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FAST TRACKS DOWN TO THE AZORES
The skippers who sailed on the northern route during the last 24 hours were the first to touch the annouced overnight shift of wind from South West to North. Sailing conditions freshened during the day, the front of the fleet now sailing in 20 to 25 knots. The pace is really fast but no doubt the skippers enjoy these accelerations that give a second breathe to the race. Sails are stiffened and the men and women need to focus on the best way to negociate the winds rotation from Noth West to North then East during the night, as they run down the Atlantic towards the Azores.

At the front of 60-footer fleets (monohulls and multihulls), most of the boats gybed to re-position themselves. So far the competitors seemed to have managed "their own race", but the time has come to keep a close eye on where the others are and how they are doing. The night is usually a good occasion to try new options, when they are allowed not to send their position to the race headquarters. Decisions onboard now have to do with preserving materials and human resources, finding time to rest after the random conditions of the first 36 hours of an exhausting race. -- Event media

Class leaders at 04:00 1 November French Time
Monohulls
IMOCA: Roland Jourdain, Sill et Veolia
Classe 1: Pierre-Yves Guennec, Jeunes Dirigeants
Classe 2: Kip Stone, Artforms
Classe 3: Michel Kleinjans, Roaring Forty
Classe 40: Gildas Morvan, Oyster Funds

Multihulls
ORMA: Lionel Lemonchois, Gitana 11
Classe 2: Franck-Yves Escoffier, Crepes Whaou !
Classe 3: Pierre Antoine, Imagine-Institut des Maladies Genetiques

* From Ross Hobson, sailing in the Class 3 Multihulls:

Light fickle winds all day. Although you would think light winds are a solo sailors blessing - they are the worst. You have to be constantly alert ready to take advantage of each breath of wind and change in wind direction. So sleep becomes a premium and when each tack means hauling the 2000sq ft gennaker around the forestay by hand, then winching, it, the main and other bits, finally having to 'pop' the battens on the main so the sail takes its correct shape = some 10mins of hard work have elapsed. Sometimes the min pops first time sometimes it can take 5+ mins of wrestling the boom to leeward, rapidly pulling to windward then bouncing my full weight onto it at the correct time to get the battens to pop. And then the winds shift and you do it all over again. I have lost count the number of tacks in the past 24hrs - dozens...

The wind settled in for a few hours this am so got some sleep (in the usual 20-25min burst), hopefully the wind will settle in and play the game tonight.

Passed Ushant an hour ago, wind has settled in to a steady F3-4 from the WNW and Ideal Stelrad is making good progress at 10-12knots down the rhum line. Engine is on rumbling away doing the night time battery charge. Managed to get a half hour of sleep just after passing Ushant, so feeling tried, will try and 'build up' sleep today if winds stay steady as forecast. Next 'problem' is to get west far enough to benefit from the next weather system coming in from the Atlantic.

* At 0100 hours this morning, Dominique Wavre indicated to his shore crew that there was a daggerboard issue aboard TEMENOS. Just at the point where a change of tack was being prepared for, the daggerboard dropped down too far in its casing and was caught above the upper block.

Dominique was quickly forced to slow the boat down in order to remove the pressure from the appendage as much as possible, as it was threatening to damage the hull around the daggerboard casing.

Eventually he was forced to take the upper block apart, in order to try to get the daggerboard free.

After over 3 hours of work the skipper was back racing again, making good speed in the downwind conditions.

In 4th place yesterday evening and 26 miles from the leader Virbac-Paprec, TEMENOS found herself back down in 6th position, flashed doing 1.9 knots at the 0400 hours ranking and over 55 miles behind the frontrunner. -- Kate Jennings

* La Promesse, a Class 3 monohull sailed by Dutch skipper Jankees Lampe has dismasted off the English coast. He is unharmed and is making his way to Falmouth.

* The 12 Route du Rhum ORMA trimarans were suddenly plunged into typical autumnal transatlantic race conditions, when the anticyclone, which had prevailed since the start gave way to a muscular depression. It was a change that didn't surprise Steve Ravussin, who unleashed Orange project and, in the early morning, recorded the highest instantaneous speed of the fleet (26.4 knots). -- Marian Martin in BYM News, www.bymnews.com/new/content/view/37314/50/

www.routedurhum-labanquepostale.com

PORTOROZ CUP - RC 44
Portoroz, Slovenia: The Portoroz Cup finished today with a big surprise: the Japanese team sailing on board Beecom has won the fleet race after an excellent performance, with two wins, two second places and two fourth. They conclude the event with the same number of points as the local favourites from Team Cro-A-Sail, but get the title thanks to their higher number of victories. Magia, helmed by Fabio Apolonio, finishes third.

Despite the light winds, no less than seven races have been sailed by the five strong fleet.

The courses were very short, which guaranteed a permanent show for the public and a lot of action for the teams. The races were also judged directly on the water, avoiding long protests in the evening and bad feelings between the teams.

The races were very short and dynamic, and the situation within the fleet changed every minute. During most of the races, the five teams crossed the arrival line within less than 50 seconds. Before the last race, four teams were able to win the event.

The Portoroz Cup is the last event in the 2006 calendar for the RC 44 fleet. Six regattas will take place next year. The first one will again be the Portoroz Cup, in March, followed by regattas in Trieste (Italy), Lugano (Switzerland), Split (Croatia), Lisbon (Portugal) and Dubai.

Portoroz Cup, final results:

Position, Team , Match race, Fleet race,Total
1. Cro-A-Sail, 1, 2, 3
2. Team Beecom, 3, 1, 4
3. Magia, 4, 3, 7
4. Mascalzone Latino, 2, 5, 7
5. Team Omega, 5, 4, 9

www.rc44.com

IRC FOR 2007
Below are the IRC 2007 Rule changes which apply from 1st January 2007 (1st June 2007 for those countries racing to 'South' validation dates).

The full Rule text can be found at http://www.rorcrating.com; see the link to the .zip file on the homepage.

Changes to Musto IRC Rules For 2007:

Changes to IRC Rules for 2007 are again generally not great. Of greatest relevance to owners is the introduction of headsail top width (HHB) in the interests of preventing abuse. Additionally, IRC Rules now include provision for a boat to hold a separate short handed certificate. Apart from this, changes for 2007 have little practical effect for the bulk of the fleet.

- The changes to Rule 9.2 permit a boat to hold a second, concurrently valid IRC certificate for use in short handed races only.

- Rule 12.2 is amended for greater clarity without any change to meaning.

- New Rule 14.2 recognises the effect of novel high powered sail handling systems which will in future be rated.

- New Rule 20.3 is wholly administrative and prevents a boat being penalised through no fault of her own.

- New Rules 24.5 and 24.6 formally incorporate IRC Notice 001 from 2006 related to the materials used in keels.

- The definition of headsail half width, HHW, is amended to be consistent with other definitions. The change has no practical affect.

- The definition of mainsail hoist, P, is amended to remove ambiguity without changing the actual meaning.

- Definitions of Backstays, Runners, and Checkstays are now included to assist with understanding.

- The definition of headsail top width, HHB, is introduced and Rule 26.7 amended to prevent abuse of the simplicity of IRC sail measurement. For the great majority of boats, the change will have zero effect.

- The definitions of Moveable and Variable Ballast are amended to remove drafting errors and to be consistent with ISAF Offshore Special Regulations.

The full 2007 IRC Rule text at www.rorcrating.com -- Mike Urwin, RORC Rating Office

NATIONAL 12'S AT GRAFHAM
The final round of the National 12 Gill series was held at Grafham Water on 28th October. 66 sailors travelled from clubs as far afield as Penzance and Scaling Dam for three blustery races. With two boats able to win the main fleet prize and at least three able to take the Admirals Cup prize (pre -double bottom boats) there was lots to play for.

John and Katy Meadowcroft won the committee boat end of the line and dominated the first beat. They were quickly rolled on the first reach by National Champions Tom Stewart and Liz Ross who won comfortably.

In Race 2 Tom and Liz got the first beat right and led the Meadowcrofts round the windward mark; they then escaped the pack and extended their lead to the finish. Frances Gifford and Sophie Mackley came second from Dave Peacock and Tricia Wood.

In race 3 the Meadowcrofts were leading down the first reach only to be rolled by Tom and Liz, who went on to win again. On the run the leading boats were subject to a mighty gust, which saw some spectacular capsizing. Graham and Zoë sailed calmly through to claim second.

In the Admirals Cup Division John and Alison Cheetham were keeping it steady and finished ahead of rivals Jerry and Margaret Garner in all three races.

GWSC Gill series National 12 Results
1st Tom Stewart & Liz Ross N3501, 2 points
2nd Frances Gifford & Sophie Mackley, 5 points
3rd Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne, 6 points

GWSC Gill series National 12 Admirals Cup Results.
1st John & Alison Cheetham, 30 points
2nd Jerry and Margaret Garner, 35 points
3rd Mike and Alex Storey, 35 points

ISAF WORLDS IN SCOTLAND?
The Scottish Sailing Institute is gearing up for the possibility of staging the largest sailing event ever to come to Scotland.

North Ayrshire Council is currently evaluating the options for bidding and then staging the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships at Largs and the surrounding area on the Firth of Clyde.

The prestigious event, which is being held in Portugal in 2007, attracts 1,500 competitors from 70 nations.

The Championship brings together the eleven Olympic sailing events and eleven Olympic classes in a combined World Championship. It's the most significant World Championship for the Olympic classes, with an estimated 75% of the Olympic sailors going on to be selected.

In order to proceed to bid stage, the RYA and its partners are seeking a company to provide a feasibility study providing professional and independent advice regarding the feasibility and implications of staging the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship.

The Scottish Sailing Institute is continuing to attract large championship events to its impressive facilities at Largs Yacht Haven. The biggest championship of the year in Britain, the Optimist Nationals, is coming to the facility in 2009. Next year the institute will host the Flying Fifteen Nationals, while talks are underway about Largs taking a share of another prestigious world championship event in the next couple of years.

www.scottishsailinginstitute.com

AMERICA'S CUP PIECE RETURNED
The Spirit of Adventure Trust has decided to reunite the damaged piece of the America's Cup it owns with the Auld Mug.

The trust purchased the piece from the jeweller who repaired the cup when it was bashed with a sledgehammer in 1997.

When the trust told the America's Cup's present holder the Geneva Yacht Club it planned to auction off the piece, the club objected.

Spirit of Adventure trust chairman Stephen Fisher says the board feels returning the piece is the right thing to do.

He added that the trust had received one or two substantial offers for the piece and the proceeds would have furthered the Sprit of Adventure programme.

tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/877218

RACE OFFICIALS NEWS
An addendum to correct errors in the ISAF Judges Manual has now been posted on the ISAF Publications and Manuals microsite - www.sailing.org/publications - along with the updated manual.

Regretfully, two errors were found in the Judges Manual published in May 2006. These were changed on 26 October 2006 and the current edition of the Judges Manual on the website has been updated with these changes. More - http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?PID=19644

If you downloaded the Judges Manual from 7 May to 25 October 2006 please make the amendments to your copy of the Manual.

To view the updated ISAF Judges Manual:
www.sailing.org/publications/Judges_Manual_10_2006.pdf

To view the addendum:
www.sailing.org/publications/judges_manual_5_2006_addendum.pdf

COMING UP ON SAIL TV IN NOVEMBER
Friday News Bulletins include:

* The Rolex Middle Sea Race
A report on one in a series of 'must do' and highly rated offshore classics.

* La Route Du Rhum - La Banque Postale (Race started Sunday 29 October) There is an entry list of 86 for this 3,510 mile single-handed race from St. Malo, France to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean.

* North Sails Golf Day held 27 October
A report on the 10th North Sails Golf Day held in aid of the John Merricks Sailing Trust.

* 16th Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta 2006 (10-19 November)
It's the biggest Catamaran event in the Caribbean with entries from across Europe.

* The Velux 5 Oceans Race
News of the solo sailors taking part on the 12,000nm Leg 1 - Bilbao to Fremantle.

* World Match Racing Tour Stage 5 of the 06/07 World Tour in San Francisco - The Allianz Cup Presented by Oracle.

Programme features include:

German Sailing Grand Prix 2006
World Match Racing Tour - Elba Cup 2006
World Match Racing Tour - Portugal Match Cup 2006
ISAF Nations Cup 2006 - Grand Final
2006 Costa Brava PWA World Super X

www.sail.tv

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Letters are limited to 350 words, and you may only write a single letter on a topic. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published.

* From Ken Madeiro: I enjoyed the article on Procyon from Olaf Harken. I work at Hall Spars as foreman of the carbon shop and Procyon was the first carbon masts I helped build. Last February my family went on a cruise out of Miami and on the bus back to the airport I saw the distinctive masts and the boat now painted blue at one of the little marinas.

* From Andrew Sheppard: According to this website www.skiandscuba.com/CONTACT/procyon/procyon.html Procyon finished a refit at Ashtabula in Ohio in 2002 and she looks stunning in the photos.

Fantastic Finishes do not seem to have an active website despite the link to www.fantasticboat.com so I don't know if they are still in business but it could be a good place to start in tracking her current location - hope that helps.

* Editor: Mystery Solved! Here's the brokerage listing, Procyon is for sale... bollmanyachts.com/yachts/sail/65WindshipProcyon/index.html

THE LAST WORD
Is fuel efficiency really what we need most desperately? I say that what we really need is a car that can be shot when it breaks down. -- Russell Baker

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

Over 80,000 boats for sale on www.boats.com

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