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LATIUM MATCH CUP
The weather gods sent optimum conditions to Fiumicino today allowing Round Robin A and the Repechage to be completed at Stage 12 of the World Match Racing Tour. It was a rich day of match racing with intense challenges. Sebastien Col won both of his matches in the remaining flights which placed him at the top of the Round Robin and secured his place in the quarter finals along with Sten Mohr from Group A.

The Repechage provided sensational viewing as spectators watched the skippers battle it out for places in the quarter final. The line up saw some teams usually found higher up in the rankings, namely Peter Gilmour, Mathieu Richard and Ian Williams.

The qualifying positions from the Repechage provided hours of debate for the Race Committee and Umpire team as by the end of racing there was an unbreakable tie between current World Champion Gilmour, Tour leader Williams and number two on the Tour standings Richard. After reading, re-reading and discussing the Match Racing Appendix it was finally agreed that the Sailing Instructions prevailed and a sail off between all three skippers should be held. Should conditions not allow for this the race committee will refer back to the Sailing Instructions to eliminate one of the skippers.

Friday should provide a further spectacle for all the visitors at the Civitavela Sail Show when the final two spots for the quarter finals are decided and the Quarter Finals get under way.

Round Robin A Results
Sebastien Col 4-1
Sten Mohr 3-2
Ian Ainslie 3-2
Peter Gilmour 2-3
Ian Williams 2-3
Jure Orel 1-4

Repechage Results
Peter Gilmour 4-1
Mathieu Richard 4-1
Ian Williams 4-1
Michael Hestbaek 1-4
Victor Lanier 1-4
Jure Orel 1-4

worldmatchracingtour.com

IFDS DISABLED SAILING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Rochester, New York, USA: It was a great day for the reigning Paralympic Champions at the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championships, with both Damien Seguin (FRA) and Dror Cohen (ISR) holding the leaderboard top spots.

Another three races were completed across all three fleets, meaning the first discard comes into play.

Seguin continues to be the standout performer in the 2.4 Metre fleet, adding another two bullets to his score yesterday. A tenth in race 7 was his first slip up of the championships, but he immediately discarded it to lie on a very impressive eight-point score with two days of racing remaining. Bruce Miller (CAN) holds on to second place, nine points behind SEGUIN, whilst Thierry Schmitter (NED) moves up to third with 3,5,2 scores. It was also a good day for defending champion Heiko Kroger (GER) who posted all top five finishes to move up the leaderboard to fifth overall.

In the SKUD18 fleet, Karen Mitchell and JP Creignou (USA) lead by four points after 2,1,7 scores for the day. Scott Witman and Julia Dorsett (USA) also hold on to second place, just one point ahead of Carl-Gustaf Fresk and Annika Lindgren (SWE).

A great day for Dror Cohen's (ISR) Sonar team leaves them top of the leaderboard with a five-point advantage. The Paralympic gold medallists from Athens posted 7,3,1 scores whilst the other leading crews all struggled for consistency. Paul Callahan, Tom Brown and Roger Cleworth (USA) move up into second place overall, just ahead of Jens Kroker's German team and defending champions John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Stephen Thomas (GBR).

Two days of racing remain, with three races scheduled per day across all three events.

You can view footage of the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship online at www.t2p.tv

www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j1,FnizBr&format=popup

THE MODEL OF CONSISTENCY?
Hyeres, France: A day of consistency, consolidation and concentration was enough for Russell Coutts and the crew of Torbjorn Tornqvist's Artemis to in! crease their grip on the overall Breitling MedCup Circuit title in brisk easterly winds on the Bay of Hyeres.

Although the Swedish flagged Judel-Vrolijk design has not won a regatta yet this season, their main focus today was on building their margin over Caixa Galicia, their nearest rivals for the overall 2007 title.

A third and a fifth to Caixa Galicia's fourth and seventh is insight enough to the Artemis agenda, which they completed comfortably.

Once again there was little that Roberto Bermudez de Castro and his team aboard the black hulled Botin & Carkeek design Caixa Galicia could do to puncture the supremacy of Artemis in the 15-21 knot, onshore breeze which kicks up a nasty choppy swell over the shallow waters of the bay, the day belonged to the English and the Irish.

Stuart Robinson's British boat Stay Calm was the top scorer for the day with a second and first, to Eamon Conneely's Patches which won the first race and then took fourth in the second windward-leeward.

Standings after seven races:
1. Artemis (T Tornqvist SWE-Judel Vrolijk 2007) 20 points
2. Patches (E Conneely, IRL- Reichel Pugh 2007) 32
3. Mutua Madrilena (V Vascotto, ESP-Botin & Carkeek 2007) 33
4. Stay Calm (S Robinson, GBR-Judel Vrolijk 2007) 35
5. CxG Corporacion Caixa Galicia (V Tirado-ESP Botin & Carkeek 2007) 35
6. Valle Romano Mean Machine (P de Ridder, MON-Judel Vrolijk 2006) 41
7. Bribon (J Cusi, SM Juan Carlos-ESP Judel Vrolijk 2007) 54

www.medcup.org

'ALEGRIA' SMOKES THROUGH AUSTRALIAN IRC CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Ullman Sails congratulates Rod Jones and crew on 'Alegria' for their outstanding performance in the inaugural 2007 Audi IRC Australian Championship series. 'Alegria,' an Archambault 35, won the four-regatta series with a regatta to spare, beating out well-known grand prix racers like Wild Oats X. Jones and his team competed with an Ullman Sails downwind inventory, starting the series with an impressive win at Skandia Geelong Week in January. They sealed their victory before Audi Hamilton Island Race Week concluded on August 25.

For the 'Fastest Sails on the Planet,' contact an Ullman Sails loft and visit www.ullmansails.com

12 METRE RACING CONCLUDES AT PORTO CERVO
The International 12 Metre Class Association (ITMA) boats competing in the Rolex Veteran Boat Rally finished their series Thursday with a further two windward-leeward races held just off Porto Cervo in a breeze of approximately ten knots from south-east.

They were also joined today by the remainder of the Veteran fleet whose varnished wooden hulls, oatmeal-coloured sails and gleaming brasswork.

The winners of the event, valid as part of the ITMA 2007 Centennial Tour and organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, were Kookaburra II (USA) for the Grand Prix category, Freedom (USA) for the Modern category and Ikra (FRA)among the Classic 12 metres.

The Classic and Vintage Bermudian and Vintage Gaff Yachts followed a 24 nautical mile course through the islands of the La Maddalena archipelago: north to the Monaci Islands, down to the Secca Tre Monti rock, through the strait between the Isola delle Bisce and Capo Ferro, further south down the coast to the Island of Mortoriotto and back up to the finish line off Porto Cervo.

Among the Classic Yachts (yachts built after 1950 but launched prior to 1976) France's Emeraude, a 1975 launched sloop designed by German Frers, took victory over the Italian Navy's Stella Polare and Henry Graema's Stormvogel. Stormvogel may be familiar to some as the yacht used in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm, starring Nicole Kidman.

The Vintage Bermudian Yachts saw Giovanni Broggi's Marjatta (ITA) take first place on corrected time while the Vintage Gaff Yachts category was won by Mariette (FRA). Mariette is a stunning 1915 launched yacht which has provided inspiration for numerous paintings and models. Designed in 1913 by Nathanael G. Herreshoff for J. Frederick Brown of Boston, a successful wool merchant, she underwent a complete rebuild in 1982 and a major refit in 1995 under the supervision of the then owner, Tom Perkins.

Racing for the Vintage yachts will continue Friday with the first start scheduled for 11.40 a.m. -- Jill Campbell in Sail-World.com, www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=37463

www.rolexveteranboatrally.com
www.regattanews.com

ITALIAN DAY AT THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Albino and Fabio Fravezzi won the 4th race and Diego Negri and Luigi Viale won the 5th.

Percy (Great Britain) leads the regatta with Loof (Sweden) 2nd overall and Marazzi (Switzerland) in third. Negri in 4th just ahead of Grael (Brazil).

The championship concludes tomorrow (Friday) with the sixth and last race planned for 8am with the north wind.

Top ten:
1. Ian Percy / Andrew Simpson, GBR, 15 points
2. Frerik Loof / Anders Ekstrom, SWE, 17
3. Flavio Marazzi / ENrico De Maria, SUI, 18
4. Diego Negri / Luigi Viale, ITA, 24
5. Torben Grael / Marcelo Ferreira, BRA, 31
6. Francesco Bruni / Gilberto Nobili, ITA, 41
7. Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Tomasz Holc, POL, 43
8. Peter Bromby / Lee White, BER, 44
9. Alberto Barovier / Ferdinando Colaninno, ITA, 51
10. Robert Stanjek / Markus Koy, GER, 58

www.starclass.org

ROBOTS ACROSS THE ATLANTIC!
Scientiests taking part in the world's first transatlantic robot sailing race tested their craft off the mid-Wales coast last week.

Boats from the UK, France, Austria, Canada, Portugal and the USA are expected to take part in Microtransat 2008, which will see un-manned vessels competing to cross the Atlantic.

The robot-controlled craft will set sail from Brittany late next year and the winner will be the first to reach a finish line between the northern tip of St Lucia and the southern tip of Martinique in the Caribbean, a total distance of around 4,000 miles.

The challenge was conceived by Dr Mark Neal, from the computer science department at Aberystwyth University, and Dr Yves Briere, from the Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Ingenieurs de Constructions Aeronautiques (ENSICA), in Toulouse, France.

Teams representing the Austrian Association for Innovative Computer Science (INNOC), and Queen's University of Ontario, Canada, will take part in the Aberystwyth event, along with teams from ENSICA and Aberystwyth University.

It is one of a series of events that lead up to Microtransat 2008.

Race entrants must conform to a range of criteria. The vessels must be propelled by the wind, fully autonomous, self sufficient in terms of energy, no longer than four metres long and weigh up to 40 kilograms. The cost of materials and equipment must not exceed 40,000 pounds.

www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2007/09/04/robots-to-sail-across-atlantic-55578-19729806/

* It must be about 25 years ago that I wrote an April's Fool spoof article for Yachting Monthly. It was the same issue in which Des Sleightholme introduced the water ballasted anchor and was inundated by sales enquiries from all over the world.

My article was a bit more elaborate than that. It was about a yacht that had been developed that could sail itself from A to B entirely unmanned, aided by GPS, self reefing and self trimming sails, radar and CCTV to look out for obstructions and shipping, a computer programmed with ColRegs and so on. This yacht set off from Deauville in France and arrived safely at its pre-programmed destination, Brighton.

Its inventor was there waiting for it, re-programmed it to return to Deauville but it never arrived. It later transpired that it had arrived in Deanville in the SE USA.

So now, 25 years on, it looks as though my April Fool joke could be about to become reality. -- Andrew Bray, in his blog at www.yachtingworld.com/yw/blog/andrew_bray.html

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

SEIKO 49ER EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Martinez and Fernandez (ESP) continue to find form in the first three Gold fleet races and close the gap between themselves and the Peckolt brothers (GER).

The medal fleet races in the Seiko 49er European Championships got underway today at Circolo Velico Marsala. As the Gold and Silver fleets set sail, the Bronze fleet remained on the shore waiting to be released; watching as the wind built to a healthy 15, gusting 18 knots.

The wind reached its maximum strength of the week so far for the Gold fleet, but unfortunately diminished to only 7-8 knots for the end of the Bronze fleet racing.

Today Martinez and Fernandez dominated the Gold fleet, cruising their way to two wins and a fourth place; they were visibly the best crew on the water today. Throughout the week the Spanish crew is becoming more and more consistent and enjoying the 15 knots of wind that Marsala is providing.

Top ten, gold fleet:

1. Peckolt and Peckolt, GER, 40
2. Martinez and Fernandez, ESP, 44
3. Sibello and Sibello, ITA, 68
4. La Graviere and Christidis, FRA, 70
5. Dyen and Rocherieux, FRA, 76
6. Baur and Baumann, GER, 79
7. Warrer and Kirketrep, DEN, 80
8. Alonso and Alonso, ESP, 81
9. Campbell James and Asquith, GBR, 85
10. Czajkowski and Kierkowski, POL, 86

www.49er.org
www.circolovelicomarsala.com

SHORT TACKS
* Last night over 250 invited guests including film stars, supermodels and TV personalities attended the Private View of Kos' new exhibition at the prestigious 3,000 sq ft Getty Images Gallery in the media hub of Noho, off Oxford St in London. The exhibition features 50 Limited Edition prints, many framed in super large format, which Kos says "combine abstract photography and artistic marine images".

Within the first two hours, sales of signed prints exceeded that of any other Private View in the gallery's eleven year history.

Against the Elements - is open to the public and runs to 22nd September 2007.

* High winds kept some planes from searching for missing aviator Steve Fossett on Thursday, while ground crews checked out tips about planes that flew in the area the day he disappeared.

Planes from a parallel private search effort took off Thursday from the ranch where Fossett departed for a brief flight Sept. 3. Ground crews returned Thursday to a spot in the Pinenut Mountains in western Nevada where two witnesses reported seeing a plane like Fossett's fly into a canyon, but not out, on Labor Day.

A Blackhawk helicopter and ground crews were sent to the area Wednesday afternoon. About 80 percent of the area has been searched, Civil Air Patrol Maj. Ed Locke said.

To the south, just across the California line, ground crews searched an area northeast of Yosemite National Park. A woman reported Wednesday that she had camped there over Labor Day and had heard a noise that sounded like an airplane, followed by what sounded like an explosion, said Jeff Page, Lyon County's emergency manager. -- Scott Sonner, www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/13/national/a110456D01.DTL

* Top British yachtsman Steve White will be announcing his intentions to enter the Vendee Globe Race at the Southampton Boat Show on Friday 14 September.

The Dorset local, who has spoken candidly about having to re-mortgage his home and take out bank loans to fund his yachting, has recently joined forces with top sports agency Fuse SPORT. Their partnership has come at the perfect time for Steve, who has been in training for the event for months.

Steve White plans to sail his own Spirit of Weymouth solo around the world, non-stop for 27,000 miles, alongside British talent Mike Golding, Alex Thomson, Jonny Malbon, Dee Cafarri and Sam Davies. Preparations are already well underway - the preliminary qualifying event later this year becoming Steve's first hurdle. -- Helen Bowley/Yachting World, www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20070813120004ywnews.html

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 Michael Brown: Re the article on the Royal Natal Yacht Club and their Rear Commodore's statement that they are the only club on the continent still holding the Royal Warrant. Whilst not wishing to diminish their achievements, doesn't the Royal Cape Yacht Club in Cape Town hold a Royal Warrant?

* From Jim Teeters: The America's Cup vision that Magnus Wheatley presents hearkens (homonym intended) back to the 1903 event: two massively large boats, 144 foot Reliance vs. 135 foot Shamrock III, NYYC vs. Sir Thomas Lipton, Nathaniel Herreshoff vs. William Fife, new technologies with occasional breakdowns, extreme design that pushed beyond what were then perceived as sensible limits. Reliance, until recently, was the largest racing sloop ever built. And, interestingly, there was a time allowance system under which Reliance owed time to the slightly smaller Shamrock.

This was the sort of grand spectacle that Mr. Wheatley dreams of. For a highly entertaining account of both the event and the buildup to it, try "Temple to the Wind" by Christopher Pastore.

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THE LAST WORD
Happiness hates the timid! So does science! -- Eugene O'Neill

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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