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SPITHILL DOMINATES LATIUM MATCH CUP
Rome, Italy: In a performance not seen at any recent World Tour event, James Spithill (AUS) won all three of his matches today in the Final Round to capture the inaugural Latium Match Cup. Spithill's Luna Rossa team of Joe Newton, Michele Ivaldi, Magnus Augustson, and Andy Fethers bested Sebastien Col (FRA) and his team from Areva Challenge to earn the top prize of 55,000 Euros and 25 points added to his score on the World Tour leader board.

While the scores may look like Spithill had an easy time of it, the action on the water was always close. The second match got particularly heated at the top mark, where Col led around by just a boat length, only to have Spithill gybe quickly inside him, evade Col's aggressive luff, and not only pass the Areva team but draw a penalty on them as well.

Close pre-start action in the penultimate third match also earned Col a penalty when the umpires faulted him for not keeping clear when both boats lay head-to-wind, drifting backwards in the 10-knot seabreeze. Col recovered to win the favored pin end of the line, but could not get past Spithill, who controlled the match from the right on the first windward leg.

In Petit Final action, Sten Mohr (DEN) capitalized on mistakes made by rival Magnus Holmberg (SWE), winning the first-to-two point round in two matches. Holmberg and his team from the Victory Challenge earned two penalties in the pre-start of the first match, and having to take one turn right after the start gave Mohr a lead which he kept with relative ease.

Overall Standings:

1. James Spithill (AUS) Luna Rossa - 14-0
2. Sebastien Col (FRA) Areva Challenge - 10-8
3. Sten Mohr (DEN) Rudy Project Sailing Team - 8-5
4. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge - 8.5-7
5. Paolo Cian (ITA) Shosholoza - 5-5
6. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar - 10-7
7. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST - 7-8
8. Ian Ainslie (RSA) Shosholoza - 3-7
9. Mathieu Richard (FRA) - 6-6
10. Jure Orel (SLO) - 2-8
11. Victor Lanier (FRA) - 2-8
12. Michael Hestbaek (DEN) - 2-8

www.worldmatchracingtour.com

ST. PETERSBURG FINISH PORT FOR THE VOR
The historic Russian port city of St Petersburg was today officially announced as the finish port for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09.

This will be the first time in the race's 34-year history that the fleet will visit a Russian port and follows the confirmation in late May that Russia will have its own entry in the race backed by St Petersburg businessman Oleg Zherebtsov.

Volvo Ocean Race CEO Glenn Bourke, who was in St Petersburg for a press conference announcing the agreement with City Governor Valentina Matvienko, said it had long been a goal to take the race finish to Russia's second largest city.

The selection of the Baltic port of St Petersburg marks another milestone in the 2008-09 iteration of the race after the decision to take the marathon offshore odyssey through the Middle East, Southeast Asia, India and China .

The race route is nearing finalisation with the offshore start set for Alicante, Spain, on 11 October, 2008, following an in-port race a week earlier. The race is currently scheduled to last nearly 10 months, covering more than 39,000 nautical miles and visiting up to 12 ports.

The fleet winds up its Asian section in Qingdao, China, home to next year's Olympic sailing regatta, before heading off to South America on its longest and toughest leg, covering more than 12,000 nautical miles. The fleet then heads up the U.S. East Coast to Boston and then across the North Atlantic to Galway before visiting Sweden en route to St Petersburg in late June 2009.

The race now has six confirmed entries with crews racing aboard the Volvo Open 70, the world's fastest monohull racing yacht. The new route will provide huge challenges in physical and mental endurance as well as technology. -- Reg Gratton

volvooceanrace.org

HANGING TEN ON THE EDGE OF CONTROL
You're heading down the track, surfing up to 18 knots in 30-35 true and approaching the layline - fast. You're at the mast, set for the gybe: ready to release the guy, haul the inboard end up, then down - made. Sounds easy, but when the boat's on the verge of nosediving and you're a gust away from getting seriously sideways, you need control. With grip developed from F1 tyres and the best waterproofing in the business, the new Dubarry Fastnet boot makes sure you don't put a foot wrong. The new Dubarry Fastnet boot: take control.

www.dubarry.com

EUROPEAN 18FT SKIFF GRAND PRIX AT CARNAC
The final day of the European 18ft Skiff Grand Prix in Carnac provided a fitting end to this event and the European season. After a glassy calm met the teams early in the morning, the sun finally stirred up a thermal breeze that allowed two races to be run before the end time limit for racing. The race officer Jack Ramecourt yet again put in a flawless display running both races, and indeed the rest of the regatta, with perfect courses and not afraid to move the marks around to suit the shifting breeze.

In the overall standings, it was for Pindar Radii to just put in a good performance to consolidate their dominant position so far. One more good result would sew it up for them.

Pindar Radii had a convincing win in this event and the Grand Prix series overall, with GE Commercial just haging onto the runner up spot after a late season charge by Gill Wet and Wild. At the prizegiving, Andy Richards the helm put their winning ways down to a strong team and meticulous boat preparation, and playing each event race by race. So after 5 events, this brings to the end another very successful European 18ft Skiff season, with participation as healthy as ever and racing closer that it has been for years. All bodes well for 2008, with a number new teams arriving on the circuit and new builds rumoured around the dinghy park. -- Christophe Favreau

Overall Results: (9 races, 2 discards)

1. Pindar Radii (GBR) Andy Richards, Andrew Fairley, Dave Richards, 10 points
2. Bodotex (DEN) Saugman Broendum, Jan Saugmann, Martin Friderichsen, 22
3. Gill Wet & Wild (GBR) Ed Browne, Mark Addison, Graeme Oliver, 24
4. UTI (SUI) Stephan Rueger, Ueli Marti, Res Schurd, 24
5. PICA (GBR) James Mears, Simon Hiscocks, Stewart Mears, 26
6. GP Covers (DEN) Flemming Clausen, Thomas Ebler, Soren Clausen, 29
7. GE Commercial Finance (GBR) Mason Woodworth, Ding Brown, Si Hamilton, 35
8. Wet Protect (GER) Werner Gieser, Jan Dicks, Max Freidric, 49
9. G18 (SUI) Pierre Yves Pfirter, Patrick Peyrot, Raphael Pieroni, 60
10. Space Model (GER) Dennis Gehulein, Latzi Meissuer, Thomas Eggersclarfer, 63

grandprix.18footer.org/Home
www.uk18footer.org

SEIKO 49ER EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
The Seiko 49er European Championships came to a close with Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez taking the title from the Peckolt brothers. There supreme performance towards the latter part of the regatta secured the win for them

Circolo Velico Marsala have been the perfect hosts for the championships providing a perfect venue and hospitality for the sailors. The race officers, Pierluigi De Luise and David Campbell James have managed to complete a full schedule of racing, totally nineteen races.

Following national competitions and Olympic Trials for some, the crews will reconvene in Melbourne in January for the 2008 World Championships.

Final top ten:

1. Martinez and Fernandez, ESP, 56
2. Peckolt and Peckolt, GER, 68
3. Sibello and Sibello, ITA, 85
4. La Graviere and Christidis, FRA, 111
5. Warrer and Kirketrep, DEN, 114
6. Wadlow and Rast, USA, 118
7. Alonso and Alonso, ESP, 132
8. Dyen and Rocherieux, FRA, 133
9. Baur and Baumann, GER, 137
10. Campbell James and Asquith, GBR, 142

www.49er.org

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

ROLEX BIG BOAT SERIES
San Francisco, Calif., USA: The final race at the Rolex Big Boat Series, called the Bay Tour, set the 112 competing boats on a two-hour pursuit around the Bay ranging in distance from 15.44 nautical miles for the larger IRC handicapped boats to 9.05 miles for the one-design classes. In the end, six skippers were awarded the St. Francis Yacht Club's six Perpetual Trophies and also presented with Rolex Steel Submariner timepieces in recognition of their achievements.

The St. Francis Perpetual Trophy, dedicated in 1964, is the only one that does not rotate among the classes each year. It was deeded to the premier handicap division, the IRC A class in this 43rd annual regatta. Samba Pa Ti, the new TP52 owned by John Kilroy (Los Angeles, Calif.) won the five-boat division. Roger Sturgeon's (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Rosebud, the STP65 which made its debut here this week, took line honors in today's race and finished second overall.

In the IRC B class, Lani Spund (Los Gatos, Calif.) and his SC52 Kokopelli2 won the City of San Francisco Trophy, one of the two golden spades used to break ground for the Golden Gate Bridge in 1933. Kokopelli2 won the last race and earned the one point needed to break its tie with second-place Rancho Deluxe, the Swan 45 owned by Michael Diepenbrock (Sacramento, Calif.).

The Richard Rheem Perpetual Trophy, established in 1972 in his memory of Richard Rheem whose famous yacht Morning Star was the elapsed time winner in the 1949 and 1955 Transpac races to Honolulu, went to Expeditious, in the Express 37 class.

Dave Kirby (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) on his J/122 TKO won the Keefe-Kilborn Memorial Trophy. Established in 1976 to honor Harold Keefe and Ray Kilborn, the trophy was awarded to the leader of the IRC C class.

The Atlantic Perpetual Trophy, established in 1978, features the ship's bell of the yacht Atlantic, long-time TransAtlantic Ocean record holder (1905). The bell was donated by John C. "Jack" Morris, and the trophy by Jack H. Feller Jr. Jean-Yves Lendormy (San Francisco) won it and the IRC D class.

The newest Perpetual Trophy is the Commodore's Cup, established in 2004 to be awarded to the largest one-design fleet. Chris Perkins (San Francisco) won the 34-boat J/105 class on his Good Timin.

Andy Costello (Point Richmond, Calif.) won his second straight Rolex Big Boat Series by besting the seven-boat 1D35 class, while in the Melges 32 class, Philippe Kahn won the six-boat fleet with a remarkable five first place finishes. Jeff Pulford (Coral de Tierra, Calif.) won the six-boat Sydney 38 class.

The 2008 Rolex Big Boat Series will be held September 11-14 at the St. Francis Yacht Club.

www.stfyc.com
For daily racing videos www.t2p.tv

TUTIMA FROM ROSTOCK-WARNEMUENDE IS WINNING IN FLENSBURG UNDER IRC
Tom Ebert's DK 46 "Tutima" of Warnemuende/Germany is the winner of the first IRC-prize officially awarded on the Baltic. The prize was given by the German Offshore Owners Association (www.GER-OO.org). 10 yachts competed in a parallel IRC scoring in the Blue and Blue-Yellow Ribbon Race and the Transit-Logistic-Cup, sailed during the 97. Flensburger Foerdewoche in Flensburg waters in Germany.

The most interesting comparison was between the two fastest boats, "Outsider" and "Scho-Ka-Kola". The Elliott 52 canting keel yacht "Outsider" rates a few seconds better than the water-ballasted Reichel/Pugh 57 "Scho-Ka-Kola" under ORC-Club. However, under IRC, "Outsider" is higher rated than the R/P 57. On the Friday race, "Outsider" beat "Scho-Ka-Kola" by just 6 seconds under IRC, while "Scho-Ka-Kola" clearly won under ORC-C by more than 4 minutes.

This year, 35 German yachts held an IRC certificate, several of them sailing in the Mediterranean. There are more parallel IRC-scorings scheduled in the Baltic for next year. -- Volker Andreae / German Offshore Owners Association, www.GER-OO.org

NEXUS MARINE AT THE SHOW
Visit the Nexus Marine stand (H014) at this year's Southampton Boat Show to view all their latest products. On display will the complete Nexus instrument family - the NX for sportsboats and small cruisers, the NX2 for mid-sized racing boats, and the Grand Prix / superyacht NXR system. Also on show will be the all new Nexus VHF range - featuring the latest electronics for crisp, distortion-free transmission and low power draw. See the NX1000 and NX1500 handhelds and the NX2000 fixed DSC radio for the best in leisure communications. For more information, visit www.nexusmarine.se

FEDOR KONYUKHOV TAKES ON LAST GREAT FRONTIER
Famous Russian sailor Fedor Konyukhov aims to become the first person to sail solo around Antarctica.

Starting in January 2008 from Albany, Western Australia, the 56 year-old yachtsman will endeavor to sail his 27 metre (88') yacht Trading Network Alye Parusa around the challenging 14,600 mile Antarctica Cup Race Track. His intention is to claim the inaugural world record for sailing solo, non-stop, around Antarctica as a prelude to the Antarctica Cup Race planned for 2009/10 to coincide with the Centenary celebrations of the Princess Royal Sailing Club in Albany.

Fedor, who is currently in Falmouth, England preparing 'Trading Network Alye Parusa' prior to setting sail for Australia in October, has already completed four global circumnavigations and crossed the Atlantic fourteen times, one of them in a rowing boat. His latest record attempt will be ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) and provide a benchmark for others to beat.

www.antarcticacup.com
konyukhov.ru/eng/

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 Jonathan Tilney: re: From Hugh Loewenthal: Here in the Netherlands most boats fly the national flag at the stern. About one third of the flag poles are bent in the upper third; why? Nobody I have asked here seems to know the answer - can your community help a puzzled Australian?"

I'm probably not best qualified to answer, but in case no-one else does my view may be as good as any! The curved ensign staff found for example on the Dutch Botter, is simply a traditional design that follows the the pattern of other curved features of those boats, in particular the curve that they give to the gaff. The answer surely must be that there is no practical design purpose for it, just tradition and aesthetics. And of course, the results speak for themselves.

* From Leo Voorneveld: Thats easy, in the past the rule was, you have a bent gaff, you carry a bent flagpole... Bent gaffers are used a lot on the traditional Dutch boats, and mostly find on traditional boats used as yachts... So it was easy to spot in a port full of boats which one were the yachts... But that was centuries ago.

* From Hal Sisk: re: Corinthian Yachting

The story of Corinthian yachting is incomplete without mentioning the premier Corinthian yacht club, the Royal Alfred, of Dublin Bay. While it may not have been the first, it is certainly the oldest specifically amateur yacht club in the world: this year it is 150 years old.

Yet merely claiming seniority is a poor boast. What matters much more is that in the two decades from 1857 to 1877, mainly through the Royal Alfred, the Corinthians of Dublin Bay shaped the worldwide sport of yacht racing. It really was a revolution as John Rousmaniere put it, a departure from everything that went before.

Mainly under the flag of this small club, throughout the 1860s and 70s, Dublin yachtsmen quite simply wrote the rules of our sport, pioneering and popularising that which we now take for granted:

- Amateur sailing as a participant - no longer as a passenger
- Single and double handed racing
- "Flying starts" instead of from an anchored position
- Offshore racing
- Time allowance tables for handicap racing
- A national yachting authority
- Finally, and most significantly, the original yacht racing rules.

Yes, it was originally part of a universal western phenomenon, the emerging middle classes using their new leisure time to create sports involving physical activity. Indeed the rules of most major international sports date from Britain (and Ireland!) around this time.

But while it could have happened elsewhere, Dublin's combination of a capital city on a large body of open water, with a large middle class population living directly on the coast, allowed it to give a lead in this shaping of the sport.

Thus the Royal Alfred served as the worldwide model for the new wave of Corinthian yacht clubs in the early 1870s, with such key foundation dates as Seawanaka (USA) 1871, and Royal Corinthian (England) 1872.

Many contributed to the shaping of our sport, but the Corinthians of the Royal Alfred YC pioneered and popularised so many common features of our sport that we may launch a new slogan:

"Dublin Bay, the Cradle of Yacht Racing"

FEATURED BROKERAGE
ZANA (also known as KONICA MINOLTA), the Brett Bakewell-White designed 98' Supermaxi is for sale by tender. Closing date is the 12th of October. She was designed to be a no compromise record breaker, with an eye towards being converted to a canting keel yacht; she has all the potential that is needed to be a future record breaker, and available now!

Please contact Berthon International Yacht Brokers for tender instructions and more details. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or +44 1590 679222

THE LAST WORD
The more I see the less I know for sure. -- John Lennon

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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