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VELUX 5 OCEANS: WHALES, ICE AND SAILING BLIND
Graham Dalton isn't one given to poetic utterances, but he does admit to being awestruck by the experience of charging through the desolate wastes of the Southern Ocean. "I do feel privileged to sail in these waters. It's a humbling experience to see the forces of nature at work." However, the forces of nature got a little bit too close for comfort when he had close encounter of the whale kind yesterday. "We were travelling at about 16 knots, when not 70 yards ahead of me were a couple of whales. I was bearing down on them at a hell of a speed. I didn't have time to switch off the autopilot, so I braced myself for the crash and banged like hell on the bottom of the boat to warn them off." Fortunately, the crash never came and Dalton will never know how close those whales came to colliding. What he does know is that it could easily happen again, however. "A lot of people have hit whales and lost their boats. And there are a lot of whales in the Southern Ocean at this time of year."

However the greater fear beginning to prey on the mind of Dalton and the other competitors in the race is the prospect of encountering icebergs between New Zealand and Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of the American continent. "The last information we had was that there was a bit of an icepack off the bottom of New Zealand. You've got radar to help you, but really you go through ice in these boats by yourself. When you're going through ice at the speeds we are, you're playing Russian roulette. It's very dangerous, not very smart, but that's the nature of the beast, unfortunately."

Dalton reckons that for the first 2,000 miles of the 3,500 mile stretch of Southern Ocean between New Zealand and Cape Horn, ice will be an ever-present danger.

* As in 1969 Sir Robin Knox Johnston is once again sailing without weather information but it does not seem to be affecting his miles to the finish. On re-starting Leg 2 of the Velux 5 Oceans race, Sir Robin was 250 miles behind his nearest competitor (Unai Basurko), but 6 days later Saga Insurance is now just 66 nautical miles behind. This will be a reassuring factor as he sails south into the deepest, darkest Southern Ocean. Despite enjoying reasonable speeds in the first 6 days, once again Sir Robin has been having a torrid time with his communications equipment. Despite having new equipment installed in Fremantle, his satellite phones have been jamming and reading infuriating statements such as "Azm err". Experts are looking into this and able to email instructions and advice to the boat, so full communications will hopefully return in a couple of days. Race organisers' watch keepers are keeping a close eye on Saga Insurance's position and will email the whole fleet if there is any big storms expected.

"With all comms down except Sat C, VHF, and now my mobile Iridium is up, patched into the antenna of the new one that doesn't get a signal. Worse, I am blind as far as weather is concerned which is dangerous down here. Don' t tempt me to go into electronics, but a new Fleet 77 system and new Iridium system, both installed by the experts, and neither working, is moderately infuriating. I am the one suffering and I am the one put at risk."

* Philippe Monnet sprang a surprise on Bernard Stamm by calling the race leader on his satellite phone this morning. Monnet is a French offshore racing legend who set a new record for sailing the 'wrong way' around the world back in 2000. He broke Mike Golding's record but has since seen his own record bettered by another Frenchman Jean-Luc van den Heede. More recently Monnet has just returned from an unsuccessful assault on the dangerous motor racing rally from Paris to Dakar in Senegal. Stamm and Monnet had a good chat about motor racing before their thoughts eventually turned to the Velux 5 Oceans.

Stamm: "Everything is going fine at the moment. I have some small problems, but nothing major really. I am between Tasmania and New Zealand, 53 degrees of latitude South. At the moment the weather is nice but I am expecting a low pressure system to come in tonight and to bring some wind that I should have for a couple of days. It could blow up to 40 or 50 knots. What worries me more is the ice. The problem is that inside my boat, I can't really see what is ahead so I either have to trust the radar, or to stay on deck. I have had to steer a lot in the difficult areas and it is definitely not the aim."

www.velux5oceans.com

ROLEX MIAMI OCR
Miami, Florida, USA: Perfect conditions welcomed more than 855 elite sailors from 49 countries on the first day of racing at US Sailing's 2007 Rolex Miami OCR. A steady southeasterly breeze and blue skies offered competitors a taste of what makes Biscayne Bay an ideal venue for this world-class event in its 18th year. The regatta is the only International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade-One regatta in the United States for Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls.

Among the classes that were large enough to warrant splitting into two racing fleets was the 49er. US Sailing Team member Tim Wadlow (Beverly, Mass.) and his crew Chris Rast (Wake Forest, N.C.) topped their fleet by posting two bullets after a fourth-place finish and went on to post a second-place overall after scoring from the two groups was merged. Edging out the U.S. team by one point in overall scoring was the Japanese team of Akira Ishibashi and Yuko Makino, sailing in the second fleet.

In the men's 470 class, Portugal's Alvaro Marinho and Miguel Nunes came out swinging early with a victory in the first of that fleet's three races. Marinho acknowledged the presence of world champions and other top players in his fleet, including Great Britain's Olympic silver medalist Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield, who finished 2-1-4 to post seven points and take the overall lead for the day. Marinho and Nunes finished their day with a 7-7 and settled for second place with 15 points.

Scheduled are five days of fleet racing through Friday, January 26, and one day of medal racing (for Olympic classes only) on Saturday, January 27. Saturday's medal races follow the new Olympic format, lining up the top 10 teams in each class on the starting line on the final day of racing.

www.RolexMiamiOCR.org

29ER WORLDS DAY 2
With promises for more breeze, the sailors eagerly left the shore today. But they were again disappointed with 2 races in the 5-8 knot range, a wait as the wind dropped, and the last 2 races sailed in a building sea breeze with 10-12 knots.

Today's winners were Matias Gainza and Federico Villambrosa who finished 6th in the 2006 World Championship, and the father/son team of German and Martin Billoch (ARG) with dad on the wire posting a 3-2-8-1 and moving them into 4th overall. Gainza/Villambrosa sailed flawlessly with a 5-3-1-2 keeping them atop the leader board.

Female skippers and teams that remain in the hunt include Adela Deschamps of Argentina, with crew 470 Olympian Juan de la Fuente in 7th, and the British duo of Sophie Wegelin and Sophie Ainsworth currently standing in 9th.

Pepe Bettini and Matias Keller (ARG) remain in 2nd with Francsco Piccini and Santiago Deneri (ARG) in 3rd. Piccini/Deneri held a 7-1-1-9 in today's racing.

Results can be found on www.29er2007.cnsi.org.ar with photos on www.29er.org

COMING SOON... 50 KNOTS?
From The Daily Sail's report on L'Hydroptere's recent record attempts:

On Saturday L'Hydroptere got into record setting mode, reached the average speed of 46.5 knots over a 500m course. The team are trying to claim the D-Class record currently held by their fellow countrymen on Techniques Avancées of 42.12 knots set in 1997. While they may certainly have bettered this speed unfortunately at 75ft long L'Hydroptere falls someway outside of the IYRU's old D-Class rule requiring a boat to be a maximum of 32ft long with a sail area of no more than 500sqft.

After some further tweaks to the boat over the winter, the team have now have the world speed record over a 500m course firmly set as their objective. Unfortunately under the WSSRC's somewhat antiquated categorisation the only record available for a boat of this size to go for would the outright record. This is currently held by windsurfer Finian Maynard who averaged 48.2 knots down 500m of trench in the south of France. While the 500m record is still up for grabs, L'Hydroptere did manage to break Finian Maynard's unofficial record of 39.97 knots for a mile with a new average of 41.74.

www.thedailysail.com

Official site (in French only): www.hydroptere.com

FULL ON AT HANKO
The water off/around Hanko in the Oslofjord, Norway will once again be the scene for international big boat racing in 2007. ORC has chosen it as the location for the 2007 IMS World Championship, and the Farr 40 Nordic Championship.

This year it is going to be a very hectic season for big boat sailing in Hanko. In July over 30 Farr 40s will gather to sail the Nordic Championship. The regatta will draw both royals and international rock stars alike. The Nordic Championship is a warm up regatta for the Farr 40 World Championship in Copenhagen in the end of August.

The decision to bring the Farr 40 circuit to the Scandinavian countries has also given the one design class further growth. There will most likely be 4-5 Norwegian boats, 1-2 Swedish and 3-4 Danish boats on the scene. The championship will be held July 5th to 8th.

The Royal Norwegian Yacht Club has taken on the massive task of hosting both championships.

The IMS World Championship will officially open August 11th and will comprise of three days of inshore races, plus one short and one long offshore race. The winner will be honoured on August 18th. The Norwegian Offshore Racing Club expects 40-50 boats from all over Europe, and His Majesty King Harald is expected to bring his Farr 51 Fram XV out of the shed to take part in the championship. Last year he turned his sailing focus to the TP 52 class, but a World Championship in his home waters would be too good to miss out on.

"We had 32 IMS boats on the starting line for our national championship last year and a total of 45 boats in our national IMS ranking. We are really proud that ORC has recognized our work for the class by letting us arrange the World Championship", says Thomas Nilsson, chairman of The Norwegian Offshore Racing Club.

CIRCUITO ATLANTICO SUR ROLEX CUP
Punta del Este, Uruguay: Another spinnaker start off the Puerto di Punta del Este sent the Circuito Atlántico Sur Rolex Cup fleet on a 15.3 mile course around Punta Ballena and back, but the wind gods did not cooperate and the yachts had to fight the current coming offshore, from the Atlantic into the Rio de la Plata. It took over an hour after 1200h for the wind to fill in, which is why racing usually starts at 1300h here.

Jose Estevez Samela's Personal won overall in IMS by finishing second today in series A, behind Roberto Fabini's LGT Memo Memulini. Matador finished third today and kept her second place overall.

In IMS, series B, Audi came back strongly by winning today's Vuelta Gorriti, after having to abandon yesterday's race because of a collision. Despite this good showing, Patagonia 3 won series B by two points, finishing second today.

IRC, series A, winner is a former IMS boat: Kirkor Simsiroglu's Funcei-San Gregorio, designed by Acier Soto Acebal. She was built in 2002 for the IMS class, won multiple races and then had a total refit including new mast during 2006. Her skipper here is Guiliermo Castro, a famous Argentinean double-handed sailor who sailed in the 500-mile Buenos Aires-San Clemente-Punta del Este-Buenos Aires race.

The clearest winner in any of the classes was Toribio de Achaval's Matrero, a German Frers 50 built in 1970. She finished 16 points ahead of La Ley On Line. Matrero is the Argentinean Admiral's Cup veteran who finished the disastrous 1979 Fastnet Race.

For full results please visit: www.yca.org.ar

ROYAL THAMES TROPHY AT RANELAGH
Ten N12s took to the water at Ranelagh to compete for the Royal Thames Yacht Club trophy. With the Thames barrier shut, there wasn't the normal struggle to stay the right side of the start line before the start. Bim Daser got the best start on the Fulham FC side of the river, starting in more wind but running the risk of having to tack to make the corner. Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne were just first to the corner but David Wilkins and Adele Cameron caught a gust and attempted to take the lead in the first of numerous luffing battles.

Graham & Zoe managed to round the mark first but they didn't have an easy ride. On the way back to Putney Bridge, Jon Ibbotson & Lucy Horsley made the second leadership challenge but fell into a hole before they could consolidate their position. John & Mandy Thornton, out for the first time in their new boat, then stormed through the fleet. Many luffing battles ensued during the next two laps as John & Mandy attempted to capture the lead. There were also a few hairy moments as the fleet fought with some big gusts and massive wind shifts.

Results
1st Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
2nd John & Mandy Thornton
3rd Jon Ibbotson & Lucy Horsley
1st Admirals Cupper - Matt & Jo Stiles

SHORT TACKS
* It is with regret that ISAF announces the cancellation of the 2007 ISAF Team Racing World Championship. The appointed organizer has found it necessary to withdraw as host and no other host has been found.

However ISAF is pleased to confirm that the 2009 ISAF Team Racing World Championship will be held in Perth, Australia in February 2009. Preliminary bids are sought for hosting the 2011 World Championship.

In addition, ISAF hopes to be able to announce in the near future additional team racing events scheduled for 2007 and 2008. -- sailing.org

* The current Blue Water Round the World Cruising Rally is due to complete its 20-month circumnavigation in April 2007. Entries for Blue Water Rally No.7 from 2007-9 already exceed 30, with yachts from 9 nations due to take part. In 2006 Blue Water Rallies Limited and Yachting Monthly entered into partnership for this year's Blue Water Rally.

The Blue Water Rally 2007-9 will follow the highly successful formula established over 12 years of running round the world cruising rallies. The Blue Water Rally is aimed at families and friends sailing their own yachts, is cruising-only and follows the well-proven equatorial route through some of the most beautiful cruising areas of the world.

Throughout the event there is the "umbrella" of a professional support team in over 20 ports of call aimed at minimising problems and maximising enjoyment and safety of crews.

* A Black-Red and Gold design on a white hull - that's how the German America's Cup Yacht Germany I will start at the 32nd America's Cup. Two and a half months before the first start of the regatta season on the 3rd of April, the United Internet Team Germany presented the new boat design at the boat show "boot" in Dusseldorf.

A part of this event was Senay Pakaanen from Heidelberg. The 36-year old won the design competition of the United Internet Team Germany last fall. She won out over 700 other participants. It will be her design which will decorate Germany I in the races of Louis Vuitton Act 13, which starts at the 3rd of April, and the following Louis Vuitton Cup.

* After a successful first season, the 18ft Skiff team of Mason Woodworth, David Brown and Simon Hamilton have secured a sponsor for the 2007 season and specifically the JJ Giltinan Trophy (18ft Skiff World Championship) in Sydney, Australia.

GE Commercial Finance's Leveraged Finance business has provided a financial package to assist with the costs of shipping the boat to Sydney and production of the new sails the team requires to be competitive at the championship.

The boat, to be branded the GE Commercial Finance skiff for the World Championships, finished second on the European Grand Prix circuit and second on the UK 18ft Skiff tour in 2006, their first year of competition. They also won one event on each tour.

* Stagg Yachts and the Farr 40 Class announce that Farr 40 Class Secretary Renee Mehl will be accepting a position as Vanderstar Chair with the US Naval Academy in February, and will resign her duties as Class Secretary at the end of this month. Her new job with the USNA sailing program is to help them ensure the safety of boats, equipment and teaching methods, and assessing their standard operating procedures on an ongoing basis, amongst other responsibilities.

Stagg Yachts is currently accepting applications at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . A complete job description will be made available to pre-qualified applicants.

* A video of a foiling sailboard on SeaSailSurf.com:
seasailsurf.com/seasailsurf/actu/spip.php?breve4451

* At a special reception on the evening of 20 January the winners of the 2007 European Yacht of the Year Award were announced.

The yachts were selected from a shortlisted group of 20 yachts which in turn had been selected from a list of over 60 nominated boats by the committee made up of editorial staff from yachting magazines from ten European countries. The final phases of selection took place after test sailing all shortlisted boats in Holland and Spain between September and November 2006. The winners in each category are:

Under 10m: Elan 340
10m - 12m: Salona 37
12m - 14m: Dehler 44
Over 14m: X-55
Special award for innovation: Beneteau First 50 -- www.ybw.com

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* From John Reed, Secretary to the WSSR Council:
The World Sailing Speed Record Council announces ratification of a new World Record:

Taipei to Hong Kong. Outright.
Yacht: Johan II. Monohull
Sailed by: Philippe Grelon FRA/NZ and a crew of 7
Dates: 18th to the 20th December 2006
Elapsed Time: 2 days 15 hours 40 minutes and 42 seconds
Average speed: 7.30 knots

The previous record was 2 days 16 hours 46 minutes 32 seconds - Ellen MacArthur. B&Q April 2006

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THE LAST WORD
Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality. -- Jules de Gaultier

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.

Over 80,000 boats for sale on www.boats.com

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