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A Time To Gybe?
Into their first full day at sea on Leg 1 from Bordeaux to Porto the Figaro Solitaire du Figaro Eric Bompard Cachemire fleet has made its way across the Bay of Biscay in pleasant, amenable conditions. The 41 boats have been making solid average speeds under spinnaker waiting for the breeze to get stronger and veer East as the fleet closes in to the Spanish coast.

Later today and tonight the skippers will start feeling the adrenaline build as they approach Cap Finisterre, where the breeze is expected to reach 30 knots and conditions could prove pretty testing. Defending 2012 champion Yann Elies (Groupe Queguiner-Leucemie espoir) has taken the provisional lead, but very tricky tactical choices lie ahead.

With the breeze getting stronger and Cap Ortega getting nearer, it looks like that it was the more southern route that paid best, with Yann Elies (Groupe Queguiner-Leucemie espoir) leading at the mid-morning position report. After getting out of the Gironde the fleet split and the some skippers chose a broad reach with the big spinnaker, as in Elies' case, others opted for a more direct route.

The weather forecast for tonight off Cap Ortega is for 30 plus knots and the skippers will have to be particularly wary and careful.

It's been a positive first night at sea for the seven sailors strong Anglo-Saxon contingent. According to the position report issued at 11am CEST, best placed UK skipper is Southampton's Ed Hill (Artemis 37) in 16th overall position and leading the very competitive rookies category.

Top ten, 3 June 19:00:00 CEST

1. Banque Populaire, Armel Le Cleac'h, 301.34 nm to leg finish
2. Groupe Queguiner - Leucemie Espoir, Yann Elies, 0.06 nm to leader
3. Seixo Habitat, Julien Villion, 1.35
4. TBS, Michel Desjoyeaux, 2.04
5. DLBC, Yoann Richomme, 2.33
6. Skipper Macif 201, Paul Meilhat, 2.41
7. Maitre Coq, Jeremie Beyou, 2.43
8. Sepalumic, Frederic Duthil, 2.48
9. Skipper Macif 2012, Fabien Delahaye, 2.66
10. Prati'buches, Vincent Biarnes, 2.71
11. Agir Recouvrement, Adrien Hardy, 2.74

www.lasolitaire.com

Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
Last month's winner:

Sir Keith Mills (GBR)
‘Keith Mills is a legend for what he has done to support British yachting… and he is a thoroughly nice chap as well!’ - Sophie Luther; ‘Loves his sailing and does a great deal to support others in the sport’ - Rob Greenhalgh; ‘A tough choice, please make it easier next month!’ - Bruce Masters; ‘It’s great to see Keith himself out on the water again as well as those he supports’ - Ian Moore; ‘Sailing needs more people like Keith Mills’ - Tim Hedges; ‘A good choice, one of the quiet men behind British sailing’ - Mike Coyne.

This month's nominees:

Johnny Heineken (USA)
‘My sailing background is one of my most valuable assets’. So says the world’s dominant force in kiteboarding who before switching disciplines finished top five in both the 29er worlds and the USA 49er Olympic selection trials. Kiteboarding world champion in both 2011 and 2012, this Rolex US Yachtsman of the Year won no fewer than 10 of the 12 races at last year’s windy championship in Germany

Andrew Mills (GBR)
The British Finn squad really is something of a phenomenon. Britain’s previous Finn Gold Cup winner Giles Scott went into the last medal race day at Hyères leading the 2013 series by a comfortable margin, only to be overwhelmed with a brilliant final flourish by his teammate Mills, for whom this is the first major international title. All the usual suspects are working hard to knock GBR off their perch but there’s a way to go

Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Harken McLube, Dubarry & Musto. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable!

Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at
seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month

UV Protective Clothing By Marinepool - Tec Line With Protection Factor 50
Marinepool is renown for high-quality and innovative sailing clothing using only the best materials and state of the art production technologies. Indeed, no detail is omitted to ensure every product is optimized before it reaches the market.

The new Marinepool Tec-Line presents not only highest functionality in terms of movability, light weight, waterproofness and wind resistance but also protection against harmful UV rays on the water. These innovative products provide UV protection up to Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) 50.

Solar radiation is a fundamentally important component of human health; however, too much solar radiation and UV radiation damages the skin. Consequently, the challenge is to balance between exposure to healthful and harmful radiation. To prevent skin harm and skin cancer it is indispensable to protect the skin with sun cream and adequate clothing. Particularly on the water UV protective clothing is crucial since the water reflects the solar radiation and increases the impact on the skin.

Marinepool protective clothing is made from technical fibres with special construction. Marinepool carefully pays attention to test and produce the clothing according to the European standard EN13758-1 to ensure adequate quality characteristics of the utilized materials.

Marinepool UV protective clothing is designed and produced according to the following important criteria:

- comfortable, loose cuts to ensure that fabrics are not stretched while wearing them
- wet clothing is less protective than dry clothing. Thus, we utilize quick-drying materials such as Polyester and Nylon
- dark and colored garments absorb UV radiation better than bright colored clothing; as a result they are more protective
- fold-up collars add protection to the neck from sun radiation
- dull yarns absorb sunlight better than glossy yarns and are thus more protective

Marinepool supplies UV protective clothing in various styles, colors and cuts for both men and women and kids.

www.marinepool.com

London To Host World's Longest Ocean Race
London is to host the start and finish of the 2013-14 edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, leaving the capital on 1 September 2013 and not returning until July 2014 after racing 40,000 miles visiting 14 ports on six continents.

The announcement was made at St Katharine Docks in front of Tower Bridge by Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Clipper Race founder and chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

The event will see the debut of the third generation Clipper 70 ocean racing yacht. The twelve-strong matched fleet will be hosted in a race village at St Katharine Docks, central London's only marina and the official Clipper Race start and finish port. The boats will begin and end their global journey in the Thames in front of Tower Bridge.

Over 3000 people have participated in the Clipper Race over the last 17 years in what has become the world's premier ocean race for non-professional and novice sailors. The new enlarged fleet has been commissioned in response to the growing demand for crew places and will serve the event through to 2020. The Clipper 70s will make a big impact in St Katharine Docks and on the Thames.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

La Route Des Princes - Tour Of Europe To Visit Dun Laoghaire
The first edition of the Route des Princes, a new European Tour which is solely for racing multihulls, will take on a challenging new course over three weeks of racing, starting on June 9th from Valencia in Spain to the Bay of Morlaix in France via Lisbon, Dun Laoghaire and Plymouth.

The nine multihulls led by the flagship new Maxi 80 multihull Prince de Bretagne will arrive in to Dun Laoghaire Thursday 20/Friday 21 June depending on weather conditions. The race seeks to mix exciting competition on the water with engaging activities and festivals ashore. The host organisations are Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and the National Yacht Club who will host a festival on the East Pier from Friday to Sunday.

The festival in Dun Laoghaire will start at 5pm on Friday 21 June with a concert from the Band Stand on the East Pier and will continue until Sunday 23 June with food courts and childrens amusements. On Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 June, the multihulls will race in the bay from 2pm to 5pm and there will be live commentary from Irish Olympic sailor Ger Owens.

The concept of this new yacht race is unique: associating the maritime and the land, by highlighting the town and the region's food and culture at each stopover. Valencia, Lisbon, Dun Laoghaire, Plymouth and Roscoff, five stopovers, five European countries, where those multihulls competing in the Route des Princes will tie up to the dock.

Irish interest will be in the MOD70 Musandam Oman-Air where Irish offshore sailor Damian Foxall will be part of the crew. Damian is one of the world's leading offshore sailors and has sailed around the world a remarkable 9 times and has won both the Barcelona World Race and the Volvo Ocean Race.

The tour starts in Valencia on June 9.

www.routedesprinces.fr/en/

SB20 Grand Slam at Malcesine
Lake Garda, Italy: The second event of the SB20 Grand Slam circuit took place between 24th and 26th May at the beautiful location of Malcesine, Lake Garda. This small town is approx 5km south of the better known sailing centres of Torbole and Riva, but has excellent facilities.

25 competitors from the UK, Russia, France and Germany joined the Italian fleet for 3 days of racing. Europe has not enjoyed the best of starts to its summer season, and while we rigged up in warm sunshine, the forecast was not looking promising for the classic sunny and windy conditions that we have all enjoyed at Garda over the years.

Day 2 was sunnier and lighter but still cool as the southerly Ora breeze fought to establish itself. After a short delay 3 more races were held and again Pollard's team put in a strong performance, winning the first 2 races and taking the shortened 3rd race where in a declining breeze Hill's team and Nicolo Bianchi's Coldline team in a comfortable 1,2 only 100 yards from the finish fell into a hole and watched a large group of boats sail past.

The final day saw warm weather and classic "Lake Garda" conditions; smiles all round as the fleet sailed 3 races in warm sunshine and 15-20 kts of breeze.

The fleet will regroup for the third and final event of the SB20 Grand Slam circuit 2013 at Cowes, UK for the first 4 days of Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week. Windward leewards will be replaced by 2 round the cans courses per day with all the tidal and wind vagaries the Solent can throw at you! The fleet will all be based at UKSA. -- Jerry Hill

Top five:
1. John Pollard, Xcelent, 15 points
2. Pietro Negri, Coldline Racing, 23
3. Alexey Murashkin, M Team, 35
4. Luca Domenici, Notaro Team, 52
5. Jerry Hill, Sportsboatworld.com, 55

Full results: www.fragliavela.org

For Sale At Christie's
The J Class Short Tacking. Click on image to enlarge.

Bishop Marine Art is submitting two paintings to the Christies' Maritime Art Auction at South Kensington, London, on 12th June 2013. This provides sailors and collectors with the opportunity to purchase paintings from the renowned marine artist, William H Bishop.

Bill paints almost entirely in oils, producing finely detailed work. He has covered many marine subjects, from Viking ships to windsurfers and historical naval battles to contemporary and classic yachting.

Featured in the auction will be two paintings of the J Class Solent Regatta 2012:

'The J Class Short Tacking' (depicting all four yachts from the regatta)
(oil on canvas 26" x 42" - Lot Number 141)

'Rainbow and Ranger Running'
(oil on canvas 20" x 30" - Lot number: 142)

For more information visit:
www.bishopmarineart.com/news.html
www.christies.com

The M34s Open Normandy Sailing Week
Normandy Sailing Week 2013 officially kicked off today with a training race for the M34s offshore of Le Havre. Over the course of the week, Norman sailing will be in festival mode with no less than 800 racers expected in the different series. Tomorrow the stars of the competition, Nicolas Troussel, Franck Cammas, Thomas Coville, Daniel Souben, Jean-Luc Nélias and the like will take the start of a 230-mile offshore race bound for the Isle of Wight and back.

Today saw windy conditions in the Baie de Seine to the great delight of the M34 line-up. The 17 to 19 knots in the zone in question gave the Tour de France a la Voile teams a chance to warm up and hone their tactical and manoeuvring skills prior to tomorrow's start of the offshore leg, at 1000 hours local time, which starts and finishes in Le Havre and involves a 230-mile sprint via the Isle of Wight.

Normandy Sailing Week 2013 is a triple-stakes competition for those competing in the M34 category, which is the craft raced in the Tour de France a la Voile. The event in Le Havre will be the theatre for the first leg of the French Crewed Championship, as well as the last leg of the new Volvo Drive E Race circuit and a genuine training ground for the Tour de France a la Voile, whose fleet will set sail from Dunkirk at the end of June.

Two crews have really shone since the start of the season. "Courrier Dunkerque 3", skippered by Daniel Souben, and "Groupama 34", helmed by Franck Cammas, have each won an event in this year's racing schedule. -- Translated by Kate Jennings

Track progress in the long race in Normandy Sailing Week virtually tack for tack with updated positions every 30 minutes at yb.tl/nsw2013

www.normandy-week.com

It's More Than Simply Red Tape
The priorities for most competitors doing the Royal Ocean Racing Club's prestigious Rolex Fastnet Race in 2013 will be undertaking enough races to qualify the skipper and crew for the Race whilst also ensuring safety gear, provisions and logistics are all in order.

However, two administrative items to tick off on their long 'To Do' lists will be having a current Spinlock IRC rating certificate, and the stability information required by RORC to ensure the boat is suitable to take part in the 600 mile offshore race starting on Sunday 11 August. For these, owners will be seeking the services of either the UK-based RORC Rating Office or their French counterpart, UNCL in Paris.

Most sailors will be familiar with the IRC time corrector (TCC) and measurements on a rating certificate, but have you wondered what the 'STIX' and 'AVS' numbers mean?They are not related to the boat's rating or performance, but her stability and seaworthiness, and are calculated from an International Standard. The Rating Office in Lymington, Hampshire, is the technical branch of the RORC and not only administers the international Spinlock IRC rating rule but is also responsible for checking and applying the STIX and AVS stability information on IRC certificates for boats around the world.

You can read more information about STIX and AVS, and see the IRC Rating Authority's list of designs and stability values, on the IRC website:

www.ircrating.org/technical-a-certification/sssn-a-stix

Rolex Fastnet Race website fastnet.rorc.org

Classic Boat Revival at Bosham
Wall-to-wall classic racing dinghies, the 2013 Bosham Classic Boat Revival is hoping to top 80 boats this year. Photo by Jonathan Hoare. Click on image to enlarge.

Now in its 3rd year, this unique event for classic racing dinghies is expected to attract entries from all over the UK and continue to play a key role in revitalising dinghy racing for some of the older boats in the established, much loved classes.

Providing a fun, competitive environment for classic racing dinghies that may not be in the first flush of youth, organisers are confident this year's event can top last year's record entry of 80 boats.

Organisers are particularly keen to encourage the classic racing classes - classes such as International 14, Merlin Rocket, National 12, National 18, Chi Harbour 18, GP14, Graduate, 505, Albacore, Scorpion, Enterprise, Hornet, Moth, Finn, OK, Solo, Cherub, Fireball, Firefly, FD, Osprey, Snipe, Jollyboat, Sharpie, Yachting World Dayboat - classes that were the mainstay of dinghy racing in the UK in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

This year organisers will also be issuing special invitations to a number of 'feature/showcase' boats, they would particularly like to see out on the water, whether racing or just providing a spectacle for all to enjoy - iconic classes such as the Flying Dutchman and the Thames A Rater.

Five races are scheduled, with committee boat starts in Chichester Harbour, over the two day event.

There will also be a hotly contested Concours d'Elegance award where a wonderful range of classic wooden racing dinghies will be judged.

Notice of Race for the 2013 Classic Boat Revival is due to be published very soon and will be available to download from the club website, in the meantime we are asking all those interested in attending CBR 2013 to register their interest at boshamsailingclub.com/classic-boat-revival/ to be sure to receive early notification when the NOR is posted on the website and entry is open.

American Express Bosphorus Cup Cancelled
From the event organiser:

Due to the bitter events taking place in Istanbul, all the social activities and races that were planned to happen this Saturday and Sunday are cancelled.

All the racers are requested to get information from TAYK at the official race center.

Featured Brokerage
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Brokerage through All Boat Brokerage Ltd.: www.yachtworld.com/allboat/

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

The Last Word
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