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ISAF SAILING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson (GBR) won the Yngling World Championship title in the first of today's Medal Races at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Cascais, Portugal. Rafa Trujillo (ESP) sailed a superbly to win in the Finn Medal Race and take the World title.

Ayton, Webb and Wilson won their first Yngling World title to cap a superb season for the British trio and push them firmly into pole position in their battle for Beijing with Shirley Robertson (GBR). The American team of Sally Barkow, Carrie Howe and Debbie Capozzi came second in the Medal Race to knock Robertson, Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor out of the silver medal position.

Going into the race just one point apart, the battle between the two British teams looked certain to decide the title, but by the finish it was the Americans led by Barkow who provided the biggest challenge to Ayton.

A fascinating Finn Medal Race saw Rafa Trujillo (ESP) join the illustrious list of Finn World Champions. Daniel Birgmark (SWE) originally had control of the race, although he was never in the hunt for medals, whilst overnight leader Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) and Gasper Vincec (SLO) vied for the gold medal spot for much of the first lap.

As Postma and Vincec jostled for position, Trujillo sailed a fantastic second beat to lead at the final mark rounding.

From there the Spanish Olympic silver medallist looked to control from the front on the final downwind.

Reigning European Champions Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes (GBR) continue to be the team to beat after the first day of racing in the 49er gold fleet. They racked up five bullets during the qualifying series and posted 4,8 scores today to lead by eight points going into the final day of gold fleet racing tomorrow.

Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page (AUS) extended their lead after the first two races in the Men's 470 gold fleet. The 2004 and 2005 World Champions placed sixth and second to move 12 points clear at the front. Olympic silver medallists Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield (GBR) and Dutch daredevils Sven Coster and Kalle Coster tie for second place.

In the Women's 470 fleet Marcelien De Koning and Lobke Berkhout (NED) continued their march towards a third consecutive World Championship title with a bullet and a second place in today's two races. Ingrid Petitjean and Nadege Douroux (FRA) are kept the pressure on the leaders with an impressive 3,1 day to move into second overall, nine points behind.

It's a youth versus experience battle for the Women's RS:X World Championship title, with 21 year old Zofia Klepacka (POL), a four-time ISAF Youth World Champion, facing off against 39 year old Barbara Kendall (NZL), a four-time windsurfing World Champion.

Ricardo Santos (BRA) leads going into the men's Medal Race after another late finish for the windsurfers. World #1 Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL) is second overall, eight points off the gold medal, whilst Nick Dempsey (GBR) lies in third place.

Event site: www.cascaisworlds2007.com

* Photos from the Yngling medal race and awards, from Gilles Martin-Raget ( www.martin-raget.com ) in the Eurobutt Gallery: scuttlebutteurope.com/photos/

BIG CHANGES AHEAD FOR THE ORMA CLASS
After 15 years and various adventures, the ORMA class, representing 5 teams at present, is in full change since the Route du Rhum 2006: changes of statutes, evolution of the Board of directors, appointment of new president, Patrick Chapuis and of an executive director, Franck David.

After a lengthy dialogue with all the actors (Ship-owners, Skippers, Organizers...), the Board of directors of the ORMA, represented by the Groupama ship-owners, Banque Populaire, Sopra Group and president Patrick Chapuis, have begun work on the future of the class for 2009-2019 by studying in-depth the possibility of making it evolve to an oceanic One Design oceanic more reliable and more accessible.

Steps under consideration include

1. Commissioning the naval architects VPLP (Vincent Lauriot-Prevost) to design a One Design 70', to become the boat of reference for ten years from 2009 - 2019.

2. A new yearly programme consisting of two transoceanic races (alternating between singlehanded, doublehanded and crewed over the decade), and an annual European circuit compressed into a 5 week period from 10 June through 15 July in the great cities of Europe.

The new website for the class is at www.multicoques-orma.com

From Elaine Bunting's blog:

The ORMA 60s have been in severe decline in the last five years, a state of affairs brought on by escalating costs and technical innovations that led to more complex, faster boats round short inshore courses that, ironically, audiences cared less about, yet produced boats far less durable for the important transocean races. That was proved conclusively by the disastrous 2002 Route du Rhum when the trimaran fleet was decimated in Biscay.

This decline has been speeded up by the defection of top skippers and celebrities such as Jean Le Cam, Loick Peyron and Michel Desjoyeaux (and their sponsors) to the Open 60 monohull class, which has prospered while the ORMA 60s withered. The ORMA class association looked on with much hand-wringing as the Open 60s deposed it as the premier league of solo ocean racing, and wrangled over what on earth to do.

This is their bold new move: a one-design class with controlled costs, a circuit that would involve one or two transoceanic races a year and a proposed annual five-week round-Europe circuit, all contained in a copper-bottomed media package.

Although at this stage the proposals are touted as consultations, the plan reads as if it is already a long way down the road. What's interesting but perhaps predictable for a class that has tried - and largely failed - to become international is that it will have a very French focus. Whereas the ORMA 60s were split between designs by French office Van Peteghem/Lauriot Prevost (VPLP) and British designer Nigel Irens, the ORMA association says the 70ft one-design would be a VPLP design - and they haven't even talked to Irens. When I spoke to Nigel Irens today, it was the first he had heard of any of these plans.

More at www.yachtingworld.com/yw/blog/elaine_bunting.html

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ALINGHI SKIPPER IN BLISTERING ATTACK ON KIWIS
As all 130 of Alinghi's winning America's Cup team tour Switzerland following last week's crushing 5-2 defeat of Emirates Team New Zealand, their skipper, Brad Butterworth, has launched a blistering attack on TNZ managing director Grant Dalton.

Butterworth said his old adversary held TNZ back and would limit their potential.

"I was quite comfortable when Dalts took over the team because he's never done this thing before and it's a little bit out of his reach," the Alinghi tactician said.

Where Alinghi tried to outsmart the opposition, Dalton initiated a boot-camp tough regime, Butterworth, himself a Kiwi, claimed.

It is the way Dalton ran the team, to which Butterworth still has strong emotional links, that he now criticises. "If you look at Team New Zealand this time, it's run in an autocratic fashion and it's all about how you've got to be tougher than the other teams," Butterworth said. "At Alinghi, we were banking on being smarter, not tougher.

"When [TNZ skipper] Dean Barker said this was a very different Team New Zealand this time, I didn't really understand it. But as you saw it unfold, I began to see it. Things like the protest against our halyard lock. TNZ were dumb enough to push it forward. The whole Blake philosophy didn't exist and the autocracy of Dalton came to the fore."

Protesting about an opponent was not the Blake way, said Butterworth, having had his intention of protesting about Briton Lawrie Smith in the 1989-90 Whitbread overruled.

"When we got in the Cup, Blake and his guys were adamant that we should stay out of the protest room and not make enemies when we didn't have to," Butterworth added. "They were right." -- Tim Jeffery in the Telegraph, www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/07/10/sosail110.xml

* Emirates Team New Zealand Managing Director Grant Dalton has refused to get embroiled in a verbal spat with former teammate and fellow Kiwi Brad Butterworth.

"It's a shame really that he has something not so nice to say after such a hugely successful America's Cup," Dalton told Gulf News from Valencia.

"This was the closest America's Cup for a long time and Alinghi beat us fair and square, and I was the first one to acknowledge this."

"Team New Zealand is a superb team and we hold Alinghi in the highest regard. They were the standard that we had to match up to. We tried our best and came very close, but at the end of it, they beat us fair and square," Dalton said.

"Now, I see no benefit in some personality clash." -- Alaric Gomes in the Gulf News, www.gulfnews.com/sport/Sailing/10138654.html

SIX METRES GATHER IN COWES FOR WORLDS
Cowes, UK: J D Sarraquigne and his yacht Bravade IV will be working hard to defend their title in the 2007 Six Metre World Championship when he comes to Cowes to compete against a record number of 50 International Six Metres from around the world.

The fleet is gathering from Monday 16th July to prepare for the event, whose racing starts on Thursday. The crew list reads like a who's who of Metre Rule history. It includes America's Cup designers Doug Peterson and Ian Howlett, and America's Cup helmsmen and crew, among them Lawrie Smith and team members from Valencia.

While the Six Metre Class has never been as competitive as it is today, it is steeped in history. The fleet, which will be the largest Six Metre fleet that has ever been seen in the UK, includes Classic sixes from the early 1900s as well as Modern yachts - technically innovative examples that have been designed and constructed within the last few years.

2007 is a special year for the Six Metres as the Metre Rule celebrates its 100th anniversary. Most of the Sixes here in Cowes will go on to compete in the four day Metre Centenary regatta immediately after the Worlds finish.

A feature of the week is the staging of a 2-race revival of the British American Cup which was first conceived in 1921 when a group of American and British yachtsmen raced in six-metres. Four boats on each team raced alternatively in the Solent and at Seawanhaka, NY, until the 1950s. Four of the UK's classic Sixes, which took part in the original events, will face four of the original American yachts, some now with owners of other nationalities, to race for team victory.

The elegant Classics include Doug Peterson's 1931 built Bobkat II and Sean Cullinan's Cailin which was built before 1914. Boats to watch out for in the honours lists include Olympic legend Thomas Lundquist campaigning his Swedish modern Six Sting, and Battlecry which was runner up two years ago. Scoundrel will be campaigned by Rob Grey, and is believed to be one of the fastest sixes, built by the late Bruce Owen. -- Marina Johnson

www.rys.org.uk/sixmetreworlds

IF YOU GIVE AN INCH THEY'LL TAKE A MILE
Night watch. Storm force conditions. Fleet is bunched. You have to be in control. By first light performance minutiae will have separated winners from losers. Dubarry's GORE-TEX lined Fastnet boots have a sole that owes its grip to F1 tyre technology, tapered elasticated legs to keep seawater out, fluorescent strips to spot crew position at night and Dry Fast - Dry Soft performance leathers. The Dubarry Fastnet - surefooted performance. www.dubarry.com

NEW 49ER CARBON RIG FOR 2012 OLYMPICS
Out in the 49er boat park yesterday, as crews waited for race news, attentions shifted from the unpredictable weather to two new carbon fibre rigs which were on display. Since its launch 14 years ago, technology has moved on and the class is now looking at a major overhaul.

Julian Bethwaite, who designed the 49er class explained;

'The 49er design is 14 years old now. At that time it used state of the art technology and what has happened is that time has marched on, as it always does, and with it, so has technology. The cost of carbon has become more realistic where as before it was astronomical and not a feasibly option. As a material, it's also becoming much more available across all sectors like cars, aeroplanes etc so it is a logical time to move towards using it for our rig too.'

Two prototype masts are on display in Cascais, one designed by Southern Spas in New Zealand and the other by Australian company, CST. These will be tested by elite and amateur sailors over the coming months with a final decision expected by September and first masts available by Easter 2008.

There are significant benefits towards going for a carbon rig. Not only will there be a performance gain with the boat but it is believed to also save the average sailor a significant amount of money over a period of time.

The change in mast design has in turn affected the sail size which will increase in surface area by about 0.5 meters. Bethwaite explained;

'If you kept the same sail but put a carbon rig on it, all the sailors would have to loose about 5kg and that's a big call. It's therefore a fine art of how much bigger you make the rig and whilst both proposals initially went too large, then went too small we have eventually found a number which I think has worked well'.

The introduction of the new mast will be a phased approached, with Olympic crews adopting it for 2012. -- From the ISAF Worlds site: www.cascaisworlds2007.com

GEOFF HOLT IS BACK AT SEA
Quadraplegic sailor, Geoff Holt is back on the water at last, after being weatherbound in Abersoch, North Wales for more than three weeks.

Weather conditions were suitable for Geoff to sail this morning and he made good progress through Bardsley Sound and into Caernarfon Bay, stopping at Morfa Nefyn. Weather permitting, Geoff will sail on to Holyhead tomorrow.

Geoff, 41, who is paralysed from the breast line down as the result of a swimming accident when he was 18, is attempting to be the first disabled person to sail around the coast of Great Britain. Geoff left Southampton on 20th May, but his round Great Britain attempt has been severely hampered by the unusual weather conditons over the past few weeks and Geoff and his team have been forced to wait in Abersoch until the weather and sailing conditions have been suitable for Geoff to recommence his 'Personal Everest'.

Not only a feat of human endeavour, Geoff's journey is a complicated logistical effort as the schedule is completely dependent on tides and weather. In addition, the practicalities of launching and recovering the dinghy on a daily basis, plus the added difficulty of wheelchair accessible accommodation in remote areas have tested the team to the limit.

www.personaleverest.com

TALL SHIPS BALTIC RACE
When the ships reported their positions last night, shortly after the race start, Christian Radich (Norway) had taken an early lead on corrected time in The Tall Ships' Races 2007 Baltic, ahead of fellow Norwegian Sorlandet and the Danish ship Georg Stage. The third Norwegian ship in the race Statsraad Lehmkuhl was lying in fourth place.

At 0500 GMT this morning, Shtandart (Russia) had taken the lead overall, pushing Christian Radich into second place with Statsraad Lehmkuhl moving up to third place and beginning to put pressure on rival Christian Radich.

The highest placed vessel overall from the other classes is the Class B Albanus (Finland) who started well yesterday. Behind her in Class B is Utopia (Denmark) and Aglaia (Germany).

The Class C vessels are being led by St Iv (Sweden) with Warszawska Nike (Poland) in second and Dar Natury (Poland) in third. Nasz Dom (Poland) is leading the Class D vessels in front of Rona II (UK), who is doing well after a slow start, and Feelings (Finland) in third.

On the water, the fast Class D vessels are leading with Hansa (Spain) in front, Steppe (Belgium) in second and Tomidi (Belgium) in third.

Winds have picked up over night helping the majority of the fleet around Waypoint One. Today, west southwest winds of Force 5 are expected with rain forecast for later. The weather is set to continue with favourable westerly winds but becoming a little lighter in the coming days.

To view the positions of the fleet using the Sail Training International Fleet Tracking, see www.tallshipsraces.com/mapping

A list of the current positions of the fleet: www.tallshipsraces.com/results

2ND TRANSPAC STARTERS FACE GRIM WIND PROSPECTS
"Have you imagined yourself a sole survivor of a shipwreck in a small vessel with no power, drifting alone in the Pacific? Do it now."

So read the grim e-mail report from Psyche, Steve Calhoun's Cal 40 from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. that started the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii with 22 other boats Monday.

Although breezes up to 18 knots blew over the Southern California beaches Wednesday, the morning's position reports placed the early starters only 54 (Anna Katarina) to 105 (Peregrine) nautical miles offshore, averaging 1.6 (Lady Liberty) to 3.5 (Mystere) knots in speed in winds described as light to nonexistent.

Jorge Morales Mystere, a Swan 42 from Dana Point, Calif., was farthest along the 2,225-nautical mile track with 2,082 miles to go, while Michael Lawler's North Wind 47, Traveler, had logged only 64 miles after a six-hour re-start because of a crew injury.

One boat grew impatient, dropped its sails and turned on its engine. According to the Flagship satellite tracking system, Jim Partridge's Cal 2-46 from Pasadena, Calif. was motoring southwest directly toward Hawaii at 7.5 knots.

Such was the prospect facing 27 boats in the Divisions 4 and 5, plus nine Santa Cruz 50s and 52s due to start Thursday at 1 p.m. off Point Fermin in San Pedro. Public sendoff ceremonies at Rainbow Harbor in downtown Long Beach start at 10 a.m., and the start may be viewed from the bluff at Point Fermin Park.

Thursday's starters will include not only Transpac's youngest crew ever---five sailors aboard On the Edge of Destiny averaging 19.8 years, as noted earlier---but the race's oldest crew ever, if doublehanded crews count. Michael Abraham, skipper of the J/133 Tango, is 70, and navigator Philip Rowe's 70th birthday is Thursday.

The youngest sailor in this year's race? It could be Justin Diepenbrock, 15, the son of Mike Diepenbrock, skipper of Rancho Deluxe, a Swan 45 from Sacramento and nephew of xx Diepenbrock, the navigator.

THE LAST WORD
If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should not grow old. -- James Garfield

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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