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44TH TRANSPACIFIC YACHT RACE
If you could pick two people to show you how to sail an ocean race, how about Mike Sanderson and Stan Honey?

Both will be with the Morning Light crew for its third of four monthly training session starting this week and leading to the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu in July.

New Zealand's Sanderson and California's Honey were the skipper and navigator for ABN AMRO ONE's runaway victory in the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race. The feat earned Sanderson the International Sailing Federation's honor of World Sailor of the Year, while Honey's esteem in his specialty reached new heights with bold moves that buried the rest of the fleet.

Honey, long the navigator for Roy E. Disney's record-setting Pyewacket campaigns, has been a regular member of the group grooming the 15 young men and women, ages 18 to 23. Sanderson will spend a week with them during this session, sometimes on board with them on their Transpac 52 and other times observing from a chase boat or lecturing on shore.

* The email began: "Dear Challenged America 2007 Transpac Team Candidates, Supporters and Friends. As of now, it appears like we will not be at the starting line on July 9, 2007 for this year's Transpac Yacht Race to Hawaii. Time has just run out for us to reach our funding needs for this race, along with the need to meet the other Transpac race requirements for the boat and crew..."

The email, sent to crew candidates (sailors with disabilities), supporters and sponsors around the nation continued, with Urban Miyares (co-founder of the San Diego-based Challenged America program for kids, adults and veterans with disabilities) closing the email thanking everyone, with hopes for their continues support of the Challenged America program and its future participation in races, such as Transpac.

"There's always a breeze of hope, even at the last minute that it will happen. But we're now looking past the 2007 Transpac and moving forward, resetting our entire program's goals, and hopefully shoot for the next Transpac in 2009. Maybe it's all for the best. Time will tell, but right now it's disappointing for not only all of us in Challenged America, but all those who support us. Maybe a skipper in the 2007 Transpac is looking for an experienced Transpac sailor with the Aloha spirit. I know one personally who doesn't slow down in the darkness of night-time racing." -- Rich Roberts

www.pacifichighproductions.com and www.transpacificyc.org

MAUD CROSSES THE LINE
Saint-Denis De La Reunion, France: French yachtswoman Maud Fontenoy capped her 151-day attempt to circumnavigate the southern hemisphere against the prevailing winds by crossing a virtual finish line here Wednesday.

Fontenoy, known previously for rowing her way solo across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, will bring her boat, "L'Oreal Paris," into harbor on Thursday having crossed a virtual finish line at 1120 GMT.

Fontenoy was accompanied by a naval squadron, which blasted its horn and let off fireworks to celebrate her achievement.

Thousands of well-wishers are also expected to gather at harborside to meet the Frenchwoman, who began her attempt on October 15, 2006.

Fontenoy, 29, will now spend the rest of her journey coasting toward the harbor at Pointe des Galets on the west coast of the island.

Speaking to AFP before crossing the finish, Fontenoy said she was delighted she had finally brought her five-month journey, which saw her lose a mast last month, to a successful end.

"It's surreal. I still can't quite believe that it's finally the end after so many testing experiences, and losing my mast on February 10," she said.

"Thousands of times during the past five months I've looked at the map and a thousand times I've doubted.

"But I'm there, or just about. I'm staying vigilant though. The wind is strong and my rigging is on its last legs."

She added: "My brave little boat saved me. It will be hard to come back on dry land." --AFP www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/mar/15/yehey/sports/20070315spo5.html

See also www.maudfontenoy.com

LIFE AT THE EXTREME
Life At The Extreme, the official book of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06, chronicles over eight months of relentless competition in the world's most menacing of oceans.

Author and broadcaster Rob Mundle together with the world's best sailing photographers have captured every angle of the world's top offshore sailors doing battle over 31,500 nautical miles. The highs, the lows, the hardships in the quest for the overall prize - the Fighting Finish Trophy.

With over 150 pages of words and pictures, Life At The Extreme is available to buy online at www.volvooceanrace.org/booksanddvds or from leading high street book stores.

NEW NAME AND TITLE SPONSOR FOR GLOBAL OCEAN CHALLENGE
Global Ocean Sailing Ventures (GOSV) today announced that the Portuguese city of Portimao will be the home of the Global Ocean Challenge and the name of the race will now be the Portimao Global Ocean Race. The race will also start and finish in Portimao rounding out the course that includes Cape Town, South Africa, Wellington, New Zealand, Ilhabela, Brazil and Charleston, USA.

Portimao is the city that Volvo Ocean Race team ABN AMRO selected as their training base and it has also been host to the ORMA 60 multihulls as well as other top class sailing events. It's size and location make it a perfect home for this international sporting event.

The Portimao Global Ocean Race will start in September 2008 and circumnavigate the world via the five great capes. It's expected that a fleet of 25 to 30 boats will set sail from the new Portimao Marina returning nine months later after a 30,000 mile circumnavigation of the world. The boats will be sailed either solo or double-handed and compete in two size groups, a 40-foot division and a 50-foot division.

www.portimaoglobaloceanrace.com

TALL SHIPS' RACES IN THE BALTIC RECEIVES ITS 100TH ENTRANT
The Tall Ships' Races in the Baltic this year has received its 100th vessel entrant with the registration of Cuautemoc, the Mexican Navy ship. The vessel will join the 99 other entrants to take part in just one of the two Tall Ships' Races taking place this summer. The other Tall Ships' Races will be held in the Mediterranean, which to date has 32 vessels registered, including 13 of the majestic Class A ships.

Sail Training International, the organisers of The Tall Ships' Races, run two different Tall Ships' Races whenever the Mediterranean is selected as a race area. "Many of the sail training vessels in Europe are based in the Baltic Sea area and wouldn't travel down to the Mediterranean," explains Peter Newell, Race Director for The Tall Ships' Races in the Mediterranean. "The fact that there are more vessels registered in the Baltic is simply a reflection of the number of sail training vessels in that area," he added.

The Tall Ships' Races in the Mediterranean may not attract the numbers, but the ships taking part currently represent 13 nations, including Class A ships from Argentina, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Poland, Romania, Russia and Uruguay which will make for a colourful spectacle. The Italian Sail Training Association has recently acquired the Dutch Tall Ship, Swan fan Makkum, which will sail this year under her new name of Nave Italia and under the Italian flag.

In the Baltic Races, ships from 18 nations are currently registered. In addition to the Mexican, Cuautemoc, entrants include Concordia, the vessel that serves as the campus for the Canadian West Island College International's "Class Afloat", the Malaysian Tunas Samudera and the Russian ship Mir.

With a little over three months to go before both races commence, there is still time for more vessels to enter as the deadline is not until 1 May. In particular yachts based in the Spanish ports of Alicante and Barcelona are invited to register before the deadline is passed. There is also plenty of time and opportunities for young people, with or without experience, to sign up for the adventure of their lifetime and take part. As with all The Tall Ships' Races, 50 percent of all crew on board must be aged between 15 and 25. Details are available on the Sail Training International website: www.sailtraininginternational.org

HEAVY-WEATHER GEAR COMES FREE!
To mark the selection of JEANTEX as official supplier of yachting clothing organizers SAIL & RACE announced today a free draw for a full set of heavy-weather gear complete with Baltic Sprint Cup 2007 branding, to be entered automatically by every yacht which has finalized registration of yacht and crew by 2359 UTC on Monday, 30th April.

The Baltic Sprint Cup 2007 is sponsored by Bank DnB NORD, Copenhagen, a joint venture of Norway's largest financial services group DnB NOR with NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank ( www.DnBNORD.com ).

Full details at www.balticsprintcup.com
The cool way to explore the Baltic.

MOBY LINES MUMM 30 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Porto Cervo, Italy: The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) together with the Mumm 30 International Class Association have announced the dates for the 2007 Moby Lines Mumm 30 World Championship. The regatta, organized by the YCCS in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, will take place from 1st to 7th October including two days of Pre-Worlds racing on the same Sardinian regatta course.

One competitor to watch will surely be Frenchman Erik Maris, current holder of the world title, with his Twins, while Australian National Champion Southern Sun, owned by Bruce Eddington and winner of her class in January's Acura Key West Race week, will also be a strong favourite. With the list of previous world champions including names such as Vincenzo Onorato (ITA), Mike Law (GBR) and Ed Collins (GBR), the combination of outstanding sailors, high performance one design yachts, and the world class race course off the north-eastern coast of Sardinia will make for some exciting competition.

For further information please visit www.yccs.it or www.mumm30.org

DALTON ARRIVES SAFELY INTO FORTALEZA
Graham Dalton, onboard A SOUTHERN MAN - AGD safely arrived and anchored in the main harbour of Fortaleza, Brazil this morning at around 0630 local time and 0930 UTC. Once clearing customs he then motored into the main marina. Dalton will now have to remain in Fortaleza, Brazil for a minimum of 48 hours. During this time he will assess the damage to his rudder cassette and electronics and then will begin the necessary repairs to enable him to continue racing.

Meanwhile aboard SAGA INSURANCE Sir Robin humorously laments the injustice of winning an Oldie at such a youthful age.

"Its amazing how speedily bad news travels. The fact that I had been awarded "Oldie" of the year seemed to spread like lightning. Of all the messages I received from friends only the one from Dilip had the perspicacity to say that it was awarded 20 years prematurely. How could the judges make such an error? Well, it is the London effect. The closer you are to the seat of bureaucracy the more influenced you become by it, and nearly all the judges live around London. It has been decreed that you are old and retire at 65 unless you work for the bureaucracy when it is 5 years earlier. So that's their definition of old. If everyone went to sea, and were judged by nature not a rule book, we would all still consider ourselves young at 65.

"Still bashing up the Brazilian coast yesterday but we recorded our first 24 hour average over 10 knots for 18 days. Recife is now bearing west so we can bear away and pick up some speed. I could see the loom of Recife illuminated in the clouds yesterday evening. I have been trying to keep clear of the coast to avoid fishing vessels and possible calms, but the wind has not made this easy.

Next objective, get SAGA INSURANCE across the equator and into the NE Trade winds. We need to get moving as Unai was 1,400 miles ahead yesterday which I must try and cut down if we are to start level overall on the last leg. Sad news about AGD damaging a rudder, I was hoping he would provide a target for this last leg to Norfolk.

www.velux5oceans.com

SPORTPOLISH+CLEAN - STRONGEST UV PROTECTION AVAILABLE
HOLMENKOL Sport-Technologies launches a hightech coating for all types of boats: sail/power, racing/cruising, dinghies to mega yachts.

SportPolish reduces maintenance effort, provides protection against weathering, dirt, salt, and UV-rays with one simple application. Can be applied on all gelcoats, varnishes and metal. Laboratory and field tests prove the tremendous long-term functionality: The highly friction resistant coating protects over one year!

Get the EASY TO CLEAN surface: Easiest application, clean boat hull for at least a year and environmentally friendly cleaning with less cleaning agents or pure water.

More information www.holmenkol.com/bilder/download/Haendler_Aquatic_weltweit.pdf

LA BARQUERA 2007
La Barquera 2007 will be held during Ascencion week, from 12 to 20 May between Saint-Nazaire, Aviles, Spain, and Pornichet France. For this 18th edition, 50 to 60 boats will compete in a Bay of Biscay crossing. The Barquera this year is the first test of the Atlantic Doublehanded IRC Trophy, nearly a dozen of the 50 registered boats so far are in the doublehanded category. Including Mico Bolo, the founder of this great race.

Depature from Saint-Nazaire is on the 12th, with the return leg back to Spain envisaged as no later than Sunday May 20.

The Atlantic Doublehanded IRC Trophy consists of three races: La Barquera, La Balade Irlandaise (7-15 July) and the Double du Crouesty (1- 2 September).

A limited number of registrations are still available: www.labarquera.org

RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES
Competitors in the first race of the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series, held on Sunday 11th March, were greeted with a warm, sunny day. Early on, a good 10-12 knot southerly breeze kicked in to cover the starting sequences but instead of building, as it had done the day before, the wind became erratic, swinging towards the south-west and dwindling. This gave both fleets a challenging but rewarding day, particularly for tacticians as they watched to avoid calmer patches and carefully judged the effect of the flood tide.

Raymarine's Sarah Heasman presented the weekly bottles of Champagne Mumm to class winners present. The Raymarine Warsash Spring Series continues on Sunday 18th March. -- Flavia Bateson

Provisional results

Black Group:
IRC 1 - Legally Brunette - X-41 - X-Yachts
IRC 2 - Vortex - X-35 - Tim Harrington
IRC 3 - Astarte - First 34.7 - Nick Jones
IRC 4 - Glide-X - X-332 - Ian Dawson
IRC 5 - 2xS - X-99 - Aindriu McCormack
J/109 - Jahmali - Mike Wallis
J/105 - Juliette - Roderick Knowles

White Group:
Hunter 707
Race 1 - This is Jeff - Tim Hunt
Race 2 - Showtime - Lloyds Yacht Club

J/80
Race 1 - Jenga Trois - Paul & Marie-Claude Heys
Race 2 - Jenga Trois - Paul & Marie-Claude Heys

Laser SB3
Race 1 - Blue Job - Marshall King
Race 2 - Blue Job - Marshall King

Sportsboats
Race 1 - Go Ferret - 1720 - Huw Alban-Davies
Race 2 - Go Ferret - 1720 - Huw Alban-Davies

www.warsashsc.org.uk

OPEN 30: TAKING THE GAP
The battle for filling the gap between the Mini 6.5 and the Open 40's is hot. Price is the issue. We are building a Van Gorkom Open 30 ( www.vgyd.com ) here in Cape Town at a competitive price. We have built moulds and can now offer clients a complete boat with carbon spars, Kevlar sails, interior, systems and instrumentation at 115,000 Euros ex-factory.

Options are canting keel, PBO, carbon skin, etc. Basic hull/deck/bulkheads, interior, keel and rudders for 38,000 Euros. The Cape Town to Bahia Race starting January 2009 is ideal for starting this class with a bang.

www.moondance.co.za

GERMANS ANNOUNCE CREW
United Internet Team Germany have chosen their crew line up and reserves for Act 13 The team selection of United Internet Team Germany for Louis Vuitton Act 13 kicking off the start of the 2007 America's Cup season in Valencia has been finalised.

The sailing squad for Germany I includes 28 crew members and was announced by the Head of the Syndicate Michael Scheeren and Skipper Jesper Bank.

The positions in the United Internet Team Germany are as follows:

Position - Starting team - Backup
Foredeck - Jean-Marie Dauris - Tim Daase
Second foredeck - Michael Muller - Wolf Dietz/Nico Jeschonnek
Mastman - Markus Koy - Gerrit Bottemoller
Pitmann - Henrik Blakskjaer - Jan Schoepe
Port Grinder Oliver-Sven Buder - Jochen Wolfram
Starbord Grinder - Henning Sohn - Stefan Grobmann
Genoa Trimmer - Carsten Schon - Guillermo Altadill
Spinnaker Trimmer - Matti Paschen - Guillermo Altadill
Main grinder - Henrik Norberg - Dominik Neidhart
Main Trimmer - Mike Mottl - Michael Hestbaek
Skipper/helm - Jesper Bank - Michael Hestbaek
Tactician - David Dellenbaugh - Henrik Blakskjaer
Strategist - Conan Hunt - Michael Hestbaek
Runner Grinder - Fredrik Green - Christian Buck
Floater - Jan Schoepe - Michael Muller
Navigator - Philippe Mourniac - Fredrik Green
Traveller - Thomas Jacobsen - Alexander Krause

TheDailySail: www.thedailysail.com

1948 OLYMPIC VETERAN WINS HAMBLE WARMING PAN
Over 50 dinghies competed in the 45th annual Hamble Warming Pan hosted by Hamble River Sailing Club over the weekend of 10 and 11 March.

The event was blessed with amazing weather normally only seen at the height of an English Summer. With bright sunshine and moderate winds prevailing all weekend the competitors enjoyed four superb races up and down the Hamble River.

The 23 strong Firefly Class was won by Mark Tait and Sally Wakefield from Wessex Exiles in Mark's superbly restored, 59 year old, Firefly 'Dido', originally built for the 1948 Olympic Games. Mark and Sally just edged out Ian Sanderson from the Royal Lymington who sailed with Claire Wood (Saturday) and Debs Hill (Sunday).

The Merlin Rocket Class, also comprising 23 boats, was keenly fought with Richard Whitworth and Nichola Brook in 'Filthy/Gorgeous' taking the Warming Pan title by a single point from Tom Stewart and Chris Downham. Things might have been different if Tom and Chris hadn't missed the first race on Saturday due to some significant travel errors. -- Barney Smith/HRSC

Excellent video footage (2-4 minute clips with commentary) of Sunday racing -
See: www.malcolmdonald.com

Class: Firefly
1. Dido - Mark Tait and Sally Wakefield, 4
2. Genesis - Ian Sanderson and Claire Wood/Debs Hill, 6
3. Cumulus - Steve Greaves and Sally Wilson, 12

Class: Merlin Rocket
1. Filthy /Gorgeous - Richard Whitworth and Nic Brook, 5
2. Little Blue - Tom Stewart and Chris Downham, 6
3. The Black Pearl - William Warren and Chris, 7

Foxer:
1. Hale Fox - John Duff, 10
2. Fox - Ian Savill, 19
3. Rennfox - Ian Sumner, 20

www.sail-world.com/index_n.cfm?nid=31724

THE SUPERYACHT CUP PALMA ANNOUNCES TITLE SPONSOR
Organisers announced today that Swiss watchmakers Ulysse Nardin have joined The Superyacht Cup Palma as Title Sponsor. The Superyacht Cup Palma Ulysse Nardin is being held in Dique del Oeste from June 16 -19th. Ulysse Nardin was the main sponsor partner for the Superyacht Cup in 2006 and now has committed to a further two years as title sponsor for Palma events in 2007 and 2008.

For more than 150 years, Ulysse Nardin has become respected as a specialist in marine chronometers, supplied to Navy fleets in over 50 countries.

A new entry this week is the magnificent 'modern classic' gaff-rigged schooner Eleonora. Inspired by the legendary Westward, which was designed by Nathaniel Herreshoff and launched in 1910, Eleonora was built in the Van de Graff Shipyard in Holland and launched in 2002. At 162 ft including the bow sprit, Eleonora wil be a spectacular sight under full sail racing in the Bay of Palma.

The Superyacht Cup Ulysse Nardin incorporating The New Zealand Millennium Cup currently already has over 40 entries and is expecting up to 60 yachts over 30m LOA. It will be held at Dique del Oeste in Palma, Mallorca, June 16 -19th 2007.

thesuperyachtcup.com

THE LAST WORD
Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was. -- Margaret Mitchell

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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