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ROUTE DU RHUM
25 years old Brit Phil Sharp has won the Route du Rhum - La Banque Postale 40 foot class after 18 days 10 hours 21 minutes and 18 seconds of racing. His average for the crossing is: 8.01 knots. Sharp steps indeed into Dame Ellen MacArthur's tracks as she was the first English entry to win the famous Transatlantic race in 1998 on an Open 50 - she was 22 years old. On November 6th, a few days after he broke from his opponents to pick up a north-westerly route, Phil Sharp hooked up at the lead of the 40-footer fleet and never gave it back. His option led him high in the north Atlantic where he had to face the most violent low pressure system of the race. Sharp crossed the line in front of the eyes of Dad and Grandmother, a moment that was quite emotional. Next step for Phil is the Vendee Globe 2008.

Speaking from the boat this morning Sharp said, "I really just want to get in to Guadeloupe now. The last day has been pretty uneventful and a lot of the excitement has gone now that I've managed to break away from Gildas and I'm not looking over my shoulder so much. The only positive for me is that everyone seems to be stuck in the same conditions and going nowhere. It'll be great to get in and see my family and friends and I'm looking forward to hopefully celebrating a victory with a couple of beers and a good night's sleep.

* American sailor Kip Stone crossed the Route du Rhum finish line off Point à Pitre, Guadeloupe, to win the Class 2 monohull division at 10:38 GMT Thursday (5:38 EDT). The 3,500 mile solo transatlantic race started October 29 in St. Malo, France. Stone also set a new class record of 17 days, 22 hours, and 36 minutes, beating Australian Nick Moloney's 2002 record by approximately 18 hours.

Stone, of Freeport, Maine, is the first American to win a class in the celebrated Route du Rhum, which has been run every four years since 1978. Stone joins Americans Phil Weld, Walter Green, and Steve Fossett in completing the race.

Over 70 sailors in eight classes competed in this year's event. The 25-year-old French sailor Servane Escoffier came close to overtaking Stone in the second half of the race. "It took me a while to maneuver so that I was able to cover her. It was a tight race," said Stone.

Stone's win in the Route du Rhum adds to an impressive solo sailing resume. He won the Open 50 class in the 2004 Transat from Plymouth, England to Boston, Mass, and set a new course record. Stone and designer Merfyn Owen partnered in 2005 to win the Bermuda 1-2 and placed second in the double-handed France to Brazil race, the Transat Jacques Vabre.

Artforms, a fifty-foot carbon-fiber ocean racing vessel, known as an Open 50, was designed by Owen Clarke Design, built by McConaghy Boats, and launched in Sydney, Australia in 2003. Stone sailed Artforms halfway around the world to Plymouth, England, to compete in his first solo transatlantic, the 2004 Transat.

www.routedurhum-labanquepostale.com

SIR ROBIN CROSSES THE EQUATOR
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston crossed the Equator at 1208 UTC today in the Velux 5 Oceans race. This is Sir Robin's eighth Equator crossing aboard a sailing yacht, and only his second solo crossing in 38 years. The crossing marks a key milestone for Sir Robin in the eventful first leg. He has been plagued by technical issues since the fleet was hit by a 60 knot storm in the Bay of Biscay. Last Sunday Sir Robin encountered a violent gust which caused Saga Insurance to 'Chinese Gybe', breaking the battens in his mainsail. This week Sir Robin has continued to suffer problems with his autopilot system.

Onboard Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson has finally climbed his mast, after much procrastination, to sort out the issues with his furling gear. Unable to bring himself to slow the boat, Thomson did so under full spinnaker and now feels ready to face the Southern Ocean. Every mile is crucial as he carefully skirts the area of high pressure which Mike Golding (GBR) and Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN) find themselves in, desperate to jump on the gravy train that will take him quickly southeast and towards his destination. Every minute or hour of progress now could translate into days later on. Thomson will soon head into what is, for him, unchartered territory as he approaches the place where he was forced to retire during the Vendee Globe race in 2004.

As race leader and defending champion Bernard Stamm (SUI) reaches 35 degrees Latitude, he, along with Mike Golding, in second place, are preparing their boats for the "Roaring Forties" and "Furious Fifties". Stamm told listeners during his radio interview this morning that he was expecting the Southern Ocean to be colder than ever for him, as he forgot to pack his warmest mid-layer clothing.

15:08 UTC 16/11/06 positions:

1. Cheminees Poujoulat, Bernard Stamm, 5581 nm to leg finish
2. Ecover, Mike Golding, 858 nm to leader
3. Spirit of Yukoh, Kojiro Shiraishi, 909
4. Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson, 1138
5. SAGA Insurance, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, 2498
6. A Southern Man-AGD, Graham Dalton, 2614
7. PAKEA, Unai Basurko, 2670

velux5oceans.com

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

STILL NO WORD FROM TONY BULLIMORE AND CREW
While news of Tony Bullimore's 'local difficulty' with the communications equipment on his 102ft catamaran Doha 2006 spread like wildfire around Australia and beyond yesterday, the crew by contrast have probably made very little progress towards port.

The latest weather map provided by Lee Bruce, Doha 2006's weather router, shows a huge High pressure system sitting right over where Tony and his crew are likely to be: 500 - 1,000 miles west of Cape Leeuwin.

Bruce explains 'Two areas of low pressure are heading south eastward, but other than localized strong winds near squalls, there are no dangerous winds along the route to south western Australia. However, with the exception of the areas near the high pressure, there is useable wind for Tony and crew to make progress toward Australia if they can wriggle clear of the High."

Barry Pickthall, Team Bullimore's co-ordinator added. With the winds as they are, I don't think we can expect Doha 2006 to reach land before the weekend or indeed until early next week. The problem Tony has is that without communications, he cannot pick up the weather forecasts so can only work from their barometer reading and the feel of any seaweed they have onboard."

In the meantime, speculation on the crew's whereabouts since they lost contact with the outside world on November 7 shortly after crossing the Equator bound for Hobart, Tasmania, led to more than 2 hours of television time on the major networks across Australia, Europe and the Middle East yesterday, news and phone-in discussions on more than 100 radio stations around the world, and stories in all the major newspapers. Team Bullimore's own Mistral web site www.teambullimore.com was hit by more than 64,500 hits within 24 hours. The site normally receives around 5,000 hits a day.

IRISH CRUISER RACING ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE
A busy agenda has been prepared for the fourth annual conference of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA), which will take place at the Great Southern Hotel, Eyre Square, Galway on Saturday, November 25.

Guest speakers are Jochem Visser and John Corby, talking about 'The Swing in IRC', including some fantastic video footage of Ger O'Rourke's Chieftain in action during the Sydney Hobart Race, ICRA support for the Irish Commodores' Cup teams, and race preparation and tuning.

The programme also includes the Annual Report, review of the Saab National Cruiser Championships 2006 and a preview of the Saab National Cruiser Championships 2007 and the ICRA 'Boat of the Year' Award.

The conference is open to all cruiser sailors. Coffee and registration starts at 1015 hrs. and the programme should be finished by 1700 hrs.

www.cruiserracing.com

AN INVESTMENT IN PERFORMANCE TODAY
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CHARLES NANKIN'S BACK
After 100 days Charles Nankin is back on board RSA 83. For the first time since his serious sailing accident the mastman of South Africa's first America's Cup Challenger sailed as 18th man.

Early August the professional sailor sustained serious injuries during the German Sailing Grand Prix in Kiel. He was on deck pulling in the spinnaker whilst rounding a leeward mark when the foresail hit him unexpectedly as it came across the bow, flinging him overboard. With the boat turning he was dragged underwater, the rudder struck his back trapping him underwater for 24 seconds.

Nankin was diagnosed with a full vertebral fracture and one day after the accident he underwent a three-hour operation at a specialist hospital affiliated to the University of Schleswig-Holstein during which a titanium plate was inserted to stabilise the thoracolumbar region. Two weeks later he was flown back to Valencia where the Capetonian spent a few days in a rehabilitation clinic prior to returning to his Valencian home on August 30.

Within the first few weeks Nankin shed 14 kilos and stayed at home before starting with light exercises in a pool to build up muscle tone in the back and facilitate the healing process. On return to the Shosholoza Base Nankin continued to work with physiotherapist Michal Hadala and biokineticist Julian Calefato.

"Now I'm happy and confident that I'm on the right track and will be back with the team early next year. During our Christmas break in Cape Town I'll be replicating sailing situations through sport-specific fitness training at the Sport Science Institute of South Africa." -- Janine Geigele

www.teamshosholoza.com

SHORT TACKS
* The minutes from the recent IRC Congress and GBR IRC Committee meetings are now available on Royal Ocean Racing Club Rating Office website: rorcrating.com

* Grand Prix yachting sponsorship comes to Irish shores next season with the news that Volvo has signed a six-figure deal to become title sponsor of Ireland's biggest regatta.

Organisers for next July's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta are expecting up to 600 entries - and the sponsorship deal is a further boost for an event that ran for the first time in 2005, when 3,000 sailors in 400 boats took part.

Volvo will not officially announce details of their involvement until January but event Chairman, Brian Craig, confirmed the sponsorship will run for 2007 and 2009.

Over 150 races will take place on six different courses across Dublin Bay for the four-day event in July.

In 2005 the regatta was combined with a festival ashore and Craig says he is planning a significant expansion of these activiites in 2007. -- www.dlregatta.org

* While the ISAF World Cup is clearly a step in the right direction, the Council's decision to defer Submission No. 79 is not. This submission would've opened up options for new Olympic classes by deleting Regulation 16.1.6, which is a list of classes ISAF can use for the Olympics and Regional Games. Included on this list are all the Olympic classes, and a host of "classics" like the Sunfish, Fireball, H-boat, J/24, Hobie 16, and Snipe.

The reason given for the deferral, according to ISAF, is that deleting the regulation would have "undesirable affects (sic) of (sic) the Regional Games." -- excerpt from an editorial on Sailing World's website, see www.sailingworld.com

* Kinsale Yacht Club (Ireland) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dave O'Sullivan as Regatta Director for Sovereigns Cup 2007.

A former Rear Commodore of the club, Dave is well known on the south coast racing circuit having sailed his boat Cimarron (Nos. 1 to 6 !) in various regattas and events since the mid 1980's. Involved in the Sovereigns Cup since it's inception in 1995, he is keenly aware of the needs of competitors and is committed to organising a varied and exciting programme, both on and off the water, for the 2007 event.

Next year's Sovereign's Cup will take place over 4 days from 27 to the 30 of June and 150 boats are expected. -- www.kyc.ie/sovs2007

* Almost three three centuries ago, the notorious pirate Blackbeard ran his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge aground off what is now a North Carolina beach town.

Now, a local group of divers believe they have found the bucaneer's ship, and are heading out to sea each day to dive the 20 to 25ft to the ocean bottom to excavate it. So far, they have found cannons, a bell, lead shot of all sizes, gold dust, pewter cups and medical devices. -- YBW.com: www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20060931155403ymnews.html

* Sail for Cancer are extremely proud to announce that Olympic star Ben Ainslie and round-the-world yachtswoman Dee Caffari are both to become patrons for the charity. Both sailors have already raised funds on behalf of Sail 4 Cancer, which, in addition to funding cancer treatment and research, also seeks to improve the quality of life for cancer patients, their families and carers through the provision of sailing opportunities.

www.sail4cancer.org

* The new Volvo Open 70 Rule has been published, showing subtle refinements from its predecessor. The main focus is on improving durability while safeguarding the Volvo Open 70's status as the world's fast ocean-going monohull. Key changes include placing a maximum value on the weight of the keel, fin and bulb of 7.4 tonnes, reducing the overall weight range of the boat to 13.86-14.00 tonnes, banning bomb doors, and introducing furling spinnakers plus one additional masthead kite to the sail inventory.

Read about the rule and download your copy here:
www.volvooceanrace.org/abouttherace/vo70rule/

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 Dr. Stephanie Merry: Having read Mike Golding's remarks about the administration of the Velux 5 Oceans race in Scuttlebutt Europe #1101 - 15 November 2006, I would like to endorse his statement that he and his team did "everything in (their) power to try to help them and the event generally". As the UK measurer for the Open 60 IMOCA boats, I was impressed by the support which Mike offered to other competitors in the Velux 5 Oceans Race. His team shared facilities (such as crane and loadcells) with Alex Thomson, to measure Hugo Boss before departure from the UK and Mike donated the time of his fantastic support team led by Graham (Gringo) Tourell to facilitate the measurement process in Bilbao for Sir Robin's SAGA Insurance, Unai Basurko's PAKEA and Tim Troy's Margaret Anna. (Sadly Margaret Anna failed to comply with the IMOCA rule and was unable to start the race).

When the race administration asked me to travel to Bilbao to measure these boats at very short notice, Mike's team arranged my accommodation in Bilbao and transported my heavy measuring equipment some 15 miles from the hotel to the marina. They had no vested interest in providing this assistance, because Ecover was already fully measured and certificated.

During the 4 months leading up to the Velum 5 Oceans race start, Mike, Gringo and I spoke regularly about the best way to get all the boats measured in time, particularly Tim Troy's boat which was based in America. Because of the language barrier, I had occasional communication problems with IMOCA in France and Mike was always ready to help out through his personal contacts in the organisation.

I wish Mike every success in his current adventure.

* From Pete Cumming: I think everyone who is trying to follow the Velux 5 Ocean's Race shares Chris Sutton's frustrations at the lack of useful content on the official race website.

If you look on www.mikegolding.com there is a full race viewer with maps and positions which is updated regularly by OC vision as all the yachts are fitted with their OC Trackers.

There are also photo's, Videos, Team Blogs and daily race reports and they will not cost you a penny!!

* From Joyce Black: I know and deeply respect Emma (Richards) Sanderson and admire the terrific job she did getting Pindar around the world in one piece in the 2002-2003 Around Alone race. She was not the first woman to complete the race, however. Isabelle Autissier finished the 1990-1991 BOC with style and skill.

THE LAST WORD
To repeat what others have said, requires education; to challenge it, requires brains. -- Mary Pettibone Poole

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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