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It's Gilmour's Choice
Click on image to enlarge.

Perth, Western Australia: David Gilmour, and his crew from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, went undefeated through the third day of the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta, to win the round robin stage of the event.

Gilmour finished with a 16 win, 2 loss score line, which gives him the privilege of choosing his opponent for the quarter finals, and he had no hesitation in selecting eighth placed Jay Griffin from Sydney's Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

Racing on the third day was delayed for several hours as a glassy calm pervaded the Swan River, with the north westerly breezes spinning off cyclone Iggy being blocked by the south easterlies produced by a high in the Bight.

Eventually it was the south easterly that won, and produced robust conditions, with gusts of up to 25 knots putting the crews through their paces.

While Gilmour has dominated the event since the second day, the rising star of the regatta has been Josh Junior from Wellington's Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, who has climbed from seventh place at the end of the first day to fourth.

The Warren Jones International Youth Regatta is managed by Swan River Sailing, and hosted this year by Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, the final will be sailed on Friday 3rd February. -- John Roberson

1. David Gilmour, AUS, 16 - 2
2. Jordan Reece, AUS, 13 - 5
3. Peter Nicholas, AUS, 12 - 6
4. Josh Junior, NZL, 12 - 6
5. David Chapman, AUS, 10 - 8
6. Tristan Brown, AUS , 9 - 9
7. Sam Gilmour, AUS, 7 - 11
8. Jay Griffin, AUS, 6 - 12
9. Tim Coltman, NZL, 5 - 13
10. Naoki Ichino, JPN, 0 - 18

www.warrenjonesregatta.org.au

Puma Back In Touch as Telefonica Pulls Ahead
PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (Ken Read/USA) has re-joined the fleet after a brief sojourn to the east, while leaders of the pack, Team Telefonica, have again extended their lead over second-placed Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas/FRA). At 2200 UTC tonight, Telefonica led Groupama 4 by 19.4 nautical miles (nm).

At 1640 UTC today, the crew of PUMA's Mar Mostro had reached the Vietnamese coast, crossing astern of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's Azzam (Ian Walker/GBR). During the next three hours, they exchanged tacks with Azzam and, averaging 12 knots and sailing faster than anyone else, the crew of PUMA's Mar Mostro managed to nip across their bows and found themselves four and a half miles ahead of Walker and his team. They were back in touch and the leaders were just 27 nm ahead.

At 2200 UTC tonight, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand's third place was under threat from Read and his men as their comeback gained momentum with just over 400 nm left to run until the finish in Sanya on Saturday. CAMPER led Mar Mostro by just over four and a half miles, while Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing were less than four miles astern.

Meanwhile, Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson/NZL) in sixth place, was still 76 nm south of the coast of Vietnam, and 187 nm adrift from Telefonica.

The fleet has now peeled away from the southeast coast of Vietnam and is heading out to sea before tacking and pointing towards Sanya. "It will be a bit like rounding a Cape," said CAMPER'S Chris Nicholson earlier. "There's going to be a fair bit going on. It will be windy and a potential for confused seas. We will have our wits about us for that bit".

www.volvooceanrace.com

A Day In Paradise, a Day In Hell
Marco Nannini in the Global Ocean Race

The first few days of the race, once out of Cook Strait, have been relatively easy sailing, reaching then downwind in moderate seas clocking good mileage every poll, we were happy with our choice of heading further south at the beginning which paid very well as now we have a lead of over 70 miles over Phesheya, our direct peer with an identical boat (although I undertand they had an issue with a spinnaker). The leaderboard keeps getting now reshuffled, each with their own idea of how to best deal with what looks like up to a week of head winds.

When the front came through yesterday the wind went from north westerly (good) to south easterly (bad) and kept increasing, today we had anything from 30 to 45 knots of wind in a deteriorating sea state, the port pilot started to struggle until it would just steer an erratic course with several involutary tacks which allowed for some rather loud swearing from my part, from a distance you may well have thought we are sponsored by French Connection UK, or close anagram thereof.

We now switched to the starboard pilot, reset the all settings and we seem to be doing a little better although knowing we have endless miles ahead of this bashing is not exactly making us sing songs of joy, there will be no real respite for at least 48 hours when at least the wind is due to calm down a bit.

There's not much we can do and everyone has the same to deal with, so let's just grin and bear till things will hopefullly improve, all we wish for at the moment is to keep going and suffer no damage.

www.marconannini.com
globaloceanrace.com

Seahorse March 2012
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Update
Andy Rice looks at the Olympic state of play, Iain Murray updates us on the good and the bad in Cup World and at Key West Terry Hutchinson is awarded some time out for good behaviour onboard a good ’ol one-huller

Paul Cayard - The game starts here
Why 2012 is going to be the make-or -break year for America’s Cup teams

IRC - Weighty matters
Why did we ever think that theory would ever beat a set of ‘weighing scales’? James Dadd

Sailor of the Month
And a rather magnificent contest... (we think)

If you haven't subscribed to Seahorse already we're keen to help you attend to that! - Please use the following promotional link and enjoy the hefty Scuttlebutt Europe discount... and it gets even better for 2 and 3 year subscriptions...

www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs

14 Teams Confirmed for 2012 RC44 Championship Tour
New faces and one new team are confirmed in the line-up for the 2012 RC44 Championship Tour, which kicks off in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote next week (8 February 2012).

Each of the 14 competing teams will be hoping to emulate the success Chris Bake's Team Aqua (GBR) saw in 2011. Bake will be back with the same team, including longstanding tactician Cameron Appleton (NZL), and fighting to lift the trophy for the second year in a row, despite some heavy-hitters joining the Tour in 2012.

The new all-Italian team joins the fleet for the 2012 season. AFX Capital Racing Team is owned by Massimo Barranco, founder and General Manager of Eurograni SpA Company, the largest wheat and cereal trader in Italy. The team will debut at the first event in Puerto Calero.

New professionals such as multiple America's Cup winner Brad Butterworth (NZL), fellow Cup winner Ed Baird (USA) and Olympic medallist Ross Macdonald (CAN) are listed on the crew lists for first event of the season in Lanzarote.

Adding another experienced match sailor to their crew, Team AEZ (AUT) will this season welcome Germany's Markus Wieser.

Absent from the 2012 season is ORACLE Racing, whose crew will be fully concentrating their efforts on the defence of their title at the 34th America's Cup.

The 14 competing teams will again be challenged by a mixture of lake, ocean and harbour racing in 2012 with new host port, Cascais in Portugal, welcoming the fleet for the second round of the Tour.

Teams competing in the 2012 RC44 Championship Tour:

AEZ Sailing Team (AUT44)
Rene Mangold (AUT) / Markus Wiser (GER)

AFX Capital Racing (ITA7)
Massimo Barranco (ITA) / Gabriele Bruni (ITA)

Aleph Sailing Team (FRA17)
Hugues Lepic (FRA) / Mathieu Richard (FRA)

Artemis Racing (SWE44)
Torbjorn Tornqvist (SWE) / Morgan Larson (USA)

Ironbound (USA 1)
David Murphy (USA) / Andy Horton (USA)

Katusha (RUS 007)
Gennadi Timchenko (RUS) / Brad Butterworth (NZL)

No Way Back (NED 18)
Pieter Heerema (NED) / Ross MacDonald (CAN)

Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team (GBR 1)
John Bassadone (GBR) / Vasco Vascotto (ITA)

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP 1)
Daniel Calero (ESP) / Jose Maria Ponce (ESP)

RC44 TEAM CEEREF (SLO 11)
Igor Lah (SLO) / Michele Ivaldi (ITA)

RUS-7 Sail Racing Team powered by AnyWayAnyDay.com (RUS7)
Kirill Podolsky (RUS) / Sergui Chevtsov (RUS)

Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS 13)
Valentin Zavadnikov (RUS) / Ed Baird (USA)

Team Aqua (GBR 2041)
Chris Bake (GBR) / Cameron Appleton (NZL)

Team Nika (RUS 10)
Vladimir Prosikhin (RUS) / Tomislav Basic (CRO)

www.rc44.com

Who Will Grab The Tiger By The Tail?
Click on image to enlarge.

With the Steve Nicholson Memorial Trophy just completed, the SailJuice Global Warm-Up 2012 has passed the half-way stage, with a Fireball still sitting in pole position. It was a light wind regatta at Northampton last Saturday, which was booked to maximum capacity of 150 entries. A good opportunity for some of the hiking classes like the Merlin Rocket and RS400 to come to the fore after the windier outings at the Grafham Grand Prix and Bloody Mary earlier in January.

Dave Winder and Pippa Tayler held together a consistent day to win the doublehanded division, but Sam Mettam and Richard Anderton hung in with a 6th place in their Fireball to maintain the lead in the SailJuice series. Meanwhile Peter Gray and Alex in their Scorpion scored 3rd in the division and also sit in 3rd overall in the Series. 

In the singlehanders, while two Phantoms led home the division on the day, Ian Morgan's 7th place in the Laser gives him 2nd overall in the SailJuice Series as the focus now turns to this weekend's John Merricks Tiger Trophy at Rutland Water.

Last year Andy Smith and Tim Needham dominated a windy Tiger Trophy, winning all three races on the Saturday and becoming the first team ever to win the £1000 prize that has been on offer for many years to any boat that could win every race at the Tiger. This weekend the forecast is unpredictable, with the prognosis changing by the day. It could be a drifter, it could blow a gale, but past competitors will know that it has to be extreme before the Tiger Trophy is cancelled.

Three races will be sailed back to back on Saturday with the fleet divided into fast and slow handicap but all sailing the same course. This enables average lap times to be established over the whole fleet and an overall winner decided. The annual Tiger Trophy Pursuit race on Sunday is non-discardable and has for many years been the downfall of some exceptional sailors.

Already more than 100 boats have entered in advance. To join them, click here: www.sailracer.org/events/

To see Overall Standings in the SailJuice Global Warm-Up 2012:
www.sailracer.us/eventsites/

Mothapalooza!
With the 2012 Zhik Nautica Moth Worlds a little under seven months away, Zhik has announced an innovative competition to run in conjunction with the championship to be held at Campione del Garda, Italy in August.

Mothapalooza is a competition which will award 5,000 Euro cash to the competitor who designs the Moth with the most creativity, personality and style.

"There were quite a few boats with unique identity at the last Worlds", said Bart Milczarczyk, Design Manager at Zhik, "and we wanted to inspire that further, bring in some attitude, and make it fantastic to watch for spectators both in Italy and on-line".

Three independent judges will score each competitor's Mothapalooza hull, rig, and clothing and award a series of prizes.

Zhik is announcing this competition today to allow all competitors enough time to create their design master pieces.

Prizes will be as follows:
1st Prize - €5,000 Euro cash
2nd Prize - Complete Zhik Kit, worth over €1,200 Euro
3rd Prize - Complete Zhik Kit, worth over €1,200 Euro
Peoples Choice - Complete Zhik Kit, worth over €1,200 Euro
Peoples Prize - €1,000 Euro of Zhik gear chosen from www.zhik.com

While the main Mothapalooza prize will be judged purely in the boat park and on Lake Garda, the "People's Choice" prize has an interesting twist to it. In the People's Choice competition, the general public can vote on-line at mothapalooza.com where competitors will be able to submit, videos, text, music or whatever medium they choose to highlight their designs.

The "People's Prize" will be won by one lucky viewer who successfully selects the winning Mothapalooza. To be in the running, you must vote for your favourite design at www.mothapalooza.com

Cold Shoulder for Hot Liquid
After three serious safety related incidents, the RYA has removed its recognition of Hot Liquid Southampton as a provider of RYA training courses, leaving the company unable to offer or run RYA courses.

The RYA decision was made following three serious safety related incidents involving Hot Liquid Southampton between January 2011 and January 2012.

"The removal of RYA recognition from a training centre is never a decision that is taken lightly," said RYA training manager and chief examiner Richard Falk. "However, it is essential that customers are confident appropriate safety management routines are in place at any centre displaying the RYA Recognised Training Centre logo."

The RYA advises that any customers booked on an RYA course at Hot Liquid Southampton should contact the school directly to discuss their situation. If a customer has a further query they can contact the RYA at 02380 604100.

Hot Liquid Gibraltar, which has operational safety management routines controlled separately to those of the Southampton site, will retain RYA recognition for all disciplines currently on offer.

www.boatingbusiness.com

Maserati Sets Sail
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Today saw the start of Maserati's first record attempt. Giovanni Soldini and his crew of seven experienced yachtsmen set sail this morning at 11:50:08 hrs GMT from the port of Cadiz (Spain), heading to San Salvador (Bahamas). The crew's ambitious objective is to set a new record over the Cadiz-San Salvador distance, a journey of 3884 miles across the Atlantic that has never been attempted by a monohull yacht before now.

Skipper Soldini is accompanied by German yachtsman Boris Herrmann (navigator), American yachtsman Brad Van Liew and Spaniard David Vera (both watch leaders) as well as four Italians: Gabriele Olivo (trimmer), Guido Broggi (boat captain), Corrado Rossignoli (first bowman) and Marco Spertini (second bowman).

"We have decided to set off from Cadiz immediately because of favourable weather", explains Giovanni Soldini. "The high pressure area over the Azores has moved to a position from which it should grant us a good wind during the first half of the crossing. We can't really tell what will happen in the second half, around 40-50 W, because the long term forecasts are simply not reliable enough. We shouldn't find any surprises, though. We are all ready for the challenge and really looking forward to getting under way."

The Cadiz-San Salvador record is being monitored by the World Sailing Speed Record Council. It is a particularly tough challenge due to the length of the crossing and its difficulty. The main problem during the first part of the trip will be a high pressure area over the Azores and blocking the way. During the second half, the principal risk will come from a series of fronts and depressions that could slow the boat down if the pressure is too low. In the past, only large trimarans have made attempts on this record. Maserati is trying to set the first reference time for monohull boats.

The record attempt can be followed live on Giovanni Soldini and Maserati's new website www.maserati.soldini.it

Sailing Passion
Veteran Gold Coast sailor Colin Metcher (74) will again test his personal endurance at the tiller of his sports skiff Cool Change when the exciting fleet of mixed class dinghies and catamarans contest The Great Race on Saturday February 25.

This unique and exciting sailing challenge ranked among Australia's most demanding small boat races again promises to sort the best from the rest over the 37.8 nautical mile (70 km) course from the The Southport Yacht Club Hollywell to finish off The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron on Brisbane's Waterloo Bay.

Colin Metcher who won his first major trophy The South of Perth Yacht Club championship 58 years ago has an impressive list of International and National awards showcased in his personal trophy cabinet.

In fact he has sailed that many miles his race rivals believe he has salt water in his blood stream and turtle-neck barnacles growing on his skin.

His personal career resume includes winning the World Hydra catamaran championship plus a class win in the prestigious Hoek van Holland marathon in Europe.

To say he has a personal passion for the sport of sailing is an understatement as he has focused his career on planning and competing in major marathon events in West Australia before settling on Queensland's Gold Coast where he as a principal organizer with Southport Yacht Club mate David Jorganson set the safety procedures in place for the inaugural Great Race seven years ago.

"Sure sailing is my passion and I'm proud of it" He said when pondering over the thought of subjecting his 74 year old muscles to another test of physical torture.

He has a good idea on what to expect, being the only skipper to have the distinction of completing all seven marathons since the first of these classic marathon races in 2005.

Further information is available from Colin Metcher on 0459 122 090. -- Ian Grant

Irish Sailing Association 6th Annual National Conference
The ISA 6th Annual National Conference is returning to Dun Laoghaire on the 3rd of March 2012 to launch what will undoubtedly be one of the most exciting years for watersports in Ireland.

The conference will include many seminars and workshops across a range of interesting and exciting topics delivered by fascinating guest speakers.

Find out all about the ISAF Youth Worlds, Cork Week, Round Ireland and the Volvo Ocean Race at '2012 Events' or learn about our 2012 Olympic Squad at 'Olympic Update & Junior Pathway'. Are you hosting an event in your club this year? Then we have the perfect seminars for you; 'Raising Money & Running Successful Events' and 'Media Management'. There will also be an 'Open Forum' with all ISA Managers and ISA President Niamh McCutcheon hosted by MC, renowned writer and broadcaster, Fergal Keane. It's FREE for ISA members!

More information: www.sailing.ie/conference/en-gb/home.aspx

Letters To The Editor - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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 Chris Brown: Re: the current Volvo Round The World Race...

I couldn't agree more with Euan Ross' comments today regarding the recent batch of commentaries. Has J K Rowling been dialled into the media training for Volvo competitors? What with the mentions of the mystery Voldemort race stop, it makes me wonder. Hogwarts waypoint next anyone?  

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The Last Word
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Brought to you by Boats.com Europe, Scuttlebutt Europe is a digest of sailing news and opinions, regatta results, new boat and gear information and letters from sailors -- with a European emphasis. Contributions welcome, send to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Time Running Out For America's Cup Challengers
The prospect of an America's Cup with just three challengers is growing stronger as the runway to build a monster multihull for the 2013 regatta gets shorter.

Only four teams have begun building the new 72-foot wing-sail catamarans that will duel for sport's oldest trophy in San Francisco in September next year. Emirates Team New Zealand is among those now building the new design, as is the Auld Mug defender, Oracle Racing.

America's Cup Race Management chief executive Iain Murray, in Auckland today for a competitors' forum, remains optimistic that four of the remaining six teams who will sail in the next America's Cup World Series event in Naples will gather the funding necessary to build an AC72. But the second wave of global recession has left some European challengers struggling to keep above water.

Swedish challenger Artemis has begun work on its first AC72, while the resurrected Italian team, Luna Rossa, is putting together a boat with the help of Emirates Team New Zealand in a unique collaboration. The Italians are now in Auckland sailing against the Kiwi team in the AC45s, smaller versions of the actual America's Cup boat.

Murray doubted that Cup organisers would be able to give any financial assistance to those teams fighting to take their campaigns through to the America's Cup start line. A new challenger was today accepted for the America's Cup World Series warm-up regattas - British Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie's team - but has no intention of sailing in the 2013 Cup.

Teams are discussing the possibility of a best-of-three series each race day, with a winner declared each day. The races are certain to be short and sharp - raced on tight courses and lasting little more than 30 minutes.

With the boats predicted to "go faster than anyone expected" - around 18 knots upwind and 30-35 knots downwind - the races along San Francisco's city -front are likely to be sailed over two-lap courses with three-mile legs. -- Suzanne McFadden in Stuff.co.nz

www.stuff.co.nz/sport/

Pace Up, Pressure On
At 2200 UTC tonight, Team Telefonica (Iker Martinez/ESP) continued keep the pace up and the pressure on to lead the six-boat fleet towards the South Cape of Vietnam, 261 nautical miles (nm) ahead.

Even though the team had to back up to free some plastic stuck in the daggerboard, since 1600 UTC today they have been making small gains on the entire fleet and tonight at 2200 UTC, all five boats had loss valuable miles to the leader.

Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA), now four nm to windward is 5.6 nm behind, meanwhile, Ken Read has broken free from the clutches of Groupama 4 and Telefonica and has tacked, clearly considering the easterly route rather than the coastal option. As a result, PUMA's Mar Mostro is showing a loss tonight of 25 nm and is now 38 nm nm behind Martinez and his unstoppable team.

Further back in the field, the gap between Mar Mostro in third and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's Azzam in fourth has extended to 126 nm. Fifth placed CAMPER is 21 nm east of Azzam and 15 nm behind.

Bringing up the rear is Team Sanya who are now out in the South China Sea although still heading east and trailing by nearly 200 nm.

Gales are forecast for up to 125 nm off the Vietnam coast and the leaders are heading directly towards the area where, according to weather experts, conditions will become rough to extreme, with short period waves of around two - four metres in height.

The sea state is probably going to the deciding factor in how fast the teams will push, rather than the wind strength. "When the wind starts building, we will adjust our sails accordingly and start slowing the boat down as we need to," Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's Rob Greenhalgh said.

On board, checks are bing made in readiness for the bad weather ahead and the crews are trying to be as rested as they possibly can, given the closeness of the competition. When to put the pedal down and when to back off will be critical and it could just be that the team that survives it might well win.

volvooceanrace.com

Musto HPX Pro -- New For 2012
Click on image to enlarge.

The competition is heating up in the Volvo Ocean Race with both leading teams wearing Musto. We are getting valuable feedback from the sailors who are wearing our gear 24/7 to protect them from what the Ocean has to throw at them. Here's what CAMPER's Chris Nicholson had to say before the start of leg 3:

"Reliability is a big factor in winning this race and that goes for our clothing too. The kit needs to keep us in a state where we can perform to the best of our ability at all times.

Leg 3 is likely to be warm and wet so we need the technical gear to keep us dry on the inside."

The CAMPER Team with Emirates Team New Zealand team is wearing HPX Pro, which is NEW for 2012.

www.musto.com

Sydney Sailors Lead After Day 1
Click on image to enlarge.

Perth, Western Australia: Sydney sailors head the leaderboard at the end of the first day of the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta, with Jordan Reece and David Chapman both undefeated after a tough day on the water.

Jordan Reece, who came into the event as the top ranked skipper, has six wins on the scoreboard, while David Chapman scored five.

Holding third place at this stage is local skipper David Gilmour chalking up four wins against one loss, his only defeat came at the hands of his younger brother Sam in his first encounter of the day.

For the first half of the day the crews battled a blustery easterly breeze, that required the mainsails to be reefed, but the wind faded through the afternoon turning the battle of brawn into a battle of brains and stealth.

Both Reece and Chapman are products of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron's youth training scheme, which is led by round the world sailor David Adams, and in recent years has started to eclipse their rival Cruising Yacht Club of Australia from the opposite side of the famous harbour.

Filling the middle order on the leaderboard are three more local skippers Peter Nicholas, Tristan Brown and Sam Gilmour, all of the host club.

The Warren Jones International Youth Regatta is managed by Swan River Sailing, and hosted this year by Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, racing started Tuesday 31st January, with the final on Friday 3rd February. -- John Roberson

Skipper - Country - Score
1. Jordan Reece, AUS, 6 - 0
2. David Chapman, AUS, 5 - 0
3. David Gilmour, AUS, 4 - 1
4. Peter Nicholas, AUS, 3 - 2
5. Tristan Brown, AUS , 3 - 3
6. Sam Gilmour, AUS, 3 - 4
7= Josh Junior , NZL, 2 - 3
7= Jay Griffin, AUS, 2 - 3
9= Tim Coltman, NZL, 0 - 5
9= Naoki Ichino, JPN, 0 - 7

www.warrenjonesregatta.org.au

Extended Play
Photo by Chris Cameron, www.chriscameron.co.nz. Click on image to enlarge.

At a nondescript warehouse on Auckland's North Shore, the latest AC45 development is taking shape - a 4 meter tall extension to the wingsail that will add over 8 square meters of surface area to the wing.

Adding more power to a boat that already challenges the best sailors in the world may seem like overkill, but Regatta Director Iain Murray says the bigger wing will promote more exciting racing in light conditions.

"The extensions aren't fixed permanently," Murray explains. "We can put them on or take them off, so they'll be used at our discretion for light wind venues to add more power to the boats when we're racing in lower wind ranges."

Murray says he expects the wing extensions could be used in up to 15 knots of wind.

The first extensions will be tested on the waters off Auckland by Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa early next month.

Among the challenges has been accommodating the media transmission equipment that is located in the top of the main element of the existing wing. The on-the-water tests will be critical to ensure the media equipment still works under the extension.

Any modifications that become necessary as a result of the tests will be quickly incorporated into the production. Then a small team of Davies' boatbuilders will shift to Valencia, Spain to prepare the wings that are in storage there ahead of the Naples event.

"The plan is to have the lion's share of the work done before we get to Naples so everyone is able to get sailing using these extensions as quickly as possible," Davies says.

www.americascup.com

IWDG Secures 75% Funding For Celtic Mist Refit
Click on image to enlarge.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has secured three-quarters of the funding it required to refit its research vessel Celtic Mist.

According to The Irish Times, the Clare Local Development Company has approved the allocation of a €48,000 grant towards the refurbishment of the ketch.

The work will be carried out by Cathal Blunnie and several sub-contractors, and involves stripping down the main cabin and removing the bath and shower to increase space for crew berths.

While the ship's clock will be retained, the ship's wheel in the main cabin will be removed and presented to the Haughey family as a gesture of appreciation.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the 52-foot yacht - which was gifted by the Haughey family to the IWDG to assist in its marine wildlife conservation work - entered dry dock last November in preparation for the refit work, after relocating to its new berth at Kilrush, Co Clare in July.

The cost of refurbishing the yacht for research and training purposes is expected to top €60,000, with an annual running cost of some €20,000, for which the IWDG is seeking ongoing financial assistance.

The group aims to get the Celtic Mist back at sea before the summer.

www.afloat.ie

See www.rvcelticmist.ie

Be Prepared for Man Overboard
Click on image to enlarge.

Two major MOB incidents during yacht races and in two very different scenarios. The first, one of only two crew alone in the middle of the ocean, a day away from crossing the Auckland finish line of the second leg of the Global Ocean Race in first place. The second, amongst the throng of the racing fleet at Quantum Key West Race Week last week. In the latter, Farr 40 Barking Mad recovered the crew member and went on to win the regatta.

"Man overboard situations during the heat of competition happen all too easily as crews push themselves and their yachts to the limit," comments Mark Hart of Ocean Safety. "These two high profile recent incidents are a stark reminder of the importance of being equipped with the best that technology allows."

Ocean Safety has a full range of man overboard recovery products including some only recently available on the market. Every crew member could carry the Ocean Safety Kannad R10 AIS Survivor Recovery System (SRS), for example, whose AIS signal can show the position both on board their own vessel, and on others in a four mile radius. Ocean Safety also recently introduced the new Mk V Jonbuoy man overboard recovery system, which speeds up getting the crew member safely on board and over the finish line.

www.oceansafety.com

Spinnaker Tales
Glenn Bourke the former Olympian and Laser class World champion has successfully made the transition to the strict art form of SB3 Dart one design racing by winning the Victorian championship on Geelong's Corio Bay last weekend.

The master tactician took a break from his busy day time job as CEO of the Bob Oatley owned Hamilton Island Resort to team up with his Sunshine Coast crewmates Rod Jones and Greg MacAllansmith in the high performance sports boat Club Marine Blue.

They were in similar dominating form last August winning the Queensland championship on the more familiar courses set for the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.

However the Club Marine Blue crew who are currently ranked fourth in the World following the 2011 World championship in England were forced to be selective in their race strategy in the tricky conditions that were presented on Corio Bay.

Their eventual 12 point championship winning margin from the best 10 races to count included 8 wins clearly showed that the Club Marine Blue crew again set another high standard in this demanding class where a minor blemish in the important human related skills of tactics and technique mean the difference between winning and finishing back in the pack.

During a post regatta interview Glenn Bourke said, "It comes down to tactics. This was an odd regatta in that quite often the corners paid, and I'm not a corner type of guy. But eventually the conservative option, taking the shifts in the middle and chipping away, won out".

"You have to be in phase (with the wind) when it's shifting that much we were in phase more often". "Thousands of races over the course of a career bashes what's right and wrong into you. Then if you have a little bit of natural ability coupled with that it helps". He said.

This win was an impressive result achieved by the exceptionally talented Club Marine Blue crew but that regatta is now history as they prepare to contest the open Australian championship on the equally tricky River Derwent on the 18th to the 20th of February.

The trio of Club Marine Blue sailors who all play an important individual role in the results will be forced into employing a different set of tactics to master the skill and local knowledge possessed by Hobart idol and former World Dragon class champion Nick Rogers.

Rogers like Glenn Bourke is a talented tactician and has the logged the 'hard miles' in a career spanning a number of strict one design classes which allows his Tasmanian crew to share the top of the pre-championship betting order with the Queensland and Victorian champions in Club Marine Blue. Interest will also focus on the performance of class 'rookies' including former Sydney Hobart Race winning skipper Roger Hickman.

Hickman from Tasmania and Chris Dare from Victoria are the latest high profile sailors who have career plans in place to be on the pace when the battle lines are drawn for 2012 SB3 World Championship at Hamilton Island from December 18-20. -- Ian Grant

Southampton University Team Racing Reunion Event
Click on image to enlarge.

A 'who's who' of British sailing descended on Southampton this weekend to compete in the Southampton University Team Racing Reunion Event, held at Spinnaker Sailing Club. A total of 84 sailors in 14 teams, including all six helms to have ever won the ISAF Team Racing World Championships for GBR were competing. Raced in light winds, the reunion was won by the 'Wessex Hawks' consisting of Andy Cornah/Kate Fairclough, Ben Field/Tom Foster and Matt Findlay/Sophie Harrison (between them 1999-2005), triumphing in all 13 races they raced in the two day round robin competition.

The Alumni sailors, whose joint University careers date back to circa 1986, were joined by the current University of Southampton Second Team to race for the 'Great White Telephone Trophy', held for only the second time. Sailors competing included countless National, European and World champions in all manner of classes and disciplines. Those sending their apologies for missing the event include notable America's Cup and Olympic sailors such as Adrian Stead, Paul Campbell-James and Saskia Clark.

Competitors enjoyed crisp but perfect team racing conditions on Saturday, with steady Force 2-3 conditions and the occasional burst of winter sun. At the end of day one, Wessex Hawks and Team Fun were each unbeaten, with Wessex Allstars and Wessex Pirates close behind. Following an epic social involving a "crawl" along Portswood High Street ending at Southampton's infamous student nightclub Jesters on Saturday night, the final 25 races of the round robin were completed in light conditions on Sunday morning. Early victories left Team Fun and the Wessex Hawks both unbeaten and therefore tied until they met. It was Wessex Hawks that triumphed, resulting in a well-deserved victory in a highly competitive event. Team Fun and Wessex AllStars ended the competition tied on number of wins, with Wessex AllStars ultimately taking second place overall after beating their compatriots.

Final Results

1. Wessex Hawks - 13 wins (Andy Cornah, Kate Fairclough, Ben Field, Tom Foster, Matt Findlay & Sophie Harrison)
2. Wessex AllStars - 11 wins (Steve Tylecote, James Williams, Rob Sherrington, Mel Sherrington, Ben Vines & Jenny Vines)
3. Team Fun - 11 wins (Andy Shaw, Holly Scott, Stevie Tiernan, Tim Goodhew, Ed Morris and Emily Giles)

New 177ft Barque Launched by India
The Indians are doing it in style - there's a new very glamorous tall ship just launched by the Indian Navy, and she's scheduled to carry out a 'Friendship Mission' by sailing through South East Asia later this year.

Eight years after Indian Navy's only tall ship INS Tarangini circumnavigated the globe to 'build bridges of friendship across oceans', a brand new barque - INS Sudarshini, a 177-feet long barque with 20 sails - is all set to embark on a similar voyage, but it won't be until September.

The destination this time is the familiar neighbourhood of South-East Asia, which has been, of late, at the centre of India's foreign and military policy.

Built at Goa Shipyard Limited, INS Sudarshini was commissioned on Friday at southern naval command in Kochi. It is only the second sail ship in the navy, the first being Tarangini, which was used to train naval officers in handling ship, navigation and seamanship.

Designed by British architect Colin Mudie, Sudarshini 7.5 km of rope to go with its 20 sails revives the old world charm of sail ships.

It will go on its first major assignment on September 15 when it will sail out of Kochin on a voyage to south east Asia covering eight countries and 18 foreign ports.

The sail ship, which can sustain for 20 days at one time, operates with a complement of five officers, 31 sailors with 30 cadets

After starting from Kochi, its first destination would be Banda Aceh from where it would reach Padang, Cilacap, Bali, Ambon, Manado, Brunei, Cebu and Manila. From the Philippine capital, she will cross the South China Sea to touch Danang, Sihanoukville and Nhatrang in Vietnam.

After going around the Malaysian peninsula, INS Sudarshini will visit Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh before returning to Puri and Chennai.

Letters To The Editor - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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* From Rich Roberts: As the Ben Ainslie controversy carries on, has anyone considered that the race committee was initially at fault for turning a clueless media boat loose on the race course without cautionary instructions? Most sailors understand that power boaters seldom look back and the word "wake" is not in their vocabulary. I was once on a Congressional Cup press boat that laid its wake directly in the course of four-time winner Gavin Brady while the driver was talking on his cell phone and I was momentarily distracted taking notes. Brady protested, as he should have. He was right; we were wrong. He later withdrew the protest, but the point was made, and I thanked him for that. Later I wrote a "Guidelines for press/photo boats" (see link below) that none should leave the dock without. Blame the RC at Perth. Kiwis, especially, should know better.

Ainslie took it too far, but in doing so he only did what many of his peers have wanted to do and, most importantly, he presented his high profile to a problem that RCs everywhere need to address. DSQ Ainslie from the OIympics? Heck, for this service to sailing he should get another medal.

Download: scuttlebutteurope.com/pdf/pressboat.pdf

* From Bruce Hebbert: Great news of 2K

To add to the list of exciting 2K events there will also be two in Italy. First at Anzio near Rome on the 8-9-10 June and then in July at Ledro (near Garda) on the 6-7-8 July.

Anzio will be in Platu 25 and Ledro in J22.

Check out: www.avll.it for info on the Ledro event.

Featured Brokerage
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The Last Word
If you sincerely desire a truly well-rounded education, you must study the extremists, the obscure and nutty. You need the balance! Your poor brain is already being impregnated with middle-of-the-road crap, twenty-four hours a day. -- Ivan Stang

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