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Bruni and Williams Tops in Argo Group Gold Cup Groups
Photo by Charles Anderson / RBYC. Click on image for event galleries.

Hamilton, Bermuda: Francesco Bruni (ITA) Luna Rossa and Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar, both ended the Stage 1 Qualifying matches with 8-1 records in their groups. By rule, as the top seed in Group 2 Williams got first pick of the skipper he would race in the Quarter Finals. Williams surprised everyone by choosing to race Argo Group Gold Cup defending champion Taylor Canfield (ISV) USone who had finished with a 7-2 score and two days unbeaten in Group 1.

Williams explained his choice by saying that he wanted to go all out to protect his standing on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. He is currently leading the tour by 9 points over both Canfield and Adam Minoprio (NZL) Team Alpari FX. The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club's Argo Group Gold Cup is the penultimate event on the Tour.

The second pick then went to Francesco Bruni who had finished tops in Group 1 at 8-1. He said he didn't want to follow suit and choose Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR) BART/Argo Group, so he chose Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing who finished Group 2 at 5-4.

Adam Minoprio (NZL) Team Alpari FX who finished Group 1 at 7-2 went next and chose Keith Swinton for a New Zealand-Australia match up. Swinton had to win all 3 of his last qualifying races to make the cut for the quarters.

As the last teams unchosen, Bjorn Hansen (SWE) eWork Sailing Team and Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR) BART/Argo Group will sail each other in the quarters.

Quarter Final racing begins again at 10:00 ADT Friday.

Bermuda weather forecast: weather.bm/forecastmarineextended.asp

Friday - Winds south-southwesterly 8 to 12 knots, increasing 10 to 15 knots by afternoon
Saturday - Winds southwesterly 8 to 12 knots
Sunday - Winds northwesterly 5 to 10 knots

Group 1 Day 3 Results

Francesco Bruni (ITA) Luna Rossa, 8-1
Taylor Canfield (ISV) USone, 7-2
Adam Minoprio (NZL) Team Alpari FX, 7-2
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing, 6-3
Eric Monnin (SWI( Swiss Match Race Team, 4-5
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Stena Sailing Team, 4-5
Simone Ferrarese (ITA) Ferrarese Sailing Team, 3-6
Lance Fraser (BER) Digicel Business Match Racing, 3-6
Marek Stanczyk (POL) Nautiner Yachts Sailing Team, 2-7
Chris Poole (USA) Riptide Racing 1-8

Group 2 Day 3 Results

Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar, 8-1
Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR) Ben Ainslie Sailing Team sponsored by Argo Group, 8-1
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) eWork Sailing Team, 6-3
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing, 5-4
Chris Steel (NZL) 36 Below Racing, 5-4
Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team, 5-4
Mathieu Richard (FRA) GEFCO Match Racing Team, 3-6
Nicolai Sehested (DEN) Trefor Match Racing, 2-7
Will Tiller (NZL) Full Metal Jacket, 2-7
Joshua Greenslade (BER) Wide Open Racing, 1-8

argogroupgoldcup.com
wmrt.com

49 Young Sailors in Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup
Photo by Somers Cooper. Click on image to enlarge.

Hamilton, Bermuda: With Australian Max Quirk leading with 15 points at the end of the first day, the field remains wide open with Manon Van Dijk in second place with 30 points and Bermudian Campbell Patton in third place with 31 points.

Forty-nine young sailors were off to a jump-start today at the 11th annual RenaissanceRe Junior Gold after some nervousness caused general recalls in the first two of the four races. After completing four races in 9-10 knot conditions on the Great Sound, competitors from 16 countries as well as Bermuda sailed well throughout changing wind conditions on the first day of completion and will come out stronger tomorrow.

While the Junior Gold Cup level competition is often a learning curve for the Bermudians against international sailors, this year the locals are really showing their muscle with many youngsters from the home team performing well. Others, like nine-year old Leyli Walker, is competing in her first Junior Gold Cup event. was "It was pretty fun," she said. "It felt like our Sunday races and it really was interesting and not that hard." For Yannick Hiillier, "the racing was great and once I put my mast strake further back I was able to concentrate more. It was a good day."

The Optimist fleet struggled with their starts today and getting off the line but with some of the international sailors over early, it did leave a window of opportunity for many of the local sailors. -- Laurie Fullerton

renrejrgoldcup.com

Mini Transat Start Postponed
A deep depression that sits off the Bay of Biscay could, if the start went ahead on Sunday, hit the fleet in the worst place, to the north of Cape Finisterre. To allow the soloists to reach Lanzarote in acceptable conditions, the Race Director has consulted the competitors and made his decision : the start is delayed waiting for a favorable weather window .

Some decisions are not easy to take. While Douarnenez is still in glorious sunshine, the threat is very real as a depression is currently centered in the Atlantic, level with the Azores, which is expected to generate strong winds and seas of more than 4 meters height during the day on Tuesday, ie precisely when the fleet will prepare to round Cape Finisterre .

The challenge will now be to find a favorable weather window to send 84 singlehanders into the Bay of Biscay. Because, from the moment the decision to postpone is taken, there must be guaranteed safe conditions. An opening could come during the day on Monday, but the situation remains highly uncertain. Otherwise, there is a good chance that the fleet will have to be patient until at least until next Thursday. Given this situation, the Race Director made a proposal to start tomorrow, Friday, at 18:00. Such a decision would only be made with the unanimous agreement of all the competitors. But some did not feel ready and the proposal was immediately abandoned.

Denis Hughes, Race Director : "We have 84 solo sailors that we will send out on the water. There is no question of sending them in weather conditions that would not be acceptable. We had planned to bring forward the start, but in view of the preparation of some, this was not reasonable. "

Bertrand Nardin , President of Douarnenez Races : "We are working to try to provide a regatta course in Douarnenez Bay on Sunday. The idea is to offer an alternative to the partners and families of the competitors who had planned to be present on the day of the start ... "

www.minitransat.fr

Cammas Keeps Dreaming of the Olympics
The first day of the inaugural Semaine Olympique Francaise in La Rochelle bay saw superstars of the sailing world rubbing shoulders with young hopefuls and them all reaching for Rio. One man who fits into both categories is the global circumnavigator extraordinaire, Franck Cammas, who re-started his 2016 Olympic quest in earnest yesterday in the Nacra after a September spent with his World C Class campaign.

The 27-strong fleet for the new mixed-crew Nacra 17ft multihull Olympic class is particularly strong and fluid in its first season. The crews of all ages and backgrounds are still getting used to the boats, with the new carbon masts arriving only two days ago to replace the aluminum ones.

Cammas and his crew, Sophie de Turckheim, only competing at their third event together, hunted there way back to ninth in the first race, but Cammas showed his tactical nous off the start in the second race of the day as the sun went down.

"You had to be on the right, but on the left of the right," Cammas said with a smile."The boat is very exciting and it's hard to drive. We need to look around a bit because at the moment we are concentrating on the boat so much."

De Turckheim suggested one reason for that, teasing Cammas: "Well, Franck has been away for September doing something else," she said. "We are beginners at the moment, we are training while racing."

Cammas, the Jules Verne Trophy record breaker and winner of the last Volvo Ocean Race, has been drawn to the Olympic flame late at the age of 40 and has teamed up with the 32-year-old de Turkheim to make the oldest couple in the fleet. After de Turkheim suffered an injury-hit outing in Hyeres in May, they finished a creditable sixth place in the European Championships on Lake Como in August. But with only one team from each country able to qualify from each nation for the Rio 2016 Olympics, the stakes will keep getting higher.

"It's a dream to try and go to the Olympics but there are so many good sailors in France in this boat that you have to get through that first."

* After Thursday's racing Cammas and De Turckheim lie in 8th place in the NACRA 17 class with 27 points

Top Three Results

Finn, after 5 races
1. Scott Giles, GBR, 7 points
2. Deniss Karpak, EST, 8
3. Andrews Mark, GBR, 11

49er FX, after 6 races
1. Sarah Steyaert / Julie Bossard, FRA, 10
2. Laura Schoefegger / Elsa Lovrek, AUT, 11
3. Marion Leprunier / Alizee Gadel, FRA, 18

49er, after 6 races
1. Manu Dyen /Stephane Christidis, FRA, 6
2. Stefano Cherin / Andrea Tesei, ITA, 14
3. Giuseppe Angilella/ Pietro Zucchetti, ITA, 16

470 Hommes, after 5 races
1. Pierre Leboucher / Nicolas Le Berre, FRA, 7
2. Sofian Bouvet / Jeremie Mion, FRA, 7
3. Nicolas Charbonnier / Sebastien Durand, FRA, 23

470 Femmes, after 5 races
1. Lara Vadlau / Jolanta Ogar, AUT, 6
2. Camille Lecointre / Helene Defrance, FRA, 10
3. Anna Burnet / Flora Stewart, GBR, 16

RS : X Hommes, after 6 races
1. Pawel Tarnowski, POL, 12
2. Julien Bontemps, FRA, 16
3. Piotr Myszka, POL, 17

RS : X Femmes, after 6 races
1. Sofia Klepacka, POL, 7
2. Maja Dziarnowska, POL, 15
3. Natalia Konsinska, NZL, 21

Nacra 17, after 5 races
1. Audrey Ogereau / Matthieu Vandame, FRA, 10
2. Thomas Zajac / Tanja Frank, AUT, 12
3. Iker Martinez / Tara Pacheco, ESP, 17

Laser, after 5 races
1. Nick Thompson, GBR, 10
2. Wannes Van Laer, BEL, 11
3. Philipp Buhl, GER, 12

Laser radial, after 5 races
1. Pernelle Michon, FRA, 5
2. Marthe Eide Enger, NOR, 7
3. Line Flem Hoest, NOR, 12

sof.ffvoile.fr

Seahorse November 2013
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

World news
Does Groupama have an eye on the Cup, Fastnet heroics, more multihulls (in Kiwi), Ernesto [Bertarelli] opts for Hamilton Island, XABI the missionary and the 'domestic' US market. Dobbs Davis, Blue Robinson, Carlos Pich, Ivor Wilkins, Patrice Carpentier

IRC column
Resurgent Mini Maxis. James Dadd

Paul Cayard
And the (magnificent) Star class is calling once again

Design - (It's all about the) proportions
Designer Pascal Conq tells the story of Finot-Conq's bracingly powerful new 100-footer

Special rates for Scuttlebutt Europe subscribers:
Seahorse Print or Digital Subscription Use Discount Promo Code SB2

1yr Print Sub for UK residents: €77 - £48 - $71 / Rest of the World: £65 www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/

1yr Digital Sub for £30: www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/digital

Discounts shown are valid on a one year subscription to Seahorse magazine

Route Of Discovery: Spindrift 2 On Standby In Portimao
The maxi trimaran Spindrift 2 has arrived in Portimao, southern Portugal, where Dona Bertarelli, Yann Guichard and their crew of 12 will begin a standby, waiting for an "auspicious" weather window to attempt to beat the Route of Discovery record between Cadiz and San Salvador in the Bahamas. With autumn advancing, the ideal trade wind conditions in the southern Azores are becoming rarer. Richard Silvani, the Meteo France meteorologist and advisor for the greatest records, will increase the frequency of his exchanges with Guichard and Erwan Israel and analyse the forecasts to find the most positive parameters which will trigger the attempt. "We are ready for every window which can be found in the next few days," Guichard says.

The 21.70 knot average speed of the current record (7 days,10 hours, 58 minutes and 53 seconds ) is well within reach of the maxi trimaran. But the route to the Bahamas can be treacherous, with one, or even more areas of dreaded transition and high pressure which can stop a record and with the weather forecast uncertain beyond five days, it leaves out the last 48 hours of racing in fickle Caribbean conditions.

Crew of the maxi Spindrift 2 for The Discovery Route:
Dona Bertarelli
Yann Guichard
Xavier Revil
Jean Baptiste le Vaillant
Antoine Carraz
Thierry Douillard
Christophe Espagnon
Sebastien Marsset
Nicolas Texier
Erwan Tabarly
Francois Morvan
Thomas Rouxel
Simone Gaeta
Erwan Israel

Time to beat : 7 jours, 10 heures, 58 minutes, 53 seconds
Current record : Groupama 3 (Franck Cammas) in 2007
Distance : 3884 milles (WSSRC)

www.spindrift-racing.com

David Green
David Green, who was found dead at his home on the Isle of Wight on October 8, was the driving force behind the restoration of Sir Francis Chichester's yacht Gipsy Moth IV, and a second circumnavigation with disadvantaged youngsters in 2008/9 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Chichester's achievement. The famous yacht had been rotting in a concrete grave at Greenwich alongside the Cutty Sark for 37 years, and something had to be done to restore her. Paul Gelder, then Editor of Yachting Monthly magazine saw her as a project to commemorate the Magazine's 100th birthday, but failed to find any patrons to pay for the work.

David Green, then CEO of the UK Sailing Academy at Cowes, grasped the nettle, seeing the project as a fantastic promotional vehicle for the UKSA. Not only would it save an iconic vessel, it would celebrate a legendary sailor and give young people a life changing voyage. It helped that royalty was also involved, for Princess Ann was not only an ardent supporter of Gipsy Moth IV, she was Patron of the Academy!

Green put his considerable energy into first raising the funds, then restoring GM IV to her former glory before organising the commemorative circumnavigation. The project cost well over £1m - double the original budget, but despite losing his job at the Academy after the yacht was run aground on a reef in the Pacific, he saw the job through and got the GMIV back to Plymouth exactly 40 years to the day after Chichester's glorious return in 1969.

"David was the driving force behind the Gipsy Moth IV project. Without him, it would never have happened" says Paul Gelder, adding. "He was a man driven by his own humble upbringing. He had great vision and a strong enough character to see projects like this through."

In more recent times, Green had the vision to make the Isle of Wight a beacon of sustainability, and formed the community company Ecoisland in an effort to make the Island energy self-sufficient.

A week ago, the Company was forced into liquidation when Green had been arrested on suspicion of fraud, following a report from the Isle of Wight County Council that £115,000 of Government funding, given to the Company, was unaccounted for. -- Barry Pickthall, PPL

Industry News
The 2013/2014 Marine Retail University series, sponsored by Norman Spencer Insurance, is now underway. The curriculum was created by Dominion Marine Media, the division of Dominion Enterprises that operates YachtWorld, Boat Trader and boats.com, and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas. The season's first Norman-Spencer Marine Retail University was hosted by the Northwest Marine Trade Association in Seattle on September 25.

This professional development program, created specifically for boat retailers, provides in-depth current market data, including industry statistics and trends on a national, regional and specific state basis. The data includes details of the 3% year-over-year increase in fiberglass boat sales and 6% increase in aluminum boat sales, both broken down by brand. Additional presentations range from the "Marine Industry Outlook" to "Decoding the New Sales Funnel" to "The Generation Drives the Strategy."

The next Norman-Spencer Marine Retail University will be held in Grapevine, TX, on October 13-14, hosted by the Boating Trades Association of Texas. -- James Nolan

www.mraa.com/?page=MarineRetailUniv

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The Training and Development Department of ISAF is pleased to announce the launch of two new Training Resources.

The ISAF Beginners Guide to Dinghy Sailing publication (Retail price: £10.00 GBP) is provided for sailors and coaches alike to be used alongside a structured course , as an 'aide-memoire' after completing any formal training in the specific discipline or as a reference tool to help develop personal knowledge in areas of background theory.

The ISAF Course Plotter accessory (Retail price: £7.99 GBP) is provided for any beginner keelboat / yacht sailors to be used during formal training in the art of Navigation and Chart work or as a tool for any existing sailors who require an easy-to-use Chart / Course Plotter as part of their 'toolbox' of on board navigation resources.

The ISAF Training Resources reflect the latest thinking and best practice to an international set of guidelines for both new and developing Nations and are designed to accompany the ISAF National Training Programme (NTP) guidelines and recently released ISAF Coaching Framework.

www.sailing.org/shop

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The 54th Hamburg International Boat Show, hanseboot, takes place Oct. 26 through Nov. 3.

The show will give visitors a preview of the 2014 season with innovations and models on display at the stands of production-line builders and German importers. One-off boats also will be on display from many of the yards.

Organizers say the common features and design trends will be evident to experts and amateurs alike as they walk through the exhibition halls and look at the yachts from Hanse Werft in Greifswald, the new designs from Beneteau and Jeanneau from France and the Bavaria Cruiser, the latest boat from Bavaria Yachtbau, Germany's largest builder.

But the differences are evident, too, organizers say.

For example, the new Oceanis 38 from Beneteau, a French series yacht builder, has a hull length of 11.13 meters and a beam of nearly 4 meters, a sail area of 66 square meters close hauled and displacement of 6.4 tons. The new middle-class yacht Bavaria Cruiser 37 is available only as a two- or three-cabin version.

HanseYachts, based in Greifswald, will present the Varianta 37. The company also will unveil the 15.4-meter Hanse 505, regarded as one of the largest sailing yachts at this year's Hamburg Boat Show.

Far East, a Shanghai-based builder represented by general importer Kroslin Yachting, will be at hanseboot for the first time, showcasing the FarEast 26, an inexpensive 8.6-meter cruiser/racer designed by South African naval architect Simonis und Voogd.

www.tradeonlytoday.com

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Henri Lloyd and the GORE-TEX® Experience Tour have announced the twelve finalists who will compete to win three places on the Clipper 13-14 Round the World Yacht Race. Going head to head over two days, the finalists will need to demonstrate the will to succeed that encapsulates the whole philosophy of this life changing race.

The finalists of the current GORE-TEX® Experience Tour all have two things in common; a passion for life and an adventurous spirit. Other than that, they couldn't be more different, which shows the diverse range of people that this amateur sailing race attracts. The finalists are:

For Leg 3 - The Southern Ocean Sleigh Ride
Andrzej Swiderski (Poland), Niall Newport (UK), Julie Cully (UK) and Jorieke Van Der Stelt (Netherlands)

For Leg 4 - Cape Leeuwin and Three Oceans
Romanda Simpson (UK), Tuija Mantyla (Italy), Theresa Pine (UK) and Grace Freret (UK)

For Leg 5 - The Asia Pacific Challenge
Mark Rushmore (UK), Simon Straetker (Germany), Mark Nichols (UK) and Ciendra Heaney (Northern Ireland)

www.henrilloyd.com
www.clipperroundtheworld.com

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German based Dehler Yachts shipyard has signed with Lewmar for deck equipment: a six-months exclusive contract for the latest generation of winches "EVO Race Plus".

"As the leading brand for perfomance cruiser sailboats, we place particular emphasis on innovation and quality leadership. With the new Lewmar EVO Race Plus winch we provide a further step to strengthen this position!", comments Thorben Will, PR-Manager at Dehler Yachts, on this cooperation.

A big advantage is easy servicing - no tools are required to completely strip the winch.

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Organisers of the 2013 Shipwrights' Lectures have reported that a full house is expected at this years' event, taking place at the Turner Sims, University of Southampton on 23 October at 1430

The annual lecture invites industry leaders from the leisure marine sector to inspire and inform young apprentices, shipwrights and graduates about the breadth, opportunities and career paths available in the UK's unique and dynamic marine industry.

This years' event again welcomes an array of highly-regarded speakers from within the marine sector, including Sean McMillan, Founder and Director of the classic boatbuilding company Spirit Yachts Ltd, as well as two ex-apprentices who have progressed to fully-fledged managers at a leading luxury yachtbuilder.

www.shipwrights.co.uk

Letters To The Editor -
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.

* From Martin Nichol: I love the way the sailing community in this country warms to the spectacle of the America's Cup and speaks as though it has a right to influence the format of the Cup when it has been incapable of putting together a competitive challenge since the 1930's. The last time that Britain competed for the America's Cup up was in 1964. Then there was no Louis Vuitton and Constellation beat Sovereign, 4-0. A competitive challenge is going to take bucketfuls of money whatever the format. There is the rub. This country is capable at producing talented engineers, manages and sailors but seems to be incapable of producing a Bob Oatley. A person with the vision and money to back the ability of his national designers, managers, engineers and sailors to take on the challenge and win. The Australians have the person and a track record in winning the Auld Mug. Good luck to them.

* From Daniel Charles: The "friendly competition between nations" is an inherent part of the Deed of Gift, not a late addition. One of the things which brought a rewrite of the Deed by George Schuyler was the use by a Canadian challenger of a model (a 3D plan, basically) of US design, which was deemed inacceptable. "Foreign mercenaries" like Charlie Barr and his "norwegian steam" crews actually held some sort US nationality (whatever its name, it is difficult to compare with current nationality customs). Of course, the US where made of many national origins (George Steers, designer of the America, was of Channel Islands origins), but what was important was that they had chosen to be Americans. It was not a transient appurtenance for the duration of a contract. The nationality rule is part of the America's Cup and its relaxation in the last 35 years has brought very little good.

* From Adrian Morgan: Last word from me, at least,on the AC. By all means employ designers, coaches, computer programmers, builders, physios, movers and humpers and anyone needed to keep a team on the water from outside your own country, but surely the guys actually sailing the boat should be the best the country can come up with?

The elephant in the AC34 room was simply this: Coutts and Ellison clearly felt there were no American sailors good enough to sail their boat. That is pretty shocking.

And no, I never went to Chichester College of Technology. but thanks...

* From Jim Champ: Re Adrian Morgan; "few Americans could have felt..." In the same way that few brits feel any affinity with the current cricket team or various well-known athletes whose names fill the newspapers!?

Featured Brokerage
2001 Beneteau First 40.7. 84,420 GBP. Located in Cardiff, United Kingdom.

This Beneteau First 40.7 has been carefully looked after by its current owners. Refitted in August 2012 when a full survey was also undertaken. This Beneteau had a new engine fitted in 2008. A berth at Cardiff Marina is available for the new owner at competitive rates. This vessel is coded and has been used for occassional charter.

Brokerage through The Marine Group Boat Sales: www.yachtworld.com/themarinegroup/

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

The Last Word
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