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BARKER LEADS AUCKLAND MATCH RACING CUP
Defending champion Dean Barker and his Emirates Team New Zealand crew topped the leaderboard of the Auckland Match Racing Cup after the second day of racing was completed on the Waitemata Harbour today.

Very powerful tides continued to play a major role in the racing today, but a stronger and more steady breeze "took some of the random factor out of it," Barker noted. In contrast, the opening day yesterday was marked by very light, shifty breezes, which, combined with the tides, turned some of the matches into a lottery.

With Barker's crew clear ahead on a 9-3 win-loss record, the race to make the semi-finals is still wide open. Local young gun, Adam Minoprio and his Blackmatch team is tied with Frenchman Mathieu Richard on 8-4. Minoprio gave notice of his giant-killer abilities at the recent New Zealand Match Race Championships, where he finished 4th behind a trio of hot America's Cup crews.

Spithill carved his formidable reputation on the world match racing scene as a young firebrand and gave a wry smile at finding the tables turned with a younger generation now coming after him.

With a score of 7-5 (equal with British world No. 2, Ian Williams), Spithill is still very much in contention for a semi-final slot. "We have made a few mistakes, but I am fairly happy with where we are," he said. "We are still learning all the time and there is still a lot of sailing to go."

The race committee completed six flights of racing today, finishing the first round robin and three flights of the second round robin. Ten teams from seven nations are competing in the Auckland Match Racing Cup. The regatta format features two round robins, followed by a semi-final and final on the weekend. Racing in the second round robins continues on the Waitemata Harbour tomorrow.

www.aucklandmatchracingcup.co.nz

INCONSISTENT CONDITIONS
Miami, Florida, USA: Mother Nature threw a nasty curveball at 855 competitors from 49 countries competing today at US Sailing's 2007 Rolex Miami OCR. In addition to the usual need for tactics and boat speed, a certain level of toughness was required, as sailors battled a wide range of elements on Biscayne Bay. Even for elite sailors who train full-time in their pursuit of Olympic medals, today's conditions tested their survival skills.

Racers left the dock in a warm, light southwesterly breeze under five knots and returned several hours later in a cold, rainy, northwesterly wind. A frontal passage that passed through the course during midday caused the drastic change in conditions, whipping up strong winds that filled from the southwest. The remainder of the day exhibited squally conditions, gusts up to 25 knots out of the north and intermittent rain.

The Neil Pryde RS:X windsurfers and 49er skiffs faced particularly challenging conditions as they struggled to stay upright on the course.

Poland's Przeymslaw Miarczynski, bronze medalist at the 2006 RS:X World Championship, leads the men's fleet after scoring two bullets and a second place in today's three races. Nick Dempsey of Great Britain and Samual Launay of France follow Miarczynski by 11 and 12 points, respectively. Great Britain's Bryony Shaw, who won the windsurfing fleet at last year's Rolex Miami OCR, leads the Women's fleet for the second consecutive day, while Marta Hlavaty of Poland and Marina Alabau of Spain lag slightly behind in second and third place.

The Stars managed to get in only one race today. The 67-boat fleet had split into gold and silver fleets, which were determined yesterday by standings after five races. Sweden's Fredrik Loof and Anders Ekstrom, who won the 2004 Star Worlds together, remain at the top of the scoreboard, where they've been for the last two racing days.

In the 49er class, Athens Olympian Tim Wadlow (Beverly, Mass.) and his crew Christopher Rast (Wake Forest, N.C.), capitalized on the conditions of the day to move from fifth to first place, just ahead of Spain's Iker Martinez de Lizarduy and Xabier Fernadez and US Sailing Teammates Morgan Larson (Capitola, Calif.) and Pete Spaulding (Lafayette, Ind.). Amanda Clark (Norwalk, Conn.) and Sarah Mergenthaler (New York, N.Y.) moved from fifth to third place in 470 Women's fleet, behind Marcelien de Koning and Lobke Berkhout of The Netherlands and Ingrid Petitjean and Nadege Douroux of France. The US Sailing Team's number-one ranked Yngling team of Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) remains in second place, sharing 27 points with Great Britain's team of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson. In the SKUD-18 class, the team of Scott Whitman (Brick, N.J.) and Julia Dorsett (Boca Raton, Fla.) hold on to first, ahead of David Cook and Brenda Hopkin of Canada and Karen Mitchell (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) and JP Creignou (St. Petersburg, Fla.).

Complete results at www.RolexMiamiOCR.org

29ER WORLDS
4 races were held in Gold and Silver fleets with the maximum wind velocity of 12 knots down to 7 and intermittent rain. Puffy conditions threw the competitors curves on the course, keeping them on their toes. At the end of the day, Pepe Bettini and Matias Keller of ARG regained the lead with fellow countrymen Matias Gainza and Federico Vilambrosa in 2nd with Gonzalo Pollitzer and Jose Maria Diez (ARG) in 3rd. James Ellis and Rob Partridge GBR split the top 5 domination by the Argentines.

In the silver fleet, Maria Agustina Torre and Franco Greggi of ARG are tied for first with American Emily Dellenbaugh and Briana Provancha. Nathalie Keller and Irina Hotz of Switzerland share 2nd with Robby Bisi and Manuel Garcia Diez of ARG.

Top five, Gold Fleet
1. Pepe Bettini & Matías Keller, ARG, 20 points
2. Matías Gainza Eurnekian & Federico Villambrosa, ARG, 29
3. Gonzalo Pollitzer & Jose María Diez, ARG, 33
4. James Ellis & Rob Partridge, GBR, 38
5. Micael Sielecki & Tomas Wagmaister, ARG, 40

29er2007.cnsi.org.ar

ULLMAN SAILS J/105'S AT KEY WEST
For eight consecutive Acura Key West Race Weeks, Ullman Sails has been at the top class. There has to be a reason why the top five J/105's had Ullman Sails*, four of the top five teams raced with full Ullman inventories. The reason is power and speed!. Top teams demand speed and reliability from their sails to aggressively compete, and Ullman Sails has consistently delivered. From local club sailing to International regattas, only one company is constantly delivering the "Fastest Sail on the Planet". Contact an Ullman Sails loft and visit www.ullmansails.com. (* Masquerade partial).

USA WINS 505 PRE-WORLDS
Adelaide, Australia: American's Mike Martin and Howie Hamlin cleared away from the fleet in the SAP 505 Pre-Worlds sailed out of Brighton and Redcliff Yacht Club this week.

Martin and his crew Jeff Nelson won two races and his worst carry was seventh and he finished the regatta on 14 points. Hamlin, sailing with Fritz Lanzinger carried an eighth and finished on 19 point. Third overall was Britain's Ian Pinell with 30 points.

Michael Quirk and crew Geoff Lange are the new Australian title holders. The SAP International 505 World Championship starts racing on Saturday the 27th of January. -- Sail-World.com: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=30580

1. Mike Martin, USA, 14 points
2. Howie Hamlin, USA, 19
3. Ian Pinnell, GBR, 30
4. Nick Adamson, USA, 34
5. Michael Quirk, AUS, 42

Worlds site: www.505worlds2007.com

PETERS & MAY SHIP LONGEST AND HEAVIEST YACHTS
World leaders in yacht transportation and logistics, Peters & May, arranged the movement of the longest (27.4m Elegance 90) and the heaviest (160 Tonne Bandido) yachts to the Dusseldorf Boat Show. Peters & May Germany coordinated the operation to deliver a total of 15 yachts to the show and post-show they will ship 16 of the yachts to a variety of locations including Palma, Italy, Croatia, Dubai, USA and New Zealand.

Peters & May have been exhibiting at Dusseldorf and will be at the Mumbai and Dubai Boat Shows in February and March respectively.

www.petersandmay.com

LIFE RAFT RECALL - CHECK YOURS
Danish company Viking Life Saving Equipment has issued the following Recall Notice on some of their liferafts:

- Notice applies to Viking RescYou liferafts

This recall covers certain serial numbers of the yachting and fishing liferafts Viking RescYou (UKL) and RescYou Pro (UKSL), sizes 4, 6 and 8 persons in either container or valise.

The supplier of pressure relief valves, Thanner & Co A/S, has informed VIKING that potential problems in relation to their product Thanner type OTS 65 may cause the valve to break and prevent the liferaft from inflating properly. In the unlikely event that both valves are affected, the liferaft will sink. As a precautionary measure Viking Life-Saving Equipment A/S recommends that all Thanner valves of type OTS 65 used in RescYou liferafts be inspected and if necessary replaced.

Please check your type of liferaft and serial number to see if your RescYou liferaft is at risk. The type and serial number can be found on the Certificate of Compliance that you received along with your liferaft. The type and serial number can also be seen on the registration label on the bottom of the liferaft container or if packed in a valise at the end of the valise.

If your RescYou liferaft is found to be at risk and thus affected by this recall, please contact a Viking approved servicing station for a valve inspection. A full list and contact details of applicable servicing stations are available at www.Viking-yachting.com. Any necessary valve replacement will of course be free of charge for you.

RARE 'PREHISTORIC' SHARK EMERGES FROM THE DEEP
A species of shark rarely seen alive because its natural habitat is 600 meters or more under the sea was captured on film by staff at a Japanese marine park this week.

The Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka, south of Tokyo, was alerted by a fisherman at a nearby port on Sunday that he had spotted an odd-looking eel-like creature with a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth.

Marine park staff caught the 1.6 meter long creature, which they identified as a female frilled shark, sometimes referred to as a "living fossil" because it is a primitive species that has changed little since prehistoric times.

The shark appeared to be in poor condition when park staff moved it to a seawater pool where they filmed it swimming and opening its jaws.

Photos and video at www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=61&objectid=10420791

COMBINED RORC CREW MATCH AND CREW PARTY - 2ND FEBRUARY 2007
Whether you are RORC members or not you will be most welcome to join us at the Chelsea Football Club on Friday 2nd February 2007

The RORC Crew Match evening for owners/skippers and crew will be held between 1830 - 2000

To register call Bronwen Rice on +44 (0)20 7493 2248 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

If you would like to attend the RORC Crew Party please call Amanda Oliver +44 (0)20 7493 2248 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it The cost per person is: 25 pounds per head, including buffet.

Dress: Smart casual and/or Crew Shirts - Time: 2000 - barges at 0100

www.rorc.org

THE FIRST, AND THE FINAL, OF THE 'NEW' ACC'S
The second new boat for the defender of the 32nd America's Cup, Alinghi, assigned number SUI 100, is on its way to Valencia. With snow falling in Vevey, Switzerland, SUI 100 was loaded onto a truck at the Décision boatshed for its five day journey to Port America's Cup.

SUI 100 is the final boat to be assigned a number by the technical director of the America's Cup Class during this cycle. While many of the challengers are already sailing their second new boats, Alinghi has a little bit more time to prepare. The challengers need to race in the Louis Vuitton Cup, beginning April 16, to earn the right to face Alinghi. The Swiss defender, after competing in Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13, doesn't race until the America's Cup Match beginning June 23rd.

Team Shosholoza sailed for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, after the South Africans returned to Valencia following an extended Christmas break. Since the team last sailed from Port America's Cup, RSA 83, the first new America's Cup Class boat built for the 32nd America's Cup, has undergone a major refit. This was the plan settled on by the team as an alternative to building a second new boat.

Shosholoza struggled initially with RSA 83 when it first raced in the opening Louis Vuitton Acts of 2005. But by the end of the season, the team was enjoying its first victories at the Cup. And by last season, Shosholoza had leapt off the bottom of the table to finish mid-fleet in seventh place, a vast improvement over the previous years. With RSA 83 re-configured, the team will be hoping to continue that upward trajectory.

www.americascup.com

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 James Tingle: We are pleased to announce that we have just received confirmation that the UK Mini Fastnet 07 is on, and will be taking place this summer. We have also just confirmed a title sponsor for the event who is sure to bring many many things to the race.

Last year we ran the first ever UK Mini Fastnet as a low key 'learn the ropes' race, but, now we have learnt them, we are ready for more. With the aid of the title sponsor, Royal Western Yacht Club and the UK Mini Class Association we aim to move mini racing in the UK up in the world and create one of the best races out there.

Royal Western Yacht club have no shortage of shorthand racing experience being the driving force behind the OSTAR (the original single handed transatlantic race) and the double handed Round Britain and Ireland race, and some might say the driving force behind single handed racing in the world. The UK Mini Class has come together with the aim of promoting mini racing in the UK and bring together the 30-40 boats that are currently in the UK. Few will argue that minis are one of the most exciting boats out there and between us we will bring them to the forefront of UK short handed racing.

The start date is the 5th of August 07 and the start location is Queen Anne's Battery in Plymouth. The notice of race and entry form will be published shortly on RWYC's website.

We are also working with Classe Mini with the view to getting the race counting towards the qualification miles for the Mini Fastnet.

If anyone would like any further information on the race or the class please don't hesitate to contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

THE LAST WORD
To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost. -- Gustave Flaubert

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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