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HAPPY 43RD TO BERNARD STAMM
Bernard Stamm, the defending champion at the head of the Velux 5 Oceans, celebrated his birthday today on Cheminees Poujoulat. Having passed over the Kerguelen Islands, a mandatory waypoint, Stamm, now 43, is on an easterly heading towards Fremantle. The Swiss skipper currently has 1,761 miles still to sail to the finish of leg one and is expected to arrive early next week. Responding to Kojiro Shiraishi's gains yesterday, Stamm is back on pace and again setting the fastest speeds within the fleet, clocking an average speed of close to 14 knots over the last 24 hours. The conditions and forecast look favourable for Stamm, who is hoping he can hitch a ride along the passage between the high pressure systems all the way to Fremantle.

850 miles behind the leader, the Japanese hero, Kojiro Shiraishi on Spirit Of Yukoh, has pushed through the fog he had yesterday and is now reaching to the east with a strong northerly wind. The young skipper is truly experiencing the harsh conditions of the Southern Ocean as he crashes through the icy waves, exposing any leaks, no matter how minor. Koji still has a day's sailing to reach the mark at the Kerguelen Islands. British duo, Mike Golding and Alex Thomson, have managed to secure the broken sections of mast on the deck of ECOVER. The pair are still 48 hours south east of the shelter of Table Mountain and decision time for Golding.

Saga Insurance, sailed by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, continues south east towards the Roaring Forties and the race safety gate at Latitude 44°S. Knox-Johnston has been surfing up to 20 knots, whilst appreciating the effortless splendor and magic of the Albatross, one of the surest signs that one has reached the Southern Ocean. Graham Dalton on A Southern Man AGD reported a tough days sailing yesterday, with squalls and damage to the leech of his solent foresail. However, the experienced yachtsman seems determined to get home quickly and has been sailing faster than both Knox-Johnston and Unai Basurko. The Basque skipper is still in last place as he nurses his damaged yacht PAKEA to Australia.

* From Alex Thomson aboard Ecover:

"My hand has been really painful, but it has taken a big leap in terms of recovery because I am not using it now. It has scabbed over and is getting itchy so I figure it is getting better. I have been on a very high dose of antibiotics. I was getting worried that Dr Golding might have to cut it off with his rusty knife, but I think I'll live." Explained Alex this afternoon. "I have not really thought about terribly much over the last couple of days except losing the boat. I still feel pretty emotional about it, though I feel terrible for Mike losing his mast."

"As soon as I get back I will sit down with my team and have a thorough debrief and decide what I do from here, have a good think about it. My immediate plan is just to get home and see my girlfriend and my family and deal with the pressing business matters. It has been an emotional time for everybody so we need to re-group and work out where we go from here."

"Obviously I have another boat in build but I am not up to thinking about that too much immediately. A holiday might be in order in the fullness of time but the first priority is the business side of things, it comes first, getting my claim together properly. Then the plan will become obvious."

"I don't know an awful lot about rigs but Mike's rig was pretty solid and had done a lot of miles, so it is very difficult not to draw the conclusion that the reason it came down was because he turned round to get me."

www.velux5oceans.com

UH OH...
There will be no Multicup 60 press conference at the Paris Boat Show. Nor, it appears, a 2007 circuit...

In fact, despite the success of the 2006 season, the shipowners' satisfaction, the enthusiasm of the cities, and the active support of the sponsors, Multi Cup SAS cannot announce the organisation of the next season because the justified demands of all the partners are not fulfilled.

In Fecamp, last September, a programme for the 2007 season was announced, with a condition, that the financing should be closed out and that there should be a minimum fleet of 6 boats.

This last demand was made by the potential sponsors, the stopover towns and the media interested in partnerships.

Up to date, there are only 4 firm subscriptions to the multihulls 60' 2007 Championship, in process of organisation. Banque Populaire IV, Gitana 11, Gitana 12 and Groupama 2 have confirmed their participation.

Considering the number of potential boats that still could commit, it's unlikely, and even impossible, that this minimum could be reached.

Every option has been considered, like a lowering of the programme, or a substantial change of the events, to allow a maximum number of boats to join the circuit. Unfortunately, as of today, all these efforts did not bring new participants.

Gabriel Brack, president of Multi Cup SAS : "It's very reluctantly, that we had to take the decision of this annoucement. Again, we warmly thank our sponsors, Cafe Ambassador and Jaeger-LeCoultre, as well as Benjamin de Rothschild for his commitment and his support. We also thank the teams that accompanied us during this 2006 season, the institutional partners of the circuit in 2006 as a whole, as well as those that were willing to commit in the 2007 programme and, last, the French and foreign media. I wish that class of boats to finally find the driving force that will allow it to federate itself in order to reorganize its operations."

www.multicup60.eu

ATTENTION ALL SAILORS
Camet clothing line keeps growing, they have now added T-shirts for kids, with sailing graphics for all ages, perfect gifts for young and future sailors, a variety of colors and designs.

Camet offers a complete line of padded sailing shorts with a new Navy Blue color in the Cargo shorts, made in a fast drying breathable fabric, reinforced seat to insert foam pads, two Cargo pockets, phone pocket, adjustable waist, and belt loops. Code Zero shirts, Mylar bags, Coolmax, shirts, Rash guards, Neoprene shirts and Hiking pants, Padded vests. Visit our web page at www.camet.com

MUMM 30 WORLDS
Miami Beach, Florida, USA: Opening day of the Mumm 30 World Championship had picture perfect conditions. Sailors on 30 boats from nine countries were treated to Florida sunshine, good breeze and some great surfing waves. All races were four leg windward-leeward races, with 1.75 mile legs. The easterly wind ranged from 14-20 knots, starting out light in the morning and building during the day, with stronger puffs on the left, backing slightly early afternoon.

Everyone got out of the blocks without mishap for the first race of the day. Winds were lighter inshore at the start, building at the top mark out closer toward the Gulf Stream.

The natives were restless on the second race and a string of bow numbers were called over in an individual recall. The breeze built to 16-18 knots and the surf was up - giving a great ride downwind for all and causing some carnage for others.

Wind velocity increased slightly more for the final race of the day. -- Renee Mehl

Top five after 3 races:

1. Mammy!, Diarmuid Foley, IRL, 10
2. Twins, Erik Maris, FRA, 10
3. Sixx, Tom Lihan, USA, 12
4. Mean Machine, Peter de Ridder, NED, 14
5. Groovederci, Deneen Demourkas, USA, 17

www.mumm30.org

THE DRAGONS RETURN TO DEAUVILLE!
During a press conference held in Deauville Yacht Club on 29th November, Philippe Augier, Mayor of Deauville, Bernard Gorgeu, President of the Club and Manfred Ramspacher, Director of Sirius Evenements have announced the launch of the classic version of Deauville International Week, Deauville Classic Week, with the hosting of the International Dragon Open in France from 4th to 7th July 2007.

After inaugurating a great new international meeting in the form of Deauville International Week in 2006, this new initiative is indicative of the strong desire to develop watersports in the celebrated Norman town.

In reality Deauville is simply reviving its nautical history, since the town was a great centre of watersports long before and after the war, with a parade of J classes on the race zone (including Virginie Hériot and her 6 m JI) and numerous large international competitions involving Dragon, Requin, 8 and 6 m JI. Furthermore, until the seventies, Deauville was the primary French Dragon base.

Many are longing to see these fabulous modern and wooden craft moor alongside the quays in the vast numbers they once did!

The prestigious keelboat has experienced a quite remarkable revival over the past few years, as was revealed in the 250 craft present at the 75th anniversary gathering in Saint-Tropez. Since then the various Dragon events in France and Europe have been experiencing increasing success.

The Notice of Race will be presented during the General Dragon Class Meeting on 9th December 2006 at the Paris Boat Show and will be available at www.deauville-week.fr from that date onwards along with the registration form.

ACCURATE, RELIABLE & DEPENDABLE PERFORMANCE
Words you wish described your sailing instrument system. Ockam is the leader in providing the most accurate real-time data available. The high-speed Tryad processor combined with an available 3-axis rate stabilized compass utilizes the full motion of the boat to deliver a stable wind solution that you can depend on. With performance and weight in mind, all sensors interface close to their location allowing the information to stream unimpeded throughout the system's reliable and robust single cable network. View more lines of information than the competition with the new Matryx II, a transflective graphical display that also strip-charts data. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.ockam.com

WORLD'S LARGEST SLOOP 'CAN'T SAIL'?
What a beauty. 292 feet (89 metres) in the mast, 247feet (75.22 metres) long and 48.5ft (14.8metres) in the beam. She can do 17-18 knots with ease, and 10 knots in a 10 knot breeze. Mirabella V is not only a beauty; she's the world's largest sailing sloop. So what's this we hear about a 'problem'?

'Well,' say the experts in the bar, 'Did you know that every time you want to tack that boat, you have to lower the mainsail to the first reef?' 'Sure,' says another, who's been in the bar at the end of race day for years, 'Ain't that just ridiculous?'

'There's another thing,' says some-one from the next group, whose just heard the name Mirabella V used, and can't wait to join the conversation, ' Did you know that you can't tack the boat without first furling the headsail, then letting it out on the other side?'

'Actually,' says another, 'I've never seen her sail with her full main up - she's ALWAYS got a reefed main.'

The group are all shaking heads into their beers now. 'What a waste of money THAT was.' Finishes another, and there's just no more to be said.

It wasn't long after that that I found myself in conversation with the designer, Ron Holland, who has a long history of designing wonderful sailing boats. Could he really have designed a dog? So I asked him:

'Well,' said Ron in his soft drawl, 'If you query rolling the jib up to tack, really most big boats do that. It's normal to at least partially roll up the jib. It saves the jib from wear.'

'As far as the main is concerned, this boat is unique in that it has a huge roach, and therefore to tack with full hoist mainsail you have to lower the main to the first reef point so that the sail will clear the backstay. The reason the boat was built this way is because we wanted her to sail well.

Most really large boats don't go anywhere in light air. We wanted Mirabella to sail in all conditions. Now it's a lot of boat to get moving - even though she has shallow hull lines, only 2 metres deep, she displaces 700 tonnes - so you need a lot of sail to get her to accelerate well.

So the sailing strategy of Mirabella V is to get her up and going quite quickly with the full main - she can do 10 knots in 10 knots of wind.

'However, once she's sailing, she generates apparent wind very quickly, so the normal plan is to reef her down once she's reached a good speed. She can easily do 17-18 knots with a reefed main.

'You must remember that we never plan to use a spinnaker, so you need the good sail area for downwind sailing - she also has three headsails, the largest of which negates the use of a spinnaker, so it's all part of the overall plan to end up with a good fast sailing yacht.

'To say that she 'doesn't sail well' is a bit outrageous. It's quite clear when you look at the shallow hull and high aspect ratio of the keel that we were very much interested in her sailing ability. I think the comments you have mentioned are as much as anything a misunderstanding of the philosophy behind the design effort that went into Mirabella V.

'Mirabella V is a boat that sails well in light air, and that's a really big achievement. Most large cruising boats don't accelerate well, and Mirabella V does. The yacht, of course is out for charter some of the time, and during charters she does often sail around with one reef in the main - charterers are often looking for comfort not speed, and 12 knots or so is just right for them.

Well, there you go, drinkers at the bar - you learn something every day! -- Nancy Knudsen

www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=28442

AMERICA'S CUP YACHTS SHIPPED BY PETERS & MAY
World leaders in global yacht transportation, Peters & May, have been chartering ships to relocate America's Cup yachts and equipment for training during the European winter.

Their most recent vessel loaded 2 AC yachts, a 60' tender, 28' and 40' chase boats, 3 masts and 10 containers for Team Alinghi's move from Valencia to Dubai.

This mirrored the earlier shipment to Auckland of another AC yacht plus chase boats, rigs and containers with all logistics for these moves being coordinated between Peters & May's own offices in Valencia, Dubai, Auckland and Southampton.

www.petersandmay.com

MATCH RACE BRASIL
Sao Paulo, Brasil: The 2006 edition of the Match Race Brasil, a boat against boat competition, will be very special. The sail races will bring together the best Brazilian and America's Cup sailors in one of the biggest sailing events ever held in Brazil. The competitions will take place from December 6-10, in Guanabara Bay, at the Rio de Janeiro Yacht Club.

Two-time Olympic champion Torben Grael (Star class) will be part of the Team Prada crew.

In addition to Prada, skippered by Australian sailor James Spithill, three other America's Cup crews have been confirmed: US-team BMW Oracle Racing, with Danish skipper Sten Mohr; the +39 challenge, with British skipper Iain Percy and the German United Internet Team Germany, also skippered by a Danish sailor, Jesper Bank.

Brazil will be represented in this race by five teams who will compete in Beneteau First 40.7 boats. The skippers will be Alan Adler, Andre Fonseca, Joao Signorini, Daniel Glomb and Alexandre Paradeda. Adler, Fonseca and Signorini were part of the Brasil 1 crew, which finished third overall in the Volvo Ocean Race.

Other Brazilian Olympic medalists have also confirmed their participation in this event, such as two-time champion Marcelo Ferreira, Lars Grael, Kiko Pellicano, Clinio de Freitas and Eduardo Penido.

At the same time as the male competition, there will be a female tournament at Guanabara Bay, with four crews competing. One of teams will be skippered by US-sailor Sandy Hayes. The Brazilian teams will have as helmsmen Fernanda Oliveira, Carol Bejar and Rossana Ramos.

www.matchracebrasil.com.br

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 Tom Ehman: It is only the opening day at the Monsoon Cup but there is something going on here you should know about -- something different from any other yacht racing event I have been involved with in my now north of 50 years. Am doing TV with PJ Montgomery and Andy Green so will not have much time to blog about it, though I will try to do so a bit via the Challenger Commission Blog ( www.challengercommission.com ) as there are six AC teams here.

This is shaping up to be a big deal, at least bigger than I expected. This event has:

+ a very strong field including the defending WMRT champion (Gilmour) , the current Tour leader (Williams) and six (!) AC teams.

+ a Malaysian team, led by Laser Radial champ turned match racer Tiffany Khoo -- she won the Malaysian national championship in Sep;

+ an entry led by Singaporean Wearn How, representing AC32's China Team.

+ a $275,000 purse (1 million ringgit), said to be the biggest ever in match racing if not all of yacht racing.

+ the Muslim and yacht racing worlds coming together, with tens of thousands of spectators from across Malaysia expected as we are now in the year-end school holidays here;

+ an exhibition hall for the public showcasing local products, especially maritime related;

+ a private concert by jazz icon George Benson for the racers and organizers Saturday evening;

+ an impressive, purpose-built yacht racing facility bar none, and I mean bar none;

+ a TV production led by Narrowstep's Sam Usher with a crew of over 50 people that will go live Sat and Sun with a potential reach of well north of ONE BILLION homes, not including the streaming internet feed on www.sail.tv.

+ Commodores from a couple dozen clubs in Asia and Oceania attending as VIP guests;

+ the Sultan, State Chief Minister and, ultimately, Prime Minister Badawhi all participating; and

+ if Malaysia follows through with the AC even a tenth the way they have at Sepang with F1, there appears to be a strong bias toward future AC action here if not a Malaysian challenger.

THE LAST WORD
Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation. -- Henry Kissinger

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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