish Blue maintaining her lead to take first place and lift the Tomes Cup (first awarded in 1880 as the 'Sugar Refiners Cup'). -- Koko Mueller

www.rhkyc.org.hk

A New Generation Of Ocean Racers
Forty-five years since he embarked on his record breaking attempt to become the first man to sail solo non-stop around the world, legendary yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston will reveal the latest phase in the development of his famous Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in London today (Friday). He is at St Katharine Docks near Tower Bridge to unveil the Clipper 70, the first of a new fleet of global racing yachts which will allow hundreds of ordinary people to participate in an extraordinary adventure: circumnavigating the planet in the world's longest ocean race.

In 1995 Sir Robin launched the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race with the vision of enabling ordinary people from all walks of life to experience ocean racing, with the option to either complete a full circumnavigation or to compete in one or more legs. Today the Clipper Race remains the only global ocean race open to amateur participants.

The arrival of the new fleet marks another leap forward in the growth of the phenomenally successful Clipper Race. Having originally commissioned a fleet of eight 60-foot yachts in 1996, the concept proved so successful that in 2005 a new fleet of ten Clipper 68s came into service, clocking up four circumnavigations.

The first of the Clipper 70s will be at St Katharine Docks in London until Sunday 20 January and is open to the public who want to get a taste of how Clipper Race crew will be living during their year-long adventure. Clipper Race staff will be on hand to answer questions about the new yacht, the Clipper Race and how to take part.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

For The Record
The WSSR Council announces the the establishment of 2 new World Records.

Record: 60 ft Monohull and Singlehanded Monohull; 24 Hour Distance Records. Established during the 2012/13 Vendee Globe

Yacht: "Macif"
Name: Francois Gabart. FRA
Dates: 9th/10th December 2012 At 1300 hrs on both days.
Start position: 40° 59.00' 42 - 059° 44.00' 45
Finish position: 41° 38.00' 27 - 071° 34.00' 13
Distance: 534.48 NM
Average speed: 22.27 kts

Comments:
Current records:
Monohull singlehanded. 2003. Alex Thompson GBR. 468.72NM.
Monohull 60ft. 2011. Jean Pierre Dick, FRA. 506.33NM

sailspeedrecords.com

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 1992 Marten Marine Sailing Yacht. US$ 599,000. Located in Nassau, Bahamas.

Built for the 1992 America's Cup by Team New Zealand. NZL 10 & NZL 12 are Generation One International America's Cup Class (IACC) yachts.

Brokerage through International Yacht Collection: www.yachtworld.com/internationalyacht/

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

The Last Word
You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer. -- Frank Zappa

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