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Germany Pulls Out Of The Youth America's Cup
Text of the statement from the German Sailing Team (in German) here: segelreporter.com/regatta/

Anne Hinton at SailRaceWin has that text also, and this comment in English:

The German Sailing Team's withdrawal of its Youth Team from the Red Bull Youth America's Cup, after having raised expectations in the selected youth sailors that they would compete, is a derisory decision in our opinion. It also sends a highly detrimental and negative signal to all youth sailors in Germany; a generation would should be encouraged and supported into the sport.

The safety issue is not relevant here; many AC45s have capsized and there have been no significant issues. (We suspect that the load distributions following the capsize of an AC72 with its taller rig leads to failure of the wingsail and hence the issues there.)

We believe that Bart Simpson would have wanted the team to compete in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup, and we encourage Sailing Team Germany to look again at their decision and find the necessary funds for Germany's youth sailors, selected for that honour, to represent their country at the Red Bull Youth America's Cup in San Francisco this summer. Take a look at the initiatives from other countries - a sponsor in France for Next World Energy, or a fund raising campaign online in New Zealand ( www.thrillpledge.com ), for example.

sailracewin.blogspot.fr

Event: www.americascup.com

Melges 32 Audi Sailing Series Porto Ercole Edition
Photo by Carlo Borlenghi / BPSE. Click on image for photo gallery.

Porto Ercole, Italy: Taking advantage of great weather conditions, the Race Committee in Porto Ercole issued three more races to complete the second leg of the 2013 Melges 32 Audi Sailing Series. A very special thanks to the excellent work and hospitality offered by Circolo Nautico e della Vela dell'Argentario, as with a final tally of eight races, the event celebrates the grand success of Lanfranco Cirillo on Fantastica with tactician Michele Paoletti and crew comprised of Daniele De Luca, Claudio Celon, Riamondo Tonelli, Eros Paghera, Enrico Verdinelli and Enrico Turrini as Porto Ercole Champions.

Cirillo's single-digit scoreline, including a bullet in Race One of the series can be attributed to his victory. Paoletti called an almost perfect regatta as the especially light and tricky air were, from a tactical standpoint, very challenging.

It is with Pozzi's amazing finish in Porto Ercole that he proudly leads the overall Series Ranking after two events. Lupi follows in second, then Cirillo in third.

The next events are Portoferraio (Event No. 3 on 31 May-2 June), and Torbole (Event No. 4 on 12-14 July). The final event will be the 2013 Melges 32 World Championship on 18-22 September in Porto Rotondo, Italy.

Top Ten Results (Final - After Eight Races)

1. Lanfranco Cirillo/Michele Paoletti, Fantastica, 36 points
2. Edoardo Lupi/Pietro Sibello, Torpyone, 42
3. Andrea Pozzi/Lorenzo Bressani, Bombarda, 44
4. Filippo Pacinotti/Nathan Wilmot, Brontolo HH, 49
5. Edoardo Pavesio/Chris Rast, FRA MARTINA, 50
6. Roberto Tomasini Grinover/Vasco Vascotto, Robertissima 1, 56
7. Marc de Antonio/Gustavo Martinez Doreste, Bribon-Movistar, 56
8. Yukihiro Ishida/Richard Clarke, Yasha Samurai, 57
9. Richard Goransson/Hamish Pepper, Helly Hansen Inga From Sweden, 58
10. Deneen Demourkas/Mark Mendelblatt, Groovederci, 58

Full Results (PDF) melges32.com

Adria Ferries Orci World Championship: 100 Entries
Organizers for the 2013 Adria Ferries ORC International World Championship have published the list of entries who will compete at the event held in Ancona, Italy over 21-29 June 2013.

To maintain the highest possible standards for the event, organizers have put limits on the number of entries eligible to race, so there are now 100 confirmed entries and 22 yachts on the waiting list.

In accordance with Section 6 of the Notice of Race and subsequent amendments and announcements, this waiting list is composed of boats that have submitted their entries after the 30 April deadline, those that have not yet completed their registration formalities, and others whose resumes are being examined by the Technical Committee.

There are entries already from 15 countries on three continents, yet the Organizing Committee wishes to entice even more foreign entries and crews to further improve the large international presence at this event. Some incentive plans for this are currently under discussion, but overall the organizing authority is pleased with the strong turnout.

Teams on the waiting list can check progress on the approval process by contacting the organization at

www.orc.org

UK Mini Fastnet 6.50
After setting off on the 561 mile UK Mini Fastnet 6.50 on Sunday 12th May, Artemis Offshore Academy Mini sailing duo Nikki Curwen and Lizzy Foreman are this morning [Monday 13th May] back on dry land after a broken tiller caused them to retire after 12 hours of racing.

"We were putting a reef in the main sail and the rope got caught around the tiller," Nikki recalled. "Perhaps this weakened the carbon tube, as about an hour later the tiller snapped before the joint. We taped and lashed it back together as best we could and continued sailing for about an hour and a half. The closer to we got to the big winds and large seas of the Irish Sea, the more dubious I became about our tiller repair holding out. I was worried that we may have needed some kind of outside assistance if we continued, so prudent seamanship decisions took over and we decided to retire back to Plymouth. It would have been crazy to risk this Autumn's Mini Transat unnecessarily.

It is obviously very disappointing to have had to turn back, especially as we had done the hard bit, a storming power reach in 20 knots off Lands End, already. The race had been really pleasant up until that point, even with the strong upwind conditions, which are not ideal Mini sailing conditions."

Artemis 438 is the third of four Minis to have retired from the race in less than 24 hours, with British skipper Tom Webb [Yellowfin] having dislocated his knee, French Proto Chache retiring due to sail damage and this morning a fourth Mini, Pannacota, retired from the race. The reason why is still unknown.

The UK Mini Fastnet 6.50 started from the Royal Western Yacht Club, Plymouth yesterday at 12:00pm, with the course taking the now remaining 13 Mini's and their double-handed crews to Fastnet Rock and back again via the Coningbeg Light Vessel mark.

Event: www.rwyc.org/uk-mini-fastnet-6-50-2012/
Tracking: yb.tl/minifastnet2013
Artemis Academy: www.artemisoffshoreacademy.com

Gazprom Swan 60 Class Circuit
Gazprom Swan 60 Class Fleet. Photo by onEdition. Click on image to enlarge.

The inaugural Gazprom Swan 60 Class racing season is about to get underway, with the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta in Scheveningen, the first official event of the 2013 circuit.

The largest sailing event on the North Sea, the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta take place from 7th - 20th May and opens with a 110 nautical mile race from Scheveningen to Harwich.

Five Swan 60s are entered in the first event on the Gazprom Swan 60 Class Circuit: Bronenosec, Spirit of Europe, SGM, Petite Flamme and Tsaar Peter. These Swan 60s first competed against one another in October 2012 during the first Nord Stream Race, with Swan 60 Bronenosec claiming victory in their win.

Once the North Sea Regatta has concluded, the Swan 60s will continue the 2013 Gazprom Swan 60 Class Circuit with three further events planned for the year. The next time the Swan 60s meet will be during the inaugural Gazprom Swan 60 World Championships, during the Gazprom Swan European Regatta from 13-19 July in Cowes. Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week follows and the Circuit will conclude with the Nord Stream Race in September.

Royal Southern Yacht Club's Summer Series May Regatta
Tokoloshe chases Magical Mystery Tour in IRC1 during the May Summer Series Regatta. Photo by Phil Riley. Click on image to enlarge.

Hamble, Hampshire, UK: Capping a class-winning racing performance with a piece of impressive, no-nonsense seamanship in rescuing an MOB from another boat counts as a pretty good day on the water.

Adam Munday is in the process of applying for Academy membership at the Royal Southern Yacht Club. On the basis of his performance in the Club's May Regatta, the first in their annual Summer Series, it's not unreasonable to think he may be a shoo-in.

In Saturday's racing, run by the Royal Southampton Yacht Club and incorporating its prestigious Clarkson Cup Regatta, Adam posted three bullets in IRC3 as skipper of the J97 Induljence. Then in Sunday's first race, the 20 year-old and his crew were, thankfully, in the right place at the right time.

'We were slightly behind Jeopardy 2 and they Chinese gybed,' said Adam. 'We spotted someone in the water. We were in the right place and we could see Jeopardy was in a bit of trouble trying to retrieve their kite so we dropped ours and went back upwind to her. I think she was in the water for about five minutes. The crew behaved really well and it all went quite smoothly,' he added.

Conditions at the time of the incident were typical of the regatta on each day, a building breeze and an increasingly lumpy sea, particularly when tide turned against westerly wind in the course of racing, with Stephen Bromley's A31 Aneetdjinn dismasting in testing conditions on Saturday.

Jeopardy 2's female crew was transferred back to her yacht by the Southern's mark-laying RIB Sir Michael, seemingly none the worse for her experience in water as apparently it was 'not as cold as she'd expected'.

Induljence received redress for her rescue and, with a further win in the last race, took IRC3 ahead of David Greenhalgh's J92 J'Ronimo and Andy Howe's J92S Blackjack. -- Phil Riley

www.royal-southern.co.uk

Guinness On Wight at Keble College's May Ball
Oxford, England: The sun came out, a rainbow appeared, and the Keble College revelers happily poured into the Wight Vodka tent during the Keble Ball.

"The Wight Tent was a massive success!" said Dan Guinness, one of the energetic leaders of this year's Keble College Ball. "As our 1,000+ guests arrived, we started everyone off with Wight Raspberry and Lemon Drops - ice cold Wight Vodka served with a fresh raspberry, a lemon and a sugar-rimmed shot glass. These went down tremendously, and looked great!"

Guinness continued, "The bar was set up as a Wight Wonderland - white decor with fairy lights, plenty of space for people to meet up and chat with their friends. One corner of the room was the bar itself, a semi-circular LED bar which served the delicious cocktails. The bartenders were awesome, serving up so many great drinks. We kept the Wight ice cold all night. One of the favourites was the Guava and Mango Wight martini; this was a total hit."

Ritu Manocha, owner of the Wight Vodka brand, was glad to be part of this year's May Ball in Oxford. "Working with Dan and his team was fantastic. The bartending team developed some fantastic cocktails and the party-goers certainly had a fantastic time. So glad to be part of the Keble Ball. I think we're becoming a bit of a tradition in Oxford!"

www.wightvodka.com

Tack & Gybe Responsibly.

RYA Eric Twiname Championships
Photo by Paul Wyeth / RYA. Click on image to enlarge.

It was the RYA South West Zone who walked away basking in the winners glory as day two of the 2013 RYA Eric Twiname Championships came to a close on Rutland Water on Sunday 12 May.

Having endured fickle winds, strong gusts and driving rain on day one of the regatta yesterday, the concluding day of the championships brought with it far more favourable conditions for the 268 competitors at the event, with spells of sunshine and an average 12-14 knots. As a result the days full complement of three races took place allowing for some swapping of places at the top of the fleets and the RYA South West Zone to emerge as the 2013 RYA Eric Twiname Champions.

Whilst the RYA South West clinched the prestigious Eric Twiname Shield, the RYA South Zone won the Eric Twiname Dinghy Trophy, awarded to the Zone performing best from the top two dinghy classes out of the three, while the South East Zone clinched the Eric Twiname Windsurfing Trophy out of the grasp of last year's winner the North Zone, awarded to the Zone scoring best from two of the four windsurfing classes.

Thanks to the long-standing and on-going support of the Eric Twiname Trust, the event is free to enter with all of the costs associated with the running of the regatta met by the RYA and the Trust.

For the full set of results from each class and for more information on the RYA Eric Twiname Championships please visit the event website at www.ryaracingevents.org.uk

Teams Are Unveiled For Clipper 13-14 Round The World Yacht Race
Click on image to enlarge.

Hundreds of crew members from all over the world united this weekend to discover which of the twelve professional skippers they will be racing with in the 2013-14 edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Over 400 of the 650 crew members taking part in the Clipper 13-14 Race, the largest crew ever assembled for the biennial event, attended the Crew Allocation ceremony at Portsmouth Guildhall where they met their new team mates for the first time and discovered which skipper had been chosen to lead their team around the globe.

Crew members came from as far afield as Australia, China, North America and South Africa, as well as from across the UK, for the highly anticipated Crew Allocation Day. For many, this is where the reality of their participation in the event begins to kick in for the amateur crew who have already been in training for many months.

Sylvia Chahonyo, 38, the first Kenyan woman to ever take part in the race, flew in from Johannesburg, South Africa eager to find out which of the professional skippers she will be racing with, and to meet her equally excited team members for the first time.

"It's been a fantastic experience, meeting people from so many different countries with varying levels of sailing experience and skills. My team is really excited to have Richard Gould as our skipper, he is already putting in so much work to make sure we all work hard and bond quickly as a team."

The Clipper Race is the world's longest at 40,000 miles and takes almost a year to visit 14 ports on six continents. It was established by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in 1996, who became the first person to sail solo, non-stop, around the world in 1968-9.

The 650 crew will be the first to compete on the newly commissioned matched fleet of twelve Clipper 70 ocean racing yachts. The ninth and largest edition of the race will start on Sunday, 1 September 2013.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

Royal Yacht Squadron Bicentennial Regatta In 2015
In 2015 the Royal Yacht Squadron, founded in 1815, will achieve its bicentenary. The Club will mark the milestone with a calendar of celebrations for Members taking place throughout the year at the Castle, its historic home in Cowes, and in London and overseas.

The focus of the racing programme will be the RYS International Bicentennial Regatta which will take place in the Solent on the 25th - 31st July 2015. Held two weeks before the annual Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week regatta, the Club will be opening its doors to international friends. Invitations to participate have now gone out to clubs around the world.

The regatta will provisionally be open to IRC classes and an international one design fleet. There will also be match racing plus two-boat team racing in the Club's J80s. The one design fleet will be an evenly matched class which will be sailed by a corinthian crew to include at least one under 25 year old.

The regatta celebrations will follow on from the Transatlantic Race ( www.transatlanticrace.org ) which in 2015 is being run again by the New York Yacht Club, the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Storm Trysail Club. The timing is designed to allow boats to get from Newport RI to Cowes for the Bicentennial Regatta Week, which will be followed by Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week and the Rolex Fastnet Race.

At Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, Tuesday's and Wednesday's race days, which are traditionally hosted by the RYS, will be a Bicentennial Regatta for Solent Classes with special prizes to mark the occasion.

www.rys.org.uk

Letters To The Editor -
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* From Jonathan Crinion: Re: Americas Cup foiling cats:

It seems to me that while planing above the water on foils, if the narrow AC bows touch the water or hit a swell at speed the hull buoyancy to speed relationship will be exceeded and the momentum of the large wing structure will predictably topple the cat. No allowance for changing sea state is made in the hull design. Note how the hulls of sea planes and Alain Thebault's Hydroptere, which have been through this learning curve, are designed to plane over the water at speed rather than dig in. Compare the AC hulls with those of Hydroptere and also its distance from the sea state. Would this add to safety?

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The Last Word
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