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TURNING POINT: THE KIWIS GO 3-0 OVER THE ITALIANS
The key moment of the match took place in the last minute before the start. This was a great job from James Spithill, who used the starboard entry to control Dean Barker in a long dial up on port tack in 10 knots of sea breeze. Spithill matched every change in Emirates Team New Zealand pushing the situation to its limit until the last minute before the gun. Then, Luna Rossa built speed to come back below the starting line at the moment as Dean Barker engineered his escape by tacking onto starboard.

Finally, Luna Rossa sailed clear ahead on port tack back downwind to the line, and Barker had to wait for a critical decision to be taken by James Spithill between two options 40 seconds before the start:

Option 1 was to forget the weather call which was likely to protect the right side, by gybing first for a full speed start in the middle of the starting line, with a positive speed difference over his opponent who would be slower coming out of a tack;

Option 2 was to go deeper under the starting line before coming back to the line on time by tacking. The risk would be having an opponent with a tight leeward start at equal speed.

James Spithill and his team chose the first option and started four seconds ahead of NZL 92, with better boat speed. But to hammer the advantage home, the afterguard should have taken advantage of this 30 metre lead by tacking immediately to get over to the right, following the presumed weather call. If the Italians couldn't cross ahead of the Kiwis, they could have thrown in a leebow tack, forcing ETNZ into a downspeed tack, and increasing their advantage.

But Luna Rossa never tacked and as time ticked away, the Kiwis soon gained on the right and Luna Rossa would not have another opportunity to come back. The Emirates team flew too fast today. -- Thierry Peponnet

* I thought I just detected a glimmer of a smile on one of the faces of the crew of Emirates Team New Zealand as the Kiwis' boat crossed the finishing line to go 3-0 up in the Louis Vuitton Cup final. It may have just been one of self-satisfaction, and in that case it was thoroughly acceptable.

The crew had been flawless in every manoeuvre it made, through 21 tacks and 14 gybes, despite the pressure that Luna Rossa had applied at the start. This was a team on song and singing from the same hymn sheet on a Sunday. It was a performance of which the team could be proud.

Not that the job is complete, for by no means is this true - the history of the cup is littered with comeback performances and the Italians did that in 2000 when threatened by Paul Cayard in this same event, and what the same man did to the Kiwis in 1992, coming back from 4-1 down to beat the New Zealand Challenge by 5-3 after the Kiwis had been penalised a win for incorrectly using the bowsprit when gybing, is unforgettable.

Throughout the Luna Rossa camp the word is; 'It's not over, yet.' But, faced with the reality of ever increasing margins of defeat - eight seconds, 40 seconds and now 1:38 - the task becomes increasingly difficult. The overriding question is what has happened to the team that so conclusively despatched BMW Oracle in the semi-final? -- Bob Fisher in Sail-World.com, his full editorial at www.sail-world.com/UK/index.cfm?nid=34268

* No racing on Monday, the Louis Vuitton Cup finals resume with the fourth race on Tuesday.

www.americascup.com

BE IN THE FRONT ROW OF THE SPECTATOR FLEET IN VALENCIA!
Our Shosholoza team spectator boat still operates - every race day until the end of the America's Cup Match. Morning briefing on our rooftop terrace overlooking Alinghi and Luna Rossa. Official "event flag" puts us in the reserved area closest to the start box and laylines. Live AC TV on board. Full buffet lunch with drinks. Expert commentators. All the fun you would expect from "The Soul of Sailing". Many hotels available, we can help. GROUPS WELCOME.

Reserve tickets online at www.cupexperience.com or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

AWAY FROM CALAIS
Enveloped in an atmospheric pea-souper fog, with less than 300 metres of visibility and very low cloud, the 11 Imoca monohulls set off from Calais at 1430 hours (local time) on a clockwise rotation of the British Isles. With 10 knots of N'ly breeze, the fleet split into two sail configurations, half under full main, gennaker the others under asymmetric spinnaker. Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) was first to steal across the start line under gennaker, closely followed by Vincent Riou (PRB) under spinnaker.

The outlook for this third edition of the Calais Round Britain Race is set to be very tricky for the navigators in particular, the latter needing to spend a considerable time at their chart table pouring over the numerous transition phases. Initially obliged to hug the Northern coast of France, the fleet rounded the Boulogne mark at around 1730 hours. PRB was setting the pace, closely followed by Temenos and Delta Dore. A difficult night lies ahead of the fleet as they tackle a zone of high pressure without much wind to the SE of the Isle of Wight at around midnight. Crews will then have to choose whether to take a central and more direct route, or try to slide downwind in an E'ly air stream. A third option will be to dive under the direct route to round the zone of light wind, thus extending the trajectory but benefiting from some headwinds. By morning the fleet is likely to be fairly dispersed and not very well rested, particularly after the stress of such close contact sailing at the start in the fog. Last seen breaking away from the Boulogne mark on route for the Scillies, the fleet were blistering along at 16/17 knots as we go to press tonight.

At the head of this colourful fleet tonight, the new PRB is surely one of the most honed and well-trained teams on the Imoca circuit, as their double win in the two prologues bears witness.

Dropping from fifth to eighth position on the approach to Boulogne, the forecast according to Australian Paul Larsen on the five year old Artemis (formerly Pindar), suggests that " the exit from the Channel won't be a powered up drag race. It's going to be a parking lot with all the tidal gates ". Clearly the current 16/17 knots boat speed of the leaders is unlikely to last tonight and Dee Caffari on Aviva alluded to a possible need for kedging over the course of the night.

Further down that racetrack the big question is air or no air. Once past the front, which is gradually dispersing as it moves eastwards, the sailors will benefit from a N'ly air flow to the South of the Isle of Wight after sunrise on Monday. These winds should hold for part of the day, the pace of the fleet accelerating to Bishop Rock lighthouse, off the Scilly Isles. The N'ly wind is then forecast to build to fifteen knots. The crossing of the Irish Sea will be quicker since the breeze will climb to twenty knots as it clocks round to the N or N-E. On reaching Ireland, the fleet will hit a very light patch, possibly enabling the back-runners to make big gains on the leaders.

The routing software simulating the progress of the eleven monohulls show the leaders reaching the SW of Ireland on Tuesday 5th June at around 2000 hours (French time), the Shetland Islands between sunrise on Saturday 9th June and Sunday 10th June at noon… As for the finish in Calais, predictions favour midday on Monday 11th June to Tuesday evening! -- Laurence Dacoury / Kate Jennings

calaisroundbritainrace.com

* Start photos from Mark Lloyd, www.lloyd-images.com , Guilain Grenier, www.martin-raget.com and onEdition, www.ocedition.com at scuttlebutteurope.com/photos/ in the "Other Events" section.

STAMM AND HUMPHREYS SIGN UP FOR THE BARCELONA RACE
Swiss sailor Bernard Stamm, skipper of Cheminees Poujoulat, has announced his participation in the Barcelona World Race. Stamm who recently became the overall winner of the Velux 5 Oceans Race, has confirmed his co-skipper as British sailor Conrad Humpreys.

This brings the total number of entries to eight so far for the Barcelona World Race that starts on 11th November this year. Co-skippered by 16 of the world's top offshore sailors, the quality of the duos of the Barcelona World Race is boosted further by this entry today. Stamm and Humphreys have completed three circumnavigations each and takes the combined tally for the number of circumnavigations by the competing skippers to an incredible 44 in total.

Stamm's Open 60 Cheminees Poujoulat is the ex-Virbac-Paprec (a Farr design, launched in 2003), previously skippered by a fellow-Barcelona World Race competitor Jean-Pierre Dick.

This boat has an impressive track record including winning the 2003 and 2005 Transat Jacques Vabre, finishing sixth in the 2004/05 Vendee Globe and third in the 2006 Route du Rhum.

Bernard Stamm: "A two crew race is more difficult for the boat because the two sailors will push it more! As I don't know my new boat very well, it will be an accelerated and invaluable training for the 2008 Vendee Globe. On the human side of things, the advantage with having two onboard is that you can rely on each other. It is important to race with someone who shares your objectives because three months can be a very long time. I think a crew who has issues with harmony can't win. On a crossing of 15 days, it's possible but not on a round a world race."

Entries so far 1. Vincent Riou (FRA) & Sebastien Josse (FRA) / PRB
2. Alex Thomson (GBR) & Andrew Cape (AUS) / Hugo Boss
3. Dominique Wavre (SUI) & Michele Paret (FRA) / Temenos
4. Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA) & Damian Foxall (IRE) / Paprec-Virbac
5. Jeremie Beyou (FRA) & Sidney Gavignet (FRA) / Delta Dore
6. Guillermo Altadill (ESP) & Brian Thompson (GBR) / Boat name tbc
7. Roland Jourdain (FRA) & Jean-Luc Nelias (FRA) / Veolia
8. Bernard Stamm (SUI) & Conrad Humpreys (GBR) / Cheminees Poujoulat

www.barcelonaworldrace.com

COOL NEW E-NEWSLETTER FOR CRUISERS
The cruising community has a new weekly way to keep up with the world of cruising and it's free! Blue Water Sailing magazine has launched Cruising Compass. It comes out every Thursday and is full of good and useful information for cruisers around North America, Europe and the world. Each edition has sailing news you can use, highlights of fun sailing and cruising events, tips for boat owners and a weekly mindbender quiz. If you're into the cruising lifestyle, you can check it out and sign up at www.cruisingcompass.com

GROUPAMA 3 HEADED FOR NEW YORK
At 8:31:20 local time, Franck Cammas and his crew aboard the maxi-trimaran Groupama 3 crossed the start line in an attempt to break the Miami to New York record. That record, 2 days 5 hours 54 minutes and 42 seconds, was set in May 2001 by Steve Fossett on his Playstation catamaran. Cammas and team will have to pass the Ambrose lighthouse, at the entrance to New York harbour, by Tuesday at 14:25:02 local time.

The course is divided into two parts: a first phase with the Gulf Stream from Miami to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, approximately 600 miles, the second a coastal phase of 350 miles past the states of Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey. "It is an exercise very different that a trans-oceanic crossing like the Route of Discovery. Miami to New York is measured in hours, not days. We should leave with about 15 knots from the west, a flow which increase as we head north. By the time we reach Cape Hatteras, the wind conditions will be the strongest and there could be heavy seas."

www.cammas-groupama.com

TEAM AQUA CONQUERS THE OEIRAS CUP
Oeiras, Portugal: The six RC 44's teams involved in the Oeiras Cup started the day with a challenging coastal race across the Tagus River. Team Omega and Cro-A-Sail, the principal contenders to Team Aqua's domination, made an unexpected gift to their opponent by crossing the line a couple of seconds before the start gun. However, this proved later on not to be a real issue.

Indeed, the course was taking the competitors in a tricky area alongside the Tower of Belem (where Vasco de Gama set sails on its way to India in 1498) and the famous Lisbon bridge; an area with windless patches followed by unpredictable 20 knots gusts.

A few minutes before the end of the race, Beecom managed to overtake Team Aqua. Team Light Bay finished third, followed by Team Omega, Team V1 Racing and Cro-A-Sail.

The Race Committee then organised two more fleet races, allowing the competitors to conclude the event after a total of nine races.

Team Omega took its revenge by winning both.

Today's races were a great conclusion to the Oeiras Cup. All together, the six teams involved sailed a whole round robin, eight fleet races and one coastal race. A great achievement. Winner of the Portoroz Cup and second of the Croatia Boat Show Cup earlier this season, Team Aqua increases its lead in the RC 44 Championship Tour, ahead of Cro-A-Sail, Team Omega and Beecom.

The next regatta on the calendar is the Lugano Yacht Club Cup, in Switzerland, between June 20-23.

Oreias Cup final ranking
1. Team Aqua, Cameron Appleton, 2 points
2. Team Omega, Russell Coutts, 4
3. Team Beecom, Isao Mita, 7
4. Team Cro-A-Sail, Miroslav Reljanovic, 8
5. Team Light Bay (Magia), Armando Giulietti, 9
6. Team V1 Racing, 12 points

www.rc44.com

CNMI INVESTMENT IN GRAND HARBOUR MARINA
With the explosion in global yacht production, demand for marina berths has increased, particularly in and around the Mediterranean. Consequently, Camper & Nicholsons Marina Investments Ltd have recently made a conditional offer to purchase a major shareholding in Grand Harbour Marina in Vittoriosa, Malta.

Strategically located between the East and West Mediterranean and with a comprehensive support infrastructure, GHM is ideal for both long term berth holders or visiting yachts just passing through. Grand Harbour is one of the few marinas to be ISPS compliant in Europe, offering greater levels of security assessement.

www.cnmarinas.com

GEOFF HOLT ARRIVES IN FALMOUTH
Quadriplegic sailor, Geoff Holt, arrived in Falmouth this afternoon, on the first Cornish stopover of his sail round the coast of Great Britain.

Geoff left Southampton two weeks ago, stopping at Lymington, Portland, Bridport and Brixham, where he and his team were weather bound for over a week. Geoff got going again last Friday, sailing from Brixham to Salcolmbe and then on to Plymouth on Saturday.

The sail to Plymouth was not without its problems. Geoff recounts:

"As stunning as the scenery is overseeing the entrance to Salcombe, a spring tide at full ebb (going westwards) coupled with the southerly wind created a very localised sea state consisting of very high, very steep swells rolling into the entrance. They were certainly high enough to cause concern and it was an hour before we could make our course.

A matter of hours later the collar at the base of my mast sheered its rivets and the whole mast dropped into its box, a potentially dangerous situation if it worked its way through the hull. The RIB crew went into emergency procedures and within 5 minutes the rubber tender was launched and Ian had dropped the mainsail, not an easy feat in rolling seas and a good force 3 blowing. To prevent matters from getting worse, Ian remained in the support tender slung between my main hull and starboard sponson whilst holding the boom to prevent further damage - then followed a slow tow the final hour into Plymouth.

Once ashore, we took the mast out to see the problem, a plastic collar supporting the entire weight of the mast with only 2 rivets and a stainless steel wedge glued in place to prevent it slipping, had sheered and slid up the mast about 6 inches - a poor design that could have ripped the side of my hull out had we not acted quicker."

Repairs done and weather conditions good for sailing today, Geoff sailed the 45 miles to Mylor Boat Yard at Falmouth, the first of several stops in Cornwall for Geoff. From Falmouth he will sail on to Newlyn, St Ives and Bude.

www.personaleverest.com

BOATU.S. SANTA MARIA CUP. Sally Barkow (USA) swept to past Women's Match Racing world #1 Claire Leroy (FRA) 3-0 to take the title at the ISAF Grade 1 Boat U.S. Santa Maria Cup in Annapolis, USA. Christelle Philippe (FRA) won the petit-final against Liz Baylis (USA) to take third place.

Barkow, one of the leading challengers in the Olympic Class Yngling, lined up in Annapolis with her regular crew of Debbie Capozzi and Carrie Howe, and Anna Tunnicliffe (USA), world #1 in the Laser Radial. After dominating the round robin series with a 17-1 record, they lost the first of their semi-final matches on Chesapeake Bay to Philippe.

Commenting on the team's website, www.team7sailing.com, Howe said, 'Overnight we regrouped and talked about how we could best use our strengths as a team of four. Anna was a solid force for our team. We've got our fleet racing routines down pretty solid as a team of three but match racing in J/22s calls for four and Anna brought a fresh look to everything and helped us step up to a new level.'

The process of review obviously worked well, with Barkow's team taking the next three matches against Philippe to line up in the final against Leroy, who had beaten Baylis 3-1.

In light and puffy conditions, Barkow, ISAF Women's Match Racing World Champion in 2004 and 2005, overcame Leroy 3-0. The American-French battle in the petit-final went the other way, with Philippe beating Baylis 2-1 to claim third place overall. -- ISAF, sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j6fFnAAqB&format=popup

Event site: www.santamariacup.org

GILLY'S COMING TO MARSTRAND
Peter Gilmour, coach of Alinghi in the America's Cup, yesterday notified organisers that he will compete in Marstrand 2007. Gilmour won the last Match Cup-race as well as the complete world tour 2005 and has also won Match Cup Sweden five times. Now he comes to Sweden to defend his title.

Marstrand will be teeming with America's Cup and top ranked match race sailors. Gavin Brady, tactician on BMW Oracle, recently eliminated in Louis Vuitton Cup, is confirmed. Sweden's Magnus Holmberg, skipper of Victory Challenge, and Bjorn Hansen are also ready for Match Cup Sweden. Ian Williams, Mathieu Richards, Sebastien Col and Eugeniy Neugodnikov, all in the top ten of ISAF's ranking of the worlds best match race sailors, will be sailing in Marstrand, as well as Eric Monnin, ranked 15th in the world.

For the first time in Match Cup Racing, the world's best women will get the chance to challenge the men under the same conditions. The best female sailor in the world, Claire Leroy, and the two internationally top ranked Swedes Malin Millbourn and Jenny Axhede all aim to win Match Cup Sweden.

All races will be held on a course in the middle of Marstrand with identical boats, the DS37 Match Racer, which is a 11.25 meter long keelboat specially developed for match racing.

Match Cup Sweden is the Swedish part of the World Match Racing Tour, and has been arranged since 1994 besides a short "commercial break" in 2006. This year the event comes back with full strength and a new organization.

Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand will be held from 2-8 July.

www.matchcupsweden.com

THE LAST WORD
Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. -- Will Rogers

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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