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ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART YACHT RACE
Sydney/Hobart, Australia: With the football and rugby league grand finals over for another year, summer sports are gearing up for their turn in the spotlight. Exactly one month out from the close of applications for this year's Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, momentum is gathering amongst those preparing to take on one of the world's most famous ocean classics.

The closing date for applications is 2 November 2007. Already a healthy fleet of 25, representing Australia, the UK, New Zealand and Mexico, has been nominated for the 63rd running of the iconic yacht race that will start from Sydney Harbour at 1pm on Wednesday 26 December, 2007.

A number of records are on the cards this year with Bob Oatley's 30m Wild Oats XI, the current race record holder with a time of 1 day 18 hours 40 minutes 10 seconds, preparing to attempt a hat trick of line honours wins despite suffering a major setback last month. Wild Oats XI is currently on its way back to Sydney on a ship from Porto Cervo, Sardinia, where disaster struck during the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup when the yacht's mast exploded mid-race. If all goes to plan, skipper Mark Richards believes Oatley's pride and joy will be back on the water by late November, in time for the Rolex Trophy lead-up series. "The new rig is well underway and we are full steam ahead," said Richards today.

Only one other boat has achieved the line honours treble in the race's 63 year history. Claude Plowman's Morna consecutively beat the rest of the fleet across the finish line off Hobart's historic Battery Point in the 1946, 1947 and 1948 Sydney Hobarts.

At 80 years of age, Victoria's sea faring senior Lou Abrahams is aiming to set a new benchmark for the most Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Races undertaken by an individual. Last year he equalled the record of 44 and while he hinted at retirement at the time, the lure of one more bash south has proved too strong for Abrahams who has already submitted an application for entry for his Sydney 38 called Challenge.

At 85, John Walker (Impeccable) is fighting fit and ready to attempt his 24th Rolex Sydney Hobart and to rewrite the history books by becoming the oldest skipper to race to Hobart.

International entries were strong last year and this year's line up so far point towards another impressive contingent of overseas yachts.

So far the CYCA has received nominations for the New Zealand 30m maxi Maximus (Bill Buckley), one of the high profile casualties last year when the boat's radical wing mast crashed to the deck in the early hours of the first morning at sea.

An application for Mike Slade's brand new UK based 30m maxi Leopard has also been lodged. Slade is hoping to prevent Wild Oats XI's hat trick and realise the second of two ambitions for his latest Leopard - line honours in the Rolex Fastnet Race, which he easily achieved in the heavy weather race in August this year, and line honours in the 628 nautical mile race across the Tasman Sea to Hobart.

Two more UK yachts have been nominated and for the first time ever, a Mexican boat has applied to enter. Cruising to Sydney from Acapulco Yacht Club to compete, Marcos Rodriguez's Beneteau 40.7 Iataia is certain to spice up the expected fleet of 80 yachts.

The fleet for this year's Rolex Sydney Hobart will be announced at the organising club, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, on the morning of Tuesday 13 November.

For a list of yachts applied to enter go to www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/yachts.asp?key=526

A TALL STORY IN LONDON TOWN
The Jubilee Sailing Trust's 65m tall ship Tenacious made her presence well and truly known in the City of London earlier this week when, moored up in the jungle of high-rise building in West India Dock at Canary Wharf, she became a more-than-welcome added attraction to the financial capital.

This ship, designed by Tony Castro is one of the JST's two tall ships which have been purpose built to allow people of all physical abilities to sail side by side on equal terms. Launched in 2000 she is the largest wood tall ship to have been built in the UK for over 100 years. And like the JST's other ship, the Lord Nelson, Tenacious has wide, flat decks which facilitate access for wheelchair users, and has lifts between decks for those with limited mobility. There's even a speaking compass to enable blind and visually impaired crew to take the helm.

The reason for the ship's presence in London this week was mark the occasion of Hilary Lister's next challenge. Lister, who made history by becoming the first ever quadriplegic to sail solo across the English Channel in 2005, and then sailed solo around the Isle of Wight earlier this year, is about to embark on her next major voyage - sailing solo around Great Britain.

Lister's latest mission is scheduled to take place early next year on an Artemis 20 and although she is already well ahead with preparations she said she couldn't think of a better opportunity for a 'get-together'. Instead of going down the usual road of publicising an event such as this, Lister - not one for doing things by halves - laid on this tall ship voyage up the River Thames earlier this week for family, friends and special guests including Andrew Pindar who sponsored the event. -- Sue Pelling, ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20070828145221ywnews.html

CONGRATULATIONS TO FRANCK CAMMAS & CREW ON "GROUPAMA III"
Gori propeller is the chosen brand of propeller for high performance multi hulls and grand prix yachts, including GROUPAMA III, which broke the record crossing the Atlantic in less than 4 days, with an average speed of 28.1 knots.

Gori propeller when folded does not auto rotate, and has the lowest drag of all sailboat propellers. Find out more at www.gori-propeller.com

LET'S TALK ABOUT NUMBERS: THE PROTOS
5 days 15 hours 33 minutes and 30 seconds, that is the time Isabelle Joschke (Degremont Synergie) needed to win the first leg of the Transat 6.50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia on her Finot-Conq 2005. Sam Manuard (Sitting Bull) finished 4 hours 23 minutes and 55 seconds later with a 7.86 knots average speed, followed by Yves Le Blevec (1 hour 19 minutes and 09 seconds after) on his Lombard, Actual constructed by Gepeto Composites. 7.79 knots of average speed for Yves. All three were basically favourites.

The big surprise came from Ronan Deshayes who sailed his Pco Technologies to 4th position. Ronan was 3rd in the Series boats ranking in 2005 on a Super Calin. He is now sailing on a proto Tanguy De Lamotte constructed in 2002. Tanguy had designed and constructed this boat himself for his participation to the Transat 6,50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia 2005.

Ronan and his new boat are the good surprise of the top 5 as he finshed in 4 hours 14 minutes and 30 seconds in the wake of Yves. Last but not least, Adrien Hardy (Brossard) took 5th position. Racing on one of the oldest boats of the fleet, the ex Karen Liquid with which Seb Magnen won the Transat 6.50 twice; Adrien was 10th at the Cape Finisterre mark and came back to the 5th position along Portugal. To set sail on an old-fashioned boat was a clear and assumed wish, Adrien prefers to know and manage his boat rather than leaving on a new boat that could give him unwelcome surprises. Another nice performance, Olivier Cusin's on Energies autour du Monde ex Bon pied Bon oeil (Richard Merigeaux). Olivier gets a nice 9th position right after three serious challengers: Fabien Despres on Soitec, Andraz Mihelin on Adria Mobil Too and Matthieu Cassanas on Ville de Balaruc les Bains. Sebastien Gladu (Clichy sous bois, Clichy sur l'eau), 2nd of the 2005 first leg just close to Corentin Douguet, closes the 2007 first leg top 10.

On the side of bad luck and bad surprises… Impossible to forget Alex Pella on Generalitat Valenciana and Peter Laureyssens on Ecover. 3rd in 2003, 2nd in 2005, Alex is one of the top favourites. The Spanish skipper finished in 12th place, 13 hours 13 minutes and 12 seconds after Isabelle. Peter paid for his Western option. The unopposed winner of both legs - Series boats - in 2005 and 1st at general ranking in 2005, finished 14th in Funchal, 14 hours 03 minutes and 54 seconds after Degremont Synergie.

The next leg, 3100 miles to Bahia Brasil begins on Saturday.

www.transat650.org

LA SOLITAIRE DU FIGARO: SUZUKI SIGNS 3 YEAR SPONSORSHIP
Suzuki signs up to be main sponsor of La Solitaire for the next 3 years, an event they have supported since 2006. Suzuki France and Groupe Le Figaro have signed a partnership deal for 2008, 2009 and 2010. The race therefore calls itself once again "La Solitaire du Figaro" and introduces a new event logo with the main sponsor, Suzuki.

Mr Yukata Higashikubo, President of Suzuki France and Mr Francis Morel, the General Manager for the Groupe Le Figaro, are pleased to announce this partnership that will come into play for the 39th edition of La Solitaire du Figaro in 2008.

The logo associating La Solitaire du Figaro and the main partner, Suzuki, will provide a new visual identity for the race.

The course route for the 2008 edition of La Solitaire du Figaro race will be announced on the 29th of November 2007. The next day the first skippers will be able to register their entry at La Solitaire stand at the Salon Nautique de Paris. -- Sabina Mollart-Rogerson

www.lasolitaire.com

TORNADO TORBOLE TROPHY
Germany's Patrick Egger (crew Dominic Stahl) is the winner of 2007 Tornado Torbole Trophy. Second the Swiss Nowak-Rusterholz, third the Austrian Salzmann (Dietmar and Cornelia). No race for Togni brothers (20.) and 15th place for the Torbolean Paroldo-Ferraglia. 17th Mazzini-Ciavatta (C.N. Riccione).

The silver medalists at the Italian championship, the Togni brothers, Gianmarco and Filippo, because of the bad weather and the illness of Gianmarco (a fever) have remained ashore today. The other 22 boats began their three races this morning at 8 am.

The German Egger won the first race, he was second in the second and in the third races. With these results they could win the trophy. The Swiss Matthias Nowak and Martin Rusterholz finished second and the Austrian Dietmar and Cornelia Salzmann were third.

The Italians, today without the Togni brothers, had quite satisfying results if we consider that the "old" champion of the 80s, Amedeo Paroldo, was able to be 15th overall together with the crew Matteo Ferraglia, young promising sailor for the class. The skipper from Circolo Nautico Riccione Mirco Mazzini, together with the crew Andrea Ciavatta, finished 17th.

Today's races have had light Northern wind (from 6 to 10 knots). There was also some rain. Last race finished at 12.00. Then prize giving. -- Claudio Chiarani

www.circolovelatorbole.it

LADIES MATCH CUP
Friedrichshafen, Germany: Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, ranked second in the ISAF women's match racing rankings, not only emerged from the Double Round Robin as a clear winner, but also convincingly showed her tactical expertise in the finale. Christelle Philippe, from France, was second; third was Germany's current top ranked Match Racer Silke Hahlbrock and fourth place went to Josie Gibson from Great Britain.

The finale remained exciting up to almost the end, the first race went to Christelle Philippe (9th ranked), however, in the three following challenges Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen was always up ahead. In the last race, however, she staged the "perfect start" according to race leader Rudi Magg, as she forced aside the Frenchwoman in the starting boat so far that she had to make a loop to be able to come back to the correct side again. Now Lotte and her team HAS Nordbank collect not only the winning cup but also 2,500 euros in prize money. The "Petit Finale" for third and fourth place was clearly dominated by Silke Hahlbrock, she had to pocket defeat only once and can therefore be happy about third place and 1,300 euros prize money.

Final places:

1. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen (Denmark)
2. Christelle Philippe (France)
3. Silke Hahlbrock (Germany)
4. Josie Gibson (Great Britain)
5. Delphine Casas (France)
6. Gemma Farrell (Great Britain)
7. Lorenza Mariani (Italy)
8. Madlen Frey (Germany)

Further information and pictures at www.interboot.de

EARLS COURT: PUTTING THE 'SHOW' BACK INTO BOAT SHOW
From 1-9 December, the revamped Earls Court opens its doors to sailors, Christmas shoppers and show-goers visiting London. There's music and fashion shows, Riva, a spa for the footsore, the original special events Guinness bar, the National Maritime Museum's Hall of Fame, dozens of drams from the Whyte & Mackay family, acres of chandlery and boats! From a 'boat in a bag' to Gipsy Moth IV, a display of yachts on the pool and headline musical entertainment! The all-new Whyte & Mackay Earls Court Boat Show: you can't beat boating in the heart of London!

www.earlscourtboatshow.com

IS THIS THE END FOR WINDJAMMER CRUISES?
Things are looking grim for fans of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, the much-loved sailing line.

Cruisecritic.com reports that the 60-year-old, family-owned company, which has been struggling to survive for several months, has canceled this week's sailings, and the company isn't returning calls. All four of the line's ships are stranded in ports from Aruba to Costa Rica.

A Web site for Windjammer fans, jammerbabe.com, says one of the line's ships, the Mandalay, is "under arrest" in Panama. It says the ship is out of fuel and there's no money to pay for garbage removal. "The remaining crew must step over bags of rotting garbage, worms and maggots to get to their quarters," the site says. Some crew already have abandoned ship, although 14 crew members remain on board, it adds.

The Wall Street Journal reported in August that crewmembers had been going weeks without pay, and quoted emails from one of the Windjammer captains saying the financial situation had become so bad that they didn't have money for food or clean linens. But at the time, it appeared the line would be getting a savior, with the Journal reporting that an investment company was in the process of buying the sailing company and would be injecting much-needed cash into the operation.

That deal appears to have "faded away," according to a story this morning at modernagent.com, but the travel agent-focused publication cites sources who say another investment firm has shown interest in investing in Windjammer. The question: Is it too late to save Windjammer?

"The situation continues to deteriorate," one source tells modernagent.com. "There are no ships operating and yet there is no committment to make a deal." -- blogs.usatoday.com/cruiselog/

PINDAR ENTERING SECOND BOAT IN TJV RACE
British print and electronic media company Pindar, prolific supporters of British sailing, today announced that Jo Royle and Alexia Barrier will skipper Class 40 yacht Pindar 40 in this year's Transat Jacques Vabre (TJV) transatlantic race. Over 40 boats have been entered in the Class 40 fleet which will race from France to Brazil starting on the 3rd November, Jo and Alexia being the sole female duo.

Jo Royle, 27, from Lancashire, UK, is one of the few sailors to have circumnavigated South Georgia in the Southern Ocean, as well as sailing as far north as Iceland, and as far south as Antarctica. Having learnt to sail at an early age, Jo has a broad racing background and has competed on the Mini Transat circuit as well as having worked as a corporate skipper and as Vendee Globe shore crew. Jo has a passion for environmental work and has led many research-based sailing expeditions. Through her sailing, Jo aims to continue her environmental campaigning, by promoting pressing environmental matters.

Alexia Barrier, 27, from Paris, France, joins Jo aboard Pindar 40 having competing together earlier this year in 'The Route De Elissa', the only all female offshore race in Europe. Alexia, who also sails regularly with Sam Davies aboard Open 60 Roxy, is an accomplished offshore sailor with a background in racing on the Mini Transat and Figaro circuits, as well as being a World Champion match racing sailor and having sailed aboard ORMA 60 ft trimarans.

Pindar 40, previously known as Group V, chartered from journalist and Vendee Globe veteran Patrice Carpentier, is the second entry in the 2007 edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre race to be sponsored by print and electronic media company Pindar. It was announced last week that Pindar's brand new Open 60 will be skippered by Briton Brian Thompson and Australian Will Oxley. Jo and Alexia last week successfully completed their 1000 mile qualifying sail in strong winds in the north-eastern Atlantic and English Channel.

www.pindar.com/teampindar

PETER LUKE, 1915-2007
Peter Luke, co-founder of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), died on 23 September, aged 92.

Peter began his boating career at a very young age. He was given an 8ft dinghy with a 1hp outboard motor as a child, but it wasn't long before Peter had converted it - with a sugar bag for a sail, hung off a broomstick for a mast. In the ensuing years he graduated from dinghies to keelboats, culminating with the launching of his Alden-designed 41ft yawl, Wayfarer, in 1942.

In 1944 Peter co-founded the CYCA with his friend Charlie Cooper, and in June that year a group of eight yachtsmen met at Monte Luke's studio in Castlereagh Street and conducted the first meeting. The fact that the club's intended cruise from Sydney to Hobart became a race is now well known. In May 1945, British naval officer Commander John Illingworth addressed a meeting of the club, and when asked to join a planned cruise to Hobart is alleged to have said "Why don't we make a race of it?" The rest is history. Peter Luke set a record in that race that still stands today - the longest-ever time to finish the 628 nautical mile course, 11 days 6 hours 20 minutes. -- Yachting World, www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20070828145943ywnews.html

FEATURED BROKERAGE
60' Bashford International, 495,000 GPB. Lying Salisbury, England.

Formerly a Sydney 60 converted by Mountbatten Boatworks to a racer/cruiser design by Chris Stimson. Light weight materials were used in the conversion to enhance the high spec racing hull to create a fusion of a fast, very strong, hi-tech hull with a modern, airy, deck saloon cruising interior. A hydraulic bulb lifting keel enables EUPHONY to access ports and creeks normally too shallow for yachts of her size and yet sail like a race boat with the keel down.

Brokerage through YachtsAndCruisers.com: www.yachtsandcruisers.com

Complete listing details and seller contact information at www.yachtsandcruisers.com/boat/Blashford_International/17125/

THE LAST WORD
If you can talk brilliantly about a problem, it can create the consoling illusion that it has been mastered. -- Stanley Kubrick

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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