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Triumph Of Persistence
Michele Galli's B2, a TP52 from Italy, has been confirmed as the overall winner of the 34th Rolex Middle Sea Race.

B2 is the first Italian yacht to claim the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy since 2005, emerging victorious from the largest and one of the most competitive fleets in the race's 45-year history. Expertly guided by tactician Francesco de Angelis, B2 completed the 606-nm course on Tuesday afternoon in a little over three days. She was the eighth boat to cross the finish line in Malta.

On corrected time B2 was propelled to the summit of the overall leaderboard and with the chasing fleet thwarted by extremely light conditions between Pantelleria and Lampedusa and unable to win their race against the clock, her triumph was confirmed at the Royal Malta Yacht Club on Wednesday afternoon.

At 15:30 CEST on Wednesday afternoon, 23 boats had completed the race, 75 were still sailing and there had been just one retirement.

Note: Morning Glory (GER) claimed line honours yesterday. Crossing the finish line at 04:02.19 CEST on Tuesday morning, the 86-ft Maxi skippered by Kristina Plattner, completed the 606-nm course in 2 days, 16 hours, 12 minutes and 9 seconds. Her elapsed time still some 16 hours slower than the current race record.

www.rolexmiddlesearace.com

Code Orange For The Mini Transat
The Mini Transat race organisers have decided to switch to Code Orange as of Wednesday, October 23 at 18:00. This means that the race can be started on Friday 25 from 06:00. For now the race is still considering two possible assumptions depending on the evolution of the weather.

The Mini Transat is in motion. In agreement with the organisers, Denis Hughes, the Race Director of the Mini, has decided to switch to code orange and call the competitors who had gone home back to Douarnenez . However, the weather situation is relatively complex. The powerful storm system that has been sweeping the Bay of Biscay seems to be evolving with a switch to the north west on Monday that suggests two possible outcomes at the same time.

- First scenario : a start on Friday and a stopover in Gijon. Weather files allow a clear opening a window for about 48 hours from Friday. This is enough time to rally the fleet on the northern coast of Spain, but does not allow for a safe crossing of Cape Finisterre . The first leg would be cut into two sections with a fresh start in Gijon on Tuesday 29 October. In this case, it will be a transition to code green tomorrow.

- Second scenario: a weather window glimpsed in the forecast for next Monday is confirmed to be large enough to allow a period of three days in which the whole Mini fleet can cross the Bay of Biscay. This solution is obviously easier for the competitors and organisation alike. But confirmation is needed that this weather window will not close as quickly as it has opened. In the case of a start on Monday, the fleet would return to a code red on Thursday.

www.minitransat.fr

Henri Lloyd Scores Extra Ocean Sprint Points In Clipper Leg Rio To Cape Town
Henri Lloyd skipper Eric Holden sailed the shortest course between the two parallels 340 miles apart to be victorious in a time of 30 hours, 34 minutes. Derry-Londonderry-Doire sailed it in 30 hours, 54 minutes, and Old Pulteney 31 hours 4 minutes.

With everything still to race for, it is looking like an extremely close finish into Cape Town with just 50 miles separating the top eight yachts.

Great Britain is leading the fleet, followed by Henri Lloyd and Invest Africa.

With four yachts currently in Stealth Mode with their positions hidden and skippers keeping their tactics to themselves, watching the Race Viewer is proving to be very exciting.

Frustrations are being felt though with lighter winds affecting the progress of some of the yachts as the South Atlantic High Pressure system heads further south.

Latest standings:

Great Britain, 683.7m to leg finish
Henri Lloyd (Stealth Mode), 885.2m
Invest Africa, 703m
Onedll, 721.7m
Switzerland, 728.3m
Old Pulteney, 730.4m
Derry-Londonderry-Doire, 731.9m
Psp Logistics, 738m
Team Garmin (Stealth Mode), 865.9m
Mission Performance (Stealth Mode), 876.1m
Jamaica Get All Right (Stealth Mode), 1038.2m
Qingdao, 993.3m

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

International Excitement Building For Key West Race Week
Photo by Steve Lapkin / www.h2omark.com

Quantum Key West 2014's scratch sheet is growing and classes are building. Flags from Italy, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden and Norway are already flying along with more from Argentina, Canada and Bermuda. With the entry deadline not until December, there will certainly be more to come.

The TP52s return for their second US Super Series with five notable programs already on the list and more to follow; international mini maxi and Melges 32 classes will do battle and the HPR class will again be an exciting one to watch. One-design and handicap entries of all sizes are filling the ranks. There's plenty of sunshine and dependable breeze in Key West, you don't want to miss out!

Entries and more: premiere-racing.com

Enel RS:X Youth Worlds
Civitavecchia, Italy: Today, each fleet sailed three more races in the waters in front of the Lega Navale Italiana of Civitavecchia, the sailing club which will host until October 26th , the 2013 Enel Youth World Windsurfing Championships. The Argentinian windsurfer Bautista Saubidet Birkner takes first place in the overall men's ranking, preceding two Italian athletes, Daniele Benedetti and Mattia Camboni. Israeli competitor Hadar Heller is at the top of women's ranking, while Marta Maggetti (Italy) takes second position at the expense of the young Emma Wilson, from Great Britain.

Starting from Thursday, gold and silver finals will begin. It will be possible to follow those races in real time, thanks to the streaming of the live tracking on the YouTube channel of Sailing & Travel Communications.

Provisional men's ranking after six races - Top 5:

1. Bautista Saubidet Birkner, ARG, 9 points
2. Daniele Benedetti, ITA, 9
3. Mattia Camboni, ITA, 14
4. Igor De L'Hermite, FRA, 18
5. Mayan Rafic, ISR, 18

Provisional women's ranking after six races - Top 5:

1. Hadar Heller, ISR, 12 points
2. Marta Maggetti, ITA, 16
3. Emma Wilson, GBR, 27
4. Maelle Guilbaud, FRA, 29
5. Sara Lucille Wennekes, NED, 37

www.rsxclass.com

2K Keelboat Team Racing Club Ranking
2K Keelboat Team Racing now entering its third year announces the first Club ranking. With just 15 points separating the top three teams, all is to be played for as the teams approach the Royal Thames 2K event to be sailed in London 25-27 October.

2K which now has a 10 event calendar starting in Las Palmas in February before moving to Monaco for the 2K Grand Prix. Attracting sailors from match racing and dinghy team racing, the level of competition is extremely high at the top while the new comers are quickly moving up the scale.

Germany hosts its first 2K event in Hamburg 1-3 November, with new teams from Russia and Scandinavia planning to attend.

Italy has expended its calendar to host no fewer than 4 events in 2014.

1. Serpentine Race Team, GBR
2. Royal Thames Yacht Club, GBR
3. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, ITA
4. Bayerischer Yacht Club, GER
5. Spinnaker Sailing Club, GBR
6. Itchenor Sailing Club, GBR
7. Rome Race Team, ITA
8. DMTRA, NED
9. YC Monaco, MON
10. Batavia, NED

www.2kteamracing.com

Spinlock IRC Limited Validity TCC a Success
On 1st January 2013, the Rating Office, technical centre of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), introduced the Spinlock IRC Limited Validity (LV) TCC into Great Britain in a bid to get more people on the water racing under IRC. The Rating Office is delighted to report that the response to the LV TCC in its trial season, has exceeded expectations, and it will continue to offer Spinlock IRC LV TCCs into the foreseeable future for British boats and events.

With over 50 events, including the historic and internationally renowned AAM Cowes Week approved to accept LV TCCs in 2013, over 100 boats were issued with one, of which almost 25% had never raced in IRC before.

A Limited Validity TCC allows a boat to race in an IRC class at a specific event at a fraction of the cost of a full Spinlock IRC certificate, so is perfect for the casual racer who wants to race in an IRC fleet once or twice a year. Since the TCCs are calculated in exactly the same way, the kudos of a good IRC result applies to boats racing with an LV TCC as much as to those with a full IRC certificate.

Event organisers are already primed to accept LV TCCs in 2014, including the Little Britain Challenge Cup, Panerai British Classic Week and the RORC Easter Challenge. -- Peta Stuart-Hunt

A list of the events that accepted LV TCCs in 2013, and more information about the scheme, can be found at www.rorcrating.com/lv-tcc

SUNFISH WORLDS
Lewes, Delaware, USA: Peru's Alexander Zimmermann is a 2x World Champ! He won the first two races, slipped a bit in the 5th and final race then waited 3 soaked and windy days to be declared a back-to-back champ. Racing was cancelled on the final day with wind gusts to over 40 knots.

Final top five:

1. Alexander Zimmerman, PER, 19 points
2. Paul-Jon Patin, USA, 22
3. David Mendelblatt, USA, 22
4. Jean Paul de Trazego, PER, 29
5. Jonathan David Marti, ECU, 53

Full results: sunfishworlds.org/results.asp?j=2013

www.sunfishclass.org
www.sunfishworlds.org

Kiwis Take First Local Point In Big Boat Duel
They are nearly identical vessels, considered to be the fastest race boats in Australasia, and last night TeamVodafone and Team Australia met up for the first time in New Zealand waters.

The Head to Head was scheduled ahead of tomorrow's PIC Insurance Brokers Coastal Classic Auckland to Russell Yacht Race to get some much wanted answers about which of the two extreme 60-foot trimarans would be faster.

In moderate Westerly conditions and with Emirates Team New Zealand Skipper Dean Barker aboard for his first race since the America's Cup, Sean Langman's Team Australia gained an early lead over Kiwi Simon Hull's TeamVodafone, gybing from Westhaven down the Waitemata to be several hundred metres ahead when the boats reached Orakei and North Head.

The hammer went down once they reached clearer air in the open harbour, and both boats screamed towards Rangitoto Light at close to thirty knots. With the exception of in short bursts, neither one seemed to make significant gains on the other.

A navigational error meant that Team Australia needed to change course within a kilometre of the rounding mark, which gave TeamVodafone the opportunity to march on ahead.

The boats turned upwind at the mark and TeamVodafone, which carried a bigger headsail and later shook the reef in its main to increase its sail area again, showed instant upwind speed over its rival.

Once back inside North Head, the boats played the game of finding consistent air and maintaining boat speed for the few miles back to the finish off of Westhaven Marina, with TeamVodafone crossing the line far ahead of Team Australia.

Is this result indicative of what will happen tomorrow? Observers say it was difficult to judge. Team Australia expected the breeze to build when it in fact dropped, and was hampered by an early decision to use a smaller headsail - but they won't let that happen in the PIC Insurance Brokers Coastal Classic.

Boat tracking, commentary, sked times, photos and video will be available from race start on www.coastalclassic.co.nz

Marinus Blickman
It is with great sadness that ISAF announces that Marinus Blickman (NED) passed away on Friday 18 October 2013, aged 55, after a brave fight against cancer.

A long-time member of Royal Yacht Club 'Hollandia' in Medemblik, Marinus started his international career as a race officer at the SPA/Delta Lloyd Regatta in 1988, where for many years he was responsible for running the Finn/470 course. He became an IRO in 1995, and an ISAF Race Management instructor in 1995.

Marinus became one of the first IROs ever to run a Medal Race in 2005. For the 2009 Delta Lloyd Regatta he was asked to stay ashore and be the PRO for the entire regatta. His commitment to consistent and high-level race management made him decide to take on this extra responsibility from that year onward

Marinus' proudest career moments were the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Regattas, where he served on the ISAF Race Management team. Being committed to improving the standard of race management in the Netherlands, he also devoted much time and effort as a member, and later as chairman, of the KNWV race management committee from 2000 to 2008.

Marinus' easy-going manner and pleasant style made him popular both as an instructor and as a race officer. Sailing owes him greatly for his ability and effort to enthuse and educate countless young people in all aspects of race management.

ISAF expresses its sincere condolences to Marinus' wife Carla and their children Annelotte, Robine and Xander and his many friends in the sailing world.

www.sailing.org/news/36245.php

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 Tim Quinlan: Whilst I appreciate the country as a whole is struggling out of recession and certainly the Marine sector of the business community has been particularly badly hit, surely it's time the government stepped in to help? Could we not lobby the government to offer a special tax break to an investor who has the where will all to fund a proper campaign? The spin off for the marine industry would be huge - assuming of course we actually use the huge wealth of knowledge and expertise we have in this country. Come on Mr Cameron, come up with a way of helping us win the old Cup! Let's get the Cup back to the UK sailed by British Sailors, designed by British experts, built by British craftsman.

Featured Brokerage
1939 Wilke International Rule 6 metre. EUR 37,500. Located in Germany.

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Brokerage through Baum & Koenig GmbH: www.yachtworld.com/classic-yachts/

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

The Last Word
Surround yourself with smart, dedicated people - to build something isn't a one-man show. It's more important to have smart people who really believe in what you're doing than really experienced people who may not share your dream. -- Niklas Zennstrom

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