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Guest Editorial: Fundamental Problems with ISAF-Laser Solutions
For 40 years PSA has been focusing on building good boats, in strict accordance with the Laser Construction Manual (LCM) and supporting the Class and its sailors. PSA is recognised as the most reputable and reliable Laser builder in the world.

PSA would like to continue this proud heritage in the manufacture of the Kirby designed boat.

PSA is not in breach of any of our agreements with Kirby, ILCA or ISAF and have been paying our royalties and dues to the designer Kirby, ILCA and ISAF in full.

PSA fails to understand why any Laser builder would knowingly breach their agreements with the designer, ISAF or the ILCA. PSA does not support such activity and renounces such behaviour vehemently.

As a current compliant builder of Laser boats, and an owner of the Laser Trade Mark, PSA has not been consulted by the ILCA or ISAF with respect to their proposal to keep issuing plaques to a boat building company that has failed to comply with their Laser builders contract and has lost the right to build the Kirby Designed boat. (As the Laser is referred to in the LCM.)

PSA does not support this action by the ILCA and ISAF, which is in contravention of the LCM.

Any changes to the LCM (including changes to the plaques) requires approval of all the signatories, these include Bruce Kirby Inc. and PSA. Without those signatures any boats built are not Class legal boats.

For ILCA and ISAF to attempt to change the rules regarding the manufacture of the Kirby designed boat (currently called a Laser) without due process and consideration of all stakeholders is contrary to the principles of our Class.

It is against the sailors best interests, the best interest of the builders who do comply with their contracts and support the Class at Olympic, World, Regional and National level, in fact the very future of the Class within ISAF and the Olympics.

Message for Sailors and ISAF Member Nations

PSA would urge all sailors and ISAF Member Nations to support designers and authorised builders across all classes of sailing by acknowledging the invaluable role they play within our sport in creating and developing the equipment necessary for us to go sailing at whatever level we choose.

It is up to the sailors to make their elected officials accountable for their actions and to ensure the system and the rules which have been developed over many decades, and have served the sport of sailing well, are respected in order to protect the very future of our sport.

Chris Caldecoat
General Manager
Performance Sailcraft Australia

Countdown To Wilson Trophy Begins
At 12 noon on Friday, all eyes will turn to West Kirby's Marine Lake to see if home team and current Team Racing World Champions, West Kirby Hawks, can defend their 2012 Wilson win against 200 other top sailors, amongst them, 2012 Olympic 470 silver medallists, Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell.

With 34 top teams from across the UK, Ireland and the USA, the calibre of the competition is in no doubt. Some 300 races are scheduled for the weekend; with 8am start times, the club's volunteer organisers are hoping to complete around 24 hours of racing.

Having made the final play-off for the last four years running, and having won the Trophy on two of those occasions, hopes are high amongst the West Kirby Hawks.

Now in its 64th year, the Wilson Trophy is credited with being not only the largest event of its kind in the world, but also the toughest.

Fronting the British Sailing Team are 2012 Olympic 470 silver medallists, Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell, who have teamed up with multiple national champion and past Endeavour Trophy winner, Christian Birrell. All three helms are relatively new to the team racing scene, but are looking forward to cutting their teeth at the world's premier team racing event.

The Wilson Trophy is sailed in a Swiss League format, ensuring that racing remains tight for all teams throughout the qualifying rounds on Friday, Saturday and early Sunday. Crowds of spectators are expected to pack West Kirby's lake wall in their thousands, taking advantage of free grandstand seating and live commentary, not to mention the chance to see two of Britain's Olympic heroes in action sailing just metres from the lake wall.

The final rounds are scheduled to take place on Sunday from 2pm, when the action reaches its climax, with the top eight of 34 teams entering a play off for the all-important final match.

afloat.ie/sail/team-racing/

SAP 5O5 Worlds
Morten Bogacki didn't want anything to do with being the appointed "rabbit," also known as the pathfinder, to set the start for race six of the SAP 505 World Championship. He figured the role consigned him to oblivion in the standings. But then, when he won the race, it was amazing how far he and crewman Lars Dehne had come around to warm and fuzzy feelings about this bunny business.

Turning to race six, brothers Jorgen and Jacob Bojsen-Moller got past their troubles of race five (they hit one of the marks of the race and lost places) and proved to themselves that their retuned rig - allowing the sails to set with a slightly deeper shape - accomplished the mission of making them fast upwind as well as down. The brothers from Denmark ran away with that race and rose to sixth in the standings, but Jorgen said, "I think the 2013 world champion is going to be a German, not a Dane."

One race is scheduled for Thursday, but one race was lost to weather on Monday. The race committee operating out of host Barbados Yacht Club has the option of making up that race on Thursday, if conditions warrant.

Top five after six races:

1. Stefan Boehm / Gerald Roos, GER
2. Wolfgang Hunger / Holger Jess, GER
3. Mike Holt / Carl Smit, USA
4. Class Lehmann / Leon Oehme, GER
5. Morten Bogacki / Lars Dehne, GER

www.sap505worlds.com

The Gill Race Collection - The Most Innovative, Highest Performing Race Gear Available Today
The Gill Race Collection is the most innovative, highest performing race gear available, and includes one of the lightest performance sailing jackets ever made. In product development the team were given a simple brief, to design the best lightweight Race Gear for sailing,

Designed specifically for racing in warmer climates, the Race Collection focusses on the specific protection requirements in these conditions, which feature three key areas: Lightest possible weight waterproofs, Softshell for an extra layer when required and next-to-skin t-shirts, shorts and accessories that often see the highest use in these conditions. Each product has earned its place in the collection and the same attention to detail has been applied to each piece. All styles are extremely lightweight, breathable and have a UV protection factor of 50+- the best there is.

The Gill Race Collection really is the ultimate in lightweight performance sailing kit.

See the Race Collection in action here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZcY3Uh_2GQ

Shop the Race Collection at gillmarine.com:
www.gillmarine.com/gb/browse/race-collection

Tricky In Trapani
The second event of the RC44 Championship Tour has arrived at another new venue, Trapani on the west coast of Sicily. The opening day was a little unpridicatble with wind shifts that caused major headaches for Race Officer, Peter 'Luigi' Reggio on the sole match race day of the RC44 Trapani Cup. The 13 team's still got six flights completed before the wind finally departed, and one team dominated.

Many of the owners used to leave the RC44 match racing day to the pros, but in recent events there has been a move to the owners driving the match race day along with the compulsory fleet racing.

Katusha are now three points ahead of second placed Team Aqua. Owner Chris Bake was at the helm today, finishing with four wins and just one loss, a score-line matched by John Bassadone at the helm of Peninsula Petroleum.

Some new faces have joined the RC44 Championship Tour in Trapani including Ian Williams, four times World Match Race Champion, as tactician with Brian Benjamin's Aegir Racing.

‎The fleet racing gets underway at 12.00 (CET) Thursday 2nd May, follow all the action via the live tracking and race blog at www.rc44.com.

Match Race Results

1. Katusha, 10 points
2. Team Aqua, 7
3. Aleph Racing, 6
4. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 6
5. Artemis Racing, 6
6. Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team, 6
7. RC44 Team CEEREF, 5
8. Aegir Racing, 5
9. Team Italia, 3
10. RUS7 Sail Racing Team, 3
11. Team Nika, 2
12. MAG Racing, 2
13. Ironbound, 0

rc44.com

Kuehne + Nagel 2013 International Moth European Championship
Click on image to enlarge.

The English crews flexed their muscles today and have placed 4 athletes in the top 5 positions, followed by the Swiss in terms of speed and consistency : the first Italian is Stefano Rizzi at eleventh.

Two valid races, one canceled, with unstable conditioons. Winds in the morning from the south at 12-14 knots , even though during the first leg it rotated 90 degrees to the west with lulls on both sides of the race course.

The second test is a triumph of wind shifts and changes in intensity, the wind falls during the third lap and the jury cancelled the race.

In the afternoon another race start and in a similar manner to the morning, although less conspicuous, the wind is really unstable. A reinforcement allows to stabilize at least the third round and the race is valid for the championship.

Top five

1. Chris Rasley, UK
2. Michael Lennon, UK
3. Ben Paton, UK
4. Tom Offer, UK
5. Matthias Renker, SUI

www.moth.it/european2013/
www.circolovelicomarsala.com

"We Can't Wait To Come Back To Sanya"
Volvo Ocean Race COO Tom Touber officially welcomed Sanya back to the race for the 2014-15 edition at a signing ceremony in Shanghai this weekend, praising the Chinese city as a great tropical destination.

"China has earned its presence in the race" - Tom Touber

"It is a great pleasure to officially sign the stopover agreement with Sanya, a great tropical destination," said Touber at the Serenity Club news conference in Shanghai, China on Sunday.

"After the great success in 2012 we are very happy to return to the Serenity Marina. We can hardly wait for the next race to start in October 2014 in Spain and arrive in January 2015 in Sanya."

"The traditional route has changed," Touber said "Since 2008 China has earned its presence in the race. Last year these fast monohulls arrived in Sanya, and we could all see what a great spectacle it was. Hundreds of thousands of visitors were able to have a look at the boats and enjoy the Serenity Marina village."

www.volvooceanrace.com

Plymouth Prepares To Welcome Route Des Princes Yacht Race
Plymouth has been included as a stopover in a new 3,045-mile transatlantic yacht race, this summer.

Route des Princes will see yachts - measuring at least 50 ft (15m) long - race between France, Spain, Portugal, the UK and Ireland.

A giant 80 ft (24m) "maxi yacht" will be among the "10 enormous multi-hulls" that will stop over in Plymouth, say the race organisers.

The event will begin on 9 June and will reach Plymouth between June 26 - 29.

According to a study conducted by Social, Economic and Market Research at Plymouth University, the America's Cup yacht racing event last February brought in £9.1m for Plymouth's economy. -- BBC

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-22366166

Event site: routedesprinces.com

William Koch Faces False-Imprisonment Suit
William Koch, a yachtsman who won the America's Cup in 1992, lost a bid to dismiss a lawsuit by a former Oxbow Carbon & Minerals executive who alleges the billionaire held him captive at his Colorado ranch.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco said that while Kirby Martensen doesn't allege in his complaint that Koch "directly participated in the false imprisonment, he includes facts that support an inference that the persons who did" were acting as Koch's agents.

Martensen alleges he was held captive at Koch's Bear Ranch in Gunnison County last year after the billionaire discovered his concerns about what he says was a plan to avoid U.S. taxes on $200 million in profit. -- Bloomberg news

www.denverpost.com/business/

Marion Bermuda Revises Preliminary NOR, Issues Si's
A rare spinnaker start in the Marion to Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race. Photo by Fran Grenon / Spectrum Photo. Click on image to enlarge.

Marion, Massachusetts, USA: The preliminary Notice of Race (NoR) for the 2013 Marion to Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race has been revised and the Sailing Instructions (SI) dated April 26, 2013 have been approved and posted on the website www.marionbermuda.com . 

The most recent version of the Notice of Race is dated April 24, 2013. In this NoR revision, the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) edition governing the race are updated from RRS 2009-2012 to RRS 2013-2016 and the first warning signal for the June 14th start in Buzzard's Bay off Marion, MA is changed from 1130 to 1200 EDT.

The Sailing Instructions contain a number of changes from the 2011 version. Skippers and crew should read the 2013 race documents very carefully to make sure they are on the same page as the race committee.

When asked if there are changes in the SI's from the 2011 race, George Gardner, who is the Executive Committee member in charge of Race Operations, replied, "In the main the 2013 SIs are very nearly the same as the 2011. However, there are quite a number of small changes because of the new divisions. For example there is a small change in starting times and several references to the RRS have changed. The course stays the same."

All participants and friends of the Marion Bermuda Race are reminded that the official Marion Bermuda Race Book is online in pdf format for all to enjoy. Click the cover image on website landing page or go to www.marionbermuda.com/archive/2013/racebook.pdf . The race book's 98 pages contain entertaining race stories, guides to the Marion area and Bermuda's sunny isles, tips on sailing this traditional ocean race, a preliminary land-event schedule and the preliminary Notice of Race (which has now been revised online). -- Talbot Wilson

Hunt For Missing Dutch Sailing Ship Moves To Norway
The Norwegian coastguard have taken over the hunt for a missing Dutch sailing ship which has vanished with a crew of three on board.

The Warnow was apparently heading for Norway from Scotland and should have arrived on April 22 but nothing has been heard from the ship for two weeks.

Norwegian coastguards are using helicopters with special sensors in an effort to locate the ship. Officials in Sweden, Denmark and Germany have also been warned to be on the alert for internet signals, Dutch media reported.

A spokesman for the Dutch coastguard said the final destination of the ship is unknown and it was believed to be heading for the Northern Lights.

www.dutchnews.nl/news/

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

Record: Around the World Singlehanded. 40ft Division.
Yacht: Qing Dao. 40 ft Monohull.
Name:  Guo Chuan. CHN
Dates:. 18th November 2012 to the 4th April 2013.
Start time: 03; 57; 09 UTC on 18/11/12
Finish time: 23;59;06 UTC on the 04/04/13
Elapsed time: 137 days 20 hours 01 minutes 57 seconds

Comments: Benchmark: Alain Maignan FRA. 2007. 185d 22h 52m 52s.

Additional information:  Mr Guo Chuan is the first Chinese sailor to have sailed singlehandedly Around the World.

John Reed
Secretary to the WSSR Council

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The Last Word
Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness. -- Allen Ginsberg

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