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SMOKIN'!
Today's race saw all four divisions undertake pretty much yesterday's route in reverse. Results-wise, Morning Glory was top gun in Racing, beating Alfa Romeo on handicap by 15 seconds. In the Cruising Division, Ranger (CAY) finished 15-minutes behind Ghost (USA), but came out ahead on handicap. For the Mini Maxis, Massimo Violati's OPS 5 (ITA) corrected out 16 seconds in front of Carlo Puri Negri's Atalanta II (ITA) and in the Wally Division, Lindsay Owen-Jones' Magic Carpet Squared (GBR) stole the show on the water beating Claus Peter Offen's Y3K (GER) by twenty-five seconds, but it was Indio in pole on corrected time.

The 39 nautical mile race started opposite Porto Cervo into a 15 knot WNW. The fleet raced upwind to a turning mark before heading into the main channel at the gap between the southern end of Caprera & Isola delle Bisce. The yachts then beat up the length of the main passage between mainland Sardinia and the Maddalena Archipelago to Lavezzi. Here the yachts turned east and spinnaker reached back along the outside of the islands, past Monaci, to the final turning mark in the Golfo Peverro, just before the finish at Porto Cervo.

After the excitement of the first start, the Wallys set off second in more relaxed style. Come the third start - the so-called Cruising Division - and it was game on, with the professional tacticians throwing their steeds into the starting box as if it were a dinghy race, rather than one involving yachts of 100 plus feet and up to 200-tonnes displacement. At the pin, heavily favoured once again, the two J Class and Ghost fought for position, trading tacks just before the start to gain that small advantage. Once across the line, Arne Glimcher's Luca Brenta designed 122-foot metallic silver wraith edged ahead of the two elder states ladies - older in style terms alone in the case of Ranger, which was only launched in 2003.

Geordie Shaver, a former Cup sailor, who is commanding the bow on Ranger, echoed the hard work in the channel. Even coming downwind was tough. Keeping up post-race with his recitation of the sail changes carried out today was exhausting enough; imagining the physical pressure on the crew during racing is quite another matter. Shaver hardly drew breath during his description of a J Class bow team's workout, "it's a awesome going around all these islands. Today we had an A2 up to start with, then back to a running A2, to a shy A2, to an A5, to a Jib and on these things that's a handful. The breeze was up to about 18 at the top. It was not as bad as yesterday when we had a seaway, where until we got around the weather mark we really couldn't get the kites forward to get them set because the seaway was washing everything off the deck. Ranger weighs about 210 tonnes and you spend a lot of time under water up-front."

The wind for tomorrow is expected to be similar to today: WNW (between 280 & 305 degrees) at around 15 knots, increasing to 16-18 knots in the later afternoon.

The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup runs from September 2nd to September 8th. Racing continues Friday, with the first start scheduled for 1140 CET.

For more information about the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2007 including entry lists and results please visit www.yccsmaxi.com

AN ITALIAN JOB FOR THE EXTREME 40S
The 57th Centomiglia Regatta on Lake Garda, Italy will host the final iShares Endurance Race of the Extreme 40 class for the 2007 season. From 8-9 September the Extreme 40s will join over 300 boats for the 100-mile race that will send the multihull classes on a two-lap course of the lake. Two teams, iShares and Tommy Hilfiger will compete in this epic event, which is the highlight of the Italian sailing calendar.

Some familiar faces on the Extreme 40 circuit will race the iShares entry. Skippered by Australian round the world sailor, Nick Moloney, the boat will also be crewed by Olympic silver medallist Darren Bundock, British Olympian Hugh Styles and America's Cup sailor Richard Sydenham.

American team Tommy Hilfiger will have a shift in crew for the event, with Olympic silver medallist Randy Smyth returning to Extreme 40 racing as helmsman. Smyth led the team to victory in the 2004-2005 Extreme 40 sailing series and will be blowing away the cobwebs at this Italian event which can be seen as a warm-up for the final iShares Cup event held the following weekend in Amsterdam. Regular helmsman Stan Schreyer will relinquish the driver's seat for Symth yet will continue to sail on the boat with his crew of Jonathon Farrar and Mark van Gelderen. Schreyer is looking forward to having Smyth back with the team.

The American team will be joined by Italy' s MotoGP rider Marco Melandri, currently ranked sixth in the overall MotoGP rankings. Melandri will swap his Honda bike for the Extreme 40 on Friday 7 September to experience fast cat sailing.

The Extreme 40s will start the race at 8:20 alongside other multihull classes and 10 minutes ahead of the monohull classes. Prize giving for all the best boats in group and in class will be held on Sunday 9 September at 21:00.

www.centomiglia.it

2007 J/24 "THREE-PEAT" EUROPEAN CHAMPION WITH ULLMAN SAILS
Congratulations to Ian Southworth and his J/24 team on "Hedgehog" upon capturing for the third year in a row, the 2007 J/24 European Championship. Hedgehog scored five first place finishes and two seconds. Ian's crew included: Andrew McLelland (Cockpit), Mike Kyte( Spinnaker), Chris McLaughlin (Tactics) and Mark Hayman (Bow). Their sails: 100% inventory of Ullman Sails designed by Max Skelley of the Ullman Maryland loft. If you and your crew are ready for an inventory of world class performing sails that deliver the speed and reliability to win major championships, contact your nearest Ullman Sails loft and visit www.ullmansails.com

RECORD COUNT: SIX!
Walvis Bay, Namibia: Once again the riders woke up to a morning of blue skies and loads of wind. The morning got off to a sluggish start as most riders felt the after effects of yesterdays gruelling two heats and the celebrations which followed the announcement of the 4 national records which were broken.

The first heat of the day was underway by 13:45 in 20 - 25 knots of wind. Bjorn Dunkerbeck, Patrick Diethelm and Finian Maynard dominated this round with consistent 41 knots runs. Local riders Hennie Bredenkamp, Matthias Roettcher, Darren Barker and Frank Steinwere all up there in the top 20 making the locals proud. Valerie Ghibaudo dominated the ladies race and finished 2 knots faster than Karin Jaggi.

In heat 2 the wind picked up to 30 knots and Bjorn Dunkerbeck just managed to keep ahead of current world tour leader Antoine Albeau. Patrik Diethelm set the fastest speed of the day with a 43.02 knots run. African Record holder Hennie Bredenkamp came in at 5th position with a staggering 41.46 knots run.

Patrik Diethelm and Steve Flanagan both managed to better their records from yesterday, while Philip Adamidis and Dave MacInnes set new national records for their countries.

The forecast shows for slightly less wind tomorrow but with a better angle we are hoping for some good speeds and of course another action packed day of racing on the Walvis Bay jellyfish infested speedstrip!

You can follow the daily action live on www.speedsurfing.org

HOLT TIDE RIDE
Performance hardware manufacturer Holt is again title sponsor of the Holt Tide Ride, to be held on the shores of Hayling Island on 15th and 16th of September. The Tide Ride is the first competition of its kind to involve high performance dinghies classes in an elimination slalom event held over short courses through to a sudden death final.

This year the race will be restricted to six classes; International 14, RS800, B14, RS700, Laser 4000 and 29ers with prizes being awarded in each class. The event will culminate in a head-to-head final, with boats competing in 'crash and burn' type racing.

Breaking away from the traditional open meeting race series, the action kick's off on Saturday morning with qualifying races in a round robin format, over short courses with gates to keep the action compact and maintain maximum boat contact. Each round is a new start, so crews can recover from a poor race to win the title as no points are carried forward. On Sunday elimination groups are decided and the start of the sudden death stage begins.

The event is being held under the burgee of Hayling Island Sailing Club. With the enormous amount of interest in the Tide Ride, competitors should register and pay their subscription straight away for a chance to take part in this exciting event. Register on-line via Holt's web site www.holt.eu/tideride/tide_ride_entry.asp

AMERICA II ALIVE AND WELL TWENTY YEARS ON
It's often described as the sailing graveyard for those old classic racers that have had their day.

If they're lucky they get retired to backpacker tour duties in some windless tropical part of the world where a major refit to conform to commercial survey requirements sees their simple elegance reduced to a rather squat and functional parody of their former selves.

Of course if they're unlucky they hit the scrap heap.

So for someone who still believes that some of the most exciting America's Cup racing was the year the contenders battled the heavy duty 'Fremantle Doctor' that howls off the west coast of Australia every afternoon (1987 if I remember rightly), it was a stirring site to see the silhouette of America II, John Kolius's challenger of that year, crashing upwind offshore from our hotel on Maui's west coast.

A short trip down to nearby Lahaina Harbour revealed that America II (once renamed Geronimo for her starring role in the film 'Wind') is still working hard, taking everyone from salty dogs to sailing first timers on a two hour round trip that had at least a couple of folks on our outing rethinking their understanding of the word 'cruise'!

The West Maui Mountains at nearly 6,000 feet cast a wind shadow up to 12 miles long. So the departure from Lahaina Harbour in a gentle eight knot southerly gave little clue to the real breeze just a short 15 minute motorsail northward.

As the skipper killed the engine the relaxed fist timers' smiles turned to a look of some surprise as the boat heeled suddenly to the true north east wind and the water started coming green over the decks. America II leant into the work and began to gain her real stride.

Like many of her kin, America II is a little more family-friendly these days than she was twenty years ago, but despite the shorter, fatter mast (remember those whippy topmasts that the Brits invented for that series?) the lifelines, the shaved down winged keel (it used to be wider than the boat itself, which made docking a menace) the passenger cockpit and numerous other compulsory additions and amendments, she still provides a lively, wet and smile-raising ride in the strong trade winds that blow here year round. -- Crosbie Lorimer, her full story on Sail-World.com: www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=37261

SEASURE'S FOLDING 'COCKPIT LOCKER' BIKES AVAILABLE AT SOUTHAMPTON BOAT SHOW
Ideal for stowage in a locker or confined space, Seasure's brand new range of folding bikes are available at Southampton Boat Show. There are two sizes of the compact Seasure bike (16" or 20" wheel) and an 'off roader' in the folding mountain bike. All three bikes come in their own wheeled carry bag.

Prices start from 129.99 pounds (including vat)

The bikes are available at Southampton Boat Show from:

Force 4 - Stand number DO09
Mailspeed Marine - Stand number BO76
Marine Superstore - Stand number GO77
Piplers of Poole - Stand number AO77

NEW REFERENCE TIME FOR 'ROUND THE WINDMILL PARK
Amsterdam, The Netherlands: The first record time for sailing around the offshore windmill park Egmond aan Zee (NL) has been officially set at the time of 2 hours, 19 minutes and 19 seconds. On the third of September five Dutch top sailors departed from IJmuiden on an Extreme 40 Catamaran. Within two hours and twenty minutes they were back at their starting point at HISWA te water, one of Holland's biggest annual boat shows.

Skipper and Catamaran specialist Herbert Dercksen was content: "It can be done faster. At the start we couldn't make much speed because of the high waves and strong wind. Nevertheless we achieved 25 knots (almost 50 km/hour). We reached the last windmill relatively quickly. Once we sailed around it we put up the spinnaker and flew direction IJmuiden at full speed. According to our GPS we reached a top speed of 29.7 knots (almost 60 km/hour).

The park is situated 10-18 kilometres from the coast of Egmond aan zee and covers an area of approximately 27 km2. The 36 windmills in this area have been placed by Shell and Nuon and provide 'green' electricity for over 100.000 households.

Dercksen was accompanied by two experienced ABN AMRO 2 sea sailors, Simeon Tienpont (28) and Gerdjan Poortman (31). These two professional top sailors sailed in the Volvo Ocean Race two years ago. Olympic sailor in the 470 class Sven Coster was also part of the crew. Coster (29) achieved a second place at the World Championships in Quingdao this year.

www.pbase.com/remmelt/x40_ijmuiden

UNITED INTERNET TEAM GERMANY JOINS THE 33RD AMERICA'S CUP
Black-Red-Gold will again sail in the 33nd America's Cup. Head of Syndicate Michael Scheeren has announced the a new participation of United Internet Team Germany in the battle for the world's most wanted sports trophy. With this announcement the German National colours will be represented in the 156-years old history of the America's Cup for the second time.

The United Internet Team Germany relies on their past experiences and on Karol Jablonski. With the already announced commitment of the new skipper of the United Internet Team Germany, new signs are set. The Pole with the German passport has had unexpected success with the Spanish team Desafio Espanol which he led right into the semi final. 44-years old Jablonski is proud "to sail for the United Internet Team Germany - Germany is the country where I had most of my sailing successes".

Nothing is left to chance in the next campaign. Due to the early entry there is now more time for preparing the big challenge professional. "We will seize the time to show up at the starting line with the best-possible team and an excellent boat", Scheeren promises.

www.americascup.com and www.united-internet-team-germany.com

12 FOOT SKIFFS AT TORQUAY
The final round of the 2007 Bartercard Cup for 12ft Skiffs took place at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club in Torquay over the August Bank Holiday week in almost ideal sunbathing conditions. Crews were greeted with wall-to-wall sunshine and light winds, and the spectators turned up hoping to see these awesome speed machines hurtling around the bay like last year.

The last 12 months have really given the crews time to master the boat handling skills needed to keep these boats upright and up to speed, so this was a great chance to really compare the differences in the Nash, Woof and Slug hull shapes. Alan Atterbury said, "The Slug clearly is faster in certain conditions, but the Woof seems to be more consistent as the more moderate shape performs better in light winds or short chop, and provides the buoyancy to support the crew weight and the larger rigs."

Royal Torbay Event Results:
Team/Boat - Design - Helm/Crew

1. Slug - Slug (mod) - Iain Christie/Simon Roberts
2. Aquaskipper - Woof - Bob Clements/Alan Atterbury
3. Bestof - Nash 4 - Andy Lang/Tom Gruitt
4. Team WB - Bistro (mod) - Stu Tinner/Ollie Hobson
5. Team Scotland - Slug (mod) - Neil Cardno/Ken Scott-Brown

Bartercard 12ft Skiff Series Overall Results:

Pos - Team/Boat - Design - Skipper - Points
1. Aquaskipper - Woof - Bob Clements, 21 points
2. Bestof - Nash 4 - Andy Lang, 12
3. Slug - Slug (mod) - Simon Roberts, 11
4. Team WB - Bistro (mod) - Stu Tinner, 9
5. Practicus - Bistro (mod) - Iain Christie, 5
6. Team Scotland - Slug (mod) - Neil Cardno, 2

www.12footskiff.com

SOUTHAMPTON BOAT SHOW
The Southampton Boat Show in association with ITV Meridian returns to Mayflower Park this September. Celebrating its 39th year the Show, which has Europe's largest purpose built on-water marina, takes place from 14-23 September 2007. This year, the Show will see an exciting line up of famous boats on the feature berth of the Hydropool Marina. Not only will Sir Robin Knox-Johnston be there with his Open 60 "Lombard Marine Finance:, along with Mike Golding and the Open 60 ECOVER but TEAMORIGIN, Official Challenger for the 33rd America's Cup, will bring the newly liveried GBR 75 race training America's Cup boat to the Show.

www.southamptonboatshow.com

RC44 SLAM CUP
Santa Margherita, Italy: The Italian Riviera provided the ideal backdrop and optimal conditions for the first day of racing at the RC44 SLAM Cup.

The Yacht Club Italiano Race Committee took advantage of the steady breeze off Portofino to run four fleet races for the six teams competing in the RC44 SLAM Cup.

Team Aqua maintained their overall lead of the fleet, with Scott Kennedy at the helm. The 21 year-old New Zealander is the youngest helmsman the fleet has seen to date. Tactician Cameron Appleton commented on the increasingly high calibre of the racing: "The teams were showing very good form. The big difference is time in the boats over anything else. With more America's Cup sailors joining the fleet, the depth of the RC44 Class has suddenly stepped up!"

Slovenian Team Ceeref, the most recent addition to the Class, has an impressive selection of professional talent onboard including America's Cup helmsman James Spithill calling tactics. Owner Igor Lah's team commanded a strong second place overall today. Impressive, given that it was the owner's first race ever and only fifth time onboard his new RC44, which was recently built by Pauger Carbon in Hungary.

Another highlight of the day for the sailors was the presence of Argentinean model Keyla Espinoza, who joined the Japanese team onboard Beecom.

The weather conditions are favourable as racing continues through Sunday.

www.rc44.com

TRUST ACQUIRES FOUR ROUND-THE-WORLD CHALLENGE YACHTS
The Tall Ships Youth Trust, the UK's leading sail training charity, is embarking on a new era by expanding its fleet with the purchase of four 22 metre ocean-going yachts to offer more opportunities for young people to go to sea.

The charity, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year and is best known for its square-rigged brigs, is aiming to guarantee its future development through the acquisition of these exciting yachts, which will operate as the Tall Ships Challenger Fleet.

The yachts, which can each accommodate a crew of up to 18, previously took part in the Round the World Challenge races. They will operate in conjunction with one of the current traditional tall ships - which has a crew of up to 67 - to provide world-class sail training on both a square rigger and the matched Challenger Fleet. The new five-ship fleet will result in one of the Trust's current 60 metre tall ships being sold.

The first Tall Ships Challenger Fleet voyages will be available from January 2008. The Tall Ships Youth Trust's new winter programme 2007/8 will feature Tall Ships voyages on the brigs Prince William and Stavros S Niarchos around the UK, Canaries and Caribbean and an exciting Challenger Fleet programme of 7-14 night voyages in the Canaries and Balearics for 16 to 75 year olds.

www.tallships.org/documentNews.asp?cat=520&doc=7244

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 Cliff Bradford: In the USA we have the widely used term "Ditch Maxi" which refers to a boat with rig just short enough to be able to go under all the non-movable bridges on the Intra-coastal waterway that runs down the USA's east coast.

* From John Rousmaniere: The image of a "Corinthian" as a buttoned-up, blue-blazered, stiff-necked amateur yachtsman is relatively new. The word originated with the citizens of the ancient port of Corinth who were famous both as fine sailors and as exuberant risk-takers in numerous activities, legal and otherwise. "It was a place of proverbial wickedness, energy, riches, noise," A.N. Wilson says of first-century Corinth. A.N. Wilson says of first-century Corinth. Evidence of the rebellious nature of the Corinthians can be found in the New Testament in St. Paul's chiding letters to the city's early Christians. Centuries later, Shakespeare had wild young prince Hal describe himself as "a Corinthian, a lad of mettle, a good boy."

So when young American and British amateur racing sailors 150 years or so ago called themselves and their yacht clubs "Corinthian," they were identifying their efforts as a revolution. The skill and courage required for a volunteer sailor to prepare, command, and crew a big, fragile racing sailboat in a very professional (and very rough) game were noteworthy. So too was the love of risk that lay behind it - a daring not always found among professionals and their wealthy patrons.

* From David Mackintosh (of course a member of the CCYC): Theo Rye starts off well by mentioning the Clyde Yacht Club but then totally forgets the Clyde Corinthian Yacht Club in his list of Corinthian Yacht Clubs. Tisk tisk.

Kindest regards from Bonnie Scotland

FEATURED BROKERAGE
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This is a rare opportunity to buy one of the most famous yachts ever built built by Camper & Nicholson. She has a unique history having been owned for a long period by the UK Royal family and used by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as their personal yacht. The current owner, a specialist yacht restorer, is selling 'Bloodhound' as a completed project, commissioned and ready to sail away.

Brokerage through YachtsAndCruisers.com: www.yachtsandcruisers.com

Complete listing details and seller contact information at www.yachtsandcruisers.com/boat/Camper/17124/

THE LAST WORD
Some people make headlines while others make history. -- Philip Elmer-DeWitt

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.

www.YachtsandCruisers.com the new place to buy and sell prestige boats, the website has been designed to showcase high-end boats. People looking to buy prestige boats will be able to easily navigate their way around the site quickly. The portfolio of thousands of boats can be viewed by category, make, location and price. Alternatively the 'Advanced Search' facility will benefit those buyers who have a specific boat in mind.

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