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A RESCUE AND A RECORD FOR THE ROLEX MIDDLE SEA RACE 2007
Two stories of dramatically contrasting fortune have unfolded over the past 24-hours of the 2007 Rolex Middle Sea Race. Both stories ended happily. Both could have ended quite differently. In one, an American crew defied the elements to destroy a seven-year old course record. In the second, an Australian crew were rescued from their yacht as she threatened to founder on the wind-lashed northern coast of Sicily. The crews of Rambler and Loki will remember this race for years to come.

For George David and the crew of the 90-foot Rambler (USA) it was a dream come true. Hardly in their wildest dreams could they have believed they would eclipse so comprehensively the Rolex Middle Sea Race course record at their first attempt. Remember Neville Crichton had two goes in the exact same boat and did not come close; such was the cruel nature of the conditions during his assaults.

Rambler's record breaking run was exceptional. She did the first half of the course to Favignana in 1 day 5 hours 26 minutes, having had a great run all the way to Messina and beyond to Stromboli. The second half of the course took 18 hours, with a drastically reduced sail plan.

For Loki the drama was truly life threatening. Sailing along in 35-knots at 15/16 knots of boatspeed there was a sudden bang and the crew saw the rudder floating away behind the boat. Talking to owner Stephen Ainsworth earlier today he explained how they brought the boat under some semblance of control and made contact with Race Control to report their circumstances at 1730 on Saturday evening. Tomasso Chieffi, a last minute addition to the crew of Atalanta II, the Italian mini-maxi of Carlo Puri Negri, made the seriousness of the situation absolutely vivid. On hearing of Loki's distress, Atalanta diverted back to see what assistance she could offer, as Chieffi explained, "sailing along side with Loki, Lucas Brown finally was able to get in contact with them over the phone. We heard that the rudder blade was broken. The first idea was to tow them but we did not have a rope that was strong enough to do so. Furthermore, the sea was so high that sometimes the waves were breakin! g over the mast. It was very difficult to go too near to Loki, the rolling motion was so huge that it was absolutely too dangerous."

The Italian Coastguard scrambled two boats, but even the larger of the two was unable to do more than standby the wounded Loki. With the lee shore of Golfo di Castallammare fast approaching and the weather conditions atrocious the decision was eventually taken to evacuate the crew by helicopter. The Italian Airforce Base in Trapani sent a Sikorksy HH3 F from 15 Wing to undertake the lift. Such was the motion of Loki and height of her mast that the crew had to get into a liferaft for the lift. The first eight crewmembers were picked up at about 10.20pm and the second batch at midnight. Before leaving the stricken yacht an anchor and about 200-feet of rode were laid and this morning it appears that the anchor had held with Loki spotted floating off the coast in reasonably deep water. Ainsworth reported that attempts to get back out to the boat were being hampered by the continuing bad weather in the region.

At time of going to press with this report, fifteen yachts are still in the race. Rubino (GBR), Roaring Forty (BEL) and Vineta (GER) have passed Pantelleria, and the leading Maltese boat is perhaps unsurprising Arthur Podesta's Elusive. Podesta's wife Christine reported having spoken to the crew this morning and found them all in good spirits. Remarkably, Slingshot (GBR) one of the two double-handers to set off on Saturday is still racing and currently is approaching Favignana.

www.rolexmiddlesearace.com

THEIR DAY IN COURT
Excerpts from Bob Fisher's editorial in Sail-World.com:

The judge, sitting in the dark oak panelled room no. 232 in the Supreme Court in downtown Manhattan, patiently heard the counsels' evidence, interrupting them if they strayed from the subject, then cut quickly to the chase in his cross examination.

He had heard the process of accepting a challenge from a newly-fledged and compliant Spanish yacht club as being: 'selling the America's Cup to a convenience entity.' The analogy to the corner-store was duly noted. It was explained to him that there was a difference between the Spanish yachting federation (the dubious challenger last time) and this new yacht club.

The judge, clearly a no-nonsense person, fired a question at the SNG Counsel, David Hille of White & Case, on whether or not this new club had held an annual regatta (as required by the Deed of Gift of 1887). The answer came that CNEV (Clube Nautico Espanol de Vela) proposed to hold on in November. Cahn said nothing but his querulous look gave some indication as to his thoughts.

The judge adjourned the case 'for a few days,' to give his decision.

Bob's full article at www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=38525

POST COURT PR
The Golden Gate Yacht Club said today it welcomed the prospect of a speedy court ruling in resolving the issues surrounding the protocol for the next America's Cup.

After a hearing in the New York State Supreme Court where Justice Herman Cahn said he would deliver his decision soon, the club's spokesman, Tom Ehman, said the American team had presented a strong case that the Club Nautico Espanol de Vela (CNEV) challenge was invalid and the new protocol unfairly advantaged the defender.

"We were very pleased with today," Ehman said. "Justice Cahn understands the issues. He said he would rule soon which is what we have sought from the start." -- www.ggyc.com

* Following today's hearing, Justice Herman Cahn of the New York Supreme Court, reserved his decision on the litigation brought by the Golden Gate Yacht Club against the Societe Nautique de Geneve, the America's Cup defending yacht club, over the validity of the Challenger of Record, Club Nautico Espanol de Vela.

Justice Cahn allowed the parties to argue their positions and he focused his questions on the legitimacy of Club Nautico Espanol de Vela as Challenger of Record under the Deed of Gift.

Alinghi General Counsel Hamish Ross comments: "We are happy with the way the hearing went and look forward to a result. The argument is a technical one. It is a straight out legal interpretation of the Deed of Gift."

Justice Cahn indicated he would issue a written decision which is expected in the coming weeks.

Societe Nautique de Geneve remains firm on the demands of BMW Oracle Racing, a team which is still not party to the event and who has repeatedly tried to shift the focus from the validity of CNEV to a multitude of items linked to the Protocol and the Rules.

This said the SNG is still in communication with BOR and would welcome an appropriate resolution to allow the parties to move forward with the 33rd America's Cup.

www.alinghi.com

NEXUS MARINE APPOINTS XM YACHTING
Nexus Marine AB, the leading manufacturer of marine instrumentation and navigation equipment, has appointed XM Yachting as the exclusive UK distributor of its range of instrumentation, VHF radios and associated navigation equipment. XM Yachting has an unrivalled distribution capability across the UK, and the Nexus Marine product range will fit in very well with their existing brand portfolio. The change in the distribution arrangements follows the refocusing of the Silva Group - the former parent company and latterly UK distributor for Nexus Marine - away from marine electronics, although the two companies continue to work together on the development and manufacture of a number of products including marine compasses.

www.nexusmarine.se

ONBOARD GITANA EIGHTY
Loick Peyron has helped write some of the finest pages in ocean racing history. With twenty years of varied sailing and no less than 40 transats under his belt, Loick has actually lined up at the start of every Transat Jacques Vabre since the event was created in 1993. And on two memorable occasions, he has even climbed to the top of the podium: in 1999 on Fujicolor and in 2005 with Jean-Pierre Dick aboard Virbac Paprec. For the race's eighth edition this year, he finds himself back at the helm of a brand-new monohull, Gitana Eighty, supported by his regular companion, the master sailmaker from Incidences, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant.

Although a multihull specialist, Loick Peyron is making his big comeback at the helm of a new-generation IMOCA monohull, Gitana Eighty. On this next edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre, his aim will be to test out the boat's many technical innovations, while at the same time going for victory.

Co-skipper on board Gitana Eighty for this 8th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre 2007, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant is taking a break from multihulls for one transatlantic race in order to accompany Loick Peyron, with whom he has been sailing for almost twenty years. Technical Co-director of Incidences sailmakers in La Rochelle, Jean-Baptiste is the circuit's sails specialist, not to mention a first-rate sailor.

At the start of his working life, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant's focus soon turned towards sail-making and today, he is regarded as one of the top three sailmakers in the world. Working under the Incidences label, he manages to permanently reconcile sailing with the design of increasingly sophisticated sail plans.

Late last week, Gitana Eighty took part in training runs at Benodet after having accompanied her sister ship Paprec Virbac for 24 hours on route to Spain. This workout gave Gitana Eighty a chance to start her first races and to take on a field of hardened competitors. Loick Peyron was thus able to verify that the vessel was very comfortable in light air.

Gitana Eighty is due to leave her home port of Trinite-sur-mer on Wednesday 24 October in order to reach Le Havre before midday on Friday 26th.

www.gitana-team.com
www.jacques-vabre.com

RYA NATIONAL RANKING SERIES WINNERS CROWNED AT WEYMOUTH
The RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series drew to a close this weekend, with both seasoned campaigners and young guns clinching victories after the final event of the three-weekend Series at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (20-21 October).

Winning this weekend by a single point over Paul Campbell-James and Mark Asquith, World Champions Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes also took the overall Series crown in the 49er class, while victory this weekend in the 470 class for Luke Patience and Chris Grube also handed them a second National Ranking Series title.

But it was the performance of the recently-crowned Techno 293 Under 17 windsurfing world champion Ali Masters which once again caught the eye. Having only just moved on to the larger RS:X 8.5 board, the 15-year-old took a clean sweep of race wins at WPNSA this weekend, which saw him take the overall Series title by one point over more experienced racers in the class.

Skandia Team GBR's world bronze medallist Nick Dempsey put in a solid performance this weekend to top the leaderboard in the RS:X 9.5 class, only to then be hit with disqualification from his last two races for failing to wear a buoyancy aid. The weekend win therefore went to Leo McCallin, who also claimed victory in the overall Series with development squad sailors Elliot Carney and Richard Hamilton enjoying their share of the spoils in second and third.

Double Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie swept to victory this weekend in the Finn class, although didn't quite have it all his own way after initially sailing the wrong course in the opening race of the event. However, it was Giles Scott who, with a string of consistent performances across the three events, took the overall Series crown after just a year competing in the class. Edward Thorburn took the prize for top Finn Master.

In the Tornado class, former 49er World Champion Chris Draper did a fine job of standing in for Leigh McMillan, competing with Will Howden for Saturday's racing as McMillan was on usher duty at a friend's wedding. But the Beijing-nominated helmsman returned for Sunday and continued where Draper left off with him and Howden taking the weekend win by a point over Andy Walsh and Ed Barney, who themselves took the overall Series crown. Tornado performance squad sailors Rob Wilson and Mark Bulkeley missed out on the podium this weekend, but had their share of the chocolates, finishing second in the overall Series standings ahead of John Gimson and Stuart Bithell.

Ali Martin and Beth Carden took the weekend win in the 470 women's class, but it's world bronze medallists Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark who take the National Ranking Series title over Hannah Mills and Katrina Hughes.

The 2.4mR class missed out on the two previous Series events due to a clash with the IFDS World Disabled Championships in Rochester, USA, but they were in action for this final event this weekend. With racing open to disabled and able-bodied sailors, Skandia Team GBR's 2.4mR coach Adam May took the opportunity to race against his charges Helena Lucas and Megan Pascoe, and clinched victory with four wins from the six races - Lucas finished second with Pascoe in third.

www.wpnsa.org.uk

GIPSY MOTH IV: STAR OF THE WHYTE & MACKAY EARLS COURT BOAT SHOW
The all-new Whyte & Mackay Earls Court Boat Show isn't just about exciting shows andChristmas shopping, it's shining with stars from sailing past, present and future. See Sir Francis Chichester's world-famous Gipsy Moth IV; watch Dee Caffari live by satellite in her first Transatlantic race; Michael Perham - the Transat Kid - auctions Cheeky Monkey; Gigi, the Cape Horn-rounding Contessa 32 takes a newly restored bow. There's the National Maritime Museum's Hall of Fame, the Steve Curtis Power Boat Display, good food, Guinness and much, much more. The all-new Whyte & Mackay Earls Court Boat Show: you can't beat boating in the heart of London!

www.earlscourtboatshow.com

CHINA CUP REGATTA: LONGTZE PREMIER WINS SPORT BOAT CLASS
China Team has won its class, Sport Boat, in the China Cup. A great start in its first participation in an international regatta, Longtze Premier has made a sensation. The red boat finished on top of the Sport Boat Class. First in real and compensated time in three out of four regattas, winner at the finish. The boat above all, due to its speed and design, is very enjoyable to sail.

It is a remarkable debut for the second prototype produced by China Team, which will serve to ready a final Class standard

The boat entered in the CHNCUP Regatta is sponsored by China Merchants Fund. Crew list is Tan Wearn haw, Luc Gellusseau, Thierry Barot and Wenpei Zhang.

www.longtze.org

From BYM News, www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=16952

BLANCK ADDED TO AUSSIE OLYMPIC TEAM
Sarah Blanck was added to the 2008 Australian Olympic Team over the weekend to keep her dream of an Olympic medal alive.

The Laser Radial sailor was not able to be named by the Australian Olympic Committee with the rest of the sailing team on Thursday as an appeal was still pending.

Sarah switched to the Laser Radial class in 2005 after being our highest placed Olympian in Athens 2004 with a 4th in the Europe class, a class in which she was World Champion in 2002. In 2007 she has won the Laser Radial division at the Sydney International Regatta, placed 2nd at the Australian Laser Championship and placed 3rd at Kiel Week. Sarah is the current Australian Female Sailor of the Year and the Australian Sailing Team co-captain with Malcolm Page.

The Australian Olympic sailing team boasts five current world champions with officials confident of bringing home at least four medals.

Current Laser class world champion Tom Slingsby was nominated ahead of close rival Michael Blackburn, while Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page - also world champions in their class - will contest the men's 470. Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby, current Australian Male Sailors of the Year will contest the Tornado class.

Veteran sailor Iain Murray won his first ever Olympic selection and will contest the men's Star class with teammate Andrew Palfrey, while 470 women's crew Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson are also considered a medal prospect.

The rest of the Australian sailing squad includes RS:X sailboarder Jessica Crisp, Yngling crew Nicky Bethwaite, Karyn Gojnich and Angela Farrell, Anthony Nossiter (Finn) and 49ers pair Nathan Outteridge and Ben Austin. -- Lara Watts

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 Melinda Bree: We are holding an exhibition in honour of Sir Francis Chichester at Queensland, Australia in mid-november, 2007.

The exhibition will include original items salvaged from the Gipsy Moth V, various objects and articles depicting Sir Francis's life time of achievement etc

We would be honoured if you could provide us with photos, information, stories, your views etc of Sir Francis.

We are also requesting comments from people either personal from knowing him or what impact on their lives the inspiration of Sir Francis has had. The comments will be posted on the board above the displayed items for everyone to view. The board will also be made available to the public to sign when visiting the exhibition.

Any documents, photos, stories etc you could provide will only enhance the exhibition and give a better insight to his life.

Thanks for your time and hope to hear from you soon. Send to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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THE LAST WORD
A mind that is fast is sick. A mind that is slow is sound. A mind that is still is divine. -- Meher Baba

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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