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ROUTE DU RHUM
Some of the skippers still at sea are delivering huge lessons of competitiveness and will. Let's talk about Roland Jourdain (Sill et Veolia) who took back the lead of the IMOCA fleet a few days ago after repairing - at sea and alone - his broken boom with all he found onboard. Servane Escoffier (Vedettes de Brehat Cap Marine), 25 years old, is sailing a boat 9 years older that Kip Stone's Artforms,(monohull Class 2) and nibbling at the American skipper's lead little by little, not giving an inch of pressure on his predecessor. Phil Sharp (philsharpracing.com) boldly fetched a strong low pressure system and collected the admiration and respect of his competitors for just trying this audacious option -which has paid off for now, even if the loss of his genaker at sea is handicapping him for the days to come.

ORMA 60 multihulls
Alain Gauthier (Foncia) landed 7th on the finish line this morning at 05h 17'40" (1d 22h 55'34" after Lionel Lemonchois (Gitana 11) but nevertheless still ahead by 3 days of Laurent Bourgnon's time in 1998.

IMOCA 60 mohonulls
Roland Jourdain (Sill et Veolia) has a comfortable lead (113.4 miles) over his opponents as the IMOCA approaches Guadeloupe (627.4 miles to finish as of 4 PM Wednesday).

The news of the day is that "Bilou" broke his boom while passing the Azores last Thursday. He did not even think about stopping - not talking about dropping off the race - and mended the piece with all that he could find inside the boat.

The winds are forecast to be steady so the rankings in the leading pack could only be shaken up by some incidents onboard or difficulties to round up by Basse Terre Island.

40-footer monohulls
Overnight the conditions have been severe for the 40-footers wherever they found themselves at sea. Gusts, wind shifts, thunderstorms, gales, big seas.

In the North of the fleet, Phil Sharp went through the strongest system with 60 knots of wind. He overcame a capsize and lost his genaker at sea. He did not expect to face these conditions but he definitely regrets the loss of his genaker, which could handicap him for the remainder of the race - and the 20 miles he lost on Gildas Morvan between 4:00 and 8:00 AM.

He needed to climb up his mast today to sort out his genoa halyard and still heads south to position himself back on the road to Guadeloupe.

Behind him, on a northern route, Ian Munslow (Boland Mills) was overly exhausted, after his night. The weather had cleared up this morning making it possible for him to sort out a broken batten in his main. Sleeping was also on his"to do list" as he had barely slept overnight and knew he would touch more winds in the afternoon. 3rd Briton to put north in his route, Nick Bubb (Kenmore Homes) broke his boom and is now heading for the Azores for repairs.

The conditions were not much nicer for the skippers who stayed on an average route or headed down South. There were gales, shifty winds and harsh seas in the programme. Gildas Morvan (Oyster funds) recounted surfs at 20 knots with only the mainsail on and one reef. He has now passed the front and is making direct route on to Guadeloupe. Farther South, the skippers are sailing upwind in choppy seas, trying to reposition themselves.

The entire fleet will face a new low-pressure system forecast for Friday.

Class 2 Multihull
Franck Yves Escoffier (Crepes Whaou !) who has been prominent since the start in St Malo, should arrive in Pointe à Pitre in front of the IMOCA 60-footer. At 4:00 PM, Franck Yves was 559.6 miles away from Guadeloupe. His 1st pursuer is Trilogic, 386.9 miles behind him.

Class 2 monohull
Servane Escoffier (Vedettes de Brehat Cap Marine) is definitely pushing hard and taking risks to gain progressively on Kip Stone who had led the class from the start. Servane is now only 60 miles away from Kip who mentioned that the situation is a bit nerve wracking for him. Servane is sailing a boat 9 years older that Kip's.

* Ross Hobson Capsizes, Is Rescued

Ross Hobson, skipper of "Ideal Stelrad" (Class 3 multihull) capsized on Wednesday, and broadcast his distress signal at the moment of the incident, but found impossible to communicate. The PC of the race was informed by the CROSS of the success of the rescue operation lead by the cargo "Carmen". Ross Hobson is feeling well, and will arrive in Madrid on 12 November.

Q: How are you doing ?
Ross Hobson: I am OK, I feel very upset about having lost the boat. But I am safe, that's the main thing.

Q: Could you describe the condititions you had yesterday and how things happened ?
R.H: It was blowing about 40 to 45 knots, I just dropped the mainsail and I was under the storm staysail when a very big gust caught me on the foredeck. I was trying to get in the cockpit to release the staysail when the gust turned the boat on me, just a slow capsize over the bow.

Q: What was your reaction at the moment the boat capsized ?
R.H. I guess I was netting around onto the hull upside down, opened up the safety hatch and cramped inside and then activated the safety EPIRB. And basically settled down to wait. Unfortunately, the satellite phone got wet and at the same time I destroyed the satellite phone back up, so I was not able to ring anybody to let them know that I was safe.

Q: How did things unfold for your rescue ?
R.H. Race Committee and US coastguard diverted the vessel Carmen to come and collect me. Their seamanship was fantastic because there was a 4-5 meter sea running with big winds. The skipper was able to come alongside and I stepped onto the pilot ladder. It was very easy. I have great respect for the skipper of the ship, his boat handling was superb. I am very, very thankful to them.

Q: Will you try to get the boat back or is she is definitely lost at sea ?
R.H. I think she is definitely lost at sea. She's just too far away from land to try to do a rescue of her. She's problably in recoverable conditions but just too far away for anyone to make it worthwhile going to get her, unfortunately.

Q: Were you aware ofr the conditions?
R.H. We were aware that it was going to be blowing up to 40 - 45 knots, I haven't spoken with my weather router, but we didn't expect anything over 45 knots. In fact it was blowing well over 50. It was a very big surprise.

www.routedurhum-labanquepostale.com

MONSOON CUP SET TO BECOME SAILING'S RICHEST EVENT
Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia: The World Match Racing Tour resumes its 2006-'07 season at the end of the month with Stage 6, the Monsoon Cup, Nov. 29-Dec. 3 in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.

In its second year the Monsoon Cup has gained prominent status on the World Tour. It offers the richest prize purse for a sailing event, MR1 million (approximately $275,000), an increase of more than two and a half times last year's purse, with the winner set to earn MR250,000 (approx. $68,000).

The Monsoon Cup was created last year to bring world class professional sailing to Malaysia and Southeast Asia. The inaugural event created an unprecedented economic return for Malaysia and the region of Terengganu. That success prompted the signing of Richard Mille Watches as title sponsor, which has helped increase the prize purse.

The Monsoon Cup will be the last ISAF Grade WC match-race regatta before next year's Louis Vuitton Cup and America's Cup and the last opportunity for crews to gain practice and interact with the on-water umpires.

Monsoon Cup 2005 winner and 2006 World Champion Peter Gilmour, skipper of PST, is back to defend his title against the likes of Ian Williams and Team Pindar, the current World Championship leader.

There also are four Cup syndicates in the mix, including Alinghi (Peter Holmberg), Luna Rossa Challenge (James Spithill), Areva Challenge (Sebastian Col) and Team Shosholoza (Paolo Cian).

A fifth Cup team almost entered, represented by BMW ORACLE Racing founder and owner Larry Ellison. Two weeks ago at Stage 5, the Allianz Cup Presented by Oracle, Monsoon Cup technical director Gilmour extended a wild card invitation to Ellison, who finished sixth in his round robin. A formal invitation was extended by Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but Ellison had to decline.

In September organizers for the event held the inaugural Malaysian Match Racing Championship and Asian Match Racing Championship. The winners of those events, Malaysian Tiffany Koo and Adam Minoprio of New Zealand, gained entry to the Monsoon Cup.

Koo will be the first Malaysian woman to compete in an ISAF Grade WC match-race regatta. As an added highlight Koo turns 22 years old on Nov. 29, the first scheduled day of racing. -- Sean McNeill

Match Racing World Championship Standings (After Stage 5 of 15)
1. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar, 47 points
2. Ed Baird (USA) Alinghi, 40 points
3. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Viano Mercedes Benz, 35 points
T. Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany, 35 points
5. Chris Dickson (NZL) BMW ORACLE Racing, 31 points
6. Mathieu Richard (FRA) Saba Sailing Team, 30 points
7. Sebastian Col (FRA) Areva Challenge, 29 points
8. Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia, 27 points

www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com

MOULDS MADE FOR LEADING BOATBUILDERS
Furniss Composites, based near Falmouth UK, are specialist glassfibre plug and mould producers for several of the leading boat builders. The experienced team have more than 30 years engineering moulds to the highest quality.

This out of house service enables boat builders to continue their normal production without costly interruption whilst new or redesigned moulds are produced elsewhere. The new factory facility also has considerable storage space alongside for moulds under development.

Recent projects include the production of redesigned flybridge moulds for a 60 foot production powerboat.

www.furnisscomposites.com

ISAF ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The Event Committee and the Offshore Committee met in Helsinki, Finland today as the major topics of this year's ISAF Annual Conference came under the spotlight. The debate centred around the Olympic Games and a potential World Cup series for the Olympic Classes.

The report from the Format Working Party - covering feedback from sailors, coaches, race officials, event organizers and the media - brought broad agreement on the current Medal Race format. A major emphasize of the working party report was to improve the media coverage of the Medal Race, a focus which ran into the next big debate on Submission 073 on an ISAF World Cup for the Olympic Classes.

An amended version of the submission was supported, which would mean the events listed below would get ISAF World Cup status for 2007 and 2008, with an agreement to look towards further development and a 'Grand Final' event from 2009 onwards.

The amended submission will now go forward to the ISAF Council, where a final decision will be made on Friday.

- Sail Melbourne
- Rolex Miami OCR
- Princess Sofia Trophy
- Semaine Olympique Francaise
- Holland Regatta
- Kiel Week
- ISAF Sailing World Championships in 2007, Olympic Class World Championships in 2008

Events Committee Chair Bjorn Unger (SWE) explained that with the Medal Race format approved last year and the support for the World Cup today, the Committee are moving on a tack that acknowledged that, 'the media is our biggest grandstand'.

Submission 064, as amended by the Windsurfing Committee, on a new Olympic windsurfing course with a slalom finish for the Medal Race was also supported. There was also support for Submission 065 for the Finn to be added to the list to use unallocated places at the Olympic Games.

Fiona Kidd (CAN), chair of the Youth World Championship Sub-Committee, revealed that Volvo has renewed its sponsorship of the event to 2008-2010. This will include the 2007 Worlds in Canada, the 2008 in Denmark, the 2009 in Brazil and the 2010 in Turkey, subject to a visit from the Technical Delegate.

The Team Racing Sub-Committee confirmed that the 2007 Worlds would take place at the West Kirby Sailing Club in the Wirral, Great Britain. The right to host the 2009 Worlds was won by Perth, Australia.

Thursday the ISAF Council, ISAF's final decision making body, have their first of three days' of meetings. ISAF President Goran Petersson (SWE) will begin the meeting with the President's

www.sailing.org

LIONEL GETS THE NOD
Following his dazzling victory in the Route du Rhum - La Banque Postale, Lionel Lemonchois has been invited to sail the XVIIIe Trophee Clairefontaine des Champions de Voile, from Thursday, August 30th to Sunday, September 2nd 2007, in a port that will be disclosed during a press conference at 5.30pm on Thursday, December 7th at the Paris International Boat Show.

Lionel Lemonchois at the Trophee Clairefontaine, is an obvious decision with regard to the exceptionally rich career of this talented sailor. He has won numerous challenges alongside Franck Cammas, Pascal Bidegorry, Bruno Peyron, Karine Fauconnier and Catherine Chabaud.

Race organisers are happy to welcome Lionel Lemonchois into the very select Trophee Clairefontaine champions' club, in which he will meet in 2007: Franck Cammas, Jeremie Beyou, Loick Peyron, Michel Desjoyeaux and Yann Elies, already invited.

www.tropheeclairefontaine.com/English-version/Press-releases.html

IRELAND WINS STUDENT YACHTING WORLD CUP
Thursday October 26th saw a squad of nine Trinity College sailors assemble at the RyanAir desk, awaiting the flight to Nantes and the subsequent drive to Lorient, where the 26th Student Yachting World Cup, organised by the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris was taking place.

The event was sailed in tweaky Mumm 30s for the first time since its inauguration in 1979, with thirteen teams of eleven different nationalities, ranging from Germany to Japan, competing for the celebrated Cup.

Trinity qualified for the Student Yachting World Cup earlier in 2006, being the 1st ranked college in the intervarsity team racing circuit under the stewardship of their captain Russell Treacy. The team selected were Stefan Hyde, John Downey, Sam Hunt, Katie Hamilton, Lisa Tait, Claudine Murphy, Russell Treacy and Ronan Dillon-Murphy, with Kerstin Zimmerman as team manager.

Throughout the week, the competitors saw a variety of weather conditions. The breeze picked up towards the middle of the week, culminating in thirty knots of breeze on the final day. Racing was very close, with effectively five teams in the running for the prestigious title of Student Yachting World Champions; Ireland, Scotland, England (Southampton), USA and Portugal. With Stefan Hyde as skipper, the Trinity team managed to get off to a great start, leading from day one.

By day six, Ireland, Portugal and Southampton emerged as the contenders for the cup.

It was all to play for going into the last race, and a nervous Irish team had to get a top 5 result and no more than two places behind Portugal to secure victory. Only three boats managed to fly their spinnakers in this weather and it was a sight to be seen with a majority of the crew behind the helmsman to stop the M30 bow from diving underwater.

The Hyde Partnership Architects, Trinity College, General Optics and Onboard kindly supported the team going to the event.

Ireland has won the Student Yachting World Cup for the first time and is indicative of the strength of Irish university sailing at the moment. -- Lisa Tait & Kerstin Zimmermann

www.sailing.ie/news/newsDetails.asp?id=1310

GRAND HARBOUR MARINA MALTA NOW ISPS COMPLIANT
Grand Harbour Marina, Malta has achieved International Ship and Port Facility Security certification (ISPS). ISPS Code certification is aimed at protecting ships, crews, ports and port facilities from terrorist activities or attacks.

The ISPS Code (SOLAS) provides a standardised, consistent framework for evaluating risk. With ISPS certification, visiting Superyachts can be assured that all necessary levels of security have been both assessed and applied at the Marina - a great benefit to visitors, charter parties and yacht crews.

Camper & Nicholsons Grand Harbour is one of the few marinas to be ISPS compliant in Europe.

www.cnmarinas.com

MATT SMITH JOINS VICTORY CHALLENGE FOR HIS 4TH AMERICA'S CUP
This will be his fourth America's Cup. American Matt Smith, 38, is the latest new recruit to Victory Challenge. After Young America, Stars & Stripes and Oracle BMW Racing he has now, for the first time, chosen a non-American team.

Matt Smith has worked with the legendary Dennis Conner in two America's Cups. He sailed as grinder when Young America was the defender in San Diego 1995, and as mastman when Stars & Stripes finished third in the challengers' series, the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000 in Auckland.

In the last America's Cup he was pitman for Oracle BMW Racing (now BMW Oracle Racing). Oracle went to the Louis Vuitton Cup Final.

Recently he has sailed the Transpac 52, with Russell Coutts and Paul Cayard on Lexus/Atalanti in the Medcup. Previously he has sailed with teams such as Rosebud (TP 52), Mani Frers Boomerang (Maxi), Flash Gordon (Farr 49) in a number of in- and offshore regattas, such as the Fastnet, Transpac and Admiral's Cup.

He is the ninth of the 16 sailors with previous America's Cup experience that have been recruited for the ongoing two-boat training. Victory Challenge is a Swedish team, but on board there are sailors from a total of eleven nations: Sweden (ten sailors), Great Britain (six), Australia (five), New Zealand (five), Denmark (three), the USA (three), Spain (two), as well as one sailor from each of Argentina, France, Finland and Germany. -- Bert Willborg

www.victorychallenge.com

LAUNCHINGS
* Following the official launch of the new Bakewell-White 8 yacht at Royal Perth Yacht Club's opening recently, the builder, mast manufacturer and sailmaker, together with several of RPYC's youth squad have been putting the yacht through its commissioning and testing phase. The boat has seriously impressed those that have sailed her.

Stepping ashore from a session which varied from 12 to 20 knots on Matlida Bay, we caught up with sailmaker Paul Eldrid. "This boat is really well balanced, it literally sails itself uphill. Even when we deliberately over powered her with a Code 1 jib in 20 knots, we couldn't lose her upwind. We tried to break the rudder free but it just wouldn't let go" he said.

"As a test downhill, we drove her into a big air broach, dumped the sheets, and drove straight out of it. Fantastic! You don't do that with many yachts quite that easily." -- Photos at scuttlebutteurope.com/photos (scroll down a bit to the Launchings section...)

* Conway Boats, a UK company best known for its leisure and angling craft, has announced the addition of its first-ever sailboat. The new Manta-Evolution is a 4.8m (16ft) twin foil, monohull sailing dinghy made from GRP. Buoyancy is provided by three chambers under the deck with additional foam in the foils and below the cockpit. It can seat up to three people.

"The twin foils do away with the need for a keel or dagger board, allowing the Evolution to sail in very shallow waters," says the company. "Strongly constructed in GRP, the unique design offers the stability of a multihull with the manoeuvrability of a monohull." -- IBI news, www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20061008110510ibinews.html

* The first MAT 12 IRC Cruiser/Racer 'Gokova' has won Turkeys most important IRC event, the 17th Marmaris International Race Week. This win in her inaugural event is a milestone for the MAT 12 design on its first outing, for the builders MAT, and for Mills Design for whom this success is only the beginning of a number of projects underway in the region, reflecting the company's drive to expand its range of production projects in up and coming boatbuilding centres like Turkey and Dubai.

The MAT 12 is the first in a series of new Mills Design yachts being produced in the region. The Enigma 34 One Design is a high performance design under construction in Istanbul, while the tooling for the new Landmark 43 is nearing completion at Dubai based Premier Composite Technologies. This IRC 43' Cruiser/Racer design already has 5 boats ordered for the growing Scandinavian market, where promoter Claus Landmark sees growing interest in IRC.

* The appearance of the new Catana 50 at the next Paris Boat Show, dressed in her blood red and gold livery will not go unnoticed. Since the purchase of the Catana yard by the Poncin Yachts Group in 2003, the Catana 50' is the first model inspired by the new management and heralds a renewed range.

For Christophe Barreau, the designer and a regular with the company, the challenge was to design a 50' boat that did not exceed the 8-metre beam that often prevents access to port services.

Its speed is above average due amongst other things to a carbon mast, a powerful rig, oversized Harken deck gear as well as its hydrodynamic hulls.

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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