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Kiwis Dominate 49er And Fx Worlds With 2 Gold, 1 Silver
New Zealand dominated the Seiko 49er & 49erFX World Championships in Marseille with a dazzling display of confidence and maturity by three young teams all in their early 20s.

First up was the 10-boat, three-race short-course final for the FX women, and Alex Maloney and Molly Meech hammered home their points advantage with a straightforward victory. Behind them was a much tighter battle for silver and bronze that wasn't settled until the final few seconds of the final race. Brazil's Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze clinched silver by less than a boatlength from France's Sarah Steyaert and Julie Bossard.

Immediately afterwards the men raced their three 10-minute heats, and when Peter Burling and Blair Tuke won the first race by a big margin, it looked unlikely any other crew would threaten them for gold. However, they had a poor second heat with a 9th place finish, while their younger team mates Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski won the race, moving to just 10 points behind the Olympic silver medallists. If they could get four boats between them in the final heat the world title would go to NZL-6 rather than NZL-2, but in the end Burling and Tuke did enough to win the Worlds by 12 points.

Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen relinquished their world crown after winning four of the last five 49er World Championships. They had a shocking start in the first race today, but kept on chipping away and finished 5th overall. Bearing in mind they haven't raced since winning gold at last year's Olympics, the opposition know that the Australians remain one of the hot favourites for Rio 2016.

No nation is nailing the Olympic skiff like New Zealand right now. Blair Tuke was savouring the moment. "Pete and I haven't won a world champs since our junior days and to do it here in the 49er, and to have our Kiwi training partners in 2nd place is a dream come true. And to have the girls win the first FX World Championships - a good day for Kiwi yachting." -- Andy Rice, SailingIntelligence.com

49er: Final top five
1. Peter Burling / Blair Tuke, NZL, 72 points
2. Marcus Hansen / Josh Porebski, NZL, 84
3. Manu Dyen / Stephane Christidis, FRA, 94
4. Dylan Fletcher / Alain Sign, GBR, 97
5. Nathan Outteridge / Iain Jensen, AUS, 101

49erFX: Final top five
1. Alexandra Maloney / Molly Meech, NZL, 78
2. Martine Soffiatti Grael / Kahena Kunze, BRA, 98
3. Saarah Steyaert / Juli Bossard, FRA, 100
4. Giulia Conti / Francesca Clapcich, ITA, 106
5. Annemiek Bekkering / Claire Blom, NED, 107.7

49er.org

Swiss Capsize Ends Title Fight In Little America's Cup
For the first time in 7 days, Franck Cammas' Groupama C had a case of 'the slows'. And for the first time in 7 days, Billy Besson and Jeremie Lagarrigue aboard Hydros II beat Cammas to the starting line and to the top mark.

Their task wasn't as difficult as it may sound, Cammas and Viat didn't even launch their boat, preferring to remain ashore in the gusty Easterly breeze. With a 2-0 lead in the Finals of the 2013 International C-Class Catamaran Championship and time running out for Besson, the Swiss team sailed without competitors, foiling upwind on the first leg of the race.

They bore away at the first mark of the 6-leg course, playing it conservatively in 15-18 knots of breeze when disaster struck.

"With Groupama sitting on shore, we made the mistake of perhaps taking it too easy," explained Lagarrigue. "These boats are not designed to go slow, and when we set up for the gybe we stalled the rudders, and the rest is history."

Lagarrigue said they would probably have been alright were it not for a big gust of wind hitting their massive wing at that moment.

"Billy jerked the rudders to get through the stall and broke the tiller, losing control at the most critical time," said Lagarrigue.

Hydros II's wing pitched over its now-submerged bows in a pitch-pole capsize, destroying most of the wing's structure and further damaging the steering system while dozens of spectator craft looked on.

Cammas was overjoyed to become the first French C-Class Champion in history, even though it came at the expense of long time friends Lagarrigue and Besson.

"These conditions are some of the toughest possible for a C-Class, and while we're sad it ended this way for Billy and Jeremie, we're proud to bring the Little Cup back to France for our team, our fans, and for Groupama," Cammas said.

Overall Final Results:

1. Groupama C - Cammas/Viat
2. Hydros Lombard Odier I - Besson/Lagarrigue
3. Cogito - Guck/Kramers
4. Canaan - Gooderham/Pavey
5. Hydros Lombard Odier II - Heemskerk/Tentij
6. Fill Your Hands - Eaton/Clarke
7. Patient Lady VI - Bentemps/Gahinet
8. Aethon - Clark/Moore
9. Invictus - Phipps/Bader
10. Alpha - Patience/Aviles
11. Wild Horse - Cayola/Balieto

Event site: theflyingboats.com

To Be First On The Line, You Need Great Lines First
Completing an amazing and unprecedented comeback, ORACLE TEAM USA successfully defended the 34th America's Cup. The win marks the second straight Cup victory for the team, but the fourth in a row for Gottifredi Maffioli high performance ropes. This remarkable achievement is the result of great sailing talent, teamwork and advanced technology.

To be the fastest boat, you need every single piece of equipment working at its best. Running rigging is a critical component on a yacht that flys on the water at speeds in excess of 40 knots. "Your service, knowledge and exceptional product make our job as riggers easy! We did not have a single rigging failure during the entire AC34 campaign which is a statistic that Gottifredi Maffioli can join us in being proud of" says Andrew Henderson, ORACLE TEAM USA, Rig Team Manager.

Gottifredi Maffioli Grand Prix lines are the most advanced and best performing ropes available on the market, engineered to excel in any possible condition, from enduring the roaring forties to flying on board the AC72s.

Visit our Facebook page to learn more: www.facebook.com/gottifredi.maffioli

Battle On The Bay
Photo by Erik Simonson, www.pressure-drop.us. Click on image for photo gallery.

San Francisco, California, USA: The Rolex Big Boat Series - St. Francis Yacht Club's signature regatta - took over San Francisco Bay for four days of spirited racing this week (Thursday through Sunday, September 25-28), giving 107 teams in 10 classes the chance to enjoy stadium sailing at its finest.

For today's traditional "Bay Tour" finale - the single long race that wraps up each class's series and determines final winners - the fleet's final push to the finish was tame in comparison to previous days when boat speeds were jacked up by brisk breezes and a strong flood tide, but the end result was all that mattered. Six class winners were awarded St. Francis Yacht Club Perpetual Trophies along with Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner timepieces, while new title holders were named in the 2013 HPR National Championship, the J/120 North American Championship and the IRC West Coast Championship.

Breaking with the tradition of allowing only boats of 30 feet and longer to compete, this year's regatta welcomed the emerging J/70 class and the Melges 24s, which sailed their "Pre-Worlds" in preparation for their World Championships next week.

In a surprise ending for the Melges 24 fleet, the largest here with 38 teams, Scott Holmgren's (Edmond, Oklahoma) Rosebud, skippered by Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Terry Hutchinson (Annapolis, Md.), used today's final race to topple Franco Rossini's Swiss entry Blu Moon from the top of the leaderboard, a position which Rossini's skipper Flavio Favivi had assumed for the first three days here. For their efforts the Rosebud team took home the Commodore's Cup.

Top final results:

HPR (HPR - 8 Boats)
1. Double Trouble, J 125, Peter Krueger, USA, 18
2. Tai Kuai, RP 44, Daniel Thielman, USA, 19
3. Resolute, J 125, Tim Fuller, USA, 26

IRC A (IRC - 2 Boats)
1. Vesper, TP 52, Jim Swartz, USA, 7
2. Beecom, TP 52, Isao Mita, JPN, 14

IRC B (IRC - 5 Boats)
1. Swiftsure, Schumacher 54, Sy Kleinman, USA, 12
2. BustinLoose, Sydney 38, Jeff Pulford, USA, 16
3. Twisted, Farr 40, M. Tony Pohl, USA, 20

IRC D (IRC - 6 Boats)
1. Mirthmaker, A 35, Tad Lacey, USA, 15
2. Encore, Sydney 36, Wayne Koide, USA, 20
3. Peregrine, J 120, David Halliwill, USA, 21

J 70 (One Design - 7 Boats)
1. Eos, J 70, Jim Cascino, USA, 25
2. Little Hand, J 70, Frank Slootman, USA, 25
3. Red, J 70, Mark Howe & Cameron, USA, 31

J 105 (One Design - 22 Boats)
1. Blackhawk, J 105, Scooter Simmons, USA, 27
2. Arbitrage, J 105, Bruce Stone, USA, 30
3. Risk, J 105, Jason Woodley/Scott Whitney, USA, 39

J 120 (One Design - 6 Boats)
1. Mister Magoo, J 120, Stephen Madeira, USA, 16
2. Chance, J 120, Barry Lewis, USA, 17
3. Desdemona, J 120, John Wimer, USA, 19

Melges 24 (One Design - 35 Boats)
1. Rosebud, Melges 24, Scott Holmgren, USA, 31
2. Blu Moon, Melges 24, Franco Rossini, SUI, 38
3. FULL THROTTLE, Melges 24, Brian Porter, USA, 43

Express 37 (One Design - 6 Boats)
1. Golden Moon, Express 37, Kame Richards, USA, 15
2. Expeditious, Express 37, Bartz Schneider, USA, 17
3. Elan, Express 37, Jack Peurach, USA, 19

Multihull (ToT - 7 Boats)
1. BridgeRunner, SL33, Urs Rothacher, USA, 19
2. SmartRecruiters, Extreme 40, Jerome Ternynck, USA, 19
3. Orion, MOD 70, Tom Siebel, USA, 21

Full results: www.rolexbigboatseries.com

* It was touch and go today for the outcome of the 2013 HPR National Championship at the Rolex Big Boat Series. The fog in the morning was a preview of some pre-frontal warm air and clouds that would keep the normal westerly thermal from filling to its typical strength, so race managers scrambled to find the right place and time to get the class off on their tour of the Bay.

Accordingly, the start area was moved to the only area with any westerly breeze -west of Alcatraz - and delayed by nearly two hours while the other classes cleared the area. The move also shortened the race to only a Tour of only two hours duration.

Peter Krueger's J/125 Double Trouble was in the lead in points, but only by two in a class that had Daniel Thielman's R/P 44 Tai Kuai leading the first two days with others waiting closely in the wings.

Tai Kuai was first across the line as usual, but the margins looked tight with the trailing boats, and when Whiplash crossed 3:21 later, it was good enough to take their first race victory in the series - by only 10 seconds

"This is a huge win, not just because it's the National Championship but also because Peter has won here the last two years but last year when he won in HPR, he wasn't sailing against competition like a McConaghy 38 and a R/P 44," said Brian Ledbetter, Double Trouble's tactician and a Finn Olympic Silver Medalist from Seattle. "Sailing in HPR is like sailing in catamarans. Even if it's a bad day out there you are ripping around the race course and having fun."

www.hprsailing.org

Bob Oatley To Fund Hamilton Island-Based Bid For America's Cup
Billionaire Bob Oatley is poised to announce on Tuesday that he is funding a challenge for the America's Cup.

It is understood Oatley's bid will be one of several from around the world revealed by the Golden Gate Yacht Club on Tuesday morning.

Oatley ranked at No.31 on the 2013 BRW Rich 200 list, with a personal fortune of $1.14 billion.

A renowned yachting enthusiast and a multiple winner of the prestigious Sydney to Hobart yacht race with his super maxi yacht Wild Oats XI, Oatley's America's Cup bid will be organised through his Hamilton Island Yacht Club.

The bid would hope to attract several Australian sailors to the team and would represent the first Australian team to compete for the most famous sailing trophy since 2001.

www.brw.com.au

A British Challenge?
Four-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Ben Ainslie is to hold talks within 'a matter of weeks' over the possibility of a British entry into the America's Cup.

Ainslie was the strategist for Oracle Team USA as they remarkably recovered from 8-1 down to beat Team New Zealand 9-8 and win this year's event in San Francisco Bay.

He spoke in the aftermath about his wish to repeat his victory with a British team but emphasised on Sunday that there is no time to waste if he is to make that dream a reality.

'It's a matter of weeks, literally,' he told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme.

'I'm heading back to the UK on Monday, I've got some key meetings with some of these people and we'll talk pretty honestly about whether we think it's realistic to get a campaign together.

'None of us want to do it unless we've got a good shot of winning it. Otherwise, we're just wasting everyone's time.'

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/

Regates Royales - Trophee Panerai
Photo by James Robinson Taylor / Regates Royales - Trophee Panerai. Click on image to enlarge.

The bay of Cannes guaranteed all the necessary ingredients for the grand finale of the 35th Regates Royales - Trophee Panerai. Today's racing was action packed and crucial to award victory in several classes. After a long week series, consistency paid off for some, like Moonbeam of Fife III winning among the Big Boats or EA among the Classics, while in other classes classes the scoreboard was totally shaken at the very end of the regatta. In the Dragon Class British skipper Gavia Wilkinson - Cox on Jerboa succeeded in bouncing back on the two Russian teams and getting a last-chance, last-race win.

The final day was key to determine winners in some classes, but not in the Big Boats division where Moonbeam of Fife III finished with a large margin on Moonbeam 4 and Mariska.

Among the Vintage gaffers, Graham Walker's Chinook had to fight to the very last race to get a victory at her debut on the Regates Royales, distancing Oriole and Eva, respectively finishing in second and third.

Italian-flagged Ea easily maintained her lead among the Classics on Arcadia and Sagittarius. Likewise in the Vintage Marconi of more than 15 metres, victory went to Skylark of 1937 and the podium was completed by Leonore and Rowdy. The gold in the Spirit of Tradition division went to Catleya, the silver to Freya 2003 and the bronze to Savannah.

World famous Argentinian architect German Frers helmed Sonny, a 1935 Bermudan cutter designed by his father that made her debut at the Regates Royales this year. After a week long battle with Vagabundo and Sirius II, it was the latter to get the win in the Vintage Marconi of less than 15 metres, Sonny finishing in second. But the Frers' family honour was safe because Vagabundo too is a Frers Sr. design, and two steps out of three on the podium is not a bad result at all. "Among the boats racing here in Cannes, Il Moro di Venezia was designed by me, but both Sonny and Vagabundo II are my father's creations. We could call it a "family fleet"..." said Frers "It's exciting to race here, these are the kind of boats I grew up admiring. I'm very happy that there is a sort of revival for classic boats, it's important to restore, keep and show them to the world. And they're stunning to watch sailing. They can show us designers how to create modern boats as fascinating as classic yachts, slim, elegant, harmonious. There is a lot we can learn from these boats."

Full results: www.regatesroyales.com

World's Oldest Clipper To Set Sail For Australia
The world's oldest surviving clipper ship will take to the seas for the final time, making the long journey from Scotland to Australia.

The City of Adelaide, which is five years older than London's Cutty Sark, is set to head Down Under 149 years after she first transported European settlers to Australia and is set to open as a tourist attraction.

The battle for the historic clipper has gone on for 14 years as both Sunderland, where the ship was built and Adelaide in Australia appealed to the Scottish government to be given ownership.

She was built in 1864 on the River Wear and plied the waters between Australia and Europe, transporting settlers and aiding Australia's wool and copper exports.

Her sailing days ended in 1893 but she was later used as a floating hospital and a training ship named HMS Carrick.

The historic clipper sank in a Glasgow dock in 1991 and despite being raised a year later and moved to the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine, North Ayrshire, she languished on a slipway as the cost of repairs was put at £10million. Experts said the cost would be the same as building a new ship and recommended she was scrapped - but two rival campaigns were started to save her.

She will be moved in a 100-tonne steel cradle to Adelaide, via London, and is not due to arrive until spring next year.

A website set up by the Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Ltd ( www.cityofadelaide.org.au ) has started a countdown to the clipper's final journey with information on its history and its plans for the ship.

From the Daily Mail: www.dailymail.co.uk

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The Last Word
We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out. -- Winston Churchill

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