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CALAIS ROUND BRITAIN RACE: HOMEWARD BOUND
All the fleet are now into the descent of the North Sea as Dee Caffari (Aviva) makes her rounding of Shetland this evening. The leaders, PRB, VM Materiaux and, for the first time this race, Delta Dore, are now level with Aberdeen, Scotland. The bulk of the original eleven Imoca monohulls are now snaking downwind through the oil fields East of the Scottish mainland in an average of 10/15 knots of breeze, playing the wind rotations under gennaker or spinnaker; manoeuvres and sail changes the order of the day. Forecasts indicate a reduction in speed for the leaders as they hit their first zone of light winds and suffer a likely compression of the fleet.

On Sunday night the IMOCA fleet is strung out for 315 miles from Edinburgh to Shetland, PRB leading the descent of the North Sea by 30 miles. However, within the last hour or so, Vincent Riou has seen his boatspeed drastically reduced after hitting a seemingly unavoidable zone of light winds strewn like a stinger spike strip across the fleet's path. The orange prototype has suddenly been slowed to just 4.8 knots of VMG towards Calais, that is less than half the speed of the chasing pack. How long this pace will last and how much the chasing pack will be affected remains to be seen, but the backrunners will certainly be encouraged by the 2000 hour rankings. ETAs tonight have now stretched to Wednesday and with more windless zones forecast further down the track en route to Calais, we may see a complete reversal in the rankings prior to the finish. -- Event site

The passage of Shetland by TEMENOS yesterday evening was a little tricky. "The counter current on the approach to Shetland cost us some ground. The wind had shifted into a favourable position as forecast but we were still obliged to make a short 300m tack to round the last rock, which wasn't a very comfortable layline. Apart from that, the rugged islands in the sunlight were a real sight to behold and the crew were happy to finally be able to hoist the spinnaker" said Dominique when contacted in the middle of the afternoon.

However, the skies have been rather a disappointment. The 20 knots forecast in the grib files, were set to accompany the leaders for several hours after their passage around Shetland, but that's not quite the real picture. "We're in a system of light winds until the finish, and the ETA is extending ever more. It's not very clear how to put a strategy in place with the grib files constantly changing."

The boats will have to wend their way along in light, unsteady and shifty winds, or even no wind at all for the really unlucky ones. The weather forecasts are certainly pushing back the ETAs (estimated time of arrival). "I don't even dare to look at the ETAs!" (laughs…) "a finish on 13th seems increasingly utopian, but whilst we're on the subject, we're tending more towards 14th, or why not 15th!" joked Dominique. When you like what you're doing you don't count… except for skippers who instead of the number of days racing prefer to count the number of knots gained on the speedometer." "In fact it's very hard to have a reliable forecast, it doesn't take much and then you can be stuck for hours in a windless zone." -- Kate Jennings, from Dominique Wavre and TEMENOS

Position report at 06/11/2007 03h50

1. PRB, Vincent Riou, 354.80 nm to finish
2. VM Materiaux, Jean Le Cam, 29.70 nm to leader
3. Delta Dore, Jeremie Beyou, 35.80
4. Temenos, Dominique Wavre, 43.70
5. Artemis Ocean Racing, Jonny Malbon, 77.90
6. Roxy, Samantha Davies, 102.50
7. Maisonneuve, Alexandre Toulorge, 108.10
8. Generali, Yann Elies, 138.70
9. Akena Verandas, Arnaud Boissieres, 148.80
10. Cheminees Poujoulat, Bernard Stamm, 152.00
11. Aviva, Dee Caffari, 315.90

www.calaisroundbritainrace.com

ALINGHI AND LUNA ROSSA RACED
The format was running starts and then racing until a clear leader emerged (which wouldn't be such a bad idea for the main event, and certainly a hell of a lot less painful than watching one boat trail helplessly behind another for 90 minutes).

Luna Rossa turned up full cocked, and according Valencia Sailing at least, Alinghi came with SUI 100, steered by Ed Baird - which would appear to confirm rumours that Ed has got the nod as helmsman over Peter Holmberg.

According to the various reports, (also see ACM and the BOB blog), Alinghi won the first one, which ended at the first cross. In the second, Luna Rossa got the hook on Alinghi and peeled them off, forcing a downspeed start at the committee boat on port. But it didn't work out so well for Luna Rossa after Alinghi found a big right shift and won the first cross by a couple of hundred metres. And the third was started in what were officially un-race-able conditions, under seven knots. Luna Rossa went around the first mark eight lengths clear and extended on the run, where Alinghi tore their spinnaker at the gate. So Alinghi need to tighten up their crew-work a bit, but when was the last time anyone won the Cup on the basis of their crew work? -- Mark Chisnell in his blog markchisnell.blogspot.com

* After Friday's first encounter, Luna Rossa and Alinghi met for a second consecutive day on Saturday in order to train off Valencia's coast. Although it is very difficult to know, most observers agreed on the fact that Alinghi were sailing with SUI-91 while there was no mistake Luna Rossa were racing with ITA-94. The main difference with yesterday was on Luna Rossa's crew. Unlike Friday they had their second crew on the yacht with Philippe Presti on the helm.

Like yesterday, winds were very shifty and picked up considerably in the second race, reaching 12 knots at the top mark, against 8 knots at the beginning of the first race. That made both teams change their mainsail in the break and it is the reason the Alinghi yacht carried two different sail numbers (SUI-64 in the first and SUI-91 in the second).

I personally observed and photographed two races (if they can be considered so) and from what I understand the two teams also practiced a couple of prestarts before that. Again, racing started at 3pm and was followed by a large number of spectator boats. Alinghi quite easily "won" both races being twice ahead at the first crosses and top marks. Like yesterday, both races were abandoned after rounding the leeward gate and sailing upwind for a couple hundred meters.

No mishaps or accidents took place on Saturday but in general, these races should be taken with a pinch of salt. Aboard the Alinghi boat there were two guests and new gear was tested. It is believed that Friday's torn spinnaker was due to tests in the jumpers. -- Pierre Orphanidis, Valencia Sailing valenciasailing.blogspot.com

QUITE POSSIBLY THE BEST WAY TO SEE THE CUP RACES IN VALENCIA
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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

INTERESTING THEME MUSIC...
All glitz but no glamour: America's Cup ceremonies lacked class

How else do you explain the fact that America's Cup Management played 'F****** in the Bushes' at the presentation ceremony for the Louis Vuitton Cup to the winning challenger?

Pretty decent Oasis track it is too but the Gallagher's work isn't for the prudish.

Nor it is exactly good taste for a live TV broadcast going around the world. And it certainly warranted a 'parental advisory' for the hundreds of young children watching the prize-giving.

Was there a subliminal message? Remember ACM promised to modernise the America's Cup and drag it into the 21st Century. The Valencia America's Cup Port is a marvel, but so are many ACM aspects of the New America's Cup.

They also have a three-year legal wrangle with Louis Vuitton, a 25-year supporter of the America's Cup, but whose sponsorship payments are held in escrow whilst the lawyers chew over an overpaid/over-sold/under-delivered dispute...

As for the presentation ceremony to Emirates Team New Zealand, well, it was worthy of an excruciatingly bad Eurovision Song contest.

Teams and crowds were kept waiting 90 minutes. The moment of victory had vaporized. Interest dulled. A misplaced desire for razzmatazz saw two skydivers (who were impressive) deliver the Cup. Trouble is, the rather nice Louis Vuitton case in which it fell to earth was placed in a black box on the stage where, guess what? Another red case with the actual Cup in it was lying in wait and it was this was lifted out and placed on the plinth.

Magic it was not, certainly not when the host broadcast cameras recorded the reality rather than the illusion.

Most miserable of all was discarding the tradition of having the defeated finalist - Luna Rossa - there to welcome the winner. They were summarily dismissed for their efforts.

Everyone deserved better. -- Tim Jeffery, blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/timjeffery/june07/misplacedrazzmatazz.htm

DEAUVILLE INTERNATIONAL WEEK
Bright summer sun, a Scandinavian chill and the normal slight chop familiar to the Baie de Seine encouraged the Race Commitee to increase the number of starts given from early this morning on this final day of racing at Deauville International Week. The 500 racers have really been put to the test since the start of the week with fog and low-lying cloud colouring the racing. The teams simply relished the four or five races, for the Mumm boats, contended today. In a slightly steadier wind, the leaders in the 7 series managed to consolidate their positions. In this way Deauville crowns a number of recognised champions, of which the most renowned have to be the English sailor Louis Browne, Mumm 30,, the Irish sailor Brandon Foley, IRC 1, and the Brest sailor Patrick Bot, J80. -- Kate Jennings

Tiamat the Mills Design IRC 40 owned by Tim Costello swept the 2007 French IRC Championships with straight firsts in the eight race series, discarding a first to take the event with straight bullets - a replay of her 2006 sweep of the UK IRC National Championships. Competing over four days of varied conditions at Deauville International Week, where the three IRC Classes were competing for their National Titles, she relied on her speed across a wide range of conditions to stay ahead of the fleet. Tiamat now returns to Ireland to attend the hotly contested Irish IRC Championships in Cork which promises to be one of the most competitive events of the year. -- Mark Mills

Top three by class:
IRC 1
1. Tiamat, Mills 40, Tim Costello, 7 points
2. Grand Cru II, First 40.7 Gte, Robin Dollar, 17
3. Avalanche, Mumm 36, Guillaume Lemoine, 22

IRC 2
1. Checkmate, Ker 32, Mike Mc Carthy, 14
2. Onyx Developpement, A 35, Mathieu Labat, 14
3. Morrina Iv, Bavaria 35 Match Q, Luc Berthiller, 24

IRC 3
1. Sealogis Pen Ru, Sun Fast 36 Q Plomb, Gilbert Blossier, 15
2. Parsifal, Sphinx 33, Didier Dardot, 17
3. Marine Diffusion Dunkerque, First 34.7 Gte, Philippe Bourgeois, 19

747 OD
1. Techneau, 747, Gilles Dutoit, 30
2. Astelle, 747, Robert Andre Noel, 31
3. Pecheurs D'islande, 747, Alain Lepreux , 35

J 80
1. Ecole Navale, J 80, Patrick Bot , 17
2. Vog, J 80, Philippe Szellos, 18
3. Dcns-Marine Cherbourg, J 80, Fabrice Simon, 37

Mumm 30
1. Joules Asterix, Mumm 30, Louis Browne, 33
2. Saint-Malo Purflo, Mumm 30, Team Snbsm, 37
3. Courrier Dunkerque, Mumm 30, Daniel Souben, 47

J 109
1. Shiva, J 109, Matthew Boyle, 38
2. Firestorm, J 109, Jon Perry, 39
3. Bip Bip, J 109, Christophe Thebaud, 39

www.deauville-week.com

MARION-BERMUDA USES REGATTA MANAGER FOR ONLINE EVENT MANAGEMENT
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ROLEX FARR 40 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Porto Cervo, Italy: The Rolex Farr 40 European Championship Rolex, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and taking place within the Rolex Settimana delle Bocche, concluded today with an all-Italian battle between Massimo Mezzaroma's Nerone (ITA) and Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalzone Latino (ITA). In the end everything hung on the final race of the event after four days of incredibly competitive racing in which judging the frequent wind shifts and getting the tactical decisions right were crucial. Each day brought different surprises as hot favourites came in at the back of the fleet and unknown teams excelled, only for everything to be turned on its head in the next race: each of the eleven races run was in fact won by a different boat.

Going into today's final day of racing Mascalzone Latino, 2006 World and European Champion led Nerone, also a former Farr 40 World champion by just seven points in the overall classification. After the first race of today's two possible races and heading into the final Nerone had sneaked into the lead overall by just one point leaving both Italian teams with all to play for. Nerone went on to take victory in the final race of the series and clinch the overall title.

The final race of the event saw Stratis Andreadis' Atalanti XI (GRE), with Olympic medallist Sofia Bekatorou calling tactics, lead the fleet around the course followed, at the first windward mark by Giovanni Maspero's Joe Fly(ITA) and Stefano and Massimo Leoprati's Kismet (ITA) with Nerone rounding in fifth place. On the leeward leg Nerone moved up to third place while the two leaders remained unchanged. Heading up the second windward leg Nerone continued to advance and rounded the mark ahead of Joe Fly and Lang Walker's Kokomo (AUS) while Atalanti XI fell way back in the pack after a difficult rounding. -- Jill Campbell, Vincenzo Frigo

Final top five:
1. Nerone, Massimo Mezzaroma, ITA, 79.00
2. Mascalzone Latino, /Vincenzo Onorato, ITA, 85.00
3. Kokomo, Lang & Sue Walker, AUS, 93.00
4. Siragusawa, Olli-Pekka Lumijarvi & Antii Linnovaara, FIN, 94.00
5. Fiamma, Alessandro Barnaba, ITA, 98.0

www.rolexsettimanadellebocche.com, www.yccs.it and www.regattanews.com

OYS LAUNCH SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR SUPERYACHT REGATTA
To encourage superyachts to join its worldwide Service Programme, OYS are offering a 20% discount on quotations provided for retrofitting any boat from rod rigging to lightweight PBO rigging, during the Superyacht Cup and Millennium Cup 12th - 20th June 2007.

OYS PBO rigging is completely interchangeable with all rigging systems and does not require modification of existing hardware. OYS operate an extensive network of Service Agents and hold boat service logs for members of the Programme.

Any owner or skipper wishing to take advantage of this offer should contact Mark Barwell on +44 (0)7775 508422 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ocean Yacht Systems are proud sponsors of the Superyacht Cup and the Millennium Cup, Palma 2007.

www.oceanyachtsystems.co.uk

NEW YORK YACHT CLUB'S 153RD ANNUAL REGATTA
Newport, Rhode Island, USA: The New York Yacht Club's 153rd Annual Regatta presented by Rolex saw 94 yachts compete on Saturday and Sunday. Also, the Around the Island Race – the Friday preamble to the Annual Regatta -- saw 65 of those yachts race. For Friday's Around the Island Race, the yachts started in bright sunshine, but soon enough sailed into a full-on fog. The weather tone for that day and the next was thus set. But then there was Sunday! Ah Sunday -- a rare day in June.

In the 153rd edition, IRC Class 1 was won by NYYC Rear Commodore Bob Towse's and Farley Towse's Blue Yankee, after being tied with George David's 90-foot Rambler, the previous day. The latter yacht, skippered by Ken Read, is bound for the upcoming transatlantic Nordbank blue race. Yeoman XXXII, skippered by David Aisher, commodore of the RORC, won IRC 2. Blair Brown's Sforzando – winner of the Herreshoff Medal in 2002 -- was undefeated in IRC Class 3. Ragtime, steered by Jeff Johnstone, was likewise undefeated in IRC Class 4. These blue-fleet yachts, which sailed outside on Rhode Island Sound, managed three races.

Tsunami finished first among the eight NY42s with an unblemished record. She is owned by three friends from Maryland: Preben Ostberg, Bud Daily and John Aras. This is the ninth one-design class created by the New York Yacht Club since 1900. Martin Jacobson's Crescendo won IRC White Class 2. Kalevala II, Tapio Saavalainen, led IRC White Class 3 and Savasana, Brian Keane, won the J/105 class, which featured a fleet-high 16 yachts. These white-fleet yachts sailed four races, also in Rhode Island Sound.

In 12-Metre racing, USA, Ralph Isham, won the Grand Prix division; Courageous, James Gubelmann, was first for Modern yachts and Nefertiti, Jon Wullschleger, led the Classic 12 Metres. Angelita, Jed Pearsall, was first among the Classic yachts; Swing, Marie Klok Crump, was first in IRC non-spinnaker and Élan, John Hammel, won PHRF Class 4. These green-fleet yachts sailed four races on Narragansett Bay.

In Friday's Around the Island Race, which rounded Conanicut Island (Jamestown), Blue Yankee won IRC 1; Conspiracy, a NY42 steered by Richard Werdiger of the Cahoots syndicate, won IRC 2; Thin Ice, Stuart Hebb, IRC 3; Rush, Bill Sweetser, IRC 4; Courageous, 12 Metre; Bat IV, Andrew Kennedy, J/105; Amorita, Jed Pearsall, Classic; Jazz Fish, Paul Koch, IRC Non-spinnaker and Divided Sky Vincent McAteer, PHRF.

The Rolex Cup was won by Divided Sky and Mischief, David Schwartz, of Team NBYA. The Cup was presented by Rolex to the New York Yacht Club in 2004 in honor of its 150th Annual Regatta. It is a perpetual trophy awarded to the best two-boat team in the Annual Regatta's Around the Island Race. Nine teams entered this time.

Also at the prize-giving for the Around the Island Race, a new trophy --the Commodores' Challenge Cup -- was presented by RORC Commodore David Aisher, skipper of Yeoman XXXII. It is open to past and present commodores of British or American yacht clubs. In the interest of Corinthian sailing, the commodore must steer the boat, and more than 50 percent of the crew must be amateurs. The cup will have two venues: Cowes Week in England and the NYYC's Annual Regatta. The holder can mount a defense at either venue. It will be sailed under an internationally recognized rating rule (IRC at present). Another requirement is that all challengers must dine out with the holder of the Cup to have their challenges accepted. -- Michael Levitt

www.nyyc.org

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 Matthew Reid: Re: Missing In Action Dennis Conner

Aloha buttheads... I just got off the plane back from Antibes, France, where I had the honor and privilege of racing on Cotton Blossom II, the Q 5 yacht that Dennis has so carefully restored. Happily, CB II won the Concorde d' Elegance award for most beautiful yacht at the regatta ( http://www.voilesdantibes.com ).

What an experience! 60 plus classics out there racing around has me still trying to get my head wrapped around it all. Too much eye-candy to describe, the event was sponsored by Panerai Watches of Italy. On day three the CEO of Panerai, Angelo Bonati joined us for the race. As well, earlier that day, we were to meet in Director of Sports for France and the second in command of the whole French government.

In regards to our third place finish for the regatta, I feel that is another whole cup of tea.

As Dennis won most of the races last year, his rating went down by approximately a total of 45 seconds in three different ratings chops! This is not based on the mathematical formulas used to measure the yacht, which clearly had the higher rating, but instead, Dennis was ostensibly being handicapped for, in my opinion, being the best driver in the world (he is unbelievable)! When it was all said and done, I must say that it was a marvelous experience and all buttheads should watch the next regatta online, in Argentario Italy on the 13 - 17 June.

Lastly, being around DC and having the AC going on concurrently had me thinking about the difference between Dennis' Stars and Stripes program vs. Oracle/BMW. Stars and Stripes...U.S.A. as opposed to a corporate I. D. Things have really changed...

THE LAST WORD
Humor is perhaps a sense of intellectual perspective: an awareness that some things are really important, others not; and that the two kinds are most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs. -- Christopher Morley

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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