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WOMEN'S HIGH PERFORMANCE DINGHY EVALUATION EVENT
Five boats will line up for the Women's High Performance Dinghy Evaluation Event, which will be held in Hyeres, France from 16-19 April 2007. The 29erXX, RS800, Cherub Daemon, Carbonology GT60 and International 14 have all submitted their entries to the Evaluation Event.

In advance of the decision on the ten events for the 2012 Olympic Games, which will be made at the 2007 ISAF Annual Conference this November, the Evaluation Event will look at whether there are suitable boats for a High Performance Dinghy event for a crew of two women.

The five boats for the trials in Hyeres are:

29erXX
A skiff one-design design by Julian Bethwaite which features a carbon mast and double spreads on the existing 29er hull

Cherub Daemon
A skiff one-design, designed by Simon Roberts and Richard Tayloir to fall within the 2005 UK Cherub Class Rules

Carbonology GT60
A project by David Chisholm using a design by Paul Bieker, with the Master plug currently in production

International 14
Established 75 years ago, the twin trapeze skiff is a well known development class

RS800
A skiff one-design designed by Phil Morrison, with some modifications to the existing RS800 deck mould

The Panel
Dina Kowalyshyn (USA), member of the ISAF Equipment Committee, Equipment Control Sub-Committee and Women's Forum, is chair of the eight-strong Evaluation Panel. The panel also includes Athens Olympic gold medallist and twice ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Sofia Bekatorou (GRE), 1998 World Sailor of the Year Carolijn Brouwer (NED) and Hungarian 470 sailor Marta Weores.

The fundamental criteria set out by ISAF for the event included:

- The boat must be a monohull
- The dinghy must be able to sail faster off the wind than the wind
- The dinghy is for a crew of two women (average combined weight 120-140 kgs)
- Targeting a price of 14,500 Euros ready to sail

A report on the Evaluation Event will be completed by the ISAF Mid-Year Meeting, to be held in Paris, France from 4-6 May.

Details of the criteria and Evaluation Panel can be found on the ISAF Technical microsite - www.sailing.org/technical

Photos of the boats linked from sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j1,FnAp/B&format=popup

LA SOLITAIRE AFFLELOU LE FIGARO: OVERSUBSCRIBED
70 skippers, of which 21 are rookies, 4 women and 6 foreigners, have submitted entries to take the start of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro 2007. The sailors will cover some 1,876 nautical miles between the 21st of July and 24th of August sailing single-handed between France, Ireland and Spain; including a record 762-mile long leg between Brest and La Coruña (SPAIN).

As stipulated in the notice of race, the number of competitors is limited to 55, and skippers must confirm their entries before 31st May 2007.

As every year, La Solitaire will gather one of the most important fleet of monotype boats. Amongst the 70 skippers having announced their intention to take part in La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro, we come across the star players of the circuit such as the previous year winners: Nicolas Troussel (2006), Eric Drouglazet (2001), Michel Desjoyeaux (1992-1998), the winners of the Rookie ranking: Christopher Pratt (2006), Pietro D'Ali (2005), Jean-Luc Nelias (2004), Marc Emig (2003), leg winners Gerald Veniard, Gildas Morvan, Marc Thiercelin, Laurent Pellecuer and hopeful winners: Gildas Mahe, Jeanne Gregoire, Bertrand de Broc, Frederic Duthil, Christophe Lebas, and many others like Raphael Dinelli, back on the scene after having taken part in 3 Vendee Globe races.

The rookies: Thierry Duprey du Vorsent (10th of the Route du Rhum - La Banque Postale 2006 on 60 foot multihulls), Servane Escoffier (2nd in the Route du Rhum - La Banque Postale 2006 on monohull class 2), Frederic Rivet (winner of the Tour de France a la Voile 2002-2004), Jean-Pierre Nicol (winner of the Tour de France a la Voile in 2006), Nicolas Lunven (2nd in the Tour de France a la Voile 2004-2005-2006) and the amateurs wishing to make a dream come true: Patrice Bougard, Jean Francois Bulot…

There are 6 foreigners planning on being at the start of the 38th edition of La Solitaire: Antonio-Pedro Da Cruz (Cape Verde Islands), Pietro D'Ali (Italy), James Bird (England), Nigel King (England), Paul O'Riain (Ireland), Liz Wardley (Papua-New Guinea).

The 38th edition of the race is both innovative and contrasts with previous races. There are two short legs (the 2nd and the 4th) that will be real sprints and two very long ones in the La Solitaire tradition. The second is sure to be very technical, where strategy will be more important than pure speed. The third, which it 762 miles long, is in sorts the Everest of this edition.

The skippers will set off from Caen on 31st July. The race village opens there on Saturday 21 July. -- Sabina Mollart-Rogerson

www.lasolitaire.com

AN ABSORBING INTEREST
Five years of research (added to a lifetime of interest) have resulted in two lavishly illustrated volumes of history of the America's Cup. Bob Fisher's research files total more than two million words; over 150 books have been digested; and many photographers' files have been scoured for images to provide the contents of "An Absorbing Interest - the America's Cup 1851-2003 - a history." Full details from: www.wiley.com/go/americas

AMERICA'S CUP
* As Alinghi wraps up the winter training at the Dubai International Marine Club, the foreseen announcement of the helmsman for Louis Vuitton Act 13 has been postponed. Syndicate head Ernesto Bertarelli and team skipper Brad Butterworth explained at a press conference, also attended by Grant Simmer, managing director and Jochen Schuemann, sports director, that "it was too close to call" and Alinghi has scheduled further racing in Valencia before the team makes a decision on the helmsman.

This was on the final day of Round 2 of the UBS Dubai Defender Trials, a two round affair that saw Ed Baird and Peter Holmberg and their respective crews go head to head with SUI64 and SUI91. Baird and his crew won Round 1 on a 3-all tie-breaker and they also went on to win Round 2, but as the decision of a helmsman is not based on the points, it has been postponed.

Butterworth explained: "The racing has been very, very close. For us it is a tough decision and this time it has been too close to call, plus we are really keen to keep this healthy in-house competition going when we get back to Valencia. When we get back we'll be launching SUI100 and racing her against SUI91 and the team is committed to this in-house racing process, so we're going to keep it going as we think this is good for our team." -- www.alinghi.com

* Something in the water: Sailors' families are booming! About 80% of sailors' wives [in the America's Cup] had a baby or is going to have one between between the last Cup and this one.

In Valencia sailing people will increase!

Photos of all the new sailors and pregnant wives:
www.seasee.com/events/offNoticeDetail.asp?idEvent=701&idON=1000&idM=1000

* Grant Dalton, now Emirates Team New Zealand's managing director, says he often draws on his round-the-world experiences, even if just recently his America's Cup team probably wished he hadn't.

"Every time you do a round-the-world race and something smashes and you are lying on your side for the 50,000th time in the Southern Ocean getting a flogging ... you say 'God, why didn't I just go out in the Hauraki Gulf, put a spinnaker up, turn the boat on its side and lay there until something broke'."

So Dalton did. One of Team New Zealand's 24-tonne America's Cup boats was taken out to the Hauraki Gulf, loaded up and heeled over so its mast was almost running parallel to the water.

"It was as funny as hell. All the America's Cup guys were face down ... going 'Jesus, what's next'. All the round-the-world guys were walking around ... like it is just another bad watch.

"It was tempting after the first spinnaker blew to go 'that's it, she's right, let's go in'. But we stayed and did it again and again for about three hours. Four spinnakers later we had enough information and came in. It was pretty radical for the America's Cup," he says, grinning away.

Renowned for his no-nonsense attitude and preference to call things how he sees them, Dalton is reluctant to talk about himself. This is, after all, a team sport.

"I can't win the America's Cup. The guys can. I can't and they are doing it. The guys are starting to stand up and that is the key now. Me standing up is not going to help."

This is not entirely correct. Dalton does, after all, sail on the race boat, which is not unusual for a syndicate head. What is unusual is that he has one of the worst jobs aboard.

A floater, Dalton does a bit of grinding but most of the time is in the boat's sewer packing sails. He loves it. -- full article by Julie Ash in the New Zealand Herald: www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10424388

* Paul Cayard's First Impressions from Valencia:
I have taken a consulting position with Desafio 2007, the Spanish America's Cup team, through March 30. I arrived a week ago and have to say that walking into a program like this, when it is up and running on all cylinders, is quite impressive. In all my past America's Cup involvements, I have been there from day one and helped build the team and program. When you are on the inside of one of these programs since inception, you are unaware of the complexity and level of detail to which every task is carried. It is just the norm. Walking in cold from the outside is definitely a different perspective and one probably worth being registered as the number of days left to prepare becomes very few.

As the days are limited, it is time to focus on what will make the difference in the races. The Louis Vuitton Cup will be fast and furious. There are 11 challengers who will race two round robins in one month. After that, seven teams are eliminated. That is a harsh reality. Hopefully my experience can be of use in helping decide what is worth spending these valuable last man days on and what is not...

My first impressions about the boats are how slow they are. It isn't really a fair appraisal I suppose as I just finished sailing 35,000 miles on a boat that goes 35 knots on a regular basis. It is a different game sailing these boats. It is quite a chess match to position your big heavy beast between the destination and the other boat. Once you occupy a certain space on the race course, it is very hard for the other boat to get around you. The boats are very narrow, longer than in 2000 and it seems they have the displacement pushed out more to the ends. This makes for a boat that wants to go straight. Turning sharply creates so much turbulence that it can park the 24 ton boat very quickly. The boats have very short cord rudders, which are very balanced and give little "feel".

Even though there have been some changes to the boat, these are relatively small and my feeling is that the design space has been narrowed quite a bit, especially when it comes to the hulls. I think sails are still an area open for improvement and we may see differences there.

In the end, I think most races will be decided by the team that sails best on the day. The start, controlling the correct side of the course and executing maneuvers perfectly under pressure, are what will make the difference between a "W" and an "L". And that is the way it should be. -- full article at www.cayardsailing.com

THE FLEET IS ROUND THE HORN
All the competitors in the Velux 5 Oceans have now rounded Cape Horn. Of the back three, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on Saga Insurance was first round although only a few miles in front of Unai Basurko on PAKEA. Graham Dalton followed about 50 miles behind. All of them will be relieved finally to be able to turn north and bid farewell to the Southern Ocean.

Sir Robin's celebrations at rounding the Horn for the third time in his career were shortlived however, as he had to focus on picking up a tow for his stopover in the port of Ushuaia, where he plans to make a number of key repairs to Saga Insurance. Sir Robin had officially suspended racing. After a very windy tow to Ushuaia which lasted some 8 hours, Sir Robin safely picked up a mooring buoy and was planning to have some breakfast, a quick wash while his team began the necessary repairs which will ensure that this pit stop is an efficient one, enabling Sir Robin to race more competitively in the remaining 7,000 Atlantic miles of the race.

The Basque skipper, Unai Basurko, onboard Pakea passed Cape Horn for the very first time. He is the only one of the skippers of the 5 Velux Oceans to have never sailed around it. After rounding Cape Horn Basurko elected to sail via Le Maire Strait, a narrow and dangerous 15 mile wide channel between mainland Argentina and the Isla de Los Estados in order to take shelter from the strong Antarctic winds. He is now sailing directly towards the Falklands Islands.

* Sir Robin made it safely into Ushuaia at 1100 GMT after an 11 hour tow and is currently enjoying a good breakfast before getting back to work on Saga Insurance. The aim is to stay in Ushuaia for the mandatory 48 hour pit stop, less the time it takes to tow him back to the point where he officially suspended racing. If more time is needed to fix the boat, he will stay on accordingly.

www.velux5oceans.com

SOLENT RACING FORUM
The Royal Southern Yacht Club is hosting a forum on 'The Future Direction of Keelboat Racing in the Solent' on at 1600 on 10 March 2007. The event will be of great interest to all sports boat and IRC racers who have a concern about the way forward for our sport.

The Forum is being facilitated by a panel of 'movers and shakers' including Stuart Quarrie, Chief Executive of Cowes Week; Jonty Sherwill, well known racer and yacht designer; Tony Lovell, international race officer whose credits include Tour de France a la Voile. The focus for the Forum will be on types of events, race courses and management.

All are welcome at Royal Southern YC on 10 March 2007 at 1600 hrs. The event is scheduled to last for a maximum of two hours and there is no charge for entry.

Come and have your say and help influence the future direction of racing events.

For further information, please contact
Katie Ashworth
Sailing Secretary
Royal Southern Yacht Club
t 023 80 450302
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ISAF WOMEN'S MATCH RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
The website for the 2007 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship in St Quay Portrieux, France has been launched at maiarmor.free.fr/wwmr . The ninth ISAF Women's Match Worlds takes place from 6-11 August at the Sport Nautique de Saint Quay-Portrieux.

Racing for a crew of four in First Class 8 type boats is scheduled from 7-11 August, with a round robin followed by a repechage and then quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final. Invitations Issued

Invitations to the 2007 Worlds have been issued to the defending and four-time champion Dorte Jensen (DEN), along with the ten top ranked skippers from the 1 February 2007 release of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings. Skippers have until 1 March 2007 to accept their invitation. The 12th and final skipper will be a wildcard selected by the host Sport Nautique de Saint Quay-Portrieux, the Federation Francaise de Voile and ISAF.

Invited Skippers

- Dorte Jensen (DEN) / Defending Champion
- Claire Leroy FRA
- Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen (DEN)
- Klaartje Zuiderbaan (NED)
- Silke Hahlbrock (GER)
- Marie Bjorling (SWE)
- Katie Spithill AUS
- Linda Rahm SWE
- Josie Gibson (GBR)
- Jenny Axhede (SWE)
- Christelle Philippe (FRA)
- One wildcard selected by the host Sport Nautique de Saint Quay-Portrieux, the Federation Francaise de Voile and ISAF

Event site: maiarmor.free.fr/wwmr/

THE LAST WORD
Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. -- Doug Larson

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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