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STAMM REACHES THE KERGUELEN ISLANDS
Bernard Stamm, the defending champion on Cheminees Poujoulat, is in an upbeat mood despite reporting damage sustained in a 'crash'. The Swiss skipper, who leads the VELUX 5 OCEANS by a comfortable 960 miles, reported that he has again broken the same halyard as earlier in the leg from Spain to Fremantle. He has also broken three battens in the mainsail. Furthermore, one of the mainsail battens is also caught in the leeward backstay, meaning Stamm is currently not able to lower his mainsail beyond one reef.

Now 2,300 miles from the finish in Western Australia in cold temperatures and harsh conditions, Stamm will be looking to make the necessary repairs as he will certainly not wish to be caught by strong winds with no flexibility to his mainsail setting. However, the damage hasn't stopped Cheminees Poujoulat from recording the highest speeds within the fleet. Stamm will soon round the Kerguelen Islands, a mandatory waypoint en route to Australia. Following Alex Thomson's decision to abandon Hugo Boss, Stamm now remains on track to be the only skipper to complete three around the world races in three years, an incredible feat.

Meanwhile Mike Golding, who was at the centre of last week's drama, continues to make best speed towards South Africa onboard ECOVER with the mainsail now set. The FICO World Champion is now surely weighing up all the options left to him in the Velux 5 Oceans. ECOVER does have a spare mast in Southampton, but the team must decide on the merits of continuing based on costs and his overall position in the race.

Further west, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston (SAGA Insurance) leads the three back markers as they head south in search of the Roaring Forties. The final three boats are desperate to make up the lost ground on the front markers and start to eat up the miles into the Southern Ocean. Sir Robin continues to be plagued by problems with his auto pilot system, but will continue through to Fremantle rather than stop to make repairs along the way. Basurko (PAKEA), the newest Open 60 in the fleet, will be looking to move out of last place and pass Dalton (A Southern Man AGD) as the winds and speeds pick up.

velux5oceans.com

* The dramatic rescue of Alex Thomson in the Southern Ocean last Friday, November 24th 2006, is now available as a podcast.

APP Broadcast transmitted live images from the Southern Ocean as Alex Thomson left Hugo Boss and jumped into his liferaft. The footage was broadcast live by BBC News 24 and Sky News in the UK.

To download as a podcast or similar mpeg video player, subscribe to the podcast with the following details: www.appftp.com/apppodcast/rescue.xml

To Stream the video direct, copy the following link into a web browser: www.velux5oceans.net/bossrescue/24_11_06Rescue.wmv

RICK TOMLINSON CALENDARS
The 2007 Rick Tomlinson Calendars are now available. Rick Tomlinson is one of the world's foremost marine photographers and is responsible for some of the most memorable yachting images ever captured. He has chronicled his experiences over the years through his signature calendar range.

The Portfolio Calendar features the best of Rick's recent work and contains stunning images from around the world. The Desk Calendar is free-standing and is ideal for the home or office.

Both calendars are available for company overprinting or individually - ideal Christmas gifts. All the photographs can be viewed on www.rick-tomlinson.com or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

SAIL TV IS ON BOARD FOR LONDON BOAT SHOW
National Boat Shows, the organisers of the London Boat Show, have confirmed that they are working in partnership with the 24-hour internet broadband channel Sail TV to bring January's Boat Show to life - in all its glory - to a global audience through IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) or, put simply, through Broadband TV.

Sail TV will produce regular features and newsworthy items filmed throughout the show that will be shown on the bespoke Sail TV player every evening at www.sail.tv .

The channel is also broadcasting feature items from various locations throughout the London Boat Show at ExCeL between 5th and 14th January 2006 and working closely with the Boat Show PR team to identify relevant material. In addition, Sail TV will be featuring Boat Show news and features via a number of Plasma screens situated in key areas around the Show e.g. As part of the Inland Waterways feature, the Guinness Stand, and the main Boulevard.

Sail TV was launched to the industry and media at the London Boat Show in January 2006 and the channel is looking forward to celebrating its first birthday with an announcement of its own on Friday 5th January 2007.

www.sail.tv

GARMIN WINTER SERIES
A southerly breeze of 20 to 25 knots made the going tough but enjoyable for the penultimate races of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series in a particularly bumpy Solent. The conditions were severe enough to bring about a significant number of retirements, mainly due to minor gear failure, and the surprising thing was that fifteen of them were from the larger yachts of the Black Fleet, compared to just a couple from the sportsboats of the White Fleet. It has to be said, though, that many of the latter spent a good deal of time on their sides with their spinnakers in the water.

The large number of entries in the Laser SB3 class, coupled with the keenness and aggression of the competitors, are frequently responsible for general recalls and OCS disqualifications. Nothing new in that, but one incident today will probably have a profound effect on the final position of "Gul", which is sailed by Mike Budd and Russell Peters. Assuming that both of the races scheduled for next Sunday are sailed, each competitor will discard their four worst races, which probably would have seen "Gul" leap back into the lead with their long string of first and second places, despite the fact that she has not competed on four occasions. Having been lobbed from a race today for an OCS, though, four discards will not be enough, because the situation is exacerbated by the large number of points for a DNC or DSQ in such a big class.

This could certainly favour "Royal Thames Lucky Lady", sailed by James Fox who is sitting pretty with a 12 point overall lead at the moment. His main worry will be Geoff Carveth's "Palava", currently in third place despite having to count a DNC, but Geoff could do the big leapfrog if he gets two good scores next Sunday, so he might be watching the weather forecasts with more interest than usual towards the end of the week. -- Peter Danby

White Fleet Race Winners:

Laser SB3 Race 1, "Royal Thames Lucky Lady" James Fox. Race 2, "Gul" Mike Budd & Russell Peters
J80 Races 1 & 2, "Savage Racing Team" Liz Savage
Hunter 707 Race 1, "Censored" Messrs Gorman, Williams, Breslin & Simmonds. Race 2, "Darkness" Patrick Miles
SBR Sportsboats Race 1, "G & T David Greenhalgh. Race 2, "Jos of Hamble" Professor Roger Williams

Black Fleet Race Winners:

IRC 0 "Windsong" Stuart Bowen-Davies & Huw Evans
IRC 1 "Jump" Stewart Hawthorn
IRC 2 "Quokka" Peter Rutter
IRC 3 "Glide-X" Ian Dawson
IRC 4 "Tangent Minus 1" Paul & Julia Aisher
J105 "J-Dream" David & Kirsty Apthorp
J109 "Shiva" Matthew Boyle
Sigma 33 "Prospero of Hamble" Allan Fraser
Sigma 38 "Festina Lente" Meakins Family

Full results and further information on the series can be found on
www.garminhamblewinterseries.co.uk

Editor: A pile of great photos, courtesy Mr. Danby, at scuttlebutteurope.com/photos with this latest batch in the "Garmin Winter Series #2" album.

YACHT: A HANDMADE BOOK ABOUT HANDMADE BOATS
The paintings of Classic boats by Michael Frith, renowned artist, are reproduced on watercolour paper, hand-bound with a slipcase evoking the character of the Classic boat; 4 colour endpapers; ribbon head and tail bands; rich mahogany-coloured leather spine and corners, and gold-blocked title, with over 40 paintings and sketches. Contributions from Harry Spencer, MBE, and Dan Houston, editor of Classic Boat magazine, quotes from around the world and a specification of each Classic boat included. Bespoke editions can be created for corporate clients.

Full details at www.spotred.co.uk

ACC #100 ISSUED
Three years ago, the 32nd America's Cup arrived in Valencia after the selection of this Spanish Mediterranean port as host city of sailing's landmark event on November 26th 2003 by the Societe Nautique de Geneve. Coincidentally, this anniversary is now shared with another milestone for the America's Cup - the sail number ACC 100 has just been issued.

In 2007, each team must compete with a boat built in the country of its challenge. The first team to build and race a new boat was Shosholoza, with RSA 83. Since then 17 have been built to arrive now at ACC 100. (The team issued ACC 100 hasn't yet been revealed).

The America's Cup Class was used for the first time in 1992, for the 28th America's Cup in San Diego when the defender, America3 USA 23, was successful in keeping the Cup for the United States. This first edition with the ACC Class is when ACC 13 should have been issued but it wasn't due to superstition... In 1995, for just the third time in history a challenger won the trophy; Team New Zealand in the mighty NZL 32 would take the Cup to Auckland. Five years later, the Kiwis successfully defended the America's Cup with NZL 60. It was the first successful defence outside the United States. Then, in 2003, the Swiss team, Alinghi, with SUI 64, became the first European team to win the America's Cup.

Alinghi's leader and initiator, Ernesto Bertarelli, became the first man to win the America's Cup on his first attempt as a challenger, bringing the America's Cup to Europe in the process. After setting up a process to select the host city, Valencia was chosen from over 60 candidates and in 2007 the city will welcome the world to the 32nd America's Cup.

www.americascup.com

IGOODIA TAKES HER THIRD PUSSER'S ROUND TORTOLA RACE
Tortola, British Virgin Islands: The 37th annual Pusser's Round Tortola Race took place on Saturday (November 25) and Milt Baehr's Jeanneau 52.2 igoodia, last year's winner, won for the third time in the racing class. Pipe Dream was second and 2004 winner, Mistress Quickly, was third. Second Nature, Bill Bailey's Hughes 38, took the cruising class.

Trimaran Triple Jack, a 28-year old Transat veteran skippered by Steve Davis, took line honours with a time of four hours and eight minutes but periods of light airs in the second half of the race put paid to her chances of a win once corrected time was calculated. Over the four-hour race Triple Jack needed to finish 46 minutes ahead of igoodia to win but missed by eleven minutes finishing only 35 minutes ahead.

With little interaction between the fleet after the first part of the race, competitors tend to race against their handicaps, where the winners are those who keep up their concentration and speed throughout the race and fall into as few wind holes as possible. "We thought as long as we could see Triple Jack we could beat her. We couldn't see her at the finish so weren't expecting to win," said Milt.

Both the racing and cruising classes started in the Sir Francis Drake Channel off Nanny Cay and then headed anti-clockwise around Tortola. The 15-yacht fleet started in a better that expected breeze of 12 knots which got patchy as the fleet headed round the north side of Tortola. After the beat east up the Sir Francis Drake Channel, the fleet turned the corner at Great Camanoe and it was a downwind run to West End where, after a quick wiggle through Soper's Hole, it was a beat back to the finish off Nanny Cay for the racing fleet. The Cruising class finished off West End.

High Hopes, an IC24, was last across the line and received a Pusser's Rum Survival Kit. -- Alastair Abrehart

Photos at www.broadswordcommunications.com/2006RTR/index.htm

LAUNCHINGS
* After owning, restoring, rebuilding or recreating a number of famous yachts such as Thendara, Aile Blanche, Borkumriff, Zaca a te Moana and most recently the Herreshoff racing schooner Eleonora, Dutch yachtsman Ed Kastelein is planning his ultimate masterpiece; The recreation of the 3-mast schooner Atlantic. Over three years of technical and historical research have resulted in sufficiently detailed plans and information to enable a highly accurate and authentic recreation. Having set a new standard with his creation of Eleonora, Ed Kastelein plans to build on his vast experience and again build a yacht that no-one thought would ever sail again. The project is certainly his most ambitious; with her length over deck of 185 feet (56 metres), and an extreme length being 227 feet (69 metres) she is the largest classic racing schooner ever to be recreated. Ed Kastelein is determined for her to be the way she was when she wrote history in 1905, her original lines will be honoured to the finest detail and her sail plan will be identical to that of her victorious 1905 Transatlantic Race which made her immortal in yachting history. Above all, she will again be breathtakingly beautiful, turning heads wherever the wind will take her.

Atlantic's dimensions are simply staggering; from bowsprit to boom she measures an impressive 69 meters, over deck she measures over 56 meters. Her graceful sheerline and long overhangs accentuate her grace while her waterline length of 42 meters and narrow beam are a promise for unmatched speed under sail. Her spars tower some 45 meters above the waterline and support a staggering sail area of 1700m2 sail, more than two and a half times that of the already awesome J-Class yachts. -- www.schooner-atlantic.com

* C-Yacht to launch its new C-Yacht 11.50 during BOOT 2007 at Dusseldorf. This European introduction is again a centre- cockpit and joins the existing range of yachts from C-Yacht. The Dutch yard has more than 60 years of experience in boat building, especially sailboats.

The new C-Yacht 11.50 represents a further evolution for the successful design of her big sister the C-Yacht 12.50. This award winning model, Hiswa boat of the year 2005 and nominated for European boat of the year 2005, was in mind when we designed the new C-Yacht 11.50. This brand new boat is built with the same look and feel as the C-Yacht 12.50.

As a match racer designer, Frans Maas had the challenge to design a boat with good balance between dynamic sailing performance and easy handling. He also brought in a high level of comfort and several ergonomic features from the CYacht 12.50, such as slide-down washboards and adjustable seat back supports in the cockpit.

The new C-Yacht 11.50 is a yacht for endless miles at sea and even can be easily sailed single handed. -- BYM News, www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=617

* Seen for the first time in the United Kingdom, Delphia Yachts UK will show the new Delphia 33 at the London Boat Show.

The Delphia 33 is comprehensively equipped for cruising, with a full battened main and furling jib, self tailing winches, a full electronics package and wheel steering.

The accommodation has a double berth cabin forward with hanging lockers, a double cabin aft and separate heads and shower compartment accessed from the main saloon. The Galley is fitted with Corian work surfaces, hot and cold water with twin sinks, Isotherm refrigeration and a range of storage cupboards. Opposite the galley is a full navigation area and the main saloon provides comfortable accommodation for 6 or more seated around the mahogany centre table.

On deck, the teak laid cockpit has been designed for easy sailing and safe access to the wide side decks. A teak-laid bathing platform at the stern also provides a safe boarding platform area.

* Ocean Marine, the British sailing team owned by Mike Slade, has today announced the build of a new maxi yacht with the aim of becoming the fastest charter yacht on the planet. The boat, to be called "Leopard3" will be the newest super maxi on the water and, once completed, will compete in some of the worlds most prestigious races. As well as setting out to break world speed sailing records including the transatlantic record, the 100ft super yacht plans to make an attempt at sailing non-stop, round-the-world in under 80 days.

To be launched in June 2007, "Leopard3" will be aimed at establishing its reputation on the maxi race circuit with a 2007 programme to include the Fastnet Race, the Sardinia Maxi series and the Sydney-Hobart, before moving on into 2008 and the Caribbean for the Heineken series in St Marten, Antigua race week and finally the Newport-Bermuda race.

The new boat is some 24 feet wide, 100 feet long, has an 18 foot 6 inch canting keel, a 15 foot fixed bowsprit and a 154 foot high mast. The interior will be removable for racing.

Mike Sanderson (ABN AMRO ONE), who has recently been named ISAF World sailor of the year, has been appointed a consultant to the project. The yacht is currently under construction at John McConaghy's Yard in Sydney and will be shipped back to the UK in April 2007 and following her launch at the beginning of June, she will begin her day charter role in the Solent, whilst preparing to endorse her racing pedigree.

* In the 2nd SNB-MDY International Awards for Technological Innovation and Yacht Design, Barcelona Boat Show and Madrid Yacht Design (SNB-MDY) granted the first price in the conceptual category to Barcelona Yacht Design Group SL for their 60' Sloop CC yacht project, recognizing its great technological progress in the design applied to performance and leisure sailing. -- Graphic renderings in the Scuttlebutt Europe photo gallery, Launchings section, scuttlebutteurope.com/photos

THE LAST WORD
Dreams that do come true can be as unsettling as those that don't. -- Brett Butler

OC Events, organisers of two major IMOCA 60 oceanic events, the new double-handed Barcelona World Race 2007, and the original solo transocean race, The Transat 2008 (ex-OSTAR) www.ocevents.org

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