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ACURA KEY WEST
A fleet of 260 boats carrying more than 2,000 sailors enjoyed sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s all five days of the regatta, organized by Premiere Racing. Adding to the spectacular scene were top-notch sailing conditions - steady 10-14 knot winds and flat water off the Conch Republic.

Dan Meyers and his high-level crew aboard Numbers won a week-long battle royale with Edgar Cato and Hissar. The two Farr-designed 60-footers entered the ninth and final race separated by just two points and predictably engaged in a match race duel.

IRC 2 class also came down to the last race with skipper Colm Barrington steering Magic Glove to a second place finish in Race 9 to secure overall victory. The good-natured Irishman was making his Key West debut with a recently-launched Ker 50 and placed first or second in six of nine races against a loaded fleet.

Robert Greenhalgh, a member of the victorious ABN AMRO crew in the last Volvo Ocean Race, called tactics aboard Magic Glove, which opened the regatta with a sixth then reeled off three straight bullets. Samba Pa Ti and Windquest, a pair of TP 52s, placed second and third, respectively.

Italian skipper Riccardo Simoneschi and his crew aboard Giacomel Audi Racing captured the highly-competitive Melges 24 class in dramatic fashion. Simoneschi got the gun in Race 9 to vault from fourth to first in the 47-boat fleet, largest of the regatta.

Mumm 30 is another grand prix class that was decided on the final day. Southern Sun, the Australian entry skippered by Bruce Eddington, held onto its lead by the skin of its teeth. Dutchman Peter De Ridder and the Mean Machine crew did all they could to put the pressure on Aussies by winning Race 9.

Southern Sun was in sixth place with 100 meters remaining on the last leg, but picked off a boat and placed fifth - good enough to finished tied with Mean Machine on points. Eddington won the tiebreaker by virtue of posting more first place results in the regatta.

Alinghi, a Switzerland-flagged syndicate and current America's Cup holder, picked up some additional hardware on Friday despite not sailing. Bertarelli's victory in the 17-boat Farr 40 class led Switzerland to victory in the International Team competition.

Complete results at www.premiere-racing.com/keywest07/pages/KW07_index.htm

WET FINAL DAY AT SAIL MELBOURNE
The Olympic and Invited Classes Regatta hosted by Sandringham Yacht Club at Sail Melbourne conducted the Medal Races as a finale to the week-long event in very wet conditions.

With Athens bronze medallist and leader in the Laser Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) having to leave the event early, he was scored as a 10th place, as double points in the medal race cannot be discarded.

Capitalising on Zbogar's absence, Kristian Ruth (NOR) came fifth in the Medal Race, but had enough up his sleeve to take the gold medal four points ahead of Brett Beyer (AUS). Beyer should be proud. At 40 years old, the four time current World Master Laser champion is still extremely competitive and still beats the Olympic hopefuls he coaches around courses.

The wind had decreased by the time the RS-X sailors started and after leading the series from Day 1 with seven straight wins on his scorecard, Benjamin Tillier (FRA) finished the Men's Medal Race a surprising seventh and had to relinquish overall first place to Tomizawa Makoto (JPN) who relished the light airs.

Light winds also affected some in the RS-X Women's fleet. World champion Alessandra Sensini (ITA) came home third in the Medal Race, but having led the fleet all week, had enough in store to win the series by 10 points.

Tobais Etter/Felix Steiger (SUI) continued their domination of the Combined 470 class, winning the final race and the series to easily taking the Championship.

Sail Melbourne looks forward to welcoming all sailors in 2008, with no less than five World Championships. The Grade 1 ISAF Olympic & Invited Classes Regatta in 2008 will be one of the last events before the all important 2008 Beijing Olympics. -- Di Pearson/Jane Moffa

Top three, Olympic Classes:

Laser
1. Kristian Ruth, NOR, 35 points
2. Brett Beyer, AUS, 39
3. Blair McLay, NZL, 63

Laser Radial
1. Krystal Weir, AUS, 14
2. Gabrielle King, AUS, 23
3. Victoria Chan, SIN, 28

RS:X Men
1. Tomizawa Makoto, JPN, 18
2. Benjamin Tiller, FRA, 21
3. Chi Ho Ho, HKG, 32

RS:X Women
1. Alessandra Sensini, ITA, 14
2. Wai Kei Chan, HKG, 24
3. Allison Shreeve, AUS, 28

49er
1. Will Phillips / Jon Newman, AUS, 13
2. Bojan Vrscaj / Nikola Topic, CRO, 33.50
3. Lachlan Pearman / Aron Gavin, AUS, 33.50

470 (Combined)
1. Tobias Etter / Felix Steiger, SUI, 14.00
2. Mathieu Higgins / Timothy Lynch, AUS, 37
3. Dimitry Berezkin / Alexander Zybin, RUS, 37.50

Finn
1. Michael Williams, AUS, 9
2. John Shallvey, AUS, 22
3. Geoffrey Francis, AUS, 26

Complete results for all classes: www.sailmelbourne.com.au

THE HORSE
Seahorse is written by sailing professionals. Concise, intelligent and very hard to get hold of... Be sure to order your personal copy: www.seahorsemagazine.com/subscribe

ERICSSON'S NEW BOAT
Stockholm, Sweden: The Ericsson Racing Team's new boat for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 will be built in Kista, Sweden, next to Ericsson's offices.The construction, starting in March, will be managed by Killian Bushe.

Based in Ljungskile, Sweden, Killian Bushe has been building winning boats for over thirty years, producing many high quality racing yachts ranging in size from 40 to 85 feet. Among many successful projects is the Volvo 60 illbruck, which went on to win the 2001-02 Volvo Ocean Race with skipper John Kostecki.

More recent projects include the construction of Team ABN Amro's VO 70's, designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian (1st and 4th in the last VOR), and the new Americas Cup yacht for Victory Challenge (SWE). Killian and his team will work very closely with Kouyoumdjian (the team's designer) and other key members of the team in order to create the best possible boat.

The design and construction rule remain relatively open for the next edition of the VOR, presenting a challenge for the designers and encouraging the development of even faster yachts. The boats will still have a canting keel, a choice of one or two centreboards, and one or two rudders.

The Ericsson Racing Team will participate for the second consecutive time in the world premiere Ocean Race. The last edition, concluded in fifth place, has been thoroughly debriefed, and with the appointment of skipper John Kostecki and designer Juan Kouyoumdjian the team believes they have a potent mix for building a strong and competitive team.

www.ericsson.com/press

12TH ANNUAL ST BARTHS BUCKET REGATTA
The 12th Annual St. Barths Bucket Regatta, March 29 - April 1, 2007 has a full fleet of 30 mega yachts, with a growing waiting list, for the invitation-only event. The Regatta, held annually on the relaxed and exclusive island of St. Barths, is limited to yachts over 100ft, and attracts the largest sailing yachts in the world for three days of racing and camaraderie. Several new yachts will be attending including Perini Navi's 280' Maltese Falcon, Holland Jachtbouw's 141' Skylge, Royal Huisman's 104' Gliss and Alloy Yacht's 170' Kokomo.

This year's event will be kicked off by a skippers meeting aboard the spectacular new Perini Navi, Maltese Falcon. The owners party will be held aboard the 247' Mirabella V, the largest single masted yacht in the world. The three days of racing, owners and crew parties and events will be hosted by sponsors from the yachting industry.

The Bucket Regattas began in August 1986 in Nantucket, MA, as a casual race to prove bragging rights among the owners & skippers of seven of the largest yachts in town – an afternoon sail, there and back again, with a galvanized bucket as the trophy. The flavor of the first Bucket set the tone on which "Bucket" regattas have since been sailed. The primary focus is on safe sailing, proper seamanship and winning the party, rather than winning the race. Ratings are adjusted between races to favor the slower yachts, in an effort to bring them into the winner's circle.

www.bucketregattas.com

YOU'VE GOT MAIL: LET US FIND YOUR NEXT BOAT
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BERTELLI ATTACKS NEW AMERICA'S CUP FORMULA
An angry broadside about the way this year's America's Cup has been organised was fired in the host city yesterday by the Italian syndicate manager, Patrizio Bertelli.

After watching his wife, Miuccia Prada, smash the launching bottle of champagne on his new Luna Rossa, Bertelli said, of what was meant to be a bright new era for the trophy: "I do not believe the new formula improves the conditions, especially for new challengers. The gap between them and the defender is greater than before."

He also criticised the choice of Valencia as the stage for this year's event saying: "We don't feel a love of sailing in Valencia." His view was endorsed by his Australian helmsman James Spithill, who said the world match race circuit was driven entirely by financial considerations. He said many of the venues were not good enough to stage a world championship level event but were chosen because they put up the money. -- Stuart Alexander in the Independent, sport.independent.co.uk/general/article2165411.ece

WINNING SON!
John 'Herman' Winning Jr. and his crew and his crew Anthony 'Jack' Young and Casey Smith on appliancesonline.com.au have taken out the 18ft skiff trophy on count back to Winnings father at the International Regatta which finished up on Corio Bay this afternoon.

This is the first time ever Herman has beaten his father John in an 18ft skiff race and now he has the main prize as well.

John Snr. (Woody) finished the Royal Geelong Yacht Club Series in second place with Ssanyong Yandoo, crewed by Andrew Hey and Drew Waller, with the Kinder Caring crew of Brett Van Munster/Paul Montague/Aiden Menzies finishing third.

Herman went into today's final races with a small lead and Woody's pair of second places was not enough, with Herman dropping his fourth place in the final race to claim the trophy.

The Kinder Caring crew of Brett Van Munster/Paul Montague/Aiden Menzies came from last place overall in the competition yesterday to steal third place after winning both of today's races.

Woody explained to those present that the 18s are still an amateur class. The boats are owned by the 18ft skiff association and 'loaned' to each crew. All are a one-design built by Brett Van Munster, with the rigs coming from CST Composite - one of the other entries in the race skippered by Chris Dixon, CST's Operations Manager. -- Di Pearson

www.sailmelbourne.com.au

CONTAINERS LOST FROM STRANDED SHIP
Coastguards are on alert after severe gales rocked a beached cargo ship in Lyme Bay throwing up to 150 containers into the sea as she suffered a 35 degree list to starboard.

The MSC Napoli is carrying nearly 2,400 containers, and was beached near to Sidmouth in east Devon to prevent her sinking.

Coastguards are advising that a Temporary Danger Area has also been set up around the vessel extending to a range of 3 miles and 2000ft. The London registered ship was at the centre of a storm-lashed rescue operation in the English Channel on Thursday after it was disabled when the engine room flooded more than 40 miles from the Cornish coast. All 26 crew of the 62,000-tonne Napoli were plucked to safety by Royal Navy rescue helicopters as they abandoned the ship in 40ft seas and 70mph winds.

After the rescue operation had finished the drifting vessel was secured and was being towed to Portland for a salvage operation but the MCA took the decision to beach it following a "serious structural failure".

Overnight Saturday, following the adverse weather conditions, the situation surrounding the MSC Napoli deteriorated and the vessel rolled over to 30 degrees. In total 158 containers are believed to have been lost, of which 2 contained dangerous goods. One of those contains perfume and battery acid, and the other contains small car parts such as air bag pre-tensioners.

The owners of the vessel have now appointed contractors to recover containers and materials lost from the vessel. The Coastguard Rescue Officers and police have been searching the shoreline and so far about 40 containers have been located ashore.

Members of the public are being warned not to approach any container they may find but to report it to Portland Coastguard on (01305) 760439. -- Cowes Online: www.cowes.co.uk/cb/zone?p=story;story_id=2336

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. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.

* From Paul Henderson: I am so encouraged by the success of the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. It is the largest entry in their history. 850 sailors from 48 countries with threequarters foreign to the USA. They love Miami and the USA.

The Miami Olympic Training Centre, with major patrons Schoonmakers and Whittons both Olympic Families, is an example on what makes Olympic Sailing work. This shows that Olympic Sailing is healthy where local clubs are focused on competitive racing.

All the 11 Olympic Classes are well supported and some are growing significantly especially the Tornado (42) and 49er (50) along with the resurgence of Windsurfing with the new RS-X. The Star (67) and Finn (50) are the two senior classes and are very healthy and both serve a required need in Olympic sailing.

Naturally the Laser is over the top with 115 men and 69 women entries. Women's entries in both the 470 and Yngling are growing which is encouraging. The total inclusion of the Paralympic sailors in the Skud, 2.4m and Sonar racing out of their wonderful name 'Shake-a-Leg' is rewarding to all involved. (I do not like the word 'Disabled')

It is disconcerting to see that the IOC and some sailing gurus only look at TV ratings for judging the health of sport as I always believed that participation and country spread was more significant. Sailings Internet hits are among the top of any sport.

Sailing constantly has had Olympic medals spread among 20 countries which is also at the top of that Olympic criteria.

11 Olympic Events is not excessive compared to other similar water sports and it is sad that we will be cut back to ten for London in the most successful sailing nation today and also a remote venue. When the IOC cuts entries back they cut out the emerging sailing nations but still sailing gets more countries entered than well over 50% of the other Olympic sports.

To prostitute the integrity of the sport that we all love for some increased TV dream is unfortunate to say the least if not unobtainable. Sailing is an environmentally sensitive sport that uses nature as we find it using a renewable resource the wind for propulsion. Sailing is a participatory sport run by volunteers and one you can compete in from 8 to over 80. Sailing by keeping to its roots has become an example for modern popular thinking; environmentally friendly and open to all sizes, shapes and genders.

A truly modern sport!

THE LAST WORD
A good friend can tell you what is the matter with you in a minute. He may not seem such a good friend after telling. -- Arthur Brisbane

OC Events, www.ocevents.org , 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) plus the Extreme 40 Sailing Series for The iShares Cup.

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