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ARBITRATION PANEL CONFIRMS CNEV AS CHALLENGER OF RECORD
The Arbitration Panel reached a decision on the ACAP 33/01 case, in the matter of the validity of the challenge of Club Nautico Espanol de Vela ("CNEV") for the 33rd America's Cup.

"This is a very important milestone as the Arbitration Panel confirming CNEV as the Challenger of Record and that the Protocol complies with the Deed of Gift, gives us further confidence to continue our plans and work on organising the 33rd America's Cup campaign both in 2008 and 2009." said Michel Hodara, on behalf of America's Cup Management.

Summary of the decision of the Panel is as follows:

- The Panel (i) has the competence to rule on its own jurisdiction and (ii) also has jurisdiction to rule on the present matter;

- The challenge for the 33rd America's Cup made by CNEV on July 3, 2007 (i) is a valid challenge entitling CNEV to challenge for the America's Cup as Challenger of Record and (ii) SNG is obligated to accept (as it was the first valid challenge it received);

- The Protocol signed by SNG and CNEV on July 3, 2007 complies with the Deed of Gift; and

- Although this does not affect the compliance of the existing Protocol with the Deed of Gift, the Panel believes that SNG and CNEV should consider amending the Protocol in respect of some of its provisions as stated in points [155] and [156]."

To clarify this final point, this recommends that some changes are made to the way the Arbitration Panel is administered. The full Panel Decision will be made available from the America's Cup website ( http://www.americascup.com ) on Monday 10 September.

Additionally, ACM is pleased to report that a Competitors Commission meeting took place on Friday morning with all the entered competitors and was the start of the planning process for the new class rule and competition regulations, which will include a schedule and format for the 33rd America's Cup. This meeting also gave the Competitors Commission the opportunity to discuss further elements of the Protocol and there are further meetings planned in the coming weeks.

33rd.americascup.com

* Not suprisingly, Alinghi is very pleased with the findings of it's appointed panel:

Alinghi, Defender of the 33rd America's Cup, was delighted with the decision of the Arbitration Panel published last night.

This decision underlines that the Arbitration Panel is the correct body for resolution of sporting matters and is composed of three members with a long-term experience in sports law: Professor Henry Peter, from Switzerland, who chairs the Panel, Graham McKenzie, from New Zealand and Luis María Cazorla Prieto, from Spain. Both Mr. McKenzie and Professor Peter served on the Jury of the 32nd America's Cup, when BMW ORACLE Racing was Challenger or Record and Prof. Henry Peter was also a member of the 31st America's Cup Arbitration Panel.

Alinghi, along with the other Challengers, continues to be focused on ensuring the future success of the 33rd America's Cup in 2009. -- www.alinghi.com

TO THE VICTORS THE SPOILS
The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2007 ended in triumph for some and disappointment for others as the final day played out and racing came to a conclusion. As is so often the way on the final day, the individual race winners today were overshadowed by the overall regatta winners. No surprise really since only one boat in each of the four divisions is crowned champion, walking away with a Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup trophy and a Rolex Yacht-master timepiece. This year the overall winners were Carlo Puri Negri & Atalanta II (ITA) in Mini Maxi, Jean Charles Decaux & J One (MON) in Wally, Ranger (CAY) in Cruising and, after a extraordinary racing performance today, Hasso Plattner and Morning Glory (GER) in the grand prix Racing Division.

The longer story of the day is not without controversy - depending upon your viewpoint. The Racing Division led the fleet away at 1145. Alfa Romeo reached the windward mark first and headed off into the channel. Surprisingly, she was followed by Rambler, then Titan XII and then Favonius. At first it looked as though Morning Glory had encountered a problem. First she headed away from the mark. Then she executed a 360 turn as if to rectify a penalty, save there was no other yacht in proximity. Then just as she looked to be back up to speed and heading in the right direction, her headsail sheet was let off and she sailed lazily towards the channel in the wake of the remainder of the Racing Division. That is, all except Loki, with whom Glory was tied in the standings.

It was then only too apparent what the German supermaxi intended to do, as Morgan Larson, the tactician, explained, "we had two strategies today based upon the windspeed. We knew if the wind was in the upper range that we would have a great chance to beat the Loki in the race and if it was lighter they had a good chance to beat us. We did some work last night with the results and realized that their throwout was worse than ours so we just had to make sure that they had a bad race..." And that they did, stalking their opponent at the windward mark with a ruthlessness that suggested plainly that the Goliath in this contest was not to be denied by the David.

Larson described how they reached the decision to quash the aspirations of the Australian crew, "halfway up to the first mark we decided it was light wind and those guys are so fast in the light and were doing such a great job, so we took the opportunity to slow them up." And that they did too. Over the ensuing 4 hours (Alfa took 2 hours 30 minutes to complete the course), the two yachts were no more than a hair's breadth apart with the larger boat in complete control. To their credit, Stephen Ainsworth's crew did not give up. A conservative estimate would be that Loki sailed an extra 10 miles trying to find a chink in the Teutonic armour, which she almost did at the death when the wind fell so light that Loki had more speed than Glory. This display of sportsmanship in the face of a wholly one-sided match race earned the Aussies a standing ovation from the crew of Favonius as they arrived back into the dock.

For Hasso Plattner the overall victory is all the more sweet since 2007 marks the tenth anniversary of his last win at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup.

Full results at www.yccsmaxi.com

EXPERIENCED SPAR ENGINEER NEEDED
Hall Spars & Rigging, the world's premiere manufacturer of carbon-fiber spars, is looking for an experienced spar design engineer to join our team in the U.S. This is an extraordinary opportunity to work on challenging, high-level projects, as Hall is experiencing steady growth in grand-prix racing, performance superyacht, and Cup mast construction. The ideal candidate will possess exceptional skills in AutoCad, SolidWorks, and Excel.

E-mail resumes and samples of your work (project plans or photos) to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

BRITISH SAILING TEAM IN SPYING ROW WITH CHINA
Britain is embroiled in a bizarre spying row with China after the confiscation of weather monitoring equipment used by the British Olympic sailing team.

The gear was taken when Chinese police officers raided the team's flat, which is near a Chinese Navy submarine training base in the northern city of Qingdao.

They removed two 5ft tall weather stations, worth 8,000 pounds, from the apartment and sent them for analysis.

The team is in China preparing for next year's Olympics and had been using the equipment to download data on temperatures and wave and wind directions.

Stephen Park, the Royal Yachting Association's Olympic manager, said last night: "We have been told by friends and sources in China that the authorities thought our equipment could be used for spying. In fact, it is purely so we know the precise weather conditions we will encounter."

He added: "We have informed Foreign Office officials.

"We'd like the equipment back."

The raid took place in March last year and the equipment has not yet been returned.

Zhao Shangsen, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in London, said: "I am not in a position to comment on the details of the incident." -- The Daily Mail, www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=480806&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=

TOMMY HILFIGER TAKES MULTIHULL DIVISION OF THE 57TH CENTOMIGLIA REGATTA
After nearly eight hours of racing in 30 knots of breeze and fantastic scenery, Extreme 40s Tommy Hilfiger and iShares have claimed line honours in the multihull division of the Centomiglia Regatta, becoming the first and second boats to cross the finish line on Lake Garda.

The historical Centomiglia Regatta, a course that circumnavigates Lake Garda and that annually attracts, nearly 300 boats of all shapes and sizes, posed a challenged for the two Extreme 40 teams who took on the final iShares Endurance Race as part of the iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series. The boats will now head to Amsterdam for the final iShares Cup event where they will return to their shot-race format on a canal in the heart of the city.

Tommy Hilfiger, helmed by American sailing legend Randy Smyth, took an early lead right from the start. The American team brought in some local knowledge and with Italian sailor Roberto Benamati on board, a world and European Star champion who also holds seven Centomiglia Classica wins to is name, the team proved hard to beat. The team edged out a 14-minute advantage on opposition iShares, helmed by Nick Moloney by the first buoy in Torbole and held onto their lead for the remainder of the regatta.

Thirty minutes after Tommy Hilfiger's success, iShares crossed the line to become second overall. Helmsman, Nick Moloney had an exhilarating race.

www.isharescup.com

* Taking the monohull line honours was the Libera Class "Clandesteam" which was third boat to cross the finish line, for complete results for all classes see www.centomiglia.it

SPIDERTECH: THE LEGAL POSITION
FMG and Spidertech wins against Genesis International AS and Elvstrom Sobstad: Spidertech is an original Italian patent... For more:
www.fiorenzi-marine-group.biz/category/fmg/

RC44 CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR - SLAM CUP
Santa Margherita, Italy: As the RC44 owners met to discuss the plans for the upcoming RC44 Gold Cup in Dubai and the 2008 racing programme, the crews were busy preparing the RC44s for the final day of racing at the SLAM Cup.

It was another classic day on the Ligurian coast, with a steady five to eight knot breeze that began to fill in at midday. But what started out as a tranquil Sunday morning, soon became much more exciting as the Yacht Club Italiano ran four seamless races for the fleet.

Going into today it was the new Slovenian team, with James Spithill on tactics, that was leading the fleet racing. It was clear however, that Team Aqua's smooth teamwork and excellent boat handling would put the newcomers to the test as they battled to determine the overall winner of the SLAM Cup.

During the first windward leg of the first race, Team Lightbay tacked a bit too close to Team Ceeref, resulting in a penalty for the Italians and damage to the stern spoiler of the Slovenian RC44. Armed with duct tape and a bailer, the team was determined not to let this damage disrupt their chances of winning the fleet racing element of the SLAM Cup.

Team Ceeref performed steadily on the racecourse with a fourth, first and two second place finishes today. Team Aqua led by tactician Cameron Appleton, finished three points behind Spithill's squad in the fleet racing, but their success in the match racing element of the SLAM Cup, meant that the Dubai team were victorious and that they maintain their lead of the RC44 Championship Tour.

The next and ultimate stop on the RC44 Championship Tour is Trieste, where the RC44s will also participate in Italy's most famous regatta, the Barcolana.

www.rc44.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

INDUSTRY NEWS
* YachtsandCruisers.com has been launched this week offering boat buyers and sellers a dedicated website for prestige boats over 25,000 GBP.

The site has been created by the same team behind the highly successful BoatsandOutboards.co.uk.

One major improvement on other similar websites is the sheer amount of information that can be displayed about each boat. Buyers can view the key features, full specification and also multiple images of each craft.

Brokers and individuals looking to sell premium boats can take advantage of the easy advertising service, which allows boat specifications and photos to be uploaded and live within a few minutes.

Stephen Sumner from YachtsandCruisers.com said: "Much of the justification for the launch of YachtsandCruisers.com has come from feedback we received from our existing boat brokers and buyers.

"They wanted a separate site that just dealt with high-end boats and felt there wasn't a credible alternative for this in the current marketplace. Many of the prestige boats such as Swan, Oyster, Sunseeker and Azimut have been surrounded by lower value boats on existing websites. -- YachtsandCruisers.com

* Financial services firm KPMG has announced that the boat sales and brokerage business of BA Peters, which filed for administration on August 14, has been bought by a newly formed company that will trade as Opal Marine. The sale of the Chichester, Brixham and Swanwick dealerships will save some 30 jobs.

A sale has also been completed for BA Peters' Chichester-based boat lifting and storage business. KPMG has confirmed the sale to Premier Marinas, which owns and operates seven marinas across the UK's south coast, including Chichester Marina. In addition, the administrators have accepted offers, subject to contract, on the Chichester chandlery and the operation based at Ipswich Marina. Negotiations for the sale of the 'Port to Port' business are ongoing.

Opal Marine will remain headquartered at Chichester Marina.

Earlier today Bavaria announced that a new company, Clipper Marine, formed by three former managing directors at Peters Opal, was to become its dealer in the UK.

Island Packet Yachts, another brand formerly carried by BA Peters, appointed Premier Yacht Sales as its new dealer representative for the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands, at the end of August.

Spanish boatbuilder Rodman is yet to appoint a replacement distributor for its Rodman Sport Fish and Cruising boats, which BA Peters had represented. At the end of August Rodman confirmed it would be "directly involved" in presenting its brand at the Southampton and London boat shows. Ancasta will continue to represent its Rodman Yacht and Rodman Muse models in the UK. -- IBI News, www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20070807115350ibinews.html

* Peter Methven has been re-appointed president of the British Marine Federation (BMF) following the resignation of Peters Opal chairman Brian Peters last month. Methven, who previously held the position for a period of two and a half years, will serve until June 2008 when a new candidate will be selected.

He currently serves as managing director of Latitude 52, a UK company that provides international trade consultancy services across a broad spectrum of the industry, and is a recognised expert in the sportsboat sector. -- IBI News, www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20070807125317ibinews.html

* The UK's IPC Media has announced that Dan Foley is to serve as the new editor of IBI's sister title YBW.com, effective September 3, 2007. With over 330,000 unique users and 5.6 million page impressions per month, YBW.com, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is said to be the most popular marine community website in Europe.

* Hyde Sails, one of the UK's largest sail makers, is continuing the expansion of its sail loft in Cebu, the Philippines, as part of an aggressive investment programme. Since the sail loft was set up four years ago, the total amount of space has grown from 20,000sq ft to 55,000sq ft and now employs more than 200 members of staff.

Hyde is now forecasting further growth for 2008, particularly in the manufacture of custom yacht sails. This section currently employs some 40 people, but production is expected to increase next year due to heightened demand.

Established in 2003, Hyde Sails Cebu manufactures sails for dinghies, one design keelboats, custom racing and cruising yachts for high-profile OEMs such as Performance Sailcraft Europe, Vanguard Boats in the US, Topper International and Northshore Yachts. Sail design work is currently carried out in the UK, although the company has plans to train a designer in Cebu to cope with increased demand. -- IBI, www.ibinews.com

* SEA~TV won the Silver Award at this year's Worldfest Film Festival in Houston, Texas for it's two hour long instructional DVD series Learn the Racing Rules. The series, hosted by internationally renown rules expert, David Dellenbaugh, won the award in the Sailing/Watersports category from over 100 entries from around the world.

A sixty second commercial produced for US SAILING that appears on the Learn the Racing Rules DVD series also won a Silver Award in the Advertising/Promotional category. It also won from over 100 entries worldwide.

WorldFest-Houston, the 3rd longest-running International Film Festival in North America, It is one of the oldest and largest film & video competitions in the world, with more than 4,500 category entries received from 37 countries in the last competition. It is one of the last true independent film festivals that is not dominated by the major studios. Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Georges Lucas, Ridley Scott and Peter Weir all won their first film festival awards a Worldfest.

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.

Editor: A reprint of John Rousmaniere's letter from Friday where a error in copying omitted a key phrase. Here is the correct text in its entirety:

* 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 Scott MacLeod: Re: America II Alive And Well Twenty Years On - This is not the boat that sailed in Freemantle with JK. US46 was the final of three America II's that sailed for the NYYC and she is at North Cove Harbor in Manhattan. I believe the boat in Hawaii is US42 the first (the lego boat) of the three. US44 is now in Greenwich, Ct and used for charter.

* From Owen Sharpe: I am very grateful for the supremacy of the New York court. Without the lateral separation given by the court challenge they had everybody covered and reserved the right to change the wind direction at will. I can wait for a transparently fair contest and I have no interest in a contest which is not transparently fair.

FEATURED BROKERAGE
Picco Yacht Design, 1,931,280 Euros. Lying Turkey.

Brokerage through YachtsAndCruisers.com: www.yachtsandcruisers.com

Complete listing details and seller contact information at www.yachtsandcruisers.com/boat/Picco_Yacht_Design/12661/

THE LAST WORD
In Ireland the inevitable never happens and the unexpected constantly occurs. -- Sir John Pentland Mahaffy

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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