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A BONE-SHAKER RIDE
Velux 5 Oceans Race leader Bernard Stamm (Cheminees Poujoulat) is now half way to Fremantle, Australia, with a 446 nautical miles lead over second placed Mike Golding (ECOVER). Still sailing upwind, with an average speed of 9-10 knots, Bernard is experiencing a bone-shaker ride, admitting these boats are not designed for sailing upwind. He is looking forward to opening his sails, which he hopes to do before the day is over. Despite the temperature still being a mild 20 degrees, the leader now has his boots and foul weather gear on, ready to enter the Southern Ocean.

Due to the unstable conditions, with winds gusting between 20 and 30 knots, the Swiss sailor is spending most of his time steering or trimming and of course keeping his eye on the rest of the fleet. Quite happy with the east course he has taken, Bernard sees an opportunity for Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) who has to go around the high pressure system. "Even if he doesn't have any other choice, his option could work quite well," says Bernard. "He will sail downwind much faster than us upwind, although he has a greater distance to cover so he should still cross his fingers."

Meanwhile Alex Thomson is not enjoying his detour to the west of the high pressure system, finding it extremely tough and frustrating to sail away from his destination. He averaged the highest speed across the fleet during this afternoon's position report, clocking up 14.1 knots compared to nine knots for the race leader. However, Thomson describes a very confused sea state with Hugo Boss launching off waves and forcing him to crawl around on his hands and feet. His key focus is on how hard to push the boat without overloading her and knowing when to throttle back.

Please note: The method for calculating the DTL has now changed, resulting in large differences between the position reports. The change was made between the 15h34 and 00h44 leaderboards on 13 November, resulting in larger distances between the leader and the competitors. The previous method calculated the progress made on a theoretical course taking into account the waypoints. It was therefore an advantage and not a precise distance. The new DTL now reflects the exact distance between the leader and the following boats. -- Event media

Postions at 1508 UTC 14 November:

1. Cheminees Poujoulat, Bernard Stamm, 6163 nm to leg finish
2. Ecover, Mike Golding, 446 nm to leader
3. Spirit of Yukoh, Kojiro Shiraishi, 522 nm
4. Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson, 866
5. SAGA Insurance, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, 2114
6. A Southern Man-AGD, Graham Dalton, 2402
7. PAKEA, Unai Basurko, 2464

www.velux5oceans.com

FAIR DINKUM?
Mike Golding is not pleased:

The bungee between Bernard and us has definitely snapped, as he has now tacked away and is able to sail SE whist I am firmly stuck sailing south and into the path of a monster high. I am so tantalisingly close to being able to tack also but according to the file (which seems to be good) if I did I would never make enough southing to stay in the good flow. This was always the risk and I can only hope that tomorrows weather file looks better. The news of this breakaway was made all the more crushing by the fact that the DTLs shown of the Leaderboards from Clipper have been incorrect for some time, I informed them of an error last week but only yesterday did I realise why the error was still getting worse. They had failed to include their own compulsory waypoint under South Africa in the calculation!. I kept saying that we would lose miles to Bernard but like most human beings I was easily fooled by my apparent successes in the Leaderboards.

Frankly I am deeply tired of the incompetence and penny pinching policies of this race organisation under Clipper Ventures PLC. Having had the experience of running this race four years ago and now with the financial support of Velux and the host ports we had quite reasonably hoped for much better. For our part as a team we have done everything in our power to try to help them and the event generally (and have been doing so all year), as an entry in the race it is clearly in our best interest that it runs well and smoothly - but regardless of this we are left feeling that the organisation we have now three weeks into the race, remains very far from perfect. Confront the Clipper "suits" on this and they will arrogantly quote the success of the media statistics without any attempt to offer explanation of what they intend to do rectify the actual problems - its fully infuriating! Our relationship with Race Director, David Adams is also, as a result, strained to breaking. When he wants our help or advice he takes it as his own, and when he doesn't our comments are construed as interfering - "or whinging (Pomms?)" as he puts it in his Aussy twang . Well that would be "fair dinkum" but the simple fact is, that since arriving in Bilbao, this organisation has, without help, stumbled headlong from one crisis or cock up into another - this is simply today's. This of course is not life threatening stuff but it is demoralising for our supporters who also saw a very different story unfolding. How a life threatening situation might be handled by this organisation? well that's perhaps not a matter for this blog.

www.mikegolding.com

RICK TOMLINSON CALENDARS
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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

WHERE'S TONY?
The Australian Maritime Authority has issued an all ships alert asking commercial vessels to keep a watch out for the catamaran Doha 2006, with Tony Bullimore and crew on board, whose arrival off Western Australia is now overdue.

Tony and his crew on the 102ft catamaran have been out of contact with the outside world since November 7 when their satellite phone went down, four days after leaving the Maldives bound for Hobart, Tasmania.

Lee Bruce, Tony's weather router, had expected the crew to be off Western Australia today at the latest, but now believes that 30 knot head winds and sharp 4 to 5 metre seas, running off Western Australia, are likely to delay Tony Bullimore's approach towards Cape Leeuwin.

Bruce explains: 'Two primary weather systems are affecting the region from Madagascar to Australia. A frontal boundary is moving eastward and a centre of low pressure is drifting westward off southwest Australia. The front is expected to slow and one or more low centres may develop on it over the next few days.

Barry Pickthall, running Team Bullimore's control centre in the UK, said today. 'There is no concern for the crew at this stage. We know that their satellite communications system has gone down, so Tony is unable to contact us by phone or e.mail. We expect the crew to make a stop at Fremantle, or another port, to get the system repaired and, since the catamaran should be close to the shipping lanes by now, asked the Coastguard to alert vessels in the area to report any sightings."

The catamaran has 3 EPIRBs on board, none of which have been activated. -- BYM News, www.bymnews.com/new/content/view/38063/50/

CHN 95 MEETS THE PRESS
There were no firecrackers and no lion dances, but the AC China Team today reached another marker on their collective journey to Valencia and the 32nd America's Cup when they officially 'rolled out' their new boat - CHN95 - for the press at McConaghys International yard in Dong Guan, China.

And not a moment too soon for the incoming cameras - 'she was upside down at 0600 this morning' said one of the construction team, 'and the bearers on the trolley were freshly laminated last night. We've had a bit on for the last few days.'

In front of the flashguns and TV cameras, China Team Hon Chairman Frank Pong said how delighted he was. ' This is not just a boat, and the America's Cup is not just a boat race. This whole enterprise is an embodiment of a spirit of adventure and an expression of 'dare to do' that should be an example of attitude to the young generation of China.'

Also on hand to oversee a level playing field was Ken McAlpine, Technical Director and Chief Measurer for the 32nd America's Cup. 'We'll have the boat measured by the end of today,' he said. 'Without the keel and rig, and sitting only a few feet off the floor, this will be the most accurate set of measurements we can obtain on the hull. She'll be measured again in Valencia, after the paint and gelcoat have gone on, but that's really just a check to ensure that there haven't been any really gross errors this time round.'

China Team Director Luc Gelluseau explained to a largely novice press contingent that the boat was (is) 24m long, the hull weighs two tons, and constructed of a 3cm carbon-nomex-carbon sandwich. Building of CHN 95 was started on 05 July this year, and more than 20,000 man hours had gone into the 4-month build programme.

CHN 95 will be moved down to Hong Kong by barge on Tuesday next week, and transferred onto a container vessel for the voyage to Valencia, Spain. She is expected to sail for the first time in February 2007. -- Guy Nowell, Sail World Asia

www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=28781

THE NEXT GENERATION IN A LONG LINE OF WINNING SYSTEMS FROM B&G...
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The sophisticated Central Processing Unit has multiple software levels in one box for maximum flexibility and easy upgrades. B&G AutoCal routines have been added to make the well-proven calibration procedures quick and easy.

www.bandg.com/H3000

GUEST EDITORIAL: EERO LEHTINEN
The Oscar gala of sailing is behind us, once again. Well done Paige Riley and Mike Sanderson. Mike was a rather easy bet for the award, Paige's choice has caused a bit of echoing based on some controversial results during her latest season. We all know she's a world class sailor, perhaps the female Ben Ainslie in progress. However, her failure in this year's two main events have made some eyebrows rise. After all I think the choice can be supported by the fact that after getting a dissapointing result from the light wind dominated Europeans and getting outflagged in the Worlds after pushing the rule 42 the one bit too far, Paige pulled herself together in great style and took the pre-olympic title in Qingdao to finish her season on a big high. This is what makes her to a World class sailor, the great come back after all the setbacks. Well done once again.

What concerns me more is the general reputation of sailing. The understandable claims that sailing is to elitist, expensive, not spectator friendly, too complicated etc. If we look at the starting point, the majority of novice sailors have their first experience in an optimist. That cute little soap case...THE BOX! Optimist is stable and simple and hence a good choice for the first adventure. It was originally designed to be built (out of plywood) by the dads to be sailed by their kids. Affordable and simple DIY packages were sold to be completed in every man's garage or backyard. The class spread throughout the world and now it's the biggest class on the planet. World Championships attract over 250 sailors from over 50 countries. And at the same time the cheap plywood dinghy has developed to a strictly controlled one design class made out of glass fibre with the most expensive fittings, foils, rigging and sails.

The average daddy is no more building his son's boat at the backyard, instead the poor dad and mom will spend one or two months' salaries on buying the little captain's racing boat. (And God help the families with more than one promising sailor!) At the same time Optimist is the only seriously raced dinghy with no self-bailers, it is painfully slow, too stable for the more developed ones and it has got the most old-fashioned and complicated rig/sail arrangement. If the kid still remains keen after the learn-to-sail course, the dad or the mom might rather want to take a hike when they should be able to help with the new boat, get it rigged and sailing. So, it's not only the money.

Can someone come up with an idea on how we make the changeover from Optimists to a new dynamic, simple but fast and fun to sail international junior class? And I do not need nominations for the new class but how do we make it happen? Coca-Cola to sponsor a new junior world class, refund for the old optimists as trade-ins against the new dinghies built by licensed builders on all continents. Old Optis can be donated to developing countries and ABC level sailing schools. Simple Laser-type of rig and sail, forgiving hull material and constructions, light, fast and fun! No fancy materials or toys. No more buying speed. And abracadabra, I guarantee we double the numbers of young sailors all over the world in no time. Where are all the creative marketing people hiding, let's start the big brain storming and think OUT OF THE BOX (you know which box I mean...)!

Another thing that is more and more shadowing our beloved sport is rule 42, kinetics. Very complicated rules have been developed, waters are packed with umpires and judges who try to see if competitors pump that main sheet a bit too wildly or move their bodies too efficiently or whatever else goes under this section. Is Paige Railey the headbutting world player Zinedine Zidane of sailing after failing dramatically in the Worlds (because of this rule) and afterwards getting the crown for the sailor of the year? Or is she simply too talented and good for the rules - should these rules be removed and let the fastest around the course win? I do not know, I just feel we are making things too complicated once again - we struggle to explain even the basics of our sport to the politely interested outsiders, how do we explain that she was working too hard and now she gets a penalty? And is kinetics a bad thing as such, we see all kinds of acrobatic performances in various other sports, why should sailing remain the stiff-backed-gentleman's sport (nothing against it as such, it's a spot on description of myself...)? Opinions, comments?

* Send to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you'd like your comments published.

LEWMAR ONE TOUCH WINCH HANDLE WINS DAME AWARD
UK company Lewmar was presented with the Design at METS Award at Tuesday morning's breakfast briefing in Amsterdam prior to show opening.

The One Touch Winch Handle was selected from five category winners in this, the 16th running of the DAME Awards, which is open to all exhibitors at the METS exhibition. The four other products that were highlighted by an international jury of designers, naval architects, consultants and experienced boat users were the Tracvision M3 marine satellite TV system from KVH Europe of Denmark in the Marine Electronics category; the Coolmatic CR Compressor Refridgerators range from Waeco of Germany in the Interior Equipment, Furnishing, Materials and Electrical Fittings section; the Suction Pump Out Nozzle with Splash Guard from Edson International of the USA in the Marina, Boatyard and Equipment Used To Construct Boats category and the Enclosed Shaft System from Seatorque Control Systems of the USA, submitted by Barrow International of the UK in the Propulsion, Machinery, Electrical and Mechanical Systems section.

This year's DAME competition attracted a total of 166 products from 136 companies, of which 74 were shortlisted for final consideration. The Jury also elected to use its Innovation Award this year and this was presented to Torqeedo of Germany for its Travel fully integrated electric outboard motor.

Commenting on the One Touch Winch Handle, the Dame jury stated that it is "Elegant in concept, aesthetically pleasing, strong on detail design, well executed, effective and a great step forward...it ticked all of the essential DAME boxes and is therefore a worthy winner." -- IBI News, www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20061014120049ibinews.html

RELATIVE VALUES
Peter Greenhalgh lives, breathes and sleeps yacht racing. He is far more likely to be seen pushing up weights in the gym than putting down pints in the pub. His background is in top class high performance dinghies and he has been one of the top 49er sailors in the world for many years. He is also the winner of the prestigious 18ff Skiff world championships, and, last year, he was part of the Basilica crew hurtling carbon fibre 40 foot catamarans around the race track during the Volvo Ocean Race stopovers where Basilica won the VX40 championship.

Peter is a year older than his brother Robert, who was part of the winning crew on ABN AMRO ONE. Louay Habib (http://www.bangthecorner.com) spoke to Peter at his home in Hamble and asked him why he would like to do the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09.

Q: Would you describe yourself as an adrenalin junky?
A: Yes maybe. I get a lot of my fitness from water sports. I have to go wakeboarding or Laser 700 sailing three or four times a week or I get pretty grumpy! Also I have to say that the reason I decided to join the Basilica VX40 programme was the thrill of going so fast. Before I got on board Basilica, I had only ever done one hour of catamaran sailing!

Q: Who or what has been the biggest influence on your sailing?
A: Definitely my parents. Without their support it would have been difficult to get anywhere, but the biggest effect on my sailing ability would have to be the whole year group that I grew up in: rubbing shoulders with Ben Ainslie, Ian Walker, Paul Brotherton, Ian Barker, Johnny Merricks and coaches like Jim Saltonstall and Harvey Hillary. That environment makes you technically good and you learn to understand what is required physically and mentally. Once they are in the bag, those sorts of people can develop your tactical ability and your tuning skills to make the boat go faster. You never stop developing. In the 49er we were in the top 10 in the world for six years, often about fourth place. We achieved that level because of the highly competitive year group we were in.

Full interview at www.volvooceanrace.org

17TH IMPERIA WINTER REGATTA
Imperia, Italy: Once again Imperia will host the Imperia Winter Regatta: on the first week of December, from 3rd to 10th, the nice and warm town in the north west of Liguria, Italy, will be a center of sailing for young sailors.

The organising Yacht Club Imperia (formerly the two different yacht clubs Circolo Velico Imperiese and Porto Maurizio Yacht Club) has already received more than 250 entries from 11 different countries: Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Monaco, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland.

Starting from 2006 two more sailing classes will take part in the event: the Olympic Laser class (standard, Radial and 4.7) and the RS:X (male and female) joined the fleet of 420's (male and female), 470's (male and female) and L'Equipe that will race under the format International Meeting.

The program will start on December 3rd with the registration and practice day for RS:X and Laser Classes; on days from 4th to 5th Devembere races for RS:X and Laser Classes are scheduled starting from the warning signal at 10.00am.

The programm will then follow on December 7th with registration and practice day for 470, 420 and L'Equipe classes: the first warning signal on 8th December will be fired at 10.am. A maximum of nine races will be sailed in the waters of Porto Maurizio - Imperia, Italy.

The event is a an official ISAF international event since 2002 and classified as Grade 3 ranked event since last year. -- Laura Jelmini

i-w-r.com/en/home

THE LAST WORD
Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. -- Natalie Goldberg

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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